The living memory of persecutions: oral histories of the Roma in Latvia and the question of public commemoration

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the life stories and the obscured past of the Latvian Roma with a focus on narratives of persecution during World War II. These narratives, while preserved in family circles and communicative memory, lack wider attention as the commemoration of victims of genocide is not well developed in Latvia. This research attempts to understand what prevents memories from entering the public sphere. For that, the author turns to Romani memory culture and other social factors that can influence the perpetuation of the collective memory of genocide.

KEYWORDS:

• Latvian Roma
• Holocaust
• oral history
• life story
• collective memory
• commemoration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Nacionālās mutvārdu vēstures krājums (National Oral History Collection, hereafter NMVK), NMV-4296.

2. NMVK, NMV-2108.

3. NMVK, NMV-1662.

4. NMVK, NMV-1661.

5. NMVK, NMV-4284.

6. NMVK, NMV-4282.

7. NMVK, NMV-4285.

8. NMVK, NMV-2623.

9. NMVK, NMV-3868.

10. NMVK, NMV-4069.

11. NMVK, NMV-4071.

12. NMVK, NMV-3857.

13. NMVK, NMV-4070.

14. An anonymous reviewer pointed out that representatives of the Latvian Roma have recently been very visible in organizations such as the International Roma Union, which is carrying out many activities to help perpetuate the memory of the Roma genocide. It would require a separate study to examine whether the actions of leading activists in this regard are attuned to the views and wishes of local Roma communities.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Latvian Council of Science [lzp-2018/1-0458].

Notes on contributors

Edmunds Šūpulis

Edmunds Šūpulis is a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia. Since 2000 he is working in the National Oral History Project and is a member of Latvia Oral history association ”Dzivesstasts” (Life Story). He has been involved in the National Research Programme “Letonika” and in several Latvian Council of Science grants to study collective and individual identities, ethnic and narrative diversity in life story constructions, intergenerational transmission of memory. His main research interests include biographical narratives and collective memory, oral history research methodology, social identity issues, and the national memory policy.