Buzescu is a village of obscenely wealthy gypsies. Gypsy barons
Over the centuries, attitudes towards the Gypsy people have been very contradictory, and their way of life has always caused at least bewilderment and misunderstanding among everyone. While most people associate gypsies with thieves and beggars, the gypsy elite are literally drowning in gold and wealth. Today, some gypsies continue to lead a nomadic lifestyle, constantly on the road, and some have chosen a settled, stable life, which, by the way, does not at all prevent them from invariably remaining a separate group and in no way assimilating with the rest of society. TravelAsk presents 20 bright and eloquent photographs that fully demonstrate the peculiarities of life, everyday life and culture of the Roma people.
Scavenger City
Gypsy Quarter
When there is a lot of garbage, it is removed.
Gypsy houses
The houses of rich gypsies have their own style.
Residence of a gypsy baron in Moldova
Local residents even build copies of world-famous architectural monuments.
Interior decoration of houses
The interior decoration of the palaces matches the appearance.
Housing...
But such housing can hardly be called a home. Author of the photo: Maxim Bespalov.
Gold BMW
The chic of gypsy majors.
Vehicle
But for a simple gypsy, one horsepower is enough.
Gypsy Baron
The gold from gypsy jewelry could feed hundreds of ordinary gypsies for a long time.
Gypsy "King" of Romania
The most influential and respected baron.
"Golden" youth
Life is full of luxury surrounded by gold and jewelry.
Roma
A family of gypsies shovels sawdust, which they use to heat their home. Author of the photo: Maxim Bespalov.
Parents and children
Mom and children.
We live in dirt and without roads
Breadwinner
Sleepers are also firewood.
Baroness
Not every queen can afford that much gold. Author of the photo: Maxim Bespalov.
A typical representative of the gypsy “elite”
Clothing and jewelry should be as rich as possible.
Gypsy wedding
A gypsy wedding is a closed ceremony. Outsiders are not invited to the holiday.
Gypsy gay wedding
The fun ended in a mass brawl because of a drunken guest who wanted to know what was under the bride’s skirt.
Bride's dress
The chic outfit weighs more than ten kilograms due to the large amount of gold.
How to steal correctly, who gypsy girls like, how gypsies fight drug addicts and why do modern gypsies have no money? I talked with the gypsy baron Artur Mikhailovich Cherar himself. The first thing the baron did was hand over a business card, which could hardly contain all his titles:
Gypsy Baron of All Moldova;
Social and political figure of the Republic of Moldova and the CIS countries;
World Commissioner for Roma Courts Chris-Romani from Euro International Romani Union;
President of the international charitable foundation "Culture, Development and Revival of the Nation" named after Baron Mircea Cherari;
Honorary President of the Coalition of Roma Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Moldova;
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Mass Media of Roma Organizations of Moldova:
And so on and so forth.
Arthur Cerari is the son of the famous gypsy baron Mircea Cerari, who, together with his brother Valentin, made a fortune in sewing underwear under the “Cerar” brand back in Soviet times. Mircea and Valentin Cerari were among the first, if not the first, millionaires in the USSR. According to rumors, Mircea even had a personal plane, and his shepherd had gold teeth. But there were so many rumors around him that nothing could be said for sure.
Luxurious houses on Gypsy Hill in Soroki began to grow in the mid-to-late 80s, just during the heyday of the Cherary cooperative business. In 1998, Baron Mircea Cerari died and Arthur became his heir. He assures that his candidacy was approved in full elections, 98% of Roma voters cast their votes for him. He has not yet become a king.
Baron is now 55 years old; he was born in 1960 in Soroki. After school, he studied at a local vocational school and state farm technical school, receiving education as a commodity expert and engineer. Then, in his own words, he studied at MGIMO. He never graduated from any educational institution, but he once worked at the famous gypsy theater "Romen". The baron has a son, Arthur, his future heir, and two daughters.
It is very easy to communicate with the gypsy baron. You must have a business with him that can bring money. Well, what did you want - this is the legendary gypsy baron!
I arrive in Soroki and look for Arthur’s house. The first gypsy shows the direction, the little gypsy insists that we won’t find the house without his help, and demands to put him in the car. The house is located 50 meters along the same road.
