Ceia stojka autobiography of miss universe

Ceija Stojka was a member of the Roma community who was persecuted by the Nazis. She was deported with members of her extended family to Auschwitz where most of them were murdered upon arrival. In later life Ceija Stojka spent her time promoting the rights of Roma people, highlighting through her experiences what can happen when prejudice and hatred are allowed to take hold.

Ceija was born in in Austria, the fifth of six children. She was part of a Roma family of the Lovari tribe, a group of Roma people which traditionally consisted of horse traders. The family followed a traditional nomadic life travelling around Austria. This signalled the start of a change for Ceija and her family, as well as the millions of others who were targeted by Nazi policies.

In , when Ceija was eight, her father was taken away from the family and deported to the Dachau concentration camp.

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Later he was transferred to the Hartheim Castle Euthanasia Centre where he was murdered. Most of the extended Stojka family were sent to their deaths upon arrival at the camp. This meant that she was old enough to work in the forced labour section of the camp, and saved her life. In Ceija was liberated from the Bergen-Belsen camp at the age After the war, Ceija returned to Austria with her brother and sister and made her living selling carpets.

The family members who had survived found that there was no acknowledgement of the experiences of the Roma during the war years, and in Austria some of the anti-Romani polices were even continued. In , at the age of 56, Ceija began to paint; her experiences emerged as central to her work. Her art often reflected the trauma of her experiences, and involved written stories and visual representation as a means of sharing her experiences with the world, whilst also reflecting on our shared humanity.

It is important to understand that we are all human beings and art allows us to live and exist.