Scholarly article on the social, political, and economic integration and exclusion of Romania's Gypsy minority. Presented at the 2013 Rocky Mountain European Scholars’ Consortium conference, at the University of Utah (http://humanities.utah.edu/rmesc/). Published in academic journal Connections: European Studies Annual Review (2014).
From Gypsy Kings to Beggars: Integration and Exclusion of the Romanian Roma
1. R O C K Y M O U N T A I N E U R O P E A N S C H O L A R S C O N S O R T I U M • V O L U M E 1 0 , S P R I N G 2 0 1 4
C E N T E R F O R T H E S T U D Y O F E U R O P E • B R I G H A M Y O U N G U N I V E R S I T Y
TM
Tenth Annual Conference of the Rocky Mountain European Scholars Consortium
EUROPE:ARE YOU IN OR OUT?
E X P LO R I N G T H E M E S O F
ALIENATION AND BELONGING
3. 1
CONTENTS
Introduction
Robert Niebuhr, Arizona State University.................................................................................................................................................. 2
Anca Sprenger, Brigham Young University ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Contributor Biographies................................................................................................................................................................... 5
The “Reorientation of the Women of Germany”: Constructing Ideal Femininities in the American and Soviet
Zones of Occupation, 1945–46
Jennifer Lynn, Montana State University................................................................................................................................................... 7
The Politics of the Eurozone Crisis: Two Puzzles behind the German Consensus
Wade Jacoby, Brigham Young University ............................................................................................................................................................... 18
Margarethe von Eckenbrecher: A German Pioneer Woman in South-West Africa
Hans-Wilhelm Kelling, Brigham Young University.................................................................................................................................. 28
Elias and Nietzsche in Conjunction: Lessons and Tasks for Historians
David Pickus, People’s University of China............................................................................................................................................. 35
Memory and Mask: Aby Warburg on the American Geographical West, the European Ideological West, and the
Ontogenesis of Images
Doris McGonagill, Utah State University................................................................................................................................................ 45
From Gypsy Kings to Beggars: Integration and Exclusion of the Romanian Roma
Anca Sprenger and Mihai Scrobotovici, Brigham Young University .......................................................................................................... 57
The King’s Angels
Nancy Stewart, independent scholar ....................................................................................................................................................... 67
Scholarly Review
Robert Niebuhr, Arizona State University................................................................................................................................................ 77
Volker Benkert, Arizona State University ................................................................................................................................................ 79
4. 57
People have called them Gypsies, Bohemians, Gitans;
but most of them call themselves Roma. They live in pov-
erty, sleep under bridges, and their children are forced to
beg. The men play the violin, while the women, dressed in
long, ragged skirts, tell fortunes, or, clutching bundles meant
to represent babies, stand by the church entrances and ask
for money in a lamenting voice. This description may look
of the most prominent nineteenth-century Romanian politi-
cians, wrote in 1837 in his
an almost identical portrayal of the Roma. Newspapers like
Libération or Le Monde have frequently presented Roma
families camping under bridges in squalid conditions, and
British newspapers have reported about Roma children beg-
ging in the most elegant areas of London. Even in the New
Yorker
skirt and a head scarf, melodramatically clutching a bundle
that seems to contain, or represent, a baby, approaches . . .
‘Madam,’ she pleads . . . asking for money” (Gopnik 23).
Whether in newspapers, interviews, or political agen-
das, the discussions about the Roma tend to be quite po-
larized: They either decry the continuous persecutions that
the Roma have faced for centuries, or they present them as
a nuisance or danger for social stability. Many of these ar-
ticles go back in time to the origins of the Gypsies in India
and their migration to Europe in the MiddleAges, then men-
tion their treatment during World War II, when thousands of
them were deported, incarcerated, and killed in Nazi labor
camps. However, most of these studies move almost directly
from the migration from India to the relatively recent his-
tory of the deportations during World War II, thereby ignor-
ing several centuries of intricate relationships with the local
populations as well as the complex and paradoxical process
of adapting to the modernization and industrialization of the
countries where they had settled. Besides this, there are al-
most no attempts to analyze the differences between various
Gypsy or Roma groups, or their different history and status
in various countries (except for using the term Roma for re-
ferring to Romanian or Bulgarian Gypsies), as if they were
-
tory as well as several geographic and cultural particulars
into a homogenous description can only support an extreme
complex group.
