IV.
F. The Roma in Hungary
CROWE, David M. “The Roma (Gypsies) of Hungary through the
Kadar Era.” Nationalities Papers, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Winter 1991),
pp. 297-311.
Part of a special edition on the Roma in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union, this article teaches the history of
the Roma in Hungary from their entrance into the region in the Middle Ages
through the late 1980s. It emphasizes the serious historical prejudices
that have haunted the Roma throughout their existence in Hungary.
CSEMER, Geza. Habiszti: Ciganyok Elete-Etele. Budapest: Lettera
Kft, 1994.
This collection the lives of famous Roma includes
Hungar-ian Romany recipes..
DIOSI, Agnes. Ciganyut. Budapest: Szepirodalmi Konyvkiado, 1988.
This rich collection of photographs brings to
life a vibrant study of Romany culture in Hungary in the 1970s and 1980s.
It also explores government policy towards the Roma since the 1950s.
HAJDU, Mihaly. “Gypsies, 1980.” Hungarian Digest, No. 6 (1980):
pp. 28-34.
This article looks at the life of the Roma in
Hungary and includes some interviews with Roma. Though it provides some
valuable insight into Romany life at this time, it still includes some
of the subtle stereotypes that have haunted the Roma in Hungary.
HANN, C.M. Tazlar: A Village in Hungary. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1980.
This is a sociological case study on Hungarian
rural conditions before dramatic changes occurred in government policies.
It shows how the conditions affected ethnic cohesion between majority and
minority populations, including Hungarian and Romany populations.
HOOZ, Istvan. “Census Relative to Gipsy Population in the 18th and 19th
Centuries.” In A Magyarorszagban Cziganyosszeirds Eredmenyei: 1893 januar
31-en veggrehajtott. Budapest: Az Anthenaeum R. Tasulat Konyvnyomdaa,
1893.
This detailed analysis of the 1893 Romany census
is an essential source for anyone interested in a critical look at the
status of the Roma in Hungary at the end of the 19th century. There is
an English summary at the end of this study.
Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. Rights Denied: The Roma of Hungary.
New York: Human Rights Watch, 1996.
This report surveys human rights offenses against
Hungary’s largest minority, the Roma, and analyzes the reasons behind them,
including political-legal failures. It offers recommendations to the Hungarian
government about how to address these problems, and contains several appendixes
that contain documents germane to Romany human rights issues.
Helsinki Watch. Struggling for Ethnic Identity: The Gypsies of Hungary.
New York: Human Rights Watch, 1993.
This is a report about the Hungarian Romany minority,
completed just as the Minority Bill passed. It tells of the Romany struggle
for identity and human rights after the fall of the former regime. It contains
recommendations for the police and civil guards on the proper relationship
with and treatment of Roma, and suggests the creation of an ombudsman for
human rights. An appendix contains Human Rights Watch’s policy statement
on the protection of Hate Speech.
KARSAI, Laszlo. A Ciganykerdes Magyarorszagon 1919-1945: Ut a Cigany
Holocausthoz. Budapest: Scientia Hungariae, Cserepfalvi Kiadasa, 1992.
This book traces the history of the Roma in Hungarian
society from the end of World War I through the end of the Holocaust. It
looks at the growing body of prejudice in interwar Hungary against the
Roma and the impact of forced magyarization on this group. It culminates
with a discussion of the Holocaust in Hungary, which saw 28,000 Roma shipped
out of the country, with only about 3,000 returning at war’s end. Those
who remained in Hungary during the war were subjected to varying degrees
of discrimination triggered by Hungary’s relationship with Nazi Germany.
MCCAGG, W.D. “Gypsy Policy in Socialist Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1945-1989.”
Nationalities Papers, Vol. 19, No. 3 (1991): pp. 313-36.
A comparative study that explores the similarities
and differences of official policy towards the Roma in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
The author paints a rather mixed picture of policies designed to raise
the socio-economic and educational level of the Roma in both countries.
