Bronisława Wajs (17 August 1908,

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

– 8 February 1987,

Inowrocław Inowrocław (; , ) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 68,101 (as of December 2022). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest and most historically significant cities within the historic re ...

), commonly known by her

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

name Papusza (meaning ''Doll''), was a Polish-

classic poet and singer.

Life

Bronisława Wajs grew up nomadically with her family in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

as part of a ''kumpania,'' or band of families. She was literate, unusual for

Polska Roma Polska Roma are the largest and one of the oldest ethnolinguistic groups of Romani people living in Poland. Many Polska Roma also reside in North America, Switzerland, Great Britain and Sweden. Some can also be found in Lithuania, Belarus, and Ru ...

of that time. She learned to read by trading chickens in exchange for lessons with local villagers. This was frowned upon and whenever she was found reading she was beaten and the book destroyed. She was married in a traditional ceremony at 15 to a revered

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or ...

ist named Dionizy Wajs, who was 24 years her senior. She was very unhappy with the marriage and took to singing as an outlet for her frustrations, with her husband often accompanying her on harp. Soon after learning to sing she began to compose her own

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

s and songs based on traditional Romani story-telling and songwriting. In 1949 Papusza's kumpania settled in

Żagań Żagań (French language, French and , ) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019), capital of Żagań County in the Lubusz Voivodeship, located in the historic region of Lower Silesia. Founded in the 12th ce ...

in Western Poland. That same year, she was heard by the Polish poet

Jerzy Ficowski Jerzy Tadeusz Ficowski (; 4 October 1924 in Warsaw – 9 May 2006 in Warsaw) was a Polish poet, writer, ethnographer and translator (from Yiddish, Russian, Romani and Hungarian). Biography and works During the German occupation of Poland in ...

, who instantly recognized her talent. Many of her poems dealt with ''"Nostos"'' (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

for "a return home"), a theme common in Romani poetry. Although Roma used this to describe the yearning to return to the open road, Ficowski saw this as Papusza yearning to be settled down, to no longer be nomadic. He translated and published several of her poems in a magazine called ''Problemy'' along with an interview with Polish poet

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym Oldlen as a lyricist, was a Jewish-Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied ...

. Although the poem made Papusza known for the first time among the Polish audience, the interview and, above all, the Romani-Polish minidictionary attached to it, caused a negative turn in the poet's life, as she was accused of revealing the secrets of her native culture to the gadjos. Her activities were associated by some Roma with the simultaneous moves of the Polish communist government that found its culmination in September 1952 (known variously as 'Action C', or "The Great Halt", which aimed at creating the first census of the Polish

Sinti The Sinti (masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintetsa, Sinta'') are a subgroup of the Romani people. They are found mostly in Germany, France, Italy and Central Europe, numbering some 200,000 people. They were traditionally Itinerant groups i ...

and Roma, their registration and obligatory assignment of ID cards). Accusations of Papusza and Ficowski as supporters, even unintentional of the forced settlement of Roma are even now not uncommon, although the law imposing a ban on wandering was not introduced until 1964. Similar legislation began to spring up in neighboring countries such as

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

(1958),

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

(1958), and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

(1962). Papusza herself settled in the western Polish city of

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

, spending most of the rest of her life in a house on Kosynierów Gdyńskich street which today bears a plaque dedicated to her. In 1962, Pupusza joined the Polish Writers' Union. Bronislawa Wajs Papusza2

The Roma community soon began to regard Papusza as a

traitor Treason is the crime of attacking a state (polity), state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to Coup d'état, overthrow its government, spy ...

