Activist and author Solomia Karoli sends a letter to Oslo City Council to remind them that in 2019 they unanimously supported a memorial for Norwegian Roma. – It is important, so that both my generation and those who come after us can finally put this tragic history behind us, once and for all, says Karoli to news. Author and activist Solomia Karoli posts a letter to the Oslo city council and calls for a memorial for Norwegian Roma who were victims of Nazism. Photo: Kjersti Strømmen / news In the grip of the Nazis Several hundred thousand Roma, perhaps as many as half a million, were killed in the Nazi death camps. 68 Norwegian Roma, who stayed abroad in the interwar period, were refused to come home to Norway. They were instead stripped of their citizenship. Roma in Norway – history Roma are one of five national minorities in Norway. The ethnic group has its origins in India. The first immigrated to Norway around the middle of the 19th century. Their children were born as Norwegian citizens. At the beginning of the 20th century, the authorities decided to force them out of Norway. They were systematically registered, stripped of their citizenship rights and on several occasions thrown out of the country. To prevent itinerant Norwegian Roma groups from returning, they were also denied entry through Norway’s constitution. The so-called “Gypsies section” from 1927 legislated that “Gypsies and other vagrants who do not pay to have Norwegian citizenship shall be denied entry to the kingdom”. When the last group of Norwegian Roma was refused entry in January 1934, Norway was practically emptied of “gypsies”. After 1934, most of them lived in Belgium, where they were granted temporary residence on humanitarian grounds, but here too they were unwanted. During the war, the Roma were overtaken by the Nazis. Only five of 66 Norwegian Roma, who were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, survived. After a long struggle, the survivors got their Norwegian citizenship back. Their descendants now number a few hundred people. One of them was Solomia Karoli’s father. Polykarp Karoli was born and raised in Fetsund. – The only thing I can come up with is that Norway did not want my people to be allowed to return. Despite the fact that we were born and raised in this country, says Solomia Karoli. Her father was one of four of twelve siblings who survived the Holocaust. After a long struggle, he regained his Norwegian citizenship in 1956, but the wounds never healed. Yes to a memorial In 2016, Solomia Karoli wrote an article in Aftenposten, where she put forward the proposal for a memorial for Norwegian Roma. Solomia Karoli is a writer and activist. Photo: Kjersti Strømmen / news Three years later, Krf politician Erik Lunde raised the issue in Oslo city council. – Because I think it is important that Norwegian society is reminded of this part of our history, which we may not be as proud of, says the former Krf politician. Lunde believes that a memorial will also send an important signal – that society at large is willing to learn from the injustice that was committed. There was a unanimous yes from the members of the city council. However, they believed that the memorial should be national and therefore asked the bourgeois government to take action. In 2019, Erik Lunde got the entire Oslo city council on board with the proposal to erect a memorial for Norwegian Roma who died in the Nazi death camps. Photo: Kjersti Strømmen / news Rejection It took two years and three months and a change of government before the answer came in March 2022. It was a rejection. The response from the Ministry of Local Government to Oslo City Council has gone under the radar of most people, including news. Karoli did not know that the process was put on hold, and now seven years have passed since she presented the proposal in the newspaper. – I urge you to speed up this matter, the sooner the better, so that we can finally find peace in our hearts, says Karoli. Lunde has moved to Sørlandet, and no longer sits on the Oslo City Council. He is also disappointed by the rejection. – I hope that there are politicians both at national level and in Oslo who want a memorial to be put in place, because if there is a will, then we will make this happen, says Lunde. Involvement news has repeatedly tried to get the minister to talk about a memorial, but has been refused. Nor will Erling Sande (Sp), who recently took over the post, be interviewed. Reference is made repeatedly to the written content of the refusal. It says that instead of a memorial, priority has been given to the culture and resource center Romano Kher for Norwegian Roma. – That doesn’t work, says Maria Schwaller Rosvoll, who is an adviser at the HL centre. Maria Schwaller Rosvoll believes that the Norwegian authorities are disclaiming responsibility when they do not ensure that a memorial is erected for Norwegian Roma who lost their lives in the Nazi concentration camps. Photo: Kjersti Strømmen / news Rosvoll believes that a cultural center is a completely natural part of the redress for the racist policy that has been carried out against this national minority. It is not enough. – In addition, society at large and the majority need to extend a hand to start a reconciliation process. A memorial is important there, says Rosvoll. She doesn’t understand why it’s so difficult to achieve. – It is only a small symbolic act, but which can mean a lot both for the minority and for the majority, says the adviser. Direct contact The rejection from the Ministry of Local Government also states that “if it becomes relevant at a later stage to proceed with the idea of a national memorial, it should be done at the request of and in close dialogue with the Roma themselves.” – It is a statement that I am very surprised by, because the Roma have already been very clear that they want such a memorial, says Lunde. That was precisely why he raised the issue in Oslo City Council in 2019. Rosvoll believes that the Ministry of Local Government is on a wild path. – This is a disclaimer. We cannot expect a minority that we assume will live to the age of 55 to drive a reconciliation process going forward, says Rosvoll. She believes that it is precisely the ministry and the authorities that must be the driving force in the matter. – They are the ones who are responsible, the ones who get paid to do that job, and then they get to do it, says Rosvoll. Solomia Karoli has spent her entire adult life fighting for the Roma cause. She is coming out with a third book soon. Photo: Kjersti Strømmen / news Has taken the initiative Solomia Karoli has spent most of her adult life fighting the Roma cause. – In my second book I asked if anyone in Norway would dare to say sorry for what our loved ones were exposed to in the Second World War, and on 14 September 2014 I spoke to Erna Solberg and called for an official apology, says Karoli. The apology finally came on International Roma Day, 8 April 2015. – In that connection, dear Norway, I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart, says Karoli. A number of European countries have erected memorials for Roma, and Karoli will not give up until it also happens in Norway. Her organisation, Romas human rights/Roma Manushikane Cacimata, has taken a new initiative to make this a reality.
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Norwegian Roma are calling for a memorial – the government says no – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
