From the
Children's
Homes to the
Gas Chamber
Many Roma and Sinti children of Europe faced a death penalty for being born to what Nazi Germany believed was an inferior race. Many became classed as orphans when their parents were arrested and sent to the concentration camps. But many did become orphans when their parents were put to death in the gas chambers in what is called the Porajmos (Devouring) or the Holocaust of Roma and Sinti during the second world war .
Persecution of the Roma and Sinti began as early as 1933, The Nazis started arresting the Roma and Sinti around 1938 and transporting them to the concentration camps like Dachau and Auschwitz – Birkenau.
Some of the children left without parents ended up in the Sankt Jozephspflege Catholic Children’s home which was located in Mulfingen Southern Germany.
There were 41 Sinti children in the home and all were used as study subjects for National Socialist racial research. In 1936 the National Socialists had set up a “Research Institute for Racial Hygiene” Where their intention was to scientifically prove the “Inferiority of the Gypsy Race”.
The home had been chosen by Eva Justin who was a close assistant to the Director of the Institute so she could carry out her doctoral research.
She carried out all kinds of pseudo-scientific tests which had been designed to prove that the 41 Sinti children were mentally deficient because they belonged to an inferior race.
As part of this research the children were extensively photographed and filmed, by the time Justin had finished her research and completed her thesis the children were no longer of use to her.
On the 9th of May 1944 33 of the 41 Sinti children were taken from the home by bus to the railway station this was done on the pretext of being taken on a school outing, From there they were transported by train to the death camp of Auschwitz.
After being locked in the wagons for 4 days they eventually arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau each child was tattooed on the arm with the letter Z for Zigeuner (Gypsy) followed by several numbers.
Some of the children were then forced to perform slave labour building roads In the Summer of 1944, the Nazis had started to dismantle Auschwitz- Birkenau Zigeunerlager ( Gypsy Camp) due to the approach of the Soviet Red Army.
At the beginning of August all “Gypsy” prisoners were put through a selection process to asses their fitness and capabilities to work, Those that passed the process were transported to the Ravensbruck concentration camp.
Those that did not pass the process many elderly, sick and the children were all gassed in the night of the 2-3 of August 1944. They will always be remembered and we will never forget.
NEVER AGAIN!!!!!
Roma Twins
Experiments
Josef Mengle known as The Angel Death conducted experiments on 1,500 sets of twins in Auschwitz concentration camp from 1943 to 1944 , He created the experiments to show the similarities and differences in the genetics of twins and also to see if the human body could be manipulated.
Only around 200 people survived these experiments, The twins were arranged by age and sex and were housed in barracks between the experiments, these experiments included the injecting into the eyes of twins different colour dyes to see whether it would change their eye colour to actually sewing twins together to create co-joined twins.
Often only one of the twins would be used in experiments while the other was kept as a control. If the experimentation reached a point where the twin was about to die they would bring in the other twin and kill them at the same time. Doctors would then examine the bodies and look at the effects of the experimentation comparing both bodies.
Identical wins were highly valued by the Nazi doctors, they would be measured, examined and harvested for living data however once the data was collected they were killed at the same time, before their organs were removed and sent to the Nazi research centres.
In 1943 Hungarian twins were made to through some horrific experiments after examinations that lasted several weeks both were place in a vat of very hot water until they passed out, Doctors then plucked out their head hair and shaved their bodies, Following this each twin was given a 2ltr enema, they were then strapped down onto a table, Their rectums were opened up for intestinal examination all this was done without the use of any anesthetic , it was recorded that both twin had to be gagged to stem their screams.
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Further living samples were taken by force from their prostrates and testicles over the course of a month more intrusive parts were removed from each twin, at the end of the experiment they were sent to a dissection laboratory where they were both given a lethal injection and their organs were sent to a research institute in Berlin.
Medical
Experiments
The Roma and Sinti were subjected to several medical experiments in this section we tell you about some of those experiments.
It was not only the Men and Women who had to endue painful operations and drug testing, the children were also subjected to experiments, especially Roma Sinti twins. Doctor Josef Mengele was particularly interested in the genetics of twins and many sets of twins died due to the experiments of the Doctor known as the Angel of Death!
