Tag Archives: Movie

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25.05.2014 “A People Uncounted” gives Rroma and Holocaust survivors a voice

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Various American newspapers report about the new movie by Aaron Yeger, which focuses on the marginalization of the Rroma in Europe. In an interview with NPR (2014), Yeger explores the question of why no exact figures on murdered Rroma exist as well what the marginalization and destruction of the minority meant for the former communities. As for the number of victims, the lack of written documentation by Rroma themselves as well as the absence of official documents is probably the main reason. The film focuses on the aspects of exclusion and persecution that are recapitulated by eyewitnesses. Language and traditions are only briefly touched upon. The New York Times comments: “While travelling to Budapest, Vienna, Montreal, Ukraine, Romania and Germany, the film, the first feature by Aaron Yeger, presents a range of lucid commentators, some of whom touch upon distant Roma history. But the primary focus here is on the disenfranchisement and ruthless persecution the Roma have long suffered in Europe: in Romania in the mid-1400s, by the Habsburgs in 1500, by Henry VIII and again by the Habsburgs in 1721. […] The darkest hour was the Holocaust, in which hundreds of thousands of Roma perished in concentration camps. Much of this movie is composed of survivors who give harrowing accounts of their experiences, and their warnings about rising ethnic hatred in Europe should not be ignored” (Webster 2014). Miller (2014) also points out that the image of the Rroma in the United States is shaped by stupendous reality TV shows such as Gypsy Sisters and My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. These convey a stereotypical, one-sided picture of the Rroma. “A People Uncounted” tries to live up to the complexity of the fate of the Rroma (compare Broadway World 2014, Documentary Trailers 2011, Scheck 2014).   

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07.05.2014 The reportage Roma – Europe’s poor children conveys one-sided notion of the Rroma

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The reportage, awarded with the citizens media award of Saxony-Anhalt, reports about Rroma in Transylvania. It paints a sympathetic, but unfortunately also very normative view of the Rroma in Romania. The commentator states at the beginning of the reportage that the helpers of the association “Children’s Aid for Transylvania” would come to know the life and culture of the Rroma in a Rroma settlement. The fact that they confuse culture and a lifestyle resulting out of exclusion, is not discussed critically. Like many other reports in Germany, the coverage reproduces the idea of Rroma as victims in their countries of origin, but remains silent about well-integrated, invisible Rroma, who do not conform to the stereotypes. In addition, the discrimination against the minority in Germany is left out, where they are often portrayed as perpetrators. Instead, it is repeatedly referred to the fertility of the aid project, without giving the Rroma themselves a real voice. Therewith the aid project is staged as a success, but the person concerned appear as uncivilized that were in need of civilizing through the project: “When I think of the starting time, with the turbulence and unrest, and no values and norms within this group of the children of the centre, and now this development […] earlier communication was brute force, there were beatings”, the project manager Sebastian Leiter states biased. In contrast, the film also provides intelligent viewpoints as the views of the social workers Thomas Richardt, which emphasizes the importance of contact between the Rroma and Gadje and stresses that a society is only as good as it treats its weakest members. – The report shows once again that good intentions alone are not sufficient to convey a differentiated picture of the Rroma (compare Kinderhilfe für Siebenbürgen e.V 2014, Berliner Zeitung 2014, Focus 2014).

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25.04.2014 Daily Mail confirms stereotypes about Rroma

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In its latest post, the British tabloid Daily Mail supported racist stereotypes about criminal Rroma gangs who attack tourists in Paris. Allen (2014) provides information on a group of young Rroma – how he knows about the ethnicity of the perpetrators, is completely unknown – who wanted to raid a middle-aged man at a cash machine in the centre of Paris, and were filmed by a surveillance camera. Allen further reports on the internal police writing that last week triggered a flood of press articles. The letter called for the systematic eviction of all Rroma in the sixth arrondissement, which is illegal under French law. Allen comments about this: “Charity and human rights groups were furious last week when a leaked police memo called for the ‘systematic eviction’ of Roma from the centre of the city. […] A spokesman for Charity group Catholic Help described the note as a ‘scandal’, saying that it ‘stigmatised a poor community’ and amounted to ‘racial profiling’- something which is illegal in secular France. But other Paris officials argued that Roma are behind most of the crime in the city, involving themselves in everything from aggressive begging to muggings and burglaries. Gangs of young Roma, including women and children, can regularly be seen harassing tourists. Many of the Roma beggars who congregate around cash points and banks have very young children with them, including babies. Most of them live in large shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris, but more and more are setting up new camps in central parks and squares.” Journalists such as Peter Allen still share the opinion that they spread the truth about Rroma, because they assume that reality consists only of the visible facts. The fact that a large part of the Rroma is not criminal is completely ignored in this logic. The focus is solely on the deviant behavior that is associated with ethnicity. The fact that the ethnicity of the perpetrators is anything but clear becomes obvious in Allen’s own article. He proceeds on the assumption that all perpetrators are Rroma and naturalizes this suspicion to a journalistic fact. Thus ethnic prejudices are maintained based on suppositions that are anything but hard facts.

