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Learning about the Roma experience in Europe is not only about learning history. It is about understanding the presence, and it is also an insight into a common European future.
Explore the European Roma’s history and the contemporary issues they face regarding race, identity, discrimination, and their impacts on European politics through the fourth and final unit of Humanity in Action Denmark’s and CanopyLAB’s e-course.
Who are the Roma/ni people? And why is this question important? During this 4-week course, distinguished scholar, journalist and activist Konstanty Gebert analyses the experiences of the Roma people of Europe starting from the Porajmos – the Roma Holocaust (also known as Pharrajimos, or Porrajmos). Often called a forgotten chapter in European history, the Porajmos is important to not only the Roma but also European history and identity at large, because the Roma are fundamentally European people.
Overview of Unit 4
In this unit, Konstanty Gebert analyzes the mixed Jewish experience of building an identity largely around the Shoah in Israel and the diaspora. The negative effects that can be seen from the Jewish experience have direct implications for any effort to construct a Roma identity around the Porajmos. This raises the questions of how to commemorate the Porajmos, and where this event should stand vis-a-vis Roma identity.