IN SEARCH OF HISTORY: CURSE ON THE GYPSIES (TV)
Summary
One in this historical documentary series. This episode examines the history of the ethnic group known as Gypsies or the Rom. The program attempts to debunk common myths and stereotypes about Gypsies, tracing the history of the group from the tenth century to the present through interviews, archival footage and images, and excerpts of personal narratives and historical accounts, accompanied by narration. The program begins with an overview of both the Gypsy identity and outsiders' commonly held beliefs about the Rom, including an explanation of the term "gypsy." Rom activist spokesperson Shani Rifati states that the traditionally nomadic Gypsies have always maintained close-knit societies and have harbored a strong distrust of outsiders. Dr. Anne Sutherland, a professor at Macalester College, explains that Gypsies developed a secretive and wary attitude toward outsiders as a survival mechanism through a long history of persecution. She concludes that because so little is known about the real identity of Gypsies, negative suspicions and stereotypes have developed in mainstream society about the group. Dr. Ian Hancock, United Nations Representative from the International Romani Union, notes that many do not recognize Gypsies as a legitimate ethnic group in spite of their shared language and culture. Next is a discussion of the linguistic studies of the Romany language that allowed scholars to identify the Gypsies' origins as well as the history of their migrations. First, linguists linked the Romany language to Sanskrit and modern dialects of northwest India.
Various theories exist explaining the exodus of a group that began as an assembly of North Indian people speaking several different dialects. Studies of the language point to the military orientation of the original Rom ancestors and suggest that the group's members spent a long time as agricultural workers in Persia, were introduced to Christianity in Armenia, and began metalwork in the Byzantine Empire. Scholars then trace the Gypsies' route into the Balkans, where they were first enslaved. Those who managed to escape slavery moved farther into western Europe, where they explained their presence by claiming to be religious pilgrims and penitents from Egypt. There follows a discussion of the itinerant lifestyle that the Rom developed during the Middle Ages, and Europeans' increasing distrust and hatred of the Gypsies. Included are descriptions of the stereotypes that became a fixture in western culture. Sutherland points to laws established beginning in the sixteenth century that legalized the extermination and enslavement of Gypsies, while making it illegal for them to settle in European towns. Filmmaker Tom Merino comments on the nomadic existence, bilingualism, acute observation skills, and variety of trades that Gypsies have adopted worldwide in order to adjust to life in their their host countries.
Next, Gordon Boswell, curator of the Romany Museum, and John Nicholas, Jr., Senior Deputy Sheriff of Palm Beach, discuss Gypsy life in England and the United States during the nineteenth century, and Boswell presents several traditional Gypsy wagons from that era. Also included is information on Romany oral culture relayed through storytelling and music, and cultural traditions surrounding weddings, funerals, and community leadership. Next, filmmaker and musician Yale Strom speaks about the contributions of Romany music to the western canon, the status that some Gypsies have achieved as musicians, and the interchanges between Gypsy and Jewish musicians in Europe. Information follows about the oppression of gypsies during the twentieth century. Concentration camp survivors Waleria Rutkowska and Marianna Marcinkowska recall the systematic extermination of their people by the Nazis and comment on the widespread denial of abuses against the Romani people. Included is information on the eugenics movement of the World-War-II era as well as on the current post-communist recurrence of racism in eastern Europe, which is leading to a new migration of Gypsies to western Europe and the Americas. The program concludes with a discussion of Rom activism and the establishment of the International Romani Union in the late 1970s, and the ability of many modern Gypsies to embrace both mainstream and traditional ways of life. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: History Channel
- DATE: September 12, 1998 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:36:31
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:58142
- GENRE: Public Affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Education/Information; Roma people
- SERIES RUN: History Channel - TV, 1998
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jim Milio … Executive Producer
- Mark Hufnail … Executive Producer
- Susan Werbe … Executive Producer
- Abbe Raven … Executive Producer
- Melissa Jo Peltier … Executive Producer, Director, Writer
- SueAnn Fincke … Supervising Producer
- Debra Kaufman … Producer
- Daniel Riesenfeld … Producer
- Kelly McPherson … Co-Producer
- John Gengl … Associate Producer
- Elizabeth Gray … Associate Producer
- Kevin Kiner … Music by
- Andrew Keresztes … Music by
- Yale Strom … Music by
- David Ackroyd … Narrator
- Gordon Boswell
- Ian Hancock
- Marianna Marcinkowska
- Tom Merino
- Anne Sutherland
- John Nicholas
- Shani Rifati
- Waleria Rutkowska