Under the wolf sun What religious customs do the gypsies observe?

What is the religion of the gypsies? Not only their outfits are colorful. Their religious views are also very diverse. They mainly depend on where they live. Although, of course, there are exceptions to every rule.

Where do Gypsies who profess Orthodoxy live?

For example, among those who live in Russia, the prevailing religion is Orthodoxy, as well as among the bulk of Russians. As in the main part of the CIS countries. Romanians also have Orthodoxy.

In what countries do Muslim Gypsies live?

Lyuli (gypsies living in Tajikistan) predominantly adhere to the Islamic faith. Like many living in Central Asia and North Africa.

Where do Roman Catholics and Protestants live?

Among the Roma living in Poland and others European countries, the main religion is Catholicism. The situation is the same with Protestantism. In countries where this religion is widespread, they adhere to it.

In art

In the film "Gypsy Aza" the Sun was often mentioned, and even as a deity. Who knows, maybe they worshiped the Sun and followed him? In any case, one of these people could well.

A legend that is widespread among the gypsies

A beautiful legend is also widespread among this people. When the Romans decided to crucify Christ, they ordered a blacksmith (who, of course, was a gypsy) to make five large nails, that is, forge, they were needed to carry out the execution. Four is for the arms and legs, and the fifth is for the heart. He, of course, made an attempt to refuse, but he, with the help of whips, was forced to do the job.

When the execution began, the gypsy quietly swallowed the fifth nail intended for the heart. For this, the Lord loved all the gypsies and patronizes them to this day.

Another version is less poetic: the gypsy simply stole the fifth nail, and for this God allowed the gypsies to steal.

As with any nation, there are also atheists among the Roma. This is especially typical in our time. But in principle, this is the most religious people. They regularly attend church and perform all the rituals typical of the country in which they live. This is especially typical for the older generation.

What can be said as a conclusion?

The life and customs of the Gypsy people are in many ways similar to the customs of the countries in which they live. That is, this people has the ability to adapt to everything. Including the religion of the state in which they live on this moment... They do not have an official religion, which this people adheres to in all countries of residence.

First, let's get acquainted with the literary tradition. From the quotes below, one can judge that they have written about the religiosity of the Gypsies for the last two hundred years:

They do not profess any religion, but follow fetishism, that is, they worship objects useful for their life: tents, carts and forges; they believe like the Turks in predestination. In Christian lands they pretend to be Christians, in Turkey they are Mohammedans, and with Jews they are Jews. 1
Mikhail Kogalnichanu. 1837 g.

Gypsies do not have a trace of religion, and if one oriental writer claims that "there are seventy-two faiths and a half in the world," meaning "half" is the faith of the Gypsies, then this is not true, because they have no faith at all. 2
"Light in Pictures". 1880 g.

Not understanding anything in the Christian faith, the gypsy usually willingly accepts it, but only outwardly. At the same time, he does not even distinguish what kind of faith he accepts - for him all faiths are equally incomprehensible; he only looks at which is more profitable for him. 3
A. Schiele. 1878 g.

... Gypsies are generally not religious and are rather superstitious than pious. As many researchers of Roma life have noted, when asked, "What kind of faith are you?" the gypsies answered: "And which one do you want?" 4
Hope Demeter. 1995 year

It is interesting, for example, that in the Russian provinces they may well be Orthodox: they go to church, earnestly cross themselves. If they leave for Tataria tomorrow, they will be exemplary Muslims. They are kind of "afraid of being fired. 5
Nikolai Klimontovich. 1997 year

By and large, the literature on the religious views of the Roma can be divided into two currents. They are not formalized in strict schools, since often the same author in the first paragraph tends to one system of views, and then, without batting an eye, defends another. Such confusion is characteristic of gypsy studies. But, let's still draw a distinction. There are two theories:
1. Gypsies are pagans. But they hide it, accepting a different faith for the sake of appearance.
2. Gypsies are conformists who change religion with extraordinary ease, guided only by profit.
Agree, this is not the same thing. In the first case, the Roma have their own religion. Let them hide it for security reasons - but still it is.
Pagan religion? In the modern world, this is not a crime. In India alone, eight hundred million people worship pagan gods - which does not at all prevent governments from concluding diplomatic agreements with this state, and ordinary people from loving Indian cinema ... , there would be nothing wrong with that.
The second theory is much more dangerous. According to her, there is nowhere to put a stigma on the gypsies. They are atheists, hypocrites. They don't believe in anything, but they pretend to be believers.
Now I will analyze both belief systems in order.

I'll start with the gypsy "paganism".
There is no doubt that the Gypsies were originally pagans. Their ancestors, roaming around India, professed the same faith as the entire population of this hot eastern country ... If we look at the world as a whole, it turns out that very many peoples in that distant era worshiped idols, ancestor spirits and the like. Pagans were then the ancestors of modern Swedes, Norwegians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Latvians, Poles, Irish. I'm not talking about our own ancestors. Even in those Western countries that officially adopted Christianity relatively quickly, pagan communities continued to exist, causing a lot of concern among the ruling church.
But the indigenous peoples of Europe still believed in Christ, didn't they?
They believed. Someone earlier than gypsies, someone at the same time, and someone even later ... And more big question whose "Christian experience" is longer!
When the camps reached Byzantium, they no longer held on to pagan cults. Their conversion to Orthodoxy was recorded in writing already in 1322 by Simon Simeonis and Hugo the Enlightened. However, the Roma adopted Christianity not in Byzantium, but much earlier - while in Armenia. In any case, it is from Armenian language some words from church use entered the gypsy language. So the word " patradi"(from the Armenian" patarag "- worship) - is found in many dialects of European Gypsies, where it means Easter. In the Balkans, Gypsies use the Armenian word" hung"(incense). The Indian word" trishula "(Shiva's trident) was transformed on the territory of Armenia into a cross (" trushul"- among European gypsies, and among Armenian" tresul So, we Russians should not forget that the Gypsies adopted Christianity two hundred years earlier than us. I am sure that this fact, well known to scientists, will seem astonishing to our society.

