Hongire Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

31.12.2014 Bishop of Vac bemoans the situation of Rroma in Hungary

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In his Christmas mass, Miklós Beer, the bishop of Vác bemoaned the prejudices against Rroma in Hungary as well as their current situation. He even showed understanding for Rroma who steal to feed their children. His homely is remarkable as generally the Hungarian views on Rroma are more extreme. The entire text can be seen on YouTube and a very good summary is given in Hungarian Spectrum.

Aladar Horvath, a Rrom and an activist wrote a very good article entitled “Protest, Fight, or Flight” on the current prospects of the Rroma minority in Hungary. He denounces the forthcoming cuts of social benefits that will lead many Rroma, especially in the countryside into further poverty, hunger, and despair. This is a situation that no one in Western Europe seems to want to see, but is the reality for a large group of Hungarian Rroma.

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05.12.2014 “Roma does not equal poverty migration”

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Selke (2014) spoke with Prof. Max Matter, a Swiss folklorist, about his new publication “Nowhere Desired: Poverty migration from Central and Eastern Europe into the countries of the EU-15, with particular reference to members of the Roma minority”. In his book, Matter addresses the mixing of prejudices with ethnic ascriptions and political viewpoints. Many politicians and journalists used the term “poverty migration” as a synonym for the migration of poor Rroma to Western Europe. With the expansion of the free movement of persons to Romania and Bulgaria, one increasingly spoke about well educated Romanians and Bulgarians, who also migrate to Western Europe. However, opponents saw this argument as trivialising the real situation. In his publication, Matter tries to deconstruct reductionist ascriptions that portray Rroma as poor travelling beggars: Rroma are not a homogeneous mass, are mostly sedentary since centuries and have no kings. In addition, many other ethnic groups also migrate to Western Europe. The assertion of a “mass immigration into the German welfare system” is not supported by the facts: “According to the Institute for Employment Research, there are just over 500,000 people from Bulgaria and Romania in Germany. As I said, some have very good school and vocational qualifications. Many of them work. All of them counted together, they just constitute six per mil of the German population. Therefore, one can hardly speak of a mass immigration into the welfare system.” Matter also refers to the majority of well-integrated Rroma that have been living integrated in Western Europe since generation and speak the local languages. At a meeting of scientists and politicians on December the fist in Berlin, the majority of those present demanded a de-dramatization and objectification the debate on “poverty migration”: There is no widespread welfare fraud. The existing social problems are not the result of immigration, but problems already existing before. In addition, one should be cautious with the use of ethnic attributions (compare Bade 2014 MiGAZIN 2014).

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05.12.2014 Prosecutor of Paris: criminal court not competent to judge Manuel Valls

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Libération (2014) reports on a recent decision of the Paris prosecutor. The investigation covers statements by Prime Minister Manuel Valls, in which he claimed that Rroma had the inclination to stay in Romania or to return there, and they had a very different lifestyle than the French, which was inevitably in confrontation with the French one. The Paris prosecutor’s office now judged on December the second that the criminal court was not competent to judge the statements made by Manuel Valls. The criminal chamber will pronounce its verdict in this regard on December the 19th. However, the plaintiff against Valls, the organisation “La Voix des Roms”, wants that his statements are not judged independently of his function as the then Interior Minister, but are recognised as demagoguery: “For the lawyer of Manuel Valls, Mr. Georges Holleaux, the statements of his client are adjacent to “his ministerial competence”. In his view, the facts thus reverse the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only institution empowered to judge members of the government, for deeds which they have committed in the function of their office. Moreover, he pointed out that that Mrap (Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l’amitié entre les peuples) had filed a lawsuit against Manuel Valls at the the Court of Justice of the Republic in September 2013, which was dropped it without further consequences.” Manuel Valls is not an isolated case with his racist remarks against the Rroma. In recent years, numerous French mayors and politicians have gained public attention with racist remarks about Rroma. Some were sentenced to mild fines, others were completely acquitted, referring to the freedom of expression. In the French public, Rroma are equated with 15,000 to 20,000 Rroma who live in illegal settlements. The 100,000 to 500,000 Rroma who are integrated in France since generations, are continuously ignored. The Rroma are also repeatedly exploited by various parties for political purposes and blamed for social ills that have their origins in society as a whole, and not in a single minority. Unfortunately, this scapegoat policy finds approval among a shocking number of people (compare L’Yonne Républicaine 2014).

