Genocide in Switzerland
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| Mariella Mehr/Photo |
In her performance, Dijana
Pavlovic from Italy tells about a hardly known genocide of the 20th century,
which took place in Switzerland and was targeted against a less known European
minority, Jenish people.
We get to know the harrowing childhood of Mariella
Mehr, who was separated from her mother and sent to a re-education programme.
However, the play does not only show the atrocities, but also proves that
victims may be able to fight against oppression.
Not even after having obtained
an honorary degree from the University of Basel did Mariella forget what
happened to her, her family and her community in the very heart of Europe, in a
more than hundred-year-old democracy.
She reserved her own voice despite the
traumas, and may serve as an example for every group or individual who are
being oppressed, distorted or even destroyed by their surroundings.
Dijana performes in Italian
language, with Hungarian interpreting and English subtitles. Speak, my life premieres in Hungary on
28 July, on the 30 anniversary of the Swiss Federation’s apology for the
persecution.
The premiere of the play
takes place in the framework of the First International Roma Storytelling Festival,
27-28 July. After the performance, Dijana Pavlovic is in conversation.
Performed by:
Dijana Pavlovic
Violin: Tamás
Seres
The playscript,
based on the novel Steinzeit by
Mariella Mehr, is
written by:
Dijana Pavlovic and Giuseppe di Leva
translated by:
Kinga Júlia Király
Stúdió K Theatre (Budapest, 9. district, Ráday street 32.)
28th July 2017, 18.00
Duration of the performance: 60 min
Duration of the conversation: 60 min
Tickets
The webpage of Stúdió K Theater, in a limited number.Jenish people in Switzerland
Nowadays, about 30.000
Jenish people live in Switzerland but only a few thousands of them lead a
nomadic life.
Jenish language consists of 600 words and has roots in Romani,
Hebrew, and German languages.
Jenish people have been persecuted and
discriminated against since the Middle Ages.
In the 20th century, the
systematic and forced assimilation of Jenish took place under the Kinder der Landstrasse (1924-1973)
re-education programme.
The programme was implemented by the biggest childcare
organisation (Pro Juventute Foundation), members of the Swiss Catholic church
and the Swiss state. Apart from separating the families, the project included
the sterilisation of women, as well as the re-education and compulsory
psychiatric treatment of the children.
Due to the proactive participation of
victims - amongst them the writer Mariella Mehr - in the early 70’s, the
programme got noticed by the Swiss press and was soon terminated.
The
statistics differ on the number of victims; supposedly, the life of 500-2000
people changed forever as a result of the project. Swiss Federation apologised
to the victims 30 years ago, in 1987.