Gypsies

In the Holocaust there was another group of people called the Gypsies. They suffered losses that are not talked about as much as other losses, like the suffering of the Jewish. The losses of the Gypsies should be talked about too, all of the terrible things that they had to go through.

In the 1400's after many migrations which brought Gypsies from northern India, through Persia, Asia Minor and Greece they soon arrived in Germany after traveling through Austria. Along the way many of the Gypsies converted to Christianity. The Gypsies began to make a living in many different ways including magic arts, thieves, practitioners and beggars. Many people think that the Gypsies were a burden to society, and many were but some were just regular people. On January 30, 1940 thirty thousand Gypsies were taken from Germany to concentration camps. Twenty thousand Gypsies were gassed to death. On December 16th 1942 Heinrich Himmler sent the rest of the Gypsies to other concentration camps. The Soviet Union talked about the murder of thousands of Gypsies. About a quarter of European Gypsies became victims in Hitler's horrible plan.

Hitler assumed power over Germany in January 1933. Many Gypsies were rounded up in Germany on the week of June 12th-18th 1938 known as "Gypsy clean up week." In January 1940 two hundred-fifty Gypsy children were murdered in Buchenwald, and were used as guinea pigs in a test of crystals.

Picture: "Enemy of the State" A gypsy child interned at Camp Halle, Germany, 1938-1940

Unlike the Jewish people in Germany when the war ended, the Gypsies were not paid for the sadness they went through. The Gypsies still believe that they were treated unfairly. There is now a wooden statue in a southwestern Hungarian town dedicated to the Gypsies. We will forever mourn their losses.

 

 

 

 

 

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