Authors

Cristina Stoica¹;  ¹ Western University, Canada

Discussion

"Transnistria was a prolonged disaster" (Hilberg, 776). The claim, made by historian Raul Hilberg, is in reference to the genocide of the Roma and Jews committed during the Second World War under the Ion Antonescu regime on the Romanian-administered territory of Transnistria. Over the course of 1939 to 1945, approximately 26,000 Roma and 320,000 Jews were deported to Transnistria where more than 11,000 Roma and 280,000 Jews were victims of genocide. The forced deportation and marches of Roma deportees with the intention to 'settle' them in the region played a central role in the annihilation of all 'unwanted' and 'foreign elements' from Romanian society.
This paper will discuss the genocide of the Roma committed at the hands of the Romanian government and its actors. Emphasis will be placed on the expulsions and deportations of Roma from Romania, as well as the use of systemic violence upon 'settlement'. A discussion of the various policies, methods, and practices of systemic violence targeting the ethnic group, as opposed to the systematic violence implemented against the Jews will be held. The lack of a concrete long-term policy for Roma 'settlement', along with the inhumane treatment of the ethnic group, an attitude of indifference to their fate, and callous disregard for human life, not only on the part of the Romanian authorities in the region but in some cases of the local Ukrainian population, resulted in the mass murder of more than 11,000 Romanian Roma.