Number 13
July 2015
REE GO FREE OF G
The Citizen Journalist’s Magazine
So Keres Europa? special edition
Editor’s box
Editors
Powered by:
Pedro ARTEIRO Nicole Ruth FREIHOFF Xavier GARCIA Sara LANDORIOVA Julianne LINDER Anna MARTINEZ Dominica MAZINIOVA
Coordinator Cătălina MĂTĂSARU All publishing and distribution rights of this magazine belong to the Go Free newsroom. The total, partial, or any form of repoduction can only be made with the written approval of the newsroom.
Editor in Chief Andra Camelia CORDOŞ Mail: asociatiagofree@gmail.com Telefon: 0742 554 321
Contact www.gofree.ro www.facebook.com/gofreestudent Parteners
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Proofreaders Andreea FIRĂSTRĂERU Mariana GHIORGHIȚĂ Photographers Andra Camelia CORDOŞ Asia RAKHMATULLINA Sara VENTURA
Editorial A voice of the unheard by Cătălina Mătăsaru
Consider a scenario where you put together a bunch of people from all around Europe. You bring them to the same place, you offer a context for debates and discussion and in the end you ask them to put together something, to make something, to create something in just a couple of days of knowing each other. The task at hand seems hard to fulfill, perhaps, and yet just a few days in the So Keres Europa?! Changemakers Movement would make even the biggest of pessimists re-evaluate the way they look at things. Two days to learn, two days to prepare, and one main topic. This might be the motto one would use from now on when looking back at this week in Cluj-Napoca. People were confronted with a reality they did not even know existed; some might even have thought it to ever be possible in modern society. They were confronted with the reality of Roma, with the situation of Pata Rât, and surprisingly or not, showed great interest in their cause, offering support the best way they knew how, by being compassionate and choosing to learn more, rather than ignore. The articles you will skim through are the result of those who learned a few key elements of citizen journalism and who understood right away that they should use it as a means to get a message across to an audience. They paint a rounder image of Roma, seen through honest eyes, and their main goal is to inform, educate and raise awareness. The issue you have in front of you was made by people who were brought together by the same goals and who believe in the same thing: that we have a duty to speak for those who are unable to speak for themselves, though they have tried many times, to be the helping voice of those who remain unheard and to encourage others to listen with an open heart.
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Roma History THE FORGOTTEN GENOCIDE OF THE ROMA IN TRANSNISTRIA by Timotey MILEVSKI and Julianne LINDNER The Holocaust is something everyone knows about, but only few can tell about what happened to the Roma during the Second World War. That is why we decided to go deeper into this particular topic by looking into the stories of Romanian Roma survivors in Transnistria.
Very few Roma survivors received or are receiving the compensation of the German state as the procedure is difficult and the Romanian state cuts the pension of the ones receiving it. Also, many of the Roma survivors did not speak about their experiences for a very long time.
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Roma Culture In 1942 promises were made by the prime minister Ion Antonescu, promises that they would receive work, houses and land. But instead the Roma population in Romania was tricked and the fake promises lead the Roma to their graves. In total roughly 25 000 Roma were send by foot and caravan to a destination unknown and far away. This turned out to be Transnistria, an area which the German and Romanian troops conquered the year before. This was also the case for the Roma that were married to Non-Roma, therefore separating couples. The houses that the prime minister promised turned out to be shelters or very overcrowded houses located in an open field run by German and Romanian troops. People who tried to escape to find food in one of the villages were at big risk to be shot. The promised work turned out to be completely nonexistent. No work also meant no food. In the beginning, the troops took away everything the people had (e.g. their horses, money and caravans) and left them with nothing, only with the clothes that they were wearing, which they traded for food with kind local Russian inhabitants. Their names were taken away from them, and instead they were given a Z (Zigeuner) in combination with a number. The situation turned out to be the complete opposite to what was promised, it was a living hell. Many people had no access to food, medical assistance, clothes, cooking material, beds, etc. for months, even years. In some cases, the Roma had no food at all for 18 days in a row. During the winter the cold was unbearable for the prisoners, who lacked clothes and housing. They were raped, set on fire, suffered from a typhus epidemic, shot and/or starved to death. They were thin and coughed a lot. Roughly 10 to 20 persons died each day. In 1945 the war ended, and the Roma were chased away from the open field by the gunshots of the troops. They returned back to their homes by foot, not knowing which path to take. Many died on the way. Back home, many survivors found people living in their houses. Very few Roma survivors received or are receiving the compensation of the German state as the procedure is difficult and the Romanian state cuts the pension of the ones receiving it. Also, many of the Roma survivors did not speak about their experiences for a very long time. They are afraid something bad will happen to them again and they are ashamed to speak about the misery in which they once lived. That is why most of their grandchildren do not know anything about their lives and experiences. The documentary ‘Valley of Sighs’, and the workshop ‘Learning History, Understanding Today: The Roma Holocaust’ during the So Keres event show the importance of learning about the experiences of the Roma during the Second World War. They showed that history did not end and that the discrimination is still going on. Nowadays is a “holocaust” of forced evictions, in which the Roma have to constantly prove themselves to the others. That is why it is important that the Roma Holocaust and history in general should receive more attention within Europe; and why we should give a voice to the Roma survivors. For more information on the Roma Holocaust in general or for the documentary, go to: https://www.facebook.com/ValeaPlangerii http://www.un.org/en/holocaustremembrance/docs/paper9.shtml
