This is going to be a long post full of lots of quotes. Just a warning.
Romania: “In the first years of the Communist regime, a previously unimaginable phenomenon in relation to the Gypsies showed itself: a relatively large number of Gypsies were employed in the Party apparatus, the militia, army and the security apparatus.”(1) However this also came along with the government making them stop being nomadic and settle in houses. A lot of times being forced into these better houses meant taking a primarily Roma community, demolishing it, and then dispersing them to various different neighborhoods. So it may seem fine, but that’s forced assimilation. It is one thing to be given the option for better housing and to have your house completely obliterated and forced to move. Especially since many of these demolished communities had been there for centuries, as a group. And families/”groups” is an extremely important value in Roma culture.
From my own knowledge of the groups of Roma in Romanian, many of them did suffer due to this forced assimilation. Many groups are looked down upon because they barely practice certain cultural norms or speak the language. The culture is so deeply intertwined with the racial identity of being Romani that to some other Roma, these groups are barely considered Romani at all. It also has to be said that Romania has some of the most wealthy Roma in certain parts of the country — primarily ones who made their money selling metal after the fall of Communism.
USSR: The USSR definitely has a fascinating history involving Gypsies. They were one of the first nations who forced nomadic Roma to become non-nomads, as many of the countries did. There were a lot of propaganda books written in the Roma language to teach Roma how to be proper citizens: such as suggesting Roma women give up fortune telling, that working in factories is best, etc.(2)
“Hundreds of Romani citizens themselves lobbied Moscow for a Soviet Gypsy homeland as a key to their integration into Soviet economic, social, and cultural life. In 1936, the chairman of the Soviet of Nationalities celebrated the anticipated creation of an Autonomous Gypsy Soviet Socialist Republic.”(3) Of course that never really came to be — nor am I really sure it would have ended well if it did happen — but this is one of the rare times in history a proposal like this was ever genuinely considered. A lot of the successful Roma in the USSR were farmers of land given to them by the Soviets. A lot of these farmers are those who ended up trying to propose the Autonomous Gypsy region. That is a pretty big deal because back then and nowadays, Roma really weren’t involved in politics. Ultimately the idea was thrown away and never allowed to happen. This was primarily scrapped because Soviets couldn’t fully embrace the idea it would be successful due to them believing Roma were inherently incapable of successful, sedentary lives and that it would be a waste of money. However, the fact it did come so close to reality is pretty astounding.
Hungary: “In 1987 the Hungary’s Communist government funded a genetic study of Gypsies that purported to prove that Gypsy ‘criminality’ is hereditary.” Hungary is by far one of the most cruelly antiziganist countries and this was true even under communism. “In Hungary in 1961 special measures were envisaged against the discrimination of Roma in Hungarian society, and the housing program of 1964 envisaged liquidation of 2.500 Roma separate settlements.”(4) Many ended up employed, but it did come with the price of being forced out of their communities and giving up many cultural practices.
Though it’s not like things were better after Communism in Hungary. “Since the fall of the communist regime the economic situation of Hungary's Romas has worsened dramatically. The unemployment rate among Hungary's Romas is now between 60 and 70 % of adult males and in some regions, the rate is between 80 and 100%.”(5) In this year alone, antiziganist marches were held. Hungary admitted to purposefully segregating Roma in education — and then the Prime Minister came out to disagree with the ruling by saying Roma kids are violent.
Yugoslavia: There is more to say, but overall, I feel Yugoslavia did pretty well. “The situation in Yugoslavia is a specific case. In an 1969 article, Slobodan Berberski — Rom and Communist functionary of long standing, political prisoner, resistance fighter from the WW2, member of the Central Committee of the Union of Yugoslav Communists — announced that Yugoslav Roma would create their own organization, which had the main aim to assist Roma to achieve the status of a “nationality.” In the 1970s over 60 Roma organizations existed and their number was constantly on the increase. Various initiatives, largely cultural events, were supported by the Yugoslav state; books were published in Romani, Roma TV and radio broadcasts began. In 1986 existing Roma associations united in a Union of Roma Associations in Yugoslavia.”(6)
Czechoslovakia: In Czechoslovakia, Roma were given allotted land for farming and some aspects of social support, under the Communist government, there was still extreme racism and forced assimilation. “As Communism came over to Czechoslovakia, a chilling ‘solution’ to the proliferation of the Roma came about: the uninformed and non-consenting sterilization of Roma women, often under the guise of caesarean sections and abortions, and under pressure from social workers who would get their uninformed consent with promises of cash and tangible goods.”(7) Half of the women who were sterilized in Czechoslovakia were Roma women.
Many children were stolen from their families and made to be raised and/or educated by non-Roma families. This happened (and still happens) a lot under non-Communist governments too. There were also proposals about making Ghettos for Roma specifically during these times. As well, there were limits on how many Roma could be in a specific place. “A planned programme for transferring Roma from overcrowded settlements in Slovakia and dispersing them to suitable locations in the Czech lands. A maximum permissible portion of Roma per community was set at 5%. As a Romani spokesman sardonically commented: ‘They planned the numbers for each village - horses, cows and Gypsies’.”(8)
Post-Communism was not good either. “Observers note a marked increase in hate crimes committed against Roma victims in central and Eastern Europe since the collapse of communism. Although the Roma have always been a socially and economically marginalized population in Eastern Europe, now more than ever Roma communities and neighborhoods are often found lacking in electricity and clean water.”(9)
Overall, I think it is important to look into history and see how certain policies affected certain groups. Honestly I shied away from calling myself a “communist” for a while because of this history. Where do Gypsies belong in a communist society, if the only examples we have are ones that ultimately viewed us as problems? How does a good communist society allow for people to not be forced to integrate and assimilate if they do not wish to? Does the better living situations/employment outweigh the need to hold onto cultural practices? Do non-Roma get to decide who is worthy of communism if we do not fully conform to the society (without trying to actively undermine it either)? I am not trying to start a struggle session, believe me. But I believe it is important for everyone — white communists and other nonWhite communists who likely benefit from antiziganism too — to look into the history of Romani people, both under communism/socialism and other types of governments. We are one of the world’s most persecuted groups, and our history does matter in how we go about the future. We always want to strive to do better.
I’ll leave it off on this note: “On the one hand, living conditions of Roma and their educational level has seen a rapid improvement in comparison with past historic periods, the degree of their integration has grown, and considerable strata of relatively well educated Roma have emerged etc. On the other hand, however, the price paid for this integration is quite high.” (10)
Disclaimer: Not all these sources are exactly pro-Communism, but most are unbiased and focused on facts. Some of them also come across vaguely antiziganist. You would be hard pressed to find a source that is 100% without antiziganism and antiCommunism, so I tried my best. Also no struggle session on whether these govs were "actually communist/socialist" please. Let us just be respectful of Roma history. Also I am a tankie so don't try to make me seem anti-commie as well. ALSO I am Roma so it's fine that I said Gypsy. Okay, that's all.
