Roma Stories Oral History Project

The ‘Roma Stories’ Oral History Project shares experiences and stories of Roma people from Eastern and Central Europe who live in London. A series of orally transmitted histories focus on the Roma genocide in the Second World War (the Forgotten Holocaust), life in postwar communist countries, and Roma migration to the UK. They tell us how Roma identity is perceived, how it is changing, how people experience living in London and how they belong here.

Thirty-two Roma people of different ages and from different countries were interviewed. The stories were audio recorded, filmed, transcribed and are now archived in the London Metropolitan Archives. These collected interviews have informed school workshops, a mobile exhibition, a short film documentary, academic seminars and this Learning Resource.

Throughout the ages, Roma people’s experience has often been marginalised or written out of history altogether. This project has captured a plethora of Roma voices, which reflect the varied nature of human experience of one of Europe’s most discriminated ethnic minorities.