The Roma resistance in occupied Poland assumed a variety of forms and types. The following sections will discuss the notable resistance efforts of Roma and Sinti in occupied Poland such as escape attempts from the ghettos and camps, Roma and Sinti uprising on May 16, 1944, in Auschwitz‐Birkenau, the Roma revolt in Karczew and the uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto. It should be emphasised that even though some of these resistance acts had a violent character, this analysis focuses only on Roma intentions and objectives of resistance.

Escape attempts from camps and ghettos

In discussing the topic of Roma resistance, one cannot ignore individual acts of resistance. Escape attempts of Roma and Sinti prisoners from camps and ghettos during the war can be defined as a particularly unusual revolt reaction against [Fascism]. Undoubtedly, escape attempts were motivated by extremely hard living conditions inside the ghettos and camps.

Prisoners made risky decisions to escape spaces of oppression to survive. In this paper, I mention only several cases of Roma who successfully escaped from the camps, ghettos, pogroms, massacres or transports to places of extermination.

The information about Roma — who escaped from the ghettos, camps and mass execution places — appears in archival documents and testimonies. The section about the escape attempts is also part of the Roma and Sinti exhibition in Auschwitz‐Birkenau State Museum mentioned previously. The exhibition also includes information about Polish Roma, Aleksy Kozłowski, who escaped from the concentration camp in Lublin, and Mieczysław Pawłowski, who escaped from the slave labour in Germany to England.

In the archives of Auschwitz‐Birkenau camp, there is evidence of 38 Roma and Sinti who managed to escape; 31 of them did not survive: 30 were re‐captured and put in the “bunker” in Block No. 11 in the main camp and then executed at the “death wall”; one man was shot during an attempted escape. There is no information about the other seven.

However, it should be emphasised that most of the attempts to escape ended tragically: “Captured prisoners were often executed at the Death Wall, and their bodies, ridden with bullet wounds and dog bites, were paraded through the camp in order to deter other prisoners” (Talewicz‐Kwiatkowska 2018, 115).

Roma and Sinti Uprising on May 16, 1944, in Auschwitz‐Birkenau

Undeniably, one of the most critical Romani resistance events from the period during the Second World War is the Roma Uprising in Auschwitz‐Birkenau […]. On May 16, 1944, the SS wanted to start the liquidation of the “[…] Camp”, sending the Sinti and Roma still living there to be murdered in the gas chambers.

The political prisoner, Tadeusz Joachimowski warned the prisoners about the planned action. Roma and Sinti prepared to fight by arming themselves with stones and tools. They barricaded themselves in the barracks and were ready to ward off the threat of extermination (Rose 2003, 287). The report on the Romani resistance action, written by KL Auschwitz‐Birkenau prisoner Tadeusz Joachimowski states:

The last camp leader (Lagerführer) and also Rapportführer of the […] camp was Bonigut. […] On May 15th, 1944, he came up to me and said it looked bad for the […] camp. There was an order out for the destruction of the […] camp. He had received a corresponding order from the political section by Dr. Mengele. The […] camp should be liquidated by gassing all the [Roma and Sinti] remaining in the camp. There were about 6,500 […] in the camp at that time.

Bonigut instructed me to tell those [Roma and Sinti], in whom I had full confidence, about this […] The next day at about 7:00 p.m., I heard a gong, which indicated the onset of the camp curfew. Vehicles drove up in front of the […] camp, and an escort of around 50 to 60 SS‐men equipped with machine guns got out. The SS men surrounded the barracks inhabited by the [Roma and Sinti]. A few SS‐men went into the housing barracks and shouted: “let’s go, let’s go.” There was complete silence in the barracks.

The [Roma and Sinti] gathered there were armed with knives, spades, crowbars, and stones and were awaiting further events. They didn’t leave the barracks. The SS men didn’t know what to do […] After a while, I heard a whistle. The SS men who had been surrounding the barracks climbed up onto their vehicles again and drove off. The camp was no longer sealed off.” (Rose 2003, 288–289)

During the spring and summer of 1944, the [Axis] deported an estimated 3,000 Roma and Sinti to other Third Reich concentration camps. The approximately 3,000 Roma left in KL Auschwitz‐Birkenau — mainly children and older adults — were murdered in the gas chambers on the night of August 2–3, 1944 (Rose 2003, 290). In remembrance of the victims of Roma and Sinti persecution and genocide, the European Parliament in 2015 declared August 2 Roma Genocide Remembrance Day (to be commemorated annually). Besides August 2, May 16 has become a significant date in the commemoration of Roma and Sinti Genocide.

In addition to Joachimowski’s testimony, there are three testimonies and statements of German Sinti survivors — Walter Winter, Otto Rosenberg and Hermann “Mano” Höllenreiner — who described the revolt in Zigeunerlager.

