Sunday, December 21, 2008

BERLIN MEMORIAL TO SINTI AND ROMA



On December 19, 2008 work finally began on the Berlin Memorial to the Sinti and Rroma who were victims of the Holocaust, or Porraimos in the Gypsy language. Romani Rose, a Sinti activist and President of the Central Council of Sinti and Rroma in Germany, attended the dedication ceremonies.

The memorial will be a fountain with dark water designed by an Israeli artist. A poem written by an Italian citizen is to be inscribed in the bricks used. One does wonder why a Sinti/Rromani artist was not used. Nor a Sinti/Rromani poet chosen for the bricks. Ah, but we are sticklers, eh? Believe it or not, there are brilliant Sinti/Rromani artists and poets.

On December 16, 1942, Himmler signed the Auschwitz Decree sending all Sinti/Rroma to extermination camps.

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