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When Violins Fell Silent: Archaeological Traces of Mass Executions of Romani People in Slovenia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2019

Uroš Košir Open the ORCID record for Uroš Košir [Opens in a new window]
Uroš Košir*
Affiliation:
Avgusta d.o.o., Idrija, Slovenia
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Abstract

The archaeology of genocide, war crimes, and mass death has become a growing sub-discipline in recent decades, with the most attention given to the locations of National Socialist ‘terror and mass death’. Within genocide research, the porajmos, or genocide of Romani people, is not a well-known topic, especially in Slovenia. Contrary to popular belief, the mistreatment of Romani and violence against them was not inflicted only by the Nazis and their allies, but by pro-communist-orientated Slovenian partisans as well. Archaeological traces of three mass executions have provided us with evidence of serious and poignant crimes committed against the Romani ethnic minority. The remains might have a significant role in determining whether these crimes are a part of porajmos or not and represent a unique material testimony of crimes against the Romani population in the Slovenian and the wider European context.

L'archéologie des génocides, des crimes de guerre et des massacres a échelle massive est devenue une sous-discipline en pleine progression au cours des dernières décennies ; on a surtout mis l'accent sur les sites liés à « la terreur et la mise à mort en masse » du régime nazi. Au sein de la recherche sur les génocides, le porajmos, c'est-à-dire le génocide des Roms, est un sujet mal connu, même en Slovénie. Contrairement à la croyance populaire, les sévices et le traitement violent infligés aux Roms n'ont pas seulement été perpétrés par les nazis et leurs alliés mais aussi par les partisans procommunistes slovènes. Les traces archéologiques de trois massacres ont permis à l'auteur de documenter des crimes graves et poignants commis contre la minorité ethnique Rom. Les données pourraient jouer un rôle déterminant dans l'identification de ces crimes, qu'ils fassent partie du porajmos ou non, et constituent un témoignage unique sur les crimes commis contre les Roms dans un contexte slovène et européen. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Die Archäologie des Völkermords, der Kriegsverbrechens und des Massensterbens hat sich in den letzten Jahrzehnten erheblich entwickelt und ist eine Teildisziplin geworden, wobei man den Schwerpunkt besonders auf die Stätten der nationalsozialistischen „Massenhinrichtungen und Terror” legte. Innerhalb der Genozidforschung ist der porajmos, oder Völkermord der Roma Bevölkerung, ein Thema, das wenig bekannt ist, auch in Slowenien. Entgegen der allgemeinen Meinung war die brutale Behandlung und die Gewalt gegen die Roma nicht nur von den Nazis und deren Verbündeten, sondern auch von pro-kommunistischen slowenischen Partisanen verübt. Die archäologischen Spuren von drei Massenhinrichtungen haben Nachweise über schwere und schmerzliche Untaten gegen die Roma ethnische Minderheit geliefert. Die menschlichen Überreste können vielleicht eine wesentliche Rolle bei der Bestimmung von diesen Untaten spielen, also ob sie mit dem porajmos verbunden sind oder nicht, und sind ein einzigartiger materieller Beweis, dass Untaten gegen die Roma Bevölkerung im slowenischen Bereich und im weiteren europäischen Rahmen begangen worden sind. Translation by Madeleine Hummler

Keywords

Romani peoplegenocidewar crimesmass gravesSecond World Warhuman remainsRomsgénocidecrimes de guerrefosses communesSeconde Guerre mondialerestes humainsRoma BevölkerungVölkermordKriegsverbrechenMassengrabZweiter Weltkriegmenschliche Überreste
Type
Article
Information
European Journal of Archaeology , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 250 - 271
Copyright
Copyright © European Association of Archaeologists 2019

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