Three-story brick house in the center of Soroca. Arthur and his wife greet the guests. “I have a good wife, but it’s a pity that there’s only one!” – the baron immediately jokes. The house is not completed and, apparently, will never be completed. The gypsies have run out of money...
We have everything, there’s just one thing we don’t have.
- What?
- Money!
My family, the family of barons, is more than a thousand years old. Someone recently told me: “You know, Mr. Baron, you have a name.” All! My father was a recognized baron - I think that he was a king, a king, an emperor! This was a great Empire. People came to him from all over the Soviet Union: for money, for advice, for judgment, and to ask for help. Everyone came to Mircea Cherari.He started in '65... I was 5 years old then, and since childhood I went to all the gatherings, to all the showdowns. And, frankly, I do not regret that I have been this man’s right hand all my adult life. He is worthy of respect: he was handsome, smart, had a 5th grade education. The famine passed in 1946.
Grandfather reached Berlin, took Berlin, and returned back. Father's elder sister Aluna was pulling water from the well, saw him, shouted “Dad!”, had a heart attack, and died before evening. Here's a tragedy for you: out of joy - heartbreak!
In the yard there are two Seagulls and some other junk cars. The Baron dreamily says that he will definitely restore the Seagulls, and immediately boasts that one of the cars belonged to Andropov.
If it weren’t for the fucking customs, the Union would have survived, we would have wiped the noses of many. I will not hide: we were the first millionaires officially when the cooperative movement opened in the former Union. A company worked for us, we were sponsors of all programs, including the program “Petalo Romano” (“Gypsy Horseshoe”)...
Many cars in Soroki have Russian license plates.
There are Gypsies in Soroki, but most leave. They build houses in the Moscow region, in Serpukhov, and have dual citizenship. The houses have been left here and are not being sold, but some already want to sell. They say: “What prospects do I have? I’d rather take a plot of land there somewhere in the Moscow region - in Serpukhov, Chekhov, Pushkino. The main place for me. I’ll build myself a hotel there, and Uzbeks and Tajiks will come to me every day.” .
"ABOUT! You have Brightling!” – Arthur unmistakably identifies the brand of the watch two meters away and asks to look at it. We sit down at the table. The wife brings homemade wine, lard, onions and radishes.
Romania has slippery gypsies, including the king of the Romanian gypsies. Supposedly he is a king... And who chose him? He came here for the first time when, Kingdom of Heaven, his dad was alive and well, 3-4 years ago. When my dad was a recognized baron of the Soviet Union, the best friend of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, I was the only gypsy in the Soviet Union, the first who studied at MGIMO Moscow... And who is he? I look at him and think: did you come to appoint me? Yes, I don’t need your appointment... It’s not something out of pride. Simply: who are you, what have you done for the people and, in general, what have you done?Then they told me: his father worked with the cops. He screwed over the cops, their “Securitate” there... And this is the field in which they rose. What next? It’s another matter when you, like my father, were a sponsor, helping both the poor and fools. He took from himself, gave away the last - as long as it was good and peaceful. Maybe he was wrong. But he said: “You are also right. Go and do it so that it will be good, so that there will be peace. There are already few of us.”
The Moldavian way of pouring wine. The lid does not unscrew completely and the wine flows slowly.
I am among the people who are in favor of us preserving our republic and not joining anyone. And we are for the Eastern Partnership, for the former Soviet Union, we are for the Customs Union. The West are crooks. Yes, maybe everything is beautiful with them, but this is not what we have lived, what we know and what we have seen. Their whole life is in loans, and they want us to be dependent on loans too.It used to be like this: do whatever you want. The one who didn't work didn't have it. Yes, even he had! May the Lord forgive me, and forgive me, but I always say: there is no one in the world nicer, kinder, sometimes stupider, stronger and richer than the Russian people. It’s not like you came to visit me today. I told them all – Romanian-speaking people and everyone else – that you can live next to a Russian’s ass for another 8,000 years.
An official request has now been made about my official status as the Gypsy King of the CIS and beyond. The official inauguration will take place here - not somewhere in Moscow, Kyiv or Minsk, but precisely in Moldova. When else will Moldova have such an honor that all the royal courts of the world will come here for this inauguration? Including Elizabeth, Queen of England.What do I need from Chisinau? He doesn't give anything at all, he takes from us. People live and work here, I need to create jobs.
