Lesson Plan 5:
Romani Music in Auschwitz
In this lesson, students will watch a performance of the song Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz), written in the Romani language in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Students will also learn about the genocide of the Romani people, and the persecution they experienced in the “Auschwitz Family Camp.”
Grades: 8-12
This lesson plan is designed for teachers and students working at an introductory level. If your students are just beginning their study of the Holocaust, we suggest looking at the following pre-teaching resources:
Holocaust Encyclopedia from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)
Yad Vashem Teaching Materials
Starting in October 2025, you will be able to stream the full-length documentary, The Last Musician of Auschwitz, for free via BBC Select to prepare your classes.
The song, Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz) was written in Romani. To learn more about it, read this article.
If you want to learn more about the Romani language, we suggest the following resources:
To educate yourself further about the fate of the Romani people during the Holocaust, we suggest the following resources:
About Josef Mengele and Medical Experiments
For definitions of Holocaust terms, you can visit the USHMM Glossary or the Museum of Jewish Heritage Curriculum Glossary. All the specific terms mentioned in this lesson plan are also explained at the end.
You can also explore further resources about the Holocaust and Antisemitism on the Center for Jewish History website.
Note on the Word Gypsy
The word gypsy is widely considered an insult and it is more respectful to say Roma and Sinti or Romani people instead. At the same time, some English-speaking Romani people use the term gypsy themselves and have attempted to reclaim it. This is a sensitive issue and a good topic to discuss with students. When teaching, emphasize respect for preferred identifiers and be careful with the word gypsy unless you are quoting a primary source and explicitly explain its historical context.
Pronunciation: Roma (ROH-mə), Sinti (SIN-tee).
Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz) is one of the best-known songs about the Romani Holocaust. Its melody is based on the traditional Romani folk song, Oda kalo čirikloro (The Black Bird). The lyrics describe the fate of Romani people at Auschwitz.
The song is believed to have been written collectively by a group of prisoners in Auschwitz, but it is not known at what time and by whom exactly. The lyrics have often been credited to Auschwitz survivor Ruzema Danielova because she performed it after her liberation from Auschwitz.
The song does not have a fixed form; it was passed down orally and survived with a variety of lyrics and different verses which all relate to the suffering experienced not only in Auschwitz, but also in other concentration camps.
In the documentary, Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz) is performed by Petra Gelbart. Gelbart is Romani herself and the granddaughter of survivors of the Romani Holocaust. She works as a musicologist, musician, and Human Rights activist, and is involved in advocating the remembrance of the Romani genocide.
Introduce your students to some basic information about the persecution of the Romani people and the Nazi camp system. If your students are new to studying the Holocaust, you can provide additional historical context by sharing some information from the USHMM’s Introduction to the Holocaust.
Quick-Write Prompt: Give students 3 minutes to jot down what comes to mind when they hear the title of the song, There is a Big Building in Auschwitz.
Prepare your students by setting the context. They are going to watch a clip about the history of the Romani people, often called “gypsies.” In the clip they will see an interview with Petra Gelbart as well as some historical footage.
Gelbart is a Romani woman and the granddaughter of survivors of the Romani Holocaust. She is also a musicologist. In the clip, Gelbart talks about the history of persecution of the Romani people before and during the Holocaust. She mentions several decrees passed by Adolf Hitler and then talks about the “Auschwitz Family Camp” that was located right next to the offices of the infamous Nazi doctor, Josef Mengele.
After watching the clip, give your students time to ask all the questions they might have.
Now set the context for the second clip, a performance of the song Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz) by Petra Gelbart.
Please be advised that there are two versions of the clip. The longer clip includes an introduction by Petra Gelbart explaining some of the background of the song before singing it, as well as some additional thoughts after her performance of the song.
The shorter version is the performance only.
Regardless of which version you use, prepare students that during the song they will see footage of the Auschwitz concentration camp memorial site as it is today. They will also see historical footage of former concentration camp prisoners.
