Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism – located between the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany – filmed in 2013.
The monument is dedicated to the memory of the estimated 500,000 European Roma and Sinti that were murdered during the Holocaust – called Porajmos or Pharrajimos in the Romani language (“the Devouring” or “Destruction”) – the genocide of the European Sinti and Roma peoples by the German Nazis and their fascist allies ( http://www.romasintigenocide.eu/en/home ).
The memorial by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan consists of a circular pool of water with a triangular stone in the center upon which a fresh flower is placed daily.
At the site you hear the sound, a note of a lonely violin from a composition/sound installation titled “Mare Manuschenge” / “Our People” by Romeo Franz, a Sinto musician, composer and politician in Germany.
Karavan : „dem Klang einer einsamen Geige allein geblieben von der gemordeten Melodie, schwebend im Schmerz“
Romeo Franz:
Romani Rose, the chairman of the Central Council of the Sinti and Roma, called me in 2012 and said he was looking for a violinist who could play just one single note at the ceremony. I tried, but at some point I couldn’t stand this note any longer. Instead I imitated a whistle that Sinti often use to call their children. It’s a sound that each of us recognise, it’s a bit like a mark of identification, a signal. Then I transposed it onto the gypsy minor scale. Shortly before the memorial was completed, I met with Dani Caravan, the Israeli architect who designed the memorial, at the construction site, and he said, “That’s it!” For me, it was possibly the most significant thing I’ve ever achieved in my life.
From : The Handreader’s Tale via https://www.kulturstiftung-des-bundes.de/en/magazine/magazine_26-1/the_handreaders_tale.html
Note
Yesterday – August 4, 2019 – a more subjective short film impression of the memorial was posted see ‘Porajmos Memorial Sinti Roma Europe’ ~ https://settela.com/2019/08/04/porajmos-memorial-sinti-roma-europe/ More information on this memorial also in that 20190804 post.
Film: Mare Manuschenge | Music Roma Memorial Berlin | 20190805 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | CC BY 4.0
Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism, filmed in 2013 in the Tiergarten (close to other Holocaust memorials) in Berlin – between the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate, in Germany.
The monument is dedicated to the memory of the estimated 500,000 European Roma and Sinti that were murdered during the Holocaust – called Porajmos or Pharrajimos in the Romani language (“the Devouring” or “Destruction”) – the genocide of the European Sinti and Roma peoples by the German Nazis and their fascist allies ( http://www.romasintigenocide.eu/en/home ).
August 2 is European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day commemorating this genocide of Roma people during World War II. Declared by the European Parliament in 2015 (Resolution 2015/2615), the day marks the anniversary of the extermination of around 3,000 Roma at Auschwitz-Birkenau during the night of 2 August 1944. The so-called Gypsy Camp in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp was dissolved – or “liquidated,” as the SS called it.
Settela Steinbach (9) was one of those murdered early August 1944, now 75 years ago.
The memorial (by the Israeli artist Dani Karavan) consists of a circular pool of water with a triangular stone in the center (not shown in this film) upon which a fresh flower is placed daily.
Film: Porajmos Memorial Sinti Roma Europe | 20190804 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | CC BY 4.0
Poem “Auschwitz” by Santino Spinelli
In a ring around the pond in English and German – and in two Romani dialects on a stone – are the words of the poem “Auschwitz” by Santino Spinelli (artist name Alexian), a Rom from the Abruzzi region of Italy – a musician, poet, teacher, composer and essayist.
Auschwitz (Original)
Muj šukkó, kjá kalé vušt šurde; kwit. Jilo čindó bi dox, bi lav, nikt ruvbé.
Auschwitz (Deutsch)
Eingefallenes Gesicht, erloschene Augen, kalte Lippen. Stille. Ein zerrissenes Herz, ohne Atem, ohne Worte, keine Tränen.
Auschwitz (English)
Pallid face, dead eyes, cold lips. Silence. A broken heart without breath, without words, no tears.
Music “Mare Manuschenge” by Romeo Franz
At the site you faintly hear the sound, a note of a lonely violin from a composition/sound installation titled “Mare Manuschenge” / “Our People” by Romeo Franz, a Sinto musician, composer and politician in Germany.
The sound in this film I posted is mixed from several video recordings there, with the emphasis on the sound from one video of one of the loudspeakers in the surrounding trees.
