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The Gypsies of Romania Since 1990*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

David M. Crowe
David M. Crowe*
Affiliation:
Elon College, U.S.A.
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Extract

The Roma or Gypsies entered Romania's historic provinces, Wallachia and Moldavia, in the twelfth century. Over the next 200 years, the Roma, who had come to the Balkans from northern India, were enslaved. By the fifteenth century, the practice of Gypsy slavery was widespread throughout the two provinces. In part, their enslavement came about as a means of securing Gypsy skills as craftsmen, metalsmiths, musicians, and equine specialists. Over time, a complex body of laws was passed in Wallachia and Moldavia to strengthen the control of Romanian noblemen over their Gypsy slaves (robi). However, by the eighteenth century, some mild efforts were undertaken to better the plight of Romanian Gypsy slaves.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 27 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 57 - 67
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

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References

Notes

1. David M. Crowe, A History of the Gypsies of Eastern Europe and Russia (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994), pp. 107–112; David M. Crowe and John Kolsti, eds, The Gypsies of Eastern Europe (Armonk, NY: Sharpe, 1991), pp. 61–65; Ian Hancock, The Pariah Syndrome (Ann Arbor: Karoma, 1987), pp. 16–29.Google Scholar

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5. Crowe, History, pp. 135–138; Crowe and Kolsti, Gypsies, pp. 70–72.Google Scholar

6. Crowe, History, pp. 138–143; Crowe and Kolsti, Gypsies, pp. 72–73; Trond Gilberg, Nationalism and Communism in Romania: The Rise and Fall of Ceauşescu's Personal Dictatorship (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1990), pp. 166–170.Google Scholar

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10. Bohlen, Celestine, “Rumania's Rulers Agree to Share Power,” New York Times, 2 February 1990, p. A9; John Kifner, “Fighting Abates in Transylvania but Not the Anger,” New York Times, 27 March 1990, p. A7; Celestine Bohlen, “In Transylvania, the Battle for the Past Continues,” New York Times, 18 March 1990, p. A13; George Schöpflin and Hugh Poulton, Romania's Ethnic Hungarians (London: Minority Rights Group, 1990), p. 21; Dan Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” Report on Eastern Europe, 29 June 1990, p. 41; “Gypsy Kings,” The Economist, 15 May 1993, p. 62; in 1993, the colorful Cioaba had himself named Emperor of All the Gypsies, an event disputed by his competitor, Emperor Iulian I (Iulica Radulsecu) of All the Gypsies. However, according to Dan Ionescu, Cioaba's power was “somewhat limited,” and he was “‘a king in theory’ rather than in practice.” Regardless, he played the role well, and evidently had enriched himself in the process. Zoltan Barany feels the ridiculous, self-serving behavior of both Roma leaders has hurt the Gypsy cause in Romania. In early 1994, for example, Radulescu supported Russian extremist Vladimir Zhirinovsky's statement that Romania was “an artificial state inhabited by Italian Gypsies.” See “Gypsy Throne Has Two Competitors,” Winston–Salem Journal, 10 August 1993, p. 2; Ionescu. “The Gypsies Organize,” p. 41; Zoltan Barany, “Grim Realities in Eastern Europe,” Transition, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1995, pp. 7–8; Codrescu, Hole in the Flag, p. 216; one journalist said Cioaba drove “a Mercedes, lives with an extended family in a large home in the city of Sibiu, and is quick to flash a smile with his gold-capped teeth.” Matthew C. Vita, “The Gypsies: Threatened Again in Europe,” Austin American Statesman, 1 December 1991, p. C5.Google Scholar

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12. Barany, “Grim Realities,” p. 7; Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” pp. 39, 41.Google Scholar

13. Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” p. 42; Jackie Nesbitt, Fourth World Romani Congress, Serock, Warsaw, Poland, 8th–12th April 1990 (Essex County Council: Education Department, 1990), pp. 10, 14. Cioaba lost his seat on the World Romani Congress' Praesidium to Octavia Stoica primarily because of “Romanian national politics”; T. A. Acton, “After the Fourth World Romani Congress: Romani Encyclopaedists Set to Work,” unpublished manuscript (1990), pp. 2–3; Helsinki Watch, The Persecution of Gypsies in Romania (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1991), p. 90; Barany, “Grim Realities,” p. 7.Google Scholar

14. Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” p. 42.Google Scholar

15. Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” p. 41; Crowe, History, p. 194.Google Scholar

