‘Phralalen, Pejalen Mama’, read by the Tyrolean actress Carmen Gratl at the Second Yenish Cultural Day, is a letter addressed to the deceased mother of Mariella Mehr, whom the author herself had barely known. She was able to gather information about her mother only by reading psychiatric and prison files of the so-called ‘Hilfswerk für die Kinder der Landstrasse’, a self-declared relief organisation that acted as official guardian for children who were forcibly taken away from their Yenish parents by the Swiss authorities.

Literature

Mehr, Mariella. 2017. Widerworte. Geschichten, Gedichte, Reden, Reportagen. Hrsg. von Christa