14 December 1937The ‘Decree on the Preventive Fight Against Crime’ is issued in Germany. On this basis, the criminal police can deport Sinti and Roma to concentration camps at any time.
1938
16 May 1938Heinrich Himmler orders the establishment of the ‘Reich Central Office for Combating the Gypsy Nuisance’ in the Reich Criminal Police Office in Berlin, Germany.
1 October 1938The ‘Reich Central Office for Combating the Gypsy Nuisance’ in Berlin, Germany, is in operation.
8 December 1938The circular decree issued by Heinrich Himmler on ‘combating the Gypsy Menace’ emphasises the racial policy objectives of state measures in Germany.
1940
27 April 1940Heinrich Himmler orders the deportation of Sinti and Roma from western and north-western Germany to the General Government, German-occupied Poland.
1942
16 December 1942‘Auschwitz Decree’: Heinrich Himmler, head of the Schutzstaffel (‘Reichsführer SS’), orders the deportation of Sinti and Roma from the German Reich to Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.
