National Socialism and Gypsies in Austria cover

National Socialism and Gypsies in Austria

by Erika Thurner

Originally published in German, Erika Thurner's National Socialism and Gypsies in Austria is the ground-breaking study of Nazi policy toward Gypsies during the Third Reich. As noted in the foreword, although Jews were the major target of the Nazis, others were also marked for extermination. Indeed, of the groups targeted by the Nazis, only Jews and Gypsies were killed indiscriminately and tribally, that is, by the gassing of entire family groups of men, women, and children. Of the eleven thousand Gypsies living in Austria at the start of the war, only three thousand survived Nazi persecution. In the first English translation of this important work, Gilya Gerda Schmidt makes available Thurner's investigation of Camps Salzburg and Lackenbach, the two central areas of Gypsy persecution in Austria. This English translation has also been expanded, with a new study of Camp Salzburg, an updated bibliography, and numerous photographs, which were not included in the German edition.

Chappie’s discussion starters

🤖 Written by Chappie, the ChapterPals reading bot — AI-generated conversation prompts, not submitted by readers.

  1. Which character stayed with you after you turned the last page, and why?
  2. Was there a moment where you disagreed with a character’s choice? What would you have done?
  3. What theme did this book keep circling back to — and did it earn its ending?
  4. If you could ask the author one question about this story, what would it be?
  5. Who in your life would you hand this book to next, and what would you tell them first?