On May 16, 1944, the Nazis scheduled the extermination of the Roma in the Auschwitz II-Birkenau’s Zigeunerlager. But the transfer of the Roma to the gas chamber met with vigorous resistance.
Approximately 6,000, Roma were alerted to the Nazis’ extermination plans and barricaded themselves in the Zigeunerlager buildings and prepared to fight back against the German SS. The guards withdrew in the face of this uprising.
This event is now commemorated annually on May 16 as Romani Resistance Day.
These accounts of resistance are largely missing, however, from the history of Roma persecution—not only from history books, but also from the Roma movement’s own account of key events. In contrast, Jewish resistance to Nazi rule has become part of the broader discourse though research, literature, and popular culture.
Only a few modest initiatives are dedicated to raising awareness of Roma resistance. Over the last five years, several groups of Romani activists have started to cultivate a language of “pride” and to organize a youth movement drawing inspiration from the historical Romani resistance to the planned extermination at Auschwitz.
These actions build on the need for a broader debate on reparations for historical injustices. Following the example of other movements pressing for reparations, the Romani movement is acknowledging the ongoing legacy and moral debts arising out of both past and ongoing racist violence.
Roma activists are looking to other movements for inspiration. Reparations occupy a central place in the contemporary discussion of U.S. racial inequality and the continuing impact of slavery and Jim Crow laws on American society. Native American communities are also engaged in a consideration of reparation claims and strategies for advancing them. Also, 14 Caribbean states are seeking reparations from the U.K., France, and the Netherlands regarding the losses caused by centuries of slavery.
Precedents exist for enforcing such claims. New Zealand has given Maori tribes compensation for injustices caused during the colonial period dating back to 1840. The British government has compensated 5,228 elderly victims of colonial torture during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s in Kenya. North Carolina passed legislation to compensate victims of forced sterilization from 1929 to 1970.
Roma and the Holocaust
The most extensive enactment of reparation measures is the German program of payments following the Holocaust.
However, the failure to fully acknowledge the impact of the Holocaust on the Roma has long been a contentious issue. Various programs have given monetary compensation to specific groups of victims, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, people with disabilities, and LGBT victims—some of which have included Roma. But no reparation programs designed exclusively for Roma victims exist.
For instance, in Romania—home to one of the largest Roma populations in Europe—victims were granted 7,000 euros ($7,919) in compensation. But due to the lack of awareness and gaps in implementation, many Romani survivors have not benefited from the program.
