Dubnica nad Váhom, former Custodial camp for Romany people

The custodial camp for Romany people was established in November 1944 at a place of the former working unit in Dubnica based on the regulation of Ministry of the National Defense. It was one and only facility of its kind in Slovakia, where Romany people were sent from all over the country. In a short time, the number of prisoners exceeded capacity of the facility: in December 1944 more than 700 people languished here. Conditions in the camp were very harsh. Especially children and old people greatly suffered because of extraordinary winter and bad hygienic conditions. Many of them died on pneumonia, but the biggest number of victims took epidemic of typhoid fever, which arose here in January 1945. Because of the fear from disease the Romany people began to run away from the camp. This, however, called forth fear in citizens from the surrounding villages that the disease might spread. It was prohibited to send further prisoners into the camp and the facility got to quarantine. At that time Germans took control over the camp and decided to solve the situation radically. On February 23, 1945 under the mask of transporting people to a hospital, they loaded the sick on a lorry, took them into the premises of the local armory, and brutally killed these prisoners. After the quarantine ended it was impossible to restore the camp anymore. The battlefront approached, the remaining prisoners ran away, the facility was demounted and subsequently perfectly liquidated.