The word 'Gypsy' denotes a worldwide ethnic group of people, NOT a way of life
We are one nation and Sinti are also Roma and we all originated from the same place, India. Indians left India and became Roma in Anatolia and were called Gypsies when they reached Europe.
The mythology that the Sinti came from Sindh comes from the theories of some Gypsylorists and now some Sinti have internalized this and believe it. The Sinti speak Romani dialects and the word Sinti was not in the Original Romani language brought from India. It comes from German zinn. Most Sinti I know do not say Sinto with an S as in Sun but Tsinto with the sound of TS as in Its in English or how Germans pronounce zinn. Tsinti means metalsmiths in all probability from German. Also in Sinti dialects Romano means Romani, eg Tut hin Romano mui. You have a Romani face, Vakerel Romani shib. He speaks Romani language, Romani Tchai Romani girl, etc but they say Sinto whenever I would say Rom. eg Hal tu Tsinto? Are you Sinto. Me Hom Tsinto. I am Sinto. Finally, Sindh or Sindhustan was the name for the whole region of the Upper Indus Valley an older form of Hindustan which simple means India in general so in that sense, all Roma and Sinti come from Sindhustan. The modern word Sindh refers to a region of Western India which is now in Pakistan. Ronald Lee
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We, the Romani people, are united under one flag. The blue stands for the sky, green for the earth and red for the Indian wheel.
My motto: stick to your principles and follow your heart. Te aves zurali.
The Nth Queensland Historical Museum is pleased to present an exhibit on Romanies.
The Anti-stereotyping Romani exhibit in the North Queensland museum portrays the parts Romanies played in local history including jobs they did, things to do with our culture and history, the Romani holocaust, articles, maps, captions, pictures on big boards, our flag, our national anthem Gelem Gelem, also music in Romani chib will be available to listen to plus a glass cabinet displaying Romani ornaments.
Many thanks to Professor Marcel Courthaide for helping with material. Also a thanks to Professor Ian Hancock and Lecturer Ronald Lee for helping with information. And thank you to the museum director, Mr. Sim, who made the exhibit possible and put it out there for the public to see and Professor Wegner for setting up the display which was co-ordinated by Yvonne and Dave Slee.
Go to the Rromani Connection website and clik on the Rromani exhibit link for more details and pictures. You can also go to the Romani Life Society Site and download the April 2008 newsletter on the Announcements page to see more of the exhibit.
Also, ABC radio North Queensland did an interview with me on Roma Day about the exhibit and our Romani History and culture.
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The Gypsy people originally came from the northern part of India. About one thousand years ago they migrated across Asia to the Middle East eventually reaching Europe in the fourteenth century. Europeans misnamed them Egyptians which was soon shortened to Gypsies. Unfortunately, almost from the time they arrived in Europe the Gypsies met hostility. They endured persecution from the church seeing heresy in their fortune-telling and the state seeing anti-social behaviour in their nomadism. They have had their animals shot, their property vandalised and their woman sterilised. Also, their babies and children were removed from them and given to non-Gypsy families to raise and this is what happened to my great-grandfather, August. Romani Gypsies are as mysterious as ever in this historical novel which revolves around my part-Gypsy grandmother Elsa and her father August, a full-blooded Gypsy who was torn away from his Gypsy parents. It tells about their struggles through two world wars while living in Germany and the racism they had to contend with. It contains a variety of characters with lots of small stories that are eerie, sad, romantic and sometimes humorous. One particular sad story tells of my great uncle, Alfred (Freddy) Kleinknecht's ordeal during the second world war.
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From January 1940 until December 1940, 10,654 people were murdered in the gas chambers at Grafeneck, including innocent 15 year old Alfred Kleinknecht (Freddy). He was a Romani boy and part of our family.
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Esslingen, the town where Torn Away Forever took place
Click on this link and scroll down the page to read some excerpts from the book. "Torn Away Forever"
I loved it. The book was a quick but wonderful read. The story you wrote was poignant, sweet and thought-provoking. I loved the characters as you described them and felt you did a terrific job of bringing their stories alive. Well done! And, thanks for your help. Wish I could meet you in person.
Ilanna Mandel. BC, Canada
Hey Yvonne, Just finished your Torn Away book...read from start to finish in one session...Wonderful book, wished there was more. Totally impressed!
Kathi Spencer. Missouri, USA
'Torn Away Forever' is a sad but compelling book that I wouldn't have wanted to miss. It is written in language that is clear and natural and with interesting characters and details. As I finished each chapter I was left with the feeling that I wanted to know what would happen next. Recommended.
Brian Raywid. Texas, USA.
