DEFINED BY S AN >> A AWROM M M THEM, AND THAT CAN BAieREs: ON THEY HAVE MISCONCEPTIONS, AND THEY DON'T HAVE ACCURATE INFORMATION, BUT THAT'S THE PRICE THE GYPSIES HAVE PAID. >> OFFICIALLY, THEY ARE THE ROMA, BUT THEY'RE KNOWN EVERYWHERE AS GYPSIES. FROM THE MOMENT THEY SET FOOT IN EUROPE, THEY WERE EXILED, ENSLAVED, AND EXTERMINATED. IN MANY COUNTRIES TODAY, THEY ARE THE LARGEST MINORITY GROUP AND THE MOST WIDELY DESPISED. ONE GYPSY PROVERB SPEAKS VOLUMES: "BURY ME STANDING UP, FOR I'VE BEEN ON MY KNEES ALL MY LIFE." JOIN US FOR<i> THE CURSE</i> <i>ON THE GYPSIES.</i> [CHILDREN LAUGHING] >> THE GYPSIES ARE COMING, THE OLD PEOPLE SAY, TO BUY LITTLE CHILDREN AND TAKE THEM AWAY. AND, KIDDIES, WHEN THEY COME TO BUY, IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD TO CRY. <i>NARRATOR:</i> FROM THE BROTHERS GRIMM TO CHARLES DICKENS, FROM VICTOR HUGO TO STEPHEN KING, LITERARE ABOUNDS WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF DARK-SKINNED EXOTICS WITH THE POWER OF THE EVIL EYE. TRAIPSING FROM TOWN TO TOWN IN RAGGED CLOTHES AND HORSE-DRAWN WAGONS, TELLING FORTUNES, PULLING CON GAMES, AND PLAYING HYPNOTIC TUNES ON THEIR MELANCHOLY VIOLINS, THESE FICTIONAL CHARACTERS KNOWN AS GYPSIES NEVER FAIL TO CAST A PALL OVER THE SUNNIEST OF FAIRY-TALE LANDSCAPES. >> WHEN I'VE TAUGHT SCHOOL, I WOULD ASK KIDS, "I'M GOING TO SAY THE WORD GYPSY, WHAT COMES TO YOUR MIND?" PALM-READERS, FORTUNE-TELLERS, CRYSTAL BALL, VIOLINISTS, DANCERS, LONG DRESSES. THOSE ARE SOME OF THE POSITIVE ONES. NOW, SOME OF THE NEGATIVE: UNTRUSTWORTHY, STEALING CHILDREN, PROMISCUOUS. <i>NARRATOR:</i> SO PREVALENT ARE THESE IMAGES OF GYPSIES THAT SOME PEOPLE TODAY ACTUALLY THINK OF THEM AS THE EQUIVALENT OF OGRES, DRAGONS, ELVES, OR OTHER IMAGINARY CHARACTERS FROM MEDIEVAL STORIES AND MYTHS. >> YOU ASK ANY PERSON ON THE STREET ABOUT GYPSIES, AND THEY WILL TELL YOU ABOUT THE DIFFERENT NEWSPAPER ARTICLES OR TV STORIES OR MOVIE CHARACTERS OR THE TRADITIONAL GYPSY FOLKLORE, IF YOU WILL. BUT YET, VERY FEW KNOW OF THE REAL PEOPLE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> IS IT EVEN POSSIBLE TO SEPARATE THE TRUTH FROM THE STEREOTYPES? WHO ARE THE MYSTERIOUS AND MISUNDERSTOOD PEOPLE-- THE REAL GYPSIES? >> WE ARE A RACE OF PEOPLE-- THE ROM. I WOULD SAY<i> RROM,</i> BUT SINCE YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT DOWN, IT'S R-R-O-M, THE ROM PEOPLE, THE ROMANY RACE. IT'S A LANGUAGE. IT'S A CULTURE. YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE EVERYTHING THEY NEED THAT QUALIFIES THEM FOR A RACE OF PEOPLE. [PEOPLE CHEERING] >> PEOPLE SAID, "ARE YOU A GYPSY?" I WOULD SAY, "YES." I'M VE PROUD OF WHAT I AM, VERY PROUD OF MY BACKGROUND AND MY PEOPLE, EVERYONE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> THE PEOPLE COMMONLY KNOWN AS GYPSIES ARE ACTUALLY A DISTINCT AND ANCIENT RACE. BECAUSE OF THEIR DARK SKIN, DARK EYES, AND FOREIGN DRESS, THE ROM WERE MISTAKEN