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Roma History The Roma wedding and it’s traditions in Europe by Pedro ARTEIRO, Sara LANDORIOVA and Dominica MAZINIOVA
Some people believe that Roma traditions are the same all over the world, but there are differences from country to country. The wedding is one of the most important ceremonies for Roma people, because the whole family and friends enjoy the event and it is also characterized by greatness and exuberance. Furthermore we will bring an example of wedding form different parts of Europe. In Hungary, Slovak and Czech the bride and the groom are prepared for the wedding by their families.Then, the groom goes with his parents to the bride`s house and asks her parents for the hand of their daughter. As a tradition, the future son-inlaw gives money to the girl’s parents to accept his proposal. They arrive separately to the church, where all family members and other guests are waiting. The families have to prepare and give sweets to everybody, even for people who are just walking by. Alcohol has a specific meaning and importance. It celebrates the happiness and plenty of the young couple and it is normally served in shots. Music has a very important place, there is always a band that plays traditional Roma music. Before the ceremony, young couple’s families take the young couple to dance. They have to dance with every single member of the family. After the church ceremony, they go to celebrate in a restaurant or another place that is big enough for a group of, usually, 200 people. For good luck, before the couple goes inside, a plate is broken and the couple has to sweep the shards. In the middle of the room is placed the table for bride and groom. Next to them sits the best man and the maid of honor. The young married couple eats soup from the same plate and with the same spoon and have around their neck a white towel. After that, people start dancing, eating, taking, doing everything that is normal for a party. In the middle of the night, the kidnapping of the bride is simulated by the best men and the groom has to find her. After she is rescued, the bride dresses in a red dress and the groom is also wearing a red shirt. During the whole event, everyone asks the bride to danceand gives her money for dancing. Also, the best man and the maid of honor give a large amount of money to the newlyweds. In other countries there aredifferent traditions, countries where the wedding can take 2 or 3 days, countries where the religious ceremony is Muslim etc. Remember just one thing: For all Roma people, the wedding brings a couple together for life.
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Roma Culture The story of Pata Rât by Xavier GARCIA
Since they were evicted on 17 Dec 2010, close to Christmas, more than 1,500 Roma people are living in an encampment on a landfill located at Cluj-Napoca’s periphery. Half of them are children. Roma people lived for generations in Coastei Street, close to the town’s center. They lived like everybody else: they paid taxes, paid their rents, had electricity, were properly dressed, were working and attending school. Nowadays, there are no Roma communities remaining in the centre of the city. The eviction decision was taken by the mayor Sorin Apostu(Liberal Democrat Party) and his government argued that houses must be bulldozed in order to build a park, a church and a Theology faculty. The only land available to relocate the inhabitants of Coastei Street – they claimed- was PataRât, the margin of ClujNapoca, by the city’s garbage dump. In Pata Rât life conditions are extremely hard and far from satisfying human rights. The houses, built in one-room structure, are on top of a waste dump, far from the minimum health standards. A single bathroom is sometimes serving up to 40 people; one communal shower block was set up for 356 people. This situation makes it impossible to live a decent, dignified life. It is easy to imagine how difficultit can be to get to work, attend school and the implications that these conditions have for the health, especially for the children, who rapidly went sick. On top of that, Pata Rât is an isolated place: you cannot arrive there by road, so it increases the feeling of being marginalized by the rest of the society. In 2014 the Romanian court ruled that each person who was forcibly evicted from Coastei Street should receive €2,000 compensation and be provided with adequate housing. The local Municipality reacted with an appeal against the resolution. Unfortunately, the situation of the Roma community in Cluj-Napoca is not an unique case. Rather, it forms part of a vast strategy orientated against them. Walls next to communities have been built up in Baia Mare (Romania) and in other Central and Eastern European countries, such as Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. Though they seem like things that belong in the past, unfortunately these events are taking place in present times, and all around us.
