An artist of international significance, Dani Karavan created the Memorial for the Sinti and Roma of Europe murdered under National Socialism. This public artwork commemorates the Holocaust and is located next to the Reichstag building which served as the seat of parliament during Nazi rule.
Karavan died in Tel Aviv on May 29 2021, at the age of 90.
Last year RomaTrial invited me to write about the experiences of genocide survivor Lidija Krylova (1923–1998). Lidija escaped a mass killing at Alexsandrovka in 1941. She was visiting family who worked on a Soviet collective farm (colchose) when soldiers brutally killed an estimated one hundred and seventy-six Roma. Lidija later gave her testimony in Soviet investigations into Nazi war crimes.
My interpretation of her story: 'Listen' has been made into an animated film that will be installed at the permanent site of commemoration created by Karavan. Funded by the German Government and the Foundation for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the film will screen at the AKE DIKHEA? Festival and an events programme of talks and panels will follow, exploring the value of public art and storytelling to memory.
Listen, how the wind rushes through the trees. This is a hard truth. This is my truth. What I saw that day, what they saw -
- the opening to 'Listen' by Jo Clement, for RomaTrial. Narrated by Riah Knight. Animation by Marius Roth and Mireia Guzman.
