One of those who agreed to share their story with the German newspaper
Spiegel is also Silas Kropf. Until his teens, he kept to himself the fact that he was a Sinti, because it was related that his family was in exile during the Nazi era.
"My grandfather was afraid that such a thing might happen again, so we didn't show our culture openly to the outside world, and we only spoke German, not Roma. My family suffered major traumas during the Nazis.
My great-grandmother was also Sinti and had more brothers and sisters whose families were deported to the camps. Only a few returned - others were killed.
During his schooling, his identity as Sinti was kept secret by Silas. He cites collective mistrust in Germany's state institutions, which he believes were highly prejudiced against Roma and Sinti people.
However, even after his education, Silas had reasons for not revealing his nationality.
"When I went out with my company, they sometimes forgot that I was Sinti, and exposed me to inappropriate jokes. I can't say the exact number of situations where they told me, "It's not true that you are Sinti, you can't be Sinti, you don't look like them at all. Like the majority of Roma who want to integrate into society, I have witnessed many ugly jokes such as "See the Gypsies" for people who looked very poor "says Silas.
Link: http://www.portal-udar.net/silas-kropf-zbog-ciganskog-stereotipa-sam-skrivao-svoj-identitet/