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

05.12.2014 Integrated Rroma in Germany

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Jaeger (2014) spoke with Sonja Böttcher, a German social worker and Rromni. The 43-year-old is the daughter of Hans-Georg Böttcher, one of the founders the Roma Union. Böttcher talks about persistent prejudices against the minority, Rroma living integrated and the importance of being able to accept ones’ identity in spite of prejudices: “There are deeply rooted prejudices against Roma. That they are dirty and mostly homeless, depraved. However, most people do not even know Roma.Changes and positive examples are not perceived. Many Roma are indeed born here and have respected professions. […] But we live in a time, where the origin does actually not matter anymore. Therefore, I would like to see a stronger voice in the community. This may help to eliminate clichés. For a long time, I have denied my origins and told that I am from India […]. And based on my experience, I can say today that there is no reason to deny oneself. I actually think that it is time that we should go into the offensive.” In Germany, according to assessments of the Rroma Foundation, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma. The majority of them is integrated, works, speaks German and sends their children to school. They are proof that integration is possible. Rroma belong to all social strata and professions. On the occasion of the debate about the so-called “poverty immigrants”, a highly biased notion of the minority was spread which discredits the majority of integrated Rroma. In an article of December 2nd, Jaeger (2014/II) himself points out to the problems of overcrowded house, into which Rroma families moved. The inhabitants of the overcrowded apartments will be allocated alternative accommodation. Nevertheless, the one-sided coverage of Rroma is not discussed (compare Jaeger 2014/III).  

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05.12.2014 Increasing xenophobia and Rroma-hostility in Italy

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Sigona (2014) reports on increasing xenophobia and Rroma-hostility in Italy. The author is concerned about how Rroma have frequently become the target of xenophobic attacks in the last few months and years. To counteract this increasingly xenophobic climate, the president of the Tuscany region, Enrico Rossi, set an example with a photo – showing him together with a group of Rroma: “In the photo, Rossi stands flanked by a family of men, women and children. It’s a Sunday afternoon in Florence. “Let me introduce my neighbours” reads the description posted on Facebook. His neighbours are Romanian Roma. […] The picture was taken just a few weeks after Matteo Salvini, the new leader of the anti-immigration, anti-EU Northern League, paid a controversial visit to a Roma camp in Bologna to see how “tax money was spent”. Salvini has made regular verbal attacks on Roma and migrants, a core part of his party’s attempt to rebrand itself as Italy’s answer to the French Front National. The steady rise in his approval rating would suggest that it’s working.” As in France is, the public focus in Italy lies on a marginalised minority of Rroma, who live in informal settlements and are presented in a most biased way. Right-wing nationalist parties present the minority as scapegoats for problems that have their origin in society as a whole. The majority of the estimated 90,000 to 110,000 Rroma that have been living integrated in Italy since generations are largely hidden.

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05.12.2014 Halle: persistent aggressions towards Rroma

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Neues Deutschland (2014) reports on ongoing pogroms and incitement against Rroma in Halle. In the recent months, repeated assaults against Rroma occurred in the quarter of Silberhöhe. Moreover, xenophobic Facebook groups called for violence against the minority. Silberhöhe is a poor district, which is characterised by industrialised apartment blocks: “The attackers were between 10 and 13 years old. In mid-September, a young Roma woman and her two-year old son were attacked by adolescents in Silberhöhe, an industrialised building quarter in Halle. […] The instigators however, are adults. They operate Internet sites such as “hallemax.de”, where in hard tone and partly with multiple entries a day, one speaks about “alienation” and against Rroma. […] The focus of their aggression is a group of 40 families, belonging to the Roma minority, who immigrated from Romania and Spain – in the context of the EU-wide freedom of movement. From the beginning, the newcomers were faced with dislike, aggression and hatred. Especially the children reported bullying on the street or in the supermarket, the mobile victim counselling of Halle states. Later, a so-called “vigilante group” was founded, who was supposed to ensure “peace and order” with patrols in Silberhöhe.” In response to the xenophobic actions, a group against anti-Semitism was founded. The alliance “Hall against right-wing extremism” organised counter-demonstrations to the hostile actions against Rroma, in order to express their solidarity with the minority and to stand up against anti-Semitism. In addition, a meeting was organised to counter the prejudices against immigrants with facts and  knowledge. In Germany, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma, many of them for generations. They are integrated, go to work, speak German and send their children to school.

