The Romani Gypsies

Roms (Gypsies) have lived among Europeans since the Middle Ages and yet still seem exotic to Westerners. Yaron Matras challenges stereotypes that have long been the unwelcome travel companions of this community, and offers a perspective-changing account of who the Roms are, how they live today, and how they have survived in Europe and America.

The author, himself a Romani, speaks directly to the gadze (non-Gypsy) reader about his people, their history since leaving India one thousand years ago and their rejection and exclusion from society in the countries where they settled, their health, food, culture and society.

For centuries Romani Gypsies have been seen either as romantic nomads, or as unwanted outsiders. Who are they, really? Linguist Yaron Matras, who has spent years working with the Roma, gives the first comprehensive account of their culture, language and history, shattering the myths that surround them. 'Absorbing . . . almost everything we imagine we know about Gypsies is wrong.' Margarette Driscoll, Sunday Times 'Fascinating, compassionate and knowledgeable . . . Yaron Matras is an authority.' Melanie McDonagh, Evening Standard 'An ancient and rich culture, immaculately researched.' Peter Stanford, Observer 'Romani history is unseen and unrecognised. Matras synthesises what facts we have to create a visible, compelling record.' David Morley, Independent

The collapse of communism and the process of state building that ensued in the 1990s have highlighted the existence of significant minorities in many European states, particularly in Central Europe. In this context, the growing plight of Europe's biggest minority, the Roma (Gypsies), has been particularly salient. Traditionally dispersed, possessing few resources and devoid of a common "kin state" to protect their interests, the Roma have often suffered from widespread exclusion and institutionalized discrimination. Politically underrepresented and lacking popular support amongst the wider populations of their host countries, the Roma have consequently become one of Europe's greatest "losers" in the transition towards democracy. Against this background, the author examines the recent attempts of the Roma in Central Europe and their supporters to form a political movement and to influence domestic and international politics. On the basis of first-hand observation and interviews with activists and politicians in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, he analyzes connections between the evolving state policies towards the Roma and the recent history of Romani mobilization. In order to reach a better understanding of the movement's dynamics at work, the author explores a number of theories commonly applied to the study of social movements and collective action.

*Includes pictures *Includes a bibliography for further reading "We are all wanderers on this earth. Our hearts are full of wonder, and our souls are deep with dreams." - Old Romani Proverb In the 21st century, cultural differences and individuality are often celebrated and protected across much of the world, and given society's conscientious awareness of such phenomena, it is therefore all the more surprising when considering the ignorance or indifference that the world at large exhibits towards the Romani people. Otherwise known as the "Roma," or by their popular misnomer, "the gypsies," the members of this highly undervalued and grossly misrepresented community have long been considered outcasts. More often than not, the Romani are branded by even those who fancy themselves liberals as "pikeys," "gyppos," and "gips." There's also a regrettably common term, "gypped," meaning "to cheat, or swindle," which perpetuates the damaging stereotype that the Roma are dishonest nuisances and societal pests. Even well-intentioned attempts to shine the spotlight on the community have sometimes been counterproductive, for they are often reduced to no more than exotic, whimsical entertainers for the privileged. According to a shocking email authored by an anonymous whistleblower in 2012, the staff at the Laurieston Job Center in Glasgow's Southside regularly referred to their Romani customers as "gypos, scum, beggars, suicide bombers, thieves, and [pedophiles]." The whistleblower cited the staff's disturbing comments regarding an unnamed Romani woman, who had brought her two children along to the job center: "The staff were all joking and saying they should sanction her for claiming whilst pimping out her kids. They then went on to make horrible remarks about the children, saying they were 'mongs.'" On August 5th of the same year, over 700 far-right "activists" stormed the heavily Romani-populated Hungarian village of Devescer. "Gypsy criminals," the mob chanted as they hurled rocks, paving stones, and other projectiles at the homes of their prey. "We will set your homes on fire. You will burn inside your homes!" The police, who were called to the scene, supposedly stood on the sidelines with their arms crossed, unwilling to intervene. The dangerous blanket statements issued by various European politicians in recent years are also a cause for concern. In 1992, Bert Karlsson, a prominent member of the Swedish New Democracy Party, claimed that "Gypsies [were] responsible for 90% of crime against senior citizens." In June 2008, the conservative Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ordered the fingerprinting of the 150,000 Romani, children included, as a way to crack down on street crime. In France, political parties from either end of the spectrum have blamed the Romani for the nation's problems, economic and otherwise. The Gypsies, asserted one interior minister, were responsible for one in every 10 crimes. It's fair to wonder why the abhorrent treatment of the Romani continues to slip below the radar of many social justice warriors, particularly in this age of globalization. This is all the more confounding given that many are aware of the ways the Roma have been persecuted over several centuries, most notoriously during the Holocaust. The Roma: The History of the Romani People and the Controversial Persecutions of Them across Europe examines their history, from their origins to today. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Roma like never before.

One of the greatest challenges during the enlargement process of the European Union towards the east is how the issue of the Roma or Gypsies is tackled. This ethnic minority group represents a much higher share by numbers, too, in some regions going above 20% of the population. This enormous social and political problem cannot be solved without proper historical studies like this book, the most comprehensive history of Gypsies in Romania. It is based on academic research, synthesizing the entire historical Romanian and foreign literature concerning this topic, and using lot of information from the archives. The main focus is laid on the events of the greatest consequence. Special attention is devoted to aspects linked to the long history of the Gypsies, such as slavery, the process of integration and assimilation into the majority population, as well as the marginalization of Gypsies, which has historic roots. The process of emancipation of Gypsies in the mid-19th century receives due treatment. The deportation of Gypsies to Transnistria during the Antonescu regime, between 1942-1944, is reconstructed in a special chapter. The closing chapters elaborate on the policy toward Gypsies in the decades after the Second World War that explain for the latest developments and for the situation of this population in today's Romania.

This book is the most comprehensive account of the history of Roma-Gypsies on the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries. It leads the reader through the eventful past of a people on the margins of contemporary Europe. Using previously unpublished documents, Lech Mróz contributes to a new self-definition of Romani people in contemporary Europe. The author overturns present stereotypes and popular media images of the social status of Roma-Gypsies in Eastern Europe, especially of their relations with state authorities, showing how the position of Roma-Gypsies shifted gradually from respected, wealthy, and partly settled citizens of the early modern times, towards criminalized vagrants of the eighteenth century. Roma-Gypsy Presence in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth will reward those interested in the development of state policies towards ethnic minorities and their influence on popular imageries.

As perceived icons of indifferent marginality, disorder, indolence, and parasitism, “Gypsies” threatened the Bolsheviks’ ideal of New Soviet Men and Women. The early Soviet state feared that its Romani population suffered from an extraordinary and potentially insurmountable cultural “backwardness,” and sought to sovietize Roma through a range of nation-building projects. Yet as Brigid O’Keeffe shows in this book, Roma actively engaged with Bolshevik nationality policies, thereby assimilating Soviet culture, social customs, and economic relations. Roma proved the primary agents in the refashioning of so-called “backwards Gypsies” into conscious Soviet citizens. New Soviet Gypsies provides a unique history of Roma, an overwhelmingly understudied and misunderstood diasporic people, by focusing on their social and political lives in the early Soviet Union. O’Keeffe illustrates how Roma mobilized and performed “Gypsiness” as a means of advancing themselves socially, culturally, and economically as Soviet citizens. Exploring the intersection between nationality, performance, and self-fashioning, O’Keeffe shows that Roma not only defy easy typecasting, but also deserve study as agents of history.