Angelina Kappler

Interview on the occasion of 2 August 2021, Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma

Kana mothovdom me diaqe vaś o eksperiènce, but sas laqe phares and-o ilo. Odolesqe so, sigur, si jekh subjèkti savo azbal sarsave manuśes aj oj mothovda manqe but, no voj vi phenda manqe kaj o somvakeripe me papoça sas but pharo okova vaxt, kaj ov but buta na phenda len manqesosqe sas but traumatìko vaś lesqe aj sigur ov na kamla te pharǎrel lesqe ćhaven odole eksperiencença. Akava mandavel kaj na ʒanas sa so kerdilo. O anticiganìzmo aj o sarkon divesutno racìzmo savo pànda si pra zoralo p-o Sìnte aj p-o Rroma si vareso kaj sol duj vi mi daj vi me aj mi phen i maj tikni cidiam ʒi avdives. Sigur, naj komparàcia e nakhlipnaça, no si miśto ta aźutil te vakeras pal akala butǎ e generaciaça anglal aj te ʒanes vaś tuqe sar phires k-o ʒivipe aj sar trebul te phiraves tut kaj te nakhaves o pharimàta. No o konkrète eksperiènce so nakhla mo pàpo and-o kàmpo ekoncentraciaqo sas but phare manqe te śunav len. Śaj phenav kaj si vareso so na kames te seres savaxt. No si miśto vaś manqe te ʒanav aj si miśto kaj del o Del te ʒanen but ʒene akava, sosqe kadia, vareso odoborkha ʒungalo śaj naj te ovel nikana palpalem. Patǎv kaj o seripen no vi o dikǎripen e ʒanipnasqo ʒan vast vastesθe aj ʒan vi vast vastesθe e frekventone racizmoça, sosqe butivar si sadaj biʒanipe. Akalaθar si vareso kaj na sadaj i populàcia si involvome, no me dikhav les vi sar i buti e raipnasqi te anel o fundamentàlo paruvimàta. Te ovèlas jekh generàcia savi sas la ćaćes informàcia, kaj sades ʒanel sa o anglapatǎmàta so ekzistuin pànda pal-o Sìnte ta o Rroma, odolesqe so me ʒanav, but ʒene sas len akala anglapatǎmàta pe manθe kana sinom sas k-i śkòla. Te ondilo vareso, atòska śaj jekh sasti generàcia, atòska śaj jekh sasti generàcia ka trajtonel sas o subjèkti ande jekh komplèto verver ćhand. Pe bibaxt, akala anglapatǎmàta, save si purane bute generaciença butivar nakhen som avere memoriença. Patǎv kaj amen trebul te phagas akava cìklo aj atòska ka avel amen jekh laćhi bàza vaś te sikavas maj ut respèkti aj vi vaś te das jekh bàza vaś o avutnipe kaj i minoritèta, o Sìnte ta o Rroma, te oven jekh priardo kotor e dostipnasqo. Ake sosqe me personal ʒav aj phirav and-o sundal te mothovav sarenqe kon kamel te śunel pala mi història aj so me ʒanav, elpinaça kaj śaj te dav jekh tikni kontribùcia. Mo mesàźi tumenqe si sadaj kaj tumen savorren si tumen jekh responsabilitèta. Savorre amen si amen i dutǐ te dikǎras akaja memòria ʒivdi aj te nakhavas la e avutne generaciaqe sosqe averćhande oj ka merel. Te ʒanen akaja memòria, te nakhaven la tumare ćhavenqe, tumare amalenqe, tumare kolegenqe. Me dikhav sofòra kaj si jekh bari truś ʒaniphnasqe pala sa akava. Ake sosqe mangav tumendθar savorrenθar te oven zorale aj te sarbarrǎren kaj akala memòrie na ka meren.

The antiziganism and everyday racism that still prevails against the Sinti and Roma is something that both my mother and I and my younger sister have experienced up to the present day. Of course, it’s no comparison to the past, but it helps to talk about such issues with the generation before and to know for yourself how you go through life and what attitude you have to have in order to cope with it. But the concrete experiences that my grandfather had in the concentration camp were very difficult for me to hear. I’d say that’s something you don’t want to repeat all the time. But it’s good for me to know that and it’s good that hopefully many people know that, because then something so bad can hopefully never happen again.

I think that remembering but also preserving knowledge goes hand in hand and also goes hand in hand with frequent racism, because is often just ignorance. That’s why it’s something that not only the population is involved in, but I also see it as the government’s task to make fundamental changes. If there were a generation that was enlightened, that simply knew that all the prejudices that still exist about Sinti and Roma, because I know, too many people always held these prejudices against me when I was at school. If something were to happen, then perhaps a whole generation would deal with the subject in a completely different way. Unfortunately, these prejudices, which go back many generations, are often passed on with the memories. I believe that we have to break this cycle and then we will have a good basis for showing more respect and also for providing a basis for the future so that the minority, the Sinti and Roma, become an accepted part of society. That is why I personally go around the world and tell everyone who wants to hear about my story and what I know, in the hope that I can contribute a little.

My message to you would simply be that you all have a responsibility. We all have a duty to keep this memory alive and to pass it on to the next generation because otherwise it will die out. To know this, pass it on to your children, to your friends, to your colleagues. I notice again and again that there is simply a great thirst for knowledge behind it. That’s why I ask all of you to be strong and make sure that these memories don’t die out.