Zanimljivosti ROMI.HR

Romska spisateljica, umjetnica, glazbenica i aktivistica, Ceija Stojka, rođena je u austrijskoj pokrajini Štajerskoj, 1933. godine. Bila je peto dijete Marije Sidonie Rigo Stojke i Karla Wackara Horvatha, i oni su bili Romi Lovari. Za život su zarađivali prodajom konja, baš kao i većina tadašnjih Roma Lovara. Živjeli su nomadskim načinom života i putovali Austrijom, a životi su im se zauvijek promijenili kada je Hitler došao na vlast 1933. godine, iste godine kada je i Ceija rođena.

Kada je Ceija 1941. godine napunila 8 godina, njen otac je odveden i poslan u koncentracijski logor Dachau, nakon čega je prebačen u centar za eutanaziju u dvorcu Hartheim i tamo je ubijen. Ostatak obitelji poslan je u logor Auschwitz-Birkenau. Njezina šira obitelj ubijena je gotovo odmah po dolasku u logor. Ceijina majka lagala je o njezinim godinama SS-u i rekla im da Ceija ima 16 godina, ali da je nerazvijena. Ovako je poslana u logor za prisilni rad, a majka joj je spasila život. Kad su ih premještali u isključivo ženski logor Ravensbruck, Ceijina majka ovoga je puta pomogla drugoj ženi. Tvrdila je da je sin te žene zapravo jedna od njezinih kćeri, kako bi sin mogao ostati s majkom. Ceijina majka snažno je utjecala na nju, i tijekom vremena koje su provele u logoru, a i kasnije kada je pričala, pjevala i slikala o onome što se dogodilo.

Oslobođeni su iz logora 1945. godine, kada je Ceija imala 12 godina. Od njezine šire obitelji od 200 ljudi preživjele su samo Ceija, njezina majka i njezino četvero braće i sestara. Nakon rata vratili su se u Austriju i počeli prodavati tepihe. Ceija je shvatila da nisu uloženi nikakvi napori da se oda počast svim romskih životima koji su izgubljeni u ratnim godinama, i da još uvijek postoje antiromske mjere. To je duboko utjecalo na nju i počela je slikati kad je imala 56 godina.

Svoju bol i traumu odražavala je u svojoj umjetnosti. To je uključivalo pisane priče, kao i vizualne oblike umjetnosti. U svoju umjetnost nije uključila samo porajmos, nego i svoj život prije njega. Kako su živjeli, kako su radili, kako su se zabavaljali... Svoj je rad objasnila sljedećim riječima: „Želim ljudima pokazati svoj svijet. Važno je razumijeti da smo svi mi ljudska bića i da nam umjetnost pomaže da živimo i postojimo. Umjetnost nas može povezati.“

Često je pričala o svojim brigama, o tome da su Romi i nakon toliko godina i dalje maltretirani. Posvetila je svoj život tome da ljudi čuju što se dogodilo za vrijeme Porajmosa, koliko je Roma ubijeno, kako ju je ovo iskustvo oblikovalo i učinilo takvom kakva jest. Njezina prva knjiga bila je „We live in seclusion“, koja je objavljena 1988. godine. Nastavila je objavljivati knjige o svojoj priči, iako je dugo oklijevala hoće li to podijeliti. Dok je pisala, također je i slikala, i naslikala preko tisuću slika. Koristila je svoje prste, čačkalice i razne druge tehnike. Bila je jako snažna žena, umjetnica, koja je odlučila posvetiti svoj život tome da se njezina priča, priča njezine obitelji i njezinih ljudi čuje. Romi su snažno patili za vrijeme Porajmosa, oduzeti su im životi i imovina, ubijeno je mnogo romske populacije. Čak i nakon što je Njemačka počela priznavati holokaust, romske žrtve priznate su tek 1982. Tužno je vidjeti da su Romi još uvijek maltretirani, progonjeni i diskriminirani.

Roma writer, artist musician and activist Ceija Stojka was born in Styria region of Austria, in 1933. She was the fifth child of Maria Sidonie Rigo Stojka and Karl Wackar Horvath and they were Lovari Roma. They earned their lives through horse trading, just like most of Lovari Roma people at the time. They lived a nomadic life style and travelled through Austria and their lives changed forever when Hitler came to power in 1933 the year Ceija was born.

When Ceija turned 8 in 1941, her father was taken away and send to Dachau concentration camp, after that,  he was transferred to Hartheim Castle Euthanasia Centre and he was murdered there. Rest of the family was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp. Her extended family was almost immediately murdered as soon as they were sent to camp. Ceija’s mother lied to SS about her age, and said that she was 16 but underdeveloped. This way, she was sent to forced labour camp and her mother saved her life. When they were being transferred to a women’s only concentration camp, Ravensbrück, this time her mother helped another woman, claiming the woman’s son was one of her daughters, so that the son would not be separated from his mother. Ceija was so influenced by her mother, both during the years in concentration camp and after, when she was talking, singing, painting about what had happened.

In 1945, they got liberated from the camp, when she was 12. Out of her extended family who were 200 people, only Ceija, her mother and her 4 siblings survived. After the war, they went back to Austria and started selling carpets. Ceija found out that there were no efforts to reminisce all the Roma lives that were lost during war years and that Anti-Roma measures were actually still continuing. This effected her deeply and she started painting when she was 56.

She reflected her pain and her trauma to her art. She incorporated written stories as well as she used visual form of art. She did not only put Porajmos to her art but also her life before that as well. How they lived, how they worked, how they had fun… She explained her work through these words. “I want to show my own world to the people. It is important to understand that we are all human beings and art allows us to live and exist. Art can connect us.”

She often talked about her worries, how Roma were still being mistreated, even after so many years. She dedicated her life to making people hear about what happened during Porajmos, how many Roma were killed, how this experience shaped her and made her who she is. Her first book was We Live in Seclusion, that was published in 1988. She kept publishing books about her story, after being hesitant to share for a long time. As she was writing, she was also painting and painted over thousand paintings. She used her fingers, toothpicks and all sorts of different techniques. She was a very strong woman, an artist, who dedicated her life to making her story, her family’s story and her people’s story heard. Roma suffered so much during Porajmos,  their lives and their property were taken from them, so many of Roma population were murdered. And even after Germany started recognising the Holocaust, Roma only have been recognised as victims of racial discrimination and persecution since 1982. It is heartbreaking to see that Roma is still being mistreated, outcasted, and discriminated.