Romani Identity and the Holocaust in Autobiographical Writing by German and Austrian Romanies
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This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Journeys into Memory: Romani Identity and the Holocaust in Autobiographical Writing by German and Austrian Romanies Marianne C. Zwicker Doctor of Philosophy University of Edinburgh 2009 Abstract This PhD thesis examines the ‘working through’ of traumatic memories of the Holocaust and representations of Romani cultural identity in autobiographical writing by Romanies in Ger- many and Austria. In writing their memories in German, these Romani writers ended the ‘muteness’ previously surrounding their own experiences of persecution in the Third Reich and demanded an end to the official silence regarding the Romani Holocaust in their home countries. The thesis aims to explore how the writing of these narratives works to create a space for Romani memories within German language written tradition and to assert a more positive Romani identity and space for this identity in their homelands. Further, it aims to demonstrate that, in the struggle to create this safe space, their texts also reveal insecurity and landscapes that are not free from threat. The thesis also addresses the broad question of whether or not the shift from oral to written tradition in order to represent experiences of the Holocaust will result in a continuation of Romani writing in Germany and Austria. The thesis begins by examining the first Romani accounts of Holocaust memories pub- lished in Germany (1985) and Austria (1988) and ends with more recent narratives published in 2006 (Germany) and 2007 (Austria). In chapters one and two on writing by Philomena Franz and Ceija Stojka, I focus on their pioneering texts as assertions of space for Romani identity within their homelands; I analyse how these authors work through their traumatic memories by narrating their experiences and by identifying the landscapes of Germany and Austria as Heimat. In chapter 3, I continue to explore themes of Heimat and identity in Alfred Lessing and Karl Stojka ’s accounts which, while working through their own traumatic memories of the Third Reich, struggle with the loss of Romani cultural identity in their homelands. In chapter four, I address the generational memory of the Holocaust in Otto Rosenberg’s account of his experiences in the concentration camps and his daughter Marianne Rosenberg’s recent auto- biography. In chapter 5, I will examine the presence of the ‘threat of Auschwitz’ in Stefan Horvath’s writing, in which he remembers the attack on a Romani settlement in 1995 which killed his son and three other Romanies in Oberwart, Austria. In all of these chapters, attention will also be given to the editorial construction of these texts as well as their reception. Throughout the thesis, I take a comparative approach, referring to similarities and differ- ences between the works ofthese authors. i Table of Contents 1 Remembering the Porrajmos 0 1.1 Writing Memory and Identity . ... 0 1.1.1 AimsandObjectives ........................... 1 1.1.2 Theoretical and Methodological Approaches . ...... 4 1.1.3 Selected Authors and Texts . 8 1.2 Context and Previous Research . 12 1.2.1 Origins and the Question of Romani Identity . ..... 13 1.2.2 Romani Culture, Tradition, Experience . ..... 15 1.2.3 As the Gadje seethem .......................... 17 1.2.4 Romani Erzahlkunst¨ ........................... 20 1.2.5 The Romani Holocaust in Germany and Austria . 23 1.2.6 RememberingtheVictims . 24 2 `Orte erschaffen': The Claiming of Space in Writing by Philomena Franz 28 2.1 TheAuthor .................................... 29 2.2 TraumaandIdentity............................... 30 2.2.1 WritingMemory ............................. 30 2.2.2 Voice ................................... 33 2.2.3 WritingGender.............................. 35 2.3 HeimatandIdentity............................... 40 2.3.1 Language ................................. 41 2.3.2 Representations of Nature . 43 2.3.3 Identification / Connection . 48 2.4 NarratingExperience . 53 2.5 ReceptionContext ................................ 59 2.6 ‘Orteerschaffen’ ................................ 61 3 Voicing Trauma and Establishing Place: Ceija Stojka's Autobiographical Writing 62 3.1 TheAuthor .................................... 64 ii 3.2 TraumaandIdentity............................... 