Romani people in Czechoslovakia
AfterWorld War I,theRomani people in Czechoslovakiaformed an ethnic community, living on the social periphery of the mainstreamCzechoslovakian population.[1]
First Republic[edit]
The state always focused on the Romani population not as a distinctethnic minority,but rather perceived it as a particularlyanti-socialandcriminalgroup.[1]This attitude was reflected in the policy of collecting special police evidence—fingerprint collections of members of Romani groups (1925), and a law about wandering Romani (1927).[1]
World War II[edit]
During theNazi occupation of CzechoslovakiainWorld War II,Romani were exterminated byNazimobile killing units and in camps such asLety,HodonínandAuschwitz.In the Czech areas of the country, 90% of native Romani were killed during the war; the Romani in modern-day Czech Republic are mostly post-war immigrants from Slovakia or Hungary and their descendants.[2]
Socialist Republic[edit]
Attempts at integration[edit]
Thecommunist governmentof 1945–1989 attempted to integrate the Romani into the majority population through obligatory education and employment, and the formation of Romani organizations. Romani people were forced to resettle in small groups around the country, leaving them isolated.[3]Parts of the Romani population were also transferred from Slovakia into the country's Czech regions. This policy of the state was oriented toward assimilation of the Romani people. Many Romani people were rehoused inpanelákhousing estates, which subsequently fell into acute disrepair, such as theChanov housing estateinMost,[4]andLuník IXinKošice.In 1958, Law No. 74, "On the permanent settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic people" ), forcibly limited the movements of those Romani (around 5–10%) who still travelled on a regular basis.[1]In the same year, the highest organ of theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakiapassed a resolution, the aim of which was to be "the final assimilation of the Gypsy population".[3]The popular perception ofRomanieven before 1989 was of lazy, dirty criminals who abused social services and posed a significant threat to majority values.[3]The "Gypsy question" was considered a "problem of a socially-backward section of the population".[1]During this period, the governments actively supportedsterilisationandabortionfor Romani women and the policy was not repealed until 1991.[3]
Forced sterilisation[edit]
Attempts to stop the growth of the Romani population were made, especially in Slovakia, where Romani women wereoffered financial incentives for sterilization.After 1989, some Romani women accused the state of "forced sterilizations" arguing that they were not properly informed of what "sterilization" meant.[5]According to Czech ombudsmanOtakar Motejl,"at least 50 Romani women were unlawfully sterilized".[6]The Czech representative at the United Nations protested against the accusations, claiming that they were "false" and that Romani women "exaggerate in all cases".[7]A hospital in Vitkovice, Ostrava, apologised to a Romani woman who was sterilised after her secondcaesarean,but a request for a compensation of 1 million Czech crowns was rejected by the court.[8]
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^abcdeOrgovanova, Klara; Engel."Roma in Slovakia".Slovakia.org. Archived fromthe originalon 22 August 2013.Retrieved30 April2012.
- ^Kiernan, Ben; Lower, Wendy; Naimark, Norman; Straus, Scott (31 January 2023)."The Cambridge World History of Genocide: Volume 3, Genocide in the Contemporary Era, 1914–2020".Cambridge University Press.Retrieved25 April2024– via Google Books.
- ^abcdGeorge Lawson, Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain), Negotiated revolutions: the Czech Republic, South Africa and Chile, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005, p. 115ISBN978-0-7546-4327-2
- ^"Chanov - urban settlement without trees and flowers".sweb.cz.Retrieved21 May2020.
- ^"Jak to bylo s násilnou sterilizací u Romů v Československu?".psychologia.sk(in Czech).Retrieved21 May2020.
- ^"Otakar Motejl: Nezákonně bylo sterilizováno nejméně 50 žen"[Otakar Motejl: At Least 50 Women Were Unlawfully Sterilized].Aktuálně.cz(in Czech). 29 December 2005. Archived fromthe originalon 22 May 2011.Retrieved3 June2018.
- ^"Česko řeklo v OSN, že Romky přehánějí"[Czech Republic says in UN that Roma women exaggerate].Aktuálně.cz(in Czech). 18 August 2006.Retrieved3 June2018.
- ^"Soud:Za sterilizaci jen omluva,peníze ne"[Court: Apology for sterilization, no money].Aktuálně.cz(in Czech). 17 January 2007.Retrieved3 June2018.