The Miami Bellydance Meetup Presents:

NOVEMBER 12, 2007 @ JOHN MARTIN | CORAL GABLES | 7:30PM

CLICK HERE for more info and to RSVP!

"There are four hundred books on the gypsies", says a modern tsiganologue, "but in all not more than ten of which tell us anything new or true about them".
Whether this quote (from 1886) was meant to be taken at face value or not, and despite the fact that there are currently thousands of books devoted to the Roma, it certainly remains accurate in its essence. Misinformation, misconception and erroneous stereotype about them and their nature is as rampant today as ever. And unfortunately prejudice, persecution, oppression, and ostracization is on the rise!


Because the Romani people have been so widely misunderstood, ostracized, oppressed, discriminated against, and were subject to attempted extermination by Hitler, they keep their culture closely guarded within their own family/social structure, passing it from generation to generation over a millennium until today.

The purpose of this Romani (Gypsy)-themed Meetup is to contribute to the increased awareness of the facts about this truly remarkable people: their history, culture, music, dance, and the hardships they are still facing today.

The Roma are descendants of the ancient warrior classes of Northern India, particularly the Punjab, and they are identifiable by their language, religion, and customs, which can be directly linked to those of the Punjabi in northern India.

Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi summarized the state of the Romani people very nicely at her opening speech at the International Romani Festival in Chandigarh, India on October 28, 1983 (paraphrased by Milena Hubschmannova & Jaroslav Jurasek):


"There are some 15 million Roms dispersed across the world. Their history is one of suffering and misery, but it is also one of the victories of human spirit over the blows of fate. Today the Roms revive their culture and are looking for their identity. On the other hand, they integrate into the societies in which they live. If they are understood by their fellow citizens in their new homelands, their culture will enrich the society's atmosphere with the color and charm of spontaneity."

Here is some info on Gypsies from Spain:

In Spain, the first record of the Spanish Gitanos "Beticos" arrival was in Zaragoza in 1425, but most are believed to have arrived via Barcelona in 1447.

Between 800 and 900 A.D., a large exodus of people occurred from the Punjabi region of India. These people are believed to be members of the Untouchables, a group within the Indian caste system comprised of animal traders and trainers, acrobats, dancers, musicians, palmists and metalworkers. These nomadic groups, generally referred to as Roman and/or gypsies, divided into two major migratory routes, the most traceable moving west across Asia and the European continent, including Spain.

Spanish Gypsies are usually divided into two main groups: gitanos and hungaros (for Hungarians).

The Roma in Spain are generally known as Gitanos. They used to speak a language known as Romani. Spanish Roma tend to speak Caló which is basically Andalusian Spanish with a large number of Romani loan words. Estimates of the Spanish Gitano population between 600,000 and 800,000



Any discussion of Spanish Gypsies would be remiss without a consideration of Flamenco, which lies at the very soul of these often misunderstood and misrepresented people. In the past few years, there has been an ever increasing interest is all things "gypsy" and what is termed "Spanish-Arabic" in the Middle Eastern Dance community.

Spanish Roma are linked to Flamenco and have contributed a great deal to this Andalusian musical art. According to Blas Infante, in his book Orígenes de lo flamenco y secreto del cante jondo, etymologically, the word Flamenco comes from Andalusi Arabic fellah mengu, "Peasant without Land". Infante connects the huge amount of Muslim Andalusians who decided to stay and mix with the Gypsy newcomers instead of abandoning their lands because of their religious beliefs (Moriscos).

Hello DIVA sisters! So looking forward to this Meetup! Wanted to share a bit more Gypsy info!

I traveled to the South of France a few years back. As luck would have it I arrived in Arles on May 23rd!

Gypsy Festival Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer

This traditional and colorful Gypsy pilgrimage is one of the major events on the Provence and Camargue calendar, and takes place in May.

Every year the Roma celebrate and worship their patron saint, Saint Sara, also known as Sara-la-Kali (Sara the black) in the coastal village of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in the Camargue region of the Provence, Southern France.

There are several stories connected to the dark faced Saint Sara, and especially her origins offer some interesting tales.

Legend has it she was the servant of the other locally celebrated Mary Saints. It is believed that at the beach they erected an altar to pray, but soon thereafter they dispersed. The relics of Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary Jacob are said to be kept in Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and each has their own annual pilgrimage. These women are believed to be the first people to witness to the empty tomb just before the resurrection of Jesus, and especially the Mary Magdalene cult is very widespread in the Provence. The Magdalene is said to have secluded herself in a cave shortly after arriving in Gaul, where she lamented the death of Jesus and prayed vigilantly until her death.

An alternative legend of Sara-la-Kali states her as a pagan of noble birth, later converted to the faith of Abraham.