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Interview Face to face with Pata Rât Nicole Ruth Freihoff
Having worked with the Amnesty International student group for several years I came across a lot of reports and urgent actions dealing with the forced eviction, segregation of and discrimination against the Roma community, all over Europe. After listening to the stories of people being evicted to Pata Rât in 2010, seeing them and thAeir family members, having a face in front of me compared to a number on paper left a strong impression on me. I talked to two participants of the workshop “PataRât – Forced Eviction, Segregated Lives and Romani Resistance” to also see how they experienced it.
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interview INTERVIEW 1 Nicole: Where are you from? What do you do? Have you been involved with the Roma community before coming here? Alice: I am Alice from Italy. Now I work for a youth organization in Moldova. Before, I studied International Relations and learned about Roma rights at university, so it was a more theoretical relation to the topic. I was looking forward to this event, because I felt it was time to move from research to doing something more practical. N: Did you hear about the case of PataRât before? If yes, when and how? A: I wrote my dissertation about the right to housing and studied for my research a lot of examples of forced evictions of Roma ,all over Europe, so I came across the case of PataRât at some point. N: How did it feel for you to listen to the stories of the people that have been evicted from there? How was the workshop different from reading about PataRât in a newspaper? A: I am grateful for having the opportunity to learn about this case in a way which would not have been possible by reading a newspaper. It was very moving to hear it, as the situation is very tough and it is a sad story. I am very impressed by the community, which is, despite all the drawbacks, still striving for a better life. N: Did you hear of similar evictions happening in your own country? A: Yes. In Italy there are similar cases, where Roma people are not given notice and basically put to the street, even in winter. During my research I came across cases from all over Europe, it is happening everywhere: in France, the UK, Eastern Europe, the Balkan countries… the Roma are everywhere seen as “the other” within the society, the internal enemy. N: What are you planning to do with the information about PataRât once you get back home? A:The youth organization I now work with in Moldova is about to expand the areas of their work. So in this moment of transition I hope I can bring some new input to the organization and draw their attention to the young Roma community.
INTERVIEW 2 Nicole: Where are you from? What do you do? Have you been involved with the Roma community before coming here? Etelka: My name is Etelka. I am from Hungary. I am attending events commemorating the Roma Holocaust, joining protests against segregation or against the serial killings of Roma that took place in Hungary. N: Did you hear about the case of PataRât before? If yes, when and how? No, I did not hear about the case of PataRât before. N: How did it feel for you to listen to the stories of the people that have been evicted from there? How was the workshop different from reading about PataRât online?
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Interview
E: I felt very angry. It is hard to believe that anything like this is happening in the 21st century. N: Did you hear of similar evictions happening in your own country? E: Yes. At the moment there are threats of evicting parts of the Roma community in Miskolc, Hungary’s fourth largest city, in order to build a football stadium. N: What are you planning to do with the information about PataRât once you get back home? I am planning to share the story with the children and young people I work with, to show them that these evictions are not only happening in Hungary, but also in other places, like here in Cluj-Napoca. At the moment you are holding this issue of GO FREE Magazine in your hands, you have probably all had some contact with the case of PataRât – be it by attending the workshop, the march on Friday or by meeting members of the community. We hope this article will serve as a reminder, something for you to take homeand help you recall the things you heard and saw, but also the things you felt. Something for you to share – with your family, friends, community – to make sure the people of PataRât are not forgotten.
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interview VOICES BEING HEARD - EXPERIENCES OF FORCED EVICTIONS IN CLUJ-NAPOCA by Julianne LINDNER
In Europe many cases of forced evictions of diverse Roma communities can be found throughout the whole continent. Local authorities are threatening people to leave their homes, demolishing their houses and giving them no good alternative where to live. Cluj-Napoca is unfortunately not an exception hereof. This is also demonstrated by the forced evictions of Roma families to Pata Rat in 2010. This article will highlight personal stories of people that were evicted and of people that will be evicted in the near future in the region of Cluj-Napoca.
