Explore histories of migration, citizenship and belonging in Germany and the U.S. over the centuries.
1926
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1933
Racist legislation against Sinti and Roma and resistance against it
The history of persecution and discrimination against Sinti*zze und Rom*nja on present-day German territory began as early as the 15th century but was first systematized and coordinated on a nationwide basis after the founding of the German Empire. During the Weimar Republic, Sinti*zze und Rom*nja were increasingly subjected to police and official persecution. Bavaria and Hesse enacted laws compelling German Sinti to enter "workhouses" and forcing their children into homes, while foreign and stateless Roma could be deported. In 1927, Prussia ordered the fingerprinting of all Sintizze and Romnja from the age of 6, regardless of having committed a crime. Many of those affected either evaded registration or covertly retrieved their children from the homes.
All Sinti and Roma residing in Germany were registered by the police, their "gypsy features" were recorded in passports and other identification papers. [...] Even before the era of National Socialism, Sinti and Roma as a group faced discrimination, policing and the deprivation of rights on racist grounds.
- Jana Seppelt
600 Jahre Roma und Sinti in Deutschland – die Geschichte einer Verfolgung. Antirassistische Zeitschrift.
Germany
Sources
Michael Zimmerman. Verfolgt, vertrieben, vernichtet. Die nationalsozialistische Vernichtungspolitik gegen Sinti und Roma. Essen: Klartext.
Michael Schenk. Rassismus gegen Sinti und Roma. Zur Kontinuität der Zigeunerverfolgung innerhalb der deutschen Gesellschaft von der Weimarer Republik bis in die Gegenwart. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
