History of Sorts

One of the most disturbing aspects of the Holocaust was the randomness of its victims. There were targeted groups like the Jews,Roma, Sinti,Homosexuals,Disabled people and Jehovah witnesses and a few more groups deemed to be undesirable and ‘untermensch-sub human’, The Nuremberg laws dictated who was or was not fit to live in the Nazi occupied countries.

However it was often also left at the discretion of local Nazis to determine who was considered to be Jewish or Sinti or otherwise.

The picture at the top of this blog is of Anna Maria (Settela) Steinbach. The haunting picture is often used in Holocaust documentaries, but ever since I found out about the origin of the picture it has haunted me more then I ever could have expected. Anna Maria (Settela) Steinbach was Sinti and was born 23 December 1934 in the village of Buchten, in the southeastern province Limburg of the Netherlands. She died…