Himmler Orders Deportation of Roma and Sinti to Auschwitz

In December 1942, SS Leader and Chief of German Police Heinrich Himmler ordered the deportation to Auschwitz of Roma and Sinti living in Nazi Germany. Although this decree allowed for some exceptions, these were largely ignored by the police overseeing the deportations. The first group of deported Roma and Sinti arrived at the so-called “Zigeunerlager” (“Gypsy camp”) in Auschwitz-Birkenau on February 26, 1943. Unlike other areas of the camp, entire families were imprisoned together there. In August 1944, German authorities destroyed the so-called “Gypsy camp.” They murdered the remaining prisoners by gassing.