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Maria Sava Moise

Maria Sava Moise [LCID: 1221]

Maria was one of four children born to poor Roma ("Gypsy") parents in the capital of Moldavia in eastern Romania. The family lived in a mixed neighborhood that included Romanians and Roma. Maria grew up in a house with a yard where the family kept a pig and some chickens. Her father made a living by singing and by working at some of the many wineries that dotted the Moldavian countryside.

1933-39: Maria's parents couldn't afford to send her to school. To help make ends meet, Maria, her sister and older brother helped their mother pick grapes for a local winery. The work was seasonal and they were contracted by the week. They worked hard and long, from 5 a.m. until evening.

1940-44: When Maria was 16, her father was drafted by the Romanians to fight against the Soviet Union. The following year, Iasi's Roma were rounded up by the Romanian police and sent eastward by cattle car. When they disembarked in Transnistria, they were marched to a farm and left in open fields to die slowly. That's how her sister died. Maria's husband, Stefan, managed to run away. By coincidence, her father's unit was stationed nearby and on New Year's Eve of 1943 he smuggled some of them back to Romania on a troop train.

Maria survived the rest of the war in Iasi. After the war, she and her husband reunited and resettled in Iasi.

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Stefan Moise

Stefan Moise [LCID: 1264]

Stefan was born to Romani ("Gypsy") parents in the capital of Moldavia in eastern Romania. The family lived in a mixed neighborhood of Roma and Romanians. Stefan's father made a living playing guitar in local restaurants. As a child, Stefan learned to play the violin and he often performed with his father.

1933-39: When Stefan was a teenager and old enough to branch out on his own, he left his father and teamed up with another young man to perform in restaurants. They performed all over Moldavia. The outbreak of war in 1939 was bad for business and many restaurants closed down, so Stefan had to resort to farm work to support himself.

1940-44: In 1942 Iasi's Roma were rounded up by the Romanian police and sent eastward by cattle car. When they disembarked in Transnistria, they were marched to open fields and left to starve with inadequate rations. Urged by his wife, Stefan managed to run away. Of course, he took his violin. He hitched a ride on a freight train to Odessa and found work playing in a hotel, but all the time he couldn't stop feeling guilty for leaving his wife and sister. In 1944 he was arrested and inducted into the Romanian army.

After the war, Stefan was reunited with his wife in Iasi. He worked as a musician until his retirement in 1983.

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Karl Stojka

Karl Stojka [LCID: 6332]

Karl was the fourth of six children born to Roman Catholic parents in the village of Wampersdorf in eastern Austria. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe of Roma ("Gypsies") called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders. They lived in a traveling family wagon, and spent winters in Austria's capital of Vienna. Karl's ancestors had lived in Austria for more than 200 years.

1933-39: Karl grew up used to freedom, travel and hard work. In March 1938 his family's wagon was parked for the winter in a Vienna campground, when Germany annexed Austria just before his seventh birthday. The Germans ordered his family to stay put. Karl's parents converted their wagon into a wooden house, but he wasn't used to having permanent walls around him. His father and oldest sister began working in a factory, and Karl started grade school.

1940-44: By 1943 Karl's family had been deported to a Nazi camp in Birkenau for thousands of Roma. Now they were enclosed by barbed wire. By August 1944 only 2,000 Roma were left alive; 918 of them were put on a transport to Buchenwald to do forced labor. There the Germans decided that 200 of them were incapable of working and were to be sent back to Birkenau. Karl was one of them; they thought he was too young. But his brother and uncle insisted that he was 14 but a dwarf. Karl got to stay. The rest were returned to be gassed.

Karl was later deported to the Flossenbürg concentration camp. He was freed near Roetz, Germany, by American troops on April 24, 1945. After the war, he returned to Vienna.

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Johann (Hansi) Stojka

Johann (Hansi) Stojka [LCID: 6342]

Hansi, as he was called by family and friends, was the third of six children born to Roma ("Gypsy") parents who were Roman Catholic. The family wagon traveled with a caravan that spent winters in Vienna, Austria's capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders.

1933-39: Hansi grew up used to freedom, travel and hard work. He was 9 years old and their wagon was parked for the winter in a Vienna campground when Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. The Germans ordered them to stay put. His parents had to convert their wagon into a wooden house and their father and older sister began working in a factory. Hansi began attending school, and their family had to adjust to living in one place for the whole year.