The house is very poor, especially by gypsy standards. The baron and baroness are sleeping right in the living room...
We gypsies also steal. But we don’t steal like they do, stupidly. If you're smart, you stole, right? 100 thousand, 200 thousand, million dollars. Take it, promote it, make money on it. And say: Lord, forgive me, please, I want to return what I stole back, and plus more on top... Throw it under his porch so that he opens the door in the morning and finds it there... Then you will have a blessing, God's blessing!Nowadays the situation of Roma all over the world is very bad. We were a little affected by this financial situation. While there was the Union and 10 years after the Union, things were fine with us. But now they are impoverished. And if we walk around Soroki today, you will see that in fact people are not at home, they are all on the road. Who is in Russia... Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan - everywhere. These are the Moldovan gypsies.
Some media write that the income of the Cerarei family could be 20-40 million euros per year. Doesn't seem real.
Indeed, our people are talented in everything. Trading - they know how, they are good psychologists. People are making money. Some of the gypsies have been doing this since ancient times, they are great. But some of them started doing bullshit.
Am I doing all this for myself? I won't take anything with me to my grave. Not this house, which I want to raise another 10 floors up... Make an office, make a throne room... Plus I also want to open the International Institute of Barony. I held a general meeting and said: “Let’s open here not a Roma university, but an international university center with a faculty of Roma studies.” And everyone gave their consent. They came to me from the Sorbonne, from Paris, and said: “Whatever you need, we will help you.”
In addition to the “Faculty of Gypsy Studies,” Arthur dreams of opening a Gypsy newspaper and television in Moldova.
Arthur in his youth
For all the gypsies of the former Soviet Union, Soroki is like Mecca for all Muslims of the world, a cultural and historical center. Some people don’t like the idea that we’re not good at stealing. No, we are hard workers, we are blacksmiths, brother. We are the most ancient military-industrial complex in the world, we have shackled all the kings, kings, pharaohs - everyone. Even Damascus steel, damask steel. You should say "bottle". “Boot” means “many”, many layers of armor. “Lat” is still with you, the Russians. We are ancient Aryans, and we speak Sanskrit.
Pictured is father and uncle
From Ukraine, most Roma left for Belarus and Russia. Everyone has relatives there. They left them at home and ran away. What, go to war? Who to fight with? Against brothers, against sisters, against children? What are we, monsters? We have not yet forgotten what these people did to us... Ask me why we are not very good with the Romanians. Because they are worse than the Germans were. They made Jewish and Gypsy ghettos. Holocaust. We haven't forgotten yet.
The house is not finished, there is no money...
On the second floor everything is also modest...
Guests are brought here
The baron's main treasure is a collection of porcelain figurines...
Sometimes you go to a gypsy’s house and he doesn’t have a piece of bread for the mouse to chew on. But a gold chain also has gold teeth. He creates his own status. But I create a status for myself from friends. Although I know that 50% of them are enemies. I always said: “Don’t praise me, because I know how much I weigh. On the contrary, criticize me so that I become more perfect.”
Gypsy weddings last three to four days. Previously, under the Soviet Union, a week. All Soroki - the chief of police, the entire city executive committee - everyone is at our wedding. Do you think we had a wedding? We had a concert, not a wedding, a performance! Now no less than 300-400 euros need to be put on the table. But what about 300-400 euros today? But you made a thousand noises! Music is very expensive here. How does a girl choose her groom? A Russian is better than a gypsy drug addict. Or better yet, a Jew.
Arthur plays the button accordion and piano for all guests. He plays and sings great! His other talents include knowledge of several languages. He himself says that he knows 15, including, for example, Yiddish and Farsi.
I won't hide it. We had times when we cooked nigella for the house, we had a lot of fun, a lot of boys died from an overdose. There were mothers, wives, children, tears, you know... We put things in order. Cops to the side - and they went there. Full of bullshit. They poured gasoline on them and said: “What you got as a pussy, you got it for doing this and that. We have children growing up, we have grandchildren growing up, we have great-grandchildren, and you want to make money on tears - easy money, big money. Okay, yes ? It’s good for you, but for people..."We went into houses, bombed everything and said: one match - and you will now burn down along with your family members and your house, and we will say that this is what happened. And choose for yourself: either you stop, leave our city and go live there among strangers, and not among the gypsies. And they will drive you away from there, because the tail is coming behind you, the tail is already there. And it says on it that you are a goner. That's it: you're a killer. In Russia and Ukraine, and in the same Baltic states, this blouse-puff predominates everywhere.