And last but not least, a most intriguing explanation, believes her to be the local, Christianized manifestation of the Indian goddess "Kali". The ceremony in Saintes-Maries closely parallels the annual processions in India, the country in which the Romani are believed to have originated. During the Indian pilgrimage celebrations, statues of the Indian goddess Durga, also named Kali, are immersed into water. Durga, a consort of Shiva, is usually represented with a black face, as is Saint Sara. The Indian goddess Durga or Kali is the goddess of creation, sickness and death.

The Gypsy pilgrimage of Saint Sara is a unique, spiritual festival, vibrant and colorful, offering a deeper insight into the lives and culture of this ancient nomadic tribe we call Gypsies, the Roma.

This is just an abbreviated version. I will bring the entire story with me to Meet-up. See you all there!

Romani History - In Germany

The history of the Roma is one of continuous struggle and persecution. Since their entry into Europe, the Roma have been outlawed, enslaved, hunted, tortured, and murdered. From the time of the Slobuzenja (Abolition of Romani Slavery) in 1856, to the present day, the Roma have fought for their just social and human rights, largely to the deaf ears of world governments and an indifferent public.

The use of the names Rom, Roma, Romani, or the double 'r' spelling, are used when possible, instead of the names 'Gypsy' and 'Gypsies'. However, it may be necessary to use Gypsy and Gypsies within a cultural or historical context. Romanichal, Gitanos, Kalé, Sinti, Manush, and others do not use Roma when referring to themselves, but to others. For the purpose of this timeline, Roma is used when possible. Rom, Roma, and Romani should not be connected or confused with the country of Romania, or Rome the city. These names have separate, distinct etymological origins and are not related.



1407

Roma are recorded at Hildesheim, Germany.



1416

Roma are expelled from the Meissen region of Germany.



Early 1800s

"Gypsy hunts" (Heidenjachten) are a common and popular sport in Germany.



1830

Authorities in Nordhausen, Germany remove Roma children from their families for fostering with non-Roma.



1868

In Holland, Richard Liebich's work on Roma introduces the phrase "lives unworthy of life" with specific reference to them, and later used as a racial category against Roma in Nazi Germany.



1870

Imperial Chancellor Otto von Bismarck circulates a letter dated November 18th demanding the "complete prohibition of foreign Gypsies crossing the German border," and that "they will be transported by the closest route to their country of origin." He also states that Roma in Germany be asked to show documentary proof of citizenship, and that if this is not forthcoming, they be denied traveling passes.



1886

Chancellor von Bismarck issues a directive to the governments of all regions of Germany alerting them to "complaints about the mischief caused by bands of Gypsies traveling in the Reich, and their increasing molestation of the population," and states that foreign Roma are to be dealt with in particular. This leads to the creation of many regional policies designed to deport non-German-born Roma.



1905

Alfred Dillmann's Zigeuner-Buch appears in Germany. This consists of three parts; an introduction which presents the arguments for controlling Roma, a register, 310 pages long, of over 5,000 Roma, including name, date and place of birth, genealogy and kinship, criminal record and so on, and lastly a collection of photographs of Roma and Sinti from various police files. The introduction maintains that the German people are "suffering" from a "plague" of Roma, that they are "a pest against which society must unflaggingly defend itself," and that they "must be controlled by the police most severely," being "ruthlessly punished" when necessary. The notion of the particular dangers of mixed Romani and white individuals, whom Dillmann considers to constitute almost the entire Roma population, resurfaces in the Nuremburg Laws in 1935. These racially motivated statements also support the Zigeuner-Buch's emphasis on the Romani genetic tendency toward criminal behavior.



1907

Many Roma in Germany leave for other countries in Western Europe.



1909

Switzerland asks Germany, Italy, France and Austria to exchange information on the movements of Roma across their shared borders, and while this is unsuccessful, the Swiss Department of Justice begins a national register of Roma, based upon the Munich model.

Recommendations coming from a "Gypsy policy conference" in Hungary include the confiscation of their animals and carts, and permanent branding for purposes of identification.



1920

On July 27th, the Minister of Public Welfare in Düsseldorf forbids Roma and Sinti from entering any public washing or recreational facilities (swimming pools, public baths, spas, parks).

In Germany, psychiatrist Karl Binding and magistrate Alfred Hoche argue for the killing of those who are "Ballastexistenzen," i.e. whose lives are seen merely as ballast, or dead weight, within humanity; this includes Roma. The concept of Lebensunwertesleben, or "lives unworthy (or undeserving) of life," becomes central to Nazi race policy in 1933, when Hitler issues a law incorporating this same phrase on July 14th that year.



