Abstract: Several German Roma-Sinti families, members of a caravan of traveling artists, set off from central Germany to Istanbul, passing through the war-torn Balkans during 1942 to the end of January 1943 when they were arrested and transferred to the Red Cross camp in Niš. A few months later they were transferred to the Anhaltelager Dedinje in Belgrade (Banjički camp) from where, they were transported to the “Gypsy Camp” of Auschwitz in late June. Following the fate of this group of Roma (i. e. Sinti), the paper also discusses the racist policy of the National Socialist regime towards Roma and Sinti with the final consequence – their mass physical destruction, genocide (Pharrajmos). 

Keywords: Second World War, Balkans, racism, Roma and Sinti, Banjica, Auschwitz, Pharrajmos.

Summary 

Violating the strict prohibitions of the Nazi authorities, the troupe composed of several families (with a total of 34 members, adult men, women and children), connected by family ties and led by its oldest member Karl Blum, set out from Germany in the spring of 1942 to journey through northern Italy to the Balkans (Zagreb, Belgrade, Bucharest, Sofi a). Two children were also born on that journey. In early 1943, the troop arrived in Turkey, but the refusal of the Turkish authorities to allow them to stay on their territory due to suspicious documents drew the attention of the German representatives in Istanbul. Blum and his troop were returned to Bulgarian territory, and at the end of January 1943, they were arrested by the Bulgarian police in the occupied Skopje and handed over to the German police. They were transferred to the German Red Cross camp in Niš, and after a few months, they were transported to Anhaltelager Dedinje (Banjica) in Belgrade. In late July 1943, they were sent to their final destination, the “Gypsy Camp” – part of the Auschwitz camp complex, where they were killed. By following the fate of these few families of German Roma (Sinti), recorded in the documents of the German occupation authorities in Belgrade, the article also discusses a somewhat broader context – the racist policy of the National Socialist regime towards this minority. In addition, this paper analyzes the widespread, traditional anti-Roma discourse in European countries, which provided a suitable environment for the implementation of the genocide against the Roma and Sinti (Pharrajmos), both in the Nazi death camps and in the execution grounds throughout Europe during the Second World War. The journey of Karl Blum and his troops through Southeast Europe in 1942–1943. and their tragic end can also be seen as an example of all the failed escapes from the genocidal practice of the National Socialist regime and its allies during the Second World War.