Children…

The “Gypsies”
During the Middle Ages, groups of Romani-speaking peoples
came to Europe from Northern India via Persia, Asia
Minor and the Balkans. Initially accepted, they were soon
hounded by suspicion and prejudice. For example, they
were often accused of being spies. For centuries Europeans
could kill “Gypsies” with impunity: in Eastern and Central
Europe, “Gypsy hunts” were sometimes organised, in
which “Gypsies” were hunted down and killed like animals.
Some Romani-speaking groups kept up their nomadic
existence while others settled down, gradually assimilating
into society. Eventually, they came to be regarded
less as an ethnic group and more as a social group with
low status. Even to this day, myths claim that they kidnap
children, practise witchcraft and cause dangerous diseases.
Antiziganism (hatred of “Gypsies”) remains deeply
ingrained and widespread. Romani-speaking people
are among the most targeted minorities in Europe, still
enduring racist discrimination and violence.
This picture, taken in Germany in the 1930s, depicts “Gypsy”
life in a clichéd way. Many German “Gypsies” had already abandoned
their nomadic ways and adapted to city life. Most German
“Gypsies” were murdered by the Nazis during the war, and these
children were probably among them.
“Gypsies” and the racist state
In the 1930s, there were approximately 1 million “Gypsies”
in Europe, with some 30,000 living in Germany,
either in caravans or in cities.
By the beginning of the 20th century, a “Gypsy information
bureau” was established in order to maintain
a file on the whereabouts of German “Gypsies”. They
were considered dangerous and declared a threat to be
dealt with. Especially common were warnings against
“race-mixing”. In 1905, a special chart was published
with genealogical information and photographs of hundreds
of German “Gypsies”.
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