Gypsy family camp (Auschwitz)
The Gypsy family camp (
History
On 10 December 1942, Heinrich Himmler issued an order to send all Romani (German: Zigeuner, "Gypsies") to concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[2] A separate camp was set up at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, classed as Section B-IIe and known as the Zigeunerfamilienlager ("Gypsy family camp"). The first transport of German Roma arrived on 26 February 1943, and was housed in Section B-IIe. Approximately 23,000 Roma had been brought to Auschwitz by 1944, of whom 20,000 died there.[3] One transport of 1,700 Polish Sinti and Roma were killed in the gas chambers upon arrival, as they were suspected to be ill with spotted fever.[4]
Roma and Sinti prisoners were used primarily for construction work.[4] Thousands died of typhus and noma due to overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, and malnutrition.[3] Anywhere from 1,400 to 3,000 prisoners were transferred to other concentration camps before the murder of the remaining population.[a]
On 2 August 1944, the
One of the few survivors was
References
- Notes
- Citations
- ^ Bauer 1998, p. 447.
- ^ Longerich 2012, p. 670.
- ^ a b Rees 2005, p. 248.
- ^ a b Steinbacher 2005, p. 110.
- ^ Steinbacher 2005, p. 111.
- ^ a b Rees 2005, p. 251.
- ^ Epstein 2015, p. 165.
- ^ Hancock 1997, p. 339.
- ^ Katz, Brigit. "London Library Spotlights Nazi Persecution of the Roma and Sinti". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-04-05.
- Bibliography
- Bauer, Yehuda (1998) [1994]. "Gypsies". In Gutman, Yisrael; Berenbaum, Michael (eds.). Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 441–455.
- Epstein, Catherine (2015). Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-29479-6.
- JSTOR 840853.
- Longerich, Peter (2012). Heinrich Himmler: A Life. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959232-6.
- ISBN 1-58648-303-X.
- Steinbacher, Sybille (2005) [2004]. Auschwitz: A History. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck. ISBN 0-06-082581-2.