Kinder der Landstrasse

The project aimed to assimilate the itinerant Yenish people in Switzerland by institutionalizing the parents and forcibly removing their children and placing them in orphanages or foster homes.

[1][2] In 1926, Pro Juventute, with the support of federal authorities and official institutions, initiated a systematic process of separating Yenish children from their families and relocating them to foster homes, psychiatric hospitals, and even prisons.

These erroneous assumptions were rooted in discredited hereditary biological notions, which viewed the Yenish people as "genetically asocial" and a threat to the settled majority population.

The decisive criterion for child removal was their affiliation with a socially marginalized group, such as tinkers, basket makers, scissor sharpeners, or beggars.

Psychiatrist Josef Jörger, known for his psychiatric-eugenic writings on the fictitious "Family Zero," and German eugenicist Robert Ritter, self-proclaimed "Gypsy expert," were among them.

Federal Heinrich Haberlin, the President of the Board of Trustees of Pro Juventute, described the Yenish people as "a dark spot in our proud Swiss culture" in a brochure published in 1927, advocating for their elimination.

[4][5] The scandal gained international attention in 1972 when journalists from the Beobachter newspaper investigated the matter based on information provided by affected Yenish individuals.

On April 15, 1972, Hans Caprez published an article titled "Kinder der Landstrasse," exposing the facts and background of the program, which affected around 590 Yenish children in Switzerland.

Only "emergency" payments at minimal levels, ranging from several thousand Swiss francs, have been made to the surviving victims of Kinder der Landstrasse.

was established in 1986 to address the injustice perpetrated against the Yenish (Fahrende) people in Switzerland, specifically related to the Kinder der Landstrasse program.

Additionally, it aids Yenish individuals in applying for financial assistance from public and private institutions, as well as offers guidance in dealing with insurance and tax issues.