Remember “Samudaripen”: the Roma Genocide in WWII
A graphic novel about the Roma Genocide, published in Albanian, North Macedonian and Romani and taken into schools.
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300
copies of the graphic novel printed
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3
languages: Albanian, North Macedonian and Romani
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150
copies given to schools and institutions
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3
countries: Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia
The problem
Hundreds of thousands of Roma were murdered across Europe during the Second World War. This genocide, the Samudaripen, is rarely taught in schools, and many young people, Roma and non-Roma, grow up without knowing it happened.
Objectives
- Make the history of the Roma Genocide accessible to young readers
- Bring it into schools with many Roma pupils
- Share it across Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, in the languages people read
What the project did
From January to June 2023 the project turned the story “Forced Eviction from the Train Station” into a graphic novel for young readers, Samudaripen, babo kujton gjenocidin (“Samudaripen: grandmother remembers the genocide”), written by Xhenson Çela.
- Writing the story. The author spent three months on research and historical detail before adapting the story for young readers.
- Three languages. Translators turned the Albanian text into North Macedonian and Romani.
- Illustration and print. An illustrator drew the panels, and a publisher of children’s books printed the novel.
- Launch. The novel was launched on 26 May 2023 at the Parking Art Gallery in Tirana, with panels on Roma history, art and remembrance.
- Into schools. Promotional visits took copies to schools and youth centres in Fier and Berat. Pupils took part in quizzes on democracy, multiculturalism, the Second World War and Roma history.
- Across the region. Copies went to civil society organisations in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia, and to vocational schools at the closing event of the WinForVET project.
Results
- 300 copies printed, in Albanian, North Macedonian and Romani.
- 150 copies given to 4 schools, 3 institutions and 30 representatives of local and central institutions and NGOs.
- 70 copies set aside for civil society organisations in Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia.
- 3 languages, so Roma children can read their own history in Romani.
Impact
School libraries in towns with large Roma communities now hold a book about Roma history written for children. On 2 August, European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, and through the year, it gives teachers a way into a part of history that textbooks rarely cover.
Delivered with the support of