Paul Polansky - Gypsy Genealogy: Through Their Traditions

ANTONIN DVORAK, MY FATHER (non-fiction, introduction & editor), Czech Historical Research Center, USA, 1993BLACK SILENCE, The Lety Survivors Speak, G plus G, Prague, Czech Republic, 1998
LIVING THRU IT TWICE, poems of the Romani Holocaust, G plus G, Prague, Czech Republic, 1997
THE STORM, novel, G plus G, Prague, Czech Republic, 1999
STRAY DOG, boxing poems, G plus G, Prague, Czech Republic, 1998
THE RIVER KILLED MY BROTHER, poems of Romani genocide, Norton Cocker, Prague, Czech Republic, 1999THE GYPSIES OF KOSOVO, A Survey of their Communities after the War, SFTP, Gottingen, Germany, 2000NOT A REFUGEE, poems of Kosovo Roma IDPs, Voice of Roma, USA, 2000
THE BLACKBIRDS OF KOSOVO, poems of Kosovo Roma under UN administration, Left Curve Publications, USA, 2001BEZ DOMOVA V SRDCI AMERIKY, Society for Homeless People, Prague, Czech Republic, 2002
BUS RIDE IN JERUSELEM, poetry, Roma Fund, USA, 2003
TO UNHCR, WITH LOVE, poems of Kosovo Roma asylum seekers, Divus, Prague, Czech Republic, 2003KOSOVO BLOOD, poems and war reports of the 2004 Albanian uprising in Kosovo, KRRF, Nish, Serbia, 2004SARAHS PEOPLE, Jewish cemetery poems and photos, KRRF, Nish, Serbia, 2004
WHERE IS MY LIFE?, poems of Kosovo Roma, Feral Tribune, Split, Croatia, 2004
UN-LEADED BLOOD, poetry, reports & photos, KRRF, Nish, Serbia, 2005
SAFARI ANGOLA, poems of big-game hunting with woodcuts, Gafis, Nish, Serbia, 2006
ROMA: verchtet, verfolgt, vergessen, selected poems 1991-2005, Wormser, Bern, Switzerland, 2006
GYPSY TAXI, poetry & drawings, KRRF, Nish, Serbia, 2007
ONE BLOOD, ONE FLAME: the oral histories of the Yugoslav Gypsies before, during and after WWII, Vol. I, KRRF, Serbia, 2007ONE BLOOD, ONE FLAME: the oral histories of the Yugoslav Gypsies before, during and after WWII, Vol. II, KRRF, Serbia, 2007ONE BLOOD, ONE FLAME: the oral histories of the Yugoslav Gypsies before, during and after WWII, Vol. III, KRRF, Serbia, 2008UNDEFEATED, Polansky poetry anthology 1991-2008, Multimedia Edizioni, Baronissi, Italy, 2009
DEADLY NEGLECT, reports on morally corrupt UN administrators & others, KRRF, Nish, Serbia, 2010
BOXING POEMS, Volo Press, Lonato, Italy, 2010
POESIE, Damocle Edizioni, Venice, Italy, 2011
MUSTALAIS TAKSI, Roma poems in Finnish, Savukeidas, Turku, Finland, 2011
LA MIA VITA CON GLI ZINGARI, Datanews, Rome, Italia, 2011
THE SILENCE OF THE VIOLINS, poetry about Roma with Roberto Malini, II Foglio Letterario, Bergamo, Italy, 2012THE HAND OF GOD, poetry about brothels with Roberto Nassi, II Foglio Letterario, Bergamo, Italy, 2012KATURAKKI, boxing poems in Finnish, Savukeidas, Turku, Finland, 2012
CRY GYPSY, poetry about Germanys forced deportation of Gypsies, Volo Press, Lonato, Italy, 2012
HOMELESS IN AMERICA, poems from the heartland, Left Curve Publications, Oakland, USA, 2013
SUMMER CAMP, memoir of a UN camp for Gypsies in 1999 Kosovo, Amazon.com, USA, 2013
BOOK 7 OF DIAMANTINI COLLECTION, selected Polansky poems, II Girasole Edizioni, Italy, 2013
BOKSERSKE PESME, boxing poems in Serbian, Studentski Kulturni Centar, Kragujevac, Serbia 2014
BEZDOMNY PIES, boxing poems in Polish, Wydawnictwo Moon Dog, Warzsawa, Poland, 2014
ROCKETS, poems of Palestine, Albeggi Edizioni, Rome, Italy, 2014
TABOR SMRTI LETY, memoir 1992-1995, Antifasisticka akce, Prague, Czech Republic, 2014
CARMINE VOICES, poems of immigrants & prostitutes in Brescia, Italy, Volo Press, Nish, Serbia, 2015
BOHEMIAN BLOOD, Amazon.com, USA, 2015
THE SEARCH FOR BONG WAY WONG and the Chinese Bullfighters, Amazon.com, USA, 2016
VICENTE HONG, The Artist, A Taurine Memoir, Amazon.com, USA 2017

