For many centuries in a row, the gypsies have called themselves a pacifist people. They are not belligerent and do not seek conquest. “It’s not for us to fight, the gypsies should sing!” - the key idea of ​​the performance of the theater "Romen", dedicated to the history of the Gypsies of Russia.

However, during the war, the gypsies more than once took up arms and stood in the ranks of the defenders of their country. In the Great Patriotic War, they are on a par with representatives of other nationalities Soviet Union not only fell under the draft, but also went to the front as volunteers, and also became partisans.

Gypsies go to the front

Despite the ethnic "cleansing" of 1933, during which hundreds of Roma were deported from Leningrad and Moscow to Siberia, there were many Roma in the European part of the USSR. Some of them continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, which the Soviet government fought against, others settled down, took up crafts and even joined specially organized gypsy collective farms.

Hitler, having come to power in Germany, from the first years began a policy of persecution of the "lower races". Along with the Jews, the gypsies were also persecuted. From the mid-1930s, they were subjected to sterilization, later placed in concentration camps, and simply destroyed in the territories occupied by the Nazis. When German troops invaded the territory of the USSR, the Soviet gypsies did not hesitate to take up arms.

Settled gypsies, attached to the military registration and enlistment offices, among others, went to the front. Representatives of nomadic camps also fell under the draft. Many gypsies volunteered at the assembly points and also went to the front line. They not only loved their homeland, but also soberly understood: in the event of Hitler's victory, they simply would not survive.

Gypsy Sniper

Gypsies were sent to almost all troops: infantry, cavalry, aviation, reconnaissance, artillery, front-line medicine.

The story of the gypsy Viktor Belyakov, who fought on Western front and destroyed a lot of fascists with well-aimed shots. The regiment commander reported about him to General Andrey Stuchenko in the summer of 1942: “A month does not leave the front line, fifty Fritz are on his account. He doesn't want to leave until he hits 100. He does not have a father, his mother works at the Romen Theater.

On the initiative of General Belyakov was awarded the Order of the Red Star. By July 1943, Victor had 206 destroyed Nazis on his personal account. At a rally of snipers, Belyakov told his colleagues how to lure the enemy out of hiding. Noticing the accumulation of Germans, Victor asked the command to open mortar fire on the enemy's trenches. The Nazis in fright jumped out of the trenches and fell into the scope of a sniper.

The gypsy sniper went through the whole war and survived. He was awarded the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit". In 1968, after the release of the book of memoirs of General Stuchenko, the staff of the Romen Theater found Viktor Belyakov in the Moscow region and invited him to a meeting with the theater troupe.

It is difficult to calculate how many gypsies were awarded orders and medals during the Great Patriotic War, because many of them are on the lists military units and passports were listed as Tatars, Ukrainians, Moldavians or Russians. Only one Hero of the Soviet Union had the entry "gypsies" in the questionnaire - this is the Marine Timofey Prokofiev, who received the title posthumously.

Despite the reservation at the place of work, Timofey volunteered to go to the front in 1942 after the death of his brother. As part of the troops of the Black Sea Fleet, he defended Malaya Zemlya, captured the Kerch bridgehead, was twice seriously wounded, but refused to leave his unit and go to the hospital.

During the Odessa operation on March 26, 1944, a Soviet landing was made in Nikolaev. Prokofiev, among 67 fighters, repulsed 18 enemy attacks within two days. The landing force destroyed about 700 Nazis. Prokofiev fired at the enemies with a machine gun. He was mortally wounded in the head by a sniper. When two fascists approached him, the dying sailor gathered his strength and shot them with the last burst.

Other gypsies also returned with orders from the fronts of the Great Patriotic War: pilots Murachkovsky, artilleryman Massalsky, tanker Menshikov.

Partisans and resistance members behind enemy lines

The Nazis ruthlessly destroyed the gypsies in the occupied territories. In the regions of the Soviet Union occupied by German troops, up to 80% of the gypsy population were destroyed. Those who managed to hide from the Nazis went to the partisans.

Gypsy Polya Morazevskaya fought in a partisan detachment in the Smolensk forests. A very young girl walked along the roads and villages with a baby in her arms - the image of a young mother was supposed to lull the suspicions of the Nazis. Polya collected information on the numbers and movements of German troops. She was captured by the Nazis and burned alive with her child in the furnace of a factory stove.