FOR EGYPTIANS BY MEDIEVAL EUROPEANS, AND IN MUCH THE SAME WAY THAT COLUMBUS MISTOOK THE NATIVES OF NORTH AMERICA FOR INDIANS, THE MISNOMER "GYPSIES" WAS PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE GENERATIONS. TODAY, THERE ARE BETWEEN 8 AND 12 MILLION ROM SPREAD OVER EVERY CONTINENT OF THE WORLD, OFTEN RESIDING IN SEPARATE COMMUNITIES, SOMETIMES INTEGRATED AMONGST THE GENERAL POPULATION. THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT KINDS OF GYPSIES, YET THEY ALL SHARE THE SAME DISTANT ORIGINS AND ARE ULTIMATELY RELATED TO EACH OTHER. IN FACT, MANY ROM CLAIM THAT ANYTIME, ANYWHERE, THEY CAN INSTANTLY RECOGNIZE ANOTHER OF THEIR HERITAGE. >> MOST OF THEM ARE DARK-SKINNED AND BLACK HAIR AND DARK EYES AND, YOU KNOW, FROM THE BEHAVIOR AND DRESSING AND SO, AND WHEN YOU RUN INTO ANOTHER ROM, THE FIRST THING WHAT COMES IS... <i>"SAN ROM?"</i> WHICH MEANS, "ARE YOU ROM?" <i>NARRATOR:</i> TRADITIONALLY A NOMADIC PEOPLE WHO FIRST ARRIVED IN EUROPE AT THE TURN OF THE 14th CENTURY, THE GYPSIES ARE A PEOPLE WITHOUT A HOMELAND AND A CULTURE WITHOUT A COUNTRY. THEY MAINTAINED THEIR ETHNIC IDENTITY BY LIVING IN CLOSE-KNIT GROUPS AND PRESERVING THEIR LANGUAGE, KNOWN AS ROMANY, AS WELL AS THEIR WAY OF LIFE AND TRADITIONS FOR OVER A THOUSAND YEARS. [MUSIC PLAYING] >> IT'S VERY DIFFICULT TO DESCRIBE GYPSIES TO PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM OR WHO ONLY HAVE MISCONCEPTIONS, BECAUSE THEY HAVE KEPT SO SECRETIVE, AND THE LITERATURE IS SO FULL OF WRONG INFORMATION THAT PEOPLE ARE VERY TRIPPED UP ON THAT. <i>NARRATOR:</i> THE SECRETIVE NATURE OF THE ROMANY CULTURE HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE PLETHORA OF MYTHS AND SUSPICIONS THAT SURROUND THEM. IN FACT, BECAUSE THEY KEPT NO WRITTEN RECORDS, BUT PASSED DOWN THEIR HISTORY AND CULTURE IN THE ORAL TRADITION, ALMOST EVERYTHING ABOUT ROMA FOUND IN BOOKS OR IN THE MEDIA HAS BEEN GENERATED BY OUTSIDERS. VIEWING STRANGERS WITH AVERSION AND DISTRUST, THEY HAVE KEPT TO THEMSELVES, AS THE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THEM BY THE NON-GYPSIES, WHOM THEY CALL <i>GADJE,</i> CONTINUE TO MULTIPLY. >> WE USUALLY TEND TO STAY TOGETHER, AND USUALLY WE DON'T TRUST OTHER CULTURES, AND THANKS TO THE SECRECY, WE STILL EXIST. <i>NARRATOR:</i> THEIR SECRECY HAS A BASIS IN SELF-PRESERVATION. THROUGHOUT THE CENTURIES, THE ROM HAVE BEEN UNWANTED STRANGERS IN NEARLY EVERY COUNTRY THROUGH WHICH THEY HAVE PASSED. IN THE MIDDLE AGES, THEY WERE HUNTED LIKE ANIMALS. IN SOME PLACES, THEY WERE LEGALLY ENSLAVED UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE 19th CENTURY. DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THEY WERE ROUNDED UP BY HITLER AND EXTERMINATED EN MASSE IN HIS NIGHTMARISH DEATH CAMPS. EVEN IN THE UNITED STATES OF THE LATE 20th CENTURY, PEOPLE OF ROMA HERITAGE OFTEN LIVE AND WORK SIDE BY SIDE WITH THE MAINSTREAM AMERICAN POPULATION, AFRAID OF