I3 BELZEC (PL)

The first Roma and Sinti were deported to Poland in April 1940; 2,500 German Sinti and Roma were sent to camps in Polish towns such as Bełz˙ec, Krychów and Siedlce. The inmates of the Bełz˙ec Camp were made to do construction work along the border with the Soviet Union. The labour camp was closed again in the same year. Many of the Sinti managed to escape and tried to survive in the forests, but they were recaptured by German police and army units. Most of the German Sinti and Roma deported to Poland were killed in the following years. In 1942 and 1943, the SS operated a big extermination camp in Bełz˙ec as part of Operation Reinhardt.