Chánov housing estate

The Chánov housing estate on the outskirts of the north-west Bohemian city of Most was built by the Czechoslovak Communist authorities in the late 1970s as a solution to housing much of the Romany population that had hitherto resided in the old royal city of Most. The city was obliterated over the course of the 1970s and 1980s to extract the brown coal deposits that lay beneath. The rebuilding of the city anew and the necessary relocation of the Romany population gave the Communist authorities the opportunity to test their capacity "to transform all inhabitants into productive and modern socialist citizens" and resolve the "Gypsy problem" once and for all by moving them into modern housing that would rid them of their uncivilised ways.

The Chánov housing is these days perceived by many Czechs as among the worst examples of ghettoization of the Czech Romany population and is known variously as "the housing estate of horror", "a hygienic timebomb", "a black stain" and the "Czech bronx".

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Chánov housing estate

Chánov origins

Strictly speaking, the housing estate is not located directly in Chánov village itself, but rather in the surroundings of the Chánov village with origins dating back to the 13th century. Since time immemorial the village had belonged to the Order of the Red Cross and was probably among those villages which King Václav (1253) certified as part of the Most hospital. There are also administrative differences: while the village of Chánov falls under the administration of the town of Obrnice, according to the land zoning map the housing estate of Chánov is built on the territory of the city of Most and is therefore under its control. It would thus be more correct to refer to the popularly conceived notion of Chánov as Most 15-Rudolice.

Romany in the old city of Most

A sociological study of the local Romany population residing in the old city of Most was published in 1975, which in turn relied heavily on the result of a research survey undertaken in 1972. The ensuing description of local Romany formed the basis of decisions made by the then Communist authorities to "resolve" the problem of relocating Romany families once the city had been completely demolished. It should be noted, however, that this sociological study was initiated by the Most city and district national committees which commissioned a team consisting of staff from, among others, the Marxism-Leninism Institute in Ústí nad Labem and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, while the peer reviewer of the study was from the Institute of Marxism and Leninism of the Czech Technical University in Prague. In other words, the organisers of the study were not interested so much in expert knowledge as in faithfulness to Marxist-Leninist ideology. The published study revealed the "absolute ignorance" of the authors regarding the social-cultural system, traditions and contemporary problems of the Romany population, and their attitudes and findings simply reflected the ideology of the Communist regime during the years of "normalisation". According to the Office for the Documentation and Investigation of Communist Crimes, it was nothing more than an attempt under the guise of pseudo-science to justify the state's intention to build a Romany house estate.

On the other hand, despite the highly questionable methodology used, some of the findings were creditable. For example, the study established that the overwhelming majority of Romany had moved to the Most area immediately following the end of the Second World War. About 80% of the Romany who lived in Most in the 1970s moved there from impoverished encampments in Slovakia in search of work and housing during the late 1940s and the 1950s, disproving the notion that Romany led a permanently peripatetic lifestyle. This had seemed a promising development to the authorities at the time since it held out the possibility that the nomadic or itinerant Romany population was prepared to put down roots in "easily controlled urban settings". According to the 1975 report, unlike other districts in Czechoslovakia Romany in the Most region were concentrated mainly in towns, while a larger proportion of those living in Most were what the authorities at that time described as Category II and Category III Romany. These categories were created by the government in 1968 for the purpose of dealing with "Romany issues" in both policy and practice and stemmed from a national stock take undertaken in 1965 of the Czechoslovak Romany population and its living conditions. This created three categories of Romany based on the degree to which they adapted to broader social norms and habits:

• Category I: Gypsies (the term used in the report) who no longer live in Gypsy centres, are well established within the general population, maintain basic standards of hygiene, and try to adapt to their surroundings and to housing, the workforce, attire, and housekeeping, but who need to strengthen these habits;
• Category II: Those who try to connect with the work process, acquire an apartment, learn hygienic habits and are on the path to ridding themselves of their Gypsy way of life. Families in this group mostly life in Gypsy centres and are fit for planned dispersal;
• Category III: The most backward part of the Gypsy population which lives a typical Gypsy lifestyle in Gypsy centres, had no interest in leaving this environment and worked totally unsystematically, if at all. Less politely, Category III Romany were also "described as 'recidivists, half-wits, alcoholics', criminals and jobless or uninterested in working" and who "predominated in Most district".

