The Yenish live in many European countries—France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and also Austria. The “European Yenish Council” estimates that there are approximately 500,000 of them. Yenish, a language primarily transmitted orally, is still in use today. The Yenish have only been officially recognized in Switzerland—since 2016—and that, after facing persecution well into the 1970s: Systematic child removals and sterilizations are today recognized as “crimes against humanity”. While the Swiss government recognizes the verdict under international law, it continues to downplay the ruling’s acknowledgment of racism as a key component.
In Austria, the persecution of the Yenish as “asocials” and “criminals” during the Nazi era continued to have a long-lasting discriminatory impact. The Yenish were never part of the recognised groups of victims. Most recently, there have been efforts to recognize them as an ethnic group, but the initiative has so far failed on a political level. There is a growing number of political and cultural initiatives by Yenish individuals and dedicated groups working to preserve and revitalise Yenish culture.

Marco Buckovez
Chairman of the Austrian association Jenische in Österreich

Michael Haupt
CEO of the initiative for minorities in Tyrol,
Co-Founder of the Yenish Archive

Isabella Huser
Author (“Zigeuner” = “Gypsies”), fights for the recognition
of this crime against humanity as such in Switzerland 

Heidi Schleich
Linguist (“Das Jenische in Tyrol” = “The Yenish in Tyrol”),
activist for the recognition of the Yenish

Hosted by
Nina Horaczek
Reporter in chief for Austrian weekly newspaper Falter