Health patrols: dangerous chemicals and humiliation in Roma settlements
In 1955, the Ministry of Health mandated that powder delousing and bathing were to be used as preventative measures (i.e., applied to all). The sanitary workers were often supported by police, occasionally by the army, and sometimes by local council workers. Bathings were deeply humiliating. Roma individuals were stripped naked, mocked, and had their clothes disinfected in machines. Public health staff forcibly bathed and sprayed Roma residents using several different chemicals. They used cresol soap, which could cause poisoning through skin absorption and DDT, an insecticide developed for agricultural use. The DDT was banned in 1968.
“There were a lot of curious non-Gypsy onlookers. I can remember real well how they used to come to laugh at us. They came by bike, they watched and cheered on ‘Come on, wash them’. Sometimes even the school’s headmaster would come, and this was during summer-break. Sometimes even the head of the Council would come.”
József Radics, Domony
Further Reading / Sources
A magyarországi cigányság története. Történelem a cigánykutatások tükrében, 1890–2008
Dupcsik, Cs. (2009). Budapest: Osiris Kiadó. 134-237