Déporter à pas d’hommes

Abstract

In June 1942, the Romanian regime of Antonescu deported approximately 11,500 Roma to camps in the Transnistrian governorate of present-day Ukraine under the category of ţiganii nomazi (nomadic gypsies). This article examines the transfer on foot of the deportees, with their own vehicles and animals, during the summer of 1942. Through a study of the documentation for the regions of Transylvania and Oltenia, I show that there is great diversity in local interpretation of the categorizations “gypsy” or “nomad.” Secondly, I show that the logistics were under-planned: the local police stations, often very small and lacking in capacity, had to manage transfers of large groups of deportees. Finally, the geographical approach emphasizes how the transfer itself was a form of extensive persecution, since, poorly prepared, the journey starved both men and beasts. Thousands of people had to walk over 1,000 kilometres, regardless of their physical condition or the reality of their resources.