Since the exit from Byzantium, nothing indicates that at least some of the tabors worshiped Indian deities. Of course, when nomads appeared in Western Europe, not everyone believed their version of the pilgrimage to atone for sins. And ordinary inhabitants, and nobles, and churchmen gossiped that uninvited guests are in fact: atheists, pagans, idolaters, Mohammedans ... 6 That is exactly how it was said, separated by commas, although atheism, paganism and Islam are conflicting worldviews.
Who prevailed: gossips or sane Europeans? This depended not least on the gypsies themselves. It was their everyday behavior that persuaded the church and parishioners to adopt this or that policy. I dare say that the gypsies have “passed the test” for religious loyalty with honor. In any case, the Inquisition did not touch them (for more details, see).
Let's analyze the situation using the example of one specific country.
In Sweden, Roma were greeted with caution. At first they were mistaken for a splinter of the Mongol-Tatar horde, before which the entire West trembled at that time. Believing that they were dealing with pagans, the Swedes even called the newcomers "Tatars" - it took a hundred years for this erroneous term to be supplanted by the word "gypsies". Accordingly, the church at first shared a subconscious fear of the pagan East. In 1560, half a century after the appearance of the nomads, a decree was adopted strictly forbidding the clergy to deal with them ... Meanwhile, time passed. The secular authorities of Sweden, following the example of their neighbors, adopted anti-Roma laws, which, by the way, were executed carelessly. Queen Christina discussed with her court council whether to send the gypsies to America, but this was only a discussion. In practice, the gypsies were equated with "vagabonds and the poor", sending only those who were caught red-handed for theft and the like on the galleys. In a word, nomadic camps and society looked closely at each other, as it were. Already in 1686, the church realized its mistake. When the new Church Code was adopted, a paragraph was included in its third section, according to which it was allowed to baptize Roma children, and the Roma themselves, if they wanted to settle in a specific place, were allowed into the flock. The softening of the church position had an impact on society as a whole.7
So, gradually the situation returned to normal. Swarthy mothers, as befits Christians, brought their children to church in order to perform the sacrament of baptism. The priests performed the ceremony. Such a situation suited anyone ... except for the Gypsy scholars of the Western school. Is it possible to allow people to trust a nomadic people? And now Charles Lelan frightens the gullible public with details that are known only to him. According to him, once a year Scandinavian gypsies gather under the cover of night darkness in order to "baptize" all the children whom their parents have recently baptized in order to lure gifts from strangers. On this occasion, wild orgies are arranged. Nomads worship a small idol, which is kept in the greatest secret by the leader of their tribe.8 This was written in the 19th century, but even today you can find cave ideas about the religious views of the gypsies in a quite respectable publication. Rosemary Helen Guili writes:
"The world of the gypsies is inhabited by different spirits and deities. Del is both a god and" everything above "- heaven, heaven and heavenly bodies. Pharaun is a god who, they say, was once a great pharaoh in the long-lost land of gypsies," Little Egypt. "Beng is the devil, the cause of all evil. Like Christians, the gypsies portrayed the devil as a freak with a reptile-like tail and the ability to change appearance. There are legends about conspiracy with the devil. Moon and fire worship is strong among the gypsies; apparently, they never worshiped the sun, at least seriously. The moon is identified with the god Alako, the protector of the gypsies, who takes their souls after death. At first Alako was Dundra, the son of a god sent to earth to teach people the law: he ascended to the moon when he finished his mission, and became a god.Fire is considered sacred, capable of healing, protecting, maintaining health and punishing evil.
The Bibi cult is the worship of a goddess like the Greek Lamia, who strangles gorgio - not gypsy children, infecting them with cholera, tuberculosis and typhoid.
Gypsies also practice the worship of the phallus and inanimate objects such as the anvil. The horse and bear are considered godlike creatures. "9
Do not ask where the researcher got such, to put it mildly, unverified information. Conversations about the beliefs of the Gypsies have always been conducted according to the principle: "One woman said." Here is a quote from the work of a foreign gypsy scholar, who, however, did not share the theory of the "godlikeness" of a horse, and wrote something exactly the opposite:
"This horse sacrifice was also noticed among the Gypsies of the Russian Empire. In 1830, a Russian landowner told me that Gypsies in the vicinity of Moscow and on the Don arrange horse sacrifices and eat part of their meat, performing the most ancient rite of idolatry."
The unnamed landowner told - the gypsy scholar wrote it down. The theory is proven! .. Of course, Russian gypsies will be surprised if they hear that they had such a custom. But who cares about their surprise and indignation? The paper will endure everything.

Great harm to gypsy studies was caused by the inventions of our compatriot Eliseev. As you know, he published a book, according to which the names of the Indian gods Brahma and Lakshmi have been preserved in gypsy folklore. Again, I will not dwell here on exposing this falsification. Those interested can refer to a separate ARTICLE on this topic.
Defenders of the dying theory have found a way out. For several decades in pseudo-scientific journalism there has been a thesis that the gypsies have their own pagan God - Deval… The reader may believe it without understanding it. After all, there is a vocative form from the word cases sounding devla.11 But I can't help making a sarcastic comment. "Why," I ask my opponents, "did you stop there? With the same exact basis, one could assert that the Italians have their own personal God -" Dio ". And the English have a separate pagan deity - they call him" Year ". And the French, too -" Dieu. "And the Spaniards -" Diaz. "
Unfortunately, even now some Russian authors consistently defend the absolutely false point of view that the gypsies of our country have a whole pantheon of pagan gods. At the same time, they cannot introduce us to any living pagan, referring usually to the fact that they themselves met them, but long ago, and in a remote province ... and in general, the gypsies are a very secretive tribe. They reveal their secrets only to those whom they trust unquestioningly.
Needless to say, this is nonsense. Belief in God is not something shameful. The whole history of mankind shows that they are proud of the faith, they readily tell about its postulates to strangers. Ethnographic science does not know peoples who, in the absence of religious persecution, would hide their true beliefs. This applies especially to our homeland. Tsarist Russia can hardly be called intolerant, in which Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Lamaism and shamanistic cults coexisted legally. So what was the point for the gypsies to hide their paganism (if it existed in reality)? Exactly the same can be said about Russia today. The state and society are quite tolerant of the revival of traditional religions and even the emergence of many exotic sects. What are the gypsies afraid of? Satanists - and they walk quite openly!
So: not a single gypsy confirms that she worships Dundra or Faraun, not a single Russian woman who has entered into an interethnic marriage has not encountered something unusual in the religious sphere. What kind of people are they? All as one - conspirators are worse than intelligence officers or professional revolutionaries! ..
(Just do not pass off as paganism belief in creatures similar to our brownies, goblin, mermaids. Similar characters are borrowed from the Russian common people during two centuries of ethnocultural contacts. )