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

05.12.2014 “German champion”: a novel about the boxing Sinto Max Trollmann

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König (2014) reports on the latest book by the writer Stephanie Bart. Her novel tells the life story of the German Sinto Max Trollmann, who foughts as a boxer in the 1930s against the rise of Nazism, but then himself becomes a victim of the inhuman machinery. Due to his Rroma origins, he was discredited by Nazi functionaries: “Stephanie Beard tells of the rise of this clever young boxer – and in parallel of the rise of the Nazis in Germany. Relentlessly, the author shows how unjust, how ruthless, blinded and inhuman one dealt with opposition members and with those who did not correspond to the “Aryan” race. […] Trollmann is the German champion for only eight days. After that, he is denied the title because he is Sinto. […] The boxing federation deliberately reduces the size of the boxing ring to the disadvantage of Trollmann. He cannot, as usual, box at a distance. Trollmann knows that he will lose. He appears with dyed blond hair and a white powdered face, dressed up as a model Aryan. I’ll see them further first – his statement goes, which is a political one.” – In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 30,000 Rroma were murdered. Researchers emanate from at least half a million casualties among the Rroma. The genocide of the Rroma is much less known compared to the mass murder of the Jews. For a long time in the post-war period, Rroma were discredited and marginalized. West Germany did not recognize the genocide of the Rroma until 1982, many of the survivors were already dead by then.

France Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

05.12.2014 Bron: Mrap criticises planned segregated class for Rroma children

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Bevand (2014) reports on the latest matter of the French movement against racism (Mrap). The organisation criticises the decision of the mayor of Bron, to set up an extra class for Rroma children in the community. The class is supposed to encompass the children of a local Rroma settlement and to include Rroma children already enrolled in school. The movement against racism justifiably criticises that the children are thereby intentionally excluded and disadvantaged: “Towards a new controversy? In any case, the movement against racism and for the friendship between people (Mrap) condemned in a statement on Monday the decision of the mayor of Bron – a statement near Lyon – to open an “ethnic class” to receive the Roma children of a local slum. […] Without distinction, it groups together children who were already enrolled in previous years and speak French well, with other children who have just arrived in France, MRAP continues, which wants “to invoke the defenders of rights to finish this additional ethnic segregation.” Segregation is inevitably the wrong way to promote the integration of migrant children. Rather, it promotes the exclusion and marginalisation of the children as well as the immigrant families. As Bevand himself points out, so far, children with weak knowledge of the French language were additionally supported, but could attend regular classes. This is a much more elaborate method, which aims at integration and support, and not to at a special treatment and exclusion. – According to estimates of the Rroma Foundation, in France there are between 100,000 and 500,000 Rroma. The vast majority of them is integrated, goes to work, and sends their children to school. The estimated 15,000 Rroma living in informal settlements are a minority of the minority.

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05.12.2014 Administrative court of Münster: Serbia not a safe country of origin for Rroma

