Even 76 years after the end of the Second World War, racism and discrimination against Sinti and Roma are far too rarely discussed in political discourse and in the German education system. The institutional and everyday racism that the community is continuously exposed to is well documented and yet not discussed publicly enough and combated across the board.

The decades-long absence of official German recognition of the genocide of Sinti and Roma during the Second World War and the widespread non-punishment of the Nazi perpetrators are a shortcoming in the German discourse on remembrance. This is also shown by the multidimensional memory engine (EVZ, MEMO Study V, 2022). MEMO shows that less than half of the respondents, only 44.5%, named Sinti and Roma as a group of victims of National Socialism. Certain prejudices continue to be reinforced in European and German society through traditional images and stories, and this means that Sinti and Roma are disadvantaged in many areas of life.

So how does the EU deal with the fact that in 2022, 85% of Roma children in Europe will still be at risk of poverty? What is happening at the German political level to protect Sinti and Roma from everyday stigmatization? How does the Sinti and Roma community act in Berlin and Germany and which civil society initiatives are active in this area of ​​anti-discrimination?

The seminar aims to meet the need for sensitization, reflection and historical knowledge regarding discrimination against Sinti and Roma in Berlin, Germany and Europe. The lack of a focused memory of the crimes committed by the National Socialists against the Sinti and Roma victims is addressed, and places of remembrance are visited. Together with representatives of the Sinti and Roma community, we discuss lines of continuity of discrimination and convey practice-oriented methods to perceive racism towards Sinti and Roma and to counteract it together and actively.

If you are interested, please register for the seminar using the registration form on down below or email Julia Aertken (ja@eab-berlin.eu).
 

With kind support of the Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung.