As Hungary awaits the verdict in the trial of four men accused of murdering six Roma, the country’s Roma community is reflecting on the 69 years that have passed since the mass murders of Roma at Nazi concentration camps and wondering what, if anything, has changed.
“When we speak about the Roma Holocaust, I would like to say 'never again,' but I cannot,” said Csaba Olah, a graduate of CEU's Roma Access Programs (RAP) and a newly admitted master's student in the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology, speaking ahead of the Day of Remembrance for Roma Holocaust victims on August 2. “It's not the past but the present. The shootings were very shocking to us and threatening. Many of my family members and friends felt unsafe and it was quite a difficult period for many Roma people.”
The trial, which began in 2011, involves four male defendants who are accused of murdering six Roma (including a five-year-old boy), gravely injuring four others, and charged with several counts of arson and robbery in 2008 and 2009.
The killings and destruction were not condemned widely by politicians or other leaders, to the dismay of many Hungarians and the international community. A recent article in Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine about the trial noted that “as brutal as the deeds were, however, the public reaction in Hungary has been minimal, and hardly any wider debate has arisen from the conclusion of the trial.”
The verdict will likely be read Aug. 6, just four days after the day of remembrance for Roma Holocaust victims. TernYpe, the International Roma Youth Network, hosts a Roma youth conference in Poland at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp where, on the night of August 2, 1944, nearly 3,000 Roma were gassed to death, their bodies burned to ashes. The goal of the conference is to raise awareness among young Europeans, civil society, politicians and decision-makers about the Roma genocide, examine the mechanisms of anti-Roma sentiment, and address the current challenges of racism, hate speech, and extremism in Europe. Other remembrance ceremonies and vigils will take place across Europe.
Olah completed one of CEU's two Roma Access Programs. Unique in the world, these prepare talented Roma undergraduates to pursue graduate-level education. (See this New York Times article for more.)
Olah studies Roma nation-building, including efforts to create a transnational Rom
a community, a process that began in 1971 with the First World Romani Congress. He also examines the ways Roma communities have developed Roma identities in tandem with their national identities. He says that he sees an “us versus them” dichotomy in common Hungarian discourse about Roma, despite attempts to integrate into society.
“Many people see us as a threat to stability of the country,” he says. “However, I don't think that being Roma means you are less Hungarian. This is our homeland and we would like to live here. We are citizens and we want to contribute to society.”
Many Roma feel that integration isn't working if they aren't treated the same as non-Roma citizens. The Hungarian government officially supports integration and the Office of the State Secretariat for State for Social Inclusion clearly states as policy “that individuals and groups in disadvantaged positions should have access to their fair share of the expanding opportunities available.”
Regarding the outcome of the trial, Olah says it's not likely that there will be significant protests if the defendants are acquitted, because many Roma are too frightened to speak out.
“If they see that these murderers are found to be not guilty, they will think they can't trust the court either,” he said. “It will have serious results in a way that society will become more fragmented.”
The commemoration of the Roma Holocaust is very meaningful to Olah.
“I think it's a very important step that the Roma people took to remember the victims of the Roma Holocaust,” he said. “The past of the Roma is also part of history; the history and culture of the Hungarian Roma is also part of the history and culture of Hungary, and we need to acknowledge that. Unfortunately, we still know very little about the persecution of Roma. For example, many people don't know that Roma slavery on the territory of Wallachia and Moldavia (present-day Romania) was only abolished in 1856. It's our duty to speak more about this. If we don't know our past, we don't really understand the present situation. If you think the rise of the right in Europe is a new thing, you are wrong; these things are rooted much more deeply.”





