Gypsies

05/18/2012 22:17

One of the more exotic things that I loved the most when I first started coming to Kraków was seeing real gypsies. It sounds a little strange, but I was fascinated by the boys and men who wandered around town playing accordions, guitars and violins; as well as by the women who frequently came up to me and tried to dupe me out of my money with their card tricks. They also used to do a lot of begging, but I was more fascinated by their street performances.

Gypsies have had a rough time throughout history, and always seemed to exist on the fringes, literally and figuratively. Historically, they stayed outside the cities, and lived in caravans. Aside from physically living apart from the locals, however, they have long held social codes and mores that fall outside the mainstream as well.

The gypsy population was nearly wiped out in Europe during WWII, with at least several hundred thousand being killed in concentration camps. Today, the days of wandering caravans have disappeared in Poland, and it seems that most of the gypsies have lifestyles that keep them more or less in one place. I think that this is, at least in part, due to things like having to pay taxes, educate children in school systems, and others. Also, it seems to me that there are fewer and fewer gypsies performing on the streets these days. Nevertheless, you can still see them around the Old Town in Kraków, and it’s not unusual for gypsy musicians to hop on and off the trams, trying to pick up a zloty or two. Honestly, I love listening to the people who play on the square, and I could spend an entire afternoon trailing behind their accordions and singing.