So, we sort of figured out the first theory. But before parting with it, I will quote an interesting passage. It's like a bridge. Connecting thread. A smooth transition to theory number two. Western gypsy scholar Charles Lelan, who visited Russia in the late 1880s, had to grit his teeth and admit that our gypsies are Orthodox. Look, however, in what form this confession is made:
“After studying this subject, I discovered that Russian Gypsies profess Christianity. But the church of the Greek rite, as far as I have seen, is practically not much better than idolatry. Therefore, I cannot consider them a model of evangelical religiosity.” 12
As you can see, my dear Russian readers, from the point of view of a Western researcher, our Orthodoxy is, in fact, the same paganism. You offended? Now try to put yourself in the shoes of the gypsies. Where a Russian believer hears one printed libel, they listen to thousands. In order to better understand the gypsies, let's arrange a small psychological experiment. Imagine that a Western journalist, having visited Moscow, writes the following:
"From the outside, a Russian person looks Orthodox (this is embodied in icons, prayers and temples). But in the depths of barbarian souls there is a cult absorbed with mother's milk, which is carefully hidden from the uninitiated. For Russians worship the navel of a whale that has belched out all living things."
Of course, for Russians, such an article is just poorly written science fiction. And the gypsies should sympathize. They have been written about them in this vein for several centuries. And they are not going to stop ...

Now about the second theory, which says: "Gypsies are hypocrites."
Unfortunately, in the scientific literature there is a preconceived opinion that the nomadic people changed religion under the influence of self-interest. Ethnographers were based on the fact that in every country the Roma "adjust" to the dominant church. From their reasoning it turns out that, having driven into unfamiliar places, the head of the family gathered everyone around the fire and made a speech: "Stop praying in the old way. There are other orders. From tomorrow we pretend that we have believed in another god!"
Will you say nonsense? Can't a scientist reason so primitively? Maybe. It all started with the founder of Gypsy studies, Grelman, who said: “The Gypsies simply adopt the religion of the country in which they live. change your faith in every new place, just like other people change their clothes. ”13
Following Grelman, the same postulate was repeated by his numerous followers, and almost word for word. From the middle of the 19th century, it became good form add, for completeness, a parable about a nomad who was asked what kind of faith he was. The answers vary from country to country. A Ukrainian gypsy, for example, seemed to be answering: “And what about you, father, treba?” 14
You have already read the Russian version in the epigraphs presented by Nadezhda Demeter (who in print expressed her surprise that almost all Gypsies baptize their children) .15
In Serbia, according to local ethnographer Tihomir Djordjevic, a gypsy peacefully spoke to his interlocutor about his faith: “Whatever you want, sir.” 16
So, Djordjevic agreed with other scholars on the question of the indifference of the gypsies to religion. And then I don’t know how the gypsy scholars do it! - gave in his book details that undermine the preconceived theory. And no wonder. The founding fathers wrote about the nomadic people in general, and Djordjevic had to talk about his homeland. In short, the situation in Serbia looked like this. In the era of the Ottoman yoke, both the Orthodox Church and the mosque had a spiritual influence on the Roma. Those nomads who came from the south wore Turkish names and obeyed the Mohammedan rituals, and the newcomers from Wallachia were baptized and bore Vlash, as well as Serbian names. Some of the Roma have lived on the outskirts of the city for centuries, communicating mainly with the Turks. It is only natural that these people sincerely believed in Allah.
Meanwhile, Porta's power was reeling. Beginning in 1830, ethnic Turks began to gradually leave Serbia, and after independence from the Ottoman Empire was proclaimed in 1878, there was practically no Turkish population left. At least two consequences logically flowed from this. First, mosques and mullahs disappeared. Second, having lost their external Islamic influence, finding themselves in a purely Orthodox environment, Muslim gypsies, according to all the postulates of gypsy studies, had to immediately change their faith "like a dress."
Has this happened? Djordjevic (how to go against the truth?) Admits that he does not. Instead of a massive conversion to Orthodoxy, an inexplicable incident took place. In a number of areas, Muslim Roma gradually lost their Islamic rituals. Neither holidays, nor the birth of a child, nor the funeral were accompanied by appropriate ceremonies. And for all that, people from the communities described continued to consider themselves Muslims, and when they were told that there were no rituals, they were discouraged that this was their "Pharaoh's" faith.
In 1892, the soul of Bishop Melentius could not resist, who began to insist on the transfer of the "atheists" to Orthodoxy. Roma began to be baptized en masse. Again, according to the myth of the disregard of this people for matters of faith, everything should have gone smoothly. But for some reason some of the Gypsies were denied, and some, although they were baptized, preferred to leave farther - just not to be called a new Christian name. In places where no one knew them, they hid the fact that they were baptized.17 In a word, when an honest ethnographer speaks in Djordjevic, it is precisely the firmness of religious beliefs that he recognizes. In his essays, he devotes a lot of space to Muslim groups living in Serbia. They were known as different names: Koran rum of Turkish origin and "Beli gypsies" (who came from Bosnia). All these people, despite the Orthodox environment, firmly held on to the faith of their fathers, celebrated bairam and Ramadan (although, as in the entire Islamic world, their women did not cover their faces with a veil) .18
Let's honestly answer one question to ourselves. Does a person sincerely believe if he sacrifices material only because of spiritual compulsion? Those whom Bishop Melentius forcibly converted to Orthodoxy left their homes, parted with relatives, acquaintances and neighbors, and interrupted business that had been established for decades. For what? The question is purely rhetorical, since the answer is clear in advance.

Gypsy woman in the temple. Photo: Yves Leresh.

The criterion of truth is practice. Since the postulate is widespread in the literature that gypsies change their faith based on profit, you just need to see what happened in reality. Imagine an experiment was carried out in the Ottoman Empire. Immediately after the conquest of Christian lands, the Ottoman Turks adopted a differentiated tax scale. Already in 1530 it was announced that the tax on Orthodox Gypsies would be 25 Achke. But those who convert to Islam will pay three achke less.20 This was not an empty shake of air. An efficient mechanism for collecting taxes (the so-called "gypsy sanjak") was debugged. To correctly assess the results, let's try to reason with numbers in hand. To do this, we need a time leap to the end of the 17th century. The essence of Ottoman politics has not changed in a century and a half. Just as under Suleiman the Magnificent, less tax was taken from the gypsies who worshiped Allah. The Christian gypsy paid six pennies, and the Muslim five. What is the bottom line? It turned out that only 10,000 Roma out of 45,000 were listed as Muslims in the 1695 register. 21 Less than a quarter! As you can see, the tax press did not greatly influence the very people who, as it were, are guided only by profit. In the Balkans, the myth of Roma indifference to religion was dealt a crushing blow. For centuries, tens of thousands of people remained faithful to Orthodoxy under the rule of Muslims. And they were not tempted by tax breaks.

