AfterWorld War I, theRomani people in Czechoslovakia formed an ethnic community, living on the social periphery of the mainstreamCzechoslovak population.[1]
The state always focused on the Romani population not as a distinctethnic minority, but rather perceived it as a particularlyanti-social andcriminal group.[1] This attitude was reflected in the policy of collecting special police evidence—fingerprint collections of members of Romani groups (1925), and a law about wandering Romani (1927).[1]
During theNazi occupation of Czechoslovakia inWorld War II, Romani were exterminated byNazi mobile killing units and in camps such asLety,Hodonín andAuschwitz. In the Czech areas of the country, 90% of native Romani were killed during the war; the Romani in modern-day Czech Republic are mostly post-war immigrants from Slovakia or Hungary and their descendants.[2]
Thecommunist government of 1945–1989 attempted to integrate the Romani into the majority population through obligatory education and employment, and the formation of Romani organizations. Romani people were forced to resettle in small groups around the country, leaving them isolated.[3] Parts of the Romani population were also transferred from Slovakia into the country's Czech regions. This policy of the state was oriented toward assimilation of the Romani people. Many Romani people were rehoused inpanelák housing estates, which subsequently fell into acute disrepair, such as theChanov housing estate inMost,[4] andLuník IX inKošice. In 1958, Law No. 74, "On the permanent settlement of nomadic and semi-nomadic people"), forcibly limited the movements of those Romani (around 5–10%) who still travelled on a regular basis.[1] In the same year, the highest organ of theCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia passed a resolution, the aim of which was to be "the final assimilation of the Gypsy population".[3] The popular perception ofRomani even before 1989 was of lazy, dirty criminals who abused social services and posed a significant threat to majority values.[3] The "Gypsy question" was considered a "problem of a socially-backward section of the population".[1] During this period, the governments actively supportedsterilisation andabortion for Romani women and the policy was not repealed until 1991.[3]
Attempts to stop the growth of the Romani population were made, especially in Slovakia, where Romani women wereoffered financial incentives for sterilization. After 1989, some Romani women accused the state of "forced sterilizations" arguing that they were not properly informed of what "sterilization" meant.[5] According to Czech ombudsmanOtakar Motejl, "at least 50 Romani women were unlawfully sterilized".[6] The Czech representative at the United Nations protested against the accusations, claiming that they were "false" and that Romani women "exaggerate in all cases".[7] A hospital in Vitkovice, Ostrava, apologised to a Romani woman who was sterilised after her secondcaesarean, but a request for a compensation of 1 million Czech crowns was rejected by the court.[8]
