Descrittore

Termine preferito

comunità, sinti e rom   Cerca

Nota d'ambito

Used for discussions of Sinti and Roma communities before, during, and after World War II. (en-US)

Definizione

The collective term "Gypsy" (supposedly derived from "Egyptian") pejoratively refers to members of distinctive Sinti and Roma tribes. Members of these groups refer to themselves as "Rom," which means "man" or "husband." Allegedly originating in the Punjab region of northern India, waves of "Gypsies" migrated to Persia by the eleventh century and to western Europe by the fifteenth century. In Europe most "Gypsies" belong to either Sinti (in Germany and western Europe) or Roma (in Austria, eastern Europe, and the Balkans) tribes and speak an Indo-European language called Romani. Persecution of Sinti and Roma, which existed for centuries in Europe, was based on differences in language and appearance and on their nomadic lifestyle. Granted full equality under the Weimar constitution, German "Gypsies" continued to be targeted by both new and existing discriminatory legislation. Such targeting continued on an expanded, and often "racial," basis throughout the Nazi period. Gypsies were classified as asocial and work-shy, and were targeted for discrimination along with the Jews in the Nuremberg Laws. The Nazis also distinguished between "pure" Gypsies and Mischlinge Gypsies, allowing the "pure" some autonomy while persecuting the Mischlinge. After the occupation of western Poland in September 1939, Gypsies living there were deported to the Generalgouvernement. In 1941, 5, 007 of the Austrian Lalleri were deported to the Lodz ghetto in Poland and perished in the Chelmno extermination camp. Beginning in February 1943, large numbers of Gypsies were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where a Gypsy family camp was created. Many perished through starvation, inadequate living conditions, and medical experiments. On August 2, 1944, the Gypsy family camp was liquidated. Some Gypsies managed to survive in forced labor camps or in the ranks of the Wehrmacht. Gypsies in the occupied territories shared the fates of those in Germany and Austria but managed to escape persecution in Bulgaria, Denmark, and Greece. Gypsies were deported to the Transnistria region from Bucharest, Romania, in 1941 and 1942 and were murdered along with Jews by the Einsatzgruppen in the USSR. An estimated 400,000 Gypsies perished in the Holocaust. (en-US)

Fonte

Rose, Romani, ed. The Nazi genocide of the Sinti and Roma. Heidelberg: Documentary and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma, 1995.

Termini più generici

• vita dei Sinti e Rom