In Nazi Germany, Sinti (1) and Roma were one of the four main targets of Nazi extermination policies, along with Jews, the mentally disabled, and homosexuals. (2) In today's Germany, Sinti and Roma remain one of the main targets of discrimination, exclusion, and intolerance, together with refugees and other undesirable foreigners. Despite the acknowledgement by the German government in 1982 of the genocide against Sinti and Roma during the National Socialist era, and recognition of the German Sinti and Roma as a national minority in its Declaration on the Framework Convention on National Minorities ratified in 1997, the majority of Sinti and Roma in Germany today continue to live in exclusion and destitution.
An estimated half a million Sinti and Roma were killed during the Holocaust (3), after having been robbed of all possessions, deported to concentration camps, and in many instances sterilised or subjected to inhuman medical experimentation. Sinti and Roma who returned to Germany from concentration camps after World War II continued to be routinely harassed by the police and other authorities – often by the same people who previously ordered their deportation. The genocide of Sinti and Roma was not acknowledged officially until much later. Sinti and Roma were excluded from mainstream society and, having secured housing only in wagons or other poor quality accommodation on the outskirts of the towns or cities, were neglected for decades. (4)
Roma who arrived in Germany as migrant workers from the 1950s onwards
have shared the fate of other migrants, frequently having lived in Germany
for three generations without being able to integrate into the society
or secure permanent residence or citizenship status in Germany. They reportedly
face intolerance and at times open violence. (5) Roma
who arrived in Germany as refugees in the early 1990s share the fate of
other refugees and asylum-seekers and see a legislative and administrative
noose tightening around them, forcing their "voluntary return" or deportation
to the country of "origin" where their physical safety cannot be assured.
(6)
Ghettos
The German government states, in its first regular report to the Advisory Committee on the Implementation of the Framework Convention for National Minorities, that ethnic statistics are officially banned in Germany. (7) Accordingly, there is an extreme under-production of data on the situation of Roma and Sinti in Germany, and all figures concerning the situation of Sinti and Roma in Germany are only estimates. According to local Sinti and Romani non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Germany, many German Roma and Sinti today live in substandard housing in segregated areas, often in areas considered hazardous to human health. (8) Some Romani settlements are merely renovated ghettos in which German Sinti and Roma were housed by German authorities after they returned from concentration camps in 1945. (9) In addition to problems concerning living conditions, Roma and Sinti also endure very high rates of unemployment and limited access to education in Germany. The first time the issue of precarious social situation of German Sinti and Roma was raised seriously was during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. (10) However, thereafter, concrete projects carried out in individual German states (Länder) by and large resulted, first, in providing "temporary" housing where many people continue living today and creating a myth that Sinti and Roma have been successfully "integrated" in Germany.
In Freimann district of greater Munich, Bavaria, Sinti families have lived in "temporary" housing containers from 1972 until they were rehoused on January 15, 2002. (11) The settlement was located along the highway, far from the Munich centre, and for a long time was virtually inaccessible by public transportation. At the time of my visit there, in early January 2002, the thin walls of the houses did not have any insulation, and did not protect from cold temperatures and humidity. In order to maintain a reasonable temperature inside, residents used in rudimentary stoves. In the absence of ventilation, these practices left a black residue on the walls. Due to humidity and absence of ventilation many homes were covered inside by mold. (12) In the 1990s, Freimann grew into a major industrial zone, and some infrastructure developed over the course of the decade. For example, a metro line was extended to the area. At the time that I visited, the nearest and only metro stop was some 300 metres away from