Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-x5cpj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T06:20:33.305Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

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

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

About, I. & Abakunova, A. 2016. The Genocide and Persecution of Roma and Sinti: Bibliography and Historiographical Review. International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance [online] [accessed 7 September 2019]. Available at: <https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/sites/default/files/bibliography_and_historiographical_review.pdf>>Google Scholar
Anon, 1942a. Komunisti še naprej more zavedne slovenske fante. Grozna zločinstva ‘osvobodilcev’ v beneči Strmci. Slovenski dom, 5.6.1942: 2.Google Scholar
Anon, 1942b. Vojno poročilo št. 9 od 30. III. Slovenski poročevalec, 6.4.1942: 1.Google Scholar
Anon, 1943. Partisan document. Jutro: 4.Google Scholar
Anon, 1999. Prosecutor v. Goran Jeisić. IT-95-10-T. Trial Chamber Judgement, 14. December 1999 [online] [accessed 7 September 2019]. Available at: <http://www.icty.org/case/jelisic/4>>Google Scholar
Carman, J. 2013. Archaeologies of Conflict. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Cienciala, A.M., Lebedeva, N.S. & Materski, W. eds. 2007. Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Conversi, D. 2006. Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Nationalism. In: Delanty, G. & Kumar, K., eds. The SAGE Handbook of Nations and Nationalism. London: SAGE, pp. 320–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CPPCG, 1948. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide 10 [online] [accessed 7 September 2019]. Available at: <https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crimeofgenocide.aspx>>Google Scholar
Dežman, J. 2017. Zavod za oskrbo vojnih grobov. In: Dežman, J. & Jamnik, P., eds. Slovenija in vojna grobišča. Dolga tranzicija. Ljubljana: Komisija Vlade RS za reševanje vprašanj prikritih grobišč, pp. 7–36.Google Scholar
Döring, H.J. 1964. Die Zigeuner im nationalsozialistischen Staat. Hamburg: Kriminalistik Verlag.Google Scholar
European Parliament, 2015. European Parliament Resolution of 15 April 2015 on the Occasion of International Roma Day – Anti-Gypsyism in Europe and EU Recognition of the Memorial Day of the Roma Genocide during World War II (2015/2615(RSP) [online] [accessed 7 September 2019]. Available at: <http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2015-0095_EN.html>>Google Scholar
Ferenc, M. 2012. Prekopi žrtev iz prikritih grobišč. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete.Google Scholar
Ferenc, M. 2019. Zakon o prikritih vojnih grobiščih in pokopu žrtev in urejanje prikritih grobišč in morišč. In: Dežman, J., ed. Nemoč laži. Poročilo Komisije Vlade RS za reševanje vprašanj prikritih grobišč 2011-2018. Ljubljana: Družina, pp. 64–109.Google Scholar
Haglund, W.D., Connor, M. & Scott, D.D. 2001. The Archaeology of Contemporary Mass Graves. Historical Archaeology, 35: 57–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huttenbach, H.R. 1991. The Romani Porajmos: The Nazi Genocide of Europe's Gypsies. Nationalities Papers, 19: 373–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/00905999108408209CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamnik, P. 2015. Inclusion of Archaeology in Criminal Investigations: Slovenia. In: Groen, W.J.M., Márquez-Grant, N. & Janaway, R., eds. Forensic Archaeology: A Global Perspective. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 165–72.Google Scholar
Klopčič, V. 2015. Genocid nad Romi v preteklosti, anticiganizem v sedanjosti / Genocide of the Roma in the Past, Antigypsyism in the Present. In: Klopčič, V. & Bedrač, M., eds. Porajmos. Zamolčani genocide nad Romi. / Porrajmos. The Withheld Gencide of the Roma. Maribor: Center judovske kulturne dediščine Sinagoga Maribor, pp. 19–28.Google Scholar
Klopčič, V. & Bedrač, M. 2015. Porrajmos – The Withheld Genocide of the Roma. In: Klopčič, V. & Bedrač, M., eds. Porajmos. Zamolčani genocide nad Romi. / Porrajmos. The Withheld Gencide of the Roma. Maribor: Center judovske kulturne dediščine Sinagoga Maribor, pp. 8–11.Google Scholar
Kocmur, M., 2019. Krimska jama – antropološka analiza posmrtnih ostankov žrtev. In: Dežman, J., ed. Nemoč laži. Poročilo Komisije Vlade RS za reševanje vprašanj prikritih grobišč 2011–2018. Ljubljana: Družina, pp. 364–69.Google Scholar
Košir, U. 2017. Sounds of Horror: Sensorial Experiences of a Gestapo Prison, Begunje (Slovenia). In: Saunders, N.J. & Cornish, P., eds. Modern Conflict and the Senses. London: Routledge, pp. 256–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Košir, U. & Leben Seljak, P. 2018. Poročilo o ekshumaciji posmrtnih ostankov z grobišča Romov v Iški [ID 35] in v Gornjem Igu. [Report archived at Avgusta d.o.o., Idrija].Google Scholar
Košir, U. & Leben Seljak, P. 2019a. Ekshumacija posmrtnih ostankov iz rova Sv. Barbare v letih 2016 in 2017. In: Dežman, J., ed. Nemoč laži. Poročilo Komisije Vlade RS za reševanje vprašanj prikritih grobišč 2011–2018. Ljubljana: Družina, pp. 215–35.Google Scholar
Košir, U. & Leben Seljak, P. 2019b. Poročilo o ekshumaciji posmrtnih ostankov z grobišča pod Boncarjem pri Podklancu [ID 671]. [Report archived at Avgusta d.o.o., Idrija].Google Scholar
Košir, U., Leben Seljak, P. & Rupnik, J. 2016. Poročilo o ekshumaciji posmrtnih ostankov usmrčenih oseb na območju Mačkovca (911 m). [Report archived at Avgusta, d.o.o., Idrija].Google Scholar
Letnar Černič, J. 2014. Pravna opredelitev genocida v Konvenciji o preprečevanju in kaznovanju hudodelstva genocida / Legal Definition of Genocide in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In: Kladnik Čoh, M., ed. Revolucionarno nasilje, sodni procesi in kultura spominjanja. Zbornik prispevkov z znanstvenega posveta. Ljubljana: Študijski center za narodno spravo, pp. 44–56.Google Scholar
Maček, J. 2010. Genocid nad Cigani na Blokah in v Iški. Zaveza 43. [online] [accessed 18 September 2019]. Available at: <https://www.zaveza.si/zaveza-t-43/#index.xml-body.1_div.2_div.1_div.3>>Google Scholar
Mirga-Kruszelnicka, A., Acuña, E. & Trojański, P. eds. 2015. Education for Remembrance of the Roma Genocide: Scolarship, Commemoration and the Role of Youth. Krakow: LIBRON / Filip Lohner.Google Scholar
Podbersič, R. 2014. Žrtve revolucije med Romi na Slovenskem / Victims of Revolution among the Roma in Slovenia. In: Kladnik Čoh, M., ed. Revolucionarno nasilje, sodni procesi in kultura spominjanja. Zbornik prispevkov z znanstvenega posveta. Ljubljana: Študijski center za narodno spravo, pp. 78–94.Google Scholar
Saunders, N.J. 2010. Killing Time: Archaeology and the First World War. Stroud: History Press.Google Scholar
Saunders, N.J. ed. 2012. Beyond the Dead Horizon. Oxford: Oxbow Books.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schofield, J. 2005. Combat Archaeology: Material Culture and Modern Conflict. London: Duckworth.Google Scholar
Schofield, J., Johnson, W.G. & Beck, C.M. eds. 2002. Matérial Culture: The Archaeology of Twentieth Century Conflict. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Semič-Daki, S. 1971. Najboljši so padli I. Spomini. Ljubljana: self-published.Google Scholar
Sirkin, M. 2010. Expanding the Crime of Genocide to Include Ethnic Cleansing: A Return to Established Principles in Light of Contemporary Interpretations. Seattle University Law Review, 33: 489–526.Google Scholar
Strle, F. 1981. Tomšičeva brigada. Uvodni del. 2nd ed. Ljubljana: Odbor 1 SPUB Toneta Tomšiča.Google Scholar
Sturdy Colls, C. 2012. Holocaust Archaeology: Archaeological Approaches to Landscapes of Nazi Genocide and Persecution. Journal of Conflict Archaeology, 7: 70–104. https://doi.org/10.1179/1574077312Z.0000000005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Theune, C. 2013. Archaeology and Remembrance: The Contemporary Archaeology of Concentration Camps, Prisoner-of-war Camps, and Battlefields. In: Mehler, N., ed. Historical Archaeology in Central Europe. Rockville (MD): The Society for Historical Archaeology, pp. 241–59.Google Scholar
Toš, M. 2015. Ponižani, razžaljeni, umorjeni in zamolčani / The Humiliated, Insulted, Murdered and Concealed. In: Klopčič, V. & Bedrač, M., eds. Porajmos. Zamolčani genocide nad Romi. / Porrajmos: The Withheld Gencide of the Roma. Maribor: Center judovske kulturne dediščine Sinagoga Maribor, pp. 29–44.Google Scholar
Tuller, H.H. 2012. Mass Graves and Human Rights: Latest Developments, Methods, and Lessons Learned. In: Dirkmaat, D.C., ed. A Companion to Forensic Anthropology. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 157–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UNOGPRP. n.d. United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. Definitions: Crimes Against Humanity [online] [accessed 12 January 2019]. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/crimes-against-humanity.shtml>>Google Scholar
UNOGPRP. n.d. United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. Definitions: Genocide [online] [accessed 12 January 2019]. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/genocide.shtml>>Google Scholar
UNOGPRP. n.d. United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect. Definitions: War Crimes [online] [accessed 12 January 2019]. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/genocideprevention/war-crimes.shtml>>Google Scholar
Vařeka, P. 2017. Archeologický výzkum tábora v Letech. Bulletin Muzea romské kultury, 26: 58–83.Google Scholar
Vařeka, P. 2018. Archeologický výzkum tábora v Letech. Archeologie modernity a výzkum táborů z druhé světové války. Dějiny a současnost, 4: 10–14.Google Scholar
Vařeka, P. & Vařeková, Z. 2017. Archaeology of Zigeunerlager: Initial Results of the 2016–2017 Investigation at the Roma Camp in Lety. Accessing Campscapes: Inclusive Strategies for Using European Conflicted Heritage, 2: 20–29.Google Scholar
Wright, R., Hanson, I. & Sterenberg, J. 2005. The Archaeology of Mass Graves. In: Hunter, J. & Cox, M., eds. Forensic Archaeology: Advances in Theory and Practice. London & New York: Routledge, pp. 137–58.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Košir supplementary material

Tables S1-S18

Download Košir supplementary material(File)
File 17.6 MB