Rudolf Reinhardt

Rudolf Reinhardt was born on January 26, 1899 in Hüffenhardt near Ansbach, Baden. He became a musician and gave concerts as bandleader, mostly in southern Germany. He married Anna Bamberger in 1925. The couple had six children: Siegfried, born in 1926 in Schaffhausen, Herbrecht Josef, born in 1927 in Stuttgart, Martin, born in 1928 in Karlsruhe, Margarete, born in 1929 in Munich, Rigo, born in 1931 in Stuttgart, and finally the baby of the family, Adolf, born in 1941 in Munich. A family friend has told of the great musical talent of all the family members and their harmonious life together. As Sinti, Rudolf Reinhardt and his family were constrained by ever-increasing restrictions in the Nazi period. “Gypsies” were subjected to the same racist regulations as Jews. Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, Sinti and Roma were deprived of their right to freedom of movement. On October 17, 1939 the “Festsetzungserlass” was passed, a decree which meant that they had to stay where they were. In summer 1940, the Reinhardt family could move from Fürstenfeldbruck to Munich. Their last place of residence was Perlacher Straße 100 (today Sintpertstraße 9-15), in a garden allotment settlement. Conscripted into the German army initially, Rudolf Reinhardt was released in 1941, categorized as “unworthy to serve” because he was Sinto. In 1942 he was separated from his family: the Munich criminal police deporting Rudolf Reinhardt to Flossenbürg concentration camp on July 27. Shortly after, the SS transferred him to Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp near Linz. Here Rudolf Reinhardt had to perform inhuman forced labor. The prisoners toiled under life-threatening harassment in a quarry; the death rate was very high. Rudolf Reinhardt was murdered on October 31, 1942. Rudolf Reinhardt’s family also perished during the genocide against Sinti and Roma. The SS murdered his children Herbrecht, Martin, Margarete, Rigo, and Adolf at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. His eldest son Siegfried and wife Anna Reinhardt died shortly before liberation in spring 1945. (text Sarah Grandke, editor C. Fritsche, translation P. Bowman)