Stories of people being evicted “They were sure it was only a temporary situation. But then 14 years passed...” “He was put under arrest for asking if they could stay a couple more days” “Now they are living in sheds, usually covered in plastic” “It is difficult for their children to go to school. There is also no clean water and no access to electricity” “Conditions are awful. There are no services, only garbage and rats” “They slowly manage to make the area more liveable. The little money they have, is invested in the place” “Lots of promises, but nothing changes…” “He is happy with the March on Friday, he hopes for change”
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Interview
Stories of people that will be evicted “October, November 2013 the threats started” “Only afterwards she realised that she had signed an eviction letter. Since then the police is regularly threatening to evict them” “Some sign the letters because they cannot read and write. Some sign because they are being threatened and intimidated by the local police” “The police is always there to harass them, to give them fines” “Their houses are illegal, but they have no other means. The public authorities are not investing enough in social housing, and private renting is too expensive”
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“Some almost have their property rights” “Winters are safe. It is illegal to evict people during the winter in Romania” “They are struggling to convince the authorities to provide an alternative. Often they receive no response”
Editor’s note: These quotes were selected from a short clip made by Timotey Milevski and Julianne Lindner during their documenting process in one of the So Keres Europa? event. The full video is available on the www.gofree.ro webpage.
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photovoice In black and white Foto and text by Sara Ventura
At some point in life, we all need help. Always be alert. Make sure you are not stuck in your own world. Ignorance is not always bliss. If you see a friend or someone you don’t know, stop for 30 seconds and say “Hello. How are you?”. Smile and wish them a nice day. Now, both of you will feel better for sure.
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photovoice They are father and son. The son sees his father as a superhero. Indeed he is. Everyday this boy has something to eat, to drink, clean clothes and his family around. He likes to take long walks with his father. It’s their time, just the two of them. As you can see, you don’t need so much to survive. Embrace all the love you have around you.
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This is Daniela. She is a full time mum and house wife. She’s very happy because her son is the best in is class at school. She’s happy because she managed needed to provide him an education. Not everybody has access to school, to a good education as you do, so be thankful for those who are doing everything for you and for your future.
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Stereotype is an oversimplified idea of the class or type to which person or thing belong. This girl, Victoria she is not Roma. She dressed up with the typical clothes of Roma and went for a walk. For several times she was treated without politeness because of her aspect. You shouldn’t discriminate, misjudge or reduce a person to her/him clothes, skin color or lifestyle. If you want to be in a certain way, let others do it too.
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photovoice Those are some of the main problems that Roma people have to face in their lives. Imagine your life this way. Take a moment to reflect the huge opportunities that you have in your life. Don’t waste them. But don’t take it away from nobody either. Fight for equal opportunities. Fight for a better life.
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Open your mind and absorb all the wisdom you can. Everyone has something to give, to learn or to share. Receive it the best way you can. Then, it’s up to you what to do with it. Share the good and bad stories with the world, therefore you can make some changes
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photovoice He lives in Pata Rât. His family shares their bathroom with three more families. In Pata Rât, you have a room for 8 people. When you feel embarrassed because you think your house is too small or your parents don’t give a new phone, think about this. Choose your priories correctly. This is Sebastian Hoca and in a “perfect” world he would like to be a lawyer.
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Stop. Think. Pick your values, your principals, your life motto. Fight for it, be the change you want to see in the world.
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photovoice So Keres Europa? in pictures by Anna MARTINEZ and Asia RAKHMATULLINA
Between 12 and 19 of July, people from different European countries meet in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in an international event call “So keres, Europa?!�. It wasorganized by PhirenaAmenca to foment the activism between Roma and Non-Roma European youngsters. The main points of this meeting are the fight against discrimination towards Roma people and the reality of the evictions of Roma community.
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“So keres, Europa?!” is an event to support the Roma Rights, but also a space of non-formal education. Trough different workshops, centered in many topics related to Roma community, the participants can share their knowledge and learn from each other´s experiences.
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During the event, the participants show interest about the life and culture of the local Roma people. The best way to know these is by interacting with them. The workshops present crafts, history, arts and traditions.
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It’s not necessary the have the same language to communicate. The music can be an universal one.
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Another type of discrimination is the lack of information about the history of Roma people in the textbooks. “So Keres, Europa?!� wants to promote the Roma rights and background. Who knows the past can change the future.
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Talking to people from different countries might seem like a hard task, but with the right context, anyone can have a good laugh together, in any language.Sharing funny moments, is possible too in different languages.
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The work and the commitment of the volunteers and coordinators is essential for the success of “So Keres, Europa?!�. Thank you for your great job!
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The participants of “So Keres, Europa?!� showed their support to the families of Pata Rat with a march from the camp to the Costei street, where they were kicked out by the local authorities during the night on 17 of December in 2010.
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The evictions of the Roma community to Pata Rat meant the violation of their more basic rights. Together we should fight to change the situation of the families who lives in the dumpside. Pata Rat, you are not alone!
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The future hardship can be face with Union, Strength, Connection, Solidarity and Friendship. Together we are more!
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Opre Roma!