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Die Zeit (2014) reports on a recent judgment of the Münster administrative court. When assessing the application for asylum by a Serbian Rroma family, the court reached the verdict that Serbia does not constitute a safe country of origin for the Rroma minority. The judges justified their judgment, among others, by pointing out that unsuccessful asylum applicants can expect to be criminally prosecuted upon return. Thereby, the court also questions the new law, which declares Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina but also Serbia to safe countries of origin. Several administrative courts had agreed to the asylum applications of Romany families in the recent past: “The administrative court (AC) of Münster questions the constitutionality of the new asylum reform of the federal government. The judges granted an urgent application for asylum by a Serbian Roma family, and stopped their imminent deportation, said the AC. The court has thus set itself in conflict with the federal government, which declared the Balkan countries Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to safe countries of origin in November. The AC wants to clarify now in main proceedings, whether the law should be submitted to the federal constitutional court for review. When declaring a state to a safe country of origin, the legislators must make an overall assessment of the significance of political persecution conditions in the relevant country. Decisive are the criteria prescribed by the constitution. The legislator maybe did not sufficiently comply with this regarding the Serbian Roma and the negative Serbian emigration requirements. Moreover, the legislative history did not show that the decisions of administrative tribunals were taken into account. For instance, the administrative courts of Stuttgart and Münster upheld the urgent complaints of Serbian asylum seekers in a variety of cases.” Rroma are not politically persecuted in Serbia. However, that does not mean that they are not exposed to repeated discrimination in everyday life. Particularly the Rroma already economically marginalised. The assessment of the individual case should always be favoured against a reductionist assessment of the social situation in a country. Rroma have been provably integrated in Southeast Europe for centuries – as, Ottoman tax registers, among others, show ­ and form part of all strata of society and professions. However, since the Yugoslav wars and the strengthened nationalism, Rroma increasingly face discrimination. Furthermore, there is the mentioned law of the Serbian criminal code that threatens asylum applicants with criminal prosecution upon return (compare Prantl 2014).

Nouvelles suisses Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

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Siegrist (2014) reports on the latest novel by Swiss writer Hans Schaub. The book, entitled “The blonde gypsy girl” [German: Das blonde Zigeunermädchen] tells the story of a German Gadje (non-Rroma) woman, who falls in love with a travelling Rroma musicians. She gives up her bourgeois life and henceforth lives with her travelling lover, whereby she experiences adventures and austerity. As this brief synopsis already reveals, the plot is pervaded by many stereotypes about Rroma: on one hand, there is the conviction that Rroma are traveling musicians and showmen. In addition, Siegrist review of the book, the terms “Gypsy”, “Rroma”, “travelers” and “Yeniche” are mistakenly equated: “Well, it is a novel, a fictional story, says Hans Schaub: “But, the impetus for the story was lawsuit that took place in 2010 in Zurich.” At that time, travelers stood before court, says Schaub, and he found that many prejudices were reflected in the media. “The Roma were generally poorly talked down.” Based on these findings, his story was developed. “I assume that there are no malicious ethnicities, but rather evil humans.” The author Hans Schaub, 70 years old, moved to Menziken in 2009, where he devotes himself to writing. As a former council chairman and head of the Department of Social Welfare in a Zurich municipality, Schaub had been in contact with travelers in Switzerland, most of the time about the question of travelling sites.” The book may tell an adventurous story about the contact between different cultures. Nevertheless, there is the problem that Schaub spreads prejudiced and simply false information about Rroma: most Rroma in Switzerland – an estimated 80,000 to 100,000 people, are sedentary and well integrated. In addition, Yeniche and Rroma are not the same. The Swiss travelers are mainly Yeniche that have European roots and speak the language Yeniche that traces back to the Yiddish and Germanic language. The Rroma however originated from India and speak Rromanes, originating from the Sanskrit. Most Rroma are sedentary, as evidenced by some Ottoman tax registers since their arrival in Europe. These important details Schaub didn’t research thoroughly enough for his book and instead focuses on the dramatic and romanticized aspect of the casual “gypsy life”.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Roumanie

