New movie premieres about Roma survivor from Transnistria holocaust

A group of Gypsy prisoners, awaiting instructions, sit near their concentration camp's fence (Photo: U.S. Holocaust Memorial)

TIRASPOL (Tiraspol Times) - A new documentary called "O Krisinitori" profiles the life of a Roma who survived the Holocaust in what was called Transnistria during World War II.

Today the small Pridnestrovskaia Moldavskaia Respublica, the area was the largest World War II killing field in terms of geographical extension. Invaded by Romania with its Nazi ally Germany, the land was used as deportation area for Jews and Romas (Gypsies).

"The judge"/"O Krisinitori" is a movie about the real live of a Holocaust survivor living in the city of Tg. Jiu, but deported to Transdniester - called Transnistria by the Romanian occupiers - during 1942 and 1944.

During July 11 and 14, 2007, the movie will be presented within the event "Zigeunerkulturtage” to take place in Zurich, Switzerland.

Marin Constantin called "Suta" is 69 years old, a judge in the traditional Roma communities who lived all his life in the spirit of justice. He is the man "bringing peace in the community". The action of the movie develops around the main character, namely judge "Suta", but crosses other testimonies of siblings Rabedea and Maria – often surrounded by nephews – listening to the testimonies of the deported people and stories about the injustice made to Romas in Transdniester.

The viewers could see a real case of traditional justice Roma "Romano Kris", more precisely the way judge "Suta" reestablishes peace along with other regional judges, in an ethnic Roma family in Oravita.

Anti-discrimination campaign

The new movie is a co-production of Tumende TV and TV Productive International, directed by Laurentiu Calciu, and is promoted through an anti-discrimination campaign throughout Romania.

Such a campaign is needed because racial discrimination is still considered a huge problem in Romania and Moldova, with countless children of minorities suffering racism.

The practice of placing Roma students in segregated schools or classes remains widespread in Romania and Moldova. In Romania, many Roma children have been channeled into all-Roma schools that offer inferior quality education and are sometimes in poor physical condition. This is documented in a new report by the Open Society Institute - EU Monitoring and Advocacy Program (EUMAP) which was issued earlier this year. Illegal segregation is also widespread: Roma children are segregated all-Roma or predominantly Roma classes, according to the report "Equal access to quality education for Roma".

Amnesty International blame widespread police and government racism and persecution. The same kind of government-supported racism led Romania to commit the Transnistrian Holocaust, and it counterpart, the Porajmos.

The Porajmos, literally Devouring, is a term coined by the Romani (Gypsy) people to describe attempts by the Nazi regime to exterminate most of the Roma peoples of Europe during The Holocaust.

According to testimonies of Jewish and Nazi witnesses, Gypsies sent to the death camps often suffered even worse than Jews. In some instances, the Nazis were so appalled by the sight of Roma arriving in the transports that they would not even let them in the gates of the camps for selection and simply murdered them by the railway platforms.

The governments of Nazi German allies, most notably Romania, also contributed to the Nazi plan of Roma extermination. The Romanian government of Ion Antonescu had taken over Transnistria - outside Moldova's and Romania's historical borders - and established concentration camps where they deported Jews and Roma people. Some 25,000 Roma people were deported to Transnistria. Of those, 11,000 never made it back. (With information from DIVERS)

See also:
» US State Dept supervisor lectures on Transnistria Holocaust
» Romania whitewash of Transnistria invasion angers Holocaust survivors
» Transnistria, the artificial name for "the Romanian Auschwitz"