ate jobs for the Gypsies in "menial occupations." Gypsies got jobs as street cleaners, garbage collectors, and road repairman. Also, the council worked hard on destroying the Gypsy settlements and resettling them in different more suitable parts of the area. Close to 39% of the entire Gypsy population in Slovakia were relocated and the government placed restrictions of "free migration." "Only those Gypsies the Gypsies included in the planned resettlement were permitted to move ( Crowe and Kolsti 100)." The communist government of Czechoslovakia tried to assimilate the Gypsies through restrictions on travel, coercive settlement, and mandatory employment and education policies. During this time the Gypsies were forced to assimilate and lost their cultural heritage in the process. Even though the government was strict with the Gypsies during this time, many Gypsies benefited from communist policies. The government imposed mandatory schooling for the Gypsy children, and the education level of the Gypsies rose considerably. While the population remained at the bottom of "scholastic achievement, they became almost entirely literate. Furthermore, the inconsistently pursued policy of positive discrimination, through which authorities selected "promising" Romani youth for higher education, created a miniscule Gypsy middle class that was to play a crucial role once democratization permitted ethnic mobilization (Barany 146).While the communist government failed to alleviate the problems of the Gypsies, there were policies implemented that benefited the Gypsy population in many ways. Employment policies helped to raise the standard of living, and raise the Gypsies awareness of their own self worth. Universal health care also benefited the Gypsies by raising their life expectancy. While the Gypsies faced prejudice during communism and many of the policies implemented against them destroyed their cultural heritage, the gains that were made under the...
