Roma and Sinti Before the War

Roma and Sinti are the largest European minority, but they do not have a country of their own. Roma and Sinti have lived in Europe for over 1,000 years. Originally coming from India, they speak a language related to other Indian languages sometimes referred to as Romany, Romanes or Sinti Tikkes. Roma and Sinti is the real name of the so called “Gypsies”.

Posed photograph of a Roma wedding in Stegersbach in the south of Burgenland produced for reporters from the Austrian state broadcasting company RAVAG.

Settlements

The Sinto Max Bamberger (on the right) with his family in a photograph taken in 1935.

Middle Class

An itinerant German Sinti family with their caravan.

Itinerant Artisans

The Hungarian Béla Ruha Gypsy Orchestra in a hotel in The Hague, Netherlands in the 1930s.

Musicians

“All helping with the preparations ...” Photo of a family making bricks in East Slovakia.

Farmhands

Photograph of a police raid on the Roma settlement in the village of Gritsch in Burgenland, Austria. All the people living in the house had to stand outside with their equipment. The photograph was taken as a record of the work of the police.

Craftsmen

Photograph of Karl Stojka at the age of nine taken in Vienna in 1940.

School Child

Czech postcard from the early 20th century.