ࡱ> 241M (bjbj=="0WW#lVVVVVVVjJJJJ V j nnnnnIII6 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 !VIIIII8 /VVnnY ///IVnVn6 /I6 // VV* nb ?b-jJC. * o 0 ,{q{* /jjVVVVA memorial to the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic and compensation for Czech Roma and Sinti enk Ro~i ka, President of the Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, I would like to thank the organisers of this panel, who have allowed me to speak here. The Committee for the Redress of the Roma Holocaust in the Czech Republic, which I represent, is an association of former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps and their surviving relatives. We have been dealing with issues concerning our tragic history since 1998. Due to time constraints, my contribution will only focus on two topical points: The respectful treatment of so-called gypsy camps on the territory of the Czech Republic Open questions concerning damage to the property of Czech Roma and Sinti I myself come from a community of traditional, nomadic Czech Roma. Both my parents survived four years of fury unleashed by the Nazis and their accomplices. They were among around 500 people who survived from the original community of 5,000 Czech Roma and Sinti. I have been involved in compensation issues since 1972. In 1946, Act No. 255/1946 of the Collection of Laws (Coll.) was adopted in the former Czechoslovakia. This guaranteed social benefits such as increased old-age pensions, etc. to concentration camp survivors based on certification pursuant to this law. Unfortunately, Roma and Sinti survivors very often did not know about the awarding of this certification, and it was to be almost 30 years before some of them managed to get it. This was partly because few of them knew how to read or write, but also because organisations such as the Ministry of Defence and the Czech Union of Anti-Fascist Fighters, who could or should have informed them (because they had lists of former prisoners at their disposal), did not notify them of this entitlement. Why did this happen? I believe that it was because it concerned money that was meant to be provided to Roma. The moral aspect of the issue was put to one side. Officials at that time had prejudices towards Roma and did not want to broach this subject. I will state the following facts so that you can have a better understanding of my opinion. In August 1942, at the request of German Nazis, the criminal police of the Czech Protectorate established two so-called gypsy camps, which were used exclusively for interning Roma families from what was then the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Under the administration of exclusively Czech guards and Czech camp commanders, up to 50 of the 2500 people who were interned there perished as a result of their cruel treatment. Most of them were children. This happened even despite the fact that no order to exterminate the Roma existed in our country. An opportunity simply presented itself for getting rid of the Roma and Sinti once and for all. I believe that for many Czech Protectorate officials it was simply a continuation of the anti-Roma policies of the 1930s. This negative attitude towards the Roma continued in a certain form even after the War. The communist regime of that time erected shameful buildings directly on the sites of both camps, where our relatives died. A pig farm was established on the site of the camp in Lety u Psku and a leisure centre was erected on the site of the camp in Hodonn u Kunttu. Both these places are associated with the genocide of Czech Roma and Sinti. Despite our protests as well as the protests of EU institutions and the international community, these locations are still being desecrated instead of serving as a dignified memento. This is particularly tragic today, at a time when neo-Nazi attacks on Roma are increasing in the Czech Republic. Another debt has been incurred by society here, and the overwhelming majority of surviving prisoners have not lived to see it being repaid. Both locations should serve as a respectful reminder of the Roma Holocaust, and they should be an active part of Czech history. The current government is willing to resolve this issue. It has put forward a policy that we agree with in many respects, but we have been hearing countless promises down through the decades. I hope that we the children of former prisoners will at least live to see the repayment of this debt. Now, I will return to the issue of certification pursuant to Act No. 255/1946 Coll., which I mentioned at the start of my speech. If you check the date on certificates issued to Roma concentration camp prisoners, you will find that they were almost always issued in 1973 or in subsequent years. In 1972, my parents baptised a child for a family of Sinti in Liberec. The christening was also attended by a Sinto, who was one of the few to receive a certificate. A senior consultant at the local hospital, who was also a former concentration camp inmate, helped him get it. The Sinto drove an ambulance for the hospital. My parents first heard from him that they were entitled to something. They subsequently received certificates from the Ministry of Defence after overcoming incredible obstacles. As I had helped my parents obtain the certificates, I became an expert on this issue and I was able to help others whom I knew. I informed around 10 families I was friendly with about the certificates, and because we sold stuff from stalls at various locations in the former Czechoslovakia, Roma and Sinti then informed each other about them. I also continued to help a number of people obtain certificates from the Ministry of Defence. But how many Roma and Sinti did not obtain certification? The basic problem with any compensation programme for victims of the Roma holocaust is the specificity of communication, which has always required knowledge of our Roma community. Nevertheless, we also noticed a similar attitude after 1989 within the framework of compensation arranged by the International Organisation for Migration. Even though we constantly pointed out that the local organisations who were supposed to distribute the assistance should be carefully chosen so that the aid would actually reach those who were entitled to it, the assistance ended with a bitter taste for us. There were several compensation programmes. The survivors had no comments to make on those organised by the Czech-German Fund for the Future. They were happy with the work of this organisation. Nevertheless, the assets of Roma victims of the Holocaust are still an issue that has not yet been resolved. Almost 5,000 Czech Roma passed through concentration camps, and only one tenth of them survived. Before they were transported to the camps, the Czech police seized all their property such as houses, horses, caravans, gold jewellery (something which they prided themselves on and really had a lot of), musical instruments and other items. They could only take clothes with them to the concentration camps or possibly work tools such as spades or pickaxes (which could only weigh up to 50 kg). In accordance with a decree on combating the gypsy nuisance, dated 10 August 1942, the property of those imprisoned was sold off at public auctions. Often this was bought by former neighbours or by those living near camps like the one in Hodonn. The proceeds of these auctions were used to fund the nine-month stay of the prisoners in both Lety and Hodonn, as well as their subsequent transportation to an extermination camp in Auschwitz. A portion of their assets was also stolen by some fellow Czech citizens. In my opinion, this plundering of assets has never been officially dealt with. Only one preliminary study devoted to this topic exists in the Czech Republic. In the context of dealings on the issue of damage to the property of the victims of Nazism, the victims surviving relatives view this fact as a grave injustice that must be resolved. A solution ought to be found quickly. In February of this year, we urged the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities to initiate an historical survey, which would clarify these issues and enable us to negotiate with the government on the establishment of a Foundation for Victims of the Roma Holocaust along the same lines as the Foundation for Holocaust Victims, which was established by the Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic on the basis of the so-called Rychetsk Committee in 1999. This fund should compensate some of the survivors, but its main function would be to look after the commemoration of the Roma holocaust and to ensure research and education on the subject. In view of growing manifestations of racism, Czech Roma and Sinti like us really only have very little time to inform the public in an adequate and timely manner of the tragic fate of those we were close to, as well as of the roots of racism and its consequences, so as to ensure that the same things do not begin to be repeated again. Nobody will do this for us, even though it often seems that we are fighting a lost battle against prejudice. Nevertheless, those of us who are survivors of the victims will never give up. Thank you for your attention. ,34>((CJOJQJaJOJQJ 6OJQJ0J6OJQJCJOJQJaJmH sH 5CJOJQJaJmH sH _RS y u"&'((((( & F( 1h. 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