Seawater
Experiment
The Roma and Sinti were subjected to several medical experiments in this section we tell you about some of those experiments.
It was not only the Men and Women who had to endue painful operations and drug testing, the children were also subjected to experiments, especially Roma Sinti twins. Doctor Josef Mengele was particularly interested in the genetics of twins and many sets of twins died due to the experiments of the Doctor known as the Angel of Death!
Sterilization
On the 14th of July 1933 A law for the prevention of Genetically
defective Progeny was passed, This gave rise to legalized involuntary
sterilizations of anyone with diseases that were claimed to be
hereditary this included alcohol abuse, insanity, blindness or
deafness schizophrenia , weak-mindedness and any physical
deformities.
This law was also used to encourage the growth of the Aryan race who were
deemed to be “The perfect race” Through the sterilization of those who fell
into the category of being genetically defective. Within the first 2 years of the
law being in place 1% of the citizens between 17 and 24 had been forcibly
sterilized.
However with 4 years over 300,000 patients had been sterilized some without their knowledge or consent. From around March of 1941 until about January 1944 / 45 Sterilization experiments were conducted on Roma Sinti and Jews at the Auschwitz concentration camp and Ravensbruck concentration camp alongside a few other camps . They were carried out by Dr. Carl Clauberg.
The purpose of these experiments was to find the most effective way to sterilize large numbers of people in the minimum amount of time and effort. These experiments used X-ray surgery and various drugs which led to thousands of victims being sterilized. It is thought that the Nazi Government were responsible for the forced sterilization of over 400,000 people.
It is recorded that one survivor of the experimentation in Auschwitz said that the experiments she endued caused her to fainting spells and severe pain for over 18 months. Years later after the war she went her doctor where it was discovered her uterus the size of a four year old child.
Intravenous injections were also used which was thought to have contained a solution of iodine and silver nitrate were successful, but had unwanted side effects such as vaginal bleeding, severe abdominal pain, and cervical cancer. So the use of radiation treatment became the favoured choice of sterilization. Specific amounts of exposure to radiation destroyed a person's ability to produce ova or sperm, sometimes administered through deception. Many victims suffered severe radiation burns.
The Uprising
in Auschwitz
A lesser-known revolt of WWII took place 75 years ago when Roma gypsies being held in Auschwitz rose up against their German guards.Doomed to failure, the Roma who were held in the so-called Gypsy Camp in Auschwitz II-Birkenhau nonetheless decided to take their fate into their own hands.
President of theAssociation of Roma in Poland Roman Kwiatkowski said: “They didn’t stand a chance, and yet they put up resistance.
​ “They knew that their position was lost but they didn’t want to die without a word. It shows great heroism, which will remain in the memory forever.”
The so-called Gypsy Family Camp existed at Birkenau from February 1943 until August 1944.
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The Germans deported 21,000 people to the camp, not counting about 1,700 Roma from Białystok who, suspected of having typhus fever, were sent straight to the gas chambers.
Prisoner numbers were decimated by disease and starvation. Children suffered especially, as they were used for experiments by Dr. Josef Mengele.
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On May 16, 1944, the Germans intended to liquidate the Gypsy Camp by murdering the prisoners. Around 6,500 Sinti and Roma are believed to have been gassed at that time, but the SS’s plans were thwarted by the revolt.
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A day before the planned liquidation, one of the SS officers let on to a Polish prisoner about the plans and recommended that the Roma not leave the barracks. The following evening, cars drove up to the camp and several dozen armed Germans got out. Several went to a residential barracks to expel the prisoners.
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Sinti and Roma armed with knives, shovels, crowbars and stones refused to leave. After a while, the SS withdrew and called the operation off for fear of losses. Following the event, 200 young and strong Roma were sent to other camps and around 1,500 were transferred to Auschwitz I. Most of them were subsequently moved and many survived the war.
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Kwiatkowski explained: “Were it not for the rebellion, there would be nobody to bear evidence of what was done.” He added that remembering the events of 75 years ago was a moral obligation on their successors.
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The camp was finally liquidated on the night of August 2, 1944, in an operation for which the Germans were well prepared. The order was given by SS Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler and the Germans gassed the remaining 2,897 prisoners.