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 Recognition of the Roma Genocide

 Recognition, official texts

According to the OSCE-ODIHR, report, the Holocaust is defined as "the massive destruction of Jews during the German Nazi regime in 1939-1945. The Ministry of Education and Science added that other victim groups are briefly mentioned” (See “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84).

 Data (camps locations, Remembrance places, measures etc.)

At present, there is no distinctive Holocaust museum or Holocaust Memorial Day in Georgia. Holocaust victims are included in commemorations of those who died in World War I and World War II. (See “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84).

Victory Day was commemorated in Georgia on 9th May 2015. The event marked the 70th anniversary of the formal surrender of Nazi Germany to the Soviet Union in Berlin in May 1945. Georgian veterans and their families gathered at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Vake Park in Tbilisi to honour those killed in the war years. Around 300 000 Georgians lost their lives in World War II.

Union of Roma from Kakheti “Roma”, together with the European Centre for Minority Issues, deals with daily challenges faced by the Roma population in Georgia: access to education, health care, housing and registering as citizens in order to get an ID. No information if Roma population is taught about Holocaust or Roma Genocide.

 Specialised institution, commission, research centre etc., dealing with this issue

According to the available information, there is no specialised institution, commission or research centre specifically dealing with the issue of the Roma Genocide.

LEA-Jewish Women’s organisation of Georgia
Marine Solomonishvili, president
19 Nishnianidze str
0105 Tbilisi. Georgia
Tel: 99532 2985896
Email: [email protected]

Religious Congregation of Jews of Georgia

 Official initiatives (campaigns, actions, projects, commemoration days, museums)

As per OSCE report “Holocaust Memorial Days in the OSCE Region: An overview of governmental practices”, page 46, Georgia has not designated a special commemoration day for the victims of the Holocaust. Holocaust victims are included in commemorations of those who died in World War II.

On 27th January 2013, the Council for Ethnic and Religious Minorities, within the Ombudsman Office, together with the Jewish community, organised an event to commemorate the Holocaust. This memorial ceremony focused on those who risked their own lives to save tens of thousands of Jews, Roma and Sinti and others from near certain death under the Nazi regime during World War II in Europe. An exhibition of the artwork of Marine Solomonishvili, president of the International Council of Jewish Women in Georgia, on theme of Holocaust was inaugurated in the framework of the commemoration event. The author also introduced a film about the painters of the Holocaust.

 Remembrance day

According to the available information, Georgia has not designated a special day of commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust.

According to the OSCE-ODIHR, report, the Holocaust is defined as "the massive destruction of Jews during the German Nazi regime in 1939-1945. The Ministry of Education and Science added that other victim groups are briefly mentioned” (See “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84).

 Teaching about the Roma Genocide

 Inclusion of the topic in the school curriculum

The subject of the Holocaust is included in history, literature, and German-language courses. Students encounter the subject for the first time at the ages of 9 to 10 in a course on the history of religion and then at the ages of 13 to 14 in a course on world history. (See OSCE report “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84)

 Inclusion of the topic in the school textbooks

History textbooks for secondary schools allocate approximately two pages for the subject of the Holocaust. (See OSCE report “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84)

 Training of teachers and education professionals

According to the OSCE Report (“Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 53): “Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Moldova are an example of just how successful international support can be. In 2003-2004, within the project ‘Tolerance Lessons of the Holocaust’, the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress trained teachers from the above-mentioned countries on how to teach about the Holocaust. Experts from Moscow, Kyiv, and Bishkek delivered lectures and headed workshops focusing on methods for teaching about tolerance and the Holocaust. The teachers also received didactic materials.”

In 2002, Georgian teachers participated in an educational and methodological seminar called “Tolerance-Lessons of the Holocaust” as part of an international programme organised by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. (See OSCE report “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84)

 Particular activities undertaken at the level of education institutions

Standards of instruction on history and civics refer to the Holocaust. (See OSCE report “Education on the Holocaust and on Anti-Semitism: An Overview and Analysis of Educational Approaches”, page 84)

Testimonies

 

 Initiatives of the civil society

The 6th annual AGBU GORIZ seminar gathered a group of 37 young professionals from the Armenian, Jewish and Roma communities for a five-day seminar in Tblissi, Georgia. This year’s seminar focused on negotiating identity within minority communities and it was co-organised by AGBU Europe, the European Center for Minority Issues, the European Union of Jewish Students, the European Roma Grassroots Organization Network and Hayartun (Diocese of the Armenian Church of Georgia) and supported by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. The seminar aimed to raise awareness amongst participants about the ways identity perception can affect their goals and their relationships with authorities, helping the young leaders take an active part in the way their identity is understood. The event was comprised of lectures, workshops and visits to cultural sites in Tblissi and the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Sessions were led by representatives from organisations like the United Nations, the Council of Europe, Open Society and the Tolerance and Diversity Institute as well as by clergy and community leaders in Georgia. Amongst other things, the exclusion of the Roma people from history textbooks and its impact on Roma children’s self-perception was discussed as well as the situation of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities in Georgia.

 Resources

 Educational material

Council of Europe has published a training tool “Right to Remember, A Handbook for Education with Young People on the Roma Genocide” which can be translated into Georgian per request.

 Information material

The 6th annual AGBU GORIZ seminar gathered a group of 37 young professionals from the Armenian, Jewish and Roma communities for a five-day seminar in Tblissi, Georgia. This year’s seminar focused on negotiating identity within minority communities  and it was co-organised by AGBU Europe, the European Center for Minority Issues, the European Union of Jewish Students, the European Roma Grassroots Organization Network and Hayartun (Diocese of the Armenian Church of Georgia) and supported by the Erasmus+ Program of the European Union. The seminar aimed to raise awareness amongst participants about the ways identity perception can affect their goals and their relationships with authorities, helping the young leaders take an active part in the way their identity is understood. The event was comprised of lectures, workshops and visits to cultural sites in Tblissi and the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti. Sessions were led by representatives from organisations like the United Nations, the Council of Europe, Open Society and the Tolerance and Diversity Institute as well as by clergy and community leaders in Georgia. Amongst other things, the exclusion of the Roma people from history textbooks and its impact on Roma children’s self-perception was discussed as well as the situation of religious, cultural and linguistic minorities in Georgia.

 Scientific publications

Conference Paper “The Gypsies (Dom – Lom – Rom) in Georgia” by Vesselin Popov, 2014, prepared for the Annual Meeting of the Gypsy Lore Society and Conference on Romani Studies

Kenrick, D. (ed.) (1999). The Gypsies During the Second World War. Vol. 2. In the Shadow of the Swastika. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press.

An article published at the Human Rights House website describes living conditions of the Roma population in Georgia.

 Multimedia material

1965: “Obyknovennyy fashizm” (Ordinary Fascism, released in the US as “Triumph over Violence” or “Echo of the Jackboot”), USSR, documentary, directed by Mikhail Romm, produced by Mosfilm, 138 min
An extraordinarily powerful reminder to the future generations of the horrors of German Nazism, it features archive footage to denounce dictatorship. The film was released in 1965, in the Soviet Union's heyday at the height of the great societal and intellectual "thaw" that followed the Stalin's death and the denunciation of Stalin's totalitarianism by Nikita Khrushchev.