the beginning of the Sinti settlement. In 1998, the car company BMW made an offer to the government of Munich to buy the land for its purposes. The government of Munich reportedly accepted the lucrative deal, and arranged for resettlement of the resident Sinti families to another area. This resettlement was "exceptionally" carried out in consultation with the members of the minority, who initially feared resettlement back into trailers but reportedly were "very pleased to see normal, brick-made houses." (13) In the words of the social workers, it was a "piece of luck that the BMW wanted the land, because God knows how much longer these people would have to live in these conditions." (14)
According to Germany’s first report to the Advisory Committee on the Implementation of the Framework Convention for National Minorities, a German Parliament (Bundestag) Resolution of June 26, 1986, adopted by all parliamentary factions, confirmed the need for the improvement of living conditions and for the promotion of the integration of Sinti and Roma into society. (15) However most efforts to improve the living conditions of Sinti and Roma are apparently carried out without consulting the members of the minority, often with quite negative consequences. For example, in the 1980s in the city of Freiburg, in the state of Bavaria, authorities built new homes, schools and a recreation centre in a compact area without, reportedly, adequate consultation with local Sinti or others, on the assumption that Sinti wanted to stay together. However German residents gradually moved out, leaving the area effectively ethnically segregated. (16)
Sinti/Romani "neighbourhoods" are often in remote and poorer areas, are generally less well maintained and have less adequate infrastructure. For example, in Düsseldorf, in North Rhine-Westphalia, a settlement of German Sinti is located in the outskirts of the city along the highway. The only means of public transportation to the area is a bus that goes twice an hour during working hours and once an hour in off-peak hours. The houses are brick-made one-story houses, with occasional trailer homes (Wohnwagen). A social worker explained to me that the construction has been promoted by few enthusiastic individuals of the local social office for the past 10-15 years. (17) At the time I visited, several houses at the end of the settlement had problems with heating, and according to residents, the temperature in these houses in the winter months frequently dropped to as low as 13 to 15 degrees. (18) Construction by the Sinti residents themselves is reportedly bureaucratically complicated. A young couple was trying to build a separate house for themselves on the edge of the settlement (on a place already being used for piling garbage), but had not been able to secure official permission because it was technically already the end of the plot. The social worker said that the couple could build "at their own risk," but if the authorities found out about the illegal construction, the house would have to be taken down. (19) A resident of one of the trailer homes in the settlement reportedly recently separated with his wife and for the lack of a possibility to build a new home had to remain in the trailer. Most of the local Sinti reportedly have not completed education and are unemployed.
In Heidelberg, in the state of Baden Württemberg, German Sinti families live outside the city line. Their one-story houses are rather new and built from bricks, but in an area recognised as ecologically polluted. A plant of the chemical company Henkel is situated across the street from the Sinti homes (the street was formerly called Industriestrasse -- "Industry Street" -- but is now renamed after the Henkel company. (20) The majority of residents are reportedly unemployed.
The Drei Linden camping facility for Roma and Sinti travelling in Germany as seasonal workers in the months of May through September/October, located in Wannsee on the outskirts of Berlin, is a gesture of the Berlin Senate. Since 1995 the Berlin authorities run this camping facility of some 50 caravans at an annual cost of 500,000 German marks (around 255,000 euros). (21) Families are charged a fee for a parking place. The facility extends about 100 meters along the railroad. At the time of my visit to the site on November 25, 2001, the "houses" at the site ranged from trailer homes to wooden cabins to huts constructed from planks. Walls, where there were walls, were sprayed with racist graffiti. Roads were unpaved, and infrastructure was minimal.