In what follows, I propose to analyze the history and
situation of the Romanian Roma in order to explain the fail-
ure of their integration in Romania and also the par-
adoxes of their status in the European Union. One of the
aspects that we need to consider to understand these issues
is while the Roma from Romania may have many things in
common with other groups of Gypsies or Roma, they do
not share the same history with the Gypsies from Germany,
Hungary, or France, and their lifestyle, as well as the
way they are perceived in contemporary Romania or in
the European Union, is not the same either. Romania has the
largest Roma population, and it is mainly the Romanian
Roma that are in the middle of current political debates, to
such an extent that Roma and Romanians are sometimes
used as synonyms, which explains why the media some-
times refers to “Roma Gypsies” when talking about this
minority (Harris). European media has been overwhelmed
with stories about the Romanian Roma, and it looks like in
the past two or three years the frequency, the gravity, and
sometimes the grotesque nature of the incidents have es-
calated (Penhaul). At the same time, so has the intensity of
the European political debates on this topic, which has re-
cently become a constant point on the politicians’ agendas
(Dougherty; Kosciusko-Morizet; Michelon). I will there-
fore focus on the Roma from Romania not because they
may be representative of the Roma or Gypsies all over the
From Gypsy Kings to Beggars: Integration and Exclusion of the Romanian Roma
Anca Sprenger and Mihai Scrobotovici
5. 58
joined the European Union (EU), when more Romanian cit-
izens (including Roma minorities) freely circulated to EU
countries. Another relatively recent phenomenon is the fact
that the mere terms we should use when referring to this
minority have become a source of discussion that is not just
a word battle but also a political one. The term Gypsy is
considered inaccurate, because it is based on an inexact as-
Tzigeuner in
German), that comes from the Greek athiganos (untouch-
ables), is also considered inaccurate.2
issues,” what group we are referring to, since any term cov-
ering more than a national minority seems to be erroneous.
Actually, according to Saimir Mile, a Gypsy activist, using
the term Rroma or Rromani is not just inaccurate but also
insulting: “It is . . . a nonsense, and shows disregard for
other languages and cultures, to use the term Rromani as
a politically correct translation of Gypsy and consequently
speak about “Rromani languages,” in order not to discrim-
inate” (Mile, 160). At the same time, other Roma activists
and scholars claim the opposite: Nicolae Gheorghe and
Andrzej Mirga propose the “recognition of the Roma as a
nation and is dedicated to building unity around its symbol,
a standardized Romani language” (Gheorghe 59).
However, there is one new important aspect related
to the naming of this minority that reveals more than an
issue of ethnic identity within a nation and its political or
scholarly echoes. As a recent phenomenon, we can notice a
fracture that divides the international Roma/Gypsy commu-
nity itself within the European Union. The rejection of the
Romanian Roma has become quite current after 2007, which
is when the Romanian and Bulgarian Roma started to be a
common presence in Western European cities. It appears that
local Gypsy communities (in France or England) do not want
to be assimilated with the recent immigrants, and they try to
distance themselves from those who come from Romania
and Bulgaria (Rencontres Tsiganes; Bolis), and they want to
make a “general distinction between the ‘Western Gypsies/
Travellers and ‘Eastern Roma’” (Nicolae 125). This may re-
but also toward the Romanians in general, who especially
after 2014 were perceived as a potentially new problem as
a source of poor, unemployed people draining the Western
When associations like S.O.S. Racisme defend these
immigrants—whether called Romanian Roma or Roma
world, but because this analysis may shed light on ethnic,
economic, and social issues in post-communist Romania.
