Under the impact of the revolutionary unrest after World War I, the Reichswehr amplified such constructions by contending that ‘owing to their way of life,’ [Roma] were especially suited as ‘agents for the spread of Bolshevik ideas.’ This was the first fanciful nexus forged between the stereotype of the [Romani] as espionage agent and the hostile image of Bolshevism. That fateful yoking would come to shape decisions taken by the command echelon in the Reichswehr and later in the Wehrmacht.

Very interesting. I was unaware of anticommunists stigmatizing the Roma as communist agents or collaborators.

Although this is a serious subject, for the sake of transparency I have to admit to you that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at this magnificent self‐own:

[T]he Reich Interior Ministry decreed that the names of [Roma] born in the 1923 cohort and liable for the draft should be specially coded in the Selective Service registry by the symbol ‘Z’ (Zigeuner) or ‘ZM’ (Zigeunermischling). But initially few [Roma] were discharged, since it was not until February 1942 that the RKPA was instructed to gather more detailed information on ‘[Roma] and [Romani] Mischlinge’ in the services. Most remained with their units throughout 1941; many participated in the attack on the Soviet Union. Yet the Propaganda Ministry and Party Chancellery learned that 26 [Roma] from Berleburg had, despite the ban of their recruitment, been inducted into the army; a number had even been awarded the Iron Cross for bravery in battle. The Party Chancellery passed on their names and several more from other localities to the OKW, which then ordered the soldiers discharged.

Goddamn, how does a white supremacist fuck up so miserably that he not only recruits an ‘Untermensch’ but later awards him for bravery in combat?