In Ukraine, it happened that the gypsies themselves got involved - both children and youth. These are people who have completely lost their sense of dignity. Humanity – everything has been lost. Therefore we were forced...
There is devastation in the yard...
We walk along broken roads to the very top of Gypsy Hill...
Across the river is already Ukraine, Vinnitsa region. A ferry carries people to the other side. Arthur dreamily says that he wants to build a bridge here like in San Francisco and make it a toll bridge, and use the proceeds to rebuild Soroki.
People on the streets recognize him, but they don’t feel any special awe of the baron. At some point, a gypsy boy accosts me and starts begging for wine, food and money. Arthur tries to drive him away from the car, but the boy does not listen. Arthur gets nervous and raises his voice, but the boy just laughs and continues to reach for the bag.
View of Soroki, Gypsy Hill...
The empire began to collapse after the death of Arthur's father... The last high-profile event that shocked the Magpies was his funeral. Before Mircea Cherari was buried, his body was kept in the house for 40 days so that all the gypsies of the world could say goodbye to him. To do this, the baron had to be embalmed and the bed where he lay was covered with a ton of ice every day. The ensemble "Lautarius" played near the house, and visitors were shown episodes from the baron's life.
During this time, a coffin was brought from Italy for $14 thousand, and the family crypt was lined with Indian tiles and electricity was installed there. In addition to the coffin itself, a TV, a computer, a printer, a fax machine, a gun, a bottle of whiskey and even a set of Gillette shaving accessories were placed in the crypt. There are rumors that the baron's beloved Volga was also driven there, but Arthur Cherari says that this is nonsense.
Today, almost all the houses are abandoned or unfinished. There is no one left in Soroki, and the only reminders of the baron’s former wealth are articles in Soviet newspapers, which told readers about shepherd dogs with gold teeth and a private plane.
“Gypsies in a noisy crowd / Roam across Bessarabia / Today they are over the river / In tattered tents they spend the night...” Thus begins Pushkin’s famous southern poem, which almost 200 years ago glorified the Bessarabian region and sowed great interest in society towards the exotic people described in it. What distinguished the romantic was that it contrasted the European consciousness, which was jaded and corrupted by civilization, with a different one - a “pure”, natural, natural attitude towards life. Therefore, the heroes of such works were either independent, proud highlanders, or freedom-loving children of the roads, gypsies, or brave, risky pirates-smugglers without a family or tribe. Of course, fiction embellished a lot of things and put a lot of things in a special light. How do Roma people really live? Let's conduct a little research, based on ethnographic materials of the former Bessarabia, and present-day Moldova.
Three capitals
There are 3 recognized centers of the gypsy tribe on the territory of the state. All of them are located in the northern part of Moldova, in the cities of Soroca, Ataki and Edinet. This does not mean that nowhere else in the territory of the former Soviet republic will you meet these dark-skinned, black-haired people with a quick, tenacious gaze and a peculiar guttural speech. The long colorful skirts of Roma women sweep the pavements of Chisinau, Balti, and Ungheni streets. But it is in the north of Moldova that the largest, most numerous communities of this once nomadic people are concentrated. And every diaspora has its own gypsy barons!
Title meaning
For cultured and musically educated people, this phrase will be associated with the famous operetta by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss. However, we are interested in a different meaning of the expression. Gypsy barons are authoritative representatives of a tribe (camp) or an entire clan.
The Roma people, although considered wild and uncontrollable by Europeans, are in fact not alien to some kind of organization and obedience to their laws, “customs and traditions.” Therefore, ordinary gypsies allowed a fairly respectable, respected person to “stand” over them, who could speak colorfully and brightly, and who knew several of the main languages of the area where the camp usually roamed or where the clan settled. He had to resolve controversial issues between “his own” and the local population, administration and law enforcement agencies. Gypsy barons also regulated intra-camp or intra-community relations.
