The Roma—A Minority in Europe
Historical, Political and Social Perspectives

Edited by

Roni Stauber, Stephen Roth Institute, Tel Aviv University

Raphael Vago, Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies and Stephen Roth Institute, Tel Aviv University

The main issues arising from the encounter between Roma people and surrounding European society since the time of their arrival in Medieval Europe until today are discussed in this work. The history of their persecution and genocide during the Nazi era, in particular, is central to the present volume. Significantly, some authors sought to emphasize the continuing history of prejudice and persecution, which reached a peak during the Nazi era and persisted after the war. Current questions of social integration in Europe, as well as that of ethnic definition and the construction of ethnic-national identity constitute another principal pillar of the book. The complexity of issues involved, such as collective memory, myth-making and social constructionism, trigger intense debate among researchers dealing with Romani studies.

This volume is the result of an international conference held at Tel Aviv University in December 2002. The conference, one of the largest held among the academic community in the last decade, served as a unique forum for a multidisciplinary discussion on the past and present of the Roma in which both Roma and non-Roma scholars from various countries engaged.

Contents

Acknowledgments; Foreword Yehuda Bauer; Introduction Roni Stauber and Raphael Vago; Religious Minorities, Vagabonds and Gypsies in Early Modern Europe Shulamith Shahar; The Campaign against the Restless: Criminal Biology and the Stigmatization of the Gypsies, 1890−1960 Peter Widmann; Jews, Gypsies and Soviet Prisoners of War: Comparing Nazi Persecutions Michael Zimmermann; Nazi and Postwar Policy against Roma and Sinti in Austria Erika Thurner; Story, History and Memory: A Case Study of the Roma at the Komarom Camp in Hungary Katalin Katz; Romanian Public Reaction to the Deportation of Gypsies to Transnistria Viorel Achim; Gypsies in Germany—German Gypsies? Identity and Politics of Sinti and Roma in Germany Gilad Margalit and Yaron Matras; The Politics of Memory—Jews and Roma Commemorate Their Persecution Roni Stauber and Raphael Vago; Human Rights and Roma Policy Formation in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary Eva Sobotka; Central European Roma Policy: National Minority Elites, National States and the EU Pál Tamás; List of Contributors; Index

2007
205 pages
ISBN 978-963-7326-86-8 cloth $45.00 / €40.00 / £35.00