Mr. Daniel Strauss, the chair of the Landesverband Deutscher Sinti und Roma of Baden-Württemberg, described, in an article in a local newspaper, the desperate living conditions of hundreds of Sinti families in Ummenwinkel, a town in Baden-Württemberg, stating, "It cannot go on like this." (22) The wooden houses in this desolate Sinti settlement were reportedly so old that practically are falling apart. The lack of sanitary facilities reportedly was also a reason, according to Mr. Strauss, that "many children are ill." (23) However a project to improve the living conditions of local Sinti families there was, as of December 2001, reportedly threatened -- and not for the first time -- due to lack of financial resources. (24) Previously, because of the financial constraints of the local government, several elementary schools and the intermediate school in the neighbourhood were closed down. Most Sinti children were reportedly transferred to St. Christina, the nearest and only available in the area school, a school for children with learning disabilities. (25)
In Hamburg, interviewed members of the non-governmental organisation Rom und Cinti Union who work closely with Romani families in greater Hamburg, stated that living conditions of majority of local Sinti and Roma are awful. (26) Apartments are reportedly generally in old houses with minimal infrastructure, such as poor heating systems (coal or oil), damp air, poor or no ventilation, sometimes no lighting in common areas (for example staircases) and are poorly maintained by responsible authorities. These living conditions, in the words of the NGO mediators working with the Romani families, are also a reason for a high incidence of health related-problems, such as asthma and rheumatism, among the residents. (27)
Similar living conditions of the Sinti and Roma are reported throughout Germany. However, when the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in its Concluding Observations noted with concern a pattern of ethnic segregation in housing in Germany, the response of the German government was that "[i]nsofar as foreign citizens in Germany live in self-contained communities in conurbations, they do this because this is what they want." (28) Remarkably, Sinti and Roma are also widely perceived as foreigners, despite their 600-year history in Germany. (29)
Areas of "compact" settlement of German Sinti and Roma, as well as of
Roma who are in Germany as seasonal workers or refugees, are reportedly
an easy target for right-wing extremists. On July 30, 2001, for example,
in Wildau, in the state of Brandenburg, a camping site of some forty Roma,
was bombed with Molotov-cocktails and set on fire. (30)
The perpetrators of the attack were never identified. Ms. Angelika Christen,
a spokesperson for the police, reportedly ruled out right-wing motives
behind the incident. (31) However Romani leaders in Berlin
criticised the authorities for being inefficient in finding and prosecuting
alleged perpetrators. In the statement addressed to the Berlin authorities
the non-governmental organization Romano Rat e.V. has brought to
the attention of the Berlin authorities the fact that too many perpetrators
of terrorist acts against Roma and Sinti remain "unidentified" and therefore
impugn, and has urged that investigations should be carried in good faith.
(32)
Discrimination and hostility
According to Mr. Jacques Delfeld, the chair of Landesverband Deutscher Sinti und Roma in Landau, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, informal surveys indicate that presently Sinti and Roma are not very high on the list of "enemies" of the German right-wing extremists: they come "only fifth" after Jews, Blacks, Turks and homosexuals. (33) However, with moderate, average Germans, Sinti and Roma are reportedly the "enemy number one". (34) A survey conducted by the EMNID Institute in March 1994 indicated that some 68 percent of Germans stated that they did not wish to have Sinti/Romani neighbours. (35) Some German politicians also occasionally allow statements that disturbingly echo rhetoric of the Nazi-era. Thus Gerd Koch, a candidate for the post of Mayor in Leer, reportedly referred to Roma as "ballast in [German] society and culture." (36) A functionary of the notoriously right-wing party Die Republikaner publicly defamed Michael Friedman, the Vice-President of the Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma, as "Gypsy-Jew" (Zigeunerjude) – and was acquitted of criminal charges by the State Court of Bavaria in August 2001. (37)
The exclusion of Sinti and Roma in Germany is thus a reflection of a general climate of intolerance against Sinti and Roma, and private employers and services providers, including flat-owners, evidently respond to the wishes of white customers. For example, in 1996 in Bochum, in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, a flat-owner reportedly refused a lease contract with a Sinti family on the sole ground that they were "Gypsies". The family appealed in court. However, a judge of the District Court on September 25, 1996, ruled that the owner had not violated the law when he refused to take on the Sinti family as tenants: "Traditionally, this ethnic group is predominantly unsettled and … is clearly so unrepresentative of the average suitable tenant … that expectations of further fruitful negotiations were, from the plaintiffs’ point of view, fully unfounded and untenable." (38) The Heidelberg-based umbrella organisation Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma challenged this decision in Strasbourg Court for Human Rights, but the application was declared inadmissible.
