Following a recent attack against a Roma settlement in Slovakia, TSBU assembles an introductory primer on Europe's genocidal treatment of Roma people over the centuries. From the early-modern period to the 21st century, this story passes through the Holy Roman Empire's Mitteleuropa, Mediterranean states, the Balkans and Eastern Europe, as well as Tudor and Elizabethan England. Through feudalism and capitalism, through fascism, liberalism, and socialism, Europe's anti-Roma racism has always been a projection of its own State crimes against the Roma themselves.
Some key references used for this episode: Bogdal, Klaus-Michael. Europe and the Roma: A History of Fascination and Fear. Penguin, 2024. Cressy, David. Trouble with Gypsies in Early Modern England. The Historical Journal, 59, 1, 2016. Kenrick, Donald and Grattan Puxon. The Destiny of Europe's Gypsies. Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. Matache, Margareta. The Permanence of Anti-Roma Racism: (Un)uttered Sentences. Routledge, 2025. Petrova, Dimitrina. The Roma: Between a Myth and the Future. Social Research: An International Quarterly 70, 1, 2003. Pisarri, Milovan. The Suffering of the Roma in Serbia During the Holocaust. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Southeast Europe, 2014. Roma history factsheets. Council of Europe web resource accessed Aug. 23, 2026. Slavery in Romania. Wikipedia article accessed Aug. 23, 2026.
Special thanks to Nina for drawing our attention to the events in Lubina.
My name is Fritz McAlinden and this is The State Between Us, the anti-fascist podcast for dark dives into the ruling class insanity and fashy political cultures as well as our defenses against them through mutual aid and building each other up, sharing knowledge, and connecting the disparate voices in our overlapping struggles. Also TTRPGs, Sci-Fi, and other nerd shit. Let's get weird with it!
