1 September 1939The Wehrmacht invades Poland in the early hours of the morning, with which Germany starts the Second World War.
22 October 1939A decree bans ‘nomadic and showman families‘ from eight departments in western France. House arrest or expulsion to the interior of the country is ordered.
1940
6 April 1940The French Government orders the ‘house arrest’ of ‘nomads’ throughout French territory. This abolishes freedom of movement for Sinti and Roma by decree.
10 May 1940Germany extends the war to Western Europe; the Wehrmacht invades Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
16 December 1940The eleven-member Marinkovitch family is arrested in their home town of Calais (German-occupied northern France) because it is part of the ‘Forbidden Coastal Zone’ and deported to the interior of France.
1941
10 April 1941The military administration for Belgium and Northern France prohibits Sinti and Roma from living in the Coastal Zone (East and West Flanders and the Antwerp district).
1943
6 February 1943Nine Sinti and Roma, men between the ages of 16 and 32, are arrested in the ‘Forbidden Coastel Zone’ in Antwerp, German-occupied Belgium. They are transferred to Germany via the prison in Antwerp, the Citadel of Huy and the Saint-Gilles prison in Brussels and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp in November 1943. Only one of them, Joseph Collicon, survives.
1944
2 September 1944Allied troops liberate the first areas of German-occupied Belgium and northern France.
