Spašavanje bugarskih Židova tokom rata postalo je jedan od ključnih stupova suvremenog bugarskog povijesnog identiteta i široko je priznato kao dostignuće nacije. Čak iako je ova priča mnogo složenija i dvosmislenija nego što vlasti u Sofiji prikazuju, međunarodna zajednica unatoč tome hvali Bugarsku zbog spašavanja svojih Židova. Ali što se u tom razdoblju dogodilo s Romima u Bugarskoj koji su također bili meta nacističke politike "rasnog čišćenja"?

Naslov dokumentarnog filma Ljudmile Živkove dolazi od naziva pjesme, koja je bila popularna tokom nacističkog režima i koja daje idiličnu sliku života Roma. Ova vesela pjesma postala je simbol nacističke okrutnosti jer su Romi bili je prisiljeni pjevati u koncentracijskim logorima, koje je preživjeo jako mali broj Roma.

Tokom nacističkog terora između 1933. i 1945. godine, Romi su bili izloženi sustavnoj diskriminaciji, proganjani i određeni za istrebljenje. U gotovo svim žemljama koje su u tom razdoblju okupirane od strane nacističke Njemačke ili koje su se pridružile Berlinu kao saveznici, Romi su, zajedno sa židovima i drugim skupinama, trebali biti istrebljeni. I, nažalost, nacisti i njihovi saveznici bili su prilično učinkoviti u ostvarenju svojih ciljeva.

Unatoč tome što je Bugarska bila saveznik nacističke Njemačke u periodu između ožujka 1941. godine i rujna 1944. godine, situacija s Židovima ovdje je bila malo drugačija. Iako je Sofija usvojila antisemitsko zakonodavstvo, te su Židovima, Romima i pripadnicima drugih naroda oduzeta imovina i prava, život im je bio spašen zahvaljujući otporu društva u cjelini. Ipak, to nije bio slučaj na područjima koja je Bugarska okupirala tokom sukoba. Tisuće Židova iz Pirota (Srbija) i Sjeverne Makedonije deportirane su u nacističke logore smrti, često uz pomoć bugarske administracije.

Međutim, za razliku od Roma u drugim zemljama poput Rumunjske i takozvane Nezavisne Države Hrvatske, Romi u Bugarskoj su preživjeli. Film Ljudmile Živkove pripovijeda priču o preživljavanju Roma. Na Bugarskom nacionalnom radiju Romska redateljica izjavila je sljedeće:

"Cijela ideja za scenarij započela je s pričama moje bake. Tokom Drugog svjetskog rata, cijela naša obitelj živjela je sa Židovima u Yuchbunaru [kvartu u Sofiji], i živjela je dobro. U ostalim zemljama Europe su se u međuvremenu događale grozne stvari. Neki autori tvrde kako je u Europi u to vrijeme svaki drugi Rom ubijen, dok je u Bugarskoj do kraja rata došlo do porasta broja romskog stanovništva."

"Međutim, istina je kako nije Bugarska kao država spašavala svoje Rome, već sami ljudi. Prijateljstvo i tolerancija zaštitili su Rome u to vrijeme. [Ipak,] Bugarska je Rome muslimanske vjeroispovijesti smatrala ljudima tuđe religije, te su stoga Romi muslimani bili diskriminirani Zakonom o zaštiti nacije.

I u Bugarskoj su Romi na odeređenoj razini bili ograničeni, ali u nekom trenutku ljudi su na ovaj ili onaj način počeli pomagati svojim prijateljima. Stvarnosti je bila takva da je u to vrijeme svaki Bugar imao prijatelja Roma".

Ljudmila nikada nije uspjela pronaći službeni državni nalog za spašavanje Roma u Bugarskoj. Ona objašnjava u kakvom su položaju bile nacionalne manjine u bugarskom društvu. Značajna je činjenica kako su u to vrijeme 30% bugarske vojske činili Romi, koji su sluzili kao redoviti ili mobilizirani vojnici, ili su radili pri vojsci.

Film je sniman u Njemačkoj, Hrvatskoj i Bugarskoj kako bi se povukla paralela između sudbine Roma u različitim dijelovima Europe tokom rata. Na primjer, u Hrvatskoj je romska zajednica gotovo u potpunosti istrebljena, a u Rumunjskoj su ubijene desetine tisuća Roma. Iako u Bugarskoj nije postojala takva politika, u periodu između 1937. godine i 1942. godine, mnogi Romi u Bugarskoj su kršteni, a njihova imena su promijenjena.

