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

Romanians in Bulgaria. History and Ethnography 333
spindle will spring, to become spindles, then and not even then x becomes
ghost!» three times, three spindles, three words to be said” 16 .
the stat (stature) of the dead, the release of the water, the Fates, the
choosing of the godfather at random, from the road, the “forgiveness” of
the bride, the wedding flag, the call over the village, the Father of the Sun
and the Mother of the rain, the preserving of the last ears, the horses of St.
theodore and so on are customs of the romanian from the right bank of
the Danube, too.
ethnographically, there are few differences between these three groups
of population from timoc area (pădureni, văleni, câmpeni), fading away in
time. In fact, here there are more layers of romanian population, mixture
done in the last four centuries. there is an old romanian population in
this area of romanian ethno-genesis, thinned and pressed by the Slavic
population. the romanian from timoc still name today Vidin with its
ancient name Dii.
Sociological grounds
Generally, the romanians from Bulgaria cannot write and read in
romanian, because of the alphabetic differences. In the northern area of
Bulgaria, there are not schools with romanian teaching language. the
religious service, excepting one village (rabrova) is in Bulgarian language.
the population of romanian origin is not recognized as ethnic minority in
Bulgaria.
there are associations that militate in favor of the recognition of the
romanians/Vlachs as minority in Bulgaria, such as the union of the
romanian ethnics from Bulgaria – AVe and the Association of Vlachs,
located in Vidin.
At the initiative of these associations, after 1993, private classes to
teach romanian were organized, financed by the romanian state. Also,
scholarships for the universities of romania were given, to the youths from
families of romanian origin from Bulgaria. the folkloric groups from
timoc villages took part of folkloric festivals in Bulgaria, romania and
Serbia. thus there is a cultural collaboration between the romanians from
Bulgaria, Serbia and romania.
But the problem of identity of the population of romanian origin is still
delicate in Bulgarian-romanian relationships. In romania, the Bulgarian
community has all its rights recognized, benefiting of schools, churches and
governmental financial assistance, very generous reported to the numeric
16 th interview done by Emil ţîrcomnicu on 2009, june 26 , with a woman born on
1919, in Gânzovo village, Bulgaria.