Esquisse he was only
twenty, and at that time the Gypsies in the Romanian prov-
inces of Moldavia and Wallachia were slaves. Like many
Romanian intellectuals of his time,1
he was deeply involved
in the abolitionist movement inspired from the ideas of the
French Revolution. Initiated in 1846, the emancipation pro-
cess was lengthy and complex, and it ended in 1856 when
the last category of Gypsies, the privately owned slaves,
were freed, thus putting an end to four centuries of slavery.
he wanted take advantage of that moment, given the fact
that “Europe seemed to take some interest in the Gypsies”
IV). His intention was to dismantle
the prejudices, misconceptions, and stereotypes about the
Gypsies and help end the persecution of this people. But
he was skeptical about the future of his endeavor. He said,
“Unfortunately this may be just a passing interest, because
IV).
factthatalmosttwocenturieslatertheGypsies,whohadbeen
living in Europe for at least six centuries and who were the
largest minority (Barany, I), are still considered by many a
“problem” suggests proof of failure. The ancient paradoxes,
to dismantle are still there. Portrayed in the nineteenth cen-
tury as either picturesque characters in operettas or in lit-
erary works like Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris or as
primitive and demonic people in Bram Stoker’s Dracula or
adventure novels, the Roma continue to be presented in ex-
aggerated and extreme ways. Movies like Emir Kusturica’s
Time of the Gypsies or Tony Gatlif’s Latcho Drom contrast
with the sordid images of mattresses and makeshift tents in
illegal camps in London (Allen; Bird) and Paris (Sudry-Le
Dû). The recently deceased, self-appointed King of Gypsies
the press with a four-pound, solid-gold crown, also contrasts
with the street beggars, just like the baroque extravagance
of the “Gypsy Palaces” in Romanian villages like Buzescu
-
tricity or running water in other villages or towns where
the Roma are a minority.
This daily avalanche of political declarations and ar-
ticles, pictorial documents, and reportages on the “Roma
issue” has become more visible after Romania and Bulgaria
6. 59
illegal camps in Western Europe, saying that they have to
leave because of economic, educational, and social discrim-
ination (Barany). However, looking for work in a country
with high unemployment when they do not have an edu-
cation or work skills does not look like a viable solution.
Romania’s unemployment rate is 5.7 percent ( ),
while the unemployment rates in the European countries
where the Roma go are three times higher.
Poverty as a result of anti-Roma discrimination
could be a cause that pushes them to leave their country,
but the poorest areas of Romania are not those with the
highest Roma density (Rey 25). Many of the Roma who
leave Romania declare they do so in order to have access
to education (Liegeois); however, statistics show that
places reserved for Roma students in high schools re-
main vacant, (Constantin) and in 2008, only 1 percent of
them (Pop) would graduate from high school. Moreover,
neither the textbooks in Romanian nor those in Romani
seem of much use, since 80 percent of the young Roma
are illiterate (Pop).
This situation could be better understood if we exam-
whose history has been different from those of other minori-
ties in Romania and Europe, and not as an amorphous con-
cept, covering Roma, Gypsy, and travelers from all times
and all countries. After six centuries in Europe, although
they share a long history of persecutions and marginaliza-
tion, their social, economic, and legal situation within var-
ious European nations remains different. In order to better
-
sary to better understand the history from their emancipa-
tion to their deportation, a period of time rarely mentioned
in studies of this minority. This would also allow us to un-
derstand how their past is different from the history of other
persecuted Romanian minorities, like the Jews for instance.
Unfortunately, until recently, because of language limita-
tions and lack of access to archives, international Roma
scholars did not have access to reliable sources, and this has
led to misinterpretations (sometimes quite basic), whether
referring to older or more current events3
or to the use of
anecdotal evidence instead of documented facts.
Because of the lack of access to primary sources or
documents from 1850 to 1990, many researchers often
interpreted the Romanian Roma simplistically, as a result
of an uninterrupted manifestation of anti-Gypsy racism.
