The Berlin Memorial for the murdered Sinti and Roma: Problems and points for discussion

Abstract

In 2005, a Memorial was dedicated in Berlin for the Jews of Europe murdered under the National Socialist regime. Since the non-Jewish victims of National Socialism were excluded in the setting of such an emblem of memory, there were various calls for additional central memorials for other groups of those persecuted under Nazism—especially homosexuals (Berliner Morgenpost 2006) and the populations stigmatized as Gypsies. At the present time, a memorial for the murdered Gypsies would seem to have the best prospects for future success. Politicians have given their explicit consent, there is a site and artistic draft of a design. But the realization of the memorial was postponed year after year because no agreement could be reached on the wording of an inscription. The discussion hinged on several central points of dispute, which form the focus of the present essay: (1) Is the specific designation of the victims as Sinti and Roma appropriate for the National Socialist policy of annihilation, when a substantia...