“All Gypsies were living there as sound as a roach”
“All Gypsies were living there as sound as a roach”

Heydays of a Roma Colony in Oradea (Romania) and Its Wrecking in Socialist and Post-Socialist Times

Summary/Abstract: According to a widely shared belief among researchers on Roma, this ethno-racial group is to be considered the real loser of the end of state socialisms in Eastern Europe, as its living standards were higher before 1989 than in the following decades. This paper nuances this view, by presenting the forced relocation of a Roma colony from the Romanian town of Oradea during the 1970s. In keeping with the findings based on long-time anthropological fieldwork, removal of these people (done most probably in the name of the “Law of Systematization” during the 1970s and 1980s) entailed a “pinch” in access to resources and work opportunities, which has contributed to the long-time pauperization of the local Roma.

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