08/02/2026
She used art to preserve what the N***s tried to erase.
When Ceija Stojka was 10, the N***s sent her and her family over 200 miles under brutal conditions to Auschwitz, by then one of Europe’s deadliest killing centers.
Like other Roma, she was considered inferior by the N***s. At the time, the slur "Gypsies" (in German: "Zigeuner") was widely used to refer to Romani people.
After surviving three N**i camps and losing nearly 200 members of her family, Ceija didn’t speak about what had happened to her for almost 40 years.
Then, she began painting and writing. As Ceija explained, "I picked up a pen because I had to open myself, to scream." In doing so, she became one of the first Romani women in Austria to publicly share her story.
Photo: Christa Schnepf