The situation in our country is extremely interesting. It allows you to beat the last marked card from the counterfeit deck.
As we know, Russian gypsies in the 19th century certainly kept icons in the "red corner" of the tent, observed fasts, and so on.
- Of course, they were pretending ... They wanted to please the Russians. - the writing fraternity grins.
Is it so? History itself made sure that the gypsies could adequately object to common accusations. After the victory of the October Revolution, the party began to intensively instill a materialist worldview. The priests were imprisoned and shot, churches were blown up or they set up storage of potatoes there. Monasteries were adapted for concentration camps or prisons. The communists in every possible way bullied the believers, and school program was atheistic in nature. This is not to say that this policy was ineffective. All the peoples of the USSR experienced its influence to one degree or another. For some of them, the share of atheists in a certain period reached 50-60% (not according to official reports, but in reality). Only the gypsies did not obey this fad. It would seem that right now, when both the rulers and the majority of the population are unanimous in their atheism, the gypsies realize their benefits.
- What kind of faith are you, gypsy?
- And what do you want?
No, no one has heard such words from this people. Despite the direct danger, the nomads continued to keep icons in their place of honor, celebrating church holidays, got married, baptized children, and buried the deceased with a funeral service. Sedentary gypsies, including communists and Komsomol members, behaved the same way ... Yes, they did not advertise their faith. But fasts observed, prayed, and when they were asked directly, they did not hide their Orthodoxy.
It cannot be said that the party has lost sight of the Roma. In their native language, anti-religious brochures were published, the essence of which boiled down to the phrase " religion cheese choking gas"22 (translation, I hope, is not required?). The result was zero. This alone shows what the reasoning about the indifference of gypsies to faith, about their" conformity "," striving for profit "is worth.
The brutal communist experiment had a side effect - one of the most persistent myths gypsy studies. Moreover, the steadfastness of convictions was shown not only by the Christian Roma, but also by the Muslim Roma. Crimea and the mugat (they are "lyuli") did not allow the party to distort its spiritual world... It was not possible to impose atheism on them.
By the way, in last years there is evidence of the steadfastness of faith. Representatives of many ethnic groups migrate far from their traditional habitats. Thus, the gypsies of Central Asia have often come to Russia for the past 10 years. I talked a lot with them, but they never tried to pass themselves off as Orthodox. On the contrary, they sincerely talked about their faith in Allah. A significant part of the ethnic group kyrymitika rum moved in the early 1930s from the Crimean peninsula to Russia. However, until now, cases of transition from Islam to Orthodoxy are rare.
And vice versa. Many families serfs ended up in Uzbekistan, and some cloaks in Azerbaijan. As they were Orthodox, they remained. Although they lived in a Muslim environment for several decades. This is about changing religion "like clothes" ...
A few more words about the "insincerity" of the Roma in matters of faith.
The most revered holidays for this national minority are religious. Let's assume for a second that gypsies, as journalists say, are disguised and pretending. Then why are there practically no Russians on these holidays? If we are dealing with a show aimed at the gullible, we should celebrate Easter and Christmas for show, inviting all the neighbors!
There is one more proof of the strength of religious foundations. During the gypsy trial, a person standing on his own is demanded to get lost on the icon. If he swore an oath before God, then, no matter how strong the evidence of his guilt, the words of justification are supposed to be believed. But not only do they depend on the decision of the Roma court. money matters, but also the whole further life of a gypsy, the reputation of children, and so on.

So we have come to the end of the reasoning. As you can see, everything is so clear that there is nothing to argue about. One can only be surprised at the theory, which has managed to develop for two hundred years in complete contradiction with the facts.

1. Kogalnichan. Essay on the history, customs and language of the gypsies. Northern bee. SPb., 1838. No. 82. С.327.
2. Light in pictures. 1880. No. 8, p. 140.
3. Schiele A. Gypsies. Nature and people. SPb., 1878. No. 11. S. 34-35.
4. Demeter N. Gypsies: myth and reality. M., 1995.S. 74.
5. Klimontovich N. Gypsy sketch. Russian telegraph. 10/29/1997.
6. Weideck H.E. Dictionary of gypsy life and lore. NY. 1973 P. 376.
7. Etzler Allan. Gypsies in Sweden. JGLS (3). XXV. Parts 3-4. R.82, 83.
8. Weideck H.E. Dictionary of gypsy life and lore. NY. 1973. P. 428.
9. Guili R. E. Encyclopedia of witches and witchcraft. M., 1998.S. 616, 617.
10. Weideck H.E. Dictionary of gypsy life and lore. NY., 1973. P. 104.
11. Gypsy-Russian and Russian-Gypsy dictionary (Kelderar dialect). M., 1990.S. 63.
12. Weideck H.E. Dictionary of gypsy life and lore. NY., 1973. P. 65
13. Grellmann H.M.G. Historischer Versuch uber die Zigeuner. Gottingen, 1787. P.102.
14. Schiele A. Gypsies. Nature and people. SPb., 1878. No. 11. S. 34-35.
15. Demeter N. Gypsies: myth and reality. M., 1995.S. 74
16. Corvevi Tikhomir R. Our people belly. Book 7. Beograd, 1933, p. 53.
17. Ibid. S. 52-57.
18. Corvevi Tikhomir R. Our folk belly. Book 6. Beograd, 1932.S. 90-97.
19. Marushiakova E .; Popov V. Tsiganite in Bulgaria. Sofia, 1993.S. 76-7.
20. Ibid, pp. 79-80.
21. Sostyr eme acyam bidevlytka. M., 1934.S. 38.

Gypsies are a mysterious nomadic people. Their lives and history are shrouded in many myths and prejudices, and their culture is original and rooted in the distant past. Historians, culturologists, ethnologists and ordinary people worried about where they came from, how they live and what kind of faith the gypsies have.

Gypsies - who are they?

