In Minorita civic association
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Since 2005, the In Minorita civic association has been addressing the theme of the Romani Holocaust. The project bears the name Ma bisteren!, which in Roma means "Do not Forget!".
Since 2005, the In Minorita civic association has been addressing the theme of the Romani Holocaust. The project bears the name Ma bisteren!, which in Roma means "Do not Forget!".
The persecutions that the Roma faced during World War II were played down after the liberation. Many crimes were not investigated and their perpetrators went unpunished. The dominant opinion within the Roma community itself was that it was better to forget the tragedy and the suffering as quickly as possible. The only public expression of the war experience was a theatre play, “The Burning Gypsy Camp”, written by Elena Lacková, who wrote it a few years after the war. The play was first staged in her Romani hamlet with the participation of her family. As she wrote herself:
In 2005, the Ministry of Culture of the Slovak Republic initiated formation of a working group that shared the preparation of Ma bisteren! project. Slovak National Museum and civil association In minorita became executors of the project. The first phase of the project included an objective to realize a few commemorative information boards (objects) set directly on the places associated with servitude and suffering of the Romany people during the war. The second, no less important, objective was to encourage a societal discussion on the topic and inform the public of basic facts.