Many studies also assimilate the Jewish deportations during
criticized repatriation, or when extremist groups violently
dismantle their illegal camps, Romania is always under scru-
tiny for racial discrimination and not acting for the Roma in-
tegration. This happens at a time when the Romanian Roma
do not have just more laws to protect them or more organi-
zations to represent them than ever (political parties, cultural
associations) but also Romani books and cultural events,
Romani teachers in schools, and a constant effort to prevent
discrimination in education. There are textbooks in Romani
language, and each year there are places in high schools
and universities reserved for the Roma minority (Barany,
319). There are departments of Romani studies in several
Romanian universities, and social and economic integration
programs are often organized with the support of Roma lead-
ers. There are also symbolic gestures meant to make people
aware of Gypsy history. For example, the government has
approved a request from the Rroma Pride association Amare
Rromentza for the construction of a ¤300,000 monument
celebrating the emancipation of the Gypsy slaves (Jeles).
have their own political representatives. There are cur-
rently two Roma parties, the Roma Party Pro-Europe and
the Roma Democratic Alliance, recently created by Dorin
Cioaba, who is also recognized as a king by a large part
of the Roma community. There are Roma representatives
in the senate and the parliament, and there was a presiden-
Roma businessman.
Numerous anti-racism associations have worked with
the Romanian government and pushed for antidiscrimina-
tion laws that are more advanced than in other countries.
The legislation adopted in Romania is able to:
Prohibit racial and other forms of discrimination in
most area of public life and provide for legal remedies.
Comprehensive antidiscrimination laws still do not ex-
ist in other post-communist states, although, partly in
response to pressure from Brussels, initial drafts are
now circulating in several of them (Goldston18).
While it is true that anti-discrimination laws can sometimes
lead to xenophobic reactions, the numerous economic, so-
cial, and educational measures that have been taken should
yield some positive results. And yet, the percentage of illit-
erate Roma is now incredibly high, much higher than in the
pre-war or communist period (Pop). The Roma continue to
leave Romania only to end up living under bridges and in
7. 60
Gypsies,” because they were integrated into their rural com-
munity. This means that by 1942, the Romanian Roma were
relatively well integrated into Romania, and they played an
important part in its rural life at a time when agriculture was
the most important part of Romanian economy. It is import-
ant to note that they were integrated into the life of rural
Romania precisely because of their traditional trades. They
were coppersmiths, blacksmiths, and wood carvers, trades
which correspond to their ancient division in clans4
—cal-
darari (or Kalderash), , lingurari,—described since
5
This
means their economic and social integration did not include
erasing their traditions and forcing them to become involved
in economic activities that were not part of their cultural
identity. In rural, twentieth-century Romania, all these pro-
fessions, as archaic as they may seem, were a crucial part of
everyday life, as expressed in this petition:
These men for whom we are now sincerely pleading with
you, sir, are artisans—carpenters and blacksmiths—of
whom we are constantly in need in our plowing trade.
These men mend both the wooden and iron parts of our
wagons, harrows, plows, and all of our farming tools.
The plowmen’s and the blacksmiths’ trades are inex-
tricably bound to one another. And their numbers do
not exceed our demand. Far from it, during the farming
season when within a population of 12,000, nearly all
of plow blades to whet daily, these diligent craftsmen
these indispensable auxiliaries to farming, have to work
and may run smoothly and on time (Achim 95).
In all these appeals and petitions, the community insisted
on the fact that the Gypsies were peaceful citizens, they
had a central place in all these communities, did an import-
ant part of the seasonal work, and were doing their duty
toward the society.
Unfortunately, the deported Gypsies were not repatriated
and some were executed while many died during the trans-
portation or due to the harsh living conditions in Transnistria.
However, the appeals suggest “most Romanians did not
support the government’s policy toward the Gypsies during
World War II” (Achim 97). While the outcome (persecution,
deportation, death) was the same as in other countries (like
Germany), it is important to mark that at a local level (com-
munity, individuals, local administration) the deportation
decision coming from above was not acceptable for many.6
World War II with the persecutions and deportation of the
Roma. This is why in the past years, when the Roma were
leaving Romania or they were sent back to Romania, many
journalists, politicians, and representatives of human rights
groups compare their departure from their own country or
their repatriation to the anti-Gypsy laws from Germany (al-
though the historical details of this tragedy are different).
