Audiovisual presentation of Block 13

The permanent exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma at the Auschwitz-Museum, 3 min

This video presents the context of the permanent exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma in Nazi occupied Europe, which is based in Block 13 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The video shows how the exhibition highlights – through a unique collection of family photos and documents – a normality of every-day life between neighbours in various European states. The exhibition illustrates how this normality was gradually destroyed by the Nazi regime. On the basis of racial ideology, Sinti and Roma, just like the Jews, were gradually disenfranchised, deprived of their livelihoods and finally deported to the extermination camps. 500,000 Sinti and Roma were murdered in Nazi occupied Europe.

Duration: 3 minutes

Narration

In 2001, an exhibition on the history of the Holocaust against the Sinti and Roma was opened on the grounds of the Auschwitz main camp, which have since been converted into a museum.

The exhibition is divided into two rooms. At the beginning of the exhibition, the visitor symbolically leaves the historical site of the memorial and enters the core room of the exhibition. Here the life of Sinti and Roma before the persecution by the Nazi-Regime is shown. Sinti and Roma were integrated into social life before 1933 as neighbors or work colleagues. Many had fought as soldiers in the First World War and had been highly decorated. They were citizens of the nations in which they and their ancestors had lived for centuries. The family photos and documents shown in the exhibition underline the normality of every-day life between neighbors in various European states.

The exhibition illustrates how this normality was gradually destroyed by the Nazi regime. On the basis of racial ideology, Sinti and Roma, just like the Jews, were gradually disenfranchised, deprived of their livelihoods and finally deported to the extermination camps. 500,000 Sinti and Roma were murdered in Nazi occupied Europe.

The exhibition could only be realized through the support of numerous survivors of the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma. For this exhibition they entrusted the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma with their private family pictures.

Production and Copyright: The video was realized by the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Roma in cooperation with the Association of Roma in Poland, and thanks to the support of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.

Video 1: Block 13 Exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma at Auschwitz-Museum

This video presents the context of the permanent exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma in Nazi occupied Europe, which is based in Block 13 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The video shows how the exhibition highlights – through a unique collection of family photos and documents – a normality of every-day life between neighbours in various European states. The exhibition illustrates how this normality was gradually destroyed by the Nazi regime. On the basis of racial ideology, Sinti and Roma, just like the Jews, were gradually disenfranchised, deprived of their livelihoods and finally deported to the extermination camps. 500,000 Sinti and Roma were murdered in Nazi occupied Europe. 

Duration: 3 minutes 
Languages: English, German, Polish

Video 2: Virtual Tour of the Block 13 exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma at Auschwitz-Museum

The video takes the viewer on a short virtual guiding tour through the permanent exhibition on the genocide of Sinti and Roma in Nazi occupied Europe, which is based in Block 13 at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The exhibition contrasts two elements. It shows the history of the persecution and extermination of the Sinti and Roma by the Nazis. On the basis of private documents and family photos, it also shows the normality of Sinti and Roma living together with their neighbours in various European states. In Auschwitz-Birkenau, the last 4,300 Sinti and Roma were murdered on 2 August 1944 in spite of their fierce resistance. Today we commemorate the 2 August as the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma in memory of the 500,000 Sinti and Roma murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe during the Holocaust. 

Duration: 5 minutes 
Languages: English, German, Polish 

Block 13 – The permanent exhibition about the Holocaust of Sinti and Roma

Block 13 exhibition

Block 13

The permanent exhibition at Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

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