65 3.2.1 WritingMemory ............................. 65 3.2.2 FindingVoice............................... 69 3.2.3 WritingGender.............................. 73 3.3 Belonging and Romani Identity: Establishing Heimat . ........... 77 3.3.1 Language ................................. 78 3.3.2 LandscapeandPlace . ...... ..... ...... ..... .... 80 3.3.3 Identification / Connection . 84 3.4 NarratingExperience . 88 3.5 Reception of Ceija Stojka’s Work . ..... 94 3.6 LocatingPlace .................................. 96 4 Losing Homelands: Alfred Lessing and Karl Stojka 97 4.1 LeavingHomelands................................ 97 4.2 AlfredLessing .................................. 98 4.2.1 TraumaandIdentity . ...... ..... ...... ..... .... 98 4.2.2 Heimat ..................................102 4.2.3 Conflicting Identities and Landscape . 107 4.2.4 Genre...................................111 4.3 KarlStojka ....................................116 4.3.1 TraumaandIdentity . .117 4.3.2 Heimat ..................................122 4.3.3 Conflicting Identities and Landscape . 126 4.3.4 Genre...................................130 4.4 TheLossofHeimat................................132 5 Communicating Memory: Otto and Marianne Rosenberg 134 5.1 Otto and Marianne Rosenberg, Das Brennglas and Kokolores ..........134 5.2 Generational Memory and Identity . 138 5.3 Otto Rosenberg and Das Brennglas ........................139 5.3.1 ‘Ein Berliner Sinto’: Trauma, Heimat and Identity . ........139 5.3.2 Genre...................................153 5.4 Marianne Rosenberg and Kokolores .......................156 5.4.1 Writing Silence: Marking Generational Trauma . .......156 5.4.2 WritingIdentity..............................161 5.5 CommunicatingMemory . 164 iii 6 Threatening Landscapes: Stefan Horvath's Katzenstreu 166 6.1 Ich war nicht in Auschwitz and Katzenstreu ...................166 6.2 StefanHorvath ..................................168 6.3 TraumaandIdentity............................... 168 6.3.1 ImaginingAuschwitz. .168 6.3.2 Addressing the ‘Threat of Auschwitz’ . 172 6.4 HeimatandRomaniIdentity . 181 6.5 Genre and Literary Qualities in Katzenstreu ...................186 6.6 ReceptionContext ................................ 190 6.7 Threatening Landscapes . 192 7 Conclusion: Moving beyond Memory 193 Bibliography 201 iv Acknowledgements I am especially grateful to Mary Cosgrove and Peter Davies, who have been dedicated, encour- aging, and kind superviors and from whose recommendations and suggestions I have learned so much. I would like to acknowledge the DAAD and the Carnegie Trust for the opportunity I was given to conduct essential research in Berlin and Vienna in 2006–2007. I am grateful to Wolf- gang Benz, Peter Widmann and Mona K¨orte, at the Zentrum f¨ur Antisemitismusforschung in Berlin for their valuable comments and advice. I thank Renate Erich and Mozes F. Heinschinck at the Romano Centro in Vienna for their insights and the generosity they showed in sharing their expertise. Thanks also to Ceija Stojka for her kind hospitality and the time she took to speak with me about her work. I owe a debt of gratitude to Hans M. Wuerth, who inspired me with this idea in the first place. I would like to thank all of those colleagues, friends, and family in Edinburgh and elsewhere who influenced me with their comments and helped me with their generosity, hu- mour, and empathy. Special thanks to Zoltan Galsi for his invaluable help, encouragement, and sense of humour throughout the writing of this thesis. Above all, I thank my parents for their unfailing support and belief in me. v Declaration I declare that this thesis was composed by myself, that the work contained herein is my own except where explicitly stated otherwise in the text. This work has not been submitted for my other degree or professional qualification except as specified. (Marianne C. Zwicker) vi Chapter 1 Remembering the Porrajmos 1.1 Writing Memory and Identity The emergence of German language Romani writing in Germany and Austria over the past twenty-five years marks a remarkable shift from oral to written tradition within German and Austrian Romani communities; these texts present a unique opportunity for dialogue between Romanies and non-Romanies in these countries. Ian Hancock, in the introduction to a ground- breaking anthology of Romani poetry and short prose from around the world, The Roads of the Roma,1 traces the beginnings of Romani writing to a short essay