Gypsy genocide was carried out by the Nazis during the Second World War, from 1939 to 1945. It was held in Germany, in the occupied states, as well as in countries that were considered allies of the Third Reich. The destruction of this people became part of the unified policy of the National Socialists, who sought to eliminate certain peoples, political opponents, incurable patients, homosexuals, drug addicts, and mentally unbalanced people. According to the latest data, the number of victims among the Roma population ranged from two hundred thousand to one and a half million people. There were even more victims. In 2012, a memorial dedicated to the Roma who were victims of the genocide in Nazi Germany was opened in Berlin.
Terminology
Even in modern science there is no single term that defines the genocide of gypsies. Although there are several options,designate repressions against this particular people.
For example, gypsy activist Janko Hancock proposed to designate the genocide of gypsies with the term "paraimos". The fact is that one of the meanings of this word is “rape” or “abuse”. In this sense, it was often used among gypsy activists. At the same time, scientists are still arguing about how ethical this term can be considered.
Start of pursuit
From the point of view of Nazi theory, the gypsies were perceived as a threat to the racial purity of the German nation. According to official propaganda, the Germans were representatives of the purebred Aryan race, which was originally from India. At the same time, it is known that Nazi theorists had to face a certain difficulty due to the fact that the gypsies were even more direct immigrants from this state. At the same time, they were also considered close to the current population of this country, they even speak a language belonging to the Indo-Aryan group. So it turned out that the Gypsies could be considered Aryans no less than the Germans themselves.
But still managed to find a way out. It was officially announced by Nazi propaganda that the gypsies who live in Europe are the result of a mixture of an Aryan tribe with the lowest races from all over the world. This allegedly explains their vagrancy, serves as proof of the asocial nature of this people. At the same time, even settled gypsies were recognized as potentially prone to delinquency of this kind of behavior.because of their nationality. As a result, a special commission issued official demands strongly recommending that the Gypsies be separated from the rest of the German people.
The law on the fight against them, parasites and vagabonds, which was adopted in 1926 in Bavaria, became the legislative basis for the start of the genocide of the Roma. According to its analogue, legal acts were tightened in all regions of Germany.
The next step was the period that began in 1935, when the police, as well as the departments responsible for social security, in many cities began to forcibly transfer Roma to detention camps. Often they were surrounded by barbed wire. The people who were there were obliged to obey the strict camp order. For example, in July 1936, during the Olympic Games, which were held in Berlin, the gypsies were expelled from the city, they were sent to the site, which later received the name "Marzan h alt site". So in the future, the Nazi concentration camp for holding these prisoners became known.
A few months earlier, the provisions of the "Nuremberg racial laws" that had previously applied only to Jews began to apply to the Gypsies. From now on, these peoples were officially forbidden to marry Germans, vote in elections, they were deprived of citizenship of the Third Reich.
The Minister of the Interior, by the name of Frick, allowed the chief of police in Berlin to hold a general round-up day for gypsies. At least 1,500 prisoners ended up in the Martsan camp. In fact, it was the drive that became the firststation on the road to destruction. Most of the prisoners who fell into it were sent to the Auschwitz camp and destroyed.
In May 1938, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of a special department within the Berlin Criminal Investigation Department to deal with the "gypsy threat". It is believed that this ended the first phase of the persecution of the gypsies. Its main results were the creation of pseudoscientific tools, the concentration and selection of gypsies in camps, the creation of a well-functioning and centralized apparatus designed to coordinate further criminal projects throughout the state at all levels.
It is believed that the first law that was directly imposed against the natives of the Indo-Aryan group was Himmler's circular on the fight against the gypsy threat, signed in December 1938. It contained information about the need to resolve the so-called gypsy issue, based on racial principles.
Deportation and sterilization
The extermination of gypsies actually began with their sterilization, which was massively carried out in the second half of the 30s of the XX century. This procedure was carried out by pricking the uterus with a dirty needle. At the same time, medical care was not provided after that, although serious complications were possible. As a rule, this led to a very painful inflammatory process, which sometimes led to blood poisoning and even death. Not only adult women, but also girls were subjected to this procedure.
In April 1940The first deportations of the Roma and Sinti peoples to Poland began. This is considered the beginning of the Roma genocide during World War II. There they were sent to Jewish ghettos and concentration camps.
Shortly after this, an order was issued for the forced departure of Polish Gypsies to a settled position. Their property was confiscated, settling in Jewish ghettos. The largest Romani territory outside of Germany was located in the Polish city of Lodz. She was isolated from the Jewish ghetto.
The first gypsies were brought here en masse already in the fall of 1941. This was personally led by the head of the Gestapo department, Adolf Eichmann, who was responsible for the final solution of the German question. First, almost five thousand gypsies were sent from the territory of Austria, half of whom were children. Many of them arrived in Lodz very emaciated and sick. The ghetto lasted only two months, after which the destruction of the gypsies began to be carried out in the Chelmno death camp. From Warsaw, representatives of this people, along with the Jews, were sent to Treblinka. This is how the gypsy genocide was carried out during the Second World War. However, the persecution did not end there. And they were not limited to these states.
Massacre in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union
Already in the autumn of 1941, in the occupied regions of the USSR, the genocide of the Gypsies was initiated along with the mass executions of Jews. The Einsatzkommandos destroyed all the camps that they met on their way. So, in December 1941, the Einsatzkommando under the controlGruppenfuehrer SS Otto Ohlendorf arranged mass executions of gypsies on the Crimean peninsula, and not only nomadic, but also settled families were destroyed.
In the spring of 1942, this practice began to be applied throughout the occupied territory, and so began the genocide of gypsies in Russia. Punishers were mainly guided by the principle of blood. That is, the executions of gypsy collective farmers, artists or city workers did not fit into the framework of the struggle against tabor crime. In fact, the determination of nationality was enough to impose a death sentence.
Over time, the genocide of Roma in Russia was supplemented by actions carried out as part of the "anti-partisan war". So, in 1943 and 1944, representatives of this people died along with the Slavs during the burning of villages, which, as the Germans believed, provided assistance to the partisans, as well as in the fight against the underground.
During the Second World Gypsy genocide continued throughout the occupied territory of the USSR. The most massive executions were recorded in Western Ukraine, in the Leningrad, Smolensk and Pskov regions. According to authoritative sources, about 30 thousand representatives of this nationality were killed.
Massacre of German Gypsies
German Gypsies began to be arrested en masse in the spring of 1943. Even the soldiers of the German army, the owners of military awards, ended up in prison. They were all sent to Auschwitz.
Gypsy genocide during World War II was carried out in concentration camps. Mostly German Sinti gypsies, whom the Nazis considered more civilized, were left alive. Russian,Polish, Serbian, Lithuanian Hungarian representatives were killed in gas chambers as soon as they arrived at the concentration camp.
However, the German gypsies, who remained alive, died en masse from disease and hunger. The disabled were also driven into the gas chambers, this is how the destruction of the gypsies was carried out. The years of war became black for this people. Of course, the Jews suffered even more, against whom the Nazis launched a massive campaign designed to finally solve the Jewish question. The destruction of Jews and Gypsies is one of the most tragic pages in the history of this war.
Croatian genocide
During the Second World War, Croatia actively cooperated with Nazi Germany, was considered its ally. Therefore, all these years, the genocide of the Roma continued in this country.
In Croatia there was a whole system of death camps called "Jasenovac". It was located just a few dozen kilometers from Zagreb. By order of the Minister of the Interior of the Croatian revolutionary movement Andriy Artukovych, not only Gypsies, but also Jews and Serbs were brought here en masse since August 1941.
Experiments on people
The destruction of the Gypsies by the Nazis was accompanied by medical experiments that were carried out on them in concentration camps. The Germans had a special interest in them, since they also belonged to the Indo-Aryan race.
So, among the gypsies, people with blue eyes were often found. In Dachau, their eyes were removed in order to understand this phenomenon and study it. In the same concentration campOn the orders of Himmler, an experiment was set up on 40 representatives of gypsies for dehydration. Other experiments were conducted, often resulting in the death or disability of test subjects.
According to studies, half of all Roma were killed in the occupied territories in the USSR, about 70 percent of the representatives of this nationality were killed in Poland, 90 percent in Croatia, and 97 percent in Estonia.
Famous Roma victims of genocide
Among the victims of the genocide were many well-known representatives of the gypsy people. For example, it was Johann Trollmann, a boxer of German nationality, who in 1933 became the country's light heavyweight champion. In 1938, he was sterilized, but the next year he was drafted into the army, leaving his parents hostage.
In 1941 he was wounded, declared unfit for military service and sent to a concentration camp in Neuengam. In 1943 he is killed.
Django Reinhardt was a French jazz guitarist. In music, he was considered a real virtuoso. When the Nazis occupied France, his popularity became incredible, as the German command did not recognize jazz. Therefore, each speech by Reinhardt became a challenge to the invaders, giving self-confidence to the French.
Despite this, he managed to survive the war. During the years of occupation, several times, together with his family, he made unsuccessful attempts to escape from the occupied country. The fact that he survived is explained by the patronage of influential Nazis, who secretlyloved jazz. In 1945, this style of performance became a symbol of resistance, and Django's popularity became incredible.
But since 1946 he was out of work after the emergence of a new genre - bebop. In 1953, the guitarist died of either a stroke or a heart attack. His relatives claim that the musician's he alth was undermined during the famine years of the war.
Mateo Maksimov was one of the most popular Romani writers who translated the Bible into Romani. He was born in Spain, but after the Civil War began there, he left for relatives in France. In 1938, he was arrested during a conflict between two gypsy clans. These events of his life are described in the story "Ursitori".
When World War II began, the French government accused the refugees from Spain (and they were mostly Jews and Gypsies) of spying for the Nazis. In 1940 Maximov was arrested and sent to the Tarbes camp. It is noteworthy that the conditions in the French camps were milder than in the German ones. The government did not set a goal to destroy the gypsies, they were kept for what they considered useless vagrants. At the same time, they were allowed to leave the camp in search of work and food, leaving their families hostage. Maximov decided that if he managed to publish his story, he would be recognized as useful to society and released. The author even managed to sign a contract with a major French publishing house, but as a result, "Ursitori" was published only in 1946.
When the war ended, Maximov became the first of the gypsies who filed a lawsuit againstGermany with a demand to recognize him as a victim of racial persecution. After 14 years, he won in court.
Bronislava Weiss, known under the pseudonym Papusha, was a famous gypsy poetess. She lived in Poland, during the war she hid in the Volyn forest. She managed to survive, she died in 1987.
Genocide Organizers
Witnesses to the Gypsy genocide among the organizers name several people who were responsible for this area of work among the Nazis. First of all, this is the German psychologist Robert Ritter. He was the first to justify the need to persecute the Roma, considering them an inferior nation.
Initially, he studied child psychology, even defending his thesis in Munich in 1927. In 1936, he was appointed head of the biological research station for population and eugenics at the Imperial He alth Administration. He remained in this post until the end of 1943.
In 1941, on the basis of his research, practical measures were introduced against the gypsy population. After the war, he was under investigation, but as a result he was released, the case was closed. It is known that some of its employees, who argued about the inferiority of the gypsies, managed to continue their work and build a scientific career. Ritter himself committed suicide in 1951.
Another German psychologist, the famous initiator of the gypsy genocide in Germany - Eva Justin. In 1934, she met Ritter, who at that time was already participating in experiments on the exterminated, contributing to their genocide. Over time, she becameDeputy.
Her dissertation devoted to the fate of gypsy children and their descendants, who were brought up in a foreign environment, became popular. It was based on a study of 41 children of semi-Roma origin, who were brought up without contact with the national culture. Justin concluded that it was impossible to raise full-fledged members of German society from gypsies, since they were naturally lazy, weak-minded and prone to vagrancy. According to her conclusions, adult gypsies are also not able to comprehend science and do not want to work, therefore they are harmful elements for the German population. For this work, she received a Ph. D.
After the war, Justin managed to avoid imprisonment and political persecution. In 1947, she took a job as a child psychologist. In 1958, an investigation into her racial crimes was initiated, but the case was closed due to the statute of limitations. She died of cancer in 1966.
Cultural persecution of Roma
The issue of the Gypsy genocide has been discussed until now. It is noteworthy that the UN still does not consider representatives of this people as victims of genocide. At the same time, Russia is addressing this problem even now. For example, recently the Soviet and Russian actor Alexander Adabashyan spoke quite unambiguously about the genocide of the Roma. He made an appeal in which he stressed that Russia should draw the attention of the world community to these facts.
In culture, genocide is reflected in songs, fairy tales, stories of gypsies from different countries. For example, in 1993 in FranceGypsy filmmaker Tony Gatlif's documentary The Good Way was released. The picture tells in detail about the fate and wanderings of the gypsy people. In one of the most memorable scenes, an elderly gypsy sings a song dedicated to her son, who was tortured to death in a concentration camp.
In 2009, Gatlif filmed the drama "On my own", which is entirely dedicated to the genocide. The picture is based on real events, the action takes place in France in 1943. It tells about a camp that is trying to hide from Nazi soldiers.
The film "Sinful Apostles of Love" by Russian director and actor Dufuni Vishnevsky, which was released in 1995, is dedicated to the persecution of this people in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union.
The repertoire of the famous theater "Romen" includes the performance "We are Gypsies", in which the theme of genocide is clearly reflected in the dramatic mass scene, which becomes the climax in the work. Also in the USSR, the song of the guitarist and singer of the trio "Romen" Igraf Yoshka, popular in the 70s, sounded. It's called "Echelons of the Gypsies".
In 2012, the Romen Theater premiered another performance about the persecution of an entire nationality during the Second World War. It is called "Gypsy Paradise", based on the play by Starchevsky, based on the famous novel "Tabor" by the Romanian writer Zakhariy Stancu. The work is based on real events.
The most famous example of the reflection of persecution in world cinema is the Polishmilitary drama by Alexander Ramati "And the violins fell silent", released on screens in 1988. The film tells about the Mirg family, who live in occupied Warsaw.
When the repression against the Jews intensifies, they learn that persecution of the Gypsies is also being prepared. They flee to Hungary, but hopes for a peaceful life in that country are shattered when the Nazis enter there too. The family of the main characters is sent to the Auschwitz camp, where they meet Dr. Mengele, who visited their home in Warsaw.
