Racism 12

We Roma and Sinti are the flowers of this earth.
You can crush us,
we can be ripped out of the ground, we can be gassed,
you can burn us
one can kill us –
but like the flowers, we keep coming back (…).

Projekt Kulturelles Erbe. Tradition mit Zukunft (2007): Roma und Sinti. Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. HAK International Klagenfurt.

Karl Stojka (1931 – 2003) was an Austrian survivor of the Porajmos (genocide of Romn:ja during National Socialism). After surviving the concentration camps, Karl Stojka became an artist and author.

Despite their long history in Germany, attempts have been made to exclude, suppress and deport Sint:ezza and Romn:ja from social life here over the centuries. This is still the case today if one considers the deportation of Sint:ezza and Romn:ja to so-called safe European countries of origin. Despite the discrimination and persecution they have experienced,Sint:ezza and Romn:ja organise and resist. In Germany, there are numerous clubs and associations organised by Sint:ezza and Romn:ja that work on empowerment, raising awareness of racism, documentation and political participation. Stojka's ancestors lived in what is now Austria for an estimated 300 years before many of his family members, including his father and brother, were murdered in the concentration camps. Stojka himself survived the Porajmos and later began to paint. In his paintings he expressed the persecution of Sint:ezza and Romn:ja.

*Council of Europe: History. Remembrance. Identity. Remembrance of the persecution and genocide of Roma by the Nazi adn their allies remains a sensitive and painful issue for the Roma.

1945