Perceptions and Misperceptions on Roma People during the First Half of the 20TH Century. A Glimpse into the Romanian Press

History has shown a 20th century marked by political, geopolitical, social, and economic metamorphosis, especially for the European continent. Romanian’s physical borders were reshaped during the first half of this century and caught between a political, social, and ethnic whirlwind. For Roma people, the 1920s and 1930s came with substantial turmoil as their efforts to establish various forms of representation and organization were not supported by the Romanian authorities, nor by public opinion. The public discourse was dominated by prejudice, stereotypes, and amplified marginalization. The far-right’s extreme tendencies, compounded by public discourse, spread Roma stereotypes such as “the thief”, “the other”, “the diseases carrier”, “the pariah”, “the unwanted” etc., and generated the idea of “us against them” which heavily impacted the deportation process.