THE GIPSY KING

Evening Post, Volume CXXIV, Issue 60, 8 September 1937, Page 19

THE GIPSY KING

CROWNED IN POLAND

BEHIND THE CORONATION

A PLAN OF CONTROL

Modern republics frequently show themselves more sensitive to the lustre of royalty than they ought to be, writes the Warsaw correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian." An instance of this has just been demonstrated in Poland, where the whole nation has recently completed what might be described as a Royal week.' For hardly had King Carol of Rumania left Warsaw when the newspapers, including the official "Gazeta . Polska," announced that the Tziganes, the gipsies of Poland, were about to crown a new king, -At first little attention was paid. People had read of gipsy barons if not of gipsy kings; it could be nothing of importance. But when it was announced that the Government had actually granted permission to hold this "coronation" and, still stranger, that the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church in Poland was to officiate in person at the ceremony, the public began to realise that State and Church were hardly less in earnest than the gipsies themselves. Nevertheless many of the thousands who watched the impressive ceremony of crowning the gipsy king on Sunday, July 4, still found it difficult to explain this sudden interest. CHANGED CONDITIONS. There appear to have been several reasons. In many of the Tzigane camps there is # a strong desire for a "change." The young gipsies in particular are dissatisfied with their present life, which, though giving them the traditional freedom of their race, deprives them of all the' amenities and attraction's of modern life. There are no trustworthy figures. for the total number of gipsies in the world, though some estimates run into millions. In Poland their number certainly runs into five figures. As long as the Polish peasants lived in semi-feudal conditions, more reminiscent of the eighteenth century than the twentieth, these gipsies could enjoy their carefree life in the dense forests of Poland. But now. though conditions in the country villages are still primitive when judged by Western Euro-] pean standards, circumstances are changing rapidly. The forests are being cut down. Owing to improved education among the peasants the Tzigane can no longer live —as he often did —on what his wife earned by for-tune-telling. Horse-dealing (or, asj some prefer, horse-stealing) is no longer a profitable profession. Stealing, at least, is severely punished by the courts. THE PROBLEM OF WORK. The Tziganes have tried to adapt themselves to a changing world. Some, the skilled craftsmen among them, have tried to earn a living by such trades as are known to them, but so long as they continue their nomadic existence it is difficult to make this pay. The young Tziganes would prefer to learn a definite profession, such as bootmaking, and settle in towns where they may both earn a fair living and go to the cinema. Unfortunately, no- one is prepared to teach them. Tzigane girls, too, would like to work in a factory, but no one is ready to employ them. A few of the most, attractive get jobs as dancers, but they age quickly and their careers soon come to an end. To these Tziganes the idea of a king seemed to offer some promise of stability. At the least it was a change which might bring other changes in its wake. The value of the idea was recognised by gipsies in other countries, some of whom sent delegations to the coronation and, at the same time, carried on propaganda for more practical reforms. To the Polish authorities the idea was equally welcome. For many years various attempts have been made to deal with the thousands of gipsies who wander over the countryside and through every town and village. At one time the Ministry of the Interior ordered that the Tziganes could only live in certain "special areas of toleration" (rather like native reserves), which they could only leave by permission of the authorities. At the same time an attempt was made to issue,identity cards. WOULD NOT SUBMIT. But the gipsies would not submit to control, and it was too difficult and too costly to enforce these regulations. It was thought, therefore, that it might be easier to control them through their own ruler —if only they had one. A "king" was,exactly what was wanted. A bargain was therefore struck. The gipsy king promised to co-operate with the Government in controlling his "people" and swore allegiance to the Polish Republic at his coronation. In return the Government gave the ceremony the full authority of the State —including, one may add, a police force outnumbering the gipsies by three to one. The State having given its consent, the Church hastened to add its blessing. In most countries where gipsies are found in any numbers they accept the dominant faith —if they accept any religion at all. But in Polanu, as a result of the Russian tradition, the Tziganes adhere to the Greek Orthodox Church instead of the Roman Catholic Church. Therefore the Orthodox Archbishop Teodorovich performed the ceremony. He crowned Janus Kwiek "King of the Tziganes," with prayers and hymns (including the hymn "God Protect the King") which had not been heard in Poland since the country was part of the Tsarist Empire. THE CORONATION. The coronation was well staged; it was also rather pathetic. The great crowd of Tziganes were excited by the event, sincerely believing that to have a king of their own is a splendid thing. The young Tziganes danced and sang to their traditional melodies; the old sat and watched evidently deeply moved. Some of them had walked from the Carpathian Mountains, some 600 miles away, to be present at the ceremony. It was the first time for a thousand years that the Tziganes had crowned a king, and the electors and senators, their traditional robes forgotten, were dressed in the top hats and evening dress of a new age. The new king, Janus the First, is a descendant of an ancient Tzigane family which traces its ancestry far back into the Middle Ages. One thing only disturbs him: will all the gipsies abroad as well as in Poland recognise his authority?