Sintiundroma.org

In 2018, the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma launched the online portal “‘Racial Diagnosis: Gypsies’. The Nazi genocide of the Sinti and Roma and the long struggle for recognition”. At www.sintiundroma.org the Holocaust against the minority is addressed by showing of numerous videos, interviews, photographs and documents. Furthermore, the website documents the history of survivors in post-war Germany, the successes of the civil rights movement and the human rights situation in Europe after 1989 as well.

With its website www.sintiundroma.org the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma aims to refute prejudices and hostilities on the one hand and, on the other hand, to document the genocide of the Sinti and Roma: from the ostracism and disenfranchisement of the minority in the German Reich to the systematic extermination in occupied Europe. The inhuman perspective of the perpetrators is contrasted with the victims’ testimonies.

Historical family pictures of Sinti and Roma provide an insight into the people’s daily lives and let them stand out as individuals. These self-documentations show the people in their individuality and personality and provide an important counterpart to the “gypsy clichés” that remain very powerful today. They illustrate the destroyed lives and destinies behind the abstract documents of bureaucratically organised destruction.

Also a theme is the history of the survivors in post-war Germany, who were only later recognised as victims of the Nazi regime. It was the civil rights movement of the German Sinti and Roma that made the ideological and personal continuities from the time of the “Third Reich” part of the social debate. The exhibition ends with an outlook on the human rights situation of the Sinti and Roma minorities in Europe after 1989.

The content of the website is based on the portable exhibition “‘Racial Diagnosis: Gypsies’. The Nazi genocide of the Sinti and Roma and the long struggle for recognition” which was completed in 2017; however, it is expanded by numerous videos, photographs and documents, which cannot be shown in the exhibition due to lack of space.

The online portal www.sintiundroma.org provides a contemporary tool for educators and teachers to raise awareness of young people about the history of the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma, for instance in the context of a teaching unit. Due to its intuitive menu operation, the webpage is also suitable for independent studies or for gaining a deeper insight into the subject.

The portable exhibition and the website “‘Racial diagnosis: Gypsy. The Nazi genocide of the Sinti and Roma and the long struggle for recognition” is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.