Author: Justyna Matkowska, Department of History, University at Albany, State University of New York - ORCID

Abstract: »This paper examines the various forms of sexual violence experienced by Romani women and girls in occupied Poland during World War II. These acts were perpetrated by German soldiers and SS men and their collaborators, in particular Ukrainian nationalists, as well as by Soviet soldiers during the period of liberation. Romani women found themselves in an especially precarious situation due to both Nazi persecution as well as long-standing history of exoticization and sexualization of Romani women in Europe, dating back to the eighteenth century. The persecution of Romani people during WWII, including sexual violence and assault of Romani women and girls, still remains on the margins of Holocaust research. Moreover, the harmful and traumatic experiences of gender-based violence continue to remain taboo subjects within Romani culture. Drawing on testimonies of Romani survivors collected in Polish by the USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive, this article examines how the affected women and girls, as well as other survivors, talked or rather remained silent about sexual violence. I also discuss the forms, situations, and patterns of violence perpetrated by various groups and explore the influence of cultural assumptions and situational conditions on sexual and gender-based violence against Romani women and girls.« (Source: The Journal of Holocaust Research)

Contents:

	Abstract
	Introduction
	Terminology and methodology
	On the persecution of the Roma and Sinti in Europe before and during World War II
	On the persecution of the Roma and Sinti in Europe before and during World War II
	The taboo of sexuality in Romani culture
	Sexual and gender-based violence against Romani women
	Rapes, attempted rapes and gender-based violence by Germans
	Gender-based violence and sexual abuse by Ukrainian nationalists
	Rapes and attempted rapes by Soviet Soldiers
	Conclusions
	Acknowledgements
	Disclosure statement
	Additional information
	Footnotes

Lecture: Matkowska, Justyna. »The Plight of Roma and Sinti Women: Sexual Violence during World War II in Occupied Poland.« UniRomnja. Berlin 2023. Bibliographic Entry: Info

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Germany / Nazi Germany | History of Europe: History of Poland / History of Poland (1939–1945) | History of Europe: History of Russia / History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953) | History of Europe: History of Ukraine / Ukrainian collaboration with Nazi Germany | Genocide: The Holocaust / Sexual violence during the Holocaust | Sex and the law: Wartime sexual violence / Wartime sexual violence in World War II | War: World War II / Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland