South Tyrolean Sinti: borders, persecution and unfinished citizenship

This article analyses the historical experience of Sinti communities in South Tyrol through the intersecting lenses of border regimes, state classification, and memory politics. Situating the local case within broader European trajectories, it traces how practices of surveillance, forced sedentarisation, and social control developed under the Austro-Hungarian Empire and were later reinforced within interwar nation-states. These frameworks facilitated Fascist repression and, following the annexation of South Tyrol, the integration of the region into the Nazi concentration camp system. Particular attention is given to the *Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Bozen*, where Sinti and Roma were detained and deported as part of the Porrajmos, the genocide of Roma and Sinti in Europe. The article further examines post-war marginalisation and the persistent exclusion of Roma and Sinti from recognition and protection within South Tyrol’s autonomy framework. It argues that integrating Sinti histories into public memory and heritage practices is essential for addressing contemporary antigypsyism and fostering inclusive coexistence.