The Romani Genocide: From Nazi Persecution to Extermination
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In 1930s Germany, the Nazi regime targeted not only Jews and political opponents but also Roma and Sinti people, deemed “racially inferior” and “asocial.” Under the banner of racial hygiene, the Nazis imposed forced sterilization, internment, and slave labor — escalating to systematic deportation and mass murder across occupied Europe.
Thousands were executed by Einsatzgruppen in Poland, the Soviet Union, and the Balkans; tens of thousands more were sent to killing centers such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Chełmno, and Jasenovac. Entire families perished in what the Roma call the Porajmos — “the Devouring.”
Despite claiming at least 250,000 lives, this genocide remained largely unrecognized for decades after the war. Only in 1982 did West Germany officially acknowledge it as genocide. This story restores the voices of the Roma and Sinti victims — silenced for too long — and reveals a forgotten chapter of the Holocaust.
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