Pun
By the way, about the “baronetcy”. The Roma people actually do not have any high titles, especially noble or aristocratic ones. But there is a sonorous word “baro”, which means “important”. And rum baro translates as “important gypsy.” What does this combination remind people whose language is far from the dialect of “highway romantics”? That's right, the same “baron”. This is how the myth arose that the leaders of the camp were aristocrats from the aborigines. That is, gypsy barons! However, those who have had direct contact with the life of the camp and know its nuances from the inside will say the opposite: power there is concentrated in the hands of not one person, but a group of the most respected people. They lead the society on the basis of fairly strict local gypsy laws. By the way, unwritten!
From fairy tale to reality
Also, a huge number of rumors, legends, and fairy tales shroud the life of this once nomadic tribe. Yes, long gone are the days when the life of gypsies was spent on wheels, to the cheerful clatter of horse hooves and the creaking of wagons. The majority of the nationality began to lead a sedentary lifestyle in the second half of the twentieth century. Many parents even sent their children to school - albeit not for long, for grades 3-4, so that they could learn to read and write. In the Soviet era of total shortages, gypsies sold jeans and rubber flip-flops, books and cosmetics, cigarettes, “chameleon” wallets and many other various attributes of a “beautiful” life. And also the famous lollipops, toffees, and chewing gum. Naturally, along the way, they offered to tell fortunes, “tell the whole truth,” cast a spell, remove damage, and even cure a sudden illness. In Soviet times, horse stealing and theft were rare activities for the poor Roma people. The children, however, begged, but not obviously, in moderation.
The situation has changed dramatically over the past 20-odd years. The gypsies, on the one hand, have clearly “cultivated” and become somewhat civilized. On the other hand, there was a strong social stratification. Crime and marginalization are now quite common phenomena among Roma. But they still adore gold, bright, colorful outfits, dance and sing wonderfully, maintaining their originality. Even a little grimy gypsy has a cool mobile phone, most often “expropriated”. It is mainly women who work in families. The scope of their labor is still the same markets, trade. Men make a living by delivering goods and “getting things done.” Girls are prohibited from intimacy before marriage. And even the custom of showing the sheet after the first wedding night is honored and followed by the gypsies. Elders in the family are always respected, adultery is punished cruelly, divorces are rare, abortions are prohibited, they love and give birth to many children - these are the basic realities of the life of gypsies.
On the issue of castles
As already mentioned, the social stratification of the nationality is immediately apparent, one has only to walk along those streets of the small village of Edintsy or the larger cities - Ataka and Soroki, where the Roma population is concentrated. The last settlement is truly the Moldovan capital of this people. Old houses with peeling window frames, cracks along the facade, crumbling plaster, standing in cluttered, unkempt courtyards, look sad and scream about deep poverty. The picture is completed by half-naked, dirty kids with clearly hungry, but very cunning faces.
It’s a different matter at home for the gypsy barons and simply very rich representatives of the diaspora! In the same Soroki, an entire hill is reserved for their lush buildings! And the dwellings themselves, in their whimsical architectural designs and richness of decoration, can compete with the palaces of show business stars. And another question - who will win the argument!
Architectural fantasies
You can imagine how the gypsy barons live, at least from the external parameters of their houses. There are no one-story ones. Rarely two floors. Usually at three and four. Red tiled roofs, columns and balustrades, arches, pediments, stucco, statues, weather vanes... Turrets, medieval spiers, domes like on cathedrals are also signs of “baronial” palaces. Many are decorated with coats of arms, which the owners claim are ancient. True, for some reason with images of the head of the family himself, who, in fact, tells about the history of the family. The courtyards are tiled and resemble Italian courtyards. They have fountains, gazebos or just benches, comfortably placed under the canopy of trees, among flowering flower beds. and goddesses, the quadriga of the Bolshoi Theater, the spire of the Admiralty, wonderful animals, peacocks - the usual attributes of the palaces in which the clan of the gypsy baron lives. But this splendor often recalls the title of the novel “The Splendor and Poverty of Courtesans.” Most of the buildings are not completed, work goes on year after year, and there is no end in sight.
