By Dr Barbara Warnock
Exhibition catalogue from The Wiener Holocaust Library’s 2019 exhibition Forgotten Victims: The Nazi Genocide of the Roma and Sinti.
The genocide carried out against the Roma and Sinti communities of Europe by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Second World War – the persecution and murder of as many as 500,000 people – has been referred to as ‘the forgotten Holocaust’ by Professor Eve Rosenhaft. After the war, survivors and relatives of victims struggled to get recognition and compensation for the persecution and losses they had suffered. In Britain and Europe today, prejudice and discrimination against Roma and Sinti is still common.
This catalogue draws upon The Wiener Holocaust Library’s collections of material on the genocide to uncover the story of this little-known aspect of Nazi persecution, exploring Roma and Sinti life in Germany and Austria prior to the Second World War, and genocidal policies starting in German-occupied Poland in 1940. It also examines the post-war lives and legacies for Roma and Sinti, who fought to obtain recognition and compensation for their oppression.