REVEALING THEIR TRUE IDENTITIES. >> WHEN I WAS GOING TO SCHOOL, I REMEMBER MY DAD TELLING ME, "IT'S NOT REALLY GOOD TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT YOU ARE. JUST TELL THEM YOU'RE ITALIAN OR MEXICAN OR SOMETHING. JUST DON'T TELL THEM YOU'RE A GYPSY." AND I THINK THAT HIDING WHO YOU ARE, BECOMING SECRETIVE, IS A REACTION TO WHAT THE RACE HAS GONE THROUGH THROUGHOUT HISTORY. >> I WOULD SAY THAT THERE'S NO PERIOD OF HISTORY THAT WE KNOW OF, THAT WE HAVE RECORDS OF, WHERE THEY'RE<i> NOT</i> PERSECUTED. BUT THEY ARE SURVIVORS. AS A GROUP, THEY KNOW HOW TO DO IT, THEY HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE THAN PROBABLY ANYBODY IN THE WHOLE WORLD. <i>NARRATOR:</i> CENTURIES OF MISINFORMATION ABOUT THE GYPSIES, THEIR OWN SECRETIVE NATURE, AND THE PAUCITY OF WRITTEN MATERIAL ABOUT THEM, ALL COMBINE TO MAKE THE SEARCH FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR PAST A DIFFICULT QUEST INDEED. A VEIL OF MYSTERY ENSHROUDS THEM. WHY HAVE THEY BEEN VICTIMS OF HATRED D PERSECUTION WHEREVER THEY HAVE TRAVELED? HOW DID THE ALL-PERVASIVE STEREOTYPES SURROUNDING THEM ARISE? WHAT ARE THE UNIQUE CULTURAL PRACTICES THAT THEY HAVE PRESERVED FOR NEARLY A THOUSAND YEARS? AND PERHAPS THE MOST PUZZLING AND REVEALING QUESTION OF ALL: FROM WHERE DID THEY COME, AND WHY DID THEIR LONG JOURNEY BEGIN? >> MUSIC HAS BEEN ONE OF THE GYPSIES' MAIN CONTRIBUTIONS TO WORLD CULTURE. THEIR ARRANGEMENTS HAVE INSPIRED COMPOSERS FROM FRANZ LISZT TO B.B. KING. HC >> OH, MY EYES...THE FIRE THAT BURNS INSIDE ME DRIVES ME CRAZY. WHEN I THINK OF THOSE I LOVE WHO ARE SO FAR AWAY, I CRY.erie <i>NARRATOR:</i> SOME TRADITIONAL GYPSY SONGS AND POEMS ARE TINGED WITH LONGING, WITH THE NOSTALGIA OF A DEEP-SEATED YEARNING. BUT WHERE IS THE FAR-OFF HOMELAND THAT THEY MAY NOT REMEMBER, BUT STILL CANONIZE IN SONG? SCHOLARS HAVE WRANGLED LONG AND HARD OVER THE GYPSIES' ORIGINS. ARE THEY FROM EASTERN EUROPE? FROM PERSIA? FROM ANCIENT EGYPT, AS THEIR NICKNAME "GYPSIES" SUGGESTS? >> IT'S BEEN SUGGESTED, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT OUR ANCESTORS CAME FROM THE MOON OR FROM ATLANTIS, THAT WE'RE NOT A DISTINCT PEOPLE AT ALL, BUT A CONGLOMERATION OF THE BITS AND PIECES FROM THE PERIPHERY OF EUROPEAN SOCIETY, AND THAT OUR LANGUAGE ISN'T EVEN A PROPER LANGUAGE. [MAN SPEAKING ROMANY] <i>NARRATOR:</i> IN POINT OF FACT, THE ROMANY LANGUAGE IS THE KEY THAT UNLOCKS THE RIDDLE OF THE GYPSIES. BY TRACING THE ROOTS OF THE LANGUAGE, PEELING AND EXAMINING ITS MANY LAYERS LIKE AN ONION, LINGUISTIC DETECTIVES HAVE BEEN ABLE TO UNCOVER A VIRTUAL ROAD MAP OF THE GYPSIES' TRAVELS AND TO PINPOINT THEIR UNEXPECTED STARTING PLACE. >> YOU CAN TRACE THE HISTORY OF THE LANGUAGE AND ALSO THE HISTORY OF PICKING UP LONE WORDS, SO THAT GIVES US SOME IDEA OF THE PATH OF MIGRATION THAT THE GYPSIES TOOK. AND BECAUSE THE LANGUAGE IS BASED IN SANSKRIT, WE KNOW THAT IT CAME FROM