Jenische Reminiszenzen : Geschichte(n), Gedichte

Erinnerungen eines Jenischen, anni 38

Romedius Mungenast | Erinnerungen eines Jenischen, anni 38 | poem | lit_00528

Rights held by: Romedius Mungenast | Licensed by: Dr. Andrea Weißkopf-Mungenast | Licensed under: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International | Provided by: EYE - Emirgan Yayinlari Editions (Landeck/Austria)

Erinnerungen eines Jenischen, anni 38

Gstolft sein die Gadsche, die oan Ulmen.
Der Gallach – den Paradebl in die Griffling,
die Glischti – die Gramaschgera.
Und der Gallach hat gschmalt:
Der Paradebl tibert:
Gstibsch guff, heb d’Menggl und pfliagl um Guff.
Den Rewak gstibsch beim Paradebl,
wenn mulo bisch.
Die Jenischen kneisten:
Der schmalt aufs Kari.
Sie tschorten die Ranggerlen,
und wia Gallach und Glischti ognascht sein,
haben die Gadsche den Radlinger angfunkt
und die Klebbm gufft.
A bibrische Negert war,
der Kohldampf grandig;
a Wanker macht die Meingg mit der Gramaschgera mulo –
sie hat Schuntpollen tschort.

Yenish language

Gekommen sind die Bauern und die anderen Leute.
Der Pfarrer – mit dem Kreuz in der Hand.
die Gendarmen – die Pistole.
Der Pfarrer sagt so:
Gott spricht:
Wenn dir jemand ins Gesicht schlägt,
sei ruhig und halte auch die andere Wange hin.
Deinen Gewinn kriegst du von mir,
wenn du nicht mehr hier weilst.
Die Jenischen verstanden aber,
dass das nur Lüge war.
Denn sie stahlen ihnen die Kinder,
und als Pfarrer und Gendarmen fort waren,
wurde ihnen der Wohnwagen angezündet,
die Pferde verscheucht.
Die Nacht war kalt
Und der Hunger groß;
Ein Soldat erschoss die Mutter –
Sie hatte ein paar Kartoffeln gestohlen.

German

Rights held by: Romedius Mungenast | Licensed by: Dr. Andrea Weißkopf-Mungenast | Licensed under: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International | Provided by: EYE - Emirgan Yayinlari Editions (Landeck/Austria)

With the poem ‘Erinnerungen eines Jenischen, anni 38’ [Memories of a Yenish, 1938], Romed Mungenast looks at the history of the Yenich people within the larger context of the history of persecution under National Socialism. The title refers to 1938, the year of the Anschluss, the political unification of Austria and the National Socialist German Reich. The Yenish were persecuted under National Socialism as so-called ‘asocials’ because of their way of life and faced discrimination and oppression. By referring to horses and caravans, the poems emphasise the similarities of the Yenish with Roma and Sinti. The perception of the Yenish as ‘travellers’ is mentioned as one of the reasons for their persecution.

The question regarding the status of the Yenish as a persecuted group under National Socialism remains controversial to this day. They were persecuted and discriminated in the course of being labelled ‘asocial’; however, in contrast with Sinti and Roma, they were considered ‘Germans’, which saved them from genocide and extermination.

At the same time, the poem explains that discrimination and attacks against Yenish by no means emanated from the state alone – in the form of gendarmes and soldiers – but were carried out and supported by ‘peasants and other people’. Even the theft of a few potatoes is regarded as a legitimate reason for murdering a person whose life was in itself considered of little value. Help could not be expected from any quarter, not even from the pastor. His cross is compared to the gun of the gendarme, his sermon contains only empty words, and when the lights are directed at the caravans, he turns his back on the persecuted.

Source

Mungenast, Romedius (ed.) 2001. Jenische Reminiszenzen. Geschichte(n), Gedichte. Landeck: EYE Literaturverlag 2001, p. 142)

Further Readings

Seifert, Oliver. 2005: Roma und Sinti im Gau Tirol-Vorarlberg. Die ‘Zigeunerpolitik’ von 1938 bis 1945. Innsbruck/Wien/Bozen: Studienverlag, pp. 162-166.

Philipp Sperner (2018)

Authors