Deportations of Romani people to Transnistria
During the Antonescu regime, in the context of Romani genocide, more than 25,000 Romani people from the Kingdom of Romania were deported to concentration camps in Transnistria Governorate. The regime deemed Romani people "a burden and a danger to public order". In the camps the imprisoned people were used as slave labour, and witnesses describe the conditions as abysmal, with many dying from exposure and starvation. [1]
Preparations
One year after the starting The Holocaust in Romania, Ion Antonescu ordered surveys to asses the Romani population in Romania. The results estimated 208,700 people of Romani ethnicity, out of whom the ones without fixed residence and those deemed "dangerous" - for example those who had previous criminal convictions or even those who were jobless - fell under the criteria for deportation. More than 30,000 people met the criteria.[2] According to researcher Shannon Woodcock the vague labelling of "nomadic" and "non-nomadic dangerous Țigani" by the authorities created confusion in the ranks of Romanian police, some of whom miss-identified travelling Kaldarari, Fierari (iron smiths) and other Romani subgroups as nomadic, even though they were only itinerant in summer in order to sell their goods. Most gendarmerie branches refused to declare any "nomadic or dangerous" Romani in their jurisdiction, prompting the central authorities to call them and insist on providing numbers. [3]
References
- ^ Michelle Kelso:"And Roma were victims, too." The Romani Genocide and Holocaust Education in Romania, page 63
- ^ Michelle Kelso & Daina S. Eglitis: Holocaust commemoration in Romania: Roma and the contested politics of memory and memorialization, pages 490-491
- ^ Shannon Woodcock: What’s in a name? How Romanian Romani were persecuted by Romanians as Ţigani in the Holocaust, and how they resisted, pages 11-13