GYPSIES!5
AUTHORS INTRODUCTION6
Chapter 1 - THE SNOWCAPS9
Chapter 2 - MT. ATHOS AND MATEJEVAC12Chapter 3 - THE SUN AS GOD14Chapter 4 - THE NINE BROTHERS16Chapter 5 - THE CURE FOR EAR ACHE18Chapter 6 - GYPSY GENEALOGY, VILLAGE BY VILLAGE20Chapter 7 - THE KALE22Chapter 8 WHATS IN A NAME: ROMA AND ASHKALI24Chapter 9 - WE ARE GREEKS!26Chapter 10 - KEEPING IN TOUCH WITH COUSINS28Chapter 11 - GADJO AND THE RED SCARF30Chapter 12 - PIEBALDISM31Chapter 13 - THE NOMADIC GYPSIES32Chapter 14 - THE ROPE MAKERS33Chapter 15 - STEALING SPOONS35Chapter 16 - THE GOND OF CENTRAL INDIA36Chapter 17 - THE HOUSE SNAKE39Chapter 18 - THE GYPSY LANGUAGE40Chapter 19 - GYPSY DNA42Chapter 20 - MAKING SENSE OUT OF A FAMILY ORAL HISTORY45Chapter 21 - GYPSY PILGRIMAGES 46Chapter 22 - FEAST OF HEDERLEZ48Chapter 23 - TRADITIONAL COOKING49Chapter 24 - DIFFERENT KINDS OF GYPSIES: AN EXAMPLE50Chapter 25- THE DOM TRIBE52Chapter 26 - CONCLUSION AND FUTURE INVESTIGATIONS53A SELECTION OF POEMS FROM GYPSY TAXI BY PAUL POLANSKYAFTER THE WAR55FAMILY FIGHTS56HEIRLOOMS57BEGGING58EPILOGUE59ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS63SOURCES64GYPSIES!

Driving some young Romaback from a birthday partyI got stopped
at a police checkpoint.

From his shoulder patchI saw the UN cop was fromBangladesh.

I felt pretty safe
seeing he was as dark-skinnedas my passengers.

When he asked
if they were Serbs,they all cheerfullyyelled out in English,Were Gypsies!

Get out! the cop screamed,reaching for his gun.
In my country,
all Gypsies
are thieves!

It took the policehalf an hour
to search my van.They found only
bubblegum wrappersand sunflower seeds.

Be careful,
the UN cop warned me.I know Gypsies
better than you do.

Since 1963, I have been with Gypsies: Kale, Gitanos, Roma, Sinti, Ashkali, Egyptian,Dom, Gond, Lohari, Sansis and many of their associated groups. Some of them feel it is anhonor to be called a Gypsy while others believe it is a derogatory term. In my books I usually use the word Gypsy to cover all the distinct groups, but when making reference to a particularone I use the word they prefer to call themselves.

In the 19th century most Czechs got very upset if you called them a Bohemian. Almostwithout exception they and many others in the Austro-Hungarian Empire consideredBohemian a low class peasant, even a Gypsy... until the famous composer Antonn Dvok (whom I believe had Gypsy ancestors) took great pride in referring to himself as a Bohemian. Itwas only then, following Dvoks example, that most Czechs finally took pride in callingthemselves Bohemian.

I started this book with a poem about an event that took place in UN-administeredKosovo in 2001. The poem GYPSIES! is actually about Roma in their war torn-country, takingpride in a term usually used by KFOR/NATO soldiers and UN police in a derogatory way.

It is not my intention to offend anyone by calling them Gypsy. I always call them byhow they want to be identified. But referring to all of them as a group (and there are moredifferent kinds of Gypsies than there are different kinds of Europeans), I conform to thehistorical term which many take pride in.

Technically, I suppose Gypsies should be called Indo-Europeans... except that so manynow live outside of Europe that even that definition would no longer be practical.
One last word about derogatory terms. Many scholars today, esp. in the West, refuseto even consider using the word caste to describe Gypsy origins. But all Gypsies did have acaste in Old India and it is through their caste traditions that it is possible to trace their origins.Perhaps many Indians fled from India to escape their low-caste stigma, but consciously orunconsciously most took pride in their traditions and profession and continued to follow theways of their ancestors, often accepting the rigid practice of not associating or marryingoutside their group. So once again I apologize if I offend anyone by referring so often tocaste and caste traditions, but it is impossible to do Gypsy genealogy without identifying the castes and sub castes of these people.1