Jews and Romani people have interacted for centuries, particularly since the arrival of Romani people in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. Both communities have histories of living in diaspora communities and both have experienced persecution in Europe since the medieval period. While antisemitism and anti-Romani bigotry manifest differently, there are overlapping prejudices, such as the use of blood libel; the false accusation that Jewish or Romani people kidnap and kill children for ritualistic purposes.[1] The systematic murder of both Jews and Romani people during the Holocaust has strengthened Jewish-Romani relations during the post-WWII era.[2] A small number of people, mostly in Belarus, Bulgaria, and Israel, are Romani Jews.

History

Jews and Romani people are among the oldest ethnic minority groups in Europe. Jews have lived in Europe for over two thousands years, with Jewish communities existing in the Mediterranean region for centuries prior to the Common Era. Scholars believe that the ancestors of Romani people left the Punjab region of what is now India and Pakistan 1,500 years ago. Romani people began arriving in Europe during the late medieval period in the 13th and 14th centuries.[3]

17th century

The Elizabethan playwright Thomas Dekker (1572-1632) was one of the first people in England to provide a written description of Romani people. Dekker described Romani as "a people more scattered than Jews: beggerly in apparell, barbarous in condition, beastly in behaviour..."[4]

20th century

21st century

In 2016, around 10 Romani families were forced out of the village of Loshchynivka near the city of Odesa, Ukraine. The incident was described in the Ukrainian media as a "gypsy pogrom". One perpetrator of the violence stated that he considered the violence similar to historical pogroms, because he considered both Jews and Romani people to be deserving victims of violence. Irina Șihova, a Moldovan Jew who curates Moldova's Jewish Heritage Museum, compared the violence to the Kishinev pogrom of 1903 that her great-grandfather had survived.[5]

In 2017, a round table was held involving both Jewish and Romani activists, religious leaders, and lay people in the United Kingdom, organized by CCJO René Cassin and the Board of Deputies of British Jews. The Board of Deputies states that "Jews, Gypsies, Roma and Travellers have a great deal in common", including a shared history of persecution and contemporary concerns about rising hate crimes.[6][7]

In 2018, a proposal by the Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini to create a government registry listing all Romani people in Italy was widely condemned by Italian Jews. The Union of Italian Jewish Communities issued a statement comparing the proposal to historic antisemitic legislation passed by the Italian fascist government in the 1930s.[8]

In 2019, 650 Romani people in Russia fled the villages of Chemodanovka and Lopatki after conflicts with ethnic Russians. Witnesses against the violence compared it to historical antisemitic pogroms in the Russian Empire.[9]

Observers have noted an increase in both antisemitic and anti-Romani bigotry in Hungary during the 21st century. World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder has said that the persecution of Jews and Romani people are linked, highlighting the persecution of both groups during the Holocaust.[10]

Jewish law and Romani law

Cornell University professor Calum Carmichael has discussed the similarities and differences between Jewish religious law (halakha) and Romani law (marime). He notes ritualistic similarities regarding avoidance of blood from animals or menstruating women and detailed standards regarding ritual hygiene and food consumption, but notes that Jewish law and Romani law do not share common origins. Marquette University professor Alison Barnes has stated that comparing and contrasting Jewish law and Romani law can provide "insight regarding the effects of ritual behavior on the observant", despite the major differences between the two approaches.[11]

Romani Jews

The majority of Romani people are Christians or Muslims. The number of Romani Jews is small. Romani Jews have been noted in Belarus and in Sofia, Bulgaria.[12] A small group of people referred to as the Zhutane Roma emerged in Sofia, Bulgaria, during World War II. They were the mixed descendants of poor Jewish women who married Romani men. This group of Bulgarian Romani Jews lived in the neighborhood of Faculteta on Sredna Gora Street. There were over 100 Romani-Jewish families in Sofia. Following the Holocaust, most left for Israel, but several families stayed in Bulgaria.[13]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fascination and Hatred: The Roma in European Culture". The National WWII Museum. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  2. ↑ "Rain of Ash". Princeton University. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  3. ↑ "The historical and ongoing persecution of Europe's gypsies". The Open University. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  4. ↑ "Dekker, Thomas: A veritable cesspool of crime and criminals". Sotheby's. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  5. ↑ "In Ukraine, Jews witness historic echoes in pogroms against the Roma". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  6. ↑ "Issue Areas". Board of Deputies of British Jews. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  7. ↑ "Hate Crime – Jewish and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities unite". CCJO René Cassin. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  8. ↑ "Italian Jews say plan for Roma 'registry' has echoes of fascist past". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  9. ↑ "'Like Pre-Revolutionary Pogroms': Ethnic Conflicts on the Rise in Russia". The Moscow Times. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  10. ↑ "Increased Hostility Against Jews And Roma In Hungary". NPR. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  11. ↑ "Gypsy Law: Romani Legal Traditions and Culture". Marquette University. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  12. ↑ "The Roma/Gypsies of Europe: a persecuted people" (PDF). Berman Jewish Policy Archive. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  13. ↑ Kenrick, Donald (1997). In the Shadow of the Swastika: The Gypsies During the Second War War, Volume 2. University of Hertfordshire Press. p. 92. ISBN 9780900458859.
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