ABSTRACT
Gypsy policy in the period 1871–1933 was designed to end the itinerant lifestyle of the Sinti, Roma and other travellers labelled Gypsies. Its key components were the expulsion of foreign Gypsies and the settlement of those who could prove German citizenship. In the Second Empire and Weimar Republic the cumulative refinement of policy led to a gradual worsening of the position of Gypsy families, but their lives were also punctuated by periods of more intense persecution. In the period 1871–1933 the operation of the rule of law made ending the travelling lifestyle of Gypsies problematic for the officials who devised policy. This was less true for foreign Gypsies where expulsion and the ban on entry posed few legal problems. Workhouse detention and borstals remained part of policy after 1933, and separation, imprisonment and the correctional regime of both institutions thus continued to shape the experience of the Sinti and Roma.
