In the Second World War, the Finnish Roma were divided into front lines and forced labor camps.
On television, Milaja Lindroos learns about the suffering faced by the Roma during the Second World War. Sveriges Television Ab
A 37-year-old Milaja Lindroosin relatives were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp to die and never returned.
However, many do not know that there were also forced labor camps in Finland during the Second World War. Many Romani men were driven there, although there were also Romani on the front fighting for our country.
Lindroos finds out The silent history of the Roma – in the episode of the documentary series that can be seen today, his mother Miranda Vuolasrantan with the harsh story of his people.
They also ended up in a forced labor camp Väinö Lindgren’s father and uncles. At that time, 7-year-old Lindgren settled with his mother near the labor camp. Without the men in the family, it was difficult to earn food.
– I was sitting on the edge of a small stream. I had been looking at the beautiful rocks at the bottom of the creek. I had told my mother that if those stones were bread, I would eat them immediately and all, Lindgren remembers her mother saying.
– It was perhaps the strongest experience of my childhood.
Listening to Lindgren’s story, Vuolasranta becomes sensitive and swallows his tears.
– I don’t understand how it went like this. Some of the relatives were soldiers in the war, and then some of the relatives ended up in forced labor camps in Finland, Lindroos reflects.
Many of Lindroos’ relatives died in the concentration camp. Sveriges Television Ab / Yle
The labor camps were finally abolished after a few months, because they did not manage to collect enough Roma men. So many of them were already in other jobs or at the front.
– Of course, we have to remember that Roma were generally considered unproductive in this state administration, so to speak. It was thought that they are not interested in working except out of necessity, historian Panu Puzzle says.
Pulma emphasizes that it was common to be hungry in the labor camp. That, in turn, led to worse work results, and the cycle was complete.
In the episode, Lindroos also travels to Auschwitz to find out more about his mother’s family members who didn’t make it out of the camp alive.
The silent history of the Roma today on TV1 at 20:00 & Areena. See all TV programs and broadcast times in Telku’s TV guide.