Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian Roma Lives before and after World War II

Abstract
History and Roma Studies have pretty much neglected researching the so-called Polska, Litvoska, and Xaladytka Roma. Most people are also unaware of other Roma, such as the Servi, Kırımlıdes, and Vlach Roma, who have settled on the territories what is now Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia and have tended to amalgamate all Roma in these regions. This talk will concentrate on the first three groups and present their history, their fate during the War, and the aftermath. We will also briefly mention the historical differences with the other groups present in those regions. We will touch on very different historical contexts, namely that of the Polish-Lithuanian alliance, the Russian Empire, and the USSR. 

Speaker bio
Dr. Stephane Laederich obtained his PhD from Boston University, USA, and his Habilitation from the École Polytechnique in Paris, France (both in Mathematics). Later he started researching the dialects of different Romani groups, taught Historic Seminar at the University of Basel (Switzerland), and became an expert in the field of Romani Studies. Currently, Dr. Laederich is the executive director of the Room foundation, established in 1993 in Switzerland. He is the co-author of  “The Rroma” (Schwabe 2005) and numerous other articles and reports about the Roma. His latest publication focuses on the language of Polish, Lithuanian, Latvian, and Russian Roma. 

This event is hybrid, thus attendance is possible via Zoom.