Polish Roma mark 72nd anniversary of Gypsy camp at Auschwitz
PR dla Zagranicy
Aleksander Nowacki
26.02.2015 16:14
The Polish Roma marked the 72nd anniversary of the establishment of the Gypsy family camp at Auschwitz II- Birkenau, the biggest German death camp.
Roma women forced to pose before execution. Photo: wikipedia.pl
The representatives of the Poland’s 30,000 strong Roma community laid flowers and lit candles at the monument to the victims of the Gypsy camp.
The camp killed 21,000 of the 23,000 Roma deported there; the remainder were sent on to other camps, where most died. The numbers do not include 1,700 Roma from Białystok who were gassed on arrival as suspected typhoid carriers.
Considered racially inferior, the Roma were marked for extermination at the end of 1942. While a separate Zigeunerlager was established only on 26 February 1943, the first two Roma prisoners arrived at Auschwitz in the summer of 1941.
The Gypsy camp was liquidated on the night of 2/3 August 1944 when 2,897 men, women and children were sent to the gas chambers in spite of attempted resistance. Poland marks 2 August as the Day of Remembrance of the Annihilation of the Roma and Sinti, also known as Porajmos. (an)
Source: PAP