16. Ionescu, “The Gypsies Organize,” p. 40; Helsinki Watch, Since the Revolution: Human Rights in Romania (New York: Human Rights Watch, 1991), pp. 21–23; Helsinki Watch, Persecution of Gypsies in Romania, pp. 37–73.Google Scholar

17. King, “Romania,” in Starr and Grigory, eds, 1991 Yearbook, pp. 336–339; Helsinki Watch, Persecution, pp. 46–49, 88, 117–119; Sam Beck, “Violence Against Students in Bucharest Has Broad Implications for the Future,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 September 1990, p. B4.Google Scholar

18. Ionescu, Dan, “Violence Against Gypsies Escalates,” Report on Eastern Europe , 21 June 1991, p. 23.Google Scholar

19. Watch, Helsinki, Persecution, p. 82.Google Scholar

20. Ionescu, Dan, “The Exodus,” Report on Eastern Europe , 26 October 1990, pp. 25, 28.Google Scholar

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22. Kelley, “Gypsy Stereotypes,” p. 8A; “Gypsies in Germany Face Crisis,” p. 18; “Romanian Gypsies are Skeptical,” p. 3; many Gypsies failed to receive land allotments under the Land Law of February 1991 because they were not adequately informed of the “complicated application process” before the deadline for applications. Helsinki Watch, Persecution, pp. 84–85.Google Scholar

23. Ceauşescu took these measures, which also included harsh strictures against divorce, to deal with “a potential labour shortage.” Special “vigilante squads” promoted the program in the workplace, and women were forced to undergo periodic exams to determine if they were using any form of birth control. Shafir, “Romania,” p. 127, and Gilberg, Nationalism and Communism in Romania , p. 66; “Iliescu Signs Adoption Law,” Report on Eastern Europe, 26 July 1991, p. 54; James Nachtwey, “Romania's Lost Children,” New York Times Magazine, 24 June 1990, pp. 28–33; “Rise in Deaths under Romania's Abortion Ban,” Greensboro News ∧ Record, 5 October 1992, p. A4; Howard Alstein, “Rescuing Romania's Orphans,” New York Times, 28 November 1992, p. A13; Kathleen Hunt, “The Romanian Baby Bazaar,” New York Times Magazine, 24 March 1991, pp. 23–29, 38, 53; David J. and Sheila Rothman, “The New Romania,” New York Review of Books, 23 September 1993, p. 56.Google Scholar

24. Watch, Helsinki, Persecution, pp.93, 120; Barany, “Democratic Changes Bring Mixed Blessings for Gypsies,” RFE/RL Research Report, Vol. 1, No. 20, 1992, p. 45; Henry Kamm, “In New Eastern Europe, an Old Anti-Gypsy Bias,” New York Times, 17 November 1993, p. A6; part of Iliescu's problem centered around “a closely divided Parliament,” which depended “on extreme nationalist parties for his government's survival.” One of the most virulent anti-Gypsy parties, the Greater Romania Party, and the widely popular weekly, Romania Mare, consistently made attacks against Gypsies, which the latter blamed for “the country's economic and social malaise.” Celestine Bohlen, “Where the Fires of Hatred are Easily Stoked,” New York Times, 4 August 1991, p. E3; Michael Shafir, “The Greater Romania Party,” Report on Eastern Europe, 15 November 1991, p. 25; Michael Shafir, “Promises and Reality,” Report on Eastern Europe, 14 January 1991, p. 36; Michael Shafir, “Schopflinian Reality and Romanian Realism,” Report on Eastern Europe, 15 February 1991, p. 37; Michael Shafir, “Growing Political Extremism in Romania,” RFE/RL Research Report (2 April 1993), pp. 18–25; Michael Shafir and Dan Ionescu, “The Minorities in 1991: Mutual Distrust, Social Problems, and Disillusion,” Report on Eastern Europe, 13 December 1991, p. 27. With the demise of the RFE/RL Research Reports, information on Romania has become difficult to obtain; details about the education of Gypsy children are therefore lacking.Google Scholar

25. Watch, Helsinki, Persecution of Gypsies in Romania , pp. 76–77.Google Scholar

26. Ibid., p. 77.Google Scholar

27. Shafir, Michael, “Controversy over Romanian Education Law,” Transition, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1996, pp. 34–35.Google Scholar

28. Barany, Zoltan, “Favorable Trends for Romania's Roma,” Transition, Vol. 1, No. 19, 1995, p. 29.Google Scholar

29. Barany, “Grim Realities,” p. 7; Barany, “Favorable Trends for Romania's Roma,” pp. 26–29.Google Scholar