According to the German daily Junge Welt, in July and August 2001, in Bad Hersfeld, in the state of Hesse, many instances were reported in which flat-rental agencies refused to lease flats to Sinti and Roma. In the municipality of Hohe Luft, a written notice was posted stating that "rental contracts with Sinti will be concluded only when a flat previously used by another Sinti lessee becomes available." Mr. Adam Strauss, the chair of Landesverband Deutscher Sinti und Roma in Darmstadt, is quoted in the daily as saying that this practice was unconstitutional, as well as violating the European Convention on Human Rights and data protection laws. However, the Mayor of Hersfeld, Hartmut Bochmer, reportedly retorted that private rental agencies are free to conclude or not conclude any rental contracts. To the question of how it was possible to identify Sinti, Mayor Bochmer reportedly answered, "We know our clients." (39)
In Helsa, a village near the city of Kassel, the owner of the agency Goldener/Adler was reportedly forced to renege on deal on a house sale concluded with a Sinti family after threats of retaliation if he sold the house to "Gypsies." (40) According to an article in the local press, the house stayed empty because the owner "lost courage" after repeated anonymous telephone threats, a burglary, acts of vandalism of his property, and even a personal attack against him. (41)
Discrimination against Sinti and Roma in Germany is pervasive not only in access to housing. The Landesverband Deutscher Sinti und Roma in Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, reported instances of discrimination against Sinti and Roma in the provision of insurance and in the communications sector, particularly in that area of the installation of telephones. (42) In August 2001, in Offenbach, Sinti and Roma were reportedly refused entry to the swimming pool facility Rosenhoehe Einlass. Technical support worker Gerhard Eidmann was quoted in the German daily Junge Welt as having stated, "We don’t want any more Gypsies in the swimming pool," reasoning that "they spend the whole day in the pool." The daily noted the fact that other guests may have been annoyed that Romani women do not fully undress (for cultural reasons) before going into the pool. (43)
In another case, in Cologne, Mr. Christian Mettbach, a 32-year-old German
Sinto registered as a gardener with the city’s manpower agency reportedly
was fired because he refused to go to work at the cemetery. (44)
Sinti have a taboo on certain activities, such as work in hospitals and
cemeteries, which are regarded as unclean places. The employer reportedly
dismissed Mr. Mettbach adding that the Sinto "falsely" registered himself
as a gardener. (45) Mr. Mettbach appealed his dismissal
in court, but lost the first action at a labour court in Cologne. (46)
Racial profiling
Since Sinti and Roma are generally settled in compact areas, these areas are reportedly known as "Gypsy" addresses. Employers are reportedly able to make a determination that an applicant for a job is a Romani individual by the home address. Mr. Herbert Heuss, chair of the Eppenheim-based Furthering Sinti and Roma Initiatives project, stated during an interview that when somebody fills in a job application form and puts the address "Industriestrasse" or similar, employers know who is applying. (47) Segregation in housing thus facilitates racial profiling by German officials and others, and aids allegedly pervasive discrimination against Sinti and Roma in employment.
Until very recently, Bavarian authorities carried out official racial profiling of Sinti and Roma. (48) Following domestic and international criticism (49) and a law suit filed by Sinti and Roma organisations to the Bavarian Constitutional Court, the police authorities declared in October 2001 that they would not continue the practice. (50) The forms would now reportedly indicate only four types of suspects: North-European, Mediterranean, African and Asian, leaving the graph "Personentyp Sinti/Roma" blank or crossed out. (51) However, euphemistic references reportedly continue. For example, in a recent announcement by the Bavarian police in connection with reported instances of fraud, the public was alerted to take precautions when dealing with persons belonging to a "mobile ethnic minority with Southern appearance." (52)
Sinti and Romani organisations allege that unofficially practices of
racial profiling persist in most German states, and that authorities co-operate
in sharing and exchanging this information inter-state. (53)
Allegations have been made that such shared ethnic information is being
used by authorities, among other things to prevent Sinti and Roma from
renting flats or houses.
