Romani scholar, linguist and political advocate Ian Hancock will discuss “Porrajmos: The Romani Holocaust” at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, 12 Millstone Campus Drive.

“Porrajmos” is the Romani (Gypsy) term for the Holocaust; it means “the devouring.” As many as 1.5 million Romani were murdered by the Nazis in their genocidal effort to rid Europe of those deemed inferior or degenerate. Like Jewish populations, Sinti and Roma were denied citizenship, isolated, confined to ghettos and sent to death camps, most notably Auschwitz.

Hancock directs the Program of Romani Studies and the Romani Archives and Documen-tation Center, established at the University of Texas-Austin in 1976. He has represented the Romani people at the United Nations and served as a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.

The presentation is free and open to the public, co-sponsored by the Rubin (z”l) and Gloria Feldman Family Education Institute of the Holocaust Museum and Learning Center, and Washington University’s College of Arts & Sciences and the departments of history and  Jewish, Islamic and Near Eastern languages and cultures. 

For more information, call 314-442-3714 or email [email protected].