A Day in the Life of Boryslav Romanis

In Boryslav, a city of 30,000 people which has long been regarded as a city of three cultures—Ukrainian, Jewish, and Polish—Romanis also constitute a part of the fabric of the city. Despite the fact that Romani communities are all but never mentioned in the context of Boryslav locality, Romanis have been living here for ages—even if they themselves know little to nothing about themselves and their roots.

A little private household in Lesniana Street in Boryslav really does not stand out from the other houses in the same street in the same city district. Here’s a low wicket door, there’s an old car in the yard. And there we see Vasyl Kazymyrovych, the man of the house, waiting for us at his doorstep.

Vasyl Kazymyrovych Horniak is a little bit over 40. He belongs to the Polska Roma ethnic group. Most of his relatives used to live in Poland before the Second World War but today, it is practically impossible to locate them. He has lost all contacts, lost all documents. Vasyl Kazymyrovych is a native-born Boryslav Romani—or at least this is how he refers to himself. His family is comprised of his six kids, his wife Victoria, and his brother Petro. He has a nice and cosy house in Boryslav. And he also stresses how important faith and religion are. 

As he tells us about his family traditions, Vasyl Kazymyrovych stresses the fact that they are, first and foremost, about Christianity. Traditional Romani customs have all but died out in the Horniak family.

Christmas and Easter are the principal holidays for Vasyl Kazymyrovych’s family. These holidays are celebrated in a modest manner, without any loud celebrations at the festive table. Their Christmas traditions are pretty much the same as those of the Ukrainians: there should be twelve lenten dishes on Christmas Eve. Before the repast, all of them pray and thank God for the day they have been blessed to live through. They are asking for new grace and blessing. Vasyl Kazymyrovych says that Romani traditions have all but died out in Boryslav whereas children are less and less fluent in the Romani language. They may remember maybe two or three words in Romani. All of that is slowly fading away, as the elderly pass away, and the younger generation no longer remembers how it used to be. The only thing that may hint at the Romani origin of family Horniak is their slight Romani accent which may be discerned when Vasyl Kazymyrovych speaks Romani with his children—and the dark eyes of his youngest son.