Gypsies are one of the largest ethnic groups in Europe. Bulgarian ethnologists call it an intergroup ethnic formation. The essence of this definition lies in the peculiarities of the settlement of Roma in different territories. The mosaic distribution of Roma is associated with a huge variety of their varieties and distinctive features. Depending on the territory of residence, there are different ethnic self-names: Sinti, Manush - people, Kale - black, Roma (Romani) - a general political designation of all Roma living in Europe.

Without a permanent habitat, gypsies live in all corners of the planet, except for Antarctica.

Types of gypsies

Roma are divided into ethnic groups depending on their territorial location and occupation. Ethnologists distinguish three western and three eastern branches of the Roma.

Western ones include:

• Roma is one of the most numerous groups. It includes the Roma who occupy the territory of Europe.
• Sinti are German and French gypsies.
• Iberians are Spanish and Portuguese.

The eastern branch is formed by:

• Lyuli are Central Asian gypsies.
• Bosha - Gypsy peoples occupying the territories of Turkey and the Caucasus.
• Home - Arab peoples and living in Israel.

There are small Roma groups that are difficult to attribute to any particular offshoot. On the territory of Europe, there are ethnic groups that are close in culture, but not related to the Roma: Travelers from Ireland and the Yenishi from Central Europe.

Researchers of Roma culture talk about the possibility of dividing Roma into groups according to their occupation.

What kind of faith do the gypsies profess?

The Gypsy culture is closely related to the Gypsies, forms their traditions, customs and moral and ethical standards and depends, as a rule, on the territory of residence. The main confessions to which the Roma belong are Christianity and Islam. But to this day, the official beliefs retained the features of Hinduism, Shaivism, animism, Zoroastrianism and magical elements.

Researchers argue that the adoption of a particular religion was a way of self-defense. When settling in a particular region, the Roma tried at least outwardly to correspond to the followers of the local religion, so as not to come into conflict with the indigenous population.

Regardless of what faith the Roma of a particular group belong to, their mentality and beliefs, which have developed over a long period of their existence, leave an imprint on adherence to certain moral norms.

The outward acceptance of the official religion gives the Roma the opportunity to pay tribute to their pagan and animistic idols. For example, Central Asian gypsies had gods representing the Sun. The belief of the gypsies in the west is based on the worship of the moon. The full moon was considered a holiday in which magic rituals and witchcraft rites were performed. The belief of the gypsies in India is based on the worship of the phallus; the cult of Shiva and the goddess Kali is also widespread here.

Regardless of what faith the gypsies belong to, they pay great attention to protection from evil spirits. It is a serious task to protect the newborn from powerful demonic forces. After birth, he is sprinkled with salt water and given a name that will be pronounced only during certain periods of his life. The rest of the time the worldly name is used.

Veneration of the saints

The faith of the gypsies is based on the veneration of female religious images. Despite the dominant role of men in society, their main saint is a woman. Whatever faith of confession the gypsies are, everyone honors the mythological image of Saint Sarah. There are several legends associated with it. According to the first, she was the savior of the relatives of Mary Magdalene; during a terrible storm, she rescued them, finding her way to the shore by the stars. The second legend says that she was the first to receive the Holy Revelation from the saints who sailed past her camp.

Gypsies who believe in an afterlife try to protect themselves from meeting the deceased. In order not to keep the souls of the dead in this world, they burn all the belongings of the deceased and their houses. There are those who do not believe in life after death. Also, according to some ethnic groups, the soul can return to earth three times, once every 500 years. Serbian Gypsies claim that after death a person lives the same life, but already endlessly.

Spirits and vampires are designated by the word "mullah". If a gypsy dies at the hands of a man, the mullah will find and track down the culprit. Slavic gypsies believe in werewolves. They are those who led a dissolute lifestyle or became a victim of a vampire.

Roma customs

The faith of the gypsies determines their customs. Russian Orthodox Gypsies are devout and obligatory for them is the rite of baptism. In gypsy houses there is a "red corner" with icons. In Russia, Gypsies celebrate Christmas and Easter, get married in church for marriage. An important stage in a gypsy wedding is the recognition of the union by the community. This is the initial and most important stage of marriage. On Radonitsa, gypsies visit cemeteries, where they ask for alms. This tradition is considered good, since the givers at this moment are doing a good deed, fulfilling their Christian duty.

Saint George is one of the most revered gypsy saints. Holidays in his honor are held in Turkey and the Balkans. Muslims also place great emphasis on customs. However, women ignore the need to cover their faces, and men do not circumcise.

Gypsy myths and legends

Whichever faith of confession the Gypsies belong to, there are common beliefs that determine their entire worldview. There is a story that a gypsy stole a nail that the Roman legionaries were supposed to drive into the head of the crucified Christ. For this, God blessed all the people and allowed them to steal. In reality, the propensity to steal is only a consequence of the historical worldview of the Roma.

They are convinced that everything created by God belongs to people and exists for the common good. So, fruits, animals and birds are a gift from God given to people for free use. Today, theft is the main way of earning money for Roma.

Raymond Buckland in his book Gypsies. Secrets of Life and Traditions ”tells about a real case when gypsy children baptized the same borrowed baby eight times in different churches, because at the baptism the priest gave the child a coin. The lack of attachment to a certain territory is also perceived as a gift from God, the gypsies believe that the Almighty put the whole world at their disposal.

Russian gypsies. Roma customs and beliefs in Russia

According to official data, 200,000 Roma live in Russia today. Their actual number exceeds these figures by at least five times. This is due to the fact that during the time many indicated other nationalities.

"Russian Roma" have their own dialect - a mixture of Russian, Polish and German. The traditional occupations of Russian gypsies are horse breeding, playing music, dancing, fortune telling and a circus. It was in Russia that the genre of the gypsy romance was born.

Most of the Russian gypsies are Christians. But what kind of faith the Roma have in Russia is not important, the main for them is the common Roma law. The smallest number of rules regulate relations with non-Roma: here it is necessary to adhere to the norms of behavior that are established in society. More important are the laws of communication with both Roma and non-Roma: the prohibition of murder, rape, and physical mutilation.

Respect for the guest is mandatory. The largest number of rules governing behavior within the Roma community. The main thing is that no one has the right to exalt himself above others. However, in every community there is an unspoken leader and intermediary in charge of communication with the outside world. Most often, such a person is

Roma laws strictly regulate communication with each other, with elders, children and women, the procedure for holding holidays, the rules for choosing clothes and a list of "decent" activities are regulated. Decent professions are those related to creativity, handicrafts, pottery and carpentry.

