Structure of the database

The testimony database contains several dozen entries, only some of which appear on the testimony abstract page. Full-text searches cover not only testimony abstracts, but all data in the database. For example, a user can search the database for a person’s name and see a testimony abstract in which that name does not appear. However, this only means that the person in question did not play such an important role in the witness’s story that they appeared in the testimony abstract. The name does appear in the full text of the testimony.

When you click on the name of the witness whose testimony you are interested in, a short introduction to the witness appears first. For some witnesses who were important figures, we provide more detailed information about their lives and work. Unfortunately, for a few witnesses, we do not even know their year of birth or even their first name.

The key content of the database consists of detailed abstracts of Romani testimonies. Each abstract is divided into three sections: before the war, during the war, and after the war. Some testimonies do not describe the period before or after the war. The abstracts are supplemented by notes (see Editor’s note on abstracts).

The section Origin of the testimony contains notes by the editor of the testimony about the circumstances surrounding its creation and the year in which it was recorded.

The last item on the testimony page is a link to the source, i.e., the publication from which the testimony was taken.