Official name for the gypsies is Roma. They call the other people Dasa and Gage. Similar to the Jewish, they also have one name for all the other non Jewish people: Goim. On the other side, the best known name for these people is Gypsies (Egyptian name).

Gypsies from Bosnia call Italy the land of camps. In this developed country, like in all the others countries in Europe where Gypsies are they are beggars and lots of times even stealing. They are a big social problem, but if you are to read Leonard Piazero “European Roma” your opinion of them will be changed. He claims that by their coming from East into Europe they become Gypsies. They make them live in camps, for European believing that they are filthy and nomads who travel with their horses, and that is a pretty old story about this people.

12 millions of Roma who live in Europe speak preklit, some kind of Sanskrit. Because of wars from 1001 to 1027 which was first taken against India by Mohmed Gazni and he had concurred that territory Roma had to move. They moved to Balkan, where they were occupied with different crafts. In 16th century they were written down in the book of habitants and were paying taxes. Also lots of them immigrated to Walachia and Moldavia (now parts of Romania), where they were in slavery position. All the population was the property of a count, and they were able to do some craft only if count is letting them perform it. That was the case, until the 19th century, when the slavery was cast off. Those two regions Balkan and Romania are now home for more than 70% of Roma in Europe. They live in proper houses and working and belong to different classes. There is the third region too- west Europe where this people is not being accepted well.

Between 1417 and 1430 from Czech to Italy, France, Nederland and other countries where group of missionaries, who got their name Egyptians, because, no one had known from which country they are coming. They were saying: “We are Christians, Egyptians and we have to make amends for our sins, for which we are convicted to seven years of running the fields. Pleas do help us.” Lots of cities of that time gave a great amount of money to them. But that couldn’t last to long.

Roma became pests to other people, and groups were formed who cast them away or some were even killed them. This seamed to be happening at the same time when the industrial revolution has happened. Nomads’ way of living seams to be the only logical thing for them, since there were lots of threats for them, they had to be mobile.

Hitler came on stage and about 500 000 Gypsies died in concentration camps. Most of them were killed by Italian Nazi like in other countries especially in Croatia. Jews were convicted for killing the God and Gypsies like damned Cain’s tribe. Jewish people were shoah (destruction) and gypsies were porraimos (destruction). Jews got their compensation, but Roma didn’t. The explanation goes something like this: Gypsies are not people, cultural entity; they are just weird bunch of everything. Is this true?

One journalist of “National Geographic” traveled a lot with one Gypsy, who had showed him that with words, gesture or songs he can communicate with gypsies all around the world. Jews had their religion as their attribute o cultural belonging somewhere, but gypsies always had their music and language. In their culture there is one more really specific thing and that is the funeral cult. Sometimes when a person dies they burn all their things and clots. If not being burned, they bury all the things with him.

There are lots of things being said and believed that Gypsies do, but here are some myths which are not true. It is not true that they don’t wash themselves. Indians and Gypsies are very afraid of filth; they have 14 different washing dishes, never mix woman and man clots and lot of other things. They find gruesomely having a toilet in house. And about telling fortune…well if you want to believe just go ahead. But that is a part of acting and performance that someone does.

Their social and economical status is still very bad and I am not sure that it will soon be solved. Begging and stealing is their way of living, since they have no opportunity to go to schools and have proper jobs. Does anyone have any proposition what is to be done? Anyone?