Wave of Deportation from Lodz(Gypsy Camp), Ghetto, Poland to Chelmno, Extermination Camp, Poland on 17/12/1941

Although the exact date of the first transport of Roma from the “Gypsy camp” in Łódź to their death is not known, our research finds that the deportations began after an acute outbreak of typhus on December 4 or 5, 1941.

It is possible that the 2,000 (of a total of 5,000) Roma who were deported from the Lackenbach camp in Austria to Łódź^[1] introduced some cases of typhus^[2]; however, the main reason for the disease’s rapid spread is related to the catastrophic sanitary conditions. The rooms were overcrowded, there were only open latrines and no washing facilities. In addition, the starvation rations arrived largely spoiled, further impairing a weakened immune system. Medical care was practically nonexistent. Although the Germans ordered the Jewish ghetto administration to set up a makeshift infirmary, they did not provide the necessary medical equipment and medication. Hence, the Jewish doctors and nurses had no means to treat their patients but were reduced mainly to separating the sick from the healthy.^[3]

The first cases of typhus were confirmed by the Litzmannstadt health authority, the Gesundheitsamt, at the end of November 1941.^[4] The disease spiraled rapidly out of control, compelling the Germans to quarantine the entire Roma ghetto on December 5.^[5]  Entry to the ghetto was barred to all but doctors, nurses, and guards. Most of the Jewish personnel contracted the disease, as well as several SCHUPO officers.^[6] Even the camp commander, SS-Oberscharführer Eugen Jansen, succumbed to it.^[7] The Germans subsequently refrained altogether from entering the ghetto and did not name a successor to Jansen. A total of 613 Roma died during the first weeks of their arrival, the majority from typhus.^[8]...