One of the main incentives for them to move to the industrial north of Bohemia from Slovakia was the better and relatively accessible housing available there. They were hence looking to improve their conditions in life, yet the apartments that the Romany migrants did acquire were of the lowest quality - mainly the oldest and most dilapidated apartments in the historic centre of old Most. But while these flats were mostly in a state of disrepair and were inappropriate from a hygiene post of view, to the Romany themselves they nearly always appeared highly suitable and they lived in them more or less happily. The apartments may have been old, but the locality offered far more opportunity to the new Romany inhabitants and their children than they were used to, e.g. public utilities and transport, parks, shops, etc. Another major plus was the very low level of rent - a maximum of CSK150, which was a relatively negligible amount when the average family income was CSK1,500-2,500 per month and a quarter of all Romany families even earned more than CSK3,701 per month.

The researchers in 1972 also focused on the housing culture of local Romany and in particular the visual presentation of their apartments. This showed that even though most lived in apartments in a bad state of repair, two-thirds had well-equipped and well maintained premises. Six or more people usually lived in each apartment, which did not conform to the stereotype of Romany living in much larger families. Their apartments were well furnished and appointed and they had expectations that any new apartment offered to them as a replacement would be similarly well equipped.

According to the responses of the Romany themselves to the 1972 survey, they had not as an isolated group lived in the old town but were dispersed over the whole city. Relations with the majority white population were also warm and the between the Romany themselves. The situation only deteriorated as a consequence of the concentration of Romany families by the city authorities into a few streets as the demolition of the old city progressed.

Formal education played a marginal role in traditional Romany culture and this was also true in old Most. According to the 1972 research, more than 90% had no education or incomplete primary school education. Only 5% had successfully completed primary school. Such low qualifications were reflected in the nature of their employment. Nearly all respondents who were breadwinners or head of the household classified themselves as labourers, while the rest were pensioners or homemakers. Romany in work were mostly employed by the local coal mining concern, the nearby chemical plant in Záluží, or the city of Most's technical services.

The problem of relocating Romany families from old Most

Co-existence of the Romany and non-Romany populations was more or less at a good level over the course of the 1960s. Despite this fact and because of the impending demolition of old Most, the District National Committee [Czech: Okresní národní výbor] in Most decided on the basis of "Government Resolution No. 502/65, which determined the most important ways in which to resolve of the way of life of the Gypsy population" to establish a timetable for the following goals: "1) dissolution of undesirable Gypsy centres, 2) a plan for the immediate requirements for remedying hygiene habits and other failings in Gypsy centres, 3) a plan for a comprehensive resolution to the Gypsy question in the fields of education, social security and healthcare, and 4) a plan for dispersing the Gypsy population within the district and the North Bohemian region." (An additional resolution - No. 180/64 - confirmed the gradual demolition of old Most.) Thus the "Gypsy problem" became a prominent issue that required the immediate attention of the local authorities.

From 1965, Romany started to be moved into the newly built parts of Most and the old city was slowly depopulated. A substantial number of Romany remained there, however, and other Romany families from surrounding villages were even relocated there as mining operations devoured their residences. A total of 170 families were thus concentrated in the last devastated part of old Most prior to further relocation.

Four basic alternatives were considered when "resolving" the "Gypsy problem":

• 1. Dispersal of families to existing residential buildings
• 2. Construction of an atypical separate housing subdivision in the district
• 3. Construction of an atypical separate residential complex inside the city
• 4. Construction of a standard separate residential complex inside the city

The first alternative was used in relation to "Category I" Romany only and who were dispersed within the majority population the city's newly constructed buildings. One hundred and twenty-seven of these "disciplined" (as the local press referred to them) Romany families were relocated in this way, while another 14 "Category I" families were moved to the districts of Liberec and Česká Lípa. There were more extensive plans to move Most Romany to other North Bohemian districts, but these came up against the dogged resistance of the majority populations in the target cities. Under no circumstances did these towns want (incl. Litoměřice and Jablonec nad Nisou) want more Romany families not belonging to "Category I". Others against relocation included several Most city employers for whom local Romany represented an irreplaceable source of manual labour.

Another proposal to house the remaining Romany families from old Most was to build a relatively separate residential complex in Sedlec. However, the Romany themselves rejected this option as they considered it too isolated from the town and would concentrate too many Romany in a small area. They also made large housing demands, such as the construction of individual family houses.

A second alternative was the relocation of most of the remaining Romany to existing houses in Obrnice u Mostu, while the rest would be moved to older houses in the new parts of Most. The residents of Obrnice, however, emphatically refused to live with such a large group of Romany. The Romany themselves also rejected this option.

