The Romany People ('gypsies')

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HashemEchad

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I’m not sure if this is the right forum for it, but I’d really like to ask people worldwide what the situation truly is with the Romany people.

A few years ago, I first learned of the horrific persecutions they have endured, not only from the Nazis in what they call the porrajmos (the devouring, a/k/a holocaust), but in general, throughout most of their history. I feel as a Jew that they have suffered more than we have!

But then, I have met many people online, mostly Europeans, who tell me very negative things about them, and I have not heard even one good thing, which has me concerned.

What am I really think? I don’t want to dislike any ethnic or religious group, as long as they are not harming anyone else, and they truly do seem, based on everything I have read, to be the most hated and persecuted people in the world.

But I’m an American and have had very limited exposure to Romany people. In fact I only know one, and he is a college professor.

What is the real deal? I don’t want to base my opinion on possible prejudices. I have heard so many negative things and nothing good, which is a first for me because almost every ethnic group I have heard of, I have heard some good and some bad.

My mother used to say that as a child, people used to say the gypsies wander the earth because they made the nails to crucify Jesus :rolleyes: …I keep hearing things like that, and that they “all steal”, etc I even had an elderly woman try to tell me that in Europe, they steal babies :rolleyes:

So because the only Romany people I’ve ever heard of are a college professor and the late actor Yul Brynner, I’d like to know what the truth is.

Oh, and before I forget, what religion are they anyway? Anyone know?
 
I’m part Roma on my father’s side, though most of that family history is sadly lost, we also have reason to suspect Jewish ancestry, but no proof.

I’m very interested in knowing more about that part of my history so I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread.
 
LDNCatholic said:
I’m part Roma on my father’s side, though most of that family history is sadly lost, we also have reason to suspect Jewish ancestry, but no proof.

I’m very interested in knowing more about that part of my history so I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread.
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I remember hearing that their origin was India and this website confirms this:

romani.org/local/romhist.html
 
HashemEchad said:
I’m not sure if this is the right forum for it, but I’d really like to ask people worldwide what the situation truly is with the Romany people.
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They are he world’s least respected large ethnic group but many are making major gains in the last several years.
A few years ago, I first learned of the horrific persecutions they have endured, not only from the Nazis in what they call the porrajmos (the devouring, a/k/a holocaust), but in general, throughout most of their history. I feel as a Jew that they have suffered more than we have!
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It’s likely, actually. Most of the children in Romania’s notorious orphanages were Gypsy children, dumped there to die.
But then, I have met many people online, mostly Europeans, who tell me very negative things about them, and I have not heard even one good thing, which has me concerned.
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When two large groups live near each other the more prosperous or more politically secure one tends to fear and project bad things on the other one.
What am I really think? I don’t want to dislike any ethnic or religious group,
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then don’t.
as long as they are not harming anyone else
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Ethnic groups don’t harm people. Individuals and ideological groups sometimes do. An entire ethnicity doesn’t jump up at once and run out to commit any crime.
But I’m an American and have had very limited exposure to Romany people. In fact I only know one, and he is a college professor.
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You very likely know a few more than you think.
My mother used to say that as a child, people used to say the gypsies wander the earth because they made the nails to crucify Jesus :rolleyes: …I keep hearing things like that, and that they “all steal”, etc I even had an elderly woman try to tell me that in Europe, they steal babies :rolleyes:
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And we know no one has ever said such things about anyone else… When people show their prejudice and lack of originality at the same time it is tiresome, isn’t it?
So because the only Romany people I’ve ever heard of are a college professor and the late actor Yul Brynner, I’d like to know what the truth is.
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The truth is that because of discrimination that goes all the way back to a time of horrendous enslavement in the Middle Ages, the Gypsy peoples, of whom the Romany are one, have dealt with mistrust and persecution which became part of a vicious circle everywhere they went. They wandered, not because of innate restlessness, but in search of respect and hope and to avoid the periodic persecutions. And you have probably known quite a few.
Oh, and before I forget, what religion are they anyway? Anyone know?
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many are Catholic, many are Baptist, many are Hindu, and some are other religions as well.
 
I come from a Slavic, Eastern European household, and our family stories aren’t anywhere near as nice. I think its just as bad to label their experiences as being born out of superstitions. But the world has always viewed us as being backwards, as is evident in popular media.

Of course you can’t judge a whole people based on a few bad experiences, but I still think it prudent to hold tightly to your belongings and to avoid any kind of sales transaction.

I’m sure most are nice people, but I wonder about those who hang around in touristy areas.

In any case, I’ll trust my own family, before I trust political correctness.
Sadly for a variety of reasons the Roma’s experience during World War 2 is not giving the focus it deserves and so prejudice against them is still seen as acceptable to a degree.
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Rightly or wrongly there seems to be only one group that receives focus when it comes to the holocaust.
 
I feel a lot better after reading some of the posts here…I was starting to wonder what was going on, with all the things I was hearing elsewhere!

I have a large collection of Romani music which I began collecting when I first became interested in this, a couple of years ago. I agree with another poster, their music is very moving and very beautiful!

I’d like to do something to help the Roma in working for their civil rights; unfortunately it seems most of the groups doing this are in Europe (where most Roma seem to be.)

And Freshman88, I agree with you 100% that one group (I suppose I’m allowed to name them: the Jews, my own people) gets a disproportionate share of the attention when it comes to the Nazi genocide. I’ve done some work in the Jewish community to try to change that, and have spoken out a bit on this.

I will say that I do not know of ANY people more viciously persecuted throughout history than the Roma. They had many of the same things done to them that have been done to my own people, such as having their children stolen from them to be raised as something other than what they are (this first happened in Bohemia, from what I’ve read.)

And I have read that in Czechslovakia, Roma women were being forcibly sterilized by the government? Anyone know anything about that?
 
I read a book many years ago called Bury Me Standing, that gave an interesting inside look at Gypsies. It gave me a greater understanding and sympathy for the Romany people.

From Amazon:

They travel endlessly and seem to appear almost everywhere, yet they are the world’s most mysterious people: Gypsies. Isabel Fonseca has done the impossible, entering into their world, living and traveling with Gypsies during several long trips to Eastern Europe, and she has brought back an insightful, highly personal, and very readable account of who the Gypsies are and how they live. The Gypsies have a legendary aversion to “gadje,” or outsiders, but Fonseca has lifted the curtain and written gracefully about their lives on the edge of society.

amazon.com/Bury-Me-Standing-Gypsies-Journey/dp/067973743X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212701522&sr=8-1
 
Eden said:
I read a book many years ago called Bury Me Standing, that gave an interesting inside look at Gypsies. It gave me a greater understanding and sympathy for the Romany people.

From Amazon:

They travel endlessly and seem to appear almost everywhere, yet they are the world’s most mysterious people: Gypsies. Isabel Fonseca has done the impossible, entering into their world, living and traveling with Gypsies during several long trips to Eastern Europe, and she has brought back an insightful, highly personal, and very readable account of who the Gypsies are and how they live. The Gypsies have a legendary aversion to “gadje,” or outsiders, but Fonseca has lifted the curtain and written gracefully about their lives on the edge of society.

amazon.com/Bury-Me-Standing-Gypsies-Journey/dp/067973743X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1212701522&sr=8-1
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That’s one of the first books I read, its a very good one!

BTW one book I don’t really recommend is “The Nazi Persecution of the Gypsies” because the author seems to be of the view that the Roma people were not truly genocidal targets of the Nazis, and that only Jews were. He seems to feel they were killed but not in an effort to wipe them out wholesale (?!)
 
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