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11.04.2014 Rroma as an enemy stereotype

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=On the occasion of the international Rroma day, numerous international newspapers report about the continuing marginalization of the Rroma minority in their countries. For Germany, Jakob (2014) notes that according to the latest research of historian Wolfgang Benz, the Rroma are ranked behind social groups such as the Jews or asylum seekers, concerning popularity. The purpose of such a popularity-scale can and should be questioned. Apart from the mirroring existing prejudices towards certain social or ethnic groups, no real benefit for combating prejudices can be drawn from this. However, this viewpoint is contradicted by Jacob, who states in reference to the study by Wolfgang Benz: “The study by Benz created on behalf of the anti-discrimination agency shows how deep prejudices about Roma and Sinti are rooted in Germany. Benz said it reassures him that the vast majority of the respondents (91 percent) consider integration services a good suggestion for a better coexistence with Sinti and Roma. 63 percent called for stronger minority rights, the study states”. That these sociological statistics will be followed by true actions, is much to be hoped. The aid programs are not devoid of  prejudices, as another part of Benz study shows: 80% of respondents are in favour of a fight against welfare abuse, 78 % speak out to take against crime among the Rroma (Protestant Press 2014). The enemy image of the Rroma is therefore anything but irrelevant, and is still deeply rooted in many peoples’ minds. As a result, many Rroma keep their identity secret. Wolfgang Benz confirms this in a radio interview, in which he addresses the invisible Rroma of Germany: “In fact, Sinti and Roma are living in Germany since a long time, completely integrated. No one recognizes them. Some of them are part of the boardrooms of large industrial companies. They pursue ordinary bourgeois professions and they do not make themselves visible. They fear discrimination. One doesn’t allow them to integrate and then one is claiming that they do not want to integrate” (Polland 2014).

The creation of an EU-fund dedicated to the Rroma, that would not have to be refinanced by the member states, as with the existing funding, is not only met with approval. Rudko Kawczynski, of the European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF), speaks out against the creation of such separate fund. This would only foster the resentments against the minority that already are considerable. Rather, an awareness of injustice among the governments in question has to be created, he states, so that they finally take decisive actions against the discrimination of the Rroma (Jacob 2014).

On the occasion of the Rroma Day, a cultural week in Berlin is held under the slogan “May we, that we are!” The program includes concerts, theatre, films and panel discussions. The culture week is organized by the Hildegard-Lagrenne-Foundation, which aims to promote education, integration and social participation of the Rroma in Germany (Dernbach 2014, rbb 2014).

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02.04.2014 “Cause commune” shows the possibility of successful integration

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The documentary “Cause commune” by Sophie Averty shows the positive example of successful integration by five immigrant Rroma families. In the municipality of Indre, in the Loire-Atlantique, citizens, politicians, and immigrants together committed for a successful integration of immigrant families. The downside of this policy was the selection of the immigrant Rroma families, with five chosen. The rest were referred to other communities. Averty sums up: “The necessary condition is a commitment on the part of citizens and politics as well as the desire of families to integrate. The first approach of the mayor was to refuse the eviction in order to avoid the application of a pass the buck policy. And that changed everything for the families. […] The mayor, who based his views on the knowledge of the community police and the citizens collective, selected five families. Today, all the men work, the women do housework and the children are enrolled in school. But there are no supports payments! Each family pays a rent, water, electricity, the canteen of the children and there are no delays” (Barbier 2014).

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28.02.2014 The invisible Kosovo-Rroma in France

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Bonnet (2014) reports on a documentary that Rroma refugees from the Kosovo film about their past. A group of Rroma from Beziers documents their escape, the horrors of war and reveals for the first time to a public their ethnic identity: “It is the first time that they speak. Because the memories still hurt and because, since their arrival in France, they have learned to behave discreetly. Fifteen years after the war in Kosovo and their flight, several Rroma families for the first time speak about the horrors they experienced. They also succeed in expressing what they have concealed out of fear of being rejected: to say that they are Rroma.” The reservations of the Rroma to hide their identity to the outside are very justified. As the media coverage about Rroma has shown, but also the statements of many French politicians, the reservations towards Rroma are still severe.

