Were the “Chingené” Victims of the Holocaust?: Nazi Policy toward the Crimean Roma, 1941–1944

Much has been written about the persecution of the Roma in Nazi-dominated central Europe, but less attention has been devoted to anti-Roma policy in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union. Using a variety of sources, including testimonies, this study sheds new light on how specific features of the culture of the Chingené—the Roma in the Crimea—as well as German political and military considerations affected German practice on the peninsula. The author compares and contrasts the Nazis’ treatment of the Crimea’s Jews to their treatment of the Roma, providing an answer to the question: “Were the Chingené also victims of genocide?”