1995: the year that antigypsyism killed 4 Roma men.

As an Austrian Holocaust Memorial Servant at FAGiC, I would like to focus my stories more on Austria and the Porajmos in general. Today however I’d like to start with something from our recent past - the assassination of Erwin Horvath, Karl Horvath, Peter Sarközi and Josef Simon.

On the night of the 4^th February 1995, four men out of the region of Oberwart in Burgenland- AT, died while they intended to remove a signpost with the inscription “Roma back India”. It was a bomb that was settled to explode by first contact that later turned out to be the worst political motivated assassination of the second Republic of Austria since 1945.  At first the investigating authority’s thought, that the four men themselves tried to remove the racist signpost with the bomb, but after searches of their homes - the authorities withdrew the version and perceived the connection of a racially motivated attack. The Roma clearly felt offended by the accusations from the authorities, since they just have lost their beloved ones. They didn’t appreciate the media attention either, because they thought old prejudices wear coming up again.

But the media attention got big and they covered about the miserable situation in the in the Roma settlement.

People could see now, that they needed help and claimed it. Promises wear made and kept – some earlier like the Roma advisory-center or the qualification program - some later like the renovation of their settlement.

The assignation of Erwin Horvath, Karl Horvath, Peter Sarközi and Josef Simon in February 1995 aroused the public’s attention so far that the Roma now have a voice on municipality level and can be heard. Since 1999 schools in Oberwart offer Romano as non-obligate subject as a part of preserving the cultural heritage of Roma.

I will not lie, the situation not got from house to mansion, but it was a start for the Austrian Roma.

Fabian Neubauer