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21.02.2014 The movie “Lungone Dromença” gives Kosovo refugees in France and Germany a voice

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Delacou (2014) reports on the new documentary by the filmmakers Marie-Christine and Pierre Duchalet Gadrey. The two directors give five Rromni who fled from the war in Kosovo avoice. The filmmakers already knew a Rroma family from Kosovo, through their work for the organization Réseau éducation sans frontières (RESF). The film wants to establish a counter-image to the strongly negative loaded representation and perception of the minority by the media and the public: “By realizing our documentation, we wanted to show the true face of this community: people like everyone else with the same desires and objectives: live free, work, raise their children in peace, being accommodated decently.”  For the five eyewitnesses, the film is also a revelation of their own history and identity to the public: “They are now well integrated in France and Germany. No one knows that they are Rroma! Not even their colleagues, not even her friends. They kept their identity systematically secret, for fear of being rejected.” This film is also a call for more social tolerance and a more humane asylum policy. Although a return agreement between the countries involved exists, the effective situation of Rroma in the Kosovo is not really considered.

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07.02.2014 “Victoria” by Men Lareida

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The Swiss movie “Victoria – A Tale of Grace and Greed” by Men Lareida addresses the fate of a Hungarian prostitutes on street-walkers’ patch of the Zurich Sihlquai. The protagonist, as well as the actress that embodies her, are Roma. The director wants to give a voice to those affected, people who are normally never talked with but only about. He was made aware of the subject during train rides between Zurich and Budapest, during which he and his wife got into conversation with the prostitutes: “Therefore, during their next train ride they started to talk with the women. From now on, Anna Maros [the director’s wife] listened to them for hours and nights. Went they were driving westward, the young women were still full of energy. In the reverse direction, the atmosphere was completely different: “the women were at first surprised and then infinitely glad that someone was listening to them. They told me endlessly sad stories of violence and disrespectful treatment by the pimps, but also by clients.” The will to give a voice to marginalized people through the film is very commendable. However, it should not be forgotten that the one-sided focus on Rroma in connection with prostitution can confirm and reinforce prejudices. Those who are really neglected are the integrated, unobtrusive and therefore invisible Rroma. One should also make a movie about them once (Banz 2014).

News Switzerland

06.09.2013 Street Prostitution in Zurich

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Dammann (2013) reports on the verdict in the trial of a pimp of the Zurich street prostitution scene. According to the indictment, the man massively abused six Hungarian women have forced them into prostitution. He has now been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. The judgment once more raises the question of how the distinction between volunteer and forced prostitution is useful, since often, these concepts cannot be clearly distinguished. From a legal perspective, the term “forced prostitution”  does not exist. It is argued that structural phenomena such as migration and poverty are transformed in victim-perpetrator schemes and that the sex workers are represented as one-dimensional victims without own power to act. Many movies and books make prostitution as something that is done voluntarily although often due to poverty. Against this, one has to look at the repeatedly imposed sentences against brutal pimps, especially in the area of ​​street prostitution. Dammanns hint that these men are often Rroma who exploit their women is also absolutely to be understood in a non-cultural way. Mutual exploitation has nothing to do with culture, although some observers like to assign it to Rroma, but is the result of individual acts of amoral people.

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09.08.2013 Rroma Murders in Hungary: Four Right-Wing Extremists Sentenced to Long Prison Terms

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Odehnal (2013) reports on the judgment in the ongoing process against four right-wing radicals that has been ongoing for several years. The defendants are accused of having deliberately killed six Rroma. The judgments of the judges, three life sentences without parole and one thirteen years sentence, are not yet final because of the defence resource. Theses right wing activists, in a series of attacks, had set fire to the Rroma houses and shot at the people fleeing from the fire. Only by analyzing mobile phone data of the defendants could it be proved that they were at the times in question near the crime scenes. However, the trial does not address the dubious role of the local police. Odehnal comments: “As the German executive following neo-Nazi murders, the Hungarians first investigated feuds amongst the victims. […] In Tatarszentgyörgy the police suspected a faulty heater as a trigger of the fire, although there were shell casings at the scene everywhere.” Representatives of the Fidesz party pushed the responsibility for the lack of investigation on the incumbent Socialist Party in power at that time.

In his comments, Odehnal (2013/II) is sceptical about the social resonance of these sentences. In the Czech Republic, after a similar trial, there were increased marches of right-wing members and incitement against Rroma. Odehnal sees as a problem for the missing results of integration that the political elite of Hungary and other Eastern European states has not been held accountable for not acting against racism in their own countries. Thus, Rroma were sidelined as before, in spite of funding from foundations, the EU, and Switzerland.

Baumann (2013) adds that the victims’ relatives accused the local police of serious corruption in the investigation of the murders. They tried to cover up evidence. Even the racist motives behind these actions were not at all part of the process. The secret service failed to monitor two of the offenders until shortly before the crime. Eng (2013) adds that the perpetrators are supposed to have planned the murders after a dispute with Rroma.

The Basler Zeitung (2013) describes the sentencing more precisely: Two of the four defendants asked the court to not have to listen to the verdict. They were then led back to their cells. The judgment is only the first instance one and can be challenged in higher courts.