Gypsies fought the Nazis not only on the territory of the USSR. The French gypsy Armand Stenger commanded a detachment of partisans, and after the Allies landed he joined them in Normandy. He was not only awarded the orders of France and Britain, but also headed the Gypsy Association after the war.

Quite a few gypsies in Croatia and Serbia entered into partisan movement People's Liberation Front. Albanian gypsy underground Khazani Brahim carried out a successful sabotage by blowing up a German warehouse with large supplies of fuel and military vehicles. Tomas Farkas assembled a partisan detachment of Roma and Slovaks and successfully commanded it.

Resistance did not subside even in captivity. In the German concentration camp Plaszczow near Krakow, four gypsy prisoners from the USSR were hanged by the Nazis for killing the camp staff. Lisa Papas, Anyuta Tsekhovich, Rosa Timofey and Klasha Ivanova dealt with three sadistic guards.

Supporting the front with art and money

All the years of the Great Patriotic War, the gypsy theater "Romen" performed in the rear and on the front line. The artists not only raised the morale of the soldiers at the front, but also earned money with concerts in peaceful cities and towns. The collected funds were directed to support the Red Army.

On tour in Vladivostok, the theater team received a government telegram. Its text read: “I ask you to convey to the employees of the Moscow State Romen Theater, who collected 75,000 rubles for the construction of the Romen Gypsy Theater bomber, my fraternal greetings and gratitude to the Red Army. I. Stalin.

The theater kept extremely low prices for its performances - the halls were overcrowded, since even a bagel on the market during the war years cost more than an entrance ticket to a concert. At the same time, according to the report on 01.01.1944, the team transferred almost 500 thousand rubles to help the front. During the summer of 1944, the theater collected another 500,000 profits from planned concerts to the country's budget.

Gypsies on the other side of the barricades

Surprisingly, gypsies also sometimes fought on the side of the Third Reich. German boxing champion Johann Trolmann was sterilized in 1938 and then drafted into the German army. After being wounded in 1941, Trollmann ends up in a concentration camp, where SS men practice blows on him. In February 1943, he was killed during one of the training sessions.

The Hungarian gypsy Gyorgy Tsifra was drafted in 1942 to the German front - first into the infantry, then into the tankers. The guy did not want to fight for those who destroy his fellow tribesmen, and soon deserted. After the war, Digit became a famous pianist.

Memory of the people

Every year on April 8, Moscow gypsies come to the Moskva River - on the International Day of the Roma, they remember their relatives who died in the Second World War. world war and throw fresh flowers into the water. According to various estimates, from 500,000 to a million Gypsies died at the hands of the Nazis, including from 200,000 to 500,000 Gypsies from the Soviet Union. The world's only monument to the losses of the nomadic people is located in Berlin.

With special respect, the gypsies of Russia remember those brothers who fell with weapons in their hands in the fight against Nazism. Their names are forever inscribed in the Books of Memory along with hundreds of thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs and other citizens of the USSR.

For many centuries in a row, the gypsies have called themselves a pacifist people. They are not belligerent and do not seek conquest. “It’s not for us to fight, the gypsies should sing!” - the key idea of ​​the performance of the theater "Romen", dedicated to the history of the Gypsies of Russia.

However, during the war, the gypsies more than once took up arms and stood in the ranks of the defenders of their country. During the Great Patriotic War, they, along with representatives of other nationalities of the Soviet Union, not only fell under the draft, but also went to the front as volunteers, and also became partisans.

Gypsies go to the front

Despite the ethnic "cleansing" of 1933, during which hundreds of Roma were deported from Leningrad and Moscow to Siberia, there were many Roma in the European part of the USSR. Some of them continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, which the Soviet government fought against, others settled down, took up crafts and even joined specially organized gypsy collective farms.

Hitler, having come to power in Germany, from the first years began a policy of persecution of the "lower races". Along with the Jews, the gypsies were also persecuted. From the mid-1930s, they were subjected to sterilization, later placed in concentration camps, and simply destroyed in the territories occupied by the Nazis. When German troops invaded the territory of the USSR, the Soviet gypsies did not hesitate to take up arms.