28.11.2014 Stereotypes: Rroma gang harasses Romanian Member of Parliament

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The British tabloid newspaper “Daily Mail” reports on a group of young Rroma, who allegedly harassed and threatened a Romanian Member of Parliament. Because the politicians paid his loan to late, the bank sold a portion of his property to pay off the debt, the newspaper states. Young “Rroma millionaires” are said to have moved into the sold part and henceforth have started to massively harass the politician. Thornhill’s (2014) article in the Daily Mail builds part of a series of disparaging articles about Rroma, which the British tabloid published in recent months and years. The newspaper reported regularly in a very negative way about Rroma migrants in the UK, and portrayed them as a poor, asocial and often criminal minority, who would intentionally exploit the British welfare system. In the case of the Romanian parliamentarian, the newspaper spreads absurd notions of uncivilized and ruthless “Rroma millionaires”: “A Romanian MP was stunned after a family of millionaire gypsies moved into his mansion after he was late paying back a loan secured on a 20 percent share in his property, and the bank sold it off to the gypsies to recover the debt. It meant that the gypsies who snapped up the 20 percent stake in the property in the north-eastern Romanian city of Iasi moved into part of it overnight, and since then have allegedly made MP Ionel Agrigoroaei’s life hell. […] And if the 53-year-old MP was unhappy about seeing the gypsies move into a wing of his property, he was even more unhappy when they started a catalogue of what he describes as terror and intimidation in a bid to get him to move out so they could occupy the rest of the building.” – Rroma are not more criminal than other ethnic groups. In addition, the mentioning of ethnicity in connection with the events described by Thornhill, is irresponsible. It only fuels derogatory prejudices against the Rroma. Most Rroma are integrated and go to work.

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

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The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (2014) reports on the publication of a new study on right-wing extremism in Germany. According to the study commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, prejudices against minorities like the Rroma remain strong in Germany: “The Foundation publishes the study every two years and examines the extent to which right-wing extremist viewpoints are common among the population. This year, 2,000 citizens were interviewed between June and August. Explicitly right-wing extremist viewpoints have thus become much less common in recent years and are at a new low. […] Nonetheless, still ten percent of the population thinks that National Socialism had its good points – and that Germany would need a “leader” who “rules the country with a strong hand for the benefit of all.” […] The authors of the study warned that there was no cause for complacency. It may be possible that some citizens are simply afraid to express their right-wing viewpoints openly because of the NSU affair. […] Zick [one of the authors] said that there was a ruthless “market-shaped extremism” in Germany, which follows distinct efficiency thinking. People who do not perform enough for society, but rather generate costs, are rejected in this way of thinking. [….] Also other groups – as Muslims or Sinti and Roma – are faced with widespread prejudices in Germany, the study states. Approximately 38 percent of the population thinks that Sinti and Roma are prone to crime.” Due to the genocide of 500,000 to one and a half million Rroma, Germany has a historical responsibility towards the minority. However, the Federal Republic met this responsibly only very slowly: the genocide of the Rroma was not recognised until 1982. Before that, the Holocaust was trivialized with the remark that there had been persecution because of the “anti-social behaviour” of the “Gypsies”, but not due to an eugenically motivated racial fanaticism. An official memorial in honour of the murdered Rroma was not inaugurated until 2012. – For the study of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, 2,000 citizens were surveyed from June to August 2014 (compare Käfer 2014).

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

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The Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (2014) spoke with Rainer Wendt, the German federal president of the German police union. Wendt was invited by Central Council of German Sinti and Rroma to talk about the possibilities of intercultural training of police personnel and the dismantling of prejudices. In the interview, Wendt points out that it is important to develop and professionalise policemen, so they develope an understanding of the social contexts of minorities: “Prejudices are all around us in society. Police officers are, of course, not free of them. We use the professionalisation of police work against it. This requires that policemen know accurately the social context in which they work, in order to not give rise to prejudices and on the other side to be able to handle prejudices that exist in society. […] Not only among the police, but in our society as a whole, one must communicated that Rroma do not come from somewhere to Germany to establish themselves as a foreign body, but that they have been part of our country for centuries. They are not Sinti and Roma, who just come like that to Germany. They are German Sinti and Roma, or European citizens, who have a right to come, and we as Germans have the duty to integrate them. Of course they themselves have the obligation to contribute.” Wendt’s reference to the European history of the Rroma is important. Only through the understanding that Rroma are resident and integrated in Europe for centuries, and form a transnational ethnic minority, one can reduce prejudice against them. Them anti-social behaviour sometimes attributed to them than is rather the result of their exclusion than the outcome of a lacking will to integrate. Rroma belong to all professional groups and social classes. In Germany, there are an estimated 110,000 to 130,000 Rroma today. Before the genocide by the Nazis, there were many more.

