The Porajmos, a Romani word often translated as the devouring, is the name for the persecution and mass murder of the Roma and Sinti people by Nazi Germany and its allies during the Second World War. Roma had already been subject to discrimination, forced registration and sterilization in Germany, and these measures turned into deportation and killing across occupied Europe. Many were shot in massacres in Eastern Europe, others died in ghettos and concentration camps, and a special section of Auschwitz-Birkenau held Romani families until it was liquidated in 1944. Estimates of the number of victims vary widely but run into the hundreds of thousands. The genocide was long neglected, and Germany formally recognized it only in 1982.
Before and after
- 29 October 1938Birth of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
- November 1938Kristallnacht
- 10 November 1938Death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
- 29 December 1938Birth of Jon Voight
- 1939Porajmos
- from 1939 to 1946Manhattan Project
- from 1939 to 1941Aktion T4
- 1939Founding of Marvel Comics
- 1939Publication of Thai National Anthem
More in Society, economy & sport
- 1915Armenian Genocide
- from January 1918 to December 19201918–1920 flu pandemic
- from 1919 to 1946Founding of League of Nations
- 1920Origins of National Football League
- from 13 July 1930 to 30 July 1930The first FIFA World Cup is played in Uruguay
- 22 July 1944Founding of International Monetary Fund
The era
This moment belongs to the Modern era (1914 CE to 1945 CE), world wars and a changing world. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.