Torn Away Forever is a touching and very human portrayal of life as a Gypsy in a pre-war then war torn Germany. Humorous and at times very sad, it is an honest portrayal of several generations of a family and their everyday lives through the eyes of a Romani woman. I picked up the book and didn't put it back down until I finished it A touching novel. Recommended
J. Nazir. Australia
Torn Away, Forever. Wonderful stories. These must all be directly from your Grandmother? It is so nice that you had her and she told you these lovely things, even though there was much sadness, it gives you a real insight into who they are and how they became the way they did. Not to mention the history all around them. I especially enjoyed the childhood pranks the boys and Elsa played. Thank you for documenting these things for others to enjoy.
J. Lynn WA. USA.
In this book, written in the traditional Gypsy style of family biography, Yvonne Slee gives us a collection of stories about her ancestors who lived in Germany in the twentieth century. She begins with her great grandfather, called August, "torn away" from his Gypsy relations to be adopted into an uncaring family with a viscous stepfather. Running away at 15, August finds employment and friendship amongst Gypsies who teach him how to survive, and eventually marries a German woman and raises a family, including Elsa,Yvonne's grandmother. They adopt a disabled Gypsy boy called Freddy. As a half-Gypsy, with dark skin and long black hair, Elsa experiences racism at school, where her plait is cut off during a lesson by a spiteful classmate. She finds solace playing with friends in a nearby Gypsy encampment. Conditions in Germany during First World War force Elsa's mother to go to the woods to pick berries and nuts, while August hunts for animals. In the 1930's, Elsa notices ethnic families being taken from their homes to be "rehoused." Each time a truck appears in the street, her mother grabs Freddy and hides at the home of a friend, while August disappears till the danger passes. Eventually, Freddy is snatched away by the authorities and put in a home for the handicapped. The family eventually discover the dreadful truth - he has been sent to a concentration camp and gassed. Elsa marries an anti-Nazi called Willy, who is called up during the Second World War. After he is killed at the front, Elsa is left to bring up their young children alone. Almost arrested for being non-Aryan, she is rescued by an acquaintance, and lives out the rest of the war living on food she gathers from the forest. Surviving bombs, semi-starvation, and the destruction of her home, Elsa lives to the age of 80. Despite its sad theme, the book has many lively incidents. Elsa is almost gored by a bull, narrowly escapes drowning, and uncovers a butcher's pet-stealing scam. Yvonne Slee writes with compassion about a family surviving the Holocaust and war.
Janna Eliot. London, UK
Yvonne Slee vive da quelle parti, ma č originaria dell'Europa. Ha scritto un libro sulla storia della sua famiglia, un gruppo di Roma in Germania che č sopravvissuto a due guerre mondiali. Il suo libro, TORN AWAY, FOREVER č abbastanza noto nei paesi di lingua anglosassone e assolutamente sconosciuto in Italia. Una piccola sagra familiare, 160 pagine - si legge facilmente, che mischia miti e favole sui Roma alla quotidianitŕ: i rapporti tesi col resto della popolazione, la vita di quartiere, la scuola e il lavoro, la Germania delle due cadute e delle due ricostruzioni, raccontato con gli occhi di una bambina.
Fabrizio Casavola. Milano, Italia
Romská literatura pomalu a trošku težkopádne nabírá dech, ale lze ocekávat, že jakmile se jednou dá skutecne do pohybu, zteží ji neco zastaví. Dukazem metaforického „rozjíždení“ muže být i to, že se konecne objevilo dílo napsané Romem z Austrálie. Respektive Romkou. Yvonne Sleeová je z rodiny nemeckých Sintu a se svým anglickým manželem žije v Austrálii.
Click here to go to iLiteratura, a Czech journal to continue reading this review of Torn Away Forever by Karolina Ryvolová
Click HERE to buy Torn Away Forever on Ebay. |
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Listen to the Romani Radio program on Perth's Multicultural Radio station 6EBA 95.3FM, or on the web Listen in Live every Tuesday night between 8 and 9pm (Perth time) The program is presented by Islam Abduramanoski, president of Perth's Romani Australian United Assoc. and co-presenters, Yvonne & Dave Slee. |
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Clockwise from top left. Roma Network chief Editor, Valery Novoselsky. Romani activist, writer & lecturer, Ronald Lee. Leon, a local Romani working in Richmond Melbourne & a supporter of Sintezza's Cafe. Melbourne's Leader article & Travellers' Times UK Summer Edition 2006.
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Traveller's Times UK winter 2006 edition. |
2005 Padua, Italy. Two refugee Romani girls were stripped naked on the street by male police officers in full view of the public in an excercise of total humiliation. Photo is from an Italian newspaper file. |
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Romani musician Huso, the violinst and Muchacho, the guitarist playing at the cafe and Sharma, the owner of Mr. Tandoor.