Ozsváth (2013) gives a voice to the families of the victims in his report. They are still stunned by the perpetrators lack of repentance and by the dysfunctional police investigation: They even contributed actively to the elimination of proofs.

Civil rights leader Aladar Horvath himself Rrom, see the court’s judgment as appropriate, but states that the crucial issues have not been discussed: the racism that motivated the killings and the objectives in connection therewith: “The sentences have been very high, and that is appropriate for the actions. Unfortunately, however, they were imposed only for simple murder motives. The indictment stated that the killers wanted to spark a civil war. They should have been charged with crimes against humanity and terrorism with the aim of genocide.” While Hungary denies its own past, as Horváth states further, racist murders are possible again. According to Horváth, Hungary’s role in World War II and the crimes of the communist dictatorship were processed insufficiently (Verseck 2013).

Kerenyi (2013) sees the sentences of the four right-wing as being just the tip of the iceberg of a total social phenomenon: According to a new poll, 80 to 85 percent of the population were “overtly or covertly racist against Roma”, 36 percent are committed explicitly to that Roma should be “separated from the rest of society,” that is, should be moved or deported to ghettos. A particular concern is that pejorative comments about Rroma belong to the current fashion educated circles. Kerenyi assessment of Culture Minister Zoltan Balog is also interesting. Balog, who held a flowering lecture on the Hungarian efforts to integrate the Rroma at the beginning of the summer at the University of Zurich, in which in spite of all the eloquence raised serious questions about the congruence of reality and his statements. Kerenyi comments: “Balog is a contradictory personality through and through. He belongs to the temperate wing of Orbán’s team, which does not prevent him to grant regularly honours to racists and anti-Semits.” Also, the condemned right-wing radicals are only a part of the perpetrators, who committed a series of assassinations of Rroma between 2008 and 2009. These offenders were up to now neither identified nor prosecuted.

Balzer (2013) spoke to the Hungarian journalist Szilvia Varró about the social backgrounds of the Rroma murders. A large part of the Hungarians, by far not only right-wing extremists, have great reservations about Rroma. Moreover, it is common to simply ignore radical or controversial events: “Racism and resentment were a problem already earlier. We Hungarians have never dealt with our past. Not with our role in the Second World War, not with the revolution of 1956 and even with the series of murders against Roma.” Most Hungarian media have not reported about the murders. Varró then started a project together with the filmmaker András B. Vágvölgyi: Actors known in Hungary were hired to retell the story of the action and the statements of the relatives. This piqued the interest of the usually apolitical tabloids of Hungary. While the reactions from the right side were understandably negative, the echo of otherwise indifferent people was positive: They started to be interested in the topic and question ethnic categorizations: What if it was her son who had been shot? The state media did not pay any attention to the movies. The above-mentioned films can be watched under the following links:

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMjVjZDx7ug

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5z9aVB0Ktc

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzc2N9MirPI

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrWahe1pCWY

  • Basler Zeitung (2013) Roma-Mörder verliessen während Urteilsbegründung den Saal. In: Basler Zeitung online vom 6.8.2013.
  • Baumann, Meret (2013) Hohe Strafen für Rechtsextremisten in Ungarn. In: NZZ online von 6.8.2013.
  • Eng, Adrian (2013) Lebenslang für Mordserie an Roma in Ungarn. In: 20 Minunten Schweiz online vom 6.8.2013.
  • Kerényi, Gábor (2013) Auch die feine Gesellschaft schimpft über die “Zigeuner”. In: Berliner Zeitung online vom 9.8.2013.
  • Odehnal, Bernhard (2013) Haft für das rassistische Quartett. In: Tagesanzeiger online vom  6.8.2013. 
  • Odehnal, Bernhard (2013/II) Ungestrafter Rassismus in der Politik. In: Tagesanzeiger online vom  7.8.2013. 
  • Ozsváth, Stephan (2013) Ermordet wie auf einer Jagd. In: Tagesschau online vom 6.8.2013.
  • Verseck, Keno (2013) Roma-Mordurteile in Ungarn: “Ein Zigeunerleben ist nicht so viel wert”. In: Spiegel online vom 6.8.2013. 
Hungary News Americas News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

19.07.2013 «Just the Wind» highlights Anti-Rroma Pogroms in Hungary

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Bence Fliegauf film “Just the Wind”, which won a Silver Bear at the 2012 Berlinale, currently runs since the 18th July of this year in German cinemas. The film explores the marginalization of Rroma by the Hungarian majority society, which in the case of the story – based on true events – led to the racist murder of several Rroma families. Rother (2013) of the FAZ interpreted the film as a plea for the right of existence of Rroma: “’Csak a szél’ is not the first film from Hungary, which deals with the fate of the Rroma or, as we say here, Cigány. While formerly the integration stood at the centre, as in one of the best known examples, in Pál Schiffer documentary movie “Gyuri Cseplö” from 1978, it seems the situation has gone so far now that movies have to defend the mere right of existence of these citizen.”

