The Nazi Persecution of the Roma and their Means of Resistance

Pharrajimos, the Romani Holocaust, has been one of the most gruesome events in the history of the Romani people. This study explores the Romani strategies of resistance to the Nazi persecution during the Second World War. James C. Scott's study of the Zomia people, in his The Art of Not Being Governed, examines how self-governed peoples implement features of their lifestyle to evade oppression. In his Domination and the Arts of Resistance, Scott theorizes about the disparity between the public transcript and the hidden transcript, and explores the domain of infrapolitics as a chief strategy of resistance adopted by those in subordinate position. The book engages Scott's argumentation in analyzing four texts: János Bársony and Ágnes Daróczi's Pharrajimos: The Fate of the Roma During the Holocaust (2007), Alexander Ramati's And the Violins Stopped Playing: A Story of the Gypsy Holocaust (1986), Aaron Yeger's A People Uncounted (2011) and Michelle Kelso's Hidden Sorrows: Persecution Gypsies during the Holocaust (2005).