Joanna Talewicz‐Kwiatkowska states that despite the controversy of the Roma resistance event and lack of official documents and testimonies confirming the uprising at Auschwitz‐Birkenau State Museum, three new pieces of evidence “might provide partial support for the information included in his [Joachomiwski] testimony” (Talewicz‐Kwiatkowska 2018, 123). Despite this, the event of May 16, 1944, is increasingly promoted and commemorated by Roma and Sinti communities, activists, scholars, and governmental and non‐governmental organisations.

Roma revolt in Karczew

In addition to the Auschwitz‐Birkenau uprising, another significant revolt took place in Karczew, where Roma fought against the gendarmerie. Jerzy Ficowski, in the monograph Cyganie na polskich drogach (The [Roma or Sinti] on Polish roads), cited two interesting testimonies about the battle in Karczew.

The first came from a Roma man (unknown name) who survived the event. His family was subsequently caught by the [Axis] in Miłosna and taken to the ghetto in Jadowo. From there, they managed to escape and hid in Karczew. The Roma man was quoted with the following words:

But there [in Karczew], there was no peace either. Soon after, the [Axis] began murdering the [Roma and Sinti]. There were two houses of [them]. They are already killing [them] in one house and another. They throw small children onto the pavement from high windows, full of blood. I jumped out of the window, and when I fell, I shattered my knee. I hobbled to a restaurant where two brothers were drinking vodka, and they did not know anything about what [Fascists] were doing with our [Roma]. I told them, and we ran away. One brother had a revolver, and when the Gestapo started chasing us, he killed two. (Ficowski 2013, 154)

The second testimony about Roma resistance in Karczew quoted by Ficowski⁷ says:

“An armed robbery took place in the town of Karczew. [Axis] investigators, based on testimonies of witnesses, stated that the [Roma] carried out the robbery; it was also quoted that the traces in the snow lead to the Jewish camp. Gendarmerie arrived to murder the [Roma and Sinti]. Between the Gendarmerie and the [Roma] ensued a fight. Fifty Karczew [Roma] noticed the gendarmes and, knowing the situation, opened the fire. As it turned out, the [Roma and Sinti] were equipped with handguns and fought to the last bullet. However, the colony did not survive.” (quoted in Ficowski 2013, 154–155)

The quoted testimonies were the only ones found in research that mention the resistance of Karczew Roma. There are no other statements which could provide more information about this event. The two statements present different perspectives on the Roma revolt in Karczew. The first is the perspective of a Roma man and witness, who, together with his family was a target of oppression, who found himself in the middle of the combat. The second is the perspective of a [gadjo] witness.

Although historians are careful in reconstructing past events, it should be noted these two testimonies provide evidence of Roma participation in the combat against the oppressor. Despite discrepancies, both narratives seem to describe the same Roma revolt. According to both accounts, resistance was the reaction to the attack on Roma. Resistance in Karczew shows the Roma’s attitude against the [Axis]. Roma did not choose nonviolent and passive resistance. They fought to survive.

Roma Revolts in the Warsaw Ghetto

The Warsaw Ghetto (also known as Warschauer Ghetto, and getto warszawskie), established in October 1940 and demolished in the aftermath of the revolt, was the largest […] ghetto during the Second World War (an estimated 450,000 Jews were imprisoned inside⁸). The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising began on April 19, 1943 as the prisoners organised an armed revolt to prevent deportation to the camps.

By May 16, 1943, the [Axis] had crushed the uprising, and sent the remaining ghetto residents to the extermination camps in Treblinka and Majdanek. The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the largest Jewish revolt during the Second World War history.

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 and Sinti] in the Jewish prison on Gęsia Street. [They] were under the supervision of the Jewish correctional officer consisting of officers of the Jewish service (Jüdischer Ordnungsdienst). One day, the [Roma and Sinti] 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 and Sinti] 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 [Axis] persecution. 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.

[…]

Besides Roma men, brave Romani women also took part in resistance efforts during the Second World War and were involved in the Polish resistance movement. Romani women were often considered as valuable to Polish resistance movements, particularly as lookouts, emissaries, messengers and couriers.

Partisans’ sent Romani fortune‐tellers to spy in enemy‐controlled areas and supply valuable information about the number of soldiers, and the equipment and weaponry in their possession. Romani women also risked their lives to save Jewish and Roma children being transported to extermination camps and pogroms. These are examples of outstanding and unique Romani heroism²⁰.

(Emphasis added in most cases.)

While most of this work is worth reading, the author mistakenly found it necessary to whitewash the Home Army by carefully omitting its atrocities, implying that the Soviets suppressed the Home Army for no good reason. Another very dubious claim:

Roma in the army were integrated with Polish society. They were treated as ordinary recruits in the army, so in the military records, they are not listed as members of the Roma minority.

Considering that antisemitism was popular in Poland, the implication that the gadje never bullied their Romani compatriots is incredible. After all, some U.S. marines bullied Jewish servicemen, so Polish gadje doing the same to the Roma in the Home Army is not only plausible but likely.