Ljudmila je u jedom intervjuu izjavila kako je zabrinuta zbog ponovnog oživljavanja agresivnog nacionalizma u Europi. Nakon završetka snimanja filma, Ljudmila je otkrila zastrašujuće sličnosti između današnje Europe i Europe 1930-ih. Ona se nada kako će nam priča o Romima iz Bugarske tokom Drugog svjetskog rata poslužiti primjerom toga koliko je važnan otpor cijelog društva pred prijetnjom za svaki njegov dio.

 

 

 

“Merry is the Gypsy life” is the debut film of Roma director from Bulgaria Lyudmila Zhivkova-Balashikova. The picture tells the not very well known story about the rescue of the Bulgarian Roma during the Second World War.

The saving of the Bulgarian Jews during the War became one of the key pillars of contemporary Bulgarian historical identity and it is widely recognized as an achievement of the nation. Even though the story is much more complex and ambiguous than the authorities in Sofia would like to admit, Bulgaria is nevertheless praised internationally for the rescue of its Jews. But what happened with Roma in Bulgaria in that period, as they were also among the main targets of the Nazi “racial policy”?

The title of Lyudmila Zhivkova's documentary is coming from the name of a song, popular during the Nazi period, which paints an idyllic picture of Roma life. This cheerful song became a symbol of Nazi cruelty as Roma were forced to perform it in the concertation camps where very few of them survived.

During the Nazi terror between 1933 and 1945, Roma were systematically discriminated against, persecuted, and targeted for extermination. In almost all counties occupied by Nazi Germany or allied to Berlin in that period, Roma, together with Jews and other groups were to be annihilated. And, unfortunately, the Nazis and their allies were quite effective in that pursuit. 

Even if Bulgaria was a Nazi-allied state between March 1941 and September 1944, it was an outlier. Although Sofia adopted anti-Semitic legislation and Jews, Roma and others found themselves deprived of property and rights, their lives were saved thanks to the resistance of the society as a whole. Nonetheless, that was not the case in the territories newly occupied by Bulgaria during the conflict. Thousands of Jews from the regions of Pirot, Macedonia and Trace were deported to the Nazi death camps, often with the assistance of the Bulgarian administration.

However, unlike in other countries such as Romania and the Independent State of Croatia, Roma in Bulgaria survived. The story of their survival is what Lyudmila Zhivkova's film is about. The Roma director shared the following with the Bulgarian National Radio:

"The whole idea for the script started with my grandmother’s stories. Our whole family lived with the Jews in Yuchbunar [a neighborhood in Sofia] during the Second World War and lived well while everywhere else around Europe, horrible things have happened. Some authors claim that every other Roma was killed at that time in Europe and in Bulgaria, it turns out that there was an increase in the Roma population by the end of the war." 

"In reality, it was not so much Bulgaria as a state [which] saved its Roma, but the people themselves, the friendship itself, the very tolerance at that time helped the Bulgarian society to protect them. [Yet,] Bulgaria saw Muslim Roma as people of foreign religion and thus they were discriminated against by the Nation Protection Act.

Restrictions [for Roma] began in Bulgaria as well, but at some point they stopped and the people began in one way or another to help their friends. In reality, every Bulgarian had a Roma friend at that time."

Lyudmila never managed to find an official state order for the saving of the Bulgarian Roma. She explains what happened with the position of the minority in Bulgarian society. Indicative is the fact that 30% of the Bulgarian army at that time was composed of Roma – be them regular soldiers, mobilized or military workers.

The film was shot in Germany, Croatia and Bulgaria to draw a parallel between the fates of Roma in different parts of Europe during the war. In Croatia, for instance, the Roma community was almost entirely obliterated and in Romania tens of thousands were killed. In Bulgaria, although there was no such policy, many Roma were baptized and had their names changed between 1937 and 1942.

Lyudmila shares in another interview that she is worried about the resurgence of aggressive nationalism in Europe. After working on the film, she discovered frightening parallels between Europe today and Europe in the 1930s. She hopes that the story of the Bulgarian Roma from the Second World War will serve as an example. An example, we could add, for the importance of resistance of the whole society in the face of a threat for each part of it.