Zum Schweigen um den NS-Genozid an österreichischen Roma und Sinti in der Zweiten Republik

Abstract

The question about the dimensions of silence in the Austrian culture of the Second Republic leads us unavoidably to the period of National Socialism. In the paper the novel Abschied von Sidonie by Erich Hackl (English translation Farewell Sidonia by Edna McCown) and his articles are used as a platform to describe the silence about the genocide of the Romani people. The testimonies of persecution of this ethnic community deserve all the more attention as the tragic fate of this group was long surrounded by a wall of silence. Thus, the article centers on the following questions: (1) What was concealed by the silence community? (2) Why was the circle of silence to a great extent “break-resistant” for a relatively long time? (3) Which forms of coming to terms with the past were adopted to break the aforementioned wall of silence and to make public the shameful and painful past or bring it back to collective memory? (PK; in German)