Malicious Neglect and Lethal Violence: Romanian Persecution of Deported Roma in Transnistria

This article explores Romanian policy towards approximately 25,000 Romanian Roma deported from May through October 1942 into the region of southwestern Ukraine known as Transnistria. Occupied and administered by the Romanians during 1941–1944, Transnistria served as a dumping ground for ethnic and political undesirables of the military dictatorship of Ion Antonescu, primarily Jews and Roma. The region witnessed numerous atrocities against Jews, including mass murder, and living conditions for the Roma through the end of the occupation were atrocious. While the deportation of Roma has recently been the subject of illuminating scholarly research, this cannot be said of their treatment by the Romanian authorities after they arrived in Transnistria. Based on published and archival materials, this article shows that Romanian administrators and gendarmerie considered Roma the lowest of their priorities and provided almost zero resources for their employment and welfare. Although the deportation of Roma was not necessarily intended as a means of extermination, the overall effect of the policies adopted toward the deportees at the highest national and provincial levels was genocidal. Nevertheless, not all Romanian administrators were willing to see Roma perish under their watch, and some made unsuccessful attempts to improve their condition.