Gypsies (or "Roma") originated in India in first few centuries after the life of Christ. Unfortunately, little is known about the Gypsy's past as it was never written down and has only been passed through the generations by story-telling. The only significant research on Gypsies was conducted by the Nazis who collected thousands of genealogies in preparation for a genocidal action against them. Between a half and one and a half million Gypsies were murdered. What we do know, is that through slow migrations, these traveling people passed through the lands of the Persians and Turks and came into the south of Europe in the height of the Middle Ages. Everywhere along the country roads people regarded these wandering minstrels and fortune-telling rovers as less than human, and lives not worth life. It is true that in the first few decades when the Gypsies came to Europe, some people thought they were Egyptian pilgrims (this is from where the word "gypsy" comes), and harbored them in their homes and treated them with the hospitality only reserved for holy men bound on sacred missions. …