INDIA. <i>NARRATOR:</i> THE LANGUAGE CALLED ROMANY CLOSELY RESEMBLES THE HINDI, PUNJABI, AND RELATED LANGUAGES OF NORTHERN INDIA. IN ADDITION, ANTHROPOLOGICAL GENETIC BLOOD TESTS REVEAL A PROVEN PHYSICAL SIMILARITY BETWEEN PEOPLE OF ROM HERITAGE AND THE PRESENT-DAY WARRIOR CLASSES OF NORTHERN INDIA. AFTER CENTURIES OF CONTROVERSY AND DEBATE, THERE IS FINALLY A CONSENSUS OF OPINION THAT THE MODERN-DAY GYPSIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST, EUROPE, ASIA, AND THE AMERICAS BEGAN THEIR LONG JOURNEY FROM NORTHWESTERN INDIA. TODAY, GYPSY GROUPS CAN BE FOUND IN SUCH DIVERSE PLACES AS INDIA, TURKEY, THE MIDDLE EAST, EUROPE, THE AMERICAS, AUSTRALIA, AND PARTS OF AFRICA. THOUGH NO 2 GROUPS ARE ALIKE, ALL SHARE A SIMILAR NATIVE LANGUAGE AND MANY COMPARABLE CUSTOMS AND BELIEFS. >> IN ADDITION TO THE PHYSICAL ORIGINS IN INDIA AND THE LINGUISTIC ORIGINS IN INDIA, THE CULTURE IS ALSO VERY INDIAN IN MANY OF I ASPECTS. THE SPIRITUALITY IS VERY INDIAN. <i>NARRATOR:</i> TRADITIONALLY, SCHOLARS HAVE ARGUED OVER THE DATE OF THE GYPSIES' DEPARTURE FROM INDIA. <i>WHY</i> THEY LEFT THEIR HOMELAND IS A SUBJECT OF EVEN GREATER DEBATE THAN<i> WHEN</i> THEY LEFT. ONE MUCH-EMBRACED THEORY OF THE LAST CENTURY WAS BASED ON AN EPIC HISTORICAL POEM IN THE PERSIAN<i> SHAH-NAMEH,</i> OR <i>BOOK OF KINGS,</i> WHICH DESCRIBED A GROUP OF 10,000 TO 12,000 MUSICIANS, ENTERTAINERS, AND THEIR FAMILIES, WHO WERE GIVEN AS A GIFT TO THE SHAH OF PERSIA IN THE YEAR 439. WITHIN A YEAR, ACCORDING TO THE POEM, THESE PERFORMERS--THE ZOTT, OR LURI--WERE COMMANDED TO TAKE THEIR SHOW ON THE ROAD. THEIR FATE IS THUS DESCRIBED IN THE<i> BOOK OF KINGS:</i> >> THE LURI, AGREEABLE TO THIS MANDATE, NOW WANDER THE WORLD SEEKING EMPLOYMENT, ASSOCIATING WITH DOGS AND WOLVES, AND THIEVING ON THE ROAD BY DAY AND NIGHT. <i>NARRATOR:</i> A POPULATION OF LAM GYPSIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST MAY INDEED BE DESCENDED FROM THIS LOST BAND OF MUSICIANS. BUT THE<i> BOOK OF KINGS</i> THEORY DOES NOT EXPLAIN THE MAJOR MIGRATION OF GYPSIES OUT OF INDIA, WHICH OCCURRED ABOUT 500 YEARS LATER. >> IN THE PAST FEW YEARS, WE HAVE BEEN LOOKING VERY, VERY CLOSELY AT THE CLUES WHICH ARE IN THE LANGUAGE ITSELF. NOW, THE LANGUAGE--THE ROMANY LANGUAGE, ALTHOUGH IT'S INDIAN, VERY CLEARLY, CANNOT BE TRACED TO ANY SINGLE DIALECT GROUP OF INDIAN LANGUAGES. IT HAS FEATURES FROM A NUMBER OF THEM, WHICH SUGGESTS, OBVIOUSLY, THAT THE ORIGINAL POPULATION MUST HAVE SPOKEN MORE THAN ONE INDIAN LANGUAGE AND MUST THEREFORE HAVE BEEN ASSEMBLED IN SOME WAY, FOR SOME PURPOSE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN THIS PURPOSE? AT THIS MOMENT IN HISTORY, THE MUSLIMS WERE AT THE PEAK OF THEIR QUEST FOR WORLD DOMINATION. THEY WERE SPREADING BOTH WESTWARD AND EASTWARD, FORCING THEIR WAY INTO THE NORTHERN REACHES OF INDIA. COULD THE ANCESTORS OF THE GYPSIES HAVE BEEN A FORCE OF SPECIALIZED WARRIORS CALLED THE