Most of the authors of these studies or articles do not con-
sider it necessary to examine the long process that followed
the emancipation and the way the social, political, and eco-
nomic status of the Romanian Roma had changed at the mo-
ment of the 1942 deportations.
However, the history of Romanian Gypsies after their
emancipation is quite unique and makes their situation in
World War II quite different from other ethnicities. While it
is true that various forms of racism and discrimination per-
sisted, and there were still groups of Gypsies that were not
integrated into the Romanian communities, by 1940 most
after the emancipation of the Roma, the deportation order
issued by Marshall Antonescu, Romania’s leader in World
War II, came as a surprise, because, while anti-Semitic laws
and provisions had been established in 1938, there were
no anti-Gypsy laws (Constantiniu 401–2), no anti-Gypsy
campaigns in the press, and nothing that compared to the
anti-Gypsy attitude in Nazi Germany (Constantiniu 401).
Antonescu had decided to follow the German model,
but his decision triggered many reactions in defense of the
Roma, whether they came from members of the govern-
ment or from ordinary people. Leader of the Liberal Party,
I.C. Bratianu, wrote to Antonescu in support of the Gypsies,
because he thought this would be “barbaric” and would also
take Romania two centuries backward. Bratianu also men-
tioned the deportation “would have a negative impact on the
domestic economy, a consideration ordinary citizens cared
about and often mentioned in their own appeals against the
government decision” (Achim 91).
The numerous petitions and appeals signed by local ad-
ministrators, landowners, and various categories of people
-
sphere that clashes not only with the deportation decision
taken by the head of the government but also with the claim
that the Romanian population was massively anti-Gypsy
and supported the deportations. Actually, numerous farm-
ers and local administrators petitioned and asked Antonescu
not to deport (or, if they had been deported, to return) “their
8. 61
reclamation, or the construction of the Danube-Black Sea
Canal), as punitive measure (Roske, “Studiu”). In these
new conditions, the traditional Gypsy trades of the black-
smiths, coppersmiths, and woodcarvers became useless,
and this pushed this minority back in history, and in the
margins of the society, since they had no skills they could
use in the new communist social and economic structures.
Another aspect that might have led to a deterioration of
the relationships with the Roma in rural communities has to
do with the fact that when the landowners, the peasants, the
educators, and the priests were involved in anti-communist
activities in numerous Romanian villages (Ciuceanu 9), the
Roma were considered as possible allies or supporters of
communist government targeted all the social categories
who could criticize the new government, or even organize
anti-communist revolts. Thousands and thousands of farm-
ers who refused to be dispossessed of their lands. Priests or
school teachers who criticized the communist regime were
executed, incarcerated, or deported. In this context, unlike
these “class enemies”(peasants, priests, intellectuals, mili-
tary, landowners, or “capitalists”), the Roma were consid-
ered to have “healthy origins” (in the communist jargon this
meant they presented no danger to the regime), and many
of them became part of the communist military and police
and were involved in the repressive or concentration-camp
system, where they could be hired, usually in the military,
communist police, or local administration, with no educa-
tion or skills (Romanes.ro).
anti-Gypsy laws in communist Romania but rather the other
minorities (mainly German and Serbian) were targeted. For
instance, many German minorities were killed or sent to
Siberia, because they were considered former or possible
enemies of the Soviets. In the 1950s, about forty thousand
people (Swabian, Saxon, Macedonian, and Serbian mi-
norities, but also Romanians) were deported from Banat,
of these executions or deportations was that all these peo-
ple (Romanians or minorities) could have contacts with the
“enemies” outside of the country. In this context, the Roma
involved in enforcing the new communist rules and sup-
porting the regime were no longer perceived as part of the
community but as traitors and enemies (Romanes.ro).
