Wednesday, 24. October 2012
Remembrance
Memorial for the murdered Sinti and Roma
Hundreds of thousands of people throughout Europe were branded "Zigeuner" or "gypsies" during the Nazi regime. They were persecuted and murdered. At a ceremony to dedicate the memorial to the murdered Sinti and Roma Chancellor Merkel warned her audience that we must never forget the suffering of the victims.
Memorial for the European Sinti and Roma killed under National Socialism (a detail)
Photo: Stiftung Denkmal / Marko Priske
Alongside the Chancellor, Federal President Joachim Gauck and Bundestag President Norbert Lammert attended the dedication ceremony of the Memorial for the European Sinti and Roma killed under National Socialism, as did Romani Rose, Chair of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, survivors of the genocide and their descendants.
The Dutch Holocaust survivor Zoni Weisz spoke on their behalf. In a moving speech he recalled the fate of all those who became victims of the National Socialist’s racial fanaticism: children, women and men, Sinti and Roma, Yenish people or other travelling people.
"Remembrance is part of our democratic tradition"
The Chancellor thanked all survivors for attending. The memorial commemorates a group of victims who have for far too long been given far too little public attention. It "reminds us of the many hundreds of thousands of Sinti and Roma, who were branded ‘Zigeuner’ or ‘gypsies’ under National Socialism and persecuted. The lives of this group, including the Yenish, were destroyed by the inhuman racial policies of the Nazi regime."
Every individual fate that was part of this genocide is a tale of incredible suffering. "The fate of every individual victim fills us, fills me, with sorrow and shame," declared Angela Merkel.
"Remembrance is part of our democratic tradition." This memorial, placed firmly in the centre of Berlin between the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag building brings remembrance to the heart of our society. At the same time it must be seen as a warning that we must be vigilant in future, that we must protect minorities and accept responsibility, said the Chancellor.
A call for tolerance and human rights
Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Bernd Neumann, described the memorial as an "important building block in Germany’s culture of remembrance". It documents the fact that the genocide suffered by the Sinti and Roma is part of this country’s history and memory.
This memorial should not only be a reminder of past ills though. It should be seen as an urgent call for greater tolerance and a warning to us to take a stance against the discrimination suffered by Sinti and Rome, said Bernd Neumann.
Designed by Dani Karavan
The memorial was designed by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan.
He aimed to create a place of contemplation and reflection that would serve as a dignified and fitting tribute to the victims. On the edge of Berlin’s Tiergarten park he created the memorial around a central black circular fountain. There, on an immersible triangular stone lies a fresh flower, which will be replaced every day, as a symbol of grief and remembrance. One never-ending violin note underlines the visual impression.
Around the edge of the fountain is a quote from the poem “Auschwitz” by the Italian Roma poet Santino Spinelli in English and in German. The memorial is surrounded by a number of boards which recount the chronology of the genocide, again in English and in German.
A long time coming
The idea of erecting a national monument in remembrance of the European Sinti and Roma killed under National Socialism dates back to 1992. A great many years were still to pass though before the memorial was completed. One reason was the heated debate between associations of victims as to the inscriptions.
On the initiative of Federal Government Commissioner Bernd Neumann, all parties involved finally agreed that the chronology of the genocide perpetrated on the Sinti and Roma should be made part of the memorial. The text was produced in conjunction with historians from Munich’s Institute of Contemporary History and Cologne’s National Socialist Documentation Centre. The outcome was expressly welcomed in 2007 by the second chamber of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, and by the Committee for Culture and the Media of the German Bundestag. Construction work started in December 2008.
The German government has put up some 2.8 million euros for the construction of the memorial. The state of Berlin provided the site just south of the Reichstag building. The state of Berlin was responsible for the construction work and for supervising this work. The memorial is to be managed by the Federal Foundation Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe.