Photo credit: Archives of Mechanical Documentation, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives
Romani (commonly but incorrectly called Gypsies) were
considered by the Nazis to be social outcasts. Under the Weimar Republic--the
German government from 1918 to 1933--anti-Romani laws became widespread. These
laws required them to register with officials, prohibited them from traveling
freely, and sent them to forced-labor camps. When the Nazis came to power,
those laws remained in effect--and were expanded. Under the July 1933
sterilization law, many Romani were sterilized against their will.
In November 1933, the "Law Against
Dangerous Habitual Criminals" was passed. Under this law, the police began
arresting Romani along with others labeled "asocial." Beggars,
vagrants, the homeless, and alcoholics were arrested and sent to concentration
camps.
The Nuremberg racial laws of
September 15, 1935, did not specifically mention Romani, but they were included
along with Jews and "Negroes" as "racially distinctive"
minorities with "alien blood." As such, their marriage to
"Aryans" was prohibited. They were also deprived of their civil
rights.
By the summer of 1938, large numbers
of German and Austrian Romani were rounded up and sent to concentration camps.
There they wore black triangular patches (the symbol for "asocials")
or green patches (the symbol for professional criminals) and sometimes the
letter "Z."
As was the case for the Jews, the
outbreak of war in September 1939 radicalized the Nazi regime's policies
towards the Romani. Their "resettlement to the East" and their mass
murder closely parallel the systematic deportations and killings of the Jews.
It is difficult to determine exactly how many Romani were murdered. The
estimates range from 220,000 to 500,000.
