Note to admins:I am not sure whether I am permitted to start the thread in this section. If not so, please move this to the suitable section. During the WW2, more than 500,000 Serbs were murdered, 250,000 expelled and 200,000 forcibly converted by the Nazi backed Ustaše. Almost 7 decades have passed, and still there is no international recognition on this atrocity. Some 50,000 were gassed to death in the Jasenovac concentration camp, along with tens of thousands of Roma and Jewish Yugoslavians. So far the Croatian government has not condemned or apologized for the behavior of its soldiers during the WW2.
I am 1/2 Roma. Growing up i always heard about the Jewish Holocaust during WWII but never much about what happened to my relatives. It was never talked about much within my family either. I had to do a lot of digging and it saddens me that a lot of Roma do not talk about this part of our history. To this day we are still thought of as thieves, travelers and uneducated people. I would love if the world really knew of what we have been through and why we hold on so tightly to our traditions.
Hmmm..... I don't want to offend you. But the truth is that the percentage of people within the Roma community indulging in illegal activities is dis-proportionally higher than the other European ethnic groups. For people like me, the reasons for that are very easy to comprehend. We also know what needs to be done to rectify it. However, less educated village folk may not understand the situation and they will develop a hatred for the ethnic group. Here in Russia, I have seen all sorts of people. I have seen Roma who sell drugs to Russian teenagers (they were working for drug lords from Azerbaijan. Azeris are very rich and all the drug money goes to them. However they don't directly sell drugs to the Russians) On the other hand, I have also visited a community farm (measuring thousands of acres) in Stavropol Krai, where hardworking Roma had succeeded in turning barren land to green gold.
I live in the states and so many our Roma are a bit different. Though they still keep to themselves and marry within their communities (I am only 1/2 Roma and so this is not how i live). Some still drop out of school and some still marry at a young age. There are parties for young girls who want to meet their husbands and they have kids early. Generally though Roma in the states tend to be educated and well spoken people who work hard and pass tradition along to their children in hopes that they can break the stigma one day.
Surprising. I have read an article which claims that the Roma who live in the US no longer identify with their ethnic group. Most of them identify as Eastern European Slavs. One thing for sure. The Romani language is no longer used in the USA. Check this one: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2025316,00.html
Another deciding factor might be that to the best of my knowledge the Roma do not have a written language. Meaning much of the culture can be eradicated if a generation is wiped out before it can pass on it's knowledge.
I don't think that is the reason. Even during the 1940s, most of the European Roma spoke languages such as Romanian, Hungarian and Serbian as their mother tongue. In my opinion, the true reason is that the Roma were not given as much importance as the Jews.
You're right spoke, that doesn't mean they were literate. Another factor you need to consider is that the Jewish community is and was prominent in high society. They made it their job to not let anybody forget what happened.
Financial considerations also matter. Post-war Germany almost broke as a result of compensation and repatriation payments (to the Allies, Jews.etc). They didn't had anymore money to pay for the Roma (who didn't got any).
Wow, I was completely oblivious to Croatia's role in World War II. Wow. This absolutely atrocious. It's a shame this was never mentioned in class. Not even in passing. I understand that it gets overshadowed by the amount of Jews that were murdered, but it's still a great deal of people and it shouldn't be overlooked.
The Ustaše is still very active in Croatia and the Croatian government has never apologized for the atrocities which their forces committed during the 1940s. Less than two decades ago, Ustaše took part in the Bosnian war, and committed horrific atrocities against both the Serbs and the Roma. Since they were the winners, none of them were prosecuted by the ICC.
The Ustase and their crimes were featured in one of the 'Nazi Collaborators' documentaries about two years ago on the Military Channel.