Hongire Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

28.11.2014 Hungarian Spectrum: Zoltan Balog promotes segregation of Rroma children

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Hungarian Spectrum (2014) reports on the ambivalent Rroma policy of the Hungarian Minister of Human Resources, Zoltan Balog. Hungarian Spectrum accuses the Fidesz-politician to foster the segregation of Rroma pupils in contradiction to his public statements. The special schooling of Rroma children fostered by Balog is the result of a double standards concerning integration: He does not want equality, but a special treatment of the Rroma, Hungarian Spectrum criticises: “during Hungary’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first six months of 2011, the Hungarian government took upon itself the creation of a Roma program for the entire European Union. From the beginning I noted Balog’s reluctance to follow the earlier Hungarian government’s strategy of integration. There were also signs that Balog, realising the enormousness of the task, wanted to dump the problem on the churches. […] My other suspicion was that in his heart of hearts Balog does not believe in school integration. He is convinced that special Gypsy classes enable students to catch up with their non-Roma contemporaries–separate to become equal. Based on countless studies we know that this is a misguided notion. But it seems that Fidesz politicians cannot easily be convinced by hard data or evidence.” In addition, the Minister is accused of having campaigned for the reopening of a segregated Rroma school in Nyíregyháza, which was closed in 2007. In spite of the decision of the appellate court that declared segregated schooling of Rroma children illegal, the Fidesz government enacted a change in law in favour of Balog’s Rroma policy, which allows him to continue administering segregated schools and classes: “How strongly Balog felt about this particular case is demonstrated in a press release his ministry issued on November 6 […]. This press release is a perfect example of the double talk this government specializes in. The final verdict in the case is” highly regrettable because many children will be deprived of a superior education.” […] The proposed amendment says that in the case of schools run by churches or in schools serving national minorities the minister – in our case Zoltán Balog – can issue a decree that will allow segregated classes.”

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

28.11.2014 Hostile remarks at meeting of the AfD (Alternative for Germany)

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Meyer (2014) reports on a party meeting of Jörn Kruse, Hamburg chairman of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AFD). On the occasion of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Hamburg, Kruse spoke about his political program: this is characterised by strong nationalist tendencies, even if Kruse often presented his viewpoints in a negative form and left the conclusions to the audience: “The state leader of his party is a clever and a practiced orator. He speaks critically about immigration and “asylum seekers”, but in between always expresses understanding for war refugees, which one has to help. […] But it soon becomes clear: Kruse is a verbal border crosser. Again and again in his speech, he approaches almost casually taboos, just to stop right before them. Therewith, he avoids the charge of right-wing propaganda, but offers his listeners what they want to hear. Kruse sounds like this: “I do not want to be quoted saying, in Germany that foreigners are responsible for crime.” Pause. “Well, who else?”, it comes from the audience. […] Or like this: „I don’t want to comment the thesis that more migration leads to more criminality. […] Nodding, agreement. An older gentleman asks what could be done against the “gypsies” and adds: “I’ve always said Gypsy, not Roma.” Kruse says that the Roma unfortunately could not be deported because of the European free movement of persons. And then: “We cannot prevent them from coming here, they have culturally induced problems of integration, we also know that many of them come here, because our child benefit are higher here than what they can earn at home.”” With this remarks, Kruse reproduces several stereotypical prejudices about the minority. The 110’000 to 130’000 Rroma who are integrated in Germany since generations are denied existence. Instead, he stylizes them – in the very spirit of one-sided debate about “poverty migration” – to economic migrants, who would exploit the German social security system. The integration problems ascribed to them have to be seen in the context of a growing xenophobia. Integration always works on two sides: by the efforts of the migrants themselves, and by the willingness of the recipient country to include the migrants. This aspect is completely ignored by Kruse and his party in their representation of the issue.