Settela peeks outside the death train to Auschwitz. Last glance at the outside world for the 9-year-old Dutch Sinti girl Settela Steinbach just before these cattle car doors close , and this death train heads for Auschwitz on May 19 , 1944. Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach peeks outside , at the last moment just before the sliding door is closed , standing inside a freight wagon with 74 people on May 19 , 1944 in the Westerbork concentration camp in Holland (75 people the moment the train leaves), when this deportation train leaves for Auschwitz-Birkenau – where Settela is murdered a few months later in one of the gas chambers. Here she wears a headscarf made from a torn sheet, because the Nazis had her head shaved , and while Settela peeks outside , her mother cries behind her in the car : “Get out of there, or soon your head gets in between!” She was filmed by the Jewish prisoner filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer as part of a documentary film being made on the Westerbork camp. In 2017 two other short films of this moment were made (20170721 and 20170725michelvanderburg•com). Today 75 years later — on the occasion of making Settela•Com public, in this first publication the online premiere of a new 1 minute slow-motion film (4:3 format) , made using the original Westerbork 1944 film rushes of Rudolf Breslauer from the archive of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision. Citation : Settela | Settela•Com | 20190519 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | CC BY 4.0 .
NL (dutch)
Settela | Settela•Com
Settela gluurt naar buiten in de dodentrein naar Auschwitz. Laatste blik op de buitenwereld voor het 9-jarige Nederlandse Sinti-meisje Settela Steinbach, op 19 mei 1944, vlak voordat de schuifdeuren van die goederenwagon dicht gaan en die dodentrein naar Auschwitz vertrekt. Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach gluurt naar buiten, op het laatste moment vlak voordat de schuifdeur wordt gesloten, staand in een goederenwagon met 74 mensen op 19 mei 1944 in concentratiekamp Westerbork in Holland (75 mensen op het moment dat de trein vertrekt), wanneer deze deportatietrein gaat vertrekken naar Auschwitz-Birkenau – waar Settela enkele maanden later in een van de gaskamers wordt vermoord. Hier draagt ze een hoofddoek gemaakt van een gescheurd laken, omdat de nazi’s haar hoofd hebben geschoren, en terwijl Settela naar buiten gluurt, roept haar moeder achter haar in de wagon daar weg te gaan … ‘straks komt je kop er nog tussen’. Ze werd gefilmd door de Joodse gevangene, filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer, als onderdeel van een documentaire over het kamp Westerbork. In 2017 werden nog twee andere korte films gemaakt van dit moment (20170721 en 20170725michelvanderburg•com). Vandaag 75 jaar later — ter gelegenheid van het publiek maken van Settela•Com in deze eerste publicatie, de online première van een nieuwe 1 minuut slow-motion film (4:3 formaat), gemaakt met de originele Westerbork 1944 film rushes van Rudolf Breslauer uit het archief van het Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid. Citation : Settela | Settela•Com | 20190519 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | CC BY 4.0 .
Updates
20190611 – First post ‘Settela’ ( posted first 20170721 at michelvanderburg•com ) now included / antedated to this site , link 20170721
20220604 – Format changes title, heading, credit line
20221115 — Minor changes last paragraph in both EN and NL sections.
The 9-year-old dutch Sinti-girl Anna Maria ‘Settela’ Steinbach peeks outside , at the last moment just before the sliding door is closed , standing inside a freight wagon with 74 people on May 19 , 1944 in the Westerbork concentration camp in Holland , when this deportation train leaves for Auschwitz-Birkenau – where Settela is murdered a few months later in one of the gas chambers. Here she wears a headscarf made from a torn sheet, because the Nazis had her head shaved , and while Settela peeks outside , her mother cries behind her in the car : “Get out of there, or soon your head gets in between!” She was filmed by the jewish prisoner filmmaker Rudolf Breslauer as part of a documentary film being made on the Westerbork camp. More info here http://romasinti.eu/#story/settela-steinbach In this short film I start with a slow-motion (10x) of the 3 seconds clip, followed by the unedited clip from the Westerbork 1944 film rushes / Rudolf Breslauer / Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision (Open Images).
Credit Edited from Westerbork Acte 1 (02-1167) raw footage courtesy of Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid | OpenImages. Camera : Rudolf Breslauer, 1944, Westerbork, Netherlands .
Film: Settela | 20170721 | Michel van der Burg | Settela•Com | ISSN 2949-9313 | CC BY 4.0 .
