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Rating: 
Summary: And the Violins Stopped Playing
Review: A great book about World War II, is a great story about the gypsies, who are not known for there suffering. I will tell you I hate reading books unless they are extremly intresting, and let me tell you, this book is Awesome with a capital "A" baby. There is a great love story too. If you can't buy it here, check your local library. The name sounds really corny, but after you read it, you will want to give Alexander Ramiti a Pulitzer.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT INSIGHT INTO A NEGLECTED ASPECT OF THE HOLOCAUST
Review: The word Holocaust is most often associated with Europe's Jews and Germany's Nazi murderous policy for making the world "Juden frei" [free of Jews]. However, there is another "race" of people the Nazi's declared as inferior, "untermenschen," Europe's Gypsies. Although they were assigned the historical label of Aryan by Nazi anthropologists, Gypsies were officially decreed to be undesirable for the Nazi World Order. When Germany's Wehrmacht invaded and then occupied Poland, the SS began rounding up the Romany people (Gypies) after all the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto had been moved to Auschwitz to be worked and starved to death or simply gassed and then incinerated. Alexander Ramati tells the story of the Gypsy Holocaust in his exhaustively well researched book. AND THE VIOLINS STOPPED PLAYING follows the fate of a Romany family which had taken up a nearly middle class life in Warsaw, Poland. The children attended school, and 17 year old Roman Mirga had one more year of study before he graduates from high school. Indeed, this is the true story taken from Roman's diary and notes of how his family together with 500,000 Gypsies suffered the same fate as Europe's Jews under Germany's expanding program of ethnic cleansing throughout the European continent. The Mirga family had became intergrated, if not assimilated, into the Polish society of the 1930s. Roman's family were musicians who entertained the public in a Warsaw night club (favored by German officers) and coffee houses. When the German army invaded Poland, everything would become changed forever. At first, the Gypsies were ignored by the Germans as the SS herded Poland's Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto or simply murdered them outside of the towns and villages where they had lived. But after most of Poland's Jews had been eliminated it was the Gypsies' turn, and the Mirga family realized that they had to flee for their lives. It was turning winter as our Warsaw family of Gypsies join their tribe wintering along the Bug River. They try to convince the tribal leader, called the Shero Rom, that the Germans intend to round them up and treat them the same way as the Jews. The Shero Rom does not believe these Bareforytka Roma (big town Gypsies), and will not even begin to consider a plan to move his tribe to safety in Hungary in the middle of winter. The Mirga family becomes worried about their chances for survival. Eventually, word gets to the community from a similar tribe that the Germans have begun a Gypsy round up and several of their kind have been killed. Like other Holocaust stories, this one too has a very unhappy ending. However, along the way the reader is treated to a rare and authoritative glimpse inside the Romany culture and social structure, made mysterious by centuries of bigotry and social isolation. Most of Europe's societies tolerated but shunned the esoteric Romany people. Landless and rootless, Gypies wandered the landscape, providing entertainment and skilled craftsmanship during their wanderings. Ramati's book evenly explores both the positive and negative aspects of the Romany people while the story is told of their exodus, capture and then suffering cruel medical experiments and then murder at Auschwitz. As both anthropology and Holocaust scholarship, Ramati's AND THE VIOLINS STOPPED PLAYING deserves wide readership. It provides a refreshing examination of who the Romany people are and why they deserve not only to be tolerated and allowed to live in peace and dignity, but to be respected for who they are and what they value.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT INSIGHT INTO A NEGLECTED ASPECT OF THE HOLOCAUST
