In autumn-winter 1944, Roma deportations in Hungary centered on two sites: Óbuda brickworks for those near Budapest, and Csillagerőd fortress (“Star Fortress”) in Komárom for western counties, including of Baranya, Zala, Vas, Veszprém and Sopron. From these centers, groups were transported west by rail; and some groups were also deported the nearby from Monostor fortress.
Stages of discrimination
From the beginning in November 1944, Roma were rounded up and taken to one of the sites of wartime persecution of the Roma in Hungary: the Komárom fortress complex, part of which is the Csillagerőd (“Star Fortress”). Some were brought by train or lorry; others were forced to walk. Individuals and families in internment camps faced cruel and horrific conditions: severe shortages of food and water, lacked sanitation,and endured overcrowding and winter cold. Guards sometimes killed detainees. Unlike other groups of prisoners, Roma had no advocates and were lowest in the prison hierarchy. They were thus the most vulnerable prisoners. Due to a lack of documantation, the number of deaths remains unknown. The hisotry of the deportations to Komárom has not been fully researched.
“While guarded in the fortress, we were allowed one five-minute visit. Instead of our once dashing, sturdy father, we were only to meet a deathly pale, crippled old man. It was the last time we saw him.”
Recollections of relatives of a Roma man who later died in Dachau
Further Reading / Sources
A cigánykérdés Magyarországon 1919–1945: Út a cigány holocausthoz
Karsai László. Budapest: Cserépfalvi.
Pharrajimos – Romák sorsa a nácizmus idején
Bársony János – Daróczi Ágnes (szerk.). Budapest: L’Harmattan Kiadó.
A komáromi deportálás 1944 őszén
Szita Szabolcs. Budapest: Magyar Auschwitz Alapítvány.