Settled gypsies, attached to the military registration and enlistment offices, among others, went to the front. Representatives of nomadic camps also fell under the draft. Many gypsies volunteered at the assembly points and also went to the front line. They not only loved their homeland, but also soberly understood: in the event of Hitler's victory, they simply would not survive.

Gypsy Sniper

Gypsies were sent to almost all troops: infantry, cavalry, aviation, reconnaissance, artillery, front-line medicine.

The story of the gypsy Viktor Belyakov, who fought on the Western Front and destroyed many fascists with well-aimed shots, is noteworthy. The regiment commander reported about him to General Andrey Stuchenko in the summer of 1942: “A month does not leave the front line, fifty Fritz are on his account. He doesn't want to leave until he hits 100. He does not have a father, his mother works at the Romen Theater.

On the initiative of General Belyakov was awarded the Order of the Red Star. By July 1943, Victor had 206 destroyed Nazis on his personal account. At a rally of snipers, Belyakov told his colleagues how to lure the enemy out of hiding. Noticing the accumulation of Germans, Victor asked the command to open mortar fire on the enemy's trenches. The Nazis in fright jumped out of the trenches and fell into the scope of a sniper.

The gypsy sniper went through the whole war and survived. He was awarded the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit". In 1968, after the release of the book of memoirs of General Stuchenko, the staff of the Romen Theater found Viktor Belyakov in the Moscow region and invited him to a meeting with the theater troupe.

It is difficult to calculate how many gypsies were awarded orders and medals during the Great Patriotic War, because many of them were listed in military units and passports as Tatars, Ukrainians, Moldovans or Russians. Only one Hero of the Soviet Union had the entry "gypsies" in the questionnaire - this is the Marine Timofey Prokofiev, who received the title posthumously.

Despite the reservation at the place of work, Timofey volunteered to go to the front in 1942 after the death of his brother. As part of the troops of the Black Sea Fleet, he defended Malaya Zemlya, captured the Kerch bridgehead, was twice seriously wounded, but refused to leave his unit and go to the hospital.

During the Odessa operation on March 26, 1944, a Soviet landing was made in Nikolaev. Prokofiev, among 67 fighters, repulsed 18 enemy attacks within two days. The landing force destroyed about 700 Nazis. Prokofiev fired at the enemies with a machine gun. He was mortally wounded in the head by a sniper. When two fascists approached him, the dying sailor gathered his strength and shot them with the last burst.

Other gypsies also returned with orders from the fronts of the Great Patriotic War: pilots Murachkovsky, artilleryman Massalsky, tanker Menshikov.

Partisans and resistance members behind enemy lines

The Nazis ruthlessly destroyed the gypsies in the occupied territories. In the regions of the Soviet Union occupied by German troops, up to 80% of the gypsy population were destroyed. Those who managed to hide from the Nazis went to the partisans.

Gypsy Polya Morazevskaya fought in a partisan detachment in the Smolensk forests. A very young girl walked along the roads and villages with a baby in her arms - the image of a young mother was supposed to lull the suspicions of the Nazis. Polya collected information on the numbers and movements of German troops. She was captured by the Nazis and burned alive with her child in the furnace of a factory stove.

Gypsies fought the Nazis not only on the territory of the USSR. The French gypsy Armand Stenger commanded a detachment of partisans, and after the Allies landed he joined them in Normandy. He was not only awarded the orders of France and Britain, but also headed the Gypsy Association after the war.

Many gypsies in Croatia and Serbia joined the partisan movement People's Liberation Front. Albanian gypsy underground Khazani Brahim carried out a successful sabotage by blowing up a German warehouse with large supplies of fuel and military vehicles. Tomas Farkas assembled a partisan detachment of Roma and Slovaks and successfully commanded it.

Resistance did not subside even in captivity. In the German concentration camp Plaszczow near Krakow, four gypsy prisoners from the USSR were hanged by the Nazis for killing the camp staff. Lisa Papas, Anyuta Tsekhovich, Rosa Timofey and Klasha Ivanova dealt with three sadistic guards.