However, with the exception of those who supported
the communist regime, the Romanian Roma returned to the
This historical aspect may shed some light on the cur-
rent Romanian Roma issues. What we have seen in the past
decades is actually an anti-Roma attitude at the community
or individual level, which is different from the pre–World
War II situation when the anti-Roma attitude did not have
popular support and when most of the communities were
opposed to the anti-Roma measures imposed by the head of
the government. After 1990, some communities have wit-
nessed anti-Roma attitudes and incidents that have torn a
few Romanian towns and villages beyond any possible
reconciliation. One of the most violent incidents happened
in 1991 in a small town near Bucharest, when one Roma
killed a non-Roma young man, and the local population re-
taliated by burning down eighteen Roma houses. This inci-
dent was severely criticized by the Helsinki Watch (Crowe
146), but there were other, less violent incidents that were
However, given the details of the relationships between
the Roma and the Romanians in 1942, it would be histori-
cally inaccurate to see in such manifestations the continu-
ation of the World War II deportations. It is obvious that in
1942 there was a relative integration that had led to such
a solidarity at the local level that the population had tried
to resist a government decision and stop the deportation
of the Roma, while now, we are facing the opposite situa-
tion. There are many factors involved in this issue, but at
least a partial answer could be again in the Romanian his-
tory. Soon after World War II, Romanian agriculture was
transformed in order to follow the Soviet model (Roske,
“Studiu,” 11). Romania used to be an agricultural country,
and its agriculture was based on small farms. The commu-
nist regime abolished all these properties, and the farmers,
who were dispossessed of their lands and property, were
forced to work for the state on industrial-size farms where
work relied on heavy agricultural machinery and not on the
ploughs and tools that were made or repaired by the local
Roma blacksmiths and carpenters in the past. The entire
structure of the society was displaced. The peasants still
tasks, but the land that had been theirs no longer belonged
to them. The intellectual or military elites who had not
been executed or incarcerated in the communist prisons or
“Studiu,” 11). For several decades after 1944, tens of thou-
sands of political prisoners had to do the hard work in ag-
riculture or in the constructions (such as in rice farms, land
9. 62
thus perpetuate archaic images, clichés, and stereotypes. A
few Roma are attracted to more modern role models, like
the one represented by the Roma Pro-Europe Party, but
more of them feel closer to a self-appointed Gypsy em-
peror (Journeyman Pictures) and even more to the Gypsy
King, currently Dorin Cioaba (Pavalasc). Florin Cioaba,
Dorin Cioaba’s father, was the self-appointed king of the
Romanian Roma until his death in 2013 and a great defen-
dant of Gypsy traditions. It is then hard to debunk clichés
about the Gypsy population having no education and nu-
merous children they cannot support, especially when we
consider the fact that Florin Cioaba, a role model for his
created a huge debate when he had his twelve-year-old
(BBC “Gypsy King’s
Daughter”). Obviously, such a marriage is illegal according
to Romanian and European laws, but it took place all the
same. The same Florin Cioaba was encouraging a sort of
-
ery costume, possession of important quantities of gold,
and practicing of Roma traditions every day. It is then not
surprising that when a ten-year-old Romanian Roma gave
birth to a baby in Spain, the entire European continent was
shocked. Meanwhile, the girl’s mother explained it was nat-
ural and not too early (stirileprotv).
In an attempt to improve the Roma integration in
Romania and in Europe, Florin Cioaba, the former Gypsy
King, had the idea of promoting a couple of Gypsy dolls,
Lulica and Barculica. In advertisements, the dolls are pic-
drawn cart loaded with “accessories” (a tent and copper
used to do) next to a miniature Eiffel Tower
the fact that many Parisian neighborhoods have been com-
life and the “primitive” nomadic lifestyle of the Roma from
Romania who are camping, begging, and selling gold in
Paris near the Eiffel Tower.
These cultural misunderstandings and failed commu-
nications show that seeing the Gypsies/Roma as an amor-
phous and nationally neutral people is not only inaccurate
but also leads to new and various forms of segregation,
whether in Romania or other European countries. The par-
adox is that while they appear “foreign” and “primitive”
to French, British, Italian, or Spanish people, as citizens
archaic structures that had been lost during the integration
process between 1856 and 1942, to a life in the margins of
society and to a nomadic lifestyle. This was a lifestyle that
was not approved of in communist Romania, where having
a job and a stable address was mandatory. Besides, it did
not allow for the acquisition of an education or professional
skills; therefore, it perpetuated marginalization and did not
allow the integration into a community. The attempts of the
communist government to impose a forced sedentarization
created resentment and fear within the Roma groups who
had recent memories of the deportation. At the same time, it
created resentment within the communities where they had
into consideration any economic, social, cultural, or ethnic
characteristics of the community.
