CARAVAN OF MEMORY CELEBRATES POLAND’S ROMA COMMUNITY
Martin Kraft
Krakow Post
2nd July 2009
10th Tabor Pamieci shines a light on Poland’s Roma heritage In Krakow’s
Old Town, locals and visitors alike have become familiar with the
clattering of horseshoes on cobblestone streets, with coachmen offering
nostalgic rides from the northern part of the Main Square. However,
on 23 July, the nearby town of Tarnow will experience an entirely
different equine parade: for a couple of days, a fleet of fancifully
carved and painted carriages – permanent exhibits of Poland’s only
Roma Museum – will be reactivated to bring the 10th Gypsy Caravan of
Memory (Polish: Tabor Pamieci) on the road.
Begun in 1996 as a means of commemorating the mass murder of the
region’s Gypsy population by German police forces during World War
II, the Tabor has succeeded in sparking interest from local people,
authorities and the media, as well as reaching out to southern Poland’s
Roma communities.
Between 23 and 26 July, several horse-drawn caravans will travel
through the countryside around Tarnow, pausing at the villages of
¯abno, Bielcza and Szczurowa, where contemplative ceremonies will
be held at local cemeteries for the victims of the Gypsy Holocaust,
or Porajmos (which means "The Devouring" in the Romany language).
For much of their history, the Roma didn’t possess any culture of
"written history" – memories were kept alive only through the spoken
word, and often the traces of individuals simply disappeared with the
last person who remembered them. Many Roma were killed during World
War II, either at concentration camps or during mass shootings, like
in Szczurowa (45 km northwest of Tarnow) where 93 Roma inhabitants of
the village were shot at the local cemetery. Only one survived. In the
aftermath of World War II, the surviving Roma had too many hardships
to endure to deal with questions of history and commemoration.
As ethnographers Andrzej Mirga (himself a member of the Bergitka,
or Carpathian Roma, as well as a former employee of the Jagiellonian
University in Cracow, and now chairman of the Project on Ethnic
Relations Romany Advisory Council) and Lech Mroz (Director of the
Ethnological and Cultural Anthropology Department at the University
of Warsaw) noted in their book Cyganie (Gypsies), "it is inappropriate
in this culture to commemorate the time of death, both individual and
collective, from the period of World War II." Only since the 1970s
have Romany elites begun to acknowledge the importance that the memory
of the Porajmos plays in the creation of a collective Romany identity.
The Roma are not in fact a homogeneous group. However, they do share
their origins in northwestern India, from whence they probably departed
in the 10th century, crossing parts of Persia, Armenia and Byzantium,
before reaching Central Europe. But as a result of their century-long
migrations, varied experiences and interactions with languages and
people of their host countries, an enormous diversity of dialects,
traditions and therefore group identities have developed.
On the one hand, the Caravan of Memory serves an introspective
purpose. Families gather at the memorial sites, where ceremonies are
held by Father Stanis³aw Opocki, the Tarnow Diocese’s Pastor of the
Roma Community. On the other hand, the Caravan is dedicated to life,
social integration and cultural exchange. Not only does it bring
together families from the whole of southern Poland, including guests
from abroad, but the carts are accompanied by Roma musicians with their
instruments, who also perform at the campsite of the Caravan, where
people stay overnight, sleeping either inside one of the carriages or
in tents. The evenings are spent at the campfire, with the telling of
tales, music and dancing. As Adam Andrasz, one of the initiators of
the Caravan points out, "All visitors are welcome to join the Tabor,"
on the grounds of polite behaviour and mutual respect. "They are
guaranteed a warm meal and a good time getting to know Romany food,
music and traditions."
Poland’s Roma Heritage There are four main groups of Roma living
in Poland. Each group has its own dialect, traditions and history:
the Polska Roma, mostly living in western and central Poland, were
nomadic until the 1960s, when the communist government declared a
general prohibition on travel and started a program of enforced
settlement. Many families had to give up their old way of life
and the number of travellers decreased each year until the end of
communism. Nowadays, some of the most culturally active Polska Roma
live in Gorzow Wielkopolski, home to the late Roma poet Papusza and
the annual Romane Dyvesa international music festival, which is held
at the beginning of July.
The Bergitka Roma, or Carpathian Roma, in the south and southeast of
Poland, have been sedentary for almost 300 years. Most of the Roma in
Lesser Poland and the neighbouring Subcarpathian Voivodeship belong to
this group, sharing Romany dialects very similar to the ones spoken
in Slovakia, whilst the Polska Roma, due to their different history,
have many German elements in their dialect. The latter group emigrated
to Poland in the second half of the 16th century to escape persecution
in the German-speaking lands.
The two other main Roma groups in Poland consist of the Kalderash and
the Lovari, who had emigrated from Romania to Poland (as well as to
other countries of northern and western Europe) in the second half
of the 19th century, after the abolition of slavery in 1855/56.
In the beginning of the 1990s, after the downfall of communism, many
Roma from Romania travelled through Poland once again in search of
a new home. Many of them moved onward, whilst some stayed in Poland
and got partly integrated into the local Roma communities.
One of the best ways to get an impression of Romany life in Poland
is to visit the permanent exhibit of Roma culture and history at the
Ethnographic Museum in Tarnow. Thanks to the dedicated interest and
initiative of ethnographer Adam Bartosz, director of Tarnow’s Muzeum
Okregowy, the exhibit has been on view to the public since 1979, and
at a separate building since 1990. Adam Bartosz is also the author of
a very informative book on Romany history and culture called Nie boj
sie Cygana/Na dara Romestar (Don’t be afraid of the Gypsy, published
by Pogranicze, new edition 2004), which is available in Polish.
The Ethnographic Museum in Tarnow is constantly working together
with the Socio-Cultural Roma Association (Spo³eczno-Kulturalne
Stowarzyszenie Romow), which was founded in 1963 as the first of its
kind in Poland. Today’s director, Adam Andrasz, also runs Poland’s
only Roma restaurant, Ke Moro, which can be found in Tarnow at ulica
¯ydowska 13. He is not only a versatile musician himself, but also
continually supports social projects to increase the quality of
education for the Roma youth. His personal aim is to achieve social
equality and to fight racism and prejudices. "I would have had the
alternative to do many other things," he says, talking about his
social engagements; "go into business, be a successful entrepreneur
perhaps… but this is a true matter of the heart. Can you go against
your heart?" Together with Adam Bartosz, Adam Andrasz was the initiator
of the annual Gypsy Caravan of Memory in 1996, and until today,
both of them remain active as the Caravan’s organiz!
ers and spokesmen.
The 10th Gypsy Caravan of Memory (Tabor Pamieci) 2009 is going to
take place from July 23rd until the 26th. The Ethnographic Museum
featuring a permanent exhibition of Roma History and Culture is
located at ul. Krakowska 10 in Tarnow. For more information see
More generally, music lovers should watch out
for members of the Nowa Huta-based group Ka³e Jakha (Black Eyes) who
cooperated with Huta’s theatre £a¼nia Nowa in 2007, contributing their
music to the adaptation of Federico García Lorca’s "Blood Wedding"
("Krawe Wesele"). Those looking for unique voices and spiritual depth
in music should browse stores for the recordings of the group Ka³e
Ba³a from the Tatra Region, who perform both traditional songs and
the self-written poetry in Romani language of singer, guitar player
and band leader Teresa Mirga.