We are proud to team up with the Embassy of Israel for a preview screening of "Warwick Davis: The Seven Dwarves of Auschwitz", a Chameleon TV production for ITV, which tells the extraordinary story of the Lilliput Troupe, seven dwarf siblings who all survived Auschwitz. The film is based on the book "Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz", written by Israeli authors Yehuda Koren and Eilat Negev, with a foreword by celebrated Warwick Davis, the narrator of the film.
The film skillfully recounts the incredible tale of the Ovitz family of singers and actors from Rozavlea (Maramures county, Romania), famous in Central Europe in the 1930s and 40s for their astonishing Vaudeville program, the only all-dwarf show at the time. Doomed for being Jewish, the seven siblings were deported to Auschwitz and separated from other victims on the orders of Dr Joseph Mengele, who experimented on the family, aiming to discover the causes of the birth of dwarfs.
Ironically, dwarfism eventually saved their lives, the Ovitz family surviving to tell the dark tale of the death camp. They went back home to the village of Rozavlea, where they found their gold and jewelry still buried under their car. But nothing was the same any more: only 50 of its 650 Jews had returned. In 1949, the family immigrated to Israel, where they became successful performers once again, but the lingering memory of their experiences was carried with them until the end.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A chaired by Judy Ironside, Executive Director of UK Jewish Film. The panel includes Guest of Honour Warwick Davis, Ursula Macfarlane, Producer of the film, Eilat Negev & Yehuda Koren, and Dr Marius Turda, Reader in 20th Century Central and Eastern European Biomedicine at Oxford Brookes University.
The authors Yehuda Koren & Eilat Negev will sign copies of the book "Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz", available for sale after the Q&A.
When: Wednesday 13 March, 7.00pm (doors open 6.30pm)
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute, 1 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8PH
Please confirm attendance by Friday 8 March at office@icr-london.co.uk | 0207 752 0134. Admission is free but places are limited, advance booking is essential.
