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On 16 May we commemorate the uprising of the Roma and Sinti in the „Gypsy family camp“ of Auschwitz-Birkenau. On this day in 1944, the SS planned to close the camp and murder all the prisoners in the gas chambers. But they resorted to improvised weapons, barricaded themselves in their barracks, determined to fight. The SS broke off the operation and about 3,000 men and women „fit for work“ were transported to other camps. The more than 4,000 remaining Sinti and Roma were murdered in the gas chambers on 2 August 1944.

Thanks to this unique act of resistance, several thousand lives were saved. For a moment, hope and empowerment sprouted from the morass of extermination.

And that is what we celebrate on 16 May: the strength of our ancestors, their resistance, their determination – amidst the hopelessness and exhaustion of the death camp. We need this strength now as well: Because until today, many Roma, Sinti, Black, Muslim-read, queer communities and People of Colour, especially women and people with disabilities, have to prove courage and resilience every day to fight against racism, structural discrimination and right-wing extremism and for equal participation, a self-determined life and for the preservation of democracy.

 

Programme:

 19:30
Film projection and talk:
Video eyewitness account by Auschwitz survivor Mano Höllenreiner.
2016, 3 minutes

In spring 2016, filmmaker Hamze Bytyçi visited Auschwitz survivor Mano Höllenreiner, whose family led the uprising in Auschwitz-Birkenau on 16 May 1944. In an approximately 3-minute video, the contemporary witness talks about the resistance and his wishes for the young generation of Sinti and Roma.

Noncia
2022, 7 minutes
The short animated film depicts the moving story of resistance and bravery of Alfreda Noncia Markowska, a young Romni from Poland who saved about fifty children’s and young adult’s lives throughout the Second World War.

 

Roads Without Caravans
2022, 7 minutes
This short animated film, which follows the life of French Romani author Mateo Maximoff, reasserts the power of the written word as a means of survival, commemoration and preservation of cultural heritage.

After the projection, Hamze Bytyçi, director of the three film contributions, an the activist Marian Luca talk with Mal Élevé (musician and the voice of the main character of „Roads Without Caravans“) and Marcin Tas (artist, created the drawings for „Noncia“ with his wife Małgorzata Mirga-Tas).

20:00
Concert in three parts

Tabla Ensemble Kamalesh Maitra: Compositions for 4 Tablas

The Tabla Ensemble Kamalesh Maitra, led by Laura Patchen, American master student of Pandit Kamalesh Maitra, bears this name in memory of her teacher who died in 2005. The ensemble performs compositions for tabla-baya, India’s most important drum pair. Fun with the sound production possibilities on the Indian tabla and the immersion in the world of rhythmic cycles have brought the ensemble members together.

With: Laura Patchen, Viorica Buckow, Frank Schubert, Claudia Armeniuos

 

Violin solo: Classical Raag performance

Madhuri Chattopadhyay comes from a family of musicians in Calcutta. She was a pupil of the violin virtuoso Pandit V.G.Jog and studied at the Rabindra Bharati University, graduating in musicology. In 1976 she played for the first time in Berlin at the Meta Music Festival. She moved to Berlin and played here with the musician and composer Pandit Kamalesh Maitra in his Ragatala Ensemble, among others. She now teaches and performs at various cultural institutions in Europe.

With: Madhuri Chattopadhyay (violin) and Laura Patchen (tabla)

Ragatala Ensemble: compositions by Pandit Kamalesh Maitra

Mila Morgenstern (DE) on the bansuri and Laura Patchen (USA) on the tabla play works by the composer and musician Kamalesh Maitra, who founded the Ragatala Ensemble with these two artists in 1980. As a pioneering experiment, the group aimed to create a new dimension of expression by leaving the established path of traditional North Indian classical performance practice. Raag and Taal, the Sanskrit terms for melody and rhythm, give the group its name and remain the foundation on which both compositions and improvisations are based.

With: Mila Morgenstern (bansuri) and Laura Patchen (tabla).

During the event there will be the opportunity to pick up poster artworks of the 2nd Roma Biennale WE ARE HERE!

The event is funded by the BMFSFJ’s programme “Demokratie in der Mitte” within the framework of the programme “Demokratie leben!”