A third potential alternative was the construction of a stand-alone suburban housing estate with four-storeyed prefabricated paneled housing blocks with a total of 284 apartments for "Category II" and "Category III" Romany. Representatives of the majority white population with a "lower housing culture" would also be moved there. The centre of the new apartments was to be a large kitchen and they were meant to adaptable for larger families. This design never came to fruition, however, as the results of the 1972 sociological research had convinced the authorities that building an atypical housing estate would be a backwards step in terms of integrating the remaining Romany from old Most. Thus the ideal solution in the eyes of the Communist authorities was the original fourth variant of building a standalone housing estate of standard apartment blocks in either Rudolice or Chánov.

The construction of the Chánov housing estate

The decision to concentrate the remaining 170 Romany families from old Most in Chánov was in direct conflict with the then policy to disperse Romany more widely within the majority population. From the point of view of the local city authorities, however, an urgent solution was necessary because of the immediate need to raze the old city to the ground and the resistance of other towns and districts to help out, and so the building of a separate housing estate in Chánov was the "least bad" and "only possible" option.

The original plan was the construct apartment buildings of the highest level according to the government specifications of the time together the quality interior fittings and furnishing as an important instrument for ensuring the "re-education of Gypsies from the youngest generation". There should have been 12 residential blocks, a sufficiently large local supermarket, a kindergarten for 120 children, a primary school with 10 classrooms and dining facilities, a healthcare clinic and a restaurant with entertainment facilities. A branch of the local constabulary was also planned for security purposes. Such a plan was approved in 1975 and began to be enacted from January 1976.

Construction was delayed, however, and the original plan re-evaluated to include another block with smaller apartments. More problematically, construction of all the social utilities suffered many delays so that they did not become available until many months after the first inhabitants had moved in. The entire ground floor of block 7, for example, had to be temporarily removed from the housing stock to provide premises for a market, the school, administration, the healthcare clinic, and facilities for public transport staff. In the meantime, school children who had already been moved to Chánov had to be bused back to old Most each day to attend lessons there.

The arrival of new tenants

The first new tenants in Chánov received the keys to their new apartment in March 1978 while the handover of all apartments had taken placed by the end of May. The handover was in each case accompanied by instructions on the basic rules of living in co-existence with others, how to use the apartments and how to keep the house rules.

Moving to Chánov from old Most was a painful experience for many of the new inhabitants. Most had not wanted to change their place of residence despite the fact that they had lived in dilapidated conditions in the old city. Many had tried to stay in their old apartments for as long as possible. Most families eventually reconciled themselves to the move and were impressed by what they found. But they were less enthusiastic about the cost of their new apartments, which for many represented a three- or four-fold increase on their previous rents. Many also expressed dissatisfaction with their new surroundings and the behaviour of some of their new neighbours.

At the beginning of its existence Chánov was not a purely Romany estate. In accordance with the original plan, families from the majority white population had also received apartments there, but most refused them once they found out the estate would mainly house Romany. Those who accepted the apartments moved into three of the original blocks while Romany families occupied the other nine. Many of the white families were unable to come to terms with living in coexistence with their Romany neighbours and before long practically all of them moved out. The resulting empty apartments were given to other Romany families not only from old Most but also other towns. Chánov thus became a so-called "Gypsy ghetto".

But despite the difficult period of acclimatisation to the new environment and the new way of living, the beginnings of the house estate were altogether easygoing and relatively harmonious. However, the fact that such different Romany families (with different lifestyles and differences in their standard of living, social position, level of wealth, and familial and group affiliations) were moved into Chánov it was only a matter of time before problems occurred.

For some of the new inhabitants the housing itself was a problem. In old Most they were used to low category apartments in which they burned coal. Modern appointed top category apartments with central heating were a complete novelty for them. This has been cited as one of the reasons for the ensuing devastation of the housing stock in Chánov - people simply were not competent enough to make good use of modern apartments and thus adapted them to the way they thought they should be.

The same is also true of neighbourly relations. Even though most knew each other from old Most, relations between individual families were not always warm. This factor had already been taken into consideration during the 1972 study in which respondents were asked: "Who would you definitely want/not want to live with in one house?". The evaluation of the answers to this question was not published in the study, but it was available to the city authorities when deciding on the hand over of apartments to individual families. It appears, however, that sensible use was not made of such information and this may have given rise to many conflict situations in some of the apartment buildings.

Another negative factor that new residents had to deal with was the overall isolation of the housing estate, which is 1 km from the new city of Most. All free-time activities were thus limited to the area of the estate. Many older Romany responded by withdrawing into themselves and avoiding any social contact with others, while the rest attempted to create their own entertainment inside the estate.