Marie belonged to a tribe of Gypsies called the Lowara Roma who traveled in a caravan and made a living as itinerant horse traders. The caravan spent winters in Vienna, Austria’s capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. When Marie was 18, she married Karl Stojka from the same tribe. Marie’s family was Roman Catholic…
Ceija was the fifth of six children born to Roman Catholic Gypsy parents. The Stojka’s family wagon traveled with a caravan that spent winters in the Austrian capital of Vienna and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe of Gypsies called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse…
Ossi was the youngest of six children born to Roman Catholic Gypsies who traveled in a family wagon. Their caravan spent winters in Vienna, Austria’s capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe of Gypsies called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders. Ossi’s ancestors had…
Hansi, as he was called by family and friends, was the third of six children born to Roman Catholic Gypsy parents. The family wagon traveled with a caravan that spent winters in Vienna, Austria’s capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe of Gypsies called the Lowara Roma, who made…
Stefan was born to Gypsy parents in the capital of Moldavia in eastern Romania. The family lived in a mixed neighborhood of Gypsies and Romanians. Stefan’s father made a living playing guitar in local restaurants. As a child, Stefan learned to play the violin and he often performed with his father. 1933-39: When I was…
Maria was one of four children born to poor Gypsy parents in the capital of Moldavia in eastern Romania. The family lived in a mixed neighborhood that included Romanians and Gypsies. Maria grew up in a house with a yard where the family kept a pig and some chickens. Her father made a living by…
Persecution of Roma (Gypsies) in Germany, and indeed in all of Europe, preceded the Nazi takeover of power in 1933. The police in Bavaria, Germany, maintained a central registry of Roma as early as 1899, and later established a commission to coordinate police action against Roma in Munich. In 1933, police in Germany began more…
Roma (Gypsies) originated in the Punjab region of northern India as a nomadic people and entered Europe between the eighth and tenth centuries C.E. They were called “Gypsies” because Europeans mistakenly believed they came from Egypt. This minority is made up of distinct groups called “tribes” or “nations.”Most of the Roma in Germany and the countries occupied…
Among the groups the Nazi regime and its Axis partners singled out for persecution on so-called racial grounds were the Roma (Gypsies). Drawing support from many non-Nazi Germans who harbored social prejudice towards Roma, the Nazis judged Roma to be “racially inferior.” The fate of Roma in some ways paralleled that of the Jews. Under the…
The Holocaust was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. Holocaust is a word of Greek origin meaning “sacrifice by fire.” The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were “racially superior” and that the Jews, deemed “inferior,” were…