A Brief Introduction: Who are the Yenish?

The Yenish are a population group that has been native to Europe, particularly the German-speaking world, for centuries. They are not an ethnic minority in the sense of having their own nation, but rather a socio-cultural group with their own language (Yenish, a German sociolect with unique elements) and distinctive traditions. Historically, many Yenish people worked as itinerant traders, artisans, and basket weavers. They faced discrimination and marginalization for centuries.
During the National Socialist era, the Yenish were persecuted for racist and social motives. Nazi authorities often arbitrarily classified them as "Gypsies" or "Asocials" and deported them to concentration camps. Their fate was a forgotten chapter of Nazi crimes for a long time.

Contribution to Nazi History: Persecution of the Yenish in Solbad Hall

Franziska Raiminius (1912 - ?)

Franziska Raiminius, born on July 5, 1912, in Brno (Brünn), belonged to the Yenish community. Like many members of persecuted minorities, she tried to protect her identity by changing her name to Margarethe Reinhardt. However, the Criminal Police Office (Kriminalpolizeistelle) in Innsbruck uncovered her true identity. Nazi jurisprudence pursued her relentlessly for this: in 1941, she was sentenced to two months in prison for this alleged crime of "forgery of personal data."
She lived in Hall with her parents, her partner Franz Monz, and their two children. Her path of suffering through the Nazi camp system began early: she was deported to Buchenwald concentration camp on March 5, 1943. From there, she was transferred to Ravensbrück concentration camp on August 21, 1944, and finally to the Auschwitz extermination camp on October 16, 1944. Her subsequent fate is unknown. Franziska Raiminius is among those who fell victim to Nazi persecution.

The Monz Brothers: Two Fates of Yenish Persecution in Hall
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Franz Monz (1918 – after 1945)

Franz Monz was born on January 17, 1918, in Weihershofen. At the time of his arrest by the Criminal Police Office (Kriminalpolizeistelle) in Innsbruck on September 15, 1941, he was unmarried and lived with his partner, Franziska Raiminius, and their two children in Hall.
His arrest was carried out under the Nazi pretext of being an "asocial element" – an arbitrary category used to persecute members of marginalized groups, including the Yenish people.
His path of suffering through the Nazi camp system began on November 16, 1941, with deportation to the Dachau concentration camp. From there, he was transferred on February 11, 1942, to the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp, one of the system's most brutal camps.
His prisoner personnel card documents his imprisonment in Mauthausen from February 10, 1943, to December 5, 1944. He was then moved to the Melk subcamp (codename: "Quartz") and subsequently to the Ebensee concentration camp, where he was liberated by U.S. troops in May 1945. Franz Monz survived the Holocaust.

Rudolf Monz (1912 – 1940)

Rudolf Monz, the brother of Franz Monz, was born on October 6, 1912, in Lauterach (Vorarlberg). He lived with his parents in Hall in Tirol, at Weissenbach 7.
His fate exemplifies the early and brutal persecution of the Yenish people by the Nazi regime. He was taken into so-called "protective custody" and held in the Dachau concentration camp from July 1, 1939, to September 27, 1939.
Shortly after his temporary release, Rudolf Monz was arrested again and returned to Dachau. He died there on January 19, 1940, under unclear circumstances. The camp administration listed the official cause of death as "heart and circulatory weakness" – a frequently used, cynical euphemism for the consequences of maltreatment, starvation, or murder.