German Sinti and Roma

The Sinti and Roma have been part of the German population for over 600 years. Over this time, phases of acceptance and participation have alternated with periods of exclusion and persecution. Finally, National Socialist racial policies led to the murder of about 500,000 Sinti and Roma in the systematic Holocaust across Nazi-occupied Europe. After 1945, the Sinti and Roma fought long and hard for acknowledgment of the crimes committed against them by the National Socialists. Despite the great political successes of their civil rights movement, Sinti and Roma continue to endure social discrimination and racist hostility. As a result, even today, many Sinti and Roma do not declare themselves members of the minority. Their equal participation in social, economic and political life remains a task for the future.

Unveiling of the monument in the Berlin Tiergarten

The national monument to the European Sinti and Roma murdered under National Socialism has stood within sight of the Reichstag building since 2012. Its unveiling marked an important milestone in the long political struggle by an entire generation of German Sinti and Roma to win official acknowledgment by the Federal Republic of the Holocaust committed against their minority. At the heart of the installation is a dark pool with a small platform in the middle, on which a new, fresh flower is laid every day.


RomArchive

RomArchive, the digital archive of the Sinti and Roma, has been online since 2019 . It brings visibility to the arts, cultures and history of the minority, and illustrates its contribution to European cultural history. The section “Voices of the Victims” presents selected testimonies by victims and survivors of the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma.