angels_ofthe_holocaust Franz Spindler was the German-Romani son of Peter and Johanna (née Winter) Spindler.

Angels_ofthe_holocaust Franz Spindler was the German-Romani son of Peter and Johanna (née Winter) Spindler.

He was born in Herbolzheim on the 30th of July 1926. He had 10 siblings; 6 sisters: Angela (1914), Helena (1916), Lwdwiga (1921), Paula (1931), Liselotte (1934) and Luise (1937) and he also had 4 brothers: August (1910), Peter (1913), Friedrich (1925) and Lorenz (1928). His parents were German Roma. The Spindler family lived on the road in their wagon from the 1920s until 1934. From the 5th of June 1934, the Spindlers were forced to permanently settle in Herbolzheim. This meant they could no longer own their keep with their usual activities of basket mending and collecting and selling scrap metal: the traveling was what allowed them to do this. As "compensation", they were given 5 Reichmarks per month, which had to feed a family of 13. In November 1935, the Spindlers began receiving visits from racial researchers from the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Anthropology. These visits involved taking blood samples, asking about their family tree, measuring their skulls and noses, recording their skin color, and everything else needed for "research".

At the request of the mayor of Herbolzheim, the family was deported on the 24th of March 1943 to Auschwitz. From then on, the family was kept in the "Gypsy Family Camp" as prisoners and died separately from each other. Luise, Liselotte, Paula, Friedrich and Helena all died on unknown dates. The father died on the 27th of September 1943 and the mother on the 1st of July 1943. August died on the 8th of December 1943, Peter Jr on the 21st of January 1944, Angela on the 22nd of July 1944 and Lwdwiga on the 13th of April 1944. Only Lorenz and Franz survived after they were transferred to Buchenwald together

Remember Franz Spindler and his family. May their memories be a blessing ☸

1. Franz

2. Lorenz

3. Paula

4. The Spindler family