Assheuer (2013) interprets the film as an indictment of a latent state racism, which deems Rroma to be outside of the law and so they deliver into the hands of racist mobs. For these economically-racists arguments, Rroma are just useless bodies that do not contribute to the increase of national wealth: “The moment where the state singles Rroma out of the universe of civil rights, he declares them to be outlaws – he delivers them to the hatred of the society allows them to be shot as Misu, the errant pig, in the forest. […] Fascism therefore does not mean that the state built camps. It means that it takes the Rroma the right to have rights, and leaves them to the mob.”

Taszman (2013) emphasizes that the film became a political issue prior to its presentation at the Berlin Film Festival. The Hungarian Ministry of Public Administration and Justice, and the Secretariat of State for social integration issued a leaflet handed out to journalist, which represented the attitude of the Hungarian society and the Hungarian state towards Rroma as being open-minded. The letter repeatedly stressed the massive efforts of the Hungarian government made to successfully integrate Rroma.

Schnelle (2013) describes the film as an allegory about the omnipresent fear of something that is not visible. The invisible in this case is represented by the sudden arrival of the murderers, which, while the Rroma family indeed suspects will happen, cannot be articulated exactly. The father of the family now dwells in Canada, which one would like to follow on as soon as possible. Schnelle notes: “Fliegauf hardly tells of actual events. It is more of a film centred quite directly on fear. The family, threatened by racist terror and abandoned by a silent majority, is trying to survive the day after the last attack. And in the evening, as darkness falls over the village, one moves in bed together even more closely than usual.”

Krings (2013) describes the film as an oppressive portrait of repressed social reality: “Bence Fliegauf created a tremendously haunting film with “Just the Wind”, a laconic drama that accuses simply by showing a social reality that is often overlooked in Europe. Of course, such a film is no pleasure, though he builds tension like only a few thriller can. It is the cold power of horror. It is also about what Europe has to hide.”

Peitz (2013) sees the film as a portrait of people who were declared outlaws and must constantly reckon with death. In this “Tropic of Fear,” as it was called by the jury of the Berlinale, only extreme restraint and going for invisibility offers some protection: “[The film] is a snapshot from the lives of vulnerable people, almost unbearable du to fear. Bence Fliegauf glossed over nothing, many a Rrom in the film breaks his back with had work , some are just broken existences. But you can see the causes of the destruction, can feel the pogrom atmosphere with one’s hands. “There is no political film in Hungary, no more socially committed cinema” the director stated in a recent interview, self-critical of his own profession.”

Rebhandl (2013) emphasizes that the film genuinely shows the transition between nature and civilization, institutions, and vulnerability and tries to show, in which social atmosphere  ideological murders can happen: “A few weeks ago, a news went through the press that the Hungarian case against four men who allegedly killed six Roma in 2008 and 2009 is not progressing. They are still sitting in custody and whether there will be a process is unclear. “Just the Wind” leads a compelling indictment in a process that goes far beyond juridical concerns.”

Sources:

  • Assheuer, Thomas (2013) Und am Abend bist du tot. In: Die Zeit online vom 18.7.2013.
  • Krings, Dorothee (2013) eklemmendes Roma-Drama “Just the Wind”. In: RP online vom 18.7.2013.
  • Peitz, Christiane (2013) Menschenjagd als Spielfilmthema. In: Der Tagesspiegel online vom 17.7.2013.
  • Rebhandl, Bert (2013) In der Hitze des Tages. In: TAZ online vom 18.7.2013.
  • Rother, Hans-Jörg (2013) Der lange Lauf dieses Tages. In: Frankurter Allgemeine Zeitung online vom 18.7.2013.
  • Schnelle, Josef (2013) Brillantes Gesellschaftsporträt: Benedek Fliegaufs Kinofilm “Just the Wind” über Roma in Ungarn. In: Deutschlandfunk online vom 18.7.2013.
  • Taszman, Jörg (2013) Ungarns Angst vor der eigenen Realität. In: Die Welt online vom 18.7.2013. 
Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

07.06.2013 Rroma Debate in Germany

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The Bremen SPD politician Martin Koroll lost his membership rights in the SPD for the coming two years. On his website, in an opinion on his political goals, Koroll published xenophobic statements against Rroma. The judgment was pronounced by the Social Democratic Party’s arbitration committee. Koroll had proclaimed that Rroma live socially and intellectually “in the Middle Ages”, in an “age-old patriarchal society” in which men have “no inhibitions to send the children to work instead to school, their break their wives’ teeth and treat themselves to steel teeth [protheses].” Many of the young Rroma men, according to Koroll, “melt their brains by sniffing adhesives vapours” (Zier 2013). Koroll’s opinions were since a long time on his website, but only became a public topic after his entry into the Bremen state parliament. The SPD distanced himself decidedly from Koroll’s statements and expressly emphasized that these were his views and not those of the SPD. Therefore, procedure for his expulsion from the party was submitted and remains pending. The Young Socialists of Germany commented on the non-exclusion of Koroll as a non-logical decision. Koroll has “made populist slogans socially acceptable.” Koroll commented on the measures against him as a being “educationally and politically misplaced” (Zier 2013).

