The German Wiedergutmachung

Episode 3: Fight for recognition

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The third episode pays attention to Sinti and Roma persecuted during the National Socialist regime. They represent the so-called “forgotten victims” (also including homosexuals, “antisocial elements”, “professional criminals”, or Wehrkraftzersetzer), whose sufferings had been recognised and compensated only decades after the Nazi terror, both socially and politically.

“The German Wiedergutmachung” asks the head of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, about his conversation with Helmut Schmidt in 1982, when the Federal Chancellor recognized the genocide of the Sinti and Roma for the first time. Bettina Limperg, president of the Federal Court of Justice, reports on a scandalous court decision from the 1950s, and Markus Metz from the Bavarian Local Association of German Sinti and Roma will tell us about the experiences of Sinti and Roma applicants at the German Wiedergutmachung authorities

Music

  • Duo Z: LP „Ganz Anders – Deutsche Zigeunerlieder“, lyrics and music: Duo Z (Tornado Rosenberg, Rudko Kawczynski), published by „pläne“ GmbH, Dortmund 1981.

    • About the events and people

    • The judgements by the Federal Court of Justice of January 7, 1956 (in: Die Präsidentin des BGH / Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma (Hg.): Doppeltes Unrecht – eine späte Entschuldigung, Eggenstein 2016, S. 25–40): Online-Version
    • The decree by the Reichsführer SS and head of the German police, Heinrich Himmler, (so called “Auschwitz-Erlass”) of December 16, 1942, remains undocumented. It was executed by the Express Letter of the Reich Security Main Office. January 1943, in: Stiftung niedersächsische Gedenkstätten (Hg.): Die Verfolgung der Sinti und Roma im Nationalsozialismus – Materialien aus Niedersachsen. Erlasse: 1943. Auschwitzerlass Schnellbrief. Einführung und Bearbeitungsmöglichkeiten, www.geschichte-bewusst-sein.de: PDF
    • Minutes by the head of the Group 32 in the Federal Chancellery, Melzer, on the meeting between Federal Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and representatives of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma in the Federal Chancellery in Bonn on March 17, 1982 (BArch, B 136/28311): PDF
    • Landfahrerordnung, 22. Dezember 1953 (BayGVBl. 1953, S. 197–198): PDF

      • Links

      • Online Collection „Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts“: Link
      • Bundesarchiv: Link
      • Bundesgerichtshof Link
      • Central Council of German Sinti & Roma: Link

        • Literature on the topic

        • Katalog zur Ausstellung „45 Jahre Bürgerrechtsarbeit deutscher Sinti und Roma“. Herausgegeben vom Zentralrat Deutscher Sinti und Roma, Heidelberg 2017. PDF
        • von dem Knesebeck, Julia: The Roma Struggle for Compensation in Post-war Germany, Hatfield 2011. Online-Version

          • More information about the podcast episode: https://www.archivportal-d.de/content/themenportale/wiedergutmachung/podcast?lang=en

          Presented by: Nora Hespers, edited by: Lukas Fleischmann, Jörn Petrick, Ralph Würschinger and Mirjam Sprau. Script and production: Escucha - Kultur fürs Ohr. Cover: Kreativagentur Atelier Hauer+Dörfler GmbH. Cover picture: Applicant to the URO (© bpk) | Federal Archives

          The podcast “The German Wiedergutmachung” is a production for the online collection “Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts” - the online platform for compensation files, conceived and commissioned by the Federal Archives. Escucha - Kultur fürs Ohr was responsible for the realization. Funding was provided by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

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          The German WiedergutmachungBy Bundesarchiv