1940-44: By 1943 Hansi's family had been deported to a Nazi camp for Roma in Birkenau. One day, his mother brought her to the infirmary with blood poisoning. She was terrified because she'd heard that prisoners might leave the infirmary "through the chimneys." But the next day, Hansi returned and told his mother a dream he'd had: "A beautiful women in white encircled me with warmth and cured me." His mother looked at the heavens, then at the smoking crematorium, and said prayers of thanks. The infirmary was a place of death, not healing.

Hansi was later deported to do forced labor at the Buchenwald and Flossenbürg concentration camps. He was freed near Roetz on April 24, 1945. After the war, he returned to Vienna.

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Ossi Stojka

Ossi Stojka [LCID: 6352]

Ossi was the youngest of six children born to Roma ("Gypsies") who traveled in a family wagon. His family was Roman Catholic. Their caravan spent winters in Vienna, Austria's capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders. Ossi's ancestors had lived in Austria for more than 200 years.

1933-39: Ossi was 2 years old when Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. The Stojka family wagon was parked for the winter in a Vienna campground when the Germans marched in. They ordered the Gypsies to stay put. The Stojkas had to convert their wagon into a wooden house and had to adjust to staying in one place.

1940-44: Roma were forced to register as members of a different "race." When Ossi was 5, the Germans took away his father. Next, they took his sister, Kathi. Finally, Ossi and the rest of his family were deported to a Nazi camp in Birkenau for Roma. There was very little to eat, mostly turnips. Little Ossi fell ill with typhus, and was taken to the barracks for sick prisoners. The infirmary was often referred to by prisoners as the "antechamber of the crematoria."

Ossi was given no medical treatment in the infirmary, and died of typhus and malnutrition. He was 7 years old.

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Ceija Stojka

Ceija Stojka [LCID: 6361]

Ceija was the fifth of six children born to Roma ("Gypsy") parents who were Roman Catholic. The Stojka's family wagon traveled with a caravan that spent winters in the Austrian capital of Vienna and summers in the Austrian countryside. The Stojkas belonged to a tribe called the Lowara Roma, who made their living as itinerant horse traders.

1933-39: Ceija grew up used to freedom, travel and hard work. Once, her father made her a skirt out of some material from a broken sunshade. She was 5 years old and her family's wagon was parked for the winter in a Vienna campground, when Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. The Germans ordered them to stay put. Her parents had to convert their wagon into a wooden house, and they had to learn how to cook with an oven instead of on an open fire.

1940-44: Roma were forced to register as members of another "race." Their campground was fenced off and placed under police guard. Ceija was 8 when the Germans took her father away; a few months later, her mother received his ashes in a box. Next, the Germans took Ceija's sister, Kathi. Finally, they deported all of them to a Nazi camp for Roma in Birkenau. They lived in the shadows of a smoking crematorium, and they called the path in front of their barracks the "highway to hell" because it led to the gas chambers.

Ceija was subsequently freed in the Bergen-Belsen camp in 1945. After the war, she documented and published Lowara Roma songs about the Holocaust.

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Marie Sidi Stojka

Marie Sidi Stojka [LCID: 6373]

Marie belonged to a tribe of Roma ("Gypsies") called the Lowara Roma who traveled in a caravan and made a living as itinerant horse traders. The caravan spent winters in Vienna, Austria's capital, and summers in the Austrian countryside. When Marie was 18, she married Karl Stojka from the same tribe. Marie's family was Roman Catholic and her ancestors had lived in Austria for more than 200 years.

1933-39: By 1936 Marie had six children. They lived with a caravan, and were used to freedom, travel and hard work. Their wagon was parked for the winter in a Vienna campground when Germany annexed Austria in March 1938. The Germans ordered them to stay put and they lost their civil rights. They had to convert their wagon into a wooden house and Marie had to learn how to cook in an oven instead of on an open fire.

1940-44: Roma were forced to register as members of another "race." Their campground was fenced off and placed under police guard. A year later, the Germans took Marie's husband away; they returned his ashes a few months later. Grieving, Marie cut her long hair, and with the help of a priest, secretly buried his remains in consecrated ground. Finally, the Germans deported the rest of them to a Nazi camp in Birkenau for Roma. Marie watched over her children as best she could in that terrible place, but her youngest son died of typhus.

In 1944 Marie was deported to Ravensbrueck, and was eventually liberated in April 1945 in Bergen-Belsen. After the war, she was reunited with her five surviving children.

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Articles that Reference This Item

Deportation of Romani (Gypsy) families from Vienna to Poland. [LCID: 22005]
Article Genocide of European Roma (Gypsies), 1939–1945
Romani (Gypsy) women and child. Romania, 1930s. [LCID: 63360]
Article Roma (Gypsies) in Prewar Europe

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