Review: The word Holocaust is most often associated with Europe's Jews and Germany's Nazi murderous policy for making the world "Juden frei" [free of Jews]. However, there is another "race" of people the Nazi's declared as inferior, "untermenschen," Europe's Gypsies. Although they were assigned the historical label of Aryan by Nazi anthropologists, Gypsies were officially decreed to be undesirable for the Nazi World Order. When Germany's Wehrmacht invaded and then occupied Poland, the SS began rounding up the Romany people (Gypies) after all the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto had been moved to Auschwitz to be worked and starved to death or simply gassed and then incinerated. Alexander Ramati tells the story of the Gypsy Holocaust in his exhaustively well researched book. AND THE VIOLINS STOPPED PLAYING follows the fate of a Romany family which had taken up a nearly middle class life in Warsaw, Poland. The children attended school, and 17 year old Roman Mirga had one more year of study before he graduates from high school. Indeed, this is the true story taken from Roman's diary and notes of how his family together with 500,000 Gypsies suffered the same fate as Europe's Jews under Germany's expanding program of ethnic cleansing throughout the European continent. The Mirga family had became intergrated, if not assimilated, into the Polish society of the 1930s. Roman's family were musicians who entertained the public in a Warsaw night club (favored by German officers) and coffee houses. When the German army invaded Poland, everything would become changed forever. At first, the Gypsies were ignored by the Germans as the SS herded Poland's Jews into the Warsaw Ghetto or simply murdered them outside of the towns and villages where they had lived. But after most of Poland's Jews had been eliminated it was the Gypsies' turn, and the Mirga family realized that they had to flee for their lives. It was turning winter as our Warsaw family of Gypsies join their tribe wintering along the Bug River. They try to convince the tribal leader, called the Shero Rom, that the Germans intend to round them up and treat them the same way as the Jews. The Shero Rom does not believe these Bareforytka Roma (big town Gypsies), and will not even begin to consider a plan to move his tribe to safety in Hungary in the middle of winter. The Mirga family becomes worried about their chances for survival. Eventually, word gets to the community from a similar tribe that the Germans have begun a Gypsy round up and several of their kind have been killed. Like other Holocaust stories, this one too has a very unhappy ending. However, along the way the reader is treated to a rare and authoritative glimpse inside the Romany culture and social structure, made mysterious by centuries of bigotry and social isolation. Most of Europe's societies tolerated but shunned the esoteric Romany people. Landless and rootless, Gypies wandered the landscape, providing entertainment and skilled craftsmanship during their wanderings. Ramati's book evenly explores both the positive and negative aspects of the Romany people while the story is told of their exodus, capture and then suffering cruel medical experiments and then murder at Auschwitz. As both anthropology and Holocaust scholarship, Ramati's AND THE VIOLINS STOPPED PLAYING deserves wide readership. It provides a refreshing examination of who the Romany people are and why they deserve not only to be tolerated and allowed to live in peace and dignity, but to be respected for who they are and what they value.
Rating:
Summary: And the Violins Stopped Playing...WOW!
Review: This is a MUST book to read to understand Holocaust.
Back in 1997, I used this book as a source for my History researching term related to Gypsy Holocaust. I have been to Holocaust Museum, only for library about five times. Never been to the museum itself. I read this book...very hooked! This Gypsy, Roman, is a wonderful storyteller. I was so hooked from the beginning to the end. As I reached the end of the book, I cannot finished my term on time...why? I cried and cried and cried nonstopped for three days! You do not need to go the Holocaust Museum. This *IS* your visiting to "Holocaust Museum".
Like the other reviewers, this is AWESOMED and very powerful book. It has everything you need to know: Jews, Doctors, Nazi, Aucshwitz, Gypsy, and more! The most interesting charactor is Dr. Mengele. I am really SHOCKED that I liked him very much as I read this book. Really! He was the likeable doctor (!!!!)even Roman himself liked him. But He was cruelest doctor I have ever read about. The way Roman described Mengele, you have to read this book to understand. I will never forgot one part the Dr. Mengele like to put up on his wall. This is real horror. I still have nightmare from that part. Read and find out.
The way Nazi treated the Gypsy was awful! Even they knew that the Gypsy are the true Arayan. Based on my researching, the Gypsy is the most tragic group in Europe, before, during and after the Holocaust. It has a huge impact on any reader as it did on me. After I read, now I have really respect the Gpysy. They are true survivors.
By the way, it does has a happy ending.
Enjoy the book!
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