Svaz Cikánů-Romů

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Svaz Cikánů-Romů (Association of Gypsies Roma, SCR ) was the first political and cultural association of the Roma in Czechoslovakia , which existed from 1969 to 1973; the initiative for its creation was taken during the Prague Spring 1968.

history

The already difficult situation of the Roma population in Czechoslovakia worsened noticeably after 1958 due to a law that denied the recognition of the Roma as a separate ethnic group and sought to force assimilation . Law 74/1958 Sb. Made this doctrine the official state policy of the communist regime. The Roma were considered second class citizens, forcibly settled and relocated to settlements. At the same time they were assigned suitable jobs, which led to the loss of their traditions and the previous way of life and thus threatened their cultural identity. Their language and culture were not recognized, the authorities put pressure on their parents, with the children not in Romanito speak. The specifics and traditions as an ethnic group were negated and should be absorbed in the environment without a trace. Those who resisted could face prison sentences of up to three years.

It was only during the liberalization in the wake of the Prague Spring could be activities for the recovery of their own cultural identity dare so on August 30, 1969 in Brno , the Association Svaz Cikánů-Romů could be established. Chairman was Miloslav Holomek elected; the association published the magazine Romano ľil (Roma-Blatt). By 1972 the number of members grew to around 8,500. In Slovakia there was also an autonomous association, founded by Alojz Pompa and Ján Cibuľa , among others , with the magazine Romen .

activity

The SCR association campaigned for the cultivation of the Roma culture, especially the language; it propagated this to the outside world in various events, supported music ensembles and dance groups, got involved in the school system and also made contacts with Roma and Sinti organizations abroad . Under the direction of the association, the company Névodrom was set up, in which more than 1000 Roma found jobs; in Slovakia there was the company Butiker: both were supposed to support traditional handicrafts of the Roma, provide them with further training and ensure the financing of new business start-ups; however, the realization of these goals did not go smoothly.

One of the most important fields of activity, however, was advocating for political and social concerns of the Roma minority, as well as the demand for appropriate representation of the Roma in elected as well as executive organs of the state, whereby the association relatively quickly came into contradiction to the politics of the Normalization phase came after 1969. One of the official demands of the association was the possibility of professing one's own Roma nationality and enshrining it in the constitution, which collided with the new policy of assimilation.

The association was dissolved in 1973 after the National Front, in agreement with the Central Committee of the CPTsch, deleted the SCR association from the organizations of the National Front, which de facto voided the association's legitimacy. The association was advised to voluntarily dissolve on April 30, 1973. Official reasons were disagreements in the economic management of the association company Névodrom, low membership numbers, etc. Most historians, activists at the time and association officials ( Eva Davidová , Miroslav Holomek , Petr Lhotka , Milena Hübschmannová and others) speak of political reasons for the dissolution. The association's ethno-emancipatory aspirations were thwarted by the amendment to the Minorities Act in 1972 because the Roma ethnic group was no longer included in the law. A memorandum of the association against this momentous change, so the assessment today, then led to the reassessment of the association by the party and to its dissolution, because it feared that the demands for recognition could intensify.

Romano ľil

The association magazine Romano ľil played an important role in the activities of the association. The magazine was the first periodical of the Roma and "the first publication platform in Czechoslovakia" that has made a name for itself in establishing Romani as a means of written communication. Texts in Romani appeared together with Czech literary texts, the former being understood by the communist regime as a breach of the previous policy of assimilation. The consistent use of the car name “Rome” instead of the otherwise usual Czech “Cikán” was a novelty in Czechoslovakia at that time.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of the magazine is said to be the emergence of the first generation of Roma literature in Czechoslovakia: more Roma who “have been afraid to write in Romani up to now” or who, when they got to know the magazine, saw “that it is possible to express oneself in writing in their own language began to send the editors their own contributions, songs, memories, stories, [...] they just started to write ”.

After 1989

After 1969, the communist regime again pursued the policy of assimilation, and the association's activities never resumed. After the change of power in 1989, efforts were made to revive the SCR association (a preparatory committee for the establishment of an association of Roma - Svaz Romů was established as early as 1988 ), but these efforts failed due to the fragmentation of the Roma: the initiative was taken by the Romská občanská iniciativa (ROI, Roma Citizens' Initiative), which soon gathered around 80,000 followers, but distanced itself from the SCR association and soon fell apart.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zákon ze dne 17. října 1958 o trvalém usídlení kočujících osob , online at: www.zakonyprolidi.cz/ , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  2. ↑ Eva Davidová: Milena Hübschmannová (1933-2005) . In: Sociologický Časopis , Volume 42, No. 1/2006, pp. 203-206, online at: sreview.soc.cas.cz / ... , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  3. ↑ a b Kristýna Frydrýšková: Romové pod vlivem komunismu , online at: romanovodori.cz / ... , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  4. ↑ Historie Romů na území České republiky , online at: romove.radio.cz / ... , in Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  5. ↑ a b c d Pavel Pečínka: Co přinesl rok 1968 českým Romům , online at romea.cz / ... , in Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  6. ↑ a b Kateřina Turková: Svaz Cikánů-Romů (1969–1973) , online at: is.cuni.cz / ... (download as PDF file), Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  7. ↑ Románo ľil 2/1973, taken from: Kateřina Turková: Svaz Cikánů-Romů (1969–1973) , online at: is.cuni.cz / ... (download as PDF file), Czech, accessed on May 26th 2015
  8. ↑ Karel Holomek: Moravský Cigán - Tomáš Holomek , In: Romano džaniben 3–4 / 1999, pp. 129–132, cited above. based on Alena Scheinostová: Význam časopisectví v romské literatuře (Zpravodaj Romano ľil, 1970–1973) , online at: iliteratura.cz / ... , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  9. ↑ a b c Alena Scheinostová: Význam časopisectví v romské literatuře (Zpravodaj Romano ľil, 1970–1973) , online at: iliteratura.cz / ... , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  10. ↑ Eva Davidová: Cesty Romů - Romano syndrome (1945-1990) , Olomouc 1995, p 216, Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015
  11. ↑ Milena Hübschmannová: Počátky romské literatury , in: Žijeme spolu, nebo vedle sebe? Sborník z konference o literatuře a kultuře národnostních menšin v České republice , Prague 1998, pp. 59–66, cited above. based on Alena Scheinostová: Význam časopisectví v romské literatuře (Zpravodaj Romano ľil, 1970–1973) , online at: iliteratura.cz / ... , Czech, accessed on May 26, 2015

See also