A significant part of Russian Gypsies today are associated with crime. Among them, as among other ethnic groups, there is theft, begging and drug trafficking. At the same time, there is another side of the Roma society, which includes talented singers, musicians and actors. For example, in Russia there is a popular all over the world

Influence on culture

The unique flavor of gypsy art had a tremendous impact on world culture: music, poetry and cinema. Everyone knows the heroes: the gypsy Esmeralda from Hugo's Notre Dame Cathedral, the fatal Carmen Georges Bizet, Pushkin's Zemfira and Aleko, modern style boho, touching romances and music by Goran Bregovic - all of this heritage humanity owes to the gypsies.

Finally

Gypsies are a complex and mysterious people. You cannot fully experience their culture without plunging into it personally. The main thing is not to form your ideas, only based on the image of dirty beggars on the streets. In fact, the Roma are a distinctive and extraordinary ethnic group with their own laws, customs, rich culture and valuable heritage.

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Most of the Roma profess Christianity or Islam, but there are also representatives of other confessions.

Gypsy Christians are very devout, they pay great attention to church holidays.

In everyday life, Orthodox Gypsies dress strictly according to the recommendations of the Orthodox Church. In the home of Orthodox Gypsies, just like the Russians, there is a "red corner" in which there are icons. The wedding is considered more important than the civil registration of marriage. Only the "gypsy wedding" is more important than the wedding, that is, the recognition of the marriage by the gypsy society. It is usually played before the wedding.

Orthodox Gypsies consider their patron saint Nicholas the Pleasant and Saint George, Catholics - Blessed Seferino (officially approved in this role by the Vatican), as well as Mother Teresa and the mythical character Sarah Kali.

The most significant religious holidays for all Roma Christians are Easter and Christmas.

Muslim gypsies are also religious, but do not follow some Muslim customs. For example, Muslim gypsies do not cover their faces even in countries where it is customary among the local population; some groups of Muslim Roma do not practice circumcision, etc.

At different times, Roma have been persecuted or discriminated against on the basis of religion. In the Turkish Empire, Christian Gypsies were taxed higher. In Kosovo, Albanian militants killed or expelled Roma along with other Christians. In modern Israel, Muslim Gypsies (domari) are often discriminated against by the lower strata of the Jewish and Muslim populations, and sometimes by the middle strata. Nevertheless, the religiosity of the Gypsies is so great that they do not think to change their faith, but in Soviet times did not become atheists, contrary to the widespread stereotype about the Roma, which states that they easily change their faith for a comfortable place of residence.

Gypsies are religious leaders

Seferino Jimenez Malia

Mateo Maximov

Rodney Smith

Despite the poorly developed written culture, the Roma have a well-developed philosophy. Philosophical tales, songs and aphorisms form a significant part of Gypsy folklore. Most of the terms of philosophy are easily understood by non-Roma, but some require a separate explanation.

Romanipe

It is conventionally accepted to translate this word as "gypsy spirit" or "gypsy culture", but the meaning of this word is somewhat broader. Romanipe is the gypsy spirit, the gypsy essence, the gypsy law, the willingness and desire to follow the gypsy law, the awareness of belonging to the gypsy society, the desire to belong to the gypsy community, a set of gypsy character traits, etc. in the aggregate. An ethnic non-Gypsy with a Romanipe is recognized as a Gypsy. This is usually an adopted child of non-Roma origin, who grew up within the framework of the Roma culture.

A person who has no romanipe. This may even be an ethnic Roma, raised outside the framework of Roma culture, without Roma qualities and not striving to belong to the Roma community. But nevertheless, usually "gajo" (plural "gadzhe") practically means "non-gypsy". The word itself comes from the Indian word "gavja" - "village dweller" (the ancestors of the gypsies were artists and artisans and opposed themselves to the peasants).

Romano rath

Literally translated as "gypsy blood". Romano Rat is a carrier of gypsy genes. This includes both the Gypsies themselves and the Gadzhe, who are Gypsy mestizos. Ethnic gypsies, who do not recognize themselves as romanipes, still belong to romano rats. It is believed that Gypsy blood is strong, and among non-Gypsies, who are Romanorat, it manifests itself in a craving for Gypsy culture, a creative outlook on life, temperament and constant spiritual search, wherever they were brought up.

The romano rat recognizes the right to become a gypsy, however, it imposes the same strict conditions for conformity to romanipes, as well as those who grew up within the gypsy culture.

List famous people being romano rat

Vadim Kozin

Singer, USSR

Sarah Alexander

(Sara Alexander), Ethno Singer and Accordionist, Israel-France

Adam Ant

Singer, actor, USA

Frederic Belinsky

Jazz Guitarist, France

Vasily Volkov

Composer, Russia

Ronnie Wood

Guitarist of the Rolling Stones, UK

Evgeny Gudz(Eugene Hütz), vocalist and leader of the gypsy punk rock band Gogol Bordello

Nikolay Dobrynin

Actor, Russia

Yuri Dombrovsky

Gypsies are one of the most amazing peoples you can find in the world. Many would envy their inner emancipation and lifelong optimism. The gypsies never had their own state, and, nevertheless, they carried their traditions and culture through the centuries. By the degree of their presence on the planet, they can compete with another, until recently, scattered people around the world - the Jews. It is no coincidence that Jews and Gypsies were at the very top of the list of those representatives of the human race that were subject to complete destruction, according to Hitler's racial laws. But if about the genocide of Jews - the Holocaust - many books have been written and many films have been shot, dozens of museums in different countries are devoted to this topic, then few people know about Kali Thrash - the genocide of the Roma. Simply because there was no one to intercede for the gypsies.

Figure 1. Gypsy girl. Eastern Europe
Source unknown

Both Jews and Gypsies are united by a belief in their own special destiny, which, in fact, helped them to survive - after all, both Jews and Gypsies for centuries lived as minorities among other nations, with foreign languages, customs, religion, but the same time they were able to maintain their identity. Like the Jews, the Gypsies were scattered across different countries of Europe, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and North Africa. Both peoples "kept their roots", practically not mixing with the local population. Both Jews and Gypsies have divisions into "friends" and "outsiders" (rum-gazhё among the Gypsies, Jews-goyim among the Jews). It is noteworthy that neither one nor the other nowhere constituted the majority of the population - and therefore found themselves without statehood by the beginning of the 20th century.

