In Romania, on February 20, 1856, after five centuries, the slaves were abolished against the Roma. However, 160 years later, this shameful page of history that is silenced in school textbooks remains a hidden place in Romanian society. Although Romanian artists have recently dealt with this historical issue, Romanian slavery largely remains a taboo in Romanian society.
"500 years of slavery is a tragic period in Romania's history ... a period in which the Roma people did not have a status of people," AFP ethnologist and Roma activist Delia Grigora told.
Roma in the Romanian directors of Wallachia and Moldova are mentioned for the first time in a document dating from 1385, when Prince Dan "donated 40 Roma families to the Tisama monastery".
By the middle of the 19th century, the Roma mostly served slaves of the Vlachs and Moldova, which amounted to about 250,000. Wallachia's criminal law stipulated that "all Roma were born as slaves".
In 1848, a proclamation was issued for "the Romanian people to be freed from the shame of slaves and declaring freedom for the Gypsies," which is the first step towards their complete liberation in 1856.
"The Roma still carry stigma from that period, their personal interest is very low," Grigorjeva said.
Link: https://www.euractiv.rs/ljudska-prava/9693-ropstvo-roma-bolna-taka-rumunskog-drutva-
