The official statement of the Central Council of the German Sinti and Roma on August 2nd.
The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma issued a statement saying that they are deeply concerned by the increase of antisemitism and crimes and attacks against Jews in Germany.
They are right.
Romani Rose commented in detail about the conflict between the Heidelberg-based Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the federal association founded two years ago. The dispute led to the planned state treaty and the financing of the conversion and new construction of the Documentation Centre for German Sinti and Roma being put on hold. Romani Rose calls on the federal government to face up to its responsibilities and support the Central Council’s commitment rather than blocking it.
The architect Daniel Libeskind was awarded the European Sinti and Roma Civil Rights Prize.
The head of the German Railways visited the Sinti and Roma Documentation centre. He stated there is no place in the railways for antitziganism.
English reports on the first report for racism against Roma in Germany.
The first report issued by the new responsible for antigypsyism in Germany on racist acts against Roma in Germany is shocking. More than 600 cases are recorded within a year, and, what is worse, it often involves the state.
In the context of the commemoration of the 2nd of August, Romani Rose called the European Union to outlaw anti-Roma racism alongside antisemitism.
Sinti and Roma have been recognized as an autochthonous ethnic group in Austria for 30 years. At a celebratory event in Parliament, the chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, acknowledged the progress made towards equality for the minority, but at the same time warned against anti-Semitism becoming stronger again.
The chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani, praised Brandenburg as exemplary with regard to its minority policy. “By making the fight against antiziganism a state goal, the state government is showing its responsibility to history and outlawing antiziganism as well as antisemitism,” said Rose on Tuesday after a conversation with Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD). “It sets an exemplary signal for our democratic constitutional state.”
The German Grimme Prize is considered the most important prize for German TV. The winners have been known for a while, but they only now received their prizes. In the “Information & Culture” category, Peter Nestler was honoured for his documentary film about the injustice against German Sinti and Roma families. He tells of Romani Rose’s family, their resistance and their insistence on justice (ZDF/3sat, 112 minutes).
The chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, has called for more civil courage against racism. “We are experiencing again that people in the crisis are looking for scapegoats,” Rose explained on Monday at the start of the International Weeks Against Racism in Schwerin. “But racism only comes into play when people watch and don’t contradict,” said Rose, referring to this year’s motto “Get involved.”
Munich Archbishop Cardinal Reinhard Marx wants to conduct a review of the historical responsibility of the Catholic Church for the persecution of the Sinti and Rom during the Nazi. Marx visited the documentation and cultural centre of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.
The visit also dealt in particular with the role of the then Archbishop of Munich, Cardinal Michael Faulhaber (1869-1952) and his attitude towards Sinti and Roma.
The movie “Injustice and Resistance” about Romani Rose and the Sinti and Roma civil right movement will be shown in London in the Goethe Institute on January 27th.
With the so-called Auschwitz Decree issues 80 years ago, the Nazi regime ordered the deportation of Sinti and Roma from all over Europe to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp 80 years ago. Hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma fell victim to the genocide.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth and the chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, commemorated the Sinti and Roma murdered by the National Socialists at the Sachsenhausen Memorial on Thursday.
The German Conference of Ministers of Education, together with the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and the Alliance for Solidarity with the Sinti and Roma of Europe, has passed a joint declaration on teaching the past and present of Sinti and Roma in schools.
With this declaration, the three participants want to work towards schools intensifying their involvement with the past and present of the Sinti and Roma in the classroom and in extracurricular activities. In a special way, as in teacher training, awareness of the topic of antigypsyism should be raised.
Romani Rose, the chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma is a new member of the International Auschwitz Council. The Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki appointed him to the committee. The Council advises the Polish government on all matters relating to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial. Other members include Yad Vashem Chairman Dayan and World Jewish Congress President Lauder. Rose warned that nationalists and right-wing extremists in many European countries were trying to deny and relativize the crimes of the Holocaust against six million Jews and 500,000 Sinti and Roma. Every form of Holocaust denial and falsification of history must be opposed. Education programs specifically for young people at historical sites of persecution and extermination are important “to counteract anti-Semitism, anti-Gypsyism and racism in our societies,” Rose explained.
The movie “Injustice and Resistance” (Germany/Austria 2022, 113 minutes) by Peter Nestler received the 3sat Documentary Film Award, endowed with 6000 euros, for the best German-language documentary at the 46th Duisburg Film Week.
In Peter Nestler’s film, civil rights activist Romani Rose talks about his family history and his experiences. As early as 1970 Nestler shot “Att vara zigenare” (“To be a gypsy”) for Swedish television. Back then it was the first film that didn’t talk about the minority, but rather let the people themselves have their say. 52 years later, Nestler shows how stubbornly prejudices and enemy stereotypes have persisted.
The German Federal Government granted 25 million euros for the planned conversion and new construction of the Documentation Centre of German Sinti and Roma in Heidelberg. This was decided by the Budget Committee of the Bundestag. The total cost of the project is estimated at 50 million, so half of it is already covered. With this promise, further steps can now be taken, according to the chairman of the Federal Association of German Sinti and Roma Romani Rose. The first draft by the architectural office “Bez und Kock” is now to be further developed. This had already triggered a debate in the summer of 2021 because some residents of the old town were bothered by the windowless facade. The state of Baden-Württemberg had also promised funding for the project. Romani Rose would now like to speak to the state government promptly about the amount of the grant.
Romani Rose, the Chairman of the Central Council stated that Sinti and Roma influenced Europe’s music and that when people talk about European culture, Sinti and Roma are often easily forgotten. He would therefore like to open a museum as well as a permanent exhibition in the long term.
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