Spain
Recognition of the Roma Genocide
Recognition, official texts
Spain observes 27th January as the official Day for Holocaust Remembrance and for the Prevention of Crimes against Humanity (Día Oficial de la Memoria del Holocausto y la Prevención de los Crímenes contra la Humanidad). The day honours Jewish victims, Roma and Sinti victims and other Spanish people deported to concentration camps during World War II. The date was officially established in 2004 following an agreement by the Council of Ministers.
Data (camps locations, Remembrance places, measures etc.)
It is estimated that 150 Spanish Roma were killed in the Holocaust.
Specialised institution, commission, research centre etc., dealing with this issue
There is neither an institution dedicated to the Roma Genocide in Spain nor to the Holocaust in general.
Official initiatives (campaigns, actions, projects, commemoration days, museums)
Spain observes 27th January as Día Oficial de la Memoria del Holocausto y la Prevención de los Crímenes contra la Humanidad (“Official Day for Holocaust Remembrance and Prevention of Crimes against Humanity”). The day honours Jewish victims, Roma and Sinti victims and other Spanish people deported to concentration camps. The date was officially established in 2004 by agreement of the Council of Ministers.
The principal commemorative event is held on 27th January in a prestigious hall or auditorium. The event is organised by the Casa Sefarad-Israel on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ambassador at Large for Relations with the Jewish Community and Organisations. The Ambassador at Large co-operates with the Federation of Jewish Communities of Spain, with Roma organisations and with representatives of associations of deported Spanish people. The Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture are also involved. Holocaust survivors from Spain and abroad are invited and honoured officially by the Government. Government participation is at the ministerial level or higher, while from 800 to1 000 invitees also attend the event. From 2006 to 2010, the commemoration was held in the Paraninfo de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, which is a prestigious and historic hall in the old town of Madrid’s city centre. In 2011, the event took place for the first time in the Auditorio Nacional, which is the most distinguished concert hall in Madrid, because the event included a concert. The commemoration was entitled “The Violins of Memory, the Violins of Hope” and featured soloist Shlomo Mintz and violins rescued from the Holocaust and restored by Luthier Amnon Weinstein.
While the main theme of the commemoration varies from year to year, the ceremonies have traditionally included the following elements: speeches by representatives of the Jewish community, the Roma and Sinti community and deportees; speeches by senior officials, possibly including the King, the President of the Government, ministers, the Vice-President of the Senate, the Vice-President of the Congress, and the President of the European Parliament; musical performances; the lighting of six candles by Holocaust survivors or their relatives, in memory of murdered Jews, children, Spanish victims, Roma and other groups, and recognising the Righteous Among the Nations and survivors who found a new life for themselves in Israel and the diaspora; and a moment of silence.
Teaching about the Roma Genocide
Inclusion of the topic in the school curriculum
The Spanish national curriculum includes teaching about the Holocaust, and the subject is taught at all levels of basic education. The Roma Genocide is treated within the broader subject of history under the Nazi era.
Inclusion of the topic in the school textbooks
There is no information on the inclusion of the Roma Genocide in school textbooks.
Training of teachers and education professionals
An international seminar “¿El genocidio olvidado del siglo XX?” (The forgotten Genocide of the XXth century”) was held on 28 and 29 November 2009 in Madrid, organised by the Ministry of Education. The purpose of the seminar was to open an educational process that accompanies the preparation, over a school year , and memory of a trip to Auschwitz with young Roma and non-Roma.
Particular activities undertaken at the level of education institutions
Holocaust remembrance events take place in many schools around 27 January. Holocaust survivors are sometimes invited to give testimonies to pupils or students. These events are usually supported and co-ordinated by Centro Sefarad-Israel, working on behalf of the Government, with its network of almost 1,000 teachers. Other activities are held with the support of regional governments. In 2014, this included remembrance activities held in Barcelona which were supported by the autonomous local government of Catalonia (Generalitat), and a school activity in the village of Trujillo, in Extremadura, that was supported by the Mayor.
