The Romani Hindu Faith/Dharma, Culture & History

This date, May 16, marks a pivotal moment in history, when the Romani prisoners incarcerated in the so-called “Zigeunerlager” (Gypsy Camp), also known as the “Zigeunerfamilienlager” (Camp of the Gypsy Families) at Auschwitz-Birkenau, initiated a courageous act of resistance. The uprising began upon learning of the German Nazi regime’s intention to liquidate the camp by exterminating the remaining 6,000 Romani detainees in the gas chambers. On the night of May 16th, 1944, the Roma rose in defiance against the SS guards, armed only with tools of labour—hammers, pickaxes, and shovels. Through their bravery and resistance, no Roma were murdered in the gas chambers on that day. This revolt stands as the sole documented instance of an uprising at Auschwitz, and it is rightly honoured as Romani Resistance Day. It is essential to view this event within the broader context of the Romani Holocaust—often referred to as the Porrajmos (a term that, while widely used, is linguistically controversial...

 🛤️ From the Ashes of Faith to the Roots of Dharma A Personal Journey Through Religion, Identity, and Return 📜 Prologue I was born in post-communist Czechoslovakia during the early 1990s, into a family of mixed Romani and Slavic heritage. Though our household was essentially secular, religion lingered quietly in the corners, like an old guest who never truly leaves. S ome of my close family members were Christian— both Catholic and Orthodox. One of my grandfathers had even been baptized in the Czechoslovak Hussite Church and had served as a ministrant ( child altar server). However, part of his family later turned strongly anti- Christian and anti- religious— likely influenced by firsthand or familial experiences with clerical abuse, a sadly common reality in the Christian  religion. Though I could recite the Our Father and the Hail Mary—fragments even in Latin—my disposition remained one of sceptical rationalism, more Marx than Matthew. As I have a heritage of the Rom...