The Roma originated from north-west India. This was only discovered in the 18th century "by comparing their languages (Romanes) with Indo-European dialects from this area." ("Cinti and Roma") The Roma language is rooted in Sanskrit and intimately linked to Hindi. Presently some Roma do not speak their native language though recent ancestors most likely did. As Silverman notes, "Roms have always been bilingual, and in many cases multilingual." (2)

The first recorded instances of Roma persecution can be traced back to Europe in the 1400s when they first appeared there. They were often mistaken for Muslim invaders from the East and discriminatory laws were enforced against them (Nadia and Peter). The reactions to the Roma by different countries as stated by Nadia and Peter were: "rejection, mistrust, fear, banishment, enslavement, torture and murder." The fact that Roma have traveled to several different countries over the past centuries and even today also added to the hatred of the Roma by outsiders. Because Roma never claimed a mother country, outsiders saw Roma as suspicious and the stereotypes followed the Roma even to now.

When most people think of Nazis and the Holocaust, they picture Jews as the principle victims of the atrocious genocide. In reality, many minorities were affected by the Holocaust, including Gypsies. The most recent calculation are that roughly 600,000 Roma were massacred by the Nazis, "roughly 1/4 to 1/3 of their numbers in all of Europe and as much as 70% of all those in areas where Nazi control had been established the longest." (qtd. in Nadia and Peter)

The Roma also suffered horribly during the Communist Age. In Bulgaria, Todor Zhivkov, the communist dictator, ruled the country for 33 years until he was cast out in 1989. Under Zhivkov’s reign, Giles construed, "Roma newspapers were closed, Roma clubs were expropriated, and other aspects of Roma culture were suppressed." (2) Even the use of Romany was banned. As Silverman records:

in socialist Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the former Czechoslovakia, Roma were neither a nation or a nationality, but rather part of a residual social category (i.e., "disadvantaged social stratum" (Hungary), "socially degraded stratum" (former Czechoslovakia), "other nationalities" (Romania), "population of Gypsy origin" (Poland). (3)

Because Roma were placed in social categories as mentioned, they were denied access to rights such as radio broadcasts, newspapers, and schooling.

The communists went as so far as to make Roma with Muslim names convert to Slavic names during the 1960s. Scholars were dissuaded from studying about the Roma. All music classified as Roma style or in Romanes in the early 1970s was forbidden from public presentations and the media, and penalties were imposed against playing prohibited instruments or music. (Silverman)

This webpage was created by Francesca Wessely and Maya Lastarria on 3/28/99 for History and Thought of Western Man, Rich East High School, Park Forest, Illinois.