Ceremonial event in the meeting room of the National Council with representatives of the Roma and Sinti ethnic group
Vienna (PK) – The already traditional event for International Roma Day took place in Parliament on Monday afternoon under the title “ROMNJAKraft.Sor Remembrance – Change – Awakening”. This year the important role of Roma women in the development of the ethnic group was highlighted. In particular, education and empowerment were highlighted as important factors for further strengthening the rights of Roma women. The second focus of the event was on the commemoration of the Porajmos, the genocide of the European Roma/Romnja and Sinti/Sintizze during the National Socialist era.
Sobotka: The event is a sign of solidarity with the ethnic group
In his opening words, National Council President Wolfgang Sobotka stated that the Austrian Parliament supports the Austrian ethnic groups in many ways beyond the legal framework for ethnic group work. It strives to make them visible, to give them a voice and to show signs of solidarity. Solidarity with the Roma and Sinti:zze is expressed through today’s event, which fortunately this year could take place on April 8th, International Roma Day.
Sobotka recalled that the Roma community is the largest minority group in Europe. According to the President of the National Council, the challenges that this ethnic group faces can only be overcome through European solidarity. Although some things have already been achieved, many questions still remain unanswered.
The festival emphasizes the strength of the Roma community, but also serves to remember and commemorate. Sobotka cited support for a monument to the Austrian Sint:izze and Rom:nja who were murdered during the Nazi era as one of the Austrian Parliament’s contributions to making the history of the ethnic group part of the Austrian memorial culture. The decision to make August 2nd a memorial day for the Porajmos is also an important signal.
Raab: It’s important to bring women’s initiatives to the fore
As Minister for Women’s Affairs, she is particularly pleased that the event is taking the opportunity to highlight exemplary initiatives for the empowerment of Roma and Sintizze people, said Federal Minister Susanne Raab in her welcoming remarks. She can happily say that the work of ethnic groups in Austria as a whole has made a lot of progress in recent years. She is particularly proud that the proportion of programs in the ethnic group languages on the ORF has been increased and that it has succeeded in establishing media in Romani. But the work is far from over, emphasized Raab. Equality and the chance for a self-determined life are concerns for all members of the ethnic group and especially for women.
Horvath: Strengthening women from the ethnic group should not remain lip service
Manuela Horvath, a member of the Roma Minority Advisory Council in the Federal Chancellery, contributed her thoughts on a central theme of the event, the empowerment of women in the ethnic group. It was particularly important to her that the issue of empowering women from the Roma ethnic group should not be given lip service. From their point of view, the ethnic group advisory council must also set a good example in its work. Horvath remembered three pioneers whose work laid important foundations for the recognition of the Roma and Sinti as an autochthonous ethnic group in Austria. Horvath named the painter and writer Ceija Stojka, the Linz Sinti activist Rosa Gitta Martl and the early activist for the rights of the Burgenland Roma, Susanne Baranyai.
Access to education as a prerequisite for empowerment
A panel discussion entitled “Change and Awakening” presented best practice examples from the lives of Roma. It became clear from the speeches that education is a key to success in life, but that children of this ethnic group in particular are faced with numerous hurdles. It also became clear that prejudices of the majority of society are still a significant factor. The tenor of the discussion was that a fundamental change must take place in the education system.
Csilla Höfler reported on the experiences of Caritas Steiermark’s EMRO project, which primarily supports children’s schooling. The importance of a holistic approach that includes the entire family is shown again and again to be essential.
Žaklina Radosavljević, chairwoman of Vivaro-Viva Romnja, emphasized the importance of a low-threshold offer for Roma women and especially for migrant women. The special thing about the association’s work is that it offers its workshops in Romani and with parallel childcare. This makes it possible to provide information to women who, for linguistic and social reasons, are often isolated within their own group and have no network to fall back on. By building trust, it is also possible to address taboo topics, such as sexual violence or forced marriages.
