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Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust

The experiences of the Romanies on the European continent have been marked by centuries of prejudice, abuse, slavery and murder. Central to this history of oppression is the Nazi regime’s racial persecution and genocide of the Romanies during the Holocaust. However, in the Federal Republic of German...

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Main Author: Botha, Robynne
Other Authors: Scanlon, Helen
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Political Studies 2020
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access_status_str Open Access
author Botha, Robynne
author2 Scanlon, Helen
author_browse Botha, Robynne
Scanlon, Helen
author_facet Scanlon, Helen
Botha, Robynne
author_sort Botha, Robynne
collection Thesis
description The experiences of the Romanies on the European continent have been marked by centuries of prejudice, abuse, slavery and murder. Central to this history of oppression is the Nazi regime’s racial persecution and genocide of the Romanies during the Holocaust. However, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the devastating experiences of the Romanies during the Holocaust received minimal attention in the decades that followed. As such, this thesis aims to answer the question: Did the transitional justice process in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the aftermath of the Third Reich, fail Romanies as victims of racial persecution, genocide and the Holocaust? It provides an overview of the suffering experienced by the Romanies at the hands of the Nazi regime, situating their plight within the framework of racial persecution, genocide and the Holocaust. It then analyses how this was addressed by the transitional justice process undertaken in the Federal Republic of Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, focusing on the mechanisms of retributive justice, as well as material and symbolic reparations. Examining how, within each of these mechanisms, Romanies were marginalised as victims, the thesis illustrates that the transitional justice process did indeed fail them. In addition, it broadens the discussion by looking at how Romaphobia is both a cause and a consequence of this marginalisation. As such, the thesis illustrates how the transitional justice process also failed Romanies by not denouncing Romaphobia, but rather inadvertently reinforcing it, thus being partly to blame for the continued presence of Romaphobia in the Federal Republic of Germany. In so doing, the thesis highlights the importance of redressing the wrongs committed against victims, emphasising the need for transitional justice mechanisms in the aftermath of violence and human rights abuses.
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2020
publishDateRange 2020
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/31408 Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust Botha, Robynne Scanlon, Helen Justice and Transformation The experiences of the Romanies on the European continent have been marked by centuries of prejudice, abuse, slavery and murder. Central to this history of oppression is the Nazi regime’s racial persecution and genocide of the Romanies during the Holocaust. However, in the Federal Republic of Germany, the devastating experiences of the Romanies during the Holocaust received minimal attention in the decades that followed. As such, this thesis aims to answer the question: Did the transitional justice process in the Federal Republic of Germany, in the aftermath of the Third Reich, fail Romanies as victims of racial persecution, genocide and the Holocaust? It provides an overview of the suffering experienced by the Romanies at the hands of the Nazi regime, situating their plight within the framework of racial persecution, genocide and the Holocaust. It then analyses how this was addressed by the transitional justice process undertaken in the Federal Republic of Germany after the fall of the Third Reich, focusing on the mechanisms of retributive justice, as well as material and symbolic reparations. Examining how, within each of these mechanisms, Romanies were marginalised as victims, the thesis illustrates that the transitional justice process did indeed fail them. In addition, it broadens the discussion by looking at how Romaphobia is both a cause and a consequence of this marginalisation. As such, the thesis illustrates how the transitional justice process also failed Romanies by not denouncing Romaphobia, but rather inadvertently reinforcing it, thus being partly to blame for the continued presence of Romaphobia in the Federal Republic of Germany. In so doing, the thesis highlights the importance of redressing the wrongs committed against victims, emphasising the need for transitional justice mechanisms in the aftermath of violence and human rights abuses. 2020-02-28T14:08:57Z 2020-02-28T14:08:57Z 2019 2020-02-28T11:05:57Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31408 eng application/pdf Department of Political Studies Faculty of Humanities
spellingShingle Justice and Transformation
Botha, Robynne
Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
title_full Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
title_fullStr Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
title_full_unstemmed Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
title_short Ashes scattered in the wind: The Romanies as Marginalised Victims of Racial Persecution, Genocide and the Holocaust
title_sort ashes scattered in the wind the romanies as marginalised victims of racial persecution genocide and the holocaust
topic Justice and Transformation
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31408
work_keys_str_mv AT botharobynne ashesscatteredinthewindtheromaniesasmarginalisedvictimsofracialpersecutiongenocideandtheholocaust