Gypsy family camp (Auschwitz)

The Gypsy family camp (Zigeunerfamilienlager) was a section (BIIe) of the Auschwitz II-Birkenau concentration camp where Romani families deported to the camp were held together, instead of being separated as was typical at Auschwitz.[1]

History

On 10 December 1942, Himmler issued an order to send all Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) to concentration camps, including Auschwitz.[2] A separate camp for Roma was set up at Auschwitz II-Birkenau known as the Zigeunerfamilienlager (Gypsy Family Camp). The first transport of German Gypsies arrived on 26 February 1943, and was housed in Section B-IIe of Auschwitz II. Approximately 23,000 Gypsies had been brought to Auschwitz by 1944, 20,000 of whom 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]

Gypsy 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.[lower-alpha 1]

On 2 August 1944, the SS cleared the Gypsy camp. A witness in another part of the camp later told of the Gypsies unsuccessfully battling the SS with improvised weapons before being loaded into trucks. The surviving population (estimated at 2,897 to 5,600) was then killed en masse in the gas chambers.[6][7] The murder of the Romani people by the Nazis during World War II is known in the Romani language as the Porajmos (devouring).[8]

References
Notes
  1. Steinbacher gives a figure of "about 3,000";[5] Rees states that 1,400 were transferred.[6]
Citations
  1. Bauer 1998, p. 447.
  2. Longerich 2012, p. 670.
  3. Rees 2005, p. 248.
  4. Steinbacher 2005, p. 110.
  5. Steinbacher 2005, p. 111.
  6. Rees 2005, p. 251.
  7. Epstein 2015, p. 165.
  8. Hancock 1997, p. 339.
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.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Epstein, Catherine (2015). Nazi Germany: Confronting the Myths. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-29479-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Hancock, Ian (1997). "A Glossary of Romani Terms". American Journal of Comparative Law. 45 (2): 329–344. doi:10.2307/840853. hdl:2152/31217. JSTOR 840853.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Longerich, Peter (2012). Heinrich Himmler: A Life. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-959232-6.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Rees, Laurence (2005). Auschwitz: A New History. New York: Public Affairs, member of Perseus Books Group. ISBN 1-58648-303-X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Steinbacher, Sybille (2005) [2004]. Auschwitz: A History. Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck. ISBN 0-06-082581-2.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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