Norway to pay reparations to Roma for racist policies and suffering under Nazis

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Norway to pay reparations to Roma for racist policies and suffering under Nazis

Prime minister Erna Solberg apologises for discrimination which led to dozens of Roma dying in Nazi death camps after being denied re-entry into Norway

Reuters
Wednesday 8 April 2015 22.32 EDT

Prime Minister Erna Solberg has apologised for discrimination against Norway’s Roma population before and after the second world war, calling it a dark part of the country’s history, and promised to pay reparations.

The Scandinavian country’s small Roma minority, of around 500, have campaigned since the 1990s for compensation for their mistreatment.

Solberg’s comments Wednesday followed the release of a government-commissioned report in February that detailed how Norwegian Roma citizens in the 1930s were denied re-entry after travels abroad. It named 62 people who ultimately perished in Nazi death camps following the rejections.

Survivors of the death camps were also denied re-entry to Norway after the war for up to 10 years, the report by the Centre for Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities showed.


Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/09/norway-to-pay-reparations-to-roma-for-racist-policies-and-suffering-under-nazis

[DeSwiss]

1. This.

- K&R

[Diclotican]

2. Judi Lynn

Judi Lynn

A part of our history, who is maybe more uncomfortable than we like to think about - but who still is a part of our history - and who I do hope at least can give some comfort to the ones who lost family members in german hands - after being rejected into Norway... And a part of our history who is shamefully to say it honest...

Sad to say - but Norway do have a history, where minorities have been treated bad - in many cases worse than we like to think about... And it is time for at least some comfort to the ones who indeed survived and then had to fight hard to get home....

Diclotican

[freshwest]

3. Diclotican:

Just stumbled upon this quote by Søren Kierkegaard, posted by Skidmore:

"I want people to sit up and take notice, to prevent them from idling away and wasting their lives. Aristocrats take it for granted that a lot of people will always go to waste. But they keep silent about it; they live sheltered lives pretending that all these many, many people simply do not exist. That is what is ungodly about the superior status of the aristocrats; in order to be comfortable themselves they do not even call attention to anything."

Norway is doing the right thing there. I've found comments directed toward indigenous peoples recently to be in the catergory of those 'pretending that all these many, many people simply do not exist.' They do exist, their rights should be respected and their voices are needed to move to peace in the world. It will be strange and unknown, but this must happen. Good example set there by Norway.

[appalachiablue]

4. It's about time God knows.