RAJPUT, WHO, WITH THEIR FAMILIES AND CAMP FOLLOWERS, WERE SENT FORTH BY THE INDIAN KINGS TO DRIVE THE INVADING MUSLIMS FROM THEIR BORDERS? [ELEPHANTS TRUMPETING] >> SO WE CAN IMAGINE A POPULATION OF MIXED LINGUISTIC AND ETHNIC ORIGIN BEING ASSEMBLED TO PUSH THE MUSLIMS OUT OF INDIA, FOLLOWING THEM OUT OF INDIA, BUT THEN BECOMING INVOLVED IN A SERIES OF CONFRONTATIONS WITH THE SPREAD OF ISLAM. AS TIME WENT BY AND AS THEY BECAME SEPARATED FROM INDIA, OBVIOUSLY THEY CLOSED RANKS AS AN INDIAN POPULATION OUTSIDE OF INDIA. <i>NARRATOR:</i> EVIDENCE FROM THE LANGUAGE ITSELF SEEMS TO SUPPORT THIS MILITARY HYPOTHESIS. THE CORE LAYER OF THE WORDS IN ROMANY CONTAIN A LARGE MILITARY VOCABULARY. FOR INSTANCE,<i> GADJE,</i> THE TERM FOR A NON-GYPSY, LITERALLY MEANS "CIVILIAN," NONMILITARY PERSON. <i>DOSH,</i> ANOTHER TERM FOR ANUTSIDER, TRANSLATES TO "PRISONER OF WAR." OTHER ORIGINAL WORDS OF THE ROOT LANGUAGE INCLUDE TERMS FOR SWORD, SPEAR, AND BATTLE CRY. WHETHER THEY LEFT AS HINDU WARRIORS OR FOR SOME OTHER REASON, SUCH AS FAMINE OR PERSECUTION, THEY LEFT A VIRTUAL MAP OF THEIR ROUTE IN THE LAYERS OF FOREIGN WORDS ADDED TO THEIR LANGUAGE OVER THE YEARS. THE ANCESTORS OF THE ROM CAME FROM NORTHWESTERN INDIA, MOVED IN A STRAIGHT LINE ACROSS TO THE COAST OF THE CASPIAN, PASSED THROUGH PERSIAN LINGUISTIC TERRITORY, PUSHED ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS OF THE CAUCASUS MOUNTAINS TO THE NORTH COAST OF THE GREEK BYZANTINE EMPIRE--NOW TURKEY-- THEN TRAVELED ON TOWARD EUROPE. >> THEY WERE WANDERERS-- SOMETIMES BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO, BUT MORE BECAUSE OF PUSH AND PULL FACTORS, BECAUSE THEY WERE CONSIDERED PARIAH. AND AS YOU WANDER, YOU LEARN HOW TO SURVIVE BY YOUR WITS, AND YOU PICK UP THINGS FROM THE INDIGENOUS CULTURES THAT YOU'RE LIVING FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME OR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. <i>NARRATOR:</i> ALONG THE WAY, THE NEW ADDITIONS TO THE ROMANY LANGUAGE SUGGEST THE LENGTH OF THEIR STAY, AS WELL AS HOW THEY MIGHT HAVE SURVIVED IN EACH NEW COUNTRY. THEY MUST HAVE REMAINED A LONG TIME IN PERSIA, WHERE A LAYER OF FARMING WORDS WAS ADDED TO THEIR VOCABULARY. ARMENIAN WORDS SUGGEST THEIR FIRST CONTACT WITH CHRISTIANITY MAY HAVE HAPPENED THERE. OVER 200 GREEK BYZANTINE WORDS INDICATE THAT IT WAS THERE THAT THEY TOOK UP THE PROFESSIONS OF METALWORKING, AT WHICH THEY BECAME INCREASINGLY SKILLED AND WHICH THEY COULD TAKE WITH THEM IF THEY WERE FORCED TO MOVE AGAIN. IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, WHERE THEY STAYED FOR AT LEAST 100 YEARS, THERE ALSO EXIST WRITTEN RECORDS DESCRIBING THE GYPSIES SUPPORTING THEMSELVES BY FORTUNE-TELLING, HERBAL HEALING, AND VARIOUS MEANS OF ENTERTAINMENT. >> THOSE WHO LEAD BEARS AROUND ARE CALLED BEAR-KEEPERS. THEY PLACE TIGHT THREADS ON THE HEAD AND ON THE ENTIRE BODY OF THE ANIMAL. THEN THEY WOULD CUT THESE THREADS