Elisabeth Warsha was born 15 March 1895 in Oslo, Norway. Her parents belonged to the Roma community, where Elisabeth grew up and later met her husband, Joseph Karoli. Joseph was five years older and also from Oslo. The couple got married in their hometown on 21 March 1909. A few years later, in 1913, their first daughter Marie was born. After Marie, 11 more children would follow. Marie and four of her siblings, Charles, Polika, Regina and Zolo were born in Norway. Chukurka was the Karolis’ first child born in Belgium. Stévo, Karia, Milos, Louis, Lucienne and Andreas were all born in France or Belgium as the family settled at different locations in both countries.
After their arrival in Belgium, between 1922 and 1924, the family moved around while living in a caravan. They stayed in locations, including Kalmthout, Keerbergen, Mechelen and Poperinge between the 1920s and 1940s. During their stay in Belgium they regularly came in contact with the police and the courts. For example, they were punished for letting a horse run free or because the family positioned their caravan in locations where this was not allowed. The family also received deportation orders on several occasions, but it appears that those were not complied with.
In 1943 Elisabeth was in prison with three of her children, Marie, Charles and Karia, after an alleged theft. In November of that year 19 members of the Karoli family were arrested by the Feldgendarmerie (a type of military police). Nine caravans, two cars, 15 horses and a mule were also seized in the process. Those arrested included Elisabeth, her husband Joseph and six of their children: Zolo, Marie, Karia, Charles, Lucienne and Regina. The Nazis took them to Kazerne Dossin in December and placed them on Transport Z bound for Auschwitz-Birkenau on 15 January 1944. The transport included a total of 352 deportees, only 32 of whom survived. What happened to the Karoli’s other children, Polika, Chukurka, Milos, Louis and Andreas, is unclear.
A few months after Elisabeth and 18 members of the Karoli family were arrested, in March 1944, son Stevo was also arrested. At that time, his relatives had already been deported and some of them had already perished. Stevo was deported on Transport XXV and also taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where Stevo and Zolo found each other again in the Zigeunerfamilienlager (gypsy family camp). The two brothers were then transferred to Buchenwald, where Zolo, like their parents and siblings, perished. Stevo was the only family member to survive the war.
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