The Roma in Romanian History

One of the greatest challenges during the process of European Union enlargement towards the east is how the issue of the Roma or Gypsies is tackled. This enormous social and political problem cannot be solved without proper historical studies like this book. Achim presents and interprets the long history of the Gypsies, including slavery, the process of integration and assimilation into the majority population, as well as the historical roots of the marginalization of the Gypsies. The deportation of Gypsies to Transnistria during the Antonescu regime, between 1942 and 1944, is reconstructed in a separate chapter. The closing chapters elaborate on the policy toward the Gypsies in the decades after the Second World War, and its bearing on the situation of the Roma population in today's Romania.