ABSTRACT
This chapter details the context of Slovenian independence and the creation of constitutional events that elaborated special circumstances for ethnic minorities living in the country at independence, and especially children who were born there. The Slovenian erasure was not an extermination, some point out, while others argue that it was never planned and was primarily attributable to regrettable legal and bureaucratic fumbles. As the following stories indicate, lack of security and substantial privations led to tensions within families and communities. Each story of erasure is unique, often defying bureaucratic or legal rationale. The erased youth and their families were not dead, but some argued that their situation mirrored the disappearances of Chilean youth during the Pinochet dictatorship. The largest urban concentration of Slovenian Roma is in Maribor, which is located in the eastern part of the country close to the Prekmurje region.