Romani refugees
In its Declaration on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, the German government names Sinti and Roma in possession of the German citizenship as one of Germany’s four national minorities. (54) The Declaration thereby implicitly excludes from protection those Roma who are foreigners in Germany -- including Romani refugees -- as well as formally stateless German Sinti and Roma. (55) Refugees, among whom are many Roma, have limited rights, including limited freedom of movement, and frequently reside on officially designated refugee settlements, whether they wish to or not. Living conditions on refugee settlements are reportedly also very bad throughout Germany. (56)
Since Summer 2001, the city of Cologne, in North Rhine-Westphalia, has been involved in a heated controversy over moving Romani refugees from the former Yugoslavia, resident in Cologne since the early 1990s, to a specifically designated refugee settlement outside Cologne. (57) The former military barracks where Romani refugees were settled before were flooded, and authorities decided to move Roma to "containers" in a new settlement in the town of Kalk. The "containers" are wooden constructions sized some 3.5 square meters per person. The children of the few dozens of Romani families that have been already moved to the Kalk settlement complain that it is "boring" in the new settlement: no playgrounds, unfinished construction, leftover materials, dirt. (58)
However, there are more serious issues with the place besides the lack of playgrounds. In the 1960s, a chemical plant was built in Kalk. Subsequently the plant was closed, but the area was not resettled, because it was officially recognised as hazardous for human health. Recent tests confirmed high concentration of arsenic and lead in the ground taken for the probe. Concentration of lead (1700 mg. per cubic metre) exceeds the federally-allowed maximum for an adult by 4.25 times (400 mg. per cubic metre) and for a child by 8.5 times (200 mg. per cubic metre). Concentration of arsenic (69 mg. per cubic metre) exceeds maximum by 1.5 times for an adult (50mg per cubic metre) and almost 3 times for a child (25 mg per cubic metre). (59) Roma demonstrated in protest against the resettlement, but spokesperson for the Cologne government, Mr. Karl-Heinz Merfeld, was quoted in the daily Kölnische Rundshau as saying, "the policy [on refugees] is clear and the city will stand firm." (60) Authorities reportedly also claimed they would "check the proof" of alleged heavy metal concentration in the ground. (61) Romani NGOs appealed to the city court in order to stop resettlement and rehouse those Romani families that had been already resettled. The court reportedly recommended that the Cologne authorities "reconsider" their decision to resettle Roma. (62) The controversy has not been yet resolved at the time of writing.
In the view of representatives of local NGOs, the resettlement of Romani refugees, many of whom have been in Germany for ten years of longer, to uninhabitable conditions was reportedly intended by the Cologne local authorities to "encourage" refugees, particularly from the former Yugoslavia (including Kosovo/a) to return there. The policy of encouraging return of refugees in Germany has taken various forms. The most benign form is offering transportation and resettlement allowance for those willing to return voluntarily. For those unwilling or unable to return, however, welfare support has been cut, and deportation may be underway. For Roma who fled Kosovo/a from persecution by the Milosevic regime, and also, especially after the June 1999, by Kosovo/a Albanians, return with dignity is impossible. (63)
Instead of cash allowance, Cologne authorities now reportedly "finance" housing (containers) and provide food on premises of Romani refugee settlements. (64) Members of the Cologne-based non-governmental organisation Rom e.V. stated that the food is barely edible and also costs the local government more than paying regular allowance. (65) But the local authorities in charge for dealing with Romani refugees claim this denotes a "new concept" in refugee policy. (66) Members of Rom e.V. explained, "this is done not so refugees would like it but rather so they would dislike it, and those who are unhappy with what Germany has to offer are always free to go back to their country." (67)
Similar policies have reportedly been adopted in other German states. In Hamburg, "Schiffe Bibbi" is a notorious refugee settlement on a ship in Altona area. Public transportation to the settlement is inadequate. Visitors are not allowed to enter the premises, however an interviewed resident stated the rooms are about 20 square metres in size, and as many as eight people are accommodated in one room. Children play unattended on a mean playground on the edge of water. There is no fence separating the playground from the edge of water, so there is a danger that children can simply fall into the water while playing, especially when after dark. Drug-dealers reportedly move freely around the area. Minors can reportedly frequently be seen smoking and consuming alcohol, while the guards are more concerned with keeping visitors out than with the safety and well-being of the children. (68)
Overcrowding in refugees settlements across Germany, according to members
of international non-governmental organisation Society for Threatened Peoples
(Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker) in Göttingen,
Lower Saxony, is a cause of sanitary problems and potentially serious health
problems. (69)
Conclusion
In its report on Germany (2000) European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) noted with concern that "[m]embers of Roma and Sinti communities face serious social disadvantages and are confronted with prejudice and discrimination" in all spheres of social life. (70) International human rights organisations have repeatedly criticised Germany’s harsh policies toward refugees, among whom Roma constitute a large part. (71) However, to date Germany has not taken concrete and meaningful measures to alleviate the precarious situation of many if not the majority of Sinti and Roma in Germany – one of the groups to which Germany owes the most, and which finds itself in the most adverse situation today because of Germany’s de facto apartheid policies.
