There was not a special “[Romani] camp” set aside inside the Warsaw Ghetto, a kind of ghetto within the ghetto, as there was in Łódź from 1941 on. In Warsaw, the Roma were not isolated from the Jews. In personal documents, the greatest number of references to [Roma] occurs in spring and summer 1942, that is, shortly before the great liquidation operation.

Furthermore, in May of the same year, orders were given in Warsaw for the forced resettlement of the Roma to the ghetto and confiscation of their property. At the same time a press release appeared in the Nowy Kurier Warszawski in relation to that decree, with the significant title: “Together with the Jews, the [Roma] too inside the walls.”²

[…]

Before the war, the Roma belonged to a stigmatized group, situated in a kind of “cultural ghetto” at the margins of society, which was further reproduced in their predicament in the ghetto. A certain tension in relations between Roma and Jews can be observed in written records from the ghetto as well.

In the ghetto—the space of the Jews’ exclusion—there were “outsiders.” Jewish refugees and those resettled from the provinces who had come to Warsaw before the closing‐off of the ghetto were, according to Chaim Kaplan, noticeably different in their appearance and therefore seemed “exotic.”⁶ The Roma, however, were the most distinct and conspicuous group of outsiders.

Their presence often became problematic for the Jews in terms of the cultural differences between the two groups. Their arrival in the ghetto was not perceived neutrally but generated intense reactions. An unknown author noted in his journal that in June 1942 about 2,000 Roma were brought into the ghetto and at first temporarily assigned quarters on Pokorna Street; they then were to stay in a building on Wołyńska where some Jews already lived. He noticed that they attracted a group of curious onlookers who gathered around them:

Today the [Roma] appeared on the streets of the ghetto and stirred up a general sensation. I saw two [Romani] women with a crowd of children following them, and then later a few [Roma] surrounded by a herd of gaping passersby. They are shabbily dressed and speak in German. The [Romani] women immediately set about doing their usual business, that is, a bit of fortune telling, begging, a few apparently have already begun walking around the yards gathering alms. These [Roma] are taken from throughout the territory of the Reich and brought here.⁷

Kaplan also wrote about the fact that the Roma’s arrival in the ghetto constituted a kind of “sensation” and asserted ironically that placing them together with the Jews was a logical maneuver on the part of the occupier, since they had many things in common. Both Jews and [Roma] were considered wandering nations, both were forbidden to marry “Aryans” and were subject to the racist Nuremberg laws.

He wrote that in the ghetto the Roma would at first pursue their traditional activities: the men trading horses, the women telling fortunes, and, most importantly, they would assist the Jews in smuggling. Moreover, he believed that once they were settled in, they would begin to steal from “their brothers” in misery. In support of this hypothesis, he cited an incident on Karmelicka Street. In front of many passersby, one of the Roma had stolen a Jew’s overcoat, which elicited widespread indignation.⁸

[…]

In his journal, Adam Czerniaków twice mentions releasing [Roma] from the prison on Gęsia at the behest of the authorities in connection with the need to organize a place of refuge for them. Following his orders, he advised them to wear white armbands with the letter Z written on them in red, from the German word “Zigeuner”[.] Many Roma reported to the Jewish Ghetto Police in connection with this matter and at the same time asked for help, since they had no place to go.

The head of the Jewish Council commented as follows: “out of humanitarian considerations I have to look after them, especially the woman and children.”¹³ We learn from his notes that he conversed with resettled Roma and took an interest in their fate to the extent that he was able. At the same time, however, he mentioned with a certain distaste that the [Roma] addressed him with the “requests of ‘loyal subjects.’” As one example, he cites a meeting with the Weiss family of Hamburg, who came to him asking for him to facilitate their return to Germany.¹⁴

It was not possible to guarantee the desired living conditions to the Roma in the ghetto, however, as Abraham Lewin’s testimony clarifies: “They definitely inspire pity and sympathy from us, though we will not be able to help them, just as we were unable to lighten the load of the many thousands of our own refugees who are dying off every day before my eyes.”¹⁵

Lewin pointed to the common experiences of Jews and Roma in the face of the Holocaust. Though he was convinced that closing the [Roma] in the ghetto would cause overpopulation and the spread of epidemic, he nonetheless, guided by “sympathy,” called them the Jews’ “brothers in suffering.” His words can be interpreted as a call to collective memory of the past tragedy that affected both the Jews and the Roma:

And in spite of that, I harbor deep sympathy for the miserable [Roma]. They are our brothers in suffering. They have grown in my eyes to the rank of god‐fearing martyrs. […] The blood of [Roma], too, will cry out from the earth for all time and willl cover the head of the German blond beast in shame and contempt. ‘The voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the ground.’ That cry will never go silent and will demand vengeance!¹⁶

(Emphasis added.)

Since the Axis removed the ghetto’s last remaining Roma in January 1943, they had no direct involvement in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Nevertheless, there were some instances of Warsaw’s Roma resisting their oppressors. Quoting Justyna Matkowska in Re‐Thinking Roma Resistance throughout History: Recounting Stories of Strength and Bravery, page 144:

Besides the Roma revolt in Karczew, Ficowski cited another Roma resistance story from the Warsaw Ghetto Diary of Adam Czerniakow. Roma prisoners from Warsaw ghetto were transported to Treblinka camp and murdered in the gas chambers (often together with Jews). Ficowski is quoting a fragment from a manuscript about Roma in Warsaw ghetto written by doctor Edward Reichter:

I stayed in the Jewish ghetto in Warsaw from its establishment until January 25th, 1943. At the end of 1941 or early 1942, the [Axis] placed a large group of [Roma] in the Jewish prison on Gęsia Street. These [Roma] were under the supervision of the Jewish correctional officer consisting of officers of the Jewish service (Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst). One day, the [Roma] revolted, overpowered the prison service, and got free. (Ficowski 2013, 165)

He goes on:

In early October 1942, the [Axis] began to bring Roma from the Aryan side. In November 1942, the [Roma] in several dozen tied a keyman, ripped out the keys, and got out of prison, trying to get to the Aryan side. The [Axis] noticed them near the walls and started shooting, killing many of them. The rest were sent back to prison and sent to Treblinka in January 1943. (Ficowski 2013, 166).

The above‐mentioned stories about the revolt in Warsaw Ghetto shed new light on Roma resistance. Despite the lack of official documents confirming these events, and issues related to the scarcity of sources, these two outstanding cases of resistance allow us to gain some understanding of Roma attitudes and reactions to [Fascism]. According to doctor Reichter’s writings, Roma took extraordinary attempts to escape from the Warsaw ghetto. Both fragments of Warsaw Ghetto Diary seem to describe a well‐planned and organised resistance action by Roma.

See also: https://www.romarchive.eu/en/voices-of-the-victims/poland