The first Vienna Award and the return of territories in southern Slovakia to Hungary

Following the First Vienna Award of November 2, 1938, Hungary regained the southern, predominantly Hungarian-populated regions of Slovakia. Territorial revision was a central element of Hungarian foreign policy at the time, aimed at regaining the territories lost in the Treaty of Trianon that ended World War I. However, these border changes also had serious social consequences: the political changes drastically worsened the situation of marginalized groups. The annexed regions were home to a significant Hungarian-speaking Roma community of around 30,000–40,000 people, most of whom worked as seasonal laborers or musicians. During the Horthy regime, these communities faced increasingly severe racial discrimination and forced labor, and later, in line with Nazi policy, their deportation to concentration camps began.