Frenzel (2013) provides information on the trip of the Neuköln Education Councillor Franczisca Giffey to Romania. Giffey travelled to Romania to meet with interest groups and politicians in order to assess the future development of the migration issues between the two countries. In her interview with the Daily Mirror, the Education Councillor confirmed the glaring poverty gap between Germany and Romania and the social disintegration facing the Rroma. She also noted glaring contradictions between statements by government politicians and those of NGOs. The state politicians stressed that there would be no significant increase in migration flows due to the persons agreement with the EU. The representatives of NGOs noted that there was no sign of a speedy improvement of the economic situation in the country, and that therefore, one should expect many poverty refugees in the future. With regard to life in both countries, Giffey sees a clear difference in terms of the education in Germany, but not in terms of housing situation. In this regard Rroma in Romania often fare better. The Education Councillor wants in particular to ensure that immigrant Rroma do not become welfare cases. The awareness that self-initiative is required needs to be promoted. The controversial issue in the debate in Germany, namely the extent the predicted immigration, is not discussed in the interview.

Barthels (2013) reported on the presentation series “Cineromani – Empowering Roma Filmmakers” in  the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin (CHB). To mark the event, current as well as older cinematic works on the life of Rroma are shown. They cover a broad spectrum ranging from self and external views of the Rroma, to religious and sexual identity and to questions the right to stay and to forced deportations. The presentation series can also criticized its renewed exclusion of the Biennale.

Sources:

  • Barthels, Inga (2013) Blicke hinter das Klischee. In: Die TAZ vom 4.6.2013.
  • Frenzel, Veronica (2013) „Es werden weiterhin Roma kommen“. In: Der Tagesspiegel vom 2.6.2013. 
  • Zier, Jan (2013) Ab in die Ecke, Genosse! In: Die TAZ vom 3.6.2013. 
Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

31.05.2013 Rroma in the Czech Republic: Anti-Rroma Pogroms in Duchvok

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Neumann (2013) reports about an anti-Rroma rally in Duchvoc, in the North Bohemian part of the Czech Republic. After a Czech couple was attacked by a group of Rroma, around 800 people protested against the Rroma in the Republic. According to Neumann, the pogrom is reminiscent of riots that happened in the same place two years ago. At that time a dispute between adolescents led to massive violence that could not be prevented by the authorities. Neumann assesses the situation as follows: “Experts have repeatedly pointed out that the situation since the events in Zipfel has not significantly changed. At any time, in any place in the Czech Republic, widespread antipathy can erupt into open violence against Roma. Conversely, long-term unemployment and the getthoisation of life for Rroma make for an uncontrollable social powder keg.” He looks in particular the risk of renewed exploitation of this situation by extreme right-wing groups.

Zimmermann (2013) provides information on Czech students aged 12 to 15 years views on ethnic diversity. The company Scio made a study of the students’ behaviour and tested it amongst other with the game “Multipolis”, which through role-plays allows insight into the situation of other ethnic groups. The conclusion of the study was sobering: A third of the students surveyed do not want to be friends with a Rrom. About 40 percent would even actively participate in a protest march against Roma. Among other reasons, the study criticized the reductionist views which are presented to children in their own families, in the media and in school. But it also points out to how deeply rooted social values ​​and attitudes are, and what weight social conformity has when it comes to questions of acceptance. A sobering finding. Zimmermann commented: “Students could also determine how they imagined an ideal friend. They were able to choose from a series of images and descriptions. The result was that most of the youth decided against people with a different skin colour, against overweight and against nerds. Therefore, the most important factor to respondents was as little deviation from the norm.”

Kachlíkova (2013) reported on the Khamoro Rroma festival in Prague. The festival focuses on musical entertainment, but also shows movies and organises discussion events on social issues such as active integration. Successfully integrated Rroma are to offer the younger generation insight in their work in national and international institution and thus motivate them for their own future.

