She was born Cäcilie Reichmann on 10 June 1924 in Thuringia. The harmonious family in which she was one of five children lived on the road during the summer in both Bavaria and Thuringia.

Her father, as a tradesman, ran a travelling cinema and her mother sold haberdashery door-to-door. They were doing well.

After the Nazis took power, her father was not afraid at first because he believed they were just arresting criminals and that they had nothing to fear. Those happy, peaceful times ended for the family in 1939, when they began to feel unsafe in the Ingolstadt area.

The family perceived that the atmosphere in society had changed and that the police and the state were increasing their repression. They decided to seek refuge, first in Bohemia, then in France.

While visiting Strasbourg, Cäcilie Reichmann was arrested because she was a “gypsy”. That was already a crime in and of itself there.

After being incarcerated in several prisons on German territory, she was sent to the concentration camp for Roma and Sinti at Lety u Písku in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, from which she managed to briefly escape. In March 1943, she was the first person in her family to be deported to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau Concentration Camp.

On the basis of the Auschwitz Decree (Auschwitz-Erlass), all Roma had to be deported to that camp from the territory of the Reich and its occupied territories. In Auschwitz she was prisoner number Z1959.

Gradually she found her other family members incarcerated in the “Gypsy Family Camp” there, including her daughter Gretel. It was all but impossible to survive the inhumane living conditions there, the disease, the hunger, the violence, the medical “experiments” being performed on children – all of this led to the suffering and death of many Romani people.

She did her best to aid children and her own family however she could, stealing clothes and food for them, and she almost lost her own life there more than once, but luck was on her side. Her relief at having found her family did not last long.

The advancing front meant that able-bodied Romani people were being deported to concentration camps on German territory. The final deportation train left Auschwitz on 2 August 1944, and Cäcilie Reichmann was on it, escaping death once more.

When the train stopped for the last time at the “Gypsy” camp, she had no idea that she would never see her daughter Gretel or anybody else from her family again. She wanted to bring Gretel with her, almost as if she had a premonition of her fate, but the father would not allow her to do so.

While nobody in the family could have known at that moment that the train was their last opportunity for protection, she reproached herself for the rest of her life for not having brought Gretel with her. During the night of 2 August and the early morning hours of 3 August, almost 3,000 Roma and Sinti were murdered in the Auschwitz gas chambers.

Gretel, who was four years old, was among them. Cäcilie Reichmann was transported to the concentration camp at Ravensbrück.

She managed to escape to Berlin and, thanks to fake documents, hid out near Vienna until the war was over. The end of the Second World War brought her joy and sorrow at the same time.

After the war she was reunited with both of her brothers, and later she married the musician Anton Schmidt, who had survived the Neuengamme concentration camp. She suffered from depression and other health problems, but her husband was her anchor.

She traveled with his band around Germany and did her best to make up for the lost years of her youth. She worked as the band’s cashier and also did door-to-door sales.

She wanted to live life again. An unpleasant awakening for her, though, was her long-term struggle with the German authorities for compensation for her suffering and for the injustices committed against her by the Nazis.

The West German authorities refused to acknowledge that the persecution of the Sinti and Roma had been motivated by racism, interpreting what had been done to them as “just” part of the fight against “asocials”, and they therefore refused to grant decent financial compensation to the Sinti and Roma victims of Nazism. It was not until 1982 that the Government of West Germany acknowledged that the persecution of the Sinti and Roma had been racially motivated.

This meant Sinti and Roma survivors had to communicate with officials who cast doubt on the genocide and on their persecution. The unequal struggle with the authorities was exhausting, but she did not relent in her fight for justice, and in 1988 she was a witness in the trial against the Nazi SS-Rottenführer Ernst-August König, the head of section where the “Gypsy Camp” in Auschwitz-Birkenau was located.

As the end of her life approached, she decided to publicly share her memories of Nazi persecution – on the one hand, so the genocide of the Sinti and Roma would not remain unknown, to increase the public awareness of it so it would not be forgotten, and on the other hand so that history would not repeat itself. She gave her first public speech in 2018 as part of the European Holocaust Memorial Day for Sinti and Roma.

In 2020 her autobiography was published as God Had Plans for Me! Memoirs of a German Sinti Woman (Gott hat mit mir etwas vorgehabt! Erinnerungen einer deutschen Sinteza). In April 2021, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier awarded her the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for her political engagement in the fight against Nazi crimes and antigypsyism.

Zilli Schmidt passed away on 21 October 2022 in Mannheim, Germany. We will never forget!

Zilli Schmidt: „Kamavas te dživel“

Oktobriste muľa ňemciko Sintiko romňi, has lake 98 berš, e Zilli Schmidt, savi predžiďiľa e nacisticko genocida mujal o Sinti the o Roma. Zijand lakere phare dživipnaske, kana našaďa peskera čhajora u has marďi la diskriminacijaha, e Schmidt sar has imar phuri, kamelas, te lakero leperipen pro Auschwitz the bari dukh, so predžiďile o Sinti the o Roma, nane bisterdo.

E Zilli Schmidt, lakero uľipnaskero nav has Cäcilie Reichmann, uľiľa 10. junoste 1924 andro Durynsko. Lačhi fameľija pandže čhavorenca ľinaje tradelas andro Bavorsko the Durynsko. O dad sar živnostňikos mukhelas e mozi, savaha phirkerelas upre tele, u e daj bikenkerelas pal o khera e galanterija. Dživenas penge mišto. Sar khelde avri o nacista, ta o dad na daralas, bo paťalas, kaj phanden andre bertena ča olen, so keren e bibacht, u lenge na kampel te daral, bo dživen mištes. Lengero lačho dživipen agorisaľiľa andro berš 1939, kana imar o Reichmannovci andro thana paš o Ingolstadtos chudle te daral. Dikhenas, sar maškar o nipi hin imar aver kedva u baron o represiji, save kerelas e policija the o štatos.

