Porraimos: Europe’s Gypsies in the Holocaust

About

PORRAIMOS, the Romani word meaning “the devouring,” is the first American documentary to expose how the pseudo-science of eugenics was used to persecute not only Jews, but also Gypsies. To the Nazis, Gypsies’ dark skin and nomadic ways made them “lives not worthy of life.” Interviews with Roma and Sinti survivors, as well as the Jewish artist who was ordered by Joseph Mengele to paint portraits of Gypsy prisoners at Auschwitz, document the oppression of the Roma, and how their registration, segregation, and internment, lead to sterilization, medical experiments ending in their genocide.

“Porraimos adds another whole layer to the evil of the Holocaust.”
— The New York Times

Featuring

Dina Babbit
Karl Stojka

Narration by Dearbhla Molloy

Violin by Robert McDuffie

Premier

US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC

Broadcast

PBS

Official Selection

Documentary Fortnight: Museum of Modern Art
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival
Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival

Winner

Golden Wheel Festival, Skopje, Macedonia