SECOND PERSECUTION
After the Allied victory over Germany and the liberation of the survivors from the various camps, zero hour did not begin for the Sinti and Romani people in German, neither in other European countries. After 1945, the consequences of Nazi persecution were present in every Sinti or Romani people family. The people lost their family members, the survivors had been damaged or disabled by the camp or forced labor, and many were denied a new family in the future as a result of the forced sterilizations. People were looking for family members who had been deported to different camps and first had to reunite as families and mourn the victims. During the Nazi regime, their property was taken away from them, their citizenship was revoked and, in their homes, other people lived in their houses. They were regularly accommodated in barracks, where they often lived without hot water and sufficient living space under severe conditions. The destruction of family structures has also resulted in the complete or partial loss of many old professions. The skilled crafts and trades that had been passed down through the generations in the families could not be taught to their children by the older people, many of whom were now absent.
In addition to the already severe living conditions, the trauma of persecution, lifelong illnesses and disabilities, there were further regulatory inequalities, police repression and everyday racism.
Overall, the denazification of the authorities in the Federal Republic of Germany only progressed slowly, but with regard to Sinti and Romani people, it had hardly been done at all. In the judiciary, police as well as in other authorities, the former Nazis and even perpetrators directly involved in the extermination have not been punished. Many were allowed to continue working at their old positions or even made a career for themselves. In the health offices, in the district offices, in universities and schools, Romani people and Sinti met people who planned, organized or participated in their deportations. They were often subjected to harassment and discrimination against these people. In addition, they were again confronted with the old clerks who denied them the benefits due to applications such as travel permits, housing, citizenship and compensation for the injustice suffered.
The special “Gypsy Police Stations” in the Nazi regime, which were mainly responsible for the collection and deportation of the people, were now renamed “Landfahrer Police Stations”. They exchanged information and worked with old racist files and files created before and during the Nazi era. The police regularly organized raids on the places where Sinti and Romani people were staying. The authorities refused to grant people migrant trade certificates and the return of their German citizenship on the grounds that they had been persecuted as criminals. The denial of compensation for the injustice suffered during the camp imprisonment was also based on this. The police authorities did not pass on Nazi records for compensation purposes, so the victims could not prove their persecution. On the contrary, the Bavarian Landfahrer’s Centre in the State Criminal Police Office in particular used the Nazi files in which personal data of the affected persons were collected in order to dismiss complaints.
The law on compensation for victims of the Nazi regime was based on political persecution based on faith or belief and racial persecution . For Romani people and Sinti, however, this law should not apply, as for years they were claimed not to be racist persecuted. Even the prominent jurist and reparations expert Küster, in his commentary on the Compensation Act, dated the racist persecution of Sinti and Romani people only from 1943 onwards, stating that criminal policy reasons were the cause. The Federal Court of Justice adopted this interpretation and in 1956 ruled that “the associal characteristics of the Gypsies had been decisive for the persecution before 1943” , justifying this as follows:
“Experience shows that they are inclined to criminality, especially to theft and fraud; in many cases they lack the moral impulses of respect for other people’s property, because, like primitive human beings, they have an uninhibited instinct of occupation.”
(BGH 1956).
The victorious powers attempted to denazify the judiciary, but had to give up as early as 1945. There was a lack of staff members who were not involved in the Nazi regime. As a result, they introduced a 50 percent rule and allowed half of the judges to be employed despite their NSDAP affiliation. The 50% of former NSDAP members rose to 80% in 1951 when the German Bundestag decided to grant former state employees a right to reinstatement.
This disgraceful case law was not changed until the end of 1963 and the addition was introduced, for which persecution before 1943 was “one of the causes of racial policy”. Those who had previously received a rejection of their claims for compensation on the basis of the judgment were now able to make a new application. Other persons who were deterred from applying by the negative Federal Court decision had no right to apply now. Many victims have thus been legally denied compensation. In 2015, the then President of the Federal Court of Justice, Bettina Limperg, publicly apologized for the earlier scandalous case law.
The former employees of the Racial Biology Research Centre continued to work in mental hospitals, health authorities and the university. The material of her racial research continued to be used until the 1980s and found uncritical input not only in the judiciary and police work, but also in the welfare institutions and educational journals.
This period after 1945, with the Nazi continuities that made the lives of survivors more difficult and exposed them to renewed discrimination, was referred to by the civil rights activists of the time as the “Second Persecution”.