Interior decoration
Icons, paintings, gilding, marble, natural wood, antique carpets and new-fangled wallpaper, upholstered furniture make up the interior ambiance of homes. Eye-catching luxury, sometimes clearly tasteful, but more often colorful and tacky, is the main element in interior decoration. Many rooms, including separate bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, even offices for receiving guests and petitioners. Gypsy barons, photos of which you can see in this article, pass on their title by inheritance, and with them many serious responsibilities and obligations to their fellow tribesmen. Indeed, at present, it is these people who have the full power in the diaspora. It is customary for gypsies to resolve legal disputes, even family disputes, through the baron. That’s why their houses have separate rooms for reception rooms.
Instead of a conclusion
To say that the Roma people are rich is an understatement. As the media indicated, in 2012, according to estimates, Baron Arthur Cerari of Soroca and his clan had an annual income of up to 40 million euros. And this is not the ceiling yet! Particularly impressive, oddly enough, are the funerals. Crypts made of Italian marble, graves where cars, computers, household items, furniture and much more are placed along with the body, which the Roma believe their relatives may need in the next world, once again confirm the truth of the famous song: “Gypsies love rings.” , / And the gold rings...” Yes, they love glitter, noise, movement, everything bright, exotic - just like themselves.
This post will introduce us to Artur Mihailovich Cherare, a gypsy baron living in Soroca, Moldova. He kindly agreed to talk about his life, show his house, talk about the current situation of the gypsies and many other interesting and educational things that we did not know before.
Arthur Cerari is the son of the famous gypsy baron Mircea Cerari, who, together with his brother Valentin, made a fortune in sewing underwear under the “Cerar” brand back in Soviet times. Mircea and Valentin Cerari were among the first, if not the first, millionaires in the USSR. According to rumors, Mircea even had a personal plane, and his shepherd had gold teeth. But there were so many rumors around him that nothing could be said for sure.
Luxurious houses on Gypsy Hill in Soroki began to grow in the mid-to-late 80s, just during the heyday of the Cherary cooperative business. In 1998, Baron Mircea Cerari died and Arthur became his heir. He assures that his candidacy was approved in full elections, 98% of Roma voters cast their votes for him. He has not yet become a king.
Baron is now 55 years old; he was born in 1960 in Soroki. After school, he studied at a local vocational school and state farm technical school, receiving education as a commodity expert and engineer. Then, in his own words, he studied at MGIMO. He never graduated from any educational institution, but he once worked at the famous gypsy theater "Romen". The baron has a son, Arthur, his future heir, and two daughters.
It is very easy to communicate with the gypsy baron. You must have a business with him that can bring money. Well, what did you want - this is the legendary gypsy baron! I arrive in Soroki and look for Arthur’s house. The first gypsy shows the direction, the little gypsy insists that we won’t find the house without his help, and demands to put him in the car. The house is located 50 meters along the same road.
Three-story brick house in the center of Soroca. Arthur and his wife greet the guests. “I have a good wife, but it’s a pity that there’s only one!” – the baron immediately jokes. The house is not completed and, apparently, will never be completed. The gypsies have run out of money...
We have everything, we just don’t have one thing.
- What?
- Money!
My family, the family of barons, is more than a thousand years old. Someone recently told me: “You know, Mr. Baron, you have a name.” All! My father was a recognized baron - I think that he was a king, a king, an emperor! This was a great Empire. People came to him from all over the Soviet Union: for money, for advice, for judgment, and to ask for help. Everyone came to Mircea Cerari. He started in '65... I was 5 years old then, and since childhood I went to all the gatherings, to all the showdowns. And, frankly, I do not regret that I have been this man’s right hand all my adult life. He is worthy of respect: he was handsome, smart, had a 5th grade education. The famine passed in 1946. Grandfather reached Berlin, took Berlin, and returned back. Father's elder sister Aluna was pulling water from the well, saw him, shouted “Dad!”, she suffered a heart attack, and died before the evening. Here's a tragedy for you: out of joy - heartbreak!
In the yard there are two Seagulls and some other junk cars. The Baron dreamily says that he will definitely restore the Seagulls, and immediately boasts that one of the cars belonged to Andropov.
If it weren’t for the fucking customs, the Union would have survived, we would have wiped the noses of many. I will not hide: we were the first millionaires officially when the cooperative movement opened in the former Union. A company worked for us, we were sponsors of all programs, including the program “Petalo Romano” (“Gypsy Horseshoe”)...
