From justice to the fight for memory
4 . Polish Romani women in the Lublin ghetto , 1940 | Picture by Max Kirnberger ( 1902-1983 ), public domain .
Post-war justice ignored the racial persecution of Europe ’ s Romanies , dismissing their claims , prolonging ( and even reinstating ) pre-existing anti-Gypsy laws , and ultimately perpetuating a racist discourse deeply rooted in society . At times , there appeared to be opportunities for legal and administrative recognition of the victims , such as when the Cologne court ruled in favour of claimants in 1963 who had fled Germany after being subjected to racial tests by Ritter ’ s team , establishing that they had been persecuted on ideological grounds . However , legal change was slow and fragmented . Meanwhile , the victims struggled to survive without assistance , their properties confiscated , and their families destroyed ; they even sought to erase their Romani identity in the face of continued social stigma and police harassment , while the traumatic effects of the Holocaust were exacerbated by the prevailing silence .
The paralysis of the official channels could only be overcome through activism and the struggle for rights led by civil associations , shifting the battleground to the streets and public opinion . This was a multifaceted process , with initiatives that sometimes received support from non-Romani allies and the solidarity of some Jewish representatives . As early as the 1960s , some national organisations began to form , connecting the cause of defending the civil rights of those treated as second-class citizens with the demand for recognition of Nazi victims . The convergence of these local initiatives , not always
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Observing Memories Issue 8