This is why at the collapse of the communist regime in
1989 the Roma community seemed to have been pushed
describing in 1837. According to Adrian Cioroianu, with
the collapse of the communist regime, two more elements
had contributed to a partial integration of Roma (educa-
tion and the military service) (Cioroianu); both education
and, for the men, military service brought together people
of all social or ethnic categories. Since military service is
no longer mandatory and given the fact that most of the
Roma drop out of school, there are fewer chances than ever
for integration. On the one hand, the legislation meant to
protect the Roma community that was gradually passed
in post-communist Romania has been unable to change
quickly enough what the communist regime had done in
half a century. On the other hand, torn between cultural and
individual choices, many of the Romanian Roma are still
sticking to ancient customs that are unacceptable in mod-
ern Europe and which revive all the ancient anti-Gypsy
prejudices about nomadism, delinquency, lack of educa-
all the prejudices only to “collective imagination” as Jean-
Pierre Liègeois claims (Liègeois).
The Romanian Roma community actually seems to be
divided between the preservation of its identity through
ancient traditions and professions (which revive old preju-
dices and clash with contemporary European life and legal
norms) and abandoning such traditions in order to become
modern European citizens. For some, promoting their eth-
nic identity implies sticking to customs that contradict
European laws or have little place in modern Europe, and
10. 63
cation between the European representatives of the Roma
community and the Romanian authorities, as well as be-
tween European institutions and national governments (like
the Romanian government) when it comes to the Roma
issue. We would expect a close collaboration between the
Western European authorities and the Romanian ones; how-
ever, it took Western European governments several years
before deciding to work together with the Romanian police
in dismantling Roma theft and child prostitution networks
(RFI; Silverman). Also, the Roma communities have had
the European Roma and Travellers Forum since 2005 to
represent them in the European Union, but this forum does
not work with any of the Romanian Roma parties (ERTF).
Meanwhile, the Roma issue is like an indicator of dem-
of the European map: “Romani migration has sometimes
threatened to derail E.U. expansion and/or integration. For
example, when scores of Roma from Hungary were granted
-
tions were raised as to Hungary’s readiness for free move-
ment” (Cahn 220). We can conclude that the way they are
integrated into or treated in Romania or in the EU could
be seen as an indicator of success or failure of the natio-
nal and European laws regarding the minorities, employ-
ment, and travel.
This also demonstrates that the EU is far from dissolv-
ing national borders and identities. The Gypsies, hesitant
between fully accepting a national identity (that is, being
assimilated in a European nation) and accepting their eth-
nic identity are testing the limits of national and European
Esquisse on the Gypsies, Romania did not exist. There were
two distinct provinces, Moldavia and Walachia that had to
strive for twelve more years before being united into one
nation and forty more years before obtaining their indepen-
dence from the Turks. Europe, for many Romanians like
ally. When the future politician expressed his skepticism
about Europe’s interest in the Gypsy cause, he bitterly com-
IV). After 31 December 2013, when work restric-
tions for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens were lifted, many
countries feared a wild, uncontrollable Romanian exodus
(alba24). Nothing like that happened, but these reactions
he doubted Europe’s real interest not only in the Roma issue
of Romania they are also European citizens, “at home”
in Europe, although they are far from being integrated
into their new French, British, or Italian communities.
Numerous illegal camps have been dismantled in France,
the UK, and Italy—sometimes by the police, sometimes
by the local population, and sometimes by members of
neo-Nazi or other extremist groups who have gained pop-
-
cause of the presence of Romanian or Bulgarian Roma in
their countries (Hinnant; John). The Left usually accuses
the Right of taking deportation measures identical to the
and “a general discourse about the social exclusion of
Roma from Eastern Europe has almost monopolized the
entire agenda of the European societies” (Nicolae, 125).