Sources:

  • Kachlíková, Markéta (2013) Roma-Festival „ Khamoro“ feiert 15. Geburtstag. In: Radio Praha vom 28.5.2013.
  • Neumann, Steffen (2013) Angst vor Ausschreitungen gegen Roma. In: Sächsische Zeitung vom 31.5.2013.
  • Zimmermann, Marco (2013) Starke Abneigung gegen Roma bei tschechischen Schülern. In: Radio Praha vom 31.5.2013.  
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17.05.2013 Rroma in Italy

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The documentary “Lashi Vita” tells the story of the origin of pogroms against Rroma in Italy which started in early 2007. That year, an Italian woman was murdered by a Rrom, leading to a wave of xenophobia and racially motivated violence. The documentary goes to the roots of racial prejudice and examines the gray area between human rights, legislation, and social practice as lived in human interactions. The State’s practice practise of enclosed Rroma camps with systematic monitoring and categorising of the inmates shocks, and can be qualified in terms of Orwellian state surveillance state of alien bodies. (Mundi Romani 2008)

Source:

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17.05.2013 Documentary about the Self-View of the Serbian Rroma

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Majic (2013) reports on the work of Lidija Mirkovic, a documentary filmmaker who wants to present through her work a picture of the Rroma beyond certain foreign stereotypes. Mirkovic has interviewed countless Rroma in months of work and documented their everyday lives. She receives regular visits from journalists from Germany who are interested in her work. Usually she asks them two questions. First, what he or she wants to know about the slums and secondly, what he or she actually knows himself about Rroma. With this second question Mirkovic goes to the core of the issue. Her intention is to create new images that can compete with the entrenched stereotypes. Besides stereotypes, the essence of the slums lies at centre of the film “slumdogs”. Majic states: “What in the West is either glorified or branded a part of gypsy culture, is actually the result of unbearable misery. This reality cannot be banished away from one’s own doorstep, by simply declaring its consequences to be the nature of a particular ethnic group.” The film critically examines this ethnicisation of poverty as a self-chosen way of life, and take a look into the slums, not in a third world countries, but the middle of Europe.

Source:

  • Majic, Danijel (2013) Die Slums in der Mitte Europas. In: Frankfurter Rundschau vom 13.5.2013. 
Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Spain

19.04.2013 Silence about one’s Origins

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Nadine Michollek (2013) from the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger reported on the many young Rroma in Germany who conceal their origins. Reasons for this concealment are deeply rooted in the prejudices of the majority towards Rroma, which make it all but impossible to speak about one’s origins. Many fear the loss of jobs, friends or customers. For Michollek, the negative perceptions and some romanticized stereotypes come from movies, operas, and especially media reports. Michollek further exposes the problem of well integrated and of marginalized Rroma. A first group of Rroma arrived already 600 years ago in Germany. The Sinti make most of their descendants. Already during the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and later under the Nazis, they were victims of exclusionary policies. Michollek sees the Sinti as excluded from the labour market whereas immigrants from the 1960s arriving from Yugoslavia, Spain, or Turkey, are described as successfully integrated in the labour market, a statement that must be questioned. Sinti tend to demarcate themselves from newer immigrants which speaks against this statement. The testimony of a young Rromni who explains the problem of silence as follows should provoke some thinking:

Sometimes I’m worried about my apprenticeship. At my workplace, I would not tell anyone that I’m a Gypsy woman. I was afraid that if something is missing, I would be made responsible, that people say, maybe it was so, that is indeed one of those. […] There are just too many prejudices, for example, that we steal and lie. My boyfriend and my best friend know. But many of my friends have spoken in front of me negatively on Roma and Sinti, and I just do not want them to think wrong about me.

Source:

  • Michollek, Nadine (2011) Schweigen über die Herkunft. In: Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger vom 27.10.2011. 
Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

19.04.2013 The History of Sufferings of Sinti and Roma

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Stankiewitz (2013) reports on the still poorly acknowledged destruction of Rroma under National Socialism. In the centre he presents the now eighty years old Hugo Höllenreiner, who is one of the few survivors of this crime of the State. Speaking at a memorial in the Munich town hall, Höllenreiner calls the horrors of the past back to life. About half a million Rroma were victims of systematic extermination policies of the National Socialists. Food for thoughts is the fact that theses crimes were only very insufficiently investigated. Stankiewitz emphasizes the often misinterpreted fact that the apparent wandering of the Rroma is not a willed way of life, but rather is the result from the fact that they were not allowed to settle anywhere. Forced to constantly wander, the stereotype of the vagabond Rroma was created. He notes:

It is certain in any case that the immigrant groups and extended families – like the Jews – were not allowed to settle, and he could only exercise certain professions. Thus, the stereotypes of the eternally wandering, nomadic, asocial, or the “free, funny gypsy life” were created. A kitschy representation in art, literature, film and operetta (“The Gypsy Baron”) which is maintained to this day.

At the end of the 19th Century, a systematic monitoring service on Rroma was established. The former police director Alfred Dillmann even set up a “Gypsy Police”, which was to be dedicated on the “containment of dangerous vagrancy”. In inflammatory articles published in the March 1912, “The Gypsy plague”, Rroma were accused of introducing epidemics and of terrorist activities. In Bavaria, in 1926, the “Gypsy and work-avoiders” laws, which among other things criminalised the “travel in hordes” were introduced. Besides this, however, there were always well integrated Rroma who were valued and respected in their professions,   mostly artisanal ones.