Supporting the front with art and money

All the years of the Great Patriotic War, the gypsy theater "Romen" performed in the rear and on the front line. The artists not only raised the morale of the soldiers at the front, but also earned money with concerts in peaceful cities and towns. The collected funds were directed to support the Red Army.

On tour in Vladivostok, the theater team received a government telegram. Its text read: “I ask you to convey to the employees of the Moscow State Romen Theater, who collected 75,000 rubles for the construction of the Romen Gypsy Theater bomber, my fraternal greetings and gratitude to the Red Army. I. Stalin.

The theater kept extremely low prices for its performances - the halls were overcrowded, since even a bagel on the market during the war years cost more than an entrance ticket to a concert. At the same time, according to the report on 01.01.1944, the team transferred almost 500 thousand rubles to help the front. During the summer of 1944, the theater collected another 500,000 profits from planned concerts to the country's budget.

Gypsies on the other side of the barricades

Surprisingly, gypsies also sometimes fought on the side of the Third Reich. German boxing champion Johann Trolmann was sterilized in 1938 and then drafted into the German army. After being wounded in 1941, Trollmann ends up in a concentration camp, where SS men practice blows on him. In February 1943, he was killed during one of the training sessions.

The Hungarian gypsy Gyorgy Tsifra was drafted in 1942 to the German front - first into the infantry, then into the tankers. The guy did not want to fight for those who destroy his fellow tribesmen, and soon deserted. After the war, Digit became a famous pianist.

Memory of the people

Every year on April 8, Moscow gypsies come to the Moskva River - on International Gypsy Day they remember their relatives who died in World War II and throw fresh flowers into the water. According to various estimates, from 500,000 to a million Gypsies died at the hands of the Nazis, including from 200,000 to 500,000 Gypsies from the Soviet Union. The world's only monument to the losses of the nomadic people is located in Berlin.

With special respect, the gypsies of Russia remember those brothers who fell with weapons in their hands in the fight against Nazism. Their names are forever inscribed in the Books of Memory along with hundreds of thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs and other citizens of the USSR.

About the life of an unusual people

Despite the relevance of conducting research on national cultures, especially for the Astrakhan region, which has always been distinguished by ethnic diversity, the study of gypsy culture is still a little affected area. Very little is known about the origin, history of the appearance of gypsies on Astrakhan territory, their traditions and mentality. For a part of the population, the gypsies are like a wild people, with their alien customs and unusual immediacy.

Nevertheless, love for the gypsy culture, their folklore has always existed and exists in our country. There is something attractive in this people, shrouded in some mystery. After the films that appeared on the screens, such as "The camp goes to the sky", "Gypsy", "Return of Budulai", many Soviet girls had a dream to marry a gypsy, gypsy life was then associated with romance, adventures, drawling songs around the campfire. But today there is no trace of the nomadic gypsy way of life, they live ordinary life, in the same houses as everyone else, less often in apartments. However, gypsies are still shunned and feared by many. Although there is a rather simple explanation for this, laid down by nature itself: a person has always been frightened by everything that is inaccessible to him, unknown and incomprehensible. Indeed, the Gypsy culture is closed. From time immemorial, the gypsies led a separate way of life.

The basis for understanding the gypsy national character is the attitude of the gypsies to the world. For them, it is divided into two unequal parts - into "their own", Roma (people), and "strangers", whom they call "gadzho". Perhaps the reason for this attitude is the echoes of the caste system, which is still preserved in their homeland, in India. But those who stayed for a long time in a particular area, over the years adopted the customs of the indigenous population. There are legends about gypsy magic and hypnosis that go back to past centuries, when the gypsies were still nomadic and along the way they acquired new occult knowledge that has been passed down from generation to generation until now. The fear of gypsies comes from ancient beliefs that said that gypsies should not be looked into the eyes, talked to them and showed jewelry. The power of their magic is no less known: it is believed that the gypsy curse is the worst. However, there are inaccuracies in the prevailing and already well-established idea of ​​​​gypsies. For example, gypsy liberty, freedom are very relative concepts. Gypsies have very strict morals and a special upbringing.

Who are they and where are they from?