Notes
1. “Sinti” is the name of a Romani group that settled in Germany about 600 years ago. Sinti speak a dialect of Romani influenced especially by close contact with German for long periods of time (i.e., many centuries). In recent years, and possibly out of fear of being associated with immigrant Eastern European Roma, some Sinti have chosen to emphasise that they are "Sinti" and not "Roma"; hence, official and unofficial publications concerning "Gypsy" groups in Germany frequently use "Sinti and Roma". For further reading, see, Fraser, Angus, The Gypsies, Oxford, Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell, 1995; Hancock, Ian, “Gypsy History in Germany and Neighbouring Lands: A Chronology Leading to the Holocaust and Beyond,” in Crowe, David M. and John Kolsti, eds., The Gypsies of Eastern Europe, Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1991; Liegeois, J.-P. and Nicolae Gheorghe, Roma/Gypsies: A European Minority, London: Minority Rights Group, 1995.
2. On the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma, see Hancock, Op. cit.; Kenrick, Donald and Grattan Puxon, Gypsies under Swastika, Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press, 1995; Rose, Romani, ed., The Nazi Genocide of the Sinti and Roma, Heidelberg: Documentation and Cultural Centre, 1995; Milton, Sybil, “Holocaust: The Gypsies” in Parsons, William S., Israel Charny and Samuel Totten, eds. Genocide in the Twentieth Century, New York, London: Garland Publishing, 1995, pp. 209-264.
3. There is a controversy surrounding the actual numbers of Sinti and Roma victims of the Nazi Holocaust. A commonly stated estimate of the number of Sinti and Roma killed by the Nazi regime in Europe was 250,000. Professor Ian Hancock has, however, stated that the figure may be as high as 1.5 million. See Hancock, Op cit. Figures currently supported by many German Sinti and Roma organisations are half a million. It is also estimated that of German Sinti and Roma, over half were killed. See Rose, Op. cit.
4. For a concise overview of problems faced by Sinti and Roma in post-Nazi period, see Milton, Sybil, “Persecuting the Survivors: The Continuity of ‘Anti-Gypsyism’ in Post-War Germany and Austria”, in Tebbutt, Susan, ed., Sinti and Roma: Gypsies in German-Speaking Society and Literature, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1998, pp. 35-48. Also, Kopf, Peter, Sinti und Roma, Munich: Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, 1994.
5. International human rights organizations note a dramatic resurgence of racially motivated violence in Germany. See, for example, Amnesty International report on Germany, http://www.amnesty.org/ (accessed October 21, 2001).
6. For concerns pertaining to Roma and asylum in Europe, see: http://errc.org/publications/indices/asylum.shtml; issues related to Germany's treatment of Romani refugees are available on: http://errc.org/publications/indices/germany.shtml.
7. The report is available on the Council of Europe website: http://www.coe.int/ . However, German authorities occasionally produce ethnic data, e.g. a recent listing of refugees from Kosovo (see: http://www.bafl.de/bafl/template/index_statistiken.htm).