Before the creation of the State of Israel, Jews from different regions of Eurasia used it in everyday life. different languages... Thus, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe spoke almost exclusively in Yiddish, the language of the Germanic group, very similar to German, but using the Hebrew alphabet. Persian Jews and Jews of Central Asia spoke Hebrew-Persian and other Hebrew-Iranian languages. Jews in the Middle East and North Africa spoke different Hebrew-Arabic dialektah. The Sephardim, the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in the 15th-16th centuries, spoke a Sephardic language (Ladino), close to Spanish.Roma, who do not have their own statehood, also speak several dialects that differ significantly from each other. Each locality uses its own dialect, with a lot of borrowed vocabulary. So, in Russia, in Ukraine, in Romania, dialects with a great influence of Romanian and Russian are used. Roma in Western Europe speak dialects with borrowings from German and French. On the periphery of the Roma settlement area (modern Finland, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, Wales, Armenia, etc.), they use local languages ​​interspersed with Roma vocabulary.

It is noteworthy that not only the Gypsies absorb vocabulary into their language, but also the "aboriginal" peoples borrow some words. For example, widespread Russian jargon is of gypsy origin: love (money), steal (steal), hawala (eat, eat), labat (play on musical instrument). English words lollipop (lollipop), pal (buddy), chav (gopnik), tiny (small, tiny) - similar. Changes also took place in the cultural environment: in Russia, especially in the twentieth century, gypsy ensembles became widespread, enjoying immense popularity among all strata of society. In the southern part of Spain, the gypsies created the flamenco musical style.

So where did the gypsies come from, why did they end up scattered all over the world, and why are they so disliked wherever they have the misfortune to live? Swarthy skin color and dark color hair unambiguously indicate that the ancestors of the Roma came to Europe from the south. Several tribes still live in the north Indian state of Rajasthan, which are considered to be related to the current Roma. The largest of these are the Banjars; In addition to the Banjars, the possible ancestors of the Gypsies also include the Chamars, Lohars, houses and Khajars.

Figure 2. Teenage Banjar in a festive costume. Rajasthan (Northwest India).
Photo by the author.

Historians have not yet been able to establish for certain when exactly the gypsies set out on their great journey, but it is assumed that this happened in the interval between VI and X centuries AD. The route of movement is more precisely known. Having left Northwestern India, nomadic tribes initially lived for a long time in the territory modern Iran and Turkey, from there they began to move north - to the territory of modern Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. Later, from about Xv century, the Roma through the territory of modern Romania began to settle first in the countries of Central Europe (modern Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia), then moved to Scandinavia, to the British Isles, to Spain. Around the same time ( XV - XVI century), another branch of the Gypsies, passing from the territory of modern Iran and Turkey through Egypt, settled in the countries of North Africa and also reached modern Spain and Portugal. At the end XVII centuries, the Gypsies found themselves in the outlying territories of the Russian Empire (modern Baltic, Crimea, Moldova).

Why did the gypsies leave their homes and set off on a long journey? Scientists do not yet know the exact answer, but they suggest that, most likely, several nomadic Indian tribes at some point began to go beyond the boundaries of the traditional settlement area. Currently in India, about five percent of the population is constantly migrating - as a rule, these are itinerant artisans, whose route is more or less constant. The basis of the nomadic way of life of the Gypsies and their Indian ancestors was not a “romatic desire to change places,” as some readers may think based on the stories of M. Gorky and films by E. Lotianu, but an economic factor: the artisans of the camp needed markets for their products, artists needed a new audience for their performances, fortune-tellers needed a change of clientele. In each specific case, the nomadic area was relatively small - about 300-500 square kilometers. This explains the fact that it took the nomads several centuries to reach Western Europe.

As the nomadic tribes farther and farther away from their historical homeland, they consolidated more and more. In India, many tribes form a separate caste - the total number of castes in this country exceeds 3000, transitions between castes are difficult or completely prohibited. Most likely, the ancestors of modern gypsies who came out of the territory of Hindustan belonged to different castes (their main occupations were blacksmithing and pottery, weaving baskets, making and tinning cauldrons, street performances, fortune telling, etc.). While they were in the territory of present-day Iran and Afghanistan, they did not stand out too much from the indigenous people - they were almost as dark-haired and swarthy. In addition, there were many nomadic herders around, so the lifestyle of the gypsies did not seem to be something special to those around them.

As the Roma moved further and further from their historical homeland, their differences in dress and traditions became more noticeable in comparison with the local population. Apparently, then various Indian tribes-castes gradually began to grow together, forming a new community, which we call "gypsies".

There were other changes as well. One of the largest and most powerful states in X - XIV centuries on the territory of Europe and Asia Minor was Byzantium, which at that time occupied the territory of modern Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Several hundred years of living in the territory of Christian Byzantium led to the fact that the Roma adopted Christianity, apparently, this happened around XII - XIV centuries. Byzantine written sources of that time do not distinguish the Roma from other social and ethnic groups in any way. This indirectly indicates that at that time the Roma were not perceived as a marginal or criminal group.

The Byzantine Empire was one of the longest-lived empires in history. It existed for over a thousand years, but by the middle Xv century completely died out and fell under the pressure of the Ottoman Turks. As Byzantium faded away, the Gypsies set off again - they began to settle in the lands of the neighboring countries. It was then that the process of marginalization of the Roma began.

Europe XV century lost to many countries of the East in technology and in the standard of living. The era of great sea voyages, which opened up new lands and rich opportunities for Europeans, was just beginning. The industrial and bourgeois revolutions, which had set Europe to a height unattainable for other countries, were still far away. Europeans at that time lived poorly, there was not enough food for everyone, and they did not need other people's mouths at all. The negative attitude towards the Gypsies as "extra mouths" was aggravated by the fact that during the collapse of Byzantium, the most mobile, most adventurous groups of Gypsies, among whom there were many beggars, petty thieves, fortune-tellers, moved to Europe, as is usually the case during social cataclysms. Honest workers, who at one time received numerous letters of privilege in Byzantium, apparently were in no hurry to move to new lands, hoping to adapt to the new orders of the Ottoman Turks. By the time artisans, animal trainers, artists and horse traders (representatives of typical gypsy professions) found themselves in Central and Western Europe, they fell under the already existing negative stereotype of perception and could not change it.

