Gypsies in the Czech Republic
The Gypsies of the former Czechoslovakia have suffered ethnic marginalization dating back to their arrival in Eastern Europe over 700 years ago. The collapse of communism in Czechoslovakia, and other Eastern Europe countries created the necessary conditions for the ethnic mobilization of the Gypsies and other minorities. During communism minorities presence in Eastern Europe was not officially recognized. The transition from the socialist system to democracy gave the Gypsies of Czechoslovakia a chance to participate in the political process, to represent their interests and end their ethnic marginilization. Though, due to historical circumstances dating back before communism this has been a tough task for the Gypsies and other minorities. The emergence of democracy and a free market economy in former Czechoslovakia has created many social problems for the Gypsies. There has been an increase of prejudice and violent attacks against the Gypsies, as well as widespread unemployment for the majority of unskilled, untrained Gypsies. The causes of the prejudice and conflicts involving Gypsies are attributed to both the social history of Eastern Europe from the interwar years as well as the nature of communist and postcommunist societies. The transition to a democratic form of government has brought about both positive and negative aspects for the Gypsies; in order to fully understand the current social position of this minority group it is imperative to analyze the history of the "Gypsy problem" in the twentieth century.
The history of the Gypsies in Eastern Europe and former Czechoslovakia has created many of the social problems this large minority face today. The Gypsies migrated to Eastern and ...
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...the Gypsies and the majority. Gypsies are still living in poverty and there hasn't been any significant changes in education and the training of unskilled Gypsies. The Gypsies have few people to lead them, and the ones that do have not succeeded in improving living conditions. In order for the Gypsies to become equal the state must enforce penalties against discrimination, and institute programs that will allow the Gypsies to become self-sufficient. The governments of each country must make conscious efforts to educate and train the Gypsies. Efforts need to be made by the gypsies as well. It is important for the Gypsies to become politically active and with the help of international organizations change state policy. The Gypsies have suffered ethnic discrimination for hundreds of years and it is important now for everyone to become socially accepting of minorities.
Heda Margolius Kovály’s memoir, “Under a Cruel Star: A Life in Prague, 1941-1968” recounts her experience of the Holocaust and the Communist Regime in Czechoslovakia, during the 20th century. In 1945, after the holocaust and after World War II, Czechoslovakia was in a period of distress, which made people seek for communism as a solution. Communism, a totalitarian regime, was a form of government in which nobody was allowed to own any private property and the government controlled all economic activity. This government structure was not only corrupt, but it also caused more economic crisis in Czechoslovakia. Despite the rough situation that Czechoslovakia was going through, none of its
"Rick Steves? Europe: Prague and the Czech Republic." Classroom Video On Demand. Films Media Group, 2002. Web. 28 May 2014.
The Warsaw Ghetto was a Jewish-populated ghetto in the largest city of Poland, Warsaw. A ghetto can be defined as a part of a city in which large quantities of members of a minority group live, especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure. Ghettos were commonly attributed to a location where there was a large Jewish population. In fact, the word Ghetto originated from the name of the Jewish quarter in Venice, Italy, in 16th century.The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Ghetto, as a part of the Holocaust, and as an early stage of it, played a very significant role. Today, in our museum exhibit, we have several artifacts, including primary evidence relating to the Warsaw ghetto. We will be discussing how and why it was created, the lifestyle
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The Bohemian are better known as Gypsies or the Romany only being called Bohemian later on in history by the French. In fact Bohemianism has very few ties to the Gypsies of this area rather than finding happiness in poverty, disregarding money in turn for pursuing the small joys in life such color, music, and emotional connections with others. Surprisingly the Romani Gypsies are nomadic people who have descended from northern parts of western India and experienced a long wandering time period where they were unaccepted by the communities they traveled through until they found themselves in Bohemia. It was here that on April 17, 1423 that the Holy Roman Emperor and Czech King, Zikmund issued a letter stating the privileges of the Romani people allowing the to be treated fairly throughout his region. When the time came for the Romani to travel to France they had brought this letter with them allowing the French to accept them into their community. Since the letter was issued in the Czech lands which to the French was known as "La Boheme" they called the nomadic Romani "Bohemians" (gvshp.org). The French had taken a liking the these so called "Bohemians" creating their own culture based off of the Romani living in poverty by choice enjoying art, color, music, and all around be
Discourse of Collective Identity in central and Southeast Europe (1770-1945), ed. by Balázs Trencsényi and Michal Kopeček (Hungary: Central European University Press, 2007)
In the second half of the nineteenth century, after almost 30 years of general calm, the Polish people once again began protesting Russian rule. Meetings were held and discussions raged about reforms and emancipatio...
...in European countries and countries. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 52, 115-131. http://cos.sagepub.com/libaccess.lib.mcmaster.ca/content/52/1-2/114. Desmond, S. A., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). THE POWER OF PLACE: Immigrants.
In the past two decades, there has been much turmoil throughout Serbia, and without any consistency or certainty for the nation, it has led to frustration and anger for the people. They have an unfortunate past of Human Rights violations and particular regions, such as Vojovodina, have been placed on Human Rights Watch by the European Parliament. Many of these issues began with the ethnic cleanings issues during the war in Bosnia. After June of 1999, International Red Cross identified 150,000 Serbs who had fled from terror, intimidation and primarily ethnic cleansing in Kosovo and Metohija, a province of Serbia. Only about 6,000 people have been able to return home since, making Serbia Europe’s country with the most refugees. The UN is in the process of trying to get as many of these people to return as possible, but efforts have proved difficult. In addition, in this same province, nearly 1,000 Ser...
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