Tina Friedreich confirmed from her experiences as a worker in Roma projects at Caritas Graz the importance of language in building trust and enabling people to talk about their problems. It should not be overlooked that the ethnic group is very inhomogeneous. Racism is still a problem in majority society.
Alysea Nardai, a young Roma activist and elementary school teacher in training from Oberwart, confirmed from her own experience that racism against Roma children could still be experienced in the school system in the recent past. One consequence was that the minority language was not passed on to the next generation. From her point of view, it is therefore important that the kindergarten conveys the Roma culture in a positive way. As a representative of the ethnic group, she sees a special task here.
DERLA: Creating a digital memory landscape
Historian Herbert Brettl spoke on the topic of “Remembrance: Commemorating the Porajmos using the example of DERLA Burgenland”. He is an employee of ERINNERN:AT, the program for teaching and learning about National Socialism and the Holocaust of the OeAD, Austria’s agency for education and internationalization. The genocide of the Roma and Sinti is the main topic of ERINNERN:AT this year.
Porajmos means “devouring” in Romani and describes the genocide of Roma and Sinti during the Nazi era. The DERLA project is an Austria-wide “digital memory landscape” for location-based and media-supported learning both in digital space and on site. This interdisciplinary documentation and communication project, which is continually being expanded, provides a critical examination of National Socialism. Memories of the victims and places of Nazi terror are documented. The four central elements of the project include the interactive map of memory, the archive of names, paths of memory as digital tours and educational work in schools to develop an awareness of history, says Brettl.
So far, 242 commemorative signs – including monuments and memorial plaques – have been erected in Burgenland. Of these, 28 characters are specifically dedicated to the genocide of Roma and Sinti. For decades they were not recognized as victims of National Socialism, said Brettl. Most of the commemorative signs were therefore only realized in the last ten years. There are currently good discussions about erecting further memorial signs, which are currently still missing in many communities. In 1937 there were around 8,447 Roma and Romnja in Burgenland, of whom only around 500 survived the following war years.
Panel discussion with representatives from ÖVP, SPÖ, Greens and NEOS
At the subsequent panel discussion with moderator Barbara Karlich, representatives from all parliamentary groups took the floor. The FPÖ representative had to cancel her participation in the event for health reasons.
The genocide of the Roma and Sinti was dealt with very late or not at all, said Nikolaus Berlakovich (ÖVP). It is important to deal with the past and look to the future. You shouldn’t stop or get tired of continuing to work. It is important to create awareness and thus change thinking. A working group is currently working on the implementation of a national memorial for Roma and Sinti in Vienna, said Berlakovich.
Genocide means terrible suffering and the destruction of a culture, reminded Harald Troch (SPÖ). In the decades after the Second World War, Roma were confronted with many forms of discrimination, from which children particularly suffered. Learning in common schools is therefore central, with the languages of the ethnic groups playing a central role. The languages of the ethnic groups should not only be taught as second languages, but should also be used in other subjects. The music of the ethnic groups should also be reflected in the mainstream school system, demanded Troch.
Education alone cannot combat racism. But education helps ensure that there are people on the other side who can defend themselves against racism, said Eva Blimlinger (Greens). She also spoke out in favor of strengthening the rights of the minority groups and, in this sense, called for not only hearing but also “clear co-determination rights” for minority advisory councils. She is counting on this to happen in the next legislative period, said Blimlinger. In addition, the next board of trustees of the National Fund should push ahead with the construction of the memorial already mentioned. This will be built on Schmerlingplatz in Vienna, and there is an agreement on this, said Blimlinger.
The question must be discussed as to whether all ethnic groups should be given “more power,” emphasized Michael Bernhard (NEOS) and suggested, for example, the establishment of an ethnic group committee in parliament. The representatives of the ethnic groups must be empowered to make decisions themselves, and new structures are needed in the education system with a view to promoting the ethnic groups, said Bernhard.
The Leon Berger Band from Oberwart provided the musical accompaniment to the festive event with Roma music. (End) bea/sox
NOTE: NOTE: Photos about this event can be found in Parliament web portal.
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