1929

On April 3rd, resulting from the law of 1926, the jurisdiction of the Munich office is extended to include the whole of Germany; the German Criminal Police Commission renames it The Central Office for the Fight Against the Gypsies in Germany. On April 16th and 17th, police departments everywhere are told to send fingerprints and other data on Roma both to this office and to the International Criminology Bureau (Interpol) headquarters in Vienna. Working closely together, they enforce restrictions on travel for Roma without documents, and impose up to two years' detention in "rehabilitation camps" on Roma sixteen years and older.



(continued ... )

1933

Ten days before Hitler is elected Chancellor of The Third Reich on January 30th, officials in Burgenland call for the withdrawal of all civil rights for Roma, and the introduction of clubbing as a punishment.

On May 26th, The Law to Legalize Eugenic Sterilization is introduced by the National Socialists (Nazi Party) in Germany.

On July 14th, Hitler's cabinet passes the law against "lives not deserving of life" (Lebensunwertesleben), called The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring. It orders sterilization for certain categories of people, "specifically Gypsies and most of the Germans of black color" (called the "Rhineland Bastards," i.e. those resulting from unions between German women and the Senegalese and other African troops brought in from the French colonies to patrol the Ruhr Valley during the First World War, as well as residents in Europe from Germany's ex-colonies in Africa). It also affects Jews, the disabled, and others seen as "asocial" (social misfits).

The Law for the Revocation of German Citizenship is implemented against Roma without proof of German birth, as well as "Eastern Jews" (nearly 20 percent of all Jews in Germany in 1933).

The Sinto boxer, Johann Trollman, is stripped of his title as light-heavyweight champion of Germany for "racial reasons."

The Oberwarth District Prefect in Germany submits a petition demanding that the League of Nations investigate the possibility of establishing a colony for the resettlement of European Gypsies in the Polynesian Islands.

In the week of September 18th - 25th, the Reichsminister for the Interior and Propaganda of Germany calls for the apprehension and arrest of Roma and Sinti, according to the "Law Against Habitual Criminals." Many Roma are sent to concentration camps as a result, and made to do penal labor.



1934

From January onwards, Roma in Germany are selected for transfer to camps for processing, which includes sterilization by injection or castration. Over the next three years, these camps will be established at Dachau, Dieselstrasse, Sachsenhausen, Marzahn and Vennhausen.

On March 23rd, The Law for the Revocation of German Citizenship is re-instituted, and again directed at Roma, Eastern Jews, stateless persons and other "undesirable foreigners."

In July, two laws issued in Nuremburg forbid Germans from marrying "Jews, Negroes and Gypsies."

On September 8th, the Düsseldorf District Administrative Court in Germany prohibits Roma from obtaining licenses allowing them to engage in itinerant trade.

On December 3rd in Berlin and Düsseldorf police ordinances are issued forbidding fortune telling.



1935

In May, some five hundred Roma and Sinti are arrested because they are Gypsies, and incarcerated in a camp on Venloerstrasse in Cologne, Germany. This detention center is surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by armed police.

On September 15th, Roma and Sinti become subject to the restrictions of the National Citizenship Law (the Reichsbürgergesetz) and the Nuremberg Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, which forbids intermarriage or sexual relationships between Aryan and non-Aryan peoples. It states: "A marriage cannot be concluded when the expected result will put the purity of German blood of future generations in danger." A policy statement issued by the Nazi Party reads "In Europe generally, only Jews and Gypsies come under consideration as members of an alien people." Gypsies, Jews and Blacks are considered "racially distinctive" minorities with "alien blood." On September 17th, the National Citizenship Law relegates Jews and Roma to the status of second-class citizens, and deprives them of their civil rights.

On November 26th, the Central Reich Bureau and the Prussian Ministry of the Interior circulate an order to local vital statistics registration offices throughout Germany, prohibiting mixed marriages, specifically between "Gypsies, Black people, and their bastard offspring."

In December all Roma in the town of Gelsenkirchen, Germany are incarcerated in camps on Crangerstraße and Reginenstraße, which are patrolled by the police, armed soldiers and dogs.



1938

On June 12-18, Zigeuneraufrämungswoche, "Gypsy Clean-up Week," is in effect, and hundreds of Roma and Sinti throughout Germany and Austria are rounded up, beaten and imprisoned. This is the third such public action by the German state. Like Kristallnacht ("Crystal Night," or the "Night of Broken Glass" on November 9th this same year) for the Jews, it is a public sanctioning and approval of the official attitude towards members of an "inferior race."

On March 16th, Roma and Sinti are no longer allowed to vote in Germany. After March 23rd, Jews are also no longer allowed to vote.

