Europa erfindet die Zigeuner. Eine Geschichte von Faszination und Verachtung

Born thieves and liars, companions of Satan, woodland creatures, untamable savages, a gang of antisocials. These are just some of the names the Romani people of Europe have been called over the past 600 years. In his book, Klaus-Michael Bogdal shows for the first time how it was possible for this centuries-old love-hate relationship, oscillating between fascination and contempt, to go on. The author demonstrates how Europeans have always sought the greatest possible distance from the despised people at the lower end of the social scale. None of the different social and power systems in which they lived allowed, or even nowadays allow, for a final arrival in Europe. Without a safe place, the Romani people have been exposed to constant persecution and exclusion since their immigration 600 years ago: in the imaginings of art as well as in political reality.