According to the last census of 2010, there are 205 thousand people in Russia who identify themselves as gypsies, approximately 5.5 thousand gypsies live in the territory of the Astrakhan region, in Astrakhan itself - at least 2.6 thousand and almost the same number in the near suburbs. Compared, for example, with the regional census in 2002, when 4,331 Roma were recorded, one can note an increase in the Roma population. Now there are several settlements in Astrakhan, in fact, these are the former "camps" of the "Saxon" gypsies. Outlying areas with wooden buildings remain traditional places of compact residence of the gypsy population. It is under such conditions that the gypsy way of life can be preserved. Their settlements are part of the settlements of Yango-Aula and Svobodny Leninsky District. They also live in the area of ​​Mosstroy, the hospital named after S. M. Kirov, the village of Morskoy and in 2-3 other places in the immediate vicinity.

Gypsy culture is bright, original and very unusual. This people has excellently preserved its ancient language with Indian roots, sounding both in Astrakhan and in its environs. Local gypsies proudly say that "Indian films without translation are understood." Indeed, gypsies understand many simple phrases spoken in Hindi. That is why some Indian films are so loved. It was among the gypsies that the “primary” ethnic tradition was preserved in the basis, in Russia with the resettlement to the Volga in the middle of the 20th century. it was only re-adapted and reworked in contacts with new neighbors. The most important principle of the gypsies is the so-called "romanipe", which roughly means "gypsy in spirit, feeling", "gypsy law", "gypsy certainty and self-consciousness".

Speaking about the traditional culture of the Gypsies, while touching on the ritual component, it is important to touch on religion, because, like every nation, the Gypsies have their own scale of values. The main ones, in order of importance, are: family and religion. Gypsies living in the region usually declare themselves as Orthodox Christians. Astrakhan gypsies often go to church. There are several parishes in the city, where you can most often meet believing Orthodox gypsies. This is the Peter and Paul Church, located in the village of Svobodny, built as a memory of the once ancient Resurrection-Boldino desert that was here, the Pokrovsky Cathedral on the Selensky Isads, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord on Trusovo. Orthodox gypsies always celebrate Christmas, Epiphany, Easter, Trinity, St. Peter's Day, the Transfiguration of the Lord or, as it is customary to call it, Apple Savior, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Previously, the gypsies believed that in the first nine days of fasting, one should not sing, dance, go to visit in the evenings, wash and comb their hair. Everyday life Gypsies were often determined by pagan customs. The gypsies believed in ghosts and did not want to get involved with the dead, and therefore not only never took things that belonged to a deceased person, but tried not to even mention his name. Until recently, there were cases when gypsies left their homes if one of the family members died.

There is evidence that the gypsies also have secret beliefs reminiscent of Indian ones. The fact is that initially the beliefs of the gypsies were indeed pagan, but over the many centuries of their wanderings they assimilated many pagan and non-pagan (Jewish and Christian) teachings and beliefs. Some researchers are of the opinion that the ancestors of the gypsies, who are Aryanized indigenous population north-western India, ranked as a varna of sudra or dasa in the caste system of ancient India, undoubtedly, before their migration to the west at the beginning of the 1st millennium, existed along with agamic cults, for example, the cult of Shiva. The origins of the cult contain elements dating back to pre-Aryan antiquity, where there was power over animals, in particular, over snakes. Wherever the gypsies stopped on their way, they at least outwardly assimilated the religious beliefs of their neighbors so as not to come into conflict with them. In each country, the gypsies, who have lived there for centuries, profess the local religion. At the same time, the data of the gypsy language lead to the idea that the ancestors of modern gypsies have long had the idea of ​​a single God-Creator, God the Father, and that it is this idea, and not the form of confession, that is the most important for gypsies and determines their religious tolerance and respect for to any form of religion. Russian gypsies have preserved their piety to this day, which was not affected by the struggle against religion during the years of Soviet power.

Among the Astrakhan gypsies one can meet not only Christians, but also Muslims. Starting from 1991, and with a new active wave in 2001, Tajik-speaking gypsies appeared on the streets of Astrakhan - Sunni Muslims with citizenship of Uzbekistan (from the vicinity of Termez). These were the so-called "lyulû, lolû", Tajik "dzhugû", which means "nomads, vagabonds, artists". Their self-name is "mugats", from the Arabic "pagans, magicians". They are darker, many women have a characteristic tattoo on their faces, wear oriental clothes.