AND OFFER THEM, ALONG WITH PARTS OF THE ANIMAL'S HAIR, AS AMULETS AND AS A CURE FOR DISEASES AND THE EVIL EYE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> BUT NO ENCHANTED AMULET COULD PROTECT THE GYPSIES FROM THEIR NEXT TRIAL--THE VIOLENT FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE. >> THE MUSLIMS WERE ALSO SPREADING OUT IN OTHER DIRECTIONS, INCLUDING TOWARDS THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, WHICH THEY ULTIMATELY TOOK OVER, AND THEY KEPT ON GOING AND MOVED UP INTO THE BALKANS, SO THE OTTOMANS WERE NOW IN EUROPE. AND THE ROMANY POPULATION WAS KIND OF CARRIED ALONG ON THE CREST OF THE WAVE UP INTO EUROPE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> IF THE GYSIES THOUGHT THEY'D HAD A HARD FIRST 300 YEARS, THIS EARLY PORTION OF THEIR JOURNEY WOULD PALE IN COMPARISON TO THE FATE THAT AWAITED THEM AMONG THE LIGHT-SKINNED PEOPLES OF EASTERN AND WESTERN EUROPE. ( bass guitar plays ) <i>NARRATOR:</i> AT THE TURN OF THE 14th CENTURY, MUCH OF THE WORLD WAS IN TURMOIL. THE CONQUERING OTTOMAN EMPIRE WAS NOW TURNING ITS SIGHT TOWARD THE WEST, AND THE MONGOL EMPIRE AND ITS FEARSOME TARTAR ARMY-- BATU KHAN'S GOLDEN HORDE--WERE SLOWLY WORKING THEIR WAY SOUTH. WITH THE FALL OF THE ONCE-MIGHTY BYZANTINE EMPIRE, THE GYPSIES HAD NOWHERE TO GO BUT TOWARD THE BALKAN MOUNTAINS OF EASTERN EUROPE, WHICH, FOR THE TIME BEING, SEEME TO PROMISE SAFE HAVEN. THE FIRST HISTORICAL TRACES OF ROMA IN EASTERN EUROPE PLACE THEM IN THE PRINCIPALITIES OF WALLACHIA AND MOLDAVIA, NOW PART OF PRESENT-DAY ROMANIA. THESE EARLY ARRIVALS FOUND THEMSELVES IN A SOCIETY THAT WAS STILL MOSTLY AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICALLY BACKWARD. >> SO HERE COME THE ROMA WITH IMPORTANT SKILLS, ESPECIALLY METALWORKING SKILLS, AND THEY BECAME SO ESSENTIAL TO THE ECONOMY THAT LAWS BEGAN TO BE PASSED TO MAKE THESE EMPLOYEES PROPERTY. <i>NARRATOR:</i> BY THE TIME THE OTTOMAN INVASION HAD REACHED TRANSYLVANIA AND HUNGARY, SOME GYPSIES HAD BEEN MADE SLAVES OF THE TURKS. OTHERS HAD BECOME ENSNARED IN THE EUROPEAN FEUDAL SYSTEM. THEY WERE FORCED INTO SERFDOM AND EVENTUALLY OUTRIGHT SLAVERY BY THE LANDOWNERS WHO HAD COME TO DEPEND ON THEIR SKILLS. THIS WOULD ONLY BE THE BEGINNING OF THE GYPSIES' LONG AND TRAGIC HISTORY IN EASTERN EUROPE. >> IT'S KIND OF--BASICALLY, WE'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU A PIECE OF LAND, BUT YOU'RE GOING TO FOLLOW OUR RULES, WHICH ARE OPPRESSION, DISCRIMINATION, AND SLAVERY. SO, IT'S GOING ON FOR CENTURIES AND CENTURIES. <i>NARRATOR:</i> MEANWHILE, SOME ROMA MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE FEUDAL TRAP OF EASTERN EUROPE'S OTTOMAN TERRITORIES AND CONTINUED THEIR SLOW FORAY WEST. THEIR ARRIVAL SENT SHOCK WAVES THROUGH THE PROVINCIAL WORLD OF MEDIEVAL EUROPE. THEY WERE DARK-SKINNED AND SPOKE A LANGUAGE NO ONE HAD HEARD BEFORE. >> THE PEOPLE THEY WERE MEETING WHO WERE HORRIFIED BY