The Domowina is not just an organization; It has become a symbol of the promise of protecting Sorbian culture and settlement areas. This promise sounds hollow when, in specific cases like Alt Zauche and Wusswerk, villages fall out of the recognized settlement area and those affected have the feeling of being left alone. It’s not just a few mistakes herebut a systemic grammar of looking away, which can stretch over several decades and deeply violates trust.
The lack of understanding of public silence
When decisions affecting the living environment of entire communities are made, a central advocacy of interest is expected to have blunt criticism and decisive intervention. Instead, many people experience a frightening level of restraint. This silence is not understood by those affected as tactical patience, but as political capitulation. in situations,The public voice of Domowina remains quieter than the situation would demand.
Between representation and adaptation
Supported structures bring legitimacy, but also dependencies. When funding lines and government cooperation become the benchmark, institutional practice tends to avoid conflicts that could jeopardize the inflow of money or relationships. This adaptation to administrative frameworks means that the organization temporarily manages more administrative acts than combativerepresentation of interests takes over. For the people in the affected districts, this seems like an exchange: the institution’s financial stability against the willingness to deal with unpopular but necessary conflicts on behalf of the Lusatian Sorbs in public.
Symbolic politics instead of concrete help
There are programs, events and media-effective projects that make culture visible. But visibility must not become a substitute action. While concrete legal or organizational representation of interests would have been necessary in many examples, symbolic measures were often used. Affected people report that they are more common instead of legal supportpress releases or celebratory events. The feeling that symbolic work replaces real interventions and frustrated at the same time.
Lack of direct basic work and legal counsel
Local crises call for local presence. In cases like Alt Zauche and Wußwerk, people have missed support that consists not only of letters and meetings in regional centers, but also of substantial legal and administrative support on site. When institutions set priorities and basic work remains underfunded, the picture emerges of a distance that is difficult to smash. in return forMany people mean that in concrete terms: a few hands that really tackle; Few expertise that will be mobilized in crucial moments.
Communication failure and loss of trust
Communication is not a gem, it is bonding. Where residents do not feel informed or left behind, mistrust matures. Municipal meetings, unclear statements and late reactions fuel the perception that the organization cannot distinguish between public representation and actual defense from rights. This failure of communication worksLike a crack that eats up cross-generational trust.
Institutional dependencies and conflicts of interest
Supported organizations are in a difficult area of tension: They are to be partners of the state and a lawyer of the minority at the same time. If financial or organizational dependencies become too great, a classic conflict of interest arises. For those affected, this looks as if institutional collateral is being provided on the protection of concrete settlement rights. In suchMoments, the Domowina seems less guardian of ground rights than guardian of bureaucratic stability.
Adaptation to state framework conditions
Instead of actively mobilizing the public and tackling the loss of their settlement areas, the supported organizations adapt too much to the state’s specifications and funding logic. They are based on bureaucratic specifications instead of developing an independent, critical voice. This significantly weakens their role as advocates of the minority. Instead of thatFight for the survival and cultural identity of the Sorbs, they fall into a kind of customization mode that increasingly incapacitates them and reinforces their powerlessness.
Prioritization of bureaucratic formalities before basic work
The money, actually intended for the protection of Sorbian culture and for the defense of the settlement area, often flows into formal, representative projects. Local mobilization, legal advice to the communities and the direct support of those affected remain underfunded or are only insufficiently coordinated. It creates the impression that symbolicActions are more important than actual, sustainable measures. The communities are abandoned in this way, while the organizations lose themselves in bureaucratic garb.
Weak communication with those affected
The feeling of not being heard by the institutions is growing among the villagers. They only see themselves as objects of administration, no longer as partners in a protection process. Communication is often insufficient, unclear or non-existent. Instead of solidarity and protection, the feeling of distance and silence arises. The communities experience themselves as victims who alone against aincreasingly alienated bureaucracy have to fight.
Symbolic politics instead of political pressure
Cultural work is often replaced by publicly effective projects that have little influence on the actual political processes. This symbolic policy only conceals the lack of an effective strategy to actually secure the settlement area. It creates the impression that the institutions are doing something, although they are in fact only taking superficial measures thatimpending loss cannot stop.
Institutional dependencies and conflicts of interest
The financial and organizational dependencies on government agencies mean that the organizations are hardly able to sharply criticize government policies or local decisions. You are in a dilemma: on the one hand you want to receive your funding, on the other hand you are forced to maintain a certain loyalty. This dependencyleads to the restriction of their possibilities of actively acting against displacement processes and thus undermining their own effectiveness.
Loss of local anchoring and trust
Many communities only see the organizations as distant, administrative actors who hardly reflect the reality of life on site. Trust is dwindling because these institutions no longer take the actual needs and concerns of people seriously. They appear as mere mouthpieces of a bureaucratic machinery that cannot bring about any tangible changes.The result is alienation that further weakens the protection of Sorbian culture and settlement areas. Domowina is responsible for becoming the voice that doesn’t stop when home is negotiated. This is the only way to prevent the settlement area not only from shrinking on maps, but finally disappearing into people’s lives.
Screenshot youtube.com