Features of social organization

The interaction of gypsy groups and the local, predominantly Russian, population singled out total mass"their" gypsies. "Our gypsies" were always well known to the villagers, they also knew individual families and the "features" of the hospitality of one or another settlement and even at home.

The most common Romani family model is the extended three-generation family. Modern nuclear families make up about a quarter of all Roma families studied. As a rule, older sons separated from their father and their families settle nearby, as a result of which a related settlement is formed. The basis of social organization for both settled and "nomadic" traditionally was a clan with a patrilineal descent. The mobile community (tabor) was one or more large family groups, usually related, although representatives of different genera belonging to the same ethnic group of gypsies could also unite. Separate nuclear families or loners could also adjoin the camp. During the transition to a settled life, this community settled in one place, and houses were set up instead of tents. Traditionally, a large number of children were born in gypsy families, which, like other peoples, was due to high infant mortality. In the twentieth century, the birth rate among the population of European countries gradually began to decline with the development of medicine, as well as in connection with a change in the structure of the traditional patriarchal family. The decline in the Roma birth rate began later, after the transition to settled life and with increased access to health care. But this decline did not occur immediately, but over the course of one or two generations: the population censuses of 1959-1980 show a two-fold increase in the Roma population of the USSR. More recently, the number of children in Roma families has decreased. So, if in the 40-50s. often met families with 7-10 children, then in our time you rarely see a family with more than 3-4 children. In urban affluent families, couples aged forty and below now most often have two children in the family.

Great importance in a gypsy family they have etiquette and a complex of so-called “family rituals”, consisting of signs and customs. Most gypsies have a very complex etiquette of rules of conduct that depend on the gender and age of the person. So, on a visit and on holidays, women usually sit separately from men: on different sides of the table, at different tables, or even in different rooms. The younger ones are usually forbidden to drink alcohol in front of the older ones, or they are ordered to ask their permission. In this case, it is not the actual age that matters, but the difference in age and marital status. It is considered impolite for a woman to pass in front of a man if it is possible to go around him from behind, and to stand with her back to a man if he is sitting. The guest, according to etiquette, is supposed to be fed. Refusing food is impolite. In addition, it is believed that guests should come with a "present". When a child was born in the family, in the morning another woman went around the houses with water, sprinkling them, and the gypsies threw money into her bucket. The woman in labor was not supposed to touch the dishes, she ate separately for two weeks. It is not customary to swaddle a baby on a table, because a dead person is placed on the table.

Among Orthodox gypsies, when a boy was baptized, they gave him the name of the godfather, and when a girl was baptized, they gave her name to the godmother. For gypsies, the family name and surname recorded in the passport most often do not match. This is due to the system of double surnames, and often the names of the gypsies. The real family surname often remains known among the gypsy environment (it is indicated on tombstones), and the surname adopted among the surrounding population is written in the passport, often random, since it is not given importance. So that no one jinxes the child, he is tied with a red ribbon. Often, children were married in infancy. Previously, there was a custom to take the future bride into the family with the consent of her parents at the age of 9-10 years, and upon reaching the age of 13-15 years, they played a wedding. The custom of exchanging brides (this is when one family gave away a bride-daughter and took the groom's sister as a wife for her son) was beneficial for both parties and saved families from the need for a ransom. It is difficult to get to a gypsy wedding, if only because no one is invited to it in advance, it is not accepted, suddenly, for some reason, the wedding will be upset. The closest people know about the wedding. Usually the bride and groom invite guests to the wedding on the wedding day.

In the interior decoration of the houses of modern gypsies, the traditional system remains at the core. The dwelling of many gypsy families is one large room without any partitions and without furniture, except for a dressing table, TV cabinets and a low table for eating. Among the elderly, there is still a contemptuous attitude towards furniture, it is believed that a person does not need it. The bed is covered large quantity featherbeds, pillows rise in a big mountain almost to the very ceiling. The habit of considering the highest place as “clean” has been preserved, so the hosts respectfully try to put the things of the guests higher, for example, on a closet. It used to be that a woman's clothes were not clean, except for an apron. A woman could deliberately touch the edge of a man's skirt during a quarrel in order to defile him. When they dropped a fork or spoon on the ground, then they did not use them anymore. Many gypsy beliefs are still relevant and are part of the traditional side of family rituals.