Initiatives of the civil society
Federacio d’Associacions Gitanes de Catalunya (FAGIC) has organized an exhibition called "Porrajmos: el genocidio nazi del pueblo gitano" (“Porrajmos: the Nazi Genocide of the Gypsy people”) which was the first one in Spain. It was inaugurated on the Official Day for Holocaust Remembrance, 27 January 2009, in the Palace of the Generalitat, Barcelona. Since then, the exhibition has travelled throughout Catalonia, in town halls, schools, universities and other cultural centres. The exhibition can be lent to any institution or organisation that requests it.
Asociacion Memoria Genocidio Gitano is an organisation whose aim is to gather data on the Roma Genocide in a e -blog in order to increase knowledge and visibility of this tragic and forgotten past. They have a youtube channel which displays videos on the history of the Roma people (but it does not include the Roma Genocide) and broadcasts a conference on the Roma Genocide that was held in January 2014 in Jerez, and featuring Miguel Palacios.
Memoria Gitana, a web initiative to promote Roma history, has an important bibliography about the Genocide in Spain.
On the blog Porrajmos: Te Bisterdon Tumare Anava (in Spanish), there is information about the Samudaripen in Europe: biographies of the victims, pictures, etc.
Educational material
Bruchfeld, S. et al. (1998). De esto contaréis a vuestros hijos...: un libro sobre el Holocausto Europa, 1933-1945. Stockholm : Regeringskansliet. [Original in Swedish]
Federació d’Associacions Gitanes de Catalunya (ed.) (2009). Porrajmos. El Genocidi del Poble Gitano, DVD. [In Catalan]
Information material
Autobiography
Rosenberg, O. (2003). Un gitano en Auschwitz. Madrid: Amaranto. [Original in German]
Novels:
Florence, R. (1986). El gitano. Barcelona: Planeta. [Original in English]
Laher, L. (2004). Degeneración del corazón. Barcelona: Littera. [Original in German]
Hackl, E. (2002). Adiós a Sidonie. Valencia: Pre-Textos. [Original in German]
Ramati, A. (1989). Y los violines dejaron de sonar: una historia del holocausto gitano. Barcelona: Ediciones ABZ. [Original in English]
Music:
The song "El pájaro negro" was sung in the film Latcho Drom.
Federacio d’Associacions Gitanes de Catalunya (FAGIC) has organized an exhibition called "Porrajmos: el genocidio nazi del pueblo gitano" (“Porrajmos: the Nazi Genocide of the Gypsy people”) which was the first one in Spain.
Memoria Gitana, a web initiative to promote Roma history, has an important bibliography about the Genocide in Spanish.
Reaction article of Javier Saez 2 August 2015 on his blog after the 2 August commemoration worldwide.
Scientific publications
Bruchfeld, S. et al. (1998). De esto contaréis a vuestros hijos...: un libro sobre el Holocausto Europa, 1933-1945. Stockholm : Regeringskansliet. [Original in Swedish]
Fings et al. (1999). De la "ciencia de las razas" a los campos de exterminio, 1. Sinti y Roma bajo el régimen Nazi. Madrid: Ed. Presencia gitana.
Müller-Hill, B. (1985). Ciencia mortífera: la segregación de judíos, gitanos y enfermos mentales (1933-1945). Barcelona: Labor. [Original in German]
Kenrick, D. and Puxon, G. (1996). Bibaxtale bers̓a: història e Rromenqi tel-o Trìnto Raz. Madrid: Editorial Presencia Gitana. [In Romani]
Kenrick, D. and Puxon, G. (1997). Gitanos bajo la cruz gamada. Paris: Centro de Investigaciones Gitanas; Madrid: Editorial Presencia Gitana. [Original in English]
Rosenberg, O. (2003). Un gitano en Auschwitz. Madrid: Amaranto. [Original in German]
Multimedia material
Memoria Gitana, a web initiative to promote Roma history, has an important bibliography about the Genocide in Spanish.
Filmography
1981: “Canta gitano” (Sing, Gypsy). Short film. France. Director: Tony Gatlif. 10 min. Languages: Spanish, German, French.
It depicts – through music and dance - the fate of Roma in the concentration camps.