Association of German Sinti and Roma - Schleswig-Holstein State Association

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The Association of German Sinti and Roma e. V. - Schleswig-Holstein State Association was founded in 1989. The registered non-profit association based in Kiel is the nationwide political representation of the 6,000 German Sinti and other "autochthonous" Roma living in Schleswig-Holstein , as well as an advice center, initiator and sponsor of projects. As the body responsible for political and cultural work in Schleswig-Holstein, he wants to contribute to better understanding and cooperation between the majority population and the minority of the Sinti and Roma through education and information. Since 1993, Matthäus Weiß has been the association's first state chairman. The state association is supported institutionally and culturally by the state of Schleswig-Holstein.

description

"Zigeuner-Platz" in Preetzer Strasse, Kiel around 1950
Association logo from 1989 to 2011

The experiences in post-war Germany in the so-called Zigeuner-Platz , among others at Preetzer Strasse 119 in Kiel, as well as ongoing discrimination by the majority population led to the desire to establish their own interest group from Kiel Sinti. Access to the training market for young Sinti, mostly limited to the disposal and recycling sector, metal trade or furniture processing, or completely blocked, prompted members of the minority to want to change that. With the support of the newly founded Sinti-Verein in Bremen, his student friend Thomas Matuszek and the Kiel journalist Werner Boldt, Matthäus Weiß developed the idea of ​​a federal congress in Kiel to draw attention to the intolerable living conditions of his group. Thanks to a funding commitment from the Friedrich Ebert Foundation , it was possible to initiate a conference with German Sinti and other Roma from all over the Federal Republic of Germany that are considered to be autochthonous at the Hans Geiger Gymnasium in Kiel. A major result of this congress was the founding of the Association for the Enforcement of the Sinti in Schleswig-Holstein , which Weiss financed with limited own resources. At this point in time, funding from the city, state or the federal government was out of the question. Another impetus from this congress was the founding of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma .

Association logo since 2011

With the support of the Central Council, the Association of German Sinti and Roma e. V. - Schleswig-Holstein regional association founded, of which Matthäus Weiß became 1st chairman in 1993. This institutionalized form of engagement was initially rejected by both the majority population and the Sinti. Since the Sinti feared a supposedly state-verifiable, administratively run organization was too great, efforts to improve their living conditions were initially not accepted by their own minority. The regional association was a member of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma until 2006 and has been independent since then.