Gypsies-participants of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

A little-known page in history is the role and participation of gypsies in World War II. A German victory meant death for the Gypsies. Realizing that Hitler's fascism was destroying the gypsy people, many gypsies joined the armed forces (including volunteers). There were also participants in the partisan struggle in the occupied territory. The archives of the Ministry of Defense testify that by the end of the war, eleven gypsies were known - Heroes of the Soviet Union and many cavaliers of the most high orders. The statistics in this case cannot reflect reality, since most of the Roma in their passports were listed as Russians, Ukrainians or Tatars. The military professions of the Gypsies are diverse: they were infantrymen, tankers, pilots, radio gunners, artillerymen, and paratroopers. Gypsies served as nurses, went to reconnaissance.

How did the gypsies fight in the Great Patriotic War?

For many centuries in a row, the gypsies have called themselves a pacifist people. They are not belligerent and do not seek conquest. “It’s not for us to fight, the gypsies should sing!” — the key idea of ​​the performance of the theater "Romen", dedicated to the history of the gypsies of Russia.

However, during the war, the gypsies more than once took up arms and stood in the ranks of the defenders of their country. During the Great Patriotic War, they, along with representatives of other nationalities of the Soviet Union, not only fell under the draft, but also went to the front as volunteers, and also became partisans.

Gypsies go to the front

Despite the ethnic "cleansing" of 1933, during which hundreds of Roma were deported from Leningrad and Moscow to Siberia, there were many Roma in the European part of the USSR. Some of them continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle, which the Soviet government fought against, others settled down, took up crafts and even joined specially organized gypsy collective farms.

Hitler, having come to power in Germany, from the first years began a policy of persecution of the "lower races". Along with the Jews, the gypsies were also persecuted. From the mid-1930s, they were subjected to sterilization, later placed in concentration camps, and simply destroyed in the territories occupied by the Nazis. When German troops invaded the territory of the USSR, the Soviet gypsies did not hesitate to take up arms.

Settled gypsies, attached to the military registration and enlistment offices, among others, went to the front. Representatives of nomadic camps also fell under the draft. Many gypsies volunteered at the assembly points and also went to the front line. They not only loved their homeland, but also soberly understood: in the event of Hitler's victory, they simply would not survive.

Gypsy Sniper

Gypsies were sent to almost all troops: infantry, cavalry, aviation, reconnaissance, artillery, front-line medicine.

The story of the gypsy Viktor Belyakov, who fought on the Western Front and destroyed many fascists with well-aimed shots, is noteworthy. The regiment commander reported about him to General Andrey Stuchenko in the summer of 1942: “A month does not leave the front line, fifty Fritz are on his account. He doesn't want to leave until he hits 100. He does not have a father, his mother works at the Romen Theater.

On the initiative of General Belyakov was awarded the Order of the Red Star. By July 1943, Victor had 206 destroyed Nazis on his personal account. At a rally of snipers, Belyakov told his colleagues how to lure the enemy out of hiding. Noticing the accumulation of Germans, Victor asked the command to open mortar fire on the enemy's trenches. The Nazis in fright jumped out of the trenches and fell into the scope of a sniper.

The gypsy sniper went through the whole war and survived. He was awarded the medals "For Courage" and "For Military Merit". In 1968, after the release of the book of memoirs of General Stuchenko, the staff of the Romen Theater found Viktor Belyakov in the Moscow region and invited him to a meeting with the theater troupe.

It is difficult to calculate how many gypsies were awarded orders and medals during the Great Patriotic War, because many of them were listed in military units and passports as Tatars, Ukrainians, Moldovans or Russians. Only one Hero of the Soviet Union had the entry "gypsies" in the questionnaire - this is the Marine Timofey Prokofiev, who received the title posthumously.

Despite the reservation at the place of work, Timofey volunteered to go to the front in 1942 after the death of his brother. As part of the troops of the Black Sea Fleet, he defended Malaya Zemlya, captured the Kerch bridgehead, was twice seriously wounded, but refused to leave his unit and go to the hospital.