8. This situation was observed by the author in ten German states (Länder) visited during field research in the period November 2001-January 2002: Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Rhineland-Palatinate.
9. See Milton, “Persecuting the Survivors", Op cit., pp. 35-48.
10. Interview with Mr. Herbert Heuss, Chair of Projekt Förderung Sinti und Roma Initiativen, Heidelberg, January 7, 2002.
11. Information from on-site visit to Fröttmaninger, Munich, January 10, 2002.
12. Interview with Ms. Susan C. and Ms. Uta K., social workers in Munich, January 10, 2002.
13. Interview with Ms. Susan C. and Ms. Uta K., social workers in Munich, January 10, 2002.
14. Interview with Ms. Susan C. and Ms. Uta K., social workers in Munich, January 10, 2002.
15. See Germany’s report to the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the National Minorities, p. 43. Available at the Council of Europe website: http://www.coe.int/ .
16. See Widmann, Peter, An den Rändern der Städte. Sinti und Jenische in der deutschen Kommunalpolitik, Berlin: Metropol, 2001.
17. Interview with Mr. R.K., Sozialdienst, Düsseldorf, January 2, 2002.
18. Information from visit to a Sinti settlement, Düsseldorf, January 2, 2002.
19. Interview with Mr. R.K., Sozialdienst, Düsseldorf, January 2, 2002.
20. Information from visit to a Sinti settlement and interview with Mr. Herbert Heuss, Chair of Projekt Förderung Sinti und Roma Initiativen, Heidelberg, January 7, 2002.
21. Information from the Berlin Senate website, see http://www.sensjs.berlin.de/ (accessed January 1, 2002).
22. “Scheitert Projekt im Ummenwinkel am Geld?”, article in Schwäbische Zeitung, December 8, 2001.
26. Interview with Mr. Rudko Kawczynski, Rom und Cinti Union, Hamburg, December 4, 2001.
27. Interview with Ms. Janina Janson, Rom und Cinti Union, Hamburg, December 7, 2001.
28. CERD/C/338/Add/1410, August 2000, para. 26.
29. See Delfeld, Jacques, Tradition und Zukunft des Rechtsextremismus, publication of Verband Deutscher Sinti/Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz, Landau (1999), p. 5.
30. Newsletter Aktiv gegen Rechts, 30 July 2001, see http://www.aktiv-gegen-rechts.de.
31. Newsletter Aktiv gegen Rechts, 30 July 2001, see http://www.aktiv-gegen-rechts.de.
32. Romano Rat e.V., "Presseerklärung", July 31, 2001.
33. Interview with Mr. Jacques Delfeld, Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma/Landesverband Rheinland-Pfalz, Landau, January 2002.
34. See Schubarth, Wilfred, “Fremde als Sündenböcke”, article in Spiegel Spezial, January 1991, p. 47.
35. Cited in Strauss, Daniel, “Anti-Gypsyism in German Society and Literature” in Tebbutt, Susan, ed., Sinti and Roma: Gypsies in German-Speaking Society and Literature, Oxford: Berghahn Books, 1998, p. 89.
36. “Anklage gegen Gerd Koch wegen Volksverhetzung”, article in Der Wecker, 26 August 2001, p. 15.
37. Information from Antifa network, see http://www.jungle-world.com/_2002/02/09b.htm (accessed January 25, 2002).
38. Application No. 35208/97, Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma and Romani Rose against Germany, May 27, 1997.
39. Cited in “Keiner Zigeuner in Freibad”, article in Junge Welt, August 20, 2001.
40. “Besitzer: Kein Verkauf an Sinti”, article in Rundbrief, annual publication of Verband Deutscher Sinti und Roma/Landesverband Hesse, Darmstadt (2000), p. 27.
42. Cited in Delfeld, Op. cit., p. 7.
43. “Keine Zigeuner in Freibad”, article in Junge Welt, 20 August 2001.
44. “Gärtner darf kein Totengräber sein: Gefeuert!”, article in Express Köln, December 15, 2001.
