Tag Archives: Holocaust

Sobibor

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A movie on the archaeological work which allowed to reconstruct the events in the extermination camp of Sobibor in Poland. The camp was destroyed by the Germans in 1943 to cover up for their crimes.

Many of the artefacts discovered during the archaeological work are now on display at the Sobibor museum.

Partisans

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The movie “How I Became a Partisan” directed by Vera Lacková will be broadcast by RTVS on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. The film will remind viewers that Roma also joined the uprising. For years, speaking about Nazi persecutions of the Roma minority was taboo. Concentration camps, houses burnt down, murder of families… Communists did not want to have Roma heroes or victims of Nazism. History has forgotten them. “It’s as if we Roma don’t count. At the same time, Roma culture influences and enriches the cultures of the countries where Roma live. A good example is Spain and flamenco dance. Hardly anyone knows that it comes from the Roma,” said the author of the film, Vera Lacková.

Ursula Heilig

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Ursula Heilig, born Hartmann, died at the age of 85. She was born on February 28, 1937, in Frankenstein into a Silesian Sinti family. Her family ran a circus company. From 1940 to 1945, as a small child, she lived in hiding in Upper Silesia with her mother Auguste Sperlich and other relatives under inhumane conditions. She suffered severe damage to her health as a result of escaping and living in hiding. Large parts of her relatives were murdered in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

May she rest in peace.

Czech Republic, Holocaust and Politics

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The Czech Prime Minister will be attending a ceremony honouring the Roma victims of the Holocaust  at the Hodonin un Kunštatu Memorial on August 18th.

Interview with Paul Hagouel

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Dr. Paul Isaac Hagouel, president of the Roma Genocide Committee at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) spoke to APE-MPE on the occasion of the Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day on August 2nd. Himself the son of an Auschwitz survivor, explained that “the oblivion of the Roma and Sinti Genocide perpetuated prejudices and stereotypes about the Roma which, in turn, fostered discrimination and unfounded and at the same time harmful hatred of the ‘other’ – Anti-Gypsyism”.

Thus, the IHRA, a transnational organization, constituted by a combination of experts and top diplomats from the member states, recommended the creation of the Commission on the Genocide of the Roma in 2007. This interdisciplinary IHRA Committee aims to raise awareness of prejudice against Roma and Sinti and highlight the link between the history of persecution and the current situation in Roma communities which, continue to experience the manifestations of stereotypes, prejudices and, quite often, (racial) hatred.

Romania commemorates the Holocaust against the Roma

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“Today we pay a pious tribute to the memory of the Roma, the almost 500,000 children, women and men victims of the Holocaust. Entire families perished in this genocide, being subjected to horrific brutalities. Our thoughts also go out to those who survived the horrors and their descendants. This year, in Romania, we commemorate 80 years since the first deportations of Roma to Transnistria by the Antonescu regime. About 25,000 Roma were deported to Transnistria and condemned to live in inhuman and unsanitary conditions, deprived of food and forced to do forced labour. Of these, not more than half had the strength to survive. The Romanian state has assumed responsibility for this crime, a dark episode of our history,” states a message sent by President Klaus Iohannis.

Bravo, that is a real first.

Slovenia Holocaust Commemoration

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A word of warning during the Slovenian commemoration of the Roma Holocaust Day in view of hate speech and racism towards Roma.

More Polish Articles on Auschwitz Commemoration

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Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Croatia

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Croatia commemorated the Roma Holocaust on August 2nd. This commemoration is always controversial due to the rehabilitation of several Croatians Ustaša. The Fascist Croatian regime effectively killed near ALL Croatian Roma in World War Two, a fact that they currently prefer to ignore.

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Poland

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Some extracts and reactions in the Polish Press on the commemorations of the Roma Holocaust.

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Ukraine

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Some articles in the Ukraine of the August 2nd commemoration of the Roma Holocaust.

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Slovakia

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The Slovak president Čaputová even spoke Romanes on the occasion of the August 2nd commemorations in Slovakia.

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Prague

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The Czech Republic commemorated August 2nd. The Prague municipality flew the Roma flag and several other commemorations were held.

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: German Press

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Some extracts of the numerous articles in the German Press on the August 2nd commemorations and on the speech of Bodo Ramelow, the president of the German Parliament in Auschwitz.

Auschwitz and Roma

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In connection with the upcoming Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day (August 2), the ethnographer, historian and currently advisor to the Slovak Minister of Justice in the field of human rights, Zuzana Kumanová stated that about 22,000 European Roma passed through the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and about 19,000 of them never returned.

As usual, this is factually right, but effectively wrong. There were 22’000 REGISTERED Roma in Auschwitz. But by the same token, “only” roughly 300 thousand Jews. People who were immediately killed were not registered.

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