The Third Reich’s Policy Towards the Roma and Sinti: in the Circle of Racism and Genocide Cover Image

Trzecia Rzeszy wobec Romów i Sinti – w kręgu rasizmu i ludobójstwa
The Third Reich’s Policy Towards the Roma and Sinti: in the Circle of Racism and Genocide

Author(s): Piotr J. Krzyżanowski
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, Recent History (1900 till today), Fascism, Nazism and WW II, History of the Holocaust
Published by: Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN
Keywords: Roma and Sinti in the Third Reich; racism; deportations; extermination of the Roma and Sinti people during World War II; genocide

Summary/Abstract: The Third Reich’s policy towards the Sinti and Roma people was based on racist theories claiming the superiority of the German nation over other nations. The rule of the National Socialists in Germany systematically eliminated the Sinti and Roma people from all areas of public life. They were regarded as a socially unassimilated group prone to criminal activity. Consequently, the Roma and Sinti people were refused the right to live and were subject to compulsory sterilisation and systematic extermination during World War II. It was in German-occupied Poland that the extermination was carried out to the greatest extent. Losses among the Roma and Sinti people have not been precisely estimated yet. Approximately at least 250,000 lost their lives in ghettos, concentration camps and outside the camps.

  • Issue Year: 2/2017
  • Issue No: 25
  • Page Range: 11-32
  • Page Count: 22
  • Language: Polish