You’ve most likely heard of the Kashubians, Lemko, or Silesians, but have you heard about the Vilamovians?
Like the Silesians, the Vilamovians – inhabitants of the small town of Wilamowice – are not officially recognized in Poland as one of its minorities. However, arguably, their sense of separate and distinct identity, combined with their unique language and traditions give them the right to seek and get such an important recognition.
In 2009 their language, called “Wymysiöeryś”, was added to the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger of Disappearing. Interestingly, two years earlier the US Library of Congress recognized Wymysiöeryś as a language.
For a year now Vilamovians also have their museum: the Museum of the Vilamovian Culture (in Vilamovian: Museüm fu Wymysiöejer Kultür”). Located in a beautiful and spacious new building, and funded by grants from Lichtenstein, Norway and Iceland as well as the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the Museum presents the fascinating and often tragic history of this – now – very tiny minority.
It remains inconclusive who exactly today’s Vilamovians’ ancestors were. Germans as well as Flemish and even Scotts are mentioned as the people who settled in these lands situated between two geographic regions, Silesia and Lesser Poland. They came from Western Europe around the 13th century, encouraged by the Dukes of Oświęcim.
Over the centuries they developed a material culture based predominantly on trade and flax cultivation. As successful merchants, they were known to travel not only to nearby Oświęcim or Kraków, but also to such faraway destinations as London, Madrid, Milan or even Moscow.
The women’s traditional and very colorful attire, especially the vests, are living testimony to these travels. While poor Wilamovian women had only one set of festive attire, the well-off women had a few of them, and they would wear a vest from Kraków or Oświęcim for less important holidays, while vests from Madrid or Vienna were considered appropriate for high holidays, such as Corpus Christi, weddings and christenings. Also scarfs with Turkish patterns were very popular.
History treated the Vilamovians exceptionally cruelly. At times Poles wanted to Polonize them, while Germans wanted to Germanize them, claiming that Wymysiöeryś is a German dialect. During WW II and immediately after, these efforts were especially fervent and caused the people a lot of pain, as well as damaged the culture. To Red Army soldiers the language sounded like German, therefore, for example, to save their children, parents often declared them mute, so they were not shot by the Soviets.
Nazi Germany wanted the Vilamovians to declare themselves as Volksdeutsch, (one of the four categories of people they could belong to during the German occupation) and some people trying to save their lives did so. This choice meant huge repercussions for them after the war, when their farms and homes were taken away, frequently by greedy neighbors taking advantage of the situation and sometimes under false accusations.
In 1945 the Vilamovians were forbidden to speak their language or wear their attire; the punishment for noncompliance was very severe, including being sent to a labor camp in nearby Oświęcim or Jaworzno, to prison, or even deportation to the Soviet Union. As a result, traditional costumes were destroyed, while some of them were used for dolls’ clothing.
This situation changed after 1956, when many people regained their properties, and the bans were lifted, but the trauma lingered for decades. People were afraid that the persecutions would return, and the tiny Vilamovian culture for a very long time was in decline.
Only in this century were comprehensive efforts made to revitalize the culture. A very important step was the establishing of the “Wilamowianie” society, which helped to reactivate the local folk group and started documenting the Vilamovian language. They were able to collect 2000 hours of recordings which served as the base for creating textbooks for teaching and learning the language and constitute a valuable resource of first-hand knowledge of cultural practices and history.
As we were told by Justyna Majerska-Sznajder, the museum director, 20 people currently are speaking or learning the language in Wilamowice, while an additional 15 are studying Wymysiöeryś at Warsaw University.
Wilamowice presents itself as a “municipality of many traditions” and even a short visit to the Museüm fu Wymysiöejer Kultür confirms this statement and provides insight into one of many regional cultures which are threads in Poland’s rich cultural tapestry.
Sources used: Wilamowice. Gmina wielu tradycji. Wilamowice. A Municipality of Multiple Traditions… Published by Museüm fu Wymysiöejer Kultür.