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I'm very sad to have to say, that due to adverse racial discrimination directed at the cafe, Sintezza's is no longer operating in Melbourne. (Vonnie)
I recently had a radio interview with radio station WOW and the radio presenter just introduced the book, Torn Away Forever, and said that I should tell her all about it, so I talked for 20 minutes about the book and explained that I'm from the Sinti group. It was a live broadcast and I talked about the discrimination that happened to Romanies and that it is still happening, where we came from and how we were treated along the way, why we didn't move for romantic reasons but because of persecution, how they sterotype us and how they still do and that we have jobs like everybody else. I talked about the second world war and how many of us died. I explained about the time we left India until the time we came to Europe and how we were mistreated. The interviewer said I did so well she invited me back to talk about more Romani issues.
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Have a look at these great Romani music videos.
Gypsy Karavan Band - Pabol Pabol
Bulgarian gypsy - Sevgilim Apaz taifa - Mis Dibi
Amen - Vera Bila and the Gypsy Kings
Csaby & Mary - Nyugtalan érzés
Sofi Marinova & feat Ustata - Buryta v sirceto mi
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Houses we have lived in in Australia:
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New place! New location! Somewhere nice with water and greenery and far away from Melbourne... finally found a nice spot surrounded by hills and palms etc.
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Meeting up with Donald Kenrick's assistant, Amy who was visiting from England, for a chat.
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A couple of visitors hanging out at our front door (In old times Peacocks were the "watch dogs" of temples and palaces), friends Huso and Amy with us on Roma Day |
My son, Tim's, saying: Kali is right because she knows when baddies are baddies |
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Our caravan
"Romanestan," said Ronald Lee, the Canadian Gypsy writer, "is where my two feet stand."
The living fire (E Zhivindi Yag) is that spark of defiance that is the birthright of everyone. In some it has gone out; in others it is only a smouldering ember. But in a few, it blazes into an inferno of passion, creativity, rebellion and, all too often, violence. (Ronald Lee)
I wished more people in this world would see the beauty in each and every person and give them a chance, before letting others blind them and place harsh judgement on innocent people that they never bothered to get to know, says Sinti Romani, Yvonne Slee, whose Gypsy name is Vonnie and whose Indian name is Vina.
'The Vina (veena) is the name of an Indian stringed musical instrument that you'll find in the hands of an Indian Goddess called "Saraswati" who is the Goddess of Knowledge & Fine arts.' My Indian name, Vina was given to me by Jarnadhan Pathania.
Click here to go to the Romani Life Society of Australia website and to get a free download of the Romani Calendar 2008 on the Announcements page |
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I was born in Germany and grew up in a rather dysfunctional family and had a rough childhood and teenage life. My Sinti Romani grandmother, who meant so much to me, died when I was 16. My home was like a war zone so I stayed away as often as I could, sometimes sleeping rough, or with friends. I met people out there who turned out to be the devil in disguise and from this I learnt the lessons of life in a very harsh way. Back then, I picked up most of my spoken English from American soldiers living in Germany, who I made friends with. I left Germany at the age of 18 and went to France where I met some nice people, but as my French wasn't very good I went to London a year later and worked as an Au pair. That's where I met my partner, an Australian and after a year of living together in Europe we went to Australia, where I studied advanced English and Business studies at TAFE college. While living there, I had my first child, Chantal. After 18 months we decided to go back to London. We lived there for 12 years and I gave birth to my second child, Timmy. We sold our house, bought a caravan and took off, travelling and living in different places in Europe for 7 months. It was during this time that I wrote, "Torn Away, Forever." We lived in Germany for 3 years where I had my third child, Eve Marie. We sold our house there and moved back to Australia in October 2004, where I had my fourth child, Benny. I lived in Brisbane for 18 months with my husband and kids and wrote the third Sharon's Sins book, "Sharon Sins...Down Under" while living there. We then moved to Melbourne and opened a Romani cafe and cultural centre. After we closed, we moved to Adelaide and looked around for a while before moving back to Queensland. We've seen so much of Australia since leaving Europe. It wasn't always a good time, but it has been an experience.
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| Click HERE to go to The Sharon's Sins website and read some excerpts from the books. |
Click HERE to buy Sharon Sin's on Ebay. |
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Out now!! Sharon Sins...Down Under |
A little over a 1000 years ago, the Roma lived in harmony in Northern India. Back then we were Indians, but in a big invasion by Mahmoud of Ghazni, we were taken out of India by force.
Read more about our history on the contiuning page in the Romani History write up.
CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING THIS PAGE WITH PLENTY MORE INFO
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This website was created on the 4th January 2002 and is constantly updated