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

28.11.2014 Debate on grave fee for Auschwitz victims

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RP Online (2014) addresses a debate on the graves of Auschwitz victims in Germany, among them many Rroma. Normally, graves are closed after a certain period of time if the lease is not extended. In the case of Holocaust survivors, German Rroma associations emphasise it is also about preserving history. Therefore, they fight against dismantling of the graves of Holocaust survivors, which then would pass into oblivion. In Krefeld, a descendant of a Rromni who survived the concentration camp, can no longer pay the grave fee due to financial issues. German Rroma associations decidedly fight against dismantling the resting place: “With a harsh protest, two organizations  – The NRW state association of German Sinti and Roma and the German association for information and advice for victims of Nazi persecution  – have been protesting against the fact that the city is not renouncing the fees for lease of the grave of a woman who was imprisoned in the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz. It is the grave of a Roma woman named Korpatsch. Her niece had paid for the grave for decades, but can no longer account for the costs for an extension. Jost Rebentisch of the federal association for victims of Nazi-prosecution accuses the city of historical amnesia. The city disregards the criticism: […] Because of legal reasons, it was not possible to formally renounce to the lease fee, as required by the association of Rebentisch. Although there is an initiative of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, according to which the burial of people persecuted in the war should be left free; but there is still no final settlement.” In Auschwitz-Birkenau alone, 30,000 Rroma were murdered. Researchers estimate at least half a million casualties among the Rroma. The genocide of the Rroma is much less known compared to the mass murder of the Jews. This is another reason why a preservation of the memory of the victims and the inhuman actions is of great importance (compare Freie Presse 2014).

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28.11.2014 Award for Holocaust survivors Hugo Höllenreiner

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Trebbin (2014) reports on the award for the German Rroma-Holocaust survivor Hugo Höllenreiner. Höllenreiner is one of three thousand survivors who survived the “gypsy camp” of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Most of the approximately 30,000 prisoners, including many women and children, were killed. In the 1990s, Höllenreiner began to break his silence about this traumatic experience and henceforth committed himself as a contemporary witness. He has reported on the Nazi atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau to thousands of German pupils: “How SS men launched sheep dogs on naked people before his eyes. How they drove people into the gas chambers. How he had to witness mass shootings and then had to help with filling in the graves with the bodies of the murdered. And how little Hugo was lying on the operating table of camp doctor Josef Mengele… […] 36 family members of the Höllenreiners perished in the Holocaust. Hugo’s parents and their six children survived with a lot of luck and great courage. However, his education after the war and the liberation was short-lived: the teachers put the “Gypsy boy” unceremoniously out the door. The discrimination continued. So Hugo Höllenreiner had to start his career with peddling.” For his commitment as a contemporary witness to the Holocaust, Höllenreiner has now been awarded with the medal “Munich shines”. West Germany did not recognise the genocide of the Rroma until 1982, when many of the survivors had already died. The Holocaust of the Rroma is often incorrectly referred to with the word “Porrajmos”. The term, which traces back to the verb “porravav”, meaning to “open wide”, is often used in the context of sexual activity and therefore is not appropriate to describe a genocide.

Italie Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

26.11.2014 Social tensions in the suburbs of Rome

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 Kerner (2014) reports on growing social tensions in Tor Sapienza, an agglomeration of Rome. In the suburbs, foreigners, religious and ethnic minorities like Rroma are increasingly reviled as scapegoats for social ills. Right-wing extremists but also right-wing nationalist politicians agitate against the minorities: “Until now, most suburbs were godforsaken places. This has changed since residents of Tor Sapienza demonstrated for one week in front of a shelter for minor refugees and asylum seekers, with the support of right-wing extremists. They threw stones and firecrackers, put dumpsters on fire and shouted “the Blacks have to go.” Now, they are in the focus of media attention. In Italy, one debates about the war of the poor against the poor, caused by decades of political neglect and the economic crisis. […] A member of parliament of the protest movement Five Stars, including an entourage and several camera crews, have gathered this evening in the courtyard. […] But the people who take their dogs for a walk at this time, either avoid her or get angry. […] “Here, with us, one just dumps everything – Blacks, Roma, criminals.” […] Another woman laments: “Just a few hundred meters away, the Gypsies burn cable, refrigerators, and waste. The smoke goes right into our homes.”” The scapegoat policy of the right-wing nationalists and their sympathisers ignores the real reasons for the growing social misery in the suburbs of Rome: A failed economic and social policy that did not succeed in including an increasingly impoverished underclass into the economy: “It is a mix of poverty, anger and xenophobia, which ignites more frequently, not only in Rome. But it is not directed against those who bear the blame for the decline of the periphery, but against those even weaker.” The affected minorities are increasingly dominated by fear. They do not dare to go onto the street by themselves. – Rroma belong to all social strata and professional groups, also in Italy. They are not a homogeneous mass, as repeatedly claimed by various sides.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

