A Romani man, asked to buy a beer for an acquaintance, was struck in the face. He hit back and then walked away. Witnesses to the incident, under the influence of alcohol, were incited to “deal with the Gypsies,” one assuring others that “no one will be punished if we beat them up.” In Oświęcim, residents soon formed a committee for the expulsion of the Roma.
Expulsion disguised as resolution
The confrontation quickly escalated into two days of violence. Roma homes and vehicles were burned, property destroyed, and residents attacked by organised mobs. Although the Roma did not believe the authorities had incited the violence, they recognised how it was used to serve political and social purposes. The communist government intervened, negotiating separately with the mob’s leaders and Roma representatives. Under the guise of restoring order, the authorities offered a “solution”: relocation or emigration. They proposed transferring the Roma to temporary barracks near Bielsko-Biała, and when this was refused, they offered passports and facilitated their departure abroad. Over one hundred Roma were subsequently expelled to Sweden and West Germany, issued one-way travel documents that prevented return. The events in Oświęcim illustrated how antigypsyist violence could be repurposed as a tool of state policy—transforming social hostility into a mechanism for forced removal.
“People united in an attack of hatred directed not at the ‘haves,’ but at others — dark-haired, weak, and alone. It was the Roma who were struck. Because ‘outsiders’ deserve nothing.”
Jerzy Ficowski