Political commitment

  • A historically determined, difficult area is the quality and quantity of school attendance by Sinti and Roma children. In 1990 the regional association initiated a pilot project in which educational staff from their own minority were supposed to ensure active and regular everyday teaching life in schools and the integration of Sinti and Roma children. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, on March 1, 1993, the first childcare worker at the Matthäus-Claudius-Schule in Kiel succeeded in filling a Sinteza. Afterwards, the regional association made an active effort to expand this nationwide unique mediator project together with the Ministry of Education and the mediator Ms. Wanda Kreutz. In 2006 the project was awarded the Otto Pankok Prize from the Otto Pankok Foundation .
Memorial stone in Kiel for the victims of the Roma minority during the Nazi era
The "MARO TEMM housing estate" project of the Sinti eG
  • In 1997, the regional association, together with Zazie Schubert-Wurr and in cooperation with the then minority commissioner of the state of Schleswig-Holstein, Kurt Schulz, organized a conference for the first time in the guest house of the state government of Schleswig-Holstein with the title Talking about, talking to and having a say for members of the European Roma -Minority. This event was supported by Heide Simonis , Prime Minister of Schleswig-Holstein at the time.
Prime Minister Torsten Albig, Romani Rose, Matthäus Weiß, Renate Schnack (from left to right) after the vote on the amendment to the state constitution
  • In addition to projects against racism and antiziganism, the regional association also carries out active remembrance work. For this purpose, for example, a place was created that commemorates the victims of the Sinti and Roma of National Socialism . On May 16, 1997, a memorial stone designed by the artist Guenter Isleib was inaugurated in Hiroshima Park in Kiel. The regional association commemorates the victims at this location every year on May 16, since the systematic deportation of entire families to the camps and ghettos of occupied Poland began on May 16, 1940 for members of the northern German minority. The association is a member of the advisory board of the hardship fund for Nazi victims at the compensation authority in the Ministry of Social Affairs, where it handles applications from Nazi victims who have not yet received any compensation.
  • Due to his many years of commitment to the interests of the minority in Schleswig-Holstein as well as due to his efforts for a continuous political and intercultural dialogue, the 1st chairman of the regional association, Matthäus Weiß, was awarded the Order of Merit on September 23, 2000 by the Prime Minister Heide Simonis of the State of Schleswig-Holstein (formerly Schleswig-Holstein Medal).
  • In 2000, preparations began for the nationwide unique residential project Maro Temm , Romanes für Unser Land or Unser Platz . In the beginning there was only this word and the wish of the regional association for a living and life perspective for the members of the national minority, which takes their needs and cultural characteristics into account. The project, completed in 2007, stands alone in terms of housing and minority policy and is attracting a lot of attention. The financial volume was around 1.9 million euros. The Maro Temm project , planned by a Hamburg architects' office and supported by an expert advisory board, was supported by the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the "Foundation in favor of the Roma people" by Günter Grass and his wife Ute Grass, the city of Kiel and many individuals.
The “Maro Temm” project was awarded the “Werkstatt N-Projekt” quality seal by the German Council for Sustainable Development in 2015 .
  • On November 14, 2012, Schleswig-Holstein was the first federal state to include the German "autochthonous" members of the minority alongside the German Danes and Frisians as a minority to be protected and promoted in the state constitution, after the state association had introduced six amendments to the state parliament who failed five times. The decision in 2012 was then taken unanimously.
  • On April 18, 2013, the committee for issues relating to the minority of the German Sinti and Roma in Schleswig-Holstein was constituted under the chairmanship of the President of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag, Klaus Schlie. In addition to the state executive, members of all parliamentary groups, representatives of the state chancellery, the state parliament, the ministries and the minority commissioner belong to the group. The committee meets at least twice a year and advises on political issues and applications, and initiates state political projects for the minority of German Sinti and Roma.
  • On November 15, 2013, the regional association awarded the Schleswig-Holstein Milestone Award to companions and supporters for the first time . The annual award honors people who have promoted, protected or supported the concerns of the minority in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany or Europe. The winners are Heide Simonis, Günter Grass and his wife Ute, Zazie Schubert-Wurr and Sylvia Träbing-Butzmann, Björn Engholm, Romani Rose and Thomas Matuszek.
  • On October 6, 2014, the mediator and deputy state chairwoman of the association, Wanda Kreutz, was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon) by Federal President Joachim Gauck in Berlin. With this she was honored as a co-initiator of the first educational project for children of the German national minority.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Sinti and Roma in Schleswig-Holstein. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  2. ^ The German Sinti and Roma. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Cultural preservation and integration. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  4. ↑ The world outside the clan. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  5. ↑ The lighthouse behind the recycling yard. Archived from the original on December 7, 2013 ; Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  6. ↑ MARO TEMM a housing project for Sinti: cultural preservation and integration as a daily process and a sustainable goal - a cooperative housing project in SH ( Memento of the original from April 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Workshop N, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.werkstatt-n.de
  7. ↑ Landtag constitutes body for German Sinti and Roma. Retrieved December 11, 2013 .
  8. ^ Committee for questions of the Sinti and Roma in Schleswig-Holstein, Schleswig-Holsteinischer Landtag. Retrieved August 14, 2015 .
  9. ^ Under special protection - Sinti and Roma in Schleswig-Holstein. Retrieved August 14, 2015 .
  10. ^ Association of German Sinti and Roma e. V. - Milestone award. Retrieved August 13, 2015 .
  11. ^ The Federal President: Announcement of the awards. Retrieved August 14, 2015 .