Heinrich Himmler issues a decree entitled Bekämpfung der Zigeunerplage stating that Gypsies of mixed blood are the most predisposed to criminality, and that police departments should systematically send data on Roma and Sinti in their areas to the Reich Central Office.



(continued ...)

1941

In August, Heinrich Himmler issues a decree in Germany stating the criteria for racial and biological evaluation. An individual's Gypsy genealogy is to be investigated over three generations (compared to two generations for one's Jewish genealogy). He implements a system of classification based on degree of Romani genetic descent: <Z> means "pure Gypsy," <ZM+> means more than half Gypsy, <ZM> means half Gypsy, <ZM-> means less than half Gypsy and <NZ> means non-Gypsy. Having two great-grandparents who were even only part-Gypsy (i.e. if one were of 25 percent or less Roma ancestry) counts as <ZM->.

In Germany, Romani children are excluded from schools.

In Serbia, the German Military Command orders that all Gypsies will be treated as Jews. In November, it further orders the immediate arrest of all Gypsies and Jews, who are to be held as hostages.

In Yugoslavia in October, the German army executes 2.100 Jewish and Gypsy hostages as reprisal for soldiers killed by partisans.



1942

Heinrich Himmler issues the order to deport the Gypsies in Greater Germany to the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau.



1943

In March, Robert Ritter announces the completion of his work on classifying Gypsies to the German Association for Research, saying "The registration of Gypsies and part-Gypsies has been completed, roughly as planned, in the Old Reich [pre-war Germany] and in the Ostmark [Austria], despite all of the difficulties engendered by the War. Our studies are still in progress in the annexed territories ... The number of cases clarified from the racial and biological perspective is 21,498 at the present time." Ten months later their figures increase to 23,822.

Nazi leader Himmler orders all Gypsy camps closed, resulting in the liquidation of the Romani prisoners.



1950s

In Germany, the Verband Deutscher Sinti (Association of German Sinti) and the Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma (Central Council of German Sinti and Roma) are founded to further reparation claims from World War II, and later to pursue equal civil and social rights.



1950-1967

In the Cologne region of Germany, identity papers given to survivors of the Nazi concentration camps are withdrawn from Sinti and Roma on the grounds that they could provide no written proof of their German nationality.



1981

The Third World Romani Congress held in Göttingen, Germany. Some 600 delegates and observers attend it from twenty-eight countries. It supports the demand that Roma be recognized as a national minority of Indian origin. The fate of the Roma under the Nazis dominates the discussions.

Chancellor Schmidt of West Germany meets with Roma and Sinti representatives led by Romani Rose. The Bonn government officially recognizes that Roma and Sinti had been targets of racial persecution by the Nazis.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, courts rule that Roma were persecuted for racial reasons.



1989

In Germany, Roma protestors demonstrate in the former concentration camp at Neuengamme against the deportation of asylum seekers.



1995

The writer, Philomina Franz, a World War II concentration camp survivor, is awarded the German Federal Cross for Merits, the highest civil award that Germany confers. She is the first Sinti awarded the prize for her "activities endeavoring after understanding and conciliation."



1997

In Germany, President Herzog visits the Romani Holocaust Exhibition in Heidelberg.


Source: Patrin - Timeline Of Romani (Gypsy) History

Besitos ?

This is just perfect for the group. My Flamenco group will be going to see this documentary of Spanish Gypsies. Here is the info for anyone that is interested:

New event for The Miami Flamenco Meetup Group!

What: Documentary "Seville Southside"

When: Sunday, November 25, 8:30 PM

Movie Ticket: USD10.00 per person

Where: Click the link below to find out!

Event Description: DOCUSPAIN: "Seville Southside"

Award winning, provocative documentaries in Spanish
(with English subtitles), produced with Spanish support...
once a month at MBC!

with support from the Embassy of Spain,
the Spain Foreign Cultural Corporation,
and the International Documentary Association

(Polígono sur) (Dominique Abel/Spain/2003)

Miami Premiere!

Flamenco is the lifeblood of the Gitano?s, Spanish gypsies whose exile has lasted for centuries. In looking for the roots of the so-called ?New Flamenco?, the film takes you on a journey to Tres Mil Viviendas, a rundown estate on Seville?s South Side, and home to many of the city?s gypsy population.

EVERY "DOCUSPAIN" FILM IS FOLLOWED BY AN
AFTERPARTY at TAPAS Y TINTOS Restaurant...
featuring LIVE FLAMENCO,
complimentary tapas and MAHOU beer for film-goers!

Price is $10.00. Get your tickets online at http://www.tix.com/Ev...

For more info you can call the Miami Beach Cinematheque at 305-673-4567
or you can contact me via email or cell at 786-344-7055

Learn more here:
http://flamenco.meetu...

This photo is from the documentary "Seville Southside"