THEIR APPEARANCE AND BY THE FACT THAT THEY WERE NOT SERFS ON SOMEBODY'S LAND--I MEAN, IT WAS REALLY A DIFFERENT KIND OF GROUP THAT PEOPLE HADN'T SEEN IN EUROPE, SO THEY NEEDED AN EXPLANATION OF WHO THEY WERE. <i>NARRATOR:</i> DESIROUS OF PREVENTING THE ENSLAVEMENT OF THE BALKANS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN, MANY ROM GROUPS SEEMED TO HAVE DISCOVERED A UNIQUE AND CLEVER WAY TO EXPLAIN THEIR UNEXPECTED ARRIVAL IN THE WEST. CHRISTIAN EUROPEANS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES WERE DEVOUTLY PIOUS, AND THE GYPSIES, WHILE THEY WERE IN THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE, WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT RELIGIOUS PILGRIMS WERE ALWAYS TREATED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT AND REGULARLY GIFTED WITH ALMS, FOOD, AND SHELTER. >> AND WHEN THEY CAME, THEY WERE WELCOMED. THESE WERE PEOPLE THAT THEY THOUGHT WERE PILGRIMS FROM PERHAPS EGYPT, PERHAPS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST, AND SO THEY SAID, "YOU COME FROM LITTLE EGYPT?" THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH EGYPTIANS WHATSOEVER, BUT THEY KNEW WHAT TO SAY AND WHEN TO SAY IT, AND WHY? THEY WANTED TO SURVIVE. THEY SAID, "YOU KNOW WHAT? LET THEM THINK WHAT THEY WANT. I'LL THINK WHAT I WANT UP HERE, BUT THEY WON'T BOTHER ME, AND I CAN EAT AND RAISE MY CHILDREN FOR NOW IN THIS ENCAMPMENT HERE." <i>NARRATOR:</i> THUS THE NOMADIC TRAVELERS WHO HAD LEFT THEIR HOMELAND IN INDIA SOME 400 YEARS EARLIER BECAME KNOWN TO THE EUROPEANS AS EGYPTIANS, OR GYPSIES. THE ROM USED THIS CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY TO THEIR ADVANTAGE. BY THE EARLY 1400s, EUROPE BEGAN TO BUZZ WITH REPORTS OF ORGANIZED GROUPS OF GYPSIES HEADED BY LEADERS WITH IMPRESSIVE TITLES LIKE PRINCE, DUKE, AND COUNT. THESE BANDS OF PILGRIMS ARRIVED IN SPAIN, IN FRANCE, IN GERMANY, IN ITALY, CARRYING WITH THEM IMPERIAL LETTERS OF SAFE CONDUCT ORDERING THAT THE BEARERS BE TREATED WITH ALL THE KINDNESS AND CIVILITY DUE TRUE RELIGIOUS PENITENTS. MEDIEVAL HISTORIAN SEBASTIAN MUNSTER MET SUCH A GROUP OF GYPSIES OUTSIDE OF HEIDELBERG, GERMANY. THEY PRESENTED HIM WITH A LETTER OF SAFE CONDUCT FROM SIGISMUND, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPEROR. >> IT WAS TOLD HOW THEIR ANCESTORS IN LESSER EGYPT HAD ABANDONED THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION AND TURNED TO THE ERROR OF THE PAGANS AND THAT AFTER THEIR REPENTANCE, A PENANCE HAD BEEN IMPOSED UPON THEM THAT SOME MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES SHOULD WANDER ABOUT THE WORLD IN EXILE TO EXPIATE THEIR SINS. <i>NARRATOR:</i> SOMETIMES THE GYPSIES' LETTERS OF SAFE PASSAGE WERE REAL. SOMETIMES THEY WERE CLEARLY COPIES OR FORGERIES. OFTEN THE TRAVELERS WOULD CLAIM TO BE PENITENTS. SOMETIMES THEY CLAIMED OTHER RELIGIOUS REASONS FOR THEIR NOMADIC JOURNEY. THEY EVEN INCORPORATED LOCAL RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS INTO THE COMPLEX WEB OF SPIRITUAL BELIEFS THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM FROM INDIA, THUS EASING THEIR ASSIMILATION INTO THE STRANGE LANDS AND CULTURES IN WHICH THEY FOUND THEMSELVES. >> THEY ADOPTED CHRISTIANITY QUITE READILY, AND MARY BECAME A VERY STRONG FIGURE. WHEN THEY CAME TO THE COUNTRY-- IF IT WAS CZECHOSLOVAKIA, A PROTESTANT COUNTRY; POLAND, CATHOLIC COUNTRY--THEY BECAME-- "YES, WE'LL BECOME CATHOLIC. WE'LL BECOME PROTESTANT." THEY, THOUGH, ALSO KEPT SOME OF THEIR NATIVE CULTURAL ICONS, AND THEY CELEBRATED DAYS. YOU KNOW, THEY CELEBRATED A HOLIDAY TO THIS PERSON, AND IT'S NOT IN THE WESTERN CHRISTIAN RELIGION. IT WAS SOMEONE--WHO KNOWS?-- IT COULD HAVE BEEN JUST A RELATIVE 300 YEARS AGO. BUT THEY GENERALLY ADOPTED THE RELIGION OF THE HOST NATION. <i>NARRATOR:</i> FOR A FEW DECADES, THE GYPSIES' RELIGIOUS PILGRIM COVER STORY SEEMED TO WORK. THE ROM, WHILE NOT EXACTLY WELCOMED BY THE EUROPEANS, WERE AT THE VERY LEAST TREATED WITH A MODICUM OF RESPECT AND MUCH CURIOSITY. ROMA CLANS MOVED FROM TOWN TO TOWN, CAMPING IN FIELDS, PERHAPS DOING SOME TINKERING, ENTERTAINING, OR FORTUNE-TELLING IN EXCHANGE FOR FOOD AND ALMS. THEY ALSO APPEARED TO BE MASTERS IN THE ARTS OF HERBAL MEDICINE. ONE GYPSY HEALER WAS REPUTED TO HAVE SAVED THE LIFE OF THE KING OF SCOTLAND HIMSELF. BUT BETWEEN THE MID-1400s AND THE TURN OF THE FOLLOWING CENTURY, THERE BEGAN A MARKED DETERIORATION IN THE ATTITUDES OF THE EUROPEANS TOWARD THE VISITING POPULATIONS OF ROMA. THE GERMAN CHRONICLER AVENTINUS, WRITING IN 1522, ECHOES THE MOOD OF HATRED AND INTOLERANCE THAT HAD BEGUN TO SPREAD SEVERAL DECADES EARLIER. >> GYPSIES--AT THIS TIME, THAT THIEVISH RACE OF MEN, THE DREGS AND BILGE WATER OF VARIOUS PEOPLES, WHO LIVE ON THE BORDERS OF THE TURKISH EMPIRE OUT OF HUNGARY, BEGAN TO WANDER THROUGH OUR PROVINCES UNDER THEIR KING ZIMDELO, AND BY DINT OF THEFT, ROBBERY, AND FORTUNE-TELLING, THEY SEEK THEIR SUSTENANCE WITH IMPUNITY. THEY RELATE FALSELY THAT THEY ARE FROM EGYPT AND ARE CONSTRAINED BY THE GODS TO EXILE, BUT I HAVE LEARNED FROM EXPERIENCE THAT THEY ARE TRAITORS AND SPIES. >> IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYBODY HAS HIS SPACE, FOR ROMA, THERE'S NOWHERE TO GO. THERE'S NO TERRITORY. SO YOU'RE MOVED FROM ONE AREA WHERE YOU DON'T BELONG INTO ANOTHER AREA WHERE YOU STILL DON'T BELONG. >> ROMA ORAL TRADITION MAINTAINS THAT THE GYPSIES INTRODUCED PLAYING CARDS, FISHING LURES, AND THE VIOLIN TO EUROPE AND THAT THEY BROUGHT KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO MANUFACTURE MUSKETS AND CANNON. D THEY A Myst.eries: G THIEVES IN ALL THE WORLD.e Hiie: <i>NARRATOR:</i> BY THE MIDDLE FASCINATION WITH THE GYPSIESS y's, PREJUDICE, AND HATRED.steriene >> ROMA WERE SUSPECTEDies:C FOR LOOKING DIFFERENT, DRESSING DIFFERENTLY, SPEAKING A LANG
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