Video & Audio Podcast
from Serbia
Produced by Radio La Benevolencija HTF © 2016-2018
Partner in Serbia: Romano Them Radio Belgrade
Directed by: Miško Stanišić
Editor: Marko Korać
Production: Adriana Costa Souza, Georgeta Pintilie
Production coordinator in Serbia: Branko Djurić
RESISTANCE
GUNS AND GUITARS (part 1)
“For the Roma, freedom is the highest value.” In the summer of 1941, when German occupiers imposed extreme repressive measures shooting thousands of civilians, the killing of the Jews and Roma was combined with the suppression of a strong resistance movement. Many Roma took part in the resistance and joined the partisans. Together with the Serbs, Jews and others, they fought against Germans and their helpers. Do we remember this united resistance and the contribution of the Roma to the victory against the Nazis? Some of the killing sites and former concentration camps are still unmarked and neglected.
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
GUNS AND GUITARS (part 2)
Throughout the centuries Roma used art and creativity as a form of resistance. Music was used to carry and pass on historical narratives. Even the Roma anthem Djelem Djelem serves to preserve historical narrative about the genocide of the Roma in World War II. In what way the Roma artists contributed to Roma activism? What is the role of Roma artist in contemporary Europe? What does it mean to get socially engaged through art? How does Roma art contribute to building a new strong and self-empowered Roma identity?
Subtitles and Language settings: click [CC] to choose available subtitles.
This is a version with English graphics. Click here for version in Romani.
In this video, in order of appearance:
Rajko Djurić, PhD Sociologist, author and activist; Radojka Stojanović, survivor; Dragoljub Acković, PhD Romolog, Deputy Director at the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; Milan Koljanin, PhD Historian, Senior Research at the Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade; Milovan Pisarri, PhD Historian, Center for Holocaust Research and Education, Belgrade; Duško Jovanović, The Roma Inclusion Office, Novi Sad; Sandra Kostić, activist;
Subtitles and Language settings: click [CC] to choose available subtitles.
This is a version with English graphics. Click here for version in Romani.
In this video, in order of appearance:
Dragoljub Acković, PhD Romolog, Deputy Director at the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia; Milovan Pisarri, PhD Historian, Center for Holocaust Research and Education, Belgrade; Dragan Ristić-Kal, musician and artist; Zoran Tairović, artist; Rajko Djurić, PhD Sociologist, author and activist; Dragan Radosavljević,activist;
Audio version:
Music: White Atlantis by Sergey Cheremisinov, Night II by Swelling, some excerpts from the music of Barcelona Gipsy BalKan Orchestra, and a clip from the music video by KAL
Highlighted Keywords
Think and Reflect
Some of the most significant statements by the interviewees, the “keywords”, are selected for further discussion and examination. The quotes are presented together with the respective screenshots from the video. Each quote is related to one of the 12 themes (this is marked above each screenshot). Review and discuss the selected quotes. You might also:
Find the selected quote in the video. Listen again to the whole conversation.
Analyze what can we learn from the selected quote.
If it is a testimony/personal experience: when and where did it happen? Who were the protagonists? Describe what happened.
Do you have any similar personal experiences, or other knowledge that helps you understand the described event/experience better?
Why, in your opinion, is the selected quote related to that particular theme. Could it also be related to some of the other proposed themes? Explain.
Watch the video again and find other significant quotes or other moments that made impression on you. Explain why did you choose it, and how did you understand it.
Relate the quote you have chosen with one of the 13 themes. Explain.
Theme:
Resistance
Theme:
Surviving
Theme:
Life before World War II
Theme:
Resistance
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
One has to understand that the most important characteristic of the Roma mentality is that they value nothing more than freedom. (…) A German decree issued in May 1941 equated the Jews and the Roma officially, that they should be treated in the same way. Naturally, in such situation, it was another motivation for the Roma to join the Partisans (resistance).
Rajko Djurić, PhD Sociologist, author and activist;
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
We were running away from the Germans wherever we could! We run to the Gadje (non Roma/Serbs) in the villages near Belgrade. The Gadje took us in and to hide our Roma identity they gave us typical Serbian names: they named me Radojka, and my brothers Radoje and Milorad and Milovan. The peasants were hiding us in their farms, houses, in the attics, in the fields…
Radojka Stojanović, survivor;
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
The life of Roma in pre-war Belgrade was similar to the life of the rest of the citizens, except that many more Roma were very poor. But still, a number of Roma attended primary and secondary schools, and in 1935 there were even 5 Roma students at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade. The same year a Roma newspaper – Romano Lil was instituted. Also, a Yugoslav Roma Youth Association was founded.
Dragoljub Acković, PhD Deputy Director at the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia;
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
A part of the Roma population felt that they should join the mass uprising and fight for liberation. They shared the patriotic feelings with the rest of the population of Serbia. They saw the mass reprisal shootings of civilians everywhere, and they saw that the Roma are victims of these repressive measures.