Many cars in Soroki have Russian license plates.
There are Gypsies in Soroki, but most leave. They build houses in the Moscow region, in Serpukhov, and have dual citizenship. The houses have been left here and are not being sold, but some already want to sell. They say: “What prospects do I have? I’d rather take a plot of land there somewhere in the Moscow region - in Serpukhov, Chekhov, Pushkino. The main place for me. I’ll build myself a hotel there, and Uzbeks and Tajiks will come to me every day.” .
"ABOUT! You have Brightling!” – Arthur unmistakably identifies the brand of the watch two meters away and asks to look at it. We sit down at the table. The wife brings homemade wine, lard, onions and radishes.
Romania has slippery gypsies, including the king of the Romanian gypsies. Supposedly he is a king... And who chose him? He came here for the first time when, Kingdom of Heaven, his dad was alive and well, 3-4 years ago. When my dad was a recognized baron of the Soviet Union, the best friend of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, I was the only gypsy in the Soviet Union, the first who studied at MGIMO Moscow... And who is he? I look at him and think: did you come to appoint me? Yes, I don’t need your appointment... It’s not something out of pride. Simply: who are you, what have you done for the people and, in general, what have you done? Then they told me: his father worked with the cops. He screwed over the cops, their “Securitate” there... And this is how they rose in this field. What next? It’s another matter when you, like my father, were a sponsor, helping both the poor and fools. He took from himself, gave away the last - as long as it was good and peaceful. Maybe he was wrong. But he said: “You are also right. Go and do it so that it will be good, so that there will be peace. There are already few of us.”
The Moldavian way of pouring wine. The lid does not unscrew completely and the wine flows slowly.
I am among the people who are in favor of us preserving our republic and not joining anyone. And we are for the Eastern Partnership, for the former Soviet Union, we are for the Customs Union. The West are crooks. Yes, maybe everything is beautiful with them, but this is not what we have lived, what we know and what we have seen. Their whole life is in loans, and they want us to be dependent on loans too.
It used to be like this: do whatever you want. The one who didn't work didn't have it. Yes, even he had! May the Lord forgive me, and forgive me, but I always say: there is no one in the world nicer, kinder, sometimes stupider, stronger and richer than the Russian people. It’s not like you came to visit me today. I told them all – Romanian-speaking people and everyone else – that you can live next to a Russian’s ass for another 8,000 years.
An official request has now been made about my official status as the Gypsy King of the CIS and beyond. The official inauguration will take place here - not somewhere in Moscow, Kyiv or Minsk, but precisely in Moldova. When else will Moldova have such an honor that all the royal courts of the world will come here for this inauguration? Including Elizabeth, Queen of England. What do I need from Chisinau? He doesn't give anything at all, he takes from us. People live and work here, I need to create jobs.
The house is very poor, especially by gypsy standards. The baron and baroness are sleeping right in the living room...
Some media write that the income of the Cerarei family could be 20-40 million euros per year. Doesn't seem real.
Indeed, our people are talented in everything. Trading - they know how, they are good psychologists. People are making money. Some of the gypsies have been doing this since ancient times, they are great. But some of them started doing bullshit.
Am I doing all this for myself? I won't take anything with me to my grave. Not this house, which I want to raise another 10 floors up... Make an office, make a throne room... Plus I also want to open the International Institute of Barony. I held a general meeting and said: “Let’s open here not a Roma university, but an international university center with a faculty of Roma studies.” And everyone gave their consent. They came to me from the Sorbonne, from Paris, and said: “Whatever you need, we will help you.”
In addition to the “Faculty of Gypsy Studies,” Arthur dreams of opening a Gypsy newspaper and television in Moldova.
Arthur in his youth
For all the gypsies of the former Soviet Union, Soroki is like Mecca for all Muslims of the world, a cultural and historical center. Some people don’t like the idea that we’re not good at stealing. No, we are hard workers, we are blacksmiths, brother. We are the most ancient military-industrial complex in the world, we have shackled all the kings, kings, pharaohs - everyone. Even Damascus steel, damask steel. You should say "bottle". “Boot” means “many”, many layers of armor. “Lat” is still with you, the Russians. We are ancient Aryans, and we speak Sanskrit.
