You won’t find it on any map, but Setuland really does exist. The place is inhabited by the Setus, an agrarian people who have distinguished themselves as singers of marathon epics about their legendary king and fertility god, Peko.
Minorities
New Wall Splits Roma from ‘White’ Czechs
Barely 7 feet high and painted in pale yellow and brown, the wall along Maticni Street has been condemned as a “wall of shame” that is drawing new dividing lines 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Czech Students’ Lessons on Nazi-Era Ethnic Hatred
As Jaroslav Klenovsky approached his shattered hometown, he encountered a sight that remains seared in his memory. Armed young men were escorting thousands of women, children, and elderly people out of the city. The German population of Brno was being expelled.
Trial of German Skinheads Who Kicked Immigrant to Death Leaves Widow in Fear
A shadow lies over the town made famous by the Bauhaus arts movement. Dessau was spared any serious incidents of right wing terror – until the night Alberto Adriano walked across the park where he often played with his children.
Germany’s Soccer Team Scores a Multiracial First
Gerald Asamoah kicked his way into sports history last month, when he became the first black player to wear the jersey of Germany’s national soccer team.
German Village Refuses to Let Its Future Turn to Coal Dust
Bernd Siegert is leading a last-ditch fight to save his 650-year-old village from destruction by a mining company.
Distant Germans Feel Pull of ‘Homeland’
“I don’t say that I live badly. I have my husband and sons. I live with God,” says Zina Ida Leipi. “When a person has bread, water, and peace, then he is happy.”
At World Crossroads in Central Asia, Identity Is Submerged
The reality of life makes ethnic identity secondary to the main task of getting by. The monthly wage on the cotton farm is less than $20, and many villagers look back wistfully to the days when Chairman Kim made it rich and famous.
Four Die in Shoot-Out as Russia Faces Jihadist Threat
“Moscow still hasn’t worked out a strategy on the North Caucasus and hasn’t even tried,” Alexei Malashenko said. “The Kremlin doesn’t want to recognize there’s a real Islamic opposition.”
Cracks in the Russian Regime
The paradox of the costly retention of Chechnya is that few Russians view the North Caucasus as an integral part of Russia worth keeping.