, threatening her and calling her names, either for revealing the details of the Romani language, culture, customs and common law, for her contacts with ''gadjos'', or for her alleged role in the anti-nomadic moves of the government. Papusza maintained that Ficowski had exploited her work and had taken it out of context. Her appeals fell on deaf ears and the Baro Shero (Big head, an elder in the Roma community) declared her "unclean". She was banished from the Roma world, and her contacts with Ficowski died out. Afterward, she spent 8 months in a

mental hospital A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

and then the next 34 years of her life alone and isolated. In 1981 she moved in with her sister's family in

Kujawy Kuyavia (; ), also referred to as Cuyavia, is a historical region in north-central Poland, situated on the left bank of Vistula, as well as east from Noteć River and Lake Gopło. It is divided into three traditional parts: north-western (with t ...

. She died in 1987 and was buried in St. Joseph's cemetery. Ficowski remained her major admirer and eulogist, popularising her legacy and unique place in Polish and Romani culture throughout his later life.

Works

Most of Papusza's work involved traditional Roma formats along with some unusual aspects such as writing in singular form. Most of her work dealt with nostalgia, longing, and (especially) feeling lost. "...the water does not look behind
It flees, runs farther away
Where eyes will not see her,
the water wanders..." She published poems frequently from the late 1940s to the mid-'50s, when she was removed from Roma life, first in Polish literary magazines and then in books of her own. She published again for a short time in the late '60s.

Publications

Papusza / Bronisława Wajs. 2024. ''Tears of Blood A Poet’s Witness Account of the Nazi Genocide of Roma''. Edited by Volha Bartash, Tomasz Kamusella, and Viktor Shapoval (Ser.: Roma History and Culture, Vol. 4). Brill.
NB: Romani original and English translation (by Hamish MacDonald), alongside scholarly chapters on the narrative poem's historical and cultural context.
Papusza. 1952. Ratvale jasva (Tears of Blood), the Romani original read by Viktor Shapoval (2025).

Legacy

* In 1974, a documentary film entitled ''Papusza'' was directed by Maja Wójcik and Ryszard Wójcik. It presents the customs and life of the Roma community. The main protagonists of the film were Bronisława Wajs and Jerzy Ficowski. * In 1991, a film ''Historia Cyganki'' (A Gypsy Girl's Story) was directed by Greg Kowalski featuring music by Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewicz. * Romani theater "Romance" in Ukraine made a performance about Papusza. * There is a monument to Papusza in

. * '' Zoli'', the fourth novel of the Irish-born American writer

Colum McCann Colum McCann (born February 28, 1965) is an Irish writer of literary fiction. He was born in Dublin, Ireland, and currently resides in New York. He is known as an international writer who believes in the "democracy of storytelling." He has won ...

follows the life of Marienka Novotna, nicknamed "Zoli", a fictional Slovak Romani woman. Her life is loosely based on that of Bronisława Wajs: Zoli explores the persecution of the Roma faced during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as well as the impact of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

Romani culture Romani culture encompasses the regional cultures of the Romani people. These cultures have developed through complex histories of interaction with their surrounding populations. Romani people constitute the largest ethnic minority in Europe. ...

and lifestyles. * A Polish film about her life, titled '' Papusza,'' was released in 2013. It was directed by

Joanna Kos-Krauze Joanna Kos-Krauze (born 8 December 1972),''Joanna Kos-Krauze''
at the Filmpolski Database credi ...

and

Krzysztof Krauze Krzysztof Krauze (2 April 1953 – 24 December 2014) was a Polish film director, cinematographer and actor, best known for his thriller ''The Debt (1999 film), The Debt'' (1999).Marek Haltof]''Polish National Cinema'' Berghahn Books, 2002. Lif ...

and stars

Jowita Budnik Jowita Budnik (née Miondlikowska; born 28 November 1973) is a Polish actress. Budnik was born in Warsaw and studied at the University of Warsaw. She made her film debut in 1985 at the age of 11 in Radosław Piwowarski's ''Kochankowie mojej ma ...

in the title role. * In 2013, Andżelika Kuźniak published a book, ''Papusza,'' about the life and literary legacy of Bronisława Wajs.

External links

Biography with quotes from Ficowski

FemBiography (German)
with links, quotes and literature
Papusza
at Culture.pl

References