He correctly underscores the problems of deep-seated anti-Roma prejudice
and its impact on the implementation of such policies, and is highly critical
of sterilization programs and efforts to kidnap Romany children to break
up the Romany family unit. He feels that both governments were driven by
a welfare-ist approach to the Gypsy problem, and by hastily implementing
these policies wound up creating programs that seemed more abusive than
initially intended.
MEZEY, Barna, Laszlo POMOGYI, and Istvan TAUBER. A Magyarorszagi Ciganykerdes
Dokumentumokban, 1422-1985. Budapest: Kossuth Konyvkiado, 1986.
This is a collection of primary and secondary
sources of the Roma and their life in Hungary from the early 15th century
until 1985.
SCHWICKER, J. H. Die Zigeuner in Ungarn und Siebenburgen. Vienna
and Teschen: Karl Brochasta, 1883.
This classic study of the Roma in Hungary and
Transylvania is based upon an extensive analysis of Austrian census data
in the 18th and 19th century. It provides a unique glimpse into some of
the more grim realities of Romany life in that country during this period.
It should be used in conjunction with Istvan Hooz’s “Census Relative to
Gipsy Population in the 18th and 19th Centuries.”
STEWART, Michael. Brothers in Song: The Persistence of (Vlach) Gypsy
Community and Identity in Socialist Hungary. Ph.D. thesis, University
of London (1988). Published in Hungarian as Daltestverek: Az Olah Cigany
Identitas es Kozosseg Tovabbelese a Szolcialista Magyarorszagon. Budapest:
Twins Kiado, MTA Szociologiai Intezet, Max Weber Alapitvany, 1993.
This innovative anthropological work looks at
on the Vlach (Wallachian) Roma in Hungary and explores their deep cultural
and linguistic traditions. Based on field work in Hungary, it provides
an incisive look at Romany life in Hungary among this distinct group.
STEWART, Michael. The Time of the Gypsies. Boulder, CO: Westview
Press, 1997.
A study based on extensive fieldwork that centered
around the author’s 15 month stay with his wife and child in the Vlach
Romany settlement or Third Quarter in Harangos, Hungary. The author blends
a unique anthropological perspective with a human touch to provide a rare
glimpse of life within a distinct Romany community. This is not a romantic
stroll through a Romany community, but a hard, honest look at the realities
of Romany life in contemporary Hungary. It is anchored by a solid bibliography.
SZUHAY, Peter, and Antonia BARATI, eds. Kepek a Magyarorszagi Ciganyasag
20. Szazdi Tortenetbol: A vilag letra, melyen az egyik fel, a masik le
megy (cigany kozmondas). Budapest: Novrotrans, 1993.
This book was compiled by the historians and
anthropologists of the Budapest Museum of National History to accompany
a comprehensive exhibition of pictures of the Romany community in Hungary.
UTASI, Agnes, and Agnes MESZAROS, eds. Ciganylet. Budapest: MTA
Politikai Tudomanyok Intezet, 1991.
This is an edited collection of scholarly works
on Hungarian Roma.
VAJDA, Gabor. “Gypsies Face a Crisis of Confidence.” Budapest Week 3,
no. 27 (September 9-15, 1993): p. 5.
The author contends that political responsibility
is the only way of ensuring political freedom and avoiding its misuse and
loss. Such an outcome occurred immediately after the constitutional reform
of 1990, when the Hungarian Roma failed to aggressively pursue their new
legal rights.
VEKERDI, Joszef. “Earliest Arrival Evidence on Gypsies in Hungary.”
Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society. Fourth Series, Vol. I, No. 2 (1976):
pp. 170-72.
This article looks at early 14th century documents
on the Roma in Hungary, particularly references later that century in a
Hungarian Slovak document, the Book of Executions of the Lords of Rozmberk,
which some scholars feel contains references to the Roma.
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