During the Odessa operation on March 26, 1944, a Soviet landing was made in Nikolaev. Prokofiev, among 67 fighters, repulsed 18 enemy attacks within two days. The landing force destroyed about 700 Nazis. Prokofiev fired at the enemies with a machine gun. He was mortally wounded in the head by a sniper. When two fascists approached him, the dying sailor gathered his strength and shot them with the last burst.

Other gypsies also returned with orders from the fronts of the Great Patriotic War: pilots Murachkovsky, artilleryman Massalsky, tanker Menshikov.

Partisans and resistance members behind enemy lines

The Nazis ruthlessly destroyed the gypsies in the occupied territories. In the regions of the Soviet Union occupied by German troops, up to 80% of the gypsy population were destroyed. Those who managed to hide from the Nazis went to the partisans.

Gypsy Polya Morazevskaya fought in a partisan detachment in the Smolensk forests. A very young girl walked along the roads and villages with a baby in her arms - the image of a young mother was supposed to lull the suspicions of the Nazis. Polya collected information on the numbers and movements of German troops. She was captured by the Nazis and burned alive with her child in the furnace of a factory stove.

Gypsies fought the Nazis not only on the territory of the USSR. The French gypsy Armand Stenger commanded a detachment of partisans, and after the Allies landed he joined them in Normandy. He was not only awarded the orders of France and Britain, but also headed the Gypsy Association after the war.

Many gypsies in Croatia and Serbia joined the partisan movement People's Liberation Front. Albanian gypsy underground Khazani Brahim carried out a successful sabotage by blowing up a German warehouse with large supplies of fuel and military vehicles. Tomas Farkas assembled a partisan detachment of Roma and Slovaks and successfully commanded it.

Resistance did not subside even in captivity. In the German concentration camp Plaszczow near Krakow, four gypsy prisoners from the USSR were hanged by the Nazis for killing the camp staff. Lisa Papas, Anyuta Tsekhovich, Rosa Timofey and Klasha Ivanova dealt with three sadistic guards.

Supporting the front with art and money

All the years of the Great Patriotic War, the gypsy theater "Romen" performed in the rear and on the front line. The artists not only raised the morale of the soldiers at the front, but also earned money with concerts in peaceful cities and towns. The collected funds were directed to support the Red Army.

On tour in Vladivostok, the theater team received a government telegram. Its text read: “I ask you to convey to the employees of the Moscow State Romen Theater, who collected 75,000 rubles for the construction of the Romen Gypsy Theater bomber, my fraternal greetings and gratitude to the Red Army. I. Stalin.

The theater kept extremely low prices for its performances - the halls were overcrowded, since even a bagel on the market during the war years cost more than an entrance ticket to a concert. At the same time, according to the report on 01.01.1944, the team transferred almost 500 thousand rubles to help the front. During the summer of 1944, the theater collected another 500,000 profits from planned concerts to the country's budget.

Gypsies on the other side of the barricades

Surprisingly, gypsies also sometimes fought on the side of the Third Reich. German boxing champion (1933) Johann Trollmann was sterilized in 1938 and then drafted into the German army. After being wounded in 1941, Trollmann ends up in a concentration camp, where SS men practice blows on him. In February 1943, he was killed during one of the training sessions.

The Hungarian gypsy Gyorgy Tsifra was drafted in 1942 to the German front - first into the infantry, then into the tankers. The guy did not want to fight for those who destroy his fellow tribesmen, and soon deserted. After the war, Digit became a famous pianist.

Memory of the people

Every year on April 8, Moscow gypsies come to the Moskva River - on International Gypsy Day they remember their relatives who died in World War II and throw fresh flowers into the water. According to various estimates, from 500,000 to a million Gypsies died at the hands of the Nazis, including from 200,000 to 500,000 Gypsies from the Soviet Union. The world's only monument to the losses of the nomadic people is located in Berlin.

With special respect, the gypsies of Russia remember those brothers who fell with weapons in their hands in the fight against Nazism. Their names are forever inscribed in the Books of Memory along with hundreds of thousands of Russians, Ukrainians, Kazakhs and other citizens of the USSR.