This footage was filmed by Allied soldiers after liberation. It shows severely malnourished former camp prisoners. (The footage is not of Romani people specifically; we don’t know what kind of former prisoners were filmed here.) If you think this footage is too disturbing for your group of students, you might want to end the clip at minute 2:55 (or minute 2:20 for the shorter version).
At the end of the song, there is also a textual reference to rape. Tell your students to let you know if they need a brief pause or a moment of reflection.
Show the longer clip with the introduction
Show the shortened clip, performance only
After watching the clip, give your students time to ask all questions they might have.
Class discussion:
After showing the clip, give students background about the origins of the song. Then hand out a worksheet with the lyrics of the song or project it for the whole class.
Now pair students into pairs or groups to have them discuss the following questions (also printed on the worksheet):
Within Nazi Germany, and especially within concentration camps, it was extremely dangerous to talk, write or sing about the Nazi crimes happening. If anyone had been caught singing a song like Aušvicate hi kher baro (There is a Big Building in Auschwitz), they would have faced severe punishment or even execution. In this case, singers had some protection though, because no one among the SS guards understood Romani and therefore could not follow the lyrics.
Have each pair/group present their answers. Write down main themes on the blackboard.
If students are interested in learning more about the fate of the Romani people, you can use the following resources:
Auschwitz – complex of three Nazi camps established between 1940 and 1942. Originally a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners, it grew into the largest site of mass murder in the Holocaust.
Auschwitz-Birkenau – the second camp in the Auschwitz complex (also called Auschwitz II), opened October 1941.
Concentration Camp – place where large groups of people, often political prisoners or minorities, were imprisoned without trial, usually under harsh conditions. Between 1933 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its allies established more than 44,000 camps and other incarceration sites (including ghettos).
Death Camp – see Killing Center
Deportation – forced removal and transportation of populations (primarily Jews and also Roma and political opponents) by the Nazis to ghettos, concentration camps, or killing centers, often in overcrowded freight or cattle cars under brutal conditions.
Forced Labor – when people are made to work against their will, often under threat of punishment or violence. During the Holocaust, millions of Jews and other prisoners were forced to work in Nazi camps and factories under inhumane conditions, with little food, rest, or medical care.
Gas chambers – specially constructed rooms in the Nazi Killing Centers (or death camps) designed to carry out the murder of European Jewry.
Genocide – the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.
Gypsy – see Roma and Sinti
Hitler – Adolf Hitler (1889–1945) was the leader of the National Socialist Party and the dictator of Germany from 1933 until 1945. Under his leadership, the Nazi regime pursued aggressive territorial expansion and racial policies that led to World War Two and the systematic genocide of over six million Jews and millions of other victims in the Holocaust.
Holocaust - a word of Greek origin meaning complete destruction, especially by fire. The word is used to describe the state-sponsored systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945.
Josef Mengele – a Nazi doctor at Auschwitz known for performing cruel and deadly medical experiments on prisoners, especially twins and children.
Killing Center – specialized Nazi camps designed solely for mass killing during the Holocaust. Victims, mainly Jews, were transported to camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau and Treblinka, where they were murdered, often in gas chambers.
Nazi – a member of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party that took political control of Germany under Adolf Hitler in 1933, after gaining mass popular support. The Nazi Party was violently antisemitic. In addition to Jews, Nazi persecution was directed toward Roma and Sinti (“gypsies”), Jehovah’s Witnesses, homosexuals, and political enemies of the Nazi Party.
Propaganda – information or media designed to influence public opinion, often by presenting biased or misleading content. The Nazis effectively used propaganda to win the support of millions of Germans to facilitate persecution, war, and ultimately genocide.
Roma and Sinti – Roma and Sinti are groups within the Romani people, an ethnic-linguistic community whose ancestors originated in South Asia and have lived across Europe for centuries. The English word “gypsy” has often been used to refer to Romani people, but it can be inaccurate and offensive.