– I think it’s beautiful because it’s a place where everyone can meet. Angel Jansen (17) says: Talk, cook together, and bake.
She and her friend Romanica Petrovus think it’s fun to have a center where everyone speaks the same language.
They are also really proud of their culture.
This week was the official opening of the Roman-Norwegian Cultural and Resource Center in Rhein in Oslo.
The center bears the name Romano kher, which means “Roman house” in Romanian, the mother tongue of Norwegian Roma.
It is a place where the Norwegian Romans can cultivate their culture. In addition, a place where young people can meet, get help with homework and be with friends.
This is a good place for our people, but not only for our people, everyone is welcome, says Martin Johnson.
All welcome: Martin Johnson, Norwegian Chamber. Everyone is welcome to visit the new cultural center.
Photo: Nader Alam/NRK
Part of Norwegian history
The Norwegian Romans speak their own language, have their own culture and have been a part of Norway since the mid-19th century.
They suffered from racism and exclusion and were subjected to mass murder at the hands of the German Nazi regime during World War II.
– I wish my grandfather was here, says Natalina Janssen, about the opening of the cultural center.
Her grandfather, Milos Karoli, was one of the few who survived captivity at Auschwitz during World War II.
Finally: Natalina Janssen went through her family history. She is happy to finally open the center, but she wishes her grandfather had seen all this happen.
Photo: Nader Alam/NRK
in a column in Aftenposten From 2014 she wrote that every time her grandfather tried to recount what he went through in a Nazi concentration camp, he would break down in tears.
To find out what happened to the Norwegian Romans, I went to Israel in 2010 to get an answer.
You think the Norwegian space has suffered a lot of injustice.
Norway rejected it: When 68 Romanians, many with Norwegian passports, attempted to flee Hitler’s Germany to Norway in 1934, they were rejected.
Photo: Ap
After the answer came the apology
In 2012, Train Sky Grande was the leader of the Liberal Party. This year, she spoke about the situation of the Norwegian minority in the Norwegian Parliament.
A report has been written. When it was completed in 2015, the apology came from the then prime minister, Erna Solberg.
She apologized for the racist policies pursued against Norwegian Roma in the ten years before and after World War II.
– I also apologize for the dire consequences this policy had on Norwegian spaces during the Holocaust, as Erna Solberg said when speaking on International Space Day in 2015.
As government compensation, the Roman-Norwegians were given a permanent Roman cultural and resource status.
This is what opened this week.
– I think this is an important day for all of us, says the Minister for Local Government and County, Bjorn Arild Gram (Sp) who also attended the opening of the Centre.
“Explorer. Unapologetic entrepreneur. Alcohol fanatic. Certified writer. Wannabe tv evangelist. Twitter fanatic. Student. Web scholar. Travel buff.”
