One of the earliest activists who fought for the recognition of the Genocide of the Roma was born 100 years ago.

In early 1965, the popular Eastern German (GDR) newspaper Wochenpost published a letter from a Sintiza from Leipzig. In it, she described the persecution during the Nazi era, but also the discrimination in the GDR. “They see us as idlers, call us scumbags […] But no one considers that we too suffered bitter hardship, that the earth at Auschwitz and other camps was stained red with our blood. […] I would be grateful for an article.”

The editor who received these letters was Reimar Gilsenbach. He researched, found other Sinti, and wrote an article – which, however, was never published. In it, he mentioned the Marzahn forced labour camp for the first time. In connection with the preparations for the 1936 Olympic Games, police units interned Sinti and Roma there.

• Chronist des verdrängten Leids. In: TaZ. 19.09.2025. https://taz.de/Sinti-und-Roma-/!6113298/