Sinti, Roma face systemic prejudice in Germany

On International Romani Day, some 76 years after the Nazi genocide that aimed to wipe out Germany's Sinti and Roma communities, DW looks at progress for Europe's largest minority group — but discrimination remains.

"You're nothing, you can't do anything, you're the bottom of the pile." That's what members of Germany's Sinti and Roma communities have been told for centuries, sometimes openly and sometimes subtly, said Sebastijan Kurtisi.

As one of the interviewers for the latest RomnoKher study, Kurtisi surveyed Sinti and Roma people living in Germany, among them both Germans and immigrants. RomnoKher is the nationwide association of Sinti and Roma for the promotion of culture and education, and the study — which involved 614 interviews — was funded by the foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility and Future."

Like all the interviewers, Kurtisi is himself a member of Europe's largest minority group. There are an estimated 6.3 million people in the European

Union, who speak the language Romani.

EU member states are required to actively promote the group's participation in the education system. The vast majority of all respondents in the study believe this promotion is necessary, with over 80% considering education very important.

'Why do they think I am like this?'

Sebastijan Kurtisi was born in Macedonia, grew up in Serbia and graduated from a technical school before migrating to Germany with his parents when he was 17. He now has a German passport. In the western city of Aachen, he worked on the development of desulfurization plants, and now he coaches