Gypsies are the only other “official” victims of the Holocaust. The Nazis had a plan to exterminate the Roma and Sinti people. About 250,000 Gypsies were killed in the Holocaust. Some estimates are as high as 600,000. As a result of their wandering lifestyle, it is hard to get a precise number. Even Gypsies who were assimilated were not spared, for the most part.
By the laws the Nazis made, Gypsies should be considered Aryan. As a result of their wandering and asocial lifestyle though, they were persecuted and killed. A person was considered a Gypsy if they had a Gypsy grandparent or if 2 or more of their grandparents were part-Gypsy. The most dangerous Gypsies were those of mixed blood. According to the Nazi Dr. Ritter, about 90% of Gypsies were of mixed blood.
The treatment of the Gypsies was fairly consistent in every country. Germany decided to deport her 30,000 Gypsies. About 20,000 of these German Gypsies were gassed. Gypsies married to Germans were exempt but their children over 12 were sterilized.
There was a family camp for Gypsies in Auschwitz but on August 6th, 1944 they were mostly all gassed. A few were sent away as forced laborers but most were gassed. Many gypsies were used for experiments, just like the Jews were also used. The most common was the sterilization of women.
Gypsies were locked in the ghettos too. In the Lodz ghetto, 5007 gypsies were detained. They were kept in a separate section away from the Jews. The conditions were worse then that of the Jews. Half of the gypsies died with in the first month. None of these gypsies survived however. When the Germans ordered deportations to Chelmno to start in the beginning of 1942, the remaining gypsies were among the first victims. At Chelmno, they were gassed on arrival with carbon monoxide gas.
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