The Nazis first target; The Roma

Roma families were among the first victims of the holocaust. In some cases their policies forced the Roma to become assimilated, but many Roma fled persecution and took to the road again. Those who did not escape, became some of the first victims of Nazi policies which led to the Holocaust or Porajmos-"The Devouring" as it is called by the Romany. They were sent to die in the gas vans of Chelmno or were subject to gruesome experiments in the extermination camps. It is believed that over 500,000 Roma died during this time of facist rule in Europe.

In the autum of 1941, German police authorities deported over five thousand Sinti and Lalleri Gypsies from Austria to the ghetto for Jews in Lodz, where they resided in a segregated section, nearly half of the Roma died within the first months of their arrival, due to lack of food, fuel, shelter and medicines. German SS and police officials deported those who survived those dreadful conditions to the killing center at Chelmno in the first months of 1942 to die with over ten thousand Jews from the Lodz ghetto.

Anti-Roma propaganda (Vagabonds)

Only in late 1979 did the West German Federal Parliament identify the Nazi persecution of Roma as being racially motivated, creating eligibility for most Roma to apply for compensation for their suffering and loss under the Nazi regime. By this time, many of those who became eligible had already died.