Rewriting History: The Romani Genocide

History class was always one of my favorite courses throughout my education. I was fascinated in understanding my own culture better, as well as the cultures and stories of people around the world.

In my History of the Holocaust class in 12th grade, there was one sub-topic by teacher touched upon that I always wanted to research further and that was the Romani Genocide. Even my teacher herself said that this horrible massacre of at least half a million people is not talked about nearly enough inside or outside of the classroom.

I believe there may be social and political reasons why this Holocaust is not spoken about as much as the horrors of the Jewish Holocaust, because the Romani, sometimes degradingly referred to as “Gypsies”, were/are considered untrustworthy and still remain third class citizens in Europe, even to this day. It is important to me that these victims and their descendants receive the recognition and aid that they deserve.