Milan Koljanin, PhD Historian, Senior Research at the Institute for Contemporary History, Belgrade;
Theme:
Persecution
Theme:
Challenges Today
Theme:
Roma Voices
Theme:
Shared History and Roma Identity
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
By the end of October and beginning of November 1941 the Germans have shot about 1000 – 1500 Roma at Jabuka. The Roma were brought by trucks from the concentration camp Topovske Šupe in large groups. In three days they were all shot dead.
Milovan Pisarri, PhD Historian, Center for Holocaust Research and Education, Belgrade;
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
Poverty is a global problem, on a global level. But the problem of poverty among Roma can be solved solely by educated Roma.
Duško Jovanović, The Roma Inclusion Office, Novi Sad;
From video 1:
RESISTANCE
There is a lot of discrimination against young Roma woman. We are discriminated on multiple levels, as woman and as Roma. That is why I got engaged in activism, and I want to engage many more of my fellow Roma in order raise awareness and build our identity.
Sandra Kostić, activist;
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
The majority populations were hiding the truth about the genocide of the Roma, but it is our own task to expose it. Revealing the truth about the genocide of the Roma in World War II is a crucial task for future generations of young Roma. If they fail to preserve their own past, they will fail to preserve themselves, and without the past they will not have a future.
Dragoljub Acković, PhD Deputy Director at the Office for Human and Minority Rights of the Government of the Republic of Serbia;
Theme:
Persecution
Theme:
Roma Voices
Theme:
Roma Voices
Theme:
Shared History and Roma Identity
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
The Chief of the German Military Administration in Serbia issued the order to register all Jews and “Gypsies” throughout Serbia. This order defined who is considered being “Gypsy”, what they are obliged to do, and what they are allowed to do.
Milovan Pisarri, PhD Historian, Center for Holocaust Research and Education, Belgrade;
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
We Roma were forced to carry the historical narrative through music. In that context the anthem Djelem Djelem is very important as the text of one verse is: “I once had a great family, but the Black Legion murdered them.” It is very important for preserving the historical narrative.
Dragan Ristić-Kal, musician and artist;
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
An artist is always taking the side of the oppressed and humiliated. The ideal nest for my artistic creation is the body of Roma symbols that not only defines me as a person, but also defines all that passes through my work.
Zoran Tairović, PhD Applied Arts, Multimedia artist;
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
Porajmos is an inseparable part of the Roma identity. We young Roma have to learn the historical lesson that we are one nation – one people, and there should be no division between us. We suffered together, we survived together, and today, together we fight for better future of the young Roma in Europe.
Dragan Radosavljević, activist;
I AM YAD VASHEM
A poem by Rajko Djuric
I am
Yad Vashem
Blood and dust my nails
On my palms I bring
I am
Yad Vashem
I suffered fire
I drank smoke
In Auschwitz I died
I am
Yad Vashem
I slept on bones
Without eyes I became
In Treblinka I died
I am
Yad Vashem
With blood I covered myself
I remained without skin
In Buchenwald I died
I am
Yad Vashem
With tears I dug my hole
with Krikosa I made a cross
In Dachau I died
I am
Yad Vashem
Blood and dust my nails
On my palms I bring
I am
Yad Vashem
Everything what I had
O lost
In Bergen-Belsen I died
I am
Yad Vashem
Without a name
Without a word
I remained
In Ravensbruck I died
I am
Yad Vashem
Where I was
I don’t know
I know only that I died
I am
Yad Vashem
Stars on the earth fell
In darkness they imprisoned me
In Lublin I died
I am
Yad Vashem
My guts they shattered
In me, the child they cut out
In Jasenovac I died
I am
Yad Vashem
Blood and dust my nails
On my palms I bring
I am
Yad Vashem
I was here, I was there
On black, bloody wheels
Dust and smoke I became
I am
Yad Vashem
I had a Romani heart
As a Rom I am murdered
I am Yad Vashem
Blood and dust my nails
On my palms I bring
I am
Yad Vashem
Until it returns on the earth
The smoke will not be lost
I am
Yad Vashem
Until the sun will falls
Yad Vashem must come
I am
Yad Vashem
Auschwitz will not be forgotten
(translation from Romani by Ronald Lee)
Theme:
Roma Voices
From video 2:
THE ART OF RESISTANCE
There is Roma poetry about our historical experiences , like the poetry of Slobodan Berberski, and the poem “Auschwitz” by Santino Spinelli carved on the memorial to the Sinti and Roma victims of National Socialism in Berlin, or my poem “I am Yad Vashem”. Still there is not much written about the Roma Holocaust, neither prose nor poetry, and this is something that, I believe, will come from the new generations of young Roma.
Rajko Djurić, PhD Sociologist, author and activist;
Copyright (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
All video and audio podcasts presented on this website are licensed under a
Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) International License. You are welcome to share, distribute, reproduce, broadcast, copy and use it in any medium or format as long as you give appropriate credit and provide a link to this website. You may not use the material for commercial purposes. Music used in the podcasts may be subject to other copyright terms and conditions.