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.
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.
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)
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.”
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.
Factsheet on the Roma Genocide in Georgia
