Porraimos: Europe's Gypsies in the Holocaust

"Porraimos," the Roma (Gypsy) word for the Gypsy experience under Nazi Germany, means “the devouring,” and that's a pretty vivid description of what happened to Europe's Gypsies between 1934 and 1945, as an estimated 600,000 died in the concentration camps. In addition, the criminal Dr. Joseph Mengele was particularly fascinated with Gypsies, and made many of them the subjects of his “medical” experiments at Auschwitz. First-person accounts related by five Roma survivors, and the Jewish artist Dina Gottliebova--a prisoner charged with painting portraits of Gypsies at Auschwitz--mimic in every gruesome detail the stories related in past decades by Jews who survived the death camps. Supported by a good deal of archival photographs and family photo portraits, director Alexandra Isles' gripping documentary should rightfully take a revered place alongside the more extensive body of work detailing the Jewish Holocaust. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Van Vleck)