Since 2009, several European governments have sent
Romanian and Bulgarian Roma back to their countries.
For instance, the French government under Sarkozy sent
back about nine thousand individuals. Each time this mea-
sure was severely criticized by various European organi-
zations (BBC “France Sends Roma Back”).
Meanwhile, media can easily feed on stories that con-
or tell fortunes and whose children are beggars or pickpock-
ets. Basically, “following 1989, old ideas about ‘Gypsies’
have been dramatically reawakened in Western Europe,
in part as a result of the return of Romani migration from
Central and South-Eastern Europe” (Cahn, 219). Currently,
French newspapers talk about “les Français ont ras-le-
bol” (slang for “fed-up”) (Folch; Lejeune), an attitude that
turned the Roma issue into a useful tool or a trap in the elec-
tions. For instance, for Nathalie Kosciusco-Morizet, a UMP
member who hoped to become the next mayor of Paris used
the Roma debate as a political tool in her campaign (Huet,
Michelon). Minister Manuel Valls triggered a considerable
scandal with European echoes when he said the Roma must
go back to Romania and Bulgaria because their culture
is too different from the French culture and its princi-
ples (LeParisien.fr). Even the socialist president François
Hollande has been accused of having the same (or even
more right-wing) Roma policies as the UMP (Euzen).
Integration of the Romanian citizens in the EU or of
the Roma in Romania should, obviously, start with better
communication; however, the lack of communication can
easily be seen between various groups of Roma, or their
parties, and their king. There is also the lack of communi-
11. 64
6. However, the solidarity with the Gypsies did not extend to groups
that were not integrated into the community. For instance, the
nomadic group (rudari) was usually not perceived as part of the
community (Achim 97).
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NOTES
1.
Urechia, and entitled Coliba Mariucai (Aunt Mary’s Cabin) is
obviously inspired by Harriet Beecher Stove’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin
but is dedicated to the emancipation of the Roma.
2. Because of these unsolved debates, we shall use the terms “Gypsy”
and “Roma” indistinctly in this paper. In post-communist Romania,
cultural and political associations have declared this term an in-
sult (it would mean that they cannot be touched because they are
considered “Outcasts”). This is why the terms that refer to this mi-
there are no double consonants in Romanian, the double “r” is
meant to distinguish between Romani (Romanians) and Rromani.
Some Romanian politicians and journalists used the word tigan
/ tsigan /) instead of Roma (in
Romanian Rom or Rrom) only to trigger criticism and emotional
reactions, since this was perceived as a racist return to the centuries
of persecution
was asked to apologize (Toea) for using this word. However,
many members of this ethnic group think it is inappropriate to be
called Roma and actually take pride in being called Gypsies. For
instance, the famous Romanian-born Gypsy jazz musician, Johnny
).
3. For instance, in his otherwise well documented and much ac-
claimed the David Crowe translates
Desrobirea tiganilor (the emancipation of the Gypsies) as “en-
slavement” (Crowe 122) and mixes up the camps of a violent
organized a sit-in in the University Square in Bucharest. Together
with many intellectuals and leaders of anti-communist organiza-
tions, they declared the area a “Communism-free Zone” and asked
the interim president, former communist Ion Iliescu, to resign.
Iliescu called hundreds of coal-miners to crush this sit-in that he
described as a “fascist movement.” The miners ransacked the
Romania Libera newspaper, injured
hundreds of students, and killed some, chanting “Death to the
intellectuals” (Jahn). This violent repression of the anti-commu-
nist students and intellectuals was mediatized all over the world.
However, Crowe thought that this was an anti-Roma repression
(Crowe 128), because of the word Iliescu had used (golani, mean-
ing “punks” when he referred to the students, that Crowe probably
confused with tigani).
4. The only anti-Gypsy measure that preceded the 1942 deportation
was the interdiction for the bear handlers or an important
Gypsy clan, to show their bears in towns and villages, because it
was considered unsanitary.
5.
(Ursari) are still considered a very important clan or tribe in
Romania (Tarnovschi).
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