LE SYMPOSIUM INTERNATIONAL LE LIVRE. LA ROUMANIE. L ...

Romanians in Bulgaria. History and Ethnography 329
this county was supplied in different times with romanian population.
Such waves, stronger in xVIII th and xIx th centuries could give the illusion
that the romanians were so recent in Serbia. But in fact, they but made
the romanian promontory not to be destroyed, even to go forward to the
detriment of Slavic sea” 10 .
the existence of the romanians in the land between lom and Morava,
having the timoc Valley as axis is attested by the foreign travelers and
researchers, from Middle Ages until today. “the romanians from the
right of the Danube were and were not from another country. A large river
more connects than divides the inhabitants of these two banks. Crossings
especially from us to them happened in all times and mainly when a people
were forming. But for few years, since there is talk about brotherhood
and solidarity of the states, their borders were closed with a hundred of
locks. others believed, and funnier, we did too, that all these romanians
are ethnical overflows from our lands. We had nothing special to find,
because they were not others, but still us. they were a kind of romanians
abroad… I was too, many times, at these romanians, at Bulgarians more
and less at Serbians. they, no matter how far from the front of the village
they are settled, or, how close to the front, either they are aware or not
of the free country of their brothers from north, they know each other by
memories, language and customs as romanians. they named themselves
after a small structure of land they sit on, such as a valley, a realm or a
plain but never named themselves as a large group such olteni, (inhabitants
of oltenia), munteni (inhabitants of Muntenia) and bănăţeni (inhabitants
of Banat). A wave of romanian population, here and now, from Banat,
oltenia and Muntenia counties arrived across the Danube in times and for
reasons that could be followed. Being newer than the natives and noisier
for the history, they could appear for the researchers as romanians olteni,
munteni or bănăţeni. they are and more they are not whatever they say
they are. the natives, the romanians, older than them, the hearth that meet
the newcomers were others and the other. the proofs await to be found” 11 .
In the romanian linguistic Atlas, part I (1938), part II (1940), there
were included three localities from timoc Valley, from Bulgaria: the
villages sveti Petăr (today drujba), halova and Bregova. cristea sandu
timoc published Poezii populare de la românii din Valea Timocului
(Popular poems of the Romanians from Timoc Valley), 1943. Studies,
10 Idem, p. 60
11 BucuţA, Emanoil, “introducere”, Românii din Timoc, vol. I, coord. C.
coNsTANTE, A. GoloPENţiA (Bucureşti: societatea română de statistică, Tipografia
“Bucovina” i.E. Torouţiu), p. XVii-XViii.