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Roma and Sinti
Partially due to their differences from other Europeans in lifestyle, language, and culture, the Roma and Sinti people faced social exclusion and persecution across Europe for centuries. In fact, the German word for Gypsy, "Zigeuner," derives frorn a Greek root meaning "untouchable".
The Nazis considered the Roma and Sinti to be "racially inferior," "work-shy," and "asocial." Like the Jews, they were subject to the Nuremberg Laws. The Roma and Sinti were also rounded up, deported, and incarcerated in ghettos, forced-labor camps, concentration camps, and killing centers. They were frequently used by the Nazis in their medical experiments.
In Nazi-occupied Europe, the fate of Roma and Sinti varied from country to country, depending on local circumstances. In Poland and other countries under Nazi occupation, Einsatzgruppen shot them along with Jews or political prisoners. The Roma and Sinti were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where a special camp was designated for them, called the "Gypsy family camp." At least 19,000 of the 23,000 Roma and Sinti sent to Auschwitz died, mostly due to disease, starvation, or gassing. Tens of thousands more were killed in Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka.
Though exact figures cannot be determined, most scholars estimate that the Nazis and their allies killed between 220,000 to 500,000 (22-50 percent) of all European Roma and Sinti.
