Following the poignant commemorative ceremony in the morning, KogA offered visitors the opportunity, through a panel discussion addressing antiziganism, to understand the remembrance of the past as a call to action for the present and to discuss the continuities of the Nazi injustices suffered by Sinti and Roma during the Nazi era in the present day.
Joining the panel, moderated by project leader Bernd Graf-Ulke, were our guests: Michael Brand, Federal Government Commissioner against Antiziganism and for the Life of Sinti and Roma in Germany, Lukas Engelmeier, Research Associate and Deputy Project Manager at KogA (standing in for Emran Elmazi, Spokesperson for the Cooperation Network against Antiziganism), Mario Franz, son of survivor Johann Franz and President of the Lower Saxony Association of German Sinti e.V., Charmaine Wagner, 1st Sinti Association of East Frisia e.V. - Regional Association of Sinti and Roma in Lower Saxony - Education Officer.
The panellists engaged in a lively discussion about the current situation for Sinti* and Roma* in Germany, the continuities of Nazi injustice, and the lack of infrastructure and resources – particularly for smaller self-organisations – to enable long-term work against antiziganism. For this long-term, effective work against antiziganism, nationwide exchange and cooperation in the field are needed to pool resources and expertise and thus develop greater impact together. The current climate of uncertainty caused by the announced restructuring of the Federal Program Living Democracy! was also a topic of discussion on the panel. This is because many projects, organisations and networks, including the Lower Saxony Association of German Sinti and the 1st Sinti Association of East Frisia (through innovation-projects) as well as KogA, are funded by “Living Democracy!”. Funding is therefore a prerequisite for effective and sustainable work to counteract structural and systemic antiziganism. With this in mind, a lively discussion and the afternoon programme of the commemoration came to a close.