"Phabol Lampa" (Burning Lamp)
Burning lamp
The lamp is lit, the lamp is lit
in the warehouse,
The lamp is lit, the lamp is lit in the warehouse,
It shines, it shines
for our Roma,
it shines, it shines
for our Roma.
It shines, it shines
for our Roma,
so that it is bright for our Roma
so that it’s bright for our Roma.
Ahai, Roma, ahai children,
Ahai, Roma, ahai children!
Let’s go and hear what our Roma are doing,
Let’s go and hear what our Roma are doing,
Let’s go and hear what our Roma are doing.
The song Phabol Lampa recalls the fate of the Romani people from the concentration camp in Niš, today’s Serbia. October 20th 1942, soldiers entered all 5 romani mahala (settlements) and arrested men, from the age of 16 to old age, and deported them to the “Red Cross” camp. The people from the camp were either deported to the mining in Bor (Serbia) for forced labor, to other European concentration and forced labor camps, or were shot directly in Niš on Mount Bubanj. Those who had escaped death had to bury those who had been shot.
Those Romani people who were not arrested in the camp were also forced into forced labour. The women in particular had to wash dishes for the Germans, guards in the camps, clean the Jewish houses stolen by the Germans and paint public facilities. Romani people also had to attend the shootings at Mount Bubanj and bury those who were murdered. Children aged 10-12 were also forced to do this.
The Germans have destroyed all documents about the Niš detention camp , so that the number of people in the camps and the murdered can never be precisely determined.
Survivor Esad Useinović remembers how soldiers forced the Romani community leader, Arif, to walk through the settlements and ask everyone to come out. However, the chairman ran through the settlement and called in Serbian: “People, get up and come out” but on Romanes he shouted: “Run wherever you can”. Thanks to his courage and skill, many Romani people were able to escape. Nevertheless, more than 350 people were arrested on that day. However, the police later learned that Arif had warned the other Romani people and tortured him. Arif died as a result of torture.