In a shocking report from Hans Caprez at the Stadthaus Rapperswil-Jona (21. Nov. 2019), we learned of the systematic prosecution of the didicoy minority in Switzerland in 1972. Mr. Caprez was approached by a mother of dididcoy origin and told him that authorities had taken all five of her children. In his following research, Hans Caprez discovered how authorities, with the help of the Pro Juventute program „Kinder der Landstrasse“, systematically separated children from their parents, detaining them in children’s homes or even mental homes to “cure” them from the “abnormal“ considered way of living. Once detained and without any protection from their family, they often fell victim to psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. One victim of that period, present at the event, fights for justice to this day and acknowledges the role of authorities in this dark period of Swiss history.

Markus Ulmer Photography