Recently a representative of the far-right Jobbik party was elected as Mayor of Gyöngyöspata, a town in Hungary where there have been several clashes between the Roma community and paramilitary groups. In the last few years a number of Roma in Hungary, and other countries, have been killed in neo-fascist attacks. Such events lend a new poignancy to memories of the Porrajmos.
In the face of resistance, the SS withdrew and called off the operation. Three thousand Roma capable of work were then transferred to other camps. Some two months later the SS liquidated the 2,898 who remained. Most of the victims were ill, elderly men, women, and children. A handful of children who had hidden during the operation were captured and killed in the following days.
The discussion of a need to remember Roma suffering in WW2 over on Comment is Free a while back encouraged some readers to exploit this important topic to vent their nasty prejudices. Meanwhile, back in the real world, Jewish and Roma youth are working together to combat prejudice:
The youth are gathering to discuss how to build partnerships, plan joint initiatives, and exchange experiences about minority identity and grass-roots civil activism.
This alliance is scarcely surprising for Jobbik (by contrast with some other far-right groups in Europe who focus on Muslims and/or Roma) is unambiguously antisemitic.
