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Abstract
This article presents several projects, initiated during the first decade of the twenty-first century, that aim to make the history of the genocide of the Roma more known within the educational field. Some general challenges we face in teaching about the history of a group that is both the largest minority in Europe and, according to the European Commission, the most marginalized one, are discussed. We especially highlight the Council of Europe’s initiative entitled ‘Fact Sheets on Roma History,’ the work of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and the development of two educational websites, both launched in 2012.
Keywords:
Acknowledgement
I would like to acknowledge the role that Jef Helmer and Peter Jorna had in organizing and taking part in some of the meetings in which the educational projects presented here were discussed and also thank them and Doyle Stevick for their valuable comments on this article.
Notes
This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Erratum (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14675986.2013.810966)
1.The poem ‘Auschwitz’ by the Italian Roma poet is carved on the ridge of the pond in German, English, and Romanes.
2.See for the struggle of recognition and the role played by the Central Council of the German Sinti and Roma in getting the Memorial in Berlin built: www.sintiundroma.de/en and Kapralski, Sławomir, Politics, Remembrance,Future: The Roma Movement In The 65st Century http://dialog-pheniben.pl/images/stories/pdf/dialog_06–2012_quarterly-magazine-the-Association-of-the-Roma-in-Poland.pdfKapralski, Sławomir: ‘Rituals of Memory in Constructing Eastern European Roma Identity’. In: ‘The Role of the Romanies. Images and Self-Images of Romanies/Gypsies’ in European Cultures’. Ed. Nicholas Saul and Susan Tebbutt. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2003. For a short film on the memorial and its completion see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt8wVtOeJ78.
3.The Anne Frank House was a partner in three projects (Requiem for Auschwitz/International Conference, the digital exhibition ‘The Forgotten genocide’ and ‘Teaching materials on the Fate of the Roma during the Holocaust’. I co-organized and chaired several meetings linked to these projects and advised mostly on pedagogical issues.
4.The website www.romagenocide.org aims to provide an overview of the many projects taking place across Europe.
5.Methodenhandbuch zum Thema Antiziganismus, see www.kaubstrasse.de (not in English).
6.For more information: www.thebha.org.uk/longroads.
7.See: www.gypsyfestival.nl.
8.The program ‘Holocaust Education in European Perspective’ was organized by the Anne Frank House and the State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau 2010–2013. The meeting with the Roma survivor was organized by Johanna Talewizc from the The Roma People Association in Poland. Edward Paczkowski’s testimony is available on DVD.
9.In French ‘Tsigane’ and in Spain ‘Gitans’ are the terms used by Roma organizations.
10.There is an interesting parallel to the discussion among historians and educators on the use of the terms Holocaust, Shoah, or Churban for the genocide of the Jews of Europe. See for an interesting review of the debate on the role of memorialization of the genocide of the Roma: Huub van Baar. The European Roma. Chapter 8, The European Memory Problem Revisited: Romani Memory beyond Amnesia, 2011.
11.Fact sheets on Roma history, see: www.romagenocide.org or www.romafacts.uni-graz.at/ available in Albanian, English, French, German, Romani, Serbian, and Swedish.
12.At the time it was still the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance (ITF). The name was changed in 2013. Throughout this, article I will refer to the new name: IHRA.
13.From the start of this group, I have been involved in getting the genocide of the Roma acknowledged as an important topic within the IHRA and have received the full support for this from the head of the Dutch delegation.
14.Both statements can be found in full on the IHRA website: www.holocausttaskforce.org/communications.
15.For information on the performances in Amsterdam, Tilburg, Prague, Budapest, Frankfurt am Main, Cracow, and Berlin and on the whole project see: www.requiemforauschwitz.eu.
16.The conference was organized within a series of events that were part of the ‘Requiem for Auschwitz’ project, in cooperation with the Netherlands Institute of War Documentation (NIOD), the Anne Frank House, and the Dutch Committee for the 4th and 5th May.
17.For a full report of the conference ‘The Roma between Past and Present; Reflections upon Genocide, Recognition and the Resurgence of Extremism and Anti-gypsyism’: www.requiemforauschwitz.eu/conference The webpages of Huub van Baar at the University of Amsterdam offer an extensive overview of Roma organizations.
18.The website was developed in cooperation with experts from the University of Applied Sciences Graz (Austria), the Museum of Romani Culture Brno (Czech Republic), the Documentation and Cultural Centre of the German Sinti and Roma, the Anne Frank House (the Netherlands) and the National Socialist Documentation Centre of the City of Cologne (Germany). It is part of the larger ‘Requiem for Auschwitz’ project.
19.The first meeting took part during the International Conference/11th Austrian Central Seminar: The Genocide of the Roma and Sinti. New Teaching Materials, Eisenstadt, 8. – 10. November 2012 hosted by the Austrian Ministry of Education and Erinnern.at. The second meeting, to be held in November 2013 will be hosted by the Museum of Romani Culture in Brno, Czech Republic.
20.The workshops were held at a conference organized by the Croatian Education and Teacher Training Agency: Teaching about the Holocaust and the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity, Zagreb 27 – 30 January 2013. Loranda Miletić is an inspector of history education and a member of the Croatian delegation to the IHRA.