47. Interview with Mr. Herbert Heuss, Chair of Projekt Förderung Sinti und Roma Initiativen, Heidelberg, January 7, 2002.
48. See, Alexander Dix, a paper presented at the conference “Race/Ethnic Statistics and Data Protection”, Organized by INDOK at the Central European University, Budapest, 15-17 December 2000.
49. In April 1999 a number of international prominent figures appealed to the Bavarian authorities urging to stop the racist practice. The petition was signed by Simon Wiesenthal, Ignatz Bubis, Gregory Peck, Tim Robbins, Senta Berger, Wynona Ryder, Matt Damon, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Hannelore Elsner, Corin Redgrave, Eileen Atkins, Sherri Parker-Lee, Angela Winkler, Kika Markham, Trevor Nunn, James Black, Finbar Lynch, Rade Serbedzija, Laura Dern, Billy Bob Thornton, Dieter Hildebrandt, Dieter Hallervorden, Johannes Mario Simmel, Siegfried Lenz, Ralph Giordano, Günter Wallraff, Max van der Grün, Franz Alt, Stephen Rayne, Michael Verhoeven, Doris Dörrie, Karl Fruchtmann, Katarina Wolpe, Klaus Staeck, Nimalka Fernando, Kinhide Mushakoji, Damir Grubica, Heinrich Schultz, Ralf Melzer, Romedi Arquint, Armin Nickelsen, Gert Weisskirchen, Vanessa Redgrave and Romani Rose.
50. Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma, "Presseerklärung", October 12, 2001.
52. “Senioren als Opfer: Freche und fiese Täter – Angst vor Euro und Banken ausgenutzt”, article in Nürnberger Nachrichten, 24/25 November, 2001, p. 19.
53. See Rose, Romani, “Public Law Agreement on the Protection and Promotion of German Sinti and Roma – Principles and Contents”, in Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma (Ed.), Expert Opinion by Theo van Boven, Public Law Agreements about the Minority-Protection for the German Sinti and Roma, Heidelberg, 1998, p. 83.
54. See Council of Europe website, http://www.coe.int/.
55. A number of German Sinti and Roma who returned to Germany after the war were reportedly often refused or stripped of citizenship. See, Sybil Milton, "Persecuting the Survivors", Op cit., pp. 35-48.
56. A particularly detailed study is available for Berlin: Brigitte Mihok, Zurück nach Nirgendwo. Bosnische Roma-Flüchtlinge in Berlin, Berlin: Metropol, 2001.
57. Information from Rom e.V., Cologne, December 10, 2001.
58. “Langweile, Frust und wenig Hoffnung”, article in Kölnische Rundschau, November 16, 2001.
59. The copy of the laboratory test results is on file, courtesy of Rom e.V. in Cologne.
60. “Keine Alternative zum Container”, article in Kölnische Rundschau, November 7, 2001.
61. “Stadt will Prüfung prüfen”, article in TAZ, November 29, 2001.
62. “Köln streitet mit Roma”, article in Aachener Zeitung, December 5, 2001.
63. On the situation of Roma in Kosovo, see http://errc.org/publications/indices/kosovo.shtml .
64. “Fluchtlingsrat gegen Container”, article in Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 1, 2001.
65. Interview with Mr. A. M., Rom e.V., Cologne, November 10, 2001.
66. “Fluchtlingsrat gegen Container”, article in Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, October 1, 2001.
67. Interview with Mr. A. M., Rom e.V., Cologne, November 10, 2001.
68. Information from visit to "Shiffe Bibbi", Hamburg, December 5, 2001.
69. Interview with Ms. Annelore Hermes, Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker, Göttingen, November 16, 2001.
70. Second ECRI report on Germany (2000), see http://www.ecri.int/ . Accessed January 20, 2001.
71. See, the report by International Helsinki Federation
(2001), available at: http://www.ihf-hr.org/reports/ar01/Country%20issues/Countries/Germany.pdf
.