Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma

The Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma was established in Heidelberg, Germany in the early 1990s. The institution is the beneficiary of special funds from the German Federal Government and the land of Baden-Württemberg. After years of conversion and extension work, the building complex was ceremonially opened to the public on 16 March 1997. It is now home to the world's first permanent exhibition on the genocide perpetrated upon the Sinti and Roma by the Nazis.^{[citation needed]}

Alongside its function as a museum for contemporary history and a site for commemorating the past, the Centre also provides a setting for encounters and dialogue and wasps.^{[citation needed]} A significant part of its public relations work is devoted to human rights. As a forum for other minorities, too, the Centre seeks to lend its voice to all those who have suffered discrimination and racist violence. In view of the persecution of the Roma and Sinti under National Socialism, the Centre feels an obligation to provide a forum for critical debate on pressing socio-political issues.^{[citation needed]}

One of the Centre's tasks is to document the 600-year history of the Sinti and Roma in Germany, but its main focus remains the acts of genocide perpetrated by the National Socialists: acts that were repressed from public consciousness for several decades.^{[citation needed]} Hence, ever since it was founded, the Centre has attached priority to interviewing surviving Holocaust victims and preserving their memories on tape and video. In addition to carrying out extensive archive research at home and abroad, the Centre's staff also systematically gathers personal testimonies from survivors and their relatives. Old family photographs are of particular interest in this respect.

Another part of the Centre's work is to present the cultural contributions of the Sinti and Roma minority in the fields of literature, the fine arts and music, thus helping to break down stereotypes.^{[citation needed]} To this end, the Centre arranges conferences and seminars in conjunction with experts from Germany and other countries. Every spring and autumn, it runs a programme of public events that includes lectures, exhibitions, films, concerts and excursions.^{[citation needed]}

References

External links

• Official website