With the rise of the Nazis, the systematic criminalization of the Rroma in Germany began. Eugenicists such as Josef Mengele measured the physiognomy of members of the Rroma and presented abstruse theories of racial inferiority and relationships between physique and behaviour. Rroma were identified black triangles, the Rroma equivalent of the Jewish star,  and branded as anti-social and deported to concentration camps. After the war reparation were not paid, as it was claimed that no racial persecution had existed. Databases on travellers were continued well after the War and only disbanded in the 1970s. Stankiewitz concludes:

After the war, the persecuted Sinti and Roma had no political advocates in contrast to other groups of victims. The Höllreiner family, those who survived, were never compensated for their stolen property and for the time in camps. A reparation was out of the question after the Federal Court in 1956 decided that deportations of Rroma were not a racial persecution, but a “crime-preventive measure”.

Source:

  • Stankiewitz, Karl (2013) Es begann in Bayern. Vom Leidensweg der Sinti und Roma. In: Kulturvollzug vom 15.4.2013. 
Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

05.04.2013 Rroma in Hungary

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The film “Csak a szél” (Just the Wind) by Bence Fliegauf thematises the increasing racism against Rroma in Hungary, why does not shy at physical violence. At the centre of the movie is a real series of attacks that occured between 2008 and 2009 and which killed 55 Rroma. Right-wing extremists set fire to Rroma houses at night and shot the Rroma fleeing from the fire. The protagonists in the film are the children of a Rroma family and each deals differently with the rampant hatred. While the sister tries to ignore the daily taunts and normally goes to school, the brother stays away from school and remains holed up in a hideout. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival 2012 and is running this week in the Salzburg cinemas.

Newsat (2013) reported on the plans of Hungarian nightclubs to introduce a 10% quota for minorities such as the Rroma. The Office for National and Ethnic Minorities is undertaking a referendum against this racist law project.

Source:

  • Newsat (2013) Roma-Quoten in Lokalen? In: Newsat vom 31.3.2013.
  • Miedl, Magdalena (2013) „Just the Wind“: Ungarns Roma in Angst vor Rassisten. In: Salzburger Nachrichten vom 3.4.2013.
Bosnia News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

15.02.2013 An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker

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Danis Tanovic’s entry in this year’s Berlinale tells the true story of a Rroma family from Bosnia-Herzegovina, which plays itself the movie. The mother was pregnant, had a miscarriage and was subsequently not properly treated due to lack of health insurance. Only on the third attempt did she get help. The husband earns a modest income by finding and selling scrap iron. Verena Lueken sees the film as a portrait of social cohesion in a Rroma ghetto that is increasingly being tested.

Source:

  • Lueken, Verena (2013) Beilhiebe in Wagentüren. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung vom 14.2.2013.
Hungary News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

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Jan Jirat from the WOZ rites about nationalist ideologies among right-wing Hungarians and there impacts on minorities like the Rroma. According to his interview partner Magdalena Marsovszky, a local social scientist, one has to grasp the right wing ideologies as a result of a historical trauma: the separation of Hungary after the end of the First World War and the downfall of Austria-Hungary. Subsequently, a nationalist identity of the Magyars, going back to the origins of Austria-Hungary, was constructed, apparently consisting of shared cultural values and blood ties. Political scientist E. J. Hobsbawm called this the “Invention of Tradition”, the structuring of history in favor of an nationalist identity. – Marsovszky is described to perceive the ideology among nationalists as one of ethnic closing and separation, rather than an opening towards a more diverse, tolerant society.

The ascription of criminality as a part of Rroma identity has to be understood in this context of thinking in ethnic-nationalist categories, which his highly racist and problematic. A further aspect is the construction of Magyar identity in relation to the Rroma. The Rroma are misused to structure the ethnic self-perception in relation and against them. The spread of the so called “Antiziganism” combined with the election of Fidesz representatives has lead to an increase in discrimination and violence against Rroma. The civil defense militia of the Jobbik party – the Hungarian guard – has regularly attacked Rroma during the last years, threatening and even killing Rroma in areas designated as Gypsy habitats.

According to the documentary filmmaker Adam Cisllag, Hungary is in a state of social disrupt, a state of decline of social solidarity, and open racism against Rroma that can be witnessed through all realms of society. As reason for this increased racisms he names the growing poverty amongst the Hungarian Middle class.

Jirat article is well researched and eloquently written. But one has to criticize his unbalanced portrayal of the topic. When reading the article, one gets the impression that a vital part of Hungarians are racists and most Rroma live a life hopelessness and despair and are part of pointless employment programs.

Source:

  • Jirat, Jan (2013) Faschismus mit adretter Frisur. In: WOZ vom 7.2.2013.
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