Poetry keeps alive memory of 500,000 Romany Gypsies who died in Nazi death camps
Jan 26 2009 12:00AM
Poetry keeps alive the memory of 500,000 Romany Gypsies who died in Nazi death camps
The Romany Theatre Company (RTC) is celebrating Holocaust Memorial Day on 26 January by highlighting the fate of the 500,000 Gypsies who died in Hitler’s death camps. Members of the local Romany community will read poetry and a short story written by Gypsy survivors of the Holocaust in Boardroom 2 at Suffolk New College in Ipswich at 12.30pm. They will also have a stand on 27 January at Ipswich Corn Exchange during Suffolk County Council’s Holocaust Memorial Day celebrations.
The fate of millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis is well documented but less is known about the Roma and Sinti Gypsy Travellers who also died in the camps - mainly because their culture is traditionally oral rather than literary.
‘As the war began the persecution of Gypsies grew more intense with the deportation of Gypsies to ghettos such as Lodz and to concentration camps like Dachau and Auschwitz which had a specific ‘Gypsy Camp.’ Only 3000 of the 23,000 Gypsies imprisoned at Auschwitz survived’ explains Dan Allum, director of the Romany Theatre Company which creates rich, powerful and inspirational theatre and radio productions rooted in the Romany culture.
The readings will feature Gypsy travellers from around the East Anglia region who will read out poetry about the holocaust and the plight of their forefathers. ‘Throughout our history we have developed our own traditions in music, storytelling, poetry, art and design and dance. At the RTC we continue that tradition with a strong emphasis on challenging negative views of Romany people and the lives we lead,’ says Candis Nergaard one of the Romany Gypsy performers. Candis also appears in the BBC radio series Atching Tan and recently played Esmeralda in the highly acclaimed Radio 4 series The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Her other credits include Eastenders and the film Stuart A Life Backwards.
David McLeod, Chaplin for the Ipswich Education Quarter said ‘Suffolk New College and University Campus Suffolk are pleased to be working with The Romany Theatre Company to commemorate the lives of those who have died in past genocides around the world.’ He went on to say ‘It is important to raise awareness of the issues people still face today, and to promote understanding and respect for people from all cultures, faiths and backgrounds.’
‘Holocaust Memorial Day reminds us that we should remember the Gypsy victims and survivors of the Nazis. That’s why we felt it would be particularly apt to get local Romany Gypsies to read poetry in remembrance of all those Gypsies who died in the Nazi death camps,’ says Allum.
For more information about Holocaust Memorial Day go to their website at www.hmd.org.uk. To find out more about the Romany Theatre Company go to www.romanytheatrecompany.co.uk.