Duminde penge, kaj jekhfeder hin te džal andre aver them. Peršones gejle pro Čechi, paľis andre Francija. Sar gejle andro Štrasburkos, chudľa la Schmidt e policija ča vašoda, bo has „cikánka“. Ča lekeri nacija has imar trestno. Peršo la phandle andro buter berteni andre Ňemecko, paľis la Schmidt bičhade andro lagros Lety paš o Piskos, khatar pro na but ďivesa, denašľa. Marcoste 1943 la sar perša khatar e fameľija deportinde andro koncentračno lagros Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Has dino avri, sar oda vičinenas, osvjenčinsko ľil (Auschwitz-Erlass), u vašoda bičhavenas  savore Romen khatar e Riša the khatar o thema, so has tel o ňemcika nacista, te bičhavenas andre kada lagros. Odoj has imar ča numeris Z-1959. Paľis andre kada, sar phenenas, „cikansko fameľijakero taboris“ avle o manuša khatar lakeri fameľija the lakeri čhaj e Gretel.

O dživipen odoj has igen pharo, nasvaľipena, bokh, demavipena, medicinska eksperimenti le čhavorenca, kada sa murdarďa but romane manušen. E Schmidt kerelas, so džanelas, čorlas o chaben, o uravipen, buterval šaj muľa, aľe e bacht has paš late. Has rado, kaj hiňi la fameľijaha, aľe kavka oda na ačhiľa. Sar džalas e fronta dureder, ta lenas le manušen khatar kada lagros, so birinenas te kerel buťi andro koncentračna lagri andre Ňemecko. Agorutno mašina, savaha e Schmidt gejľas het u vašoda predžiďiľa, džalas andro 2. augustos 1944. Sar e mašina agorutnones terďiľa paš o romano taboris, na džanelas, kaj la čhajora Gretel the la fameľija imar šoha na dikhela. E Zilli sar te džanľahas, kamelas la čhajora te lel peha, kajča o dad la na mukhľa. Ňiko lendar našťi džanelas, sar oda doperela, u e Zilli paľis calo dživipen bajinelas. Raťi le 2. pro 3. augustos andro gazengere komori has murdarde maj 3.000 Roma the o Sinti. Jekhetanes lenca tiš lakeri štare beršengeri čhajori e Gretel. E Schmidt has bičhaďi andro Ravensbrückos. Odari denašľa andro Berlinos u has la o ľila avre naveha, ta avka pes dochudľa paš e Vidňa, kaj pes garuvelas dži andro agor le maribnaske.

Sar o dujto baro mariben agorisaľiľa, has oda bari loš, u paš oda o pharipen. Pal o mariben rakhľa peskere duje phralen u paľis iľa vera le lavutariha le Antoninoha Schmid, savo predžiďiľa o lagros andro Neuengsmme. La Schmidt has o depresiji the aver nasvaľipena, no lakero Rom la ľikerelas. Jekhetanes leskera bandaha phirenas pal e Ňemecko u kamenas te dživel pengere terne berša, so našade andro lagros. Kerelas buťi sar pokladňička andre lengeri lavutariko banda, u bikenkerelas pal o khera. Kamelas te dživel.

Bari bibacht has butberšengero mariben le ňemcikone amtenca vaš o love vaš lakeri bari dukh the le nacistenca tele marde manušengere čačipena andro mariben. Andro zapadno Ňemecko o amta phenenas, kaj nane čačo, hoj le Sinten the le Romen kidenas andro lagri vaš lengeri nacija. Phenenas, kaj oda has „ča ajso mariben“ le asocijalenca, u vašoda lenge na kamenas te del paťivale love sar reparaciji. O ňemecko rajaripen phenďa, kaj rasovo bibachtaľipen mujal o Sinti the o Roma andro dujto baro mariben has čačo, aľe has oda nasig – andro berš 1982. Ko predžiďiľa, phirelas pro amta, kaj lenge phenenas, kaj e genocida mujal o Roma nane čačipen. Kajso mariben le amtenca na has paťivalo, e Schmidt pes dureder marelas vaš peskere manušengere čačipena u andro berš 1988 has sar svedkiňa sar has o sudos le nacistoha SS-Rottenführeroha Ernst-Augustos Königoha, savo has sar šeralo andro sar phenenas „cikansko taboris“ andro Auschwitz II-Birkenau.

Sar has imar phuri, ta e Zilli Schmidt kamelas, te o manuša džanen lakero leperipen pal oda, sar la o nacista lenas palal, anglunes vašoda, te e genocida mujal o Sinti the o Roma o manuša džanen, te pes pal kada del buter duma maškar o nipi, u paľis tiš, kaj pes kada imar šoha ňikda te na ačhol. Peršones delas duma anglo manuša andro berš 2018 pro Maškarthemutno ďives, kana pes leperen o manuša marde le holokaustoha. Andro berš 2020 lake dine avri autobiograficko genďi Bůh měl se mnou plány! Paměti německé Sintky / O Del pre ma na bisterďa! Leperipen ňemcika Sintkatar. (Gott hat mit mir etwas vorgehabt! Erinnerungen einer deutschen Sinteza). Andro aprilos 2021 la spolkovo prezidentos o Frank-Walter Steinmeier diňa o ašaripen vaš lakeri politicko aktivita mujal nacisticko bibachtaľipen u o anticiganismos – Řád Spolkové republiky Německo. E Zilli Schmidt muľa čori 21. 10. 2022 andro Mannheimos.

Na bisteraha!

Translated into Romanes from the Czech original by Eva Danišová.

First published in Romano voďi 6/2022 – www.romanovodi.cz.