An additional factor in the marginalization of the Roma was the guild and territorial restrictions of medieval Europe. The right to engage in crafts was then inherited - so the son of a shoemaker became a shoemaker, and the son of a blacksmith became a blacksmith. It was impossible to change the profession; in addition, most of the inhabitants of medieval cities in their entire life have never been outside the city walls and were wary of all strangers. Gypsy artisans who arrived in Central Europe faced a hostile and negative attitude from the local population and the fact that, due to shop restrictions, they could not engage in crafts, which they had long earned for a living (first of all, working with metal).

Since XVI century, economic relations in Europe began to change. Manufacturers arose, which led to the massive ruin of artisans. In England, the need for pasture meadows for the textile industry led to a fencing policy, in which peasants were driven from their communal lands and the vacated land was used to graze sheep. Since unemployment benefits and other mechanisms for supporting socially vulnerable groups of the population did not exist at that time, the number of vagrants, petty robbers and beggars grew. Violent laws were passed against them throughout Europe, often suggesting the death penalty for the fact of begging. Nomadic, semi-nomadic, and also trying to settle, but ruined gypsies became victims of these laws.

Fleeing from persecution by the authorities, the Roma became more secretive - they moved around at night, lived in caves, forests and other secluded places. This contributed to the emergence and widespread dissemination of myths about gypsies as cannibals, Satanists, vampires and werewolves. Then there were rumors about gypsies kidnapping children (allegedly for eating and performing satanic rituals).

The spiral of mutual mistrust and rejection continued to unfold. Due to the limited or complete absence of legal opportunities for earning money, the gypsies who had to somehow find themselves to feed themselves became more and more engaged in theft, robbery and other not entirely legal activities.

Figure 5. Nikolay Bessonov. "Fortune Telling".

In a hostile external environment, Roma (especially Roma from Western Europe) began to culturally “withdraw into themselves,” literally and unswervingly following ancient traditions. In search of a better life, the Roma gradually began to settle in the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe, moved to the countries of the New World, but practically nowhere did they switch to a sedentary lifestyle and practically nowhere could they integrate into the local society - everywhere they remained strangers.

In XX century, many countries made attempts to destroy the traditionalism of the Roma, to tie them to permanent place residence, give them the opportunity to earn money through formal employment. In the USSR, this policy was relatively successful - about ninety percent of all Roma settled.

The collapse of the countries of the Soviet bloc led to the destruction of the way of life of the Roma in Eastern Europe and the former USSR... Until the mid-1990s, the Roma of the USSR and other countries of Eastern Europe were actively engaged in small-scale clandestine production, speculation and other similar illegal businesses. The disappearance of the deficit, the development of a market economy in the countries of the Soviet bloc deprived the Roma of the niche due to which they succeeded in the second half. XX century. Low level education, lack of a long-term view of development own business led to the fact that most of the Roma were squeezed out of the small trade, thanks to which the Roma flourished in the 1980s and 1990s.

The impoverished Roma returned to begging, and also became more active in the sale of drugs, fraud and petty theft. The disappearance of the Iron Curtain in the USSR and the opening of borders in Europe contributed to an increase in Roma migration. For example, Romanian Roma in the 2010s. began to actively move to the countries of Western and Northern Europe, where they are also mainly engaged in begging and other socially condemned ways of earning money.

So, the gypsies, having left India about a thousand years ago, gradually dispersed as artisans in the Middle East and Asia Minor. With the extinction of the Byzantine Empire, that is, approximately from the beginning Xv century, the Roma gradually began to settle in the countries of Central, Eastern, Northern and Western Europe, and starting from Xviii centuries began to move to the countries of the New World. Faced with the guild restrictions of feudal Europe, the Roma gradually sank to the social bottom, everywhere interrupting with dubious, not entirely legal means of earning money.

In XX century in many countries began to pursue a policy of forcing the ancient nomadic people to a sedentary lifestyle. The younger generation of Roma began to attend schools, secondary specialized and higher educational institutions; among the representatives of the centuries of illiterate people there were engineers, doctors, scientists.

What will happen next? It seems that the Roma will either be marginalized again, sinking to the social bottom, or they will gradually merge into the society around them, raising their educational and cultural level, mastering modern professions and adopting skills and customs from more successful peoples. A path of gradual assimilation is also possible - for example, already now the Roma groups of the British Isles, Transcarpathia and Central Asia have completely or almost completely lost native language... In countries where they can gain access to education, Roma will gradually become more and more embedded in the world on decent terms. In these regions, they, while maintaining their identity, will be able to create new level cultures, rethink traditions - how South Koreans or Finns rethought their traditions, who have gone from a primitive economy to economic prosperity in several decades XX century. Where it works, friction between the Roma and the indigenous population will decrease, and the distinctive vibrant customs of the ancient nomadic people will attract the interest not of law enforcement officials, but of tourists, historians and the general public.

In addition to Jews and Gypsies, the list also included those born with congenital neurological and somatic diseases, homosexuals, mentally retarded persons, persons with mental illness and many other categories of people - from Hitler's point of view, they were all inferior, and because of this, they were initially subject to all kinds of restrictions. then - isolation and destruction.

Most modern states, especially European ones, were formed in the 17th - 19th centuries on the basis of the national identity of the peoples inhabiting the corresponding territory. In the bulk of modern states, representatives of the titular people make up the overwhelming majority of the population.

Most modern Roma consider themselves Christians, although the Roma version of Christianity differs from all other denominations and trends. At the same time, the Roma who lived in the Ottoman Empire and other Muslim states actively converted to Islam.

It is noteworthy that the attitude towards Jews and Gypsies among European peoples was very similar. Despite the fact that many Jews were able to find a way to socially integrate into the life of European society, at the everyday level they were presented with the same claims as the Gypsies: the abduction of babies, satanic rituals, etc. within their community (they did not communicate with non-Jews, did business only with fellow believers, did not marry non-Jews, etc.), which caused even greater rejection. At the everyday level, anti-Semitism, as well as anti-Roma sentiments, were widespread - without them the terrible Germanic racial laws would not have been enforced.

Both the stick and the carrot methods were used. Thus, laws were passed that provided for the criminal prosecution of vagrant gypsies (they were equated with parasites). At the same time, local authorities really made efforts to integrate and assimilate the Roma - they were employed, they were provided with housing, and their level of education was raised. In the USSR, the world's first gypsy theater "Romen" was created, which still exists today.