At present, historians are aware of around 200 places where Roma, Gypsies and Sinti were executed by the Germans on German-occupied Polish lands during the Second World War. In reality, there were many more such places. The extermination of the Roma, often referred to as the Porajmos, was overshadowed by the Holocaust of the Jews until the 1980s. Then, thanks to prominent Roma activists, the world became aware of the tragic fate of the representatives of this minority murdered by the Germans. The Roma perished not only in executions but also in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp.

Before the Second World War, the Roma community led an overwhelmingly nomadic lifestyle and represented an oral (illiterate) culture. For these reasons and because of its small size (around 40,000), few people and institutions took an interest in their existence in Poland. Among the Roma groups such as the Kełderasze, the Lowarzy, the Polska Roma and the Bergotka Roma, there were quite a few who led a semi-nomadic or settled lifestyle. Such a community lived in Szczurowa, where Polish and Roma families lived in harmony with each other, and mixed Polish-Roma marriages appeared. This is evidenced by their joint photographs taken during family celebrations. The Roma of Szczurowa were skilled in blacksmithing and music, as well as they helped local peasants with fieldwork. They were a small group of about 100 people.

Unfortunately, the peaceful existence of the inhabitants of this village was interrupted by the Second World War. On the morning of 3 July 1943, the Germans surrounded the Roma homes on the outskirts of the village in Szczurowa, after which a mass execution of the Roma inhabitants was carried out. At that time, 93 people were killed. The operation was commanded by the German military policeman Engelbert Guzdek. The Roma were shot in the cemetery. One of the few survivors of the execution was Krystyna Ciuroń, known after the war as Krystyna Gil. Characteristically, the local villagers tried to prevent the crime against their Roma neighbours, but their actions were unsuccessful. Only a few people were helped.

The murder of the Roma is commemorated by a monument in Szczurowa – probably the first monument in the world erected to commemorate the Roma Holocaust. It was established in 1956. However, it does not say that it commemorates the tragic death of the Roma, which proves the good intentions of the locals, who were very close to the Roma and treated them like other inhabitants. The inscription on the monument says “residents of Szczurowa murdered during the Nazi occupation”.