26.11.2014 Rroma and the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain

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Ridley (2014) reports on the relationship between Rroma and the Pentecostal Church in Great Britain. Based on the biography of the Rroma Pastor Jackie Boyd, she discusses the characteristics and contradictions of the Pentecostal movement: she assesses as positive the efforts of the Pentecostal church to improve the education of the Rroma. On one hand, this happens with the aim to understand the Bible in its details, on the other hand, the social status and position of the Rroma shall be improved. Ridley sees as negative the very conservative ideas with respect to the status of women. Thus, in the “Light and Life” church, it is forbidden for women to preach. Also, conservative role models dominate their role in the family and in society: “Light and Life followers straddle both the mystic and the modern. They believe in miracles, carry out full-immersion baptism and follow the bible’s words literally. Yet the church is making some sweeping modern changes to the traditional gypsy culture: it forbids fortune-telling, drinking and smoking, as well as arranged marriage which is practiced in mainland Europe. It supports education beyond 12 years old. Around a fifth of gypsy children in the UK don’t go to secondary school, and of those that do, half drop out. […] Dennis Latham, a volunteer to National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups, says Light and Life is “getting people on the straight and narrow” but is concerned it promotes male dominance over women. An evangelical Christian himself with a church affiliated to Light and Life, he explains: “They won’t let a woman preach in a church. I disagree with it, because modern teaching is that women have equal rights. I’ve seen Light and Life put women out if they spoke out.”” The statistic mentioned above that claims one-fifth of Rroma children in the UK do not go to school and that half of high school students drop out has to be critically questioned. Since there are no comprehensive surveys on Rroma in the UK, it has to be assumed that the statistic only took into account Rroma already marginalised and therefore easy-to-find. However, many Rroma in the UK are well integrated.

The self-empowerment of Rroma through the Pentecostal church can indeed be seen as something positive, if one focuses on the aspect of the strengthening of civil rights and the fostering of education. However, one should be cautious when the Pentecostal morality is said to be superior to other social values. Many Pentecostal churches forbid their members to use contraceptives, to abort and diabolize homosexuals as possessed by demons. Such a morality is not based on an enlightened understanding of the world and independent critical thinking, but on Christian traditions, which in case of contradictions, put themselves above the traditions of the Rroma. An uncritical subjection to conservative role models and values should be questioned. They can also severely hinder a real self-determination.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest Espagne

26.11.2014 New Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy defines “Gypsies” as impostors

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Kassam (2014) reports on a controversy surrounding the new edition of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy. Therein, the already pejorative word “Gypsy” is equated in an unreflected way to “impostor” and “deceiver”, without referring to the history of the term. According to linguistic and historical studies, the exonym “Gypsy” goes back to the “Athiganoi” in the Byzantine Empire. In the chronicles of that time, these heretics were assigned similar pejorative attributes as the Rroma and were considered as being magicians and fortunetellers: “After 13 years spent updating entries, the Royal Spanish Academy unveiled its 23rd edition of the Spanish dictionary earlier this month at a sombre ceremony presided by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia,. The new edition removed a previous definition of “gitano” or “gypsy” as an adjective meaning “defrauding or operating with deception”. But it added a new secondary meaning, saying the word was synonymous with “trapacero” – an adjective meaning dishonest or swindling. Arguing that the definition is obsolete and does little more than feed into prejudices, the Association of Feminist Gypsies for Diversity is taking action.” […] “You can’t label an entire community, an entire culture, a whole population like this,” said member Maria José Jiménez Cortiñas. “The entry legitimises stereotypes. We’re asking that for once the Academy move ahead of society and eliminate definitions that serve only to marginalise our community.”” Rroma have experienced a centuries-old history of exclusion and persecution in Europe. Their exclusion is significantly based on stereotyped prejudices. To consolidate these prejudices by unrelentingly echoing them in a dictionary is indeed very questionable.

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