Pictured is father and uncle
From Ukraine, most Roma left for Belarus and Russia. Everyone has relatives there. They left them at home and ran away. What, go to war? Who to fight with? Against brothers, against sisters, against children? What are we, monsters? We have not yet forgotten what these people did to us... Ask me why we are not very good with the Romanians. Because they are worse than the Germans were. They made Jewish and Gypsy ghettos. Holocaust. We haven't forgotten yet.
The house is not finished, there is no money...
On the second floor everything is also modest...
Guests are brought here
The baron's main treasure is a collection of porcelain figurines...
Sometimes you go to a gypsy’s house and he doesn’t have a piece of bread for the mouse to chew on. But a gold chain also has gold teeth. He creates his own status. But I create a status for myself from friends. Although I know that 50% of them are enemies. I always said: “Don’t praise me, because I know how much I weigh. On the contrary, criticize me so that I become more perfect.”
Gypsy weddings last three to four days. Previously, under the Soviet Union, a week. All the Soroki - the police chief, the entire city executive committee - are all at our wedding. Do you think we had a wedding? We had a concert, not a wedding, a performance! Now no less than 300-400 euros need to be put on the table. But what about 300-400 euros today? But you made a thousand noises! Music is very expensive here. How does a girl choose her groom? A Russian is better than a gypsy drug addict. Or better yet, a Jew.
Arthur plays the button accordion and piano for all guests. He plays and sings great! His other talents include knowledge of several languages. He himself says that he knows 15, including, for example, Yiddish and Farsi.
I won't hide it. We had times when we cooked nigella for the house, we had a lot of fun, a lot of boys died from an overdose. There were mothers, wives, children, tears, you know... We put things in order. Cops to the side - and they went there. Full of bullshit. They poured gasoline on them and said: “What you got as a pussy, you got it for doing this and that. We have children growing up, we have grandchildren growing up, we have great-grandchildren, and you want to make money on tears - easy money, big money. Okay, yes ? It’s good for you, but for people..."
We went into houses, bombed everything and said: one match - and you will now burn down along with your family members and your house, and we will say that this is what happened. And choose for yourself: either you stop, leave our city and go live there among strangers, and not among the gypsies. And they will drive you away from there, because the tail is coming behind you, the tail is already there. And it says on it that you are a goner. That's it: you're a killer. In Russia and Ukraine, and in the same Baltic states, this blouse-puff predominates everywhere.
And in Ukraine it was that the gypsies themselves were getting involved - both children and youth. These are people who have completely lost their sense of dignity. Humanity – everything has been lost. Therefore we were forced...
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There is devastation in the yard...
We walk along broken roads to the very top of Gypsy Hill...
Across the river is already Ukraine, Vinnitsa region. A ferry carries people to the other side. Arthur dreamily says that he wants to build a bridge here like in San Francisco and make it a toll bridge, and use the proceeds to rebuild Soroki.
People on the streets recognize him, but they don’t feel any special awe of the baron. At some point, a gypsy boy accosts me and starts begging for wine, food and money. Arthur tries to drive him away from the car, but the boy does not listen. Arthur gets nervous and raises his voice, but the boy just laughs and continues to reach for the bag.
View of Soroki, Gypsy Hill...
The empire began to collapse after the death of Arthur's father... The last high-profile event that shocked the Magpies was his funeral. Before Mircea Cherari was buried, his body was kept in the house for 40 days so that all the gypsies of the world could say goodbye to him. To do this, the baron had to be embalmed and the bed where he lay was covered with a ton of ice every day. The ensemble "Lautarius" played near the house, and visitors were shown episodes from the baron's life.
During this time, a coffin was brought from Italy for $14 thousand, and the family crypt was lined with Indian tiles and electricity was installed there. In addition to the coffin itself, a TV, a computer, a printer, a fax machine, a gun, a bottle of whiskey and even a set of Gillette shaving accessories were placed in the crypt. There are rumors that the baron's beloved Volga was also driven there, but Arthur Cherari says that this is nonsense.
Today, almost all the houses are abandoned or unfinished. There is no one left in Soroki, and the only reminders of the baron’s former wealth are articles in Soviet newspapers, which told readers about shepherd dogs with gold teeth and a private plane.