Among the few but important books which genuinely influenced me and shaped my way of thinking and values later in life, were the 'Katitzi' books by swedish roma author Katarina Taikon, which I discovered by chance at the local library one rainy day when I was about six. I read every book in the series I could get my hands on, and when I'd finished reading them, I read them again. And told everyone I knew about them.
These books were published in the 1960s and 70s, and although published as fiction are mainly an autobiographical ('Katitzi' means 'little Katarina') account of her childhood life and the tribulations and experiences travelling around Sweden with her gypsy family [in the 1930s-50s? i think?] and the difficulties and discrimination they face but also some of the fun things and good things they encounter- their band play at funfairs and markets and they have many happy moments in their life too, although things are hard for them.
The books are written in a very easy to read, simple language (Taikon herself only got 2 years of school as a child, first because nobody wanted them at their school, then when finally they found a friendly teacher who offered them a place at the local school, they had to quit after two years because the locals complained and didn't want them in class with their own children... Yet still she managed to write these books, handle the media fame that followed, and get a better life for herself and her kids, although she never stopped her campaigning to improve the living conditions for the rest of 'her people' she kind of felt that she left behind when she married a swede and got a comfortable life in the end).
Although the language is deceptively simple, it's still an engaging read. As a young girl it's easy to indentify with the cocky, fearless Katitzi and her curiosity and adventourousness and lust for life, but also (and crucially) you identify with the injustice and unfairness at times when she encounters discrimination or are treated wrongly in other ways (such as when the 'aunt' keeps punishing her and abusing her, making her work her arse off for the family while treating her 'own' children as royalty... or when she encounters racism and predudices in any way, that really gets to you)
And many of the things described still resonate with me:
How she finally got back to her family in the first book as a young child after years of being forced to live in an orphanage...
how her bitter swedish stepmum took out her anger over the discrimination and squalor she had to put up with on her stepkids and kept treating her like shit, beating her and whipping her with electric cables in anger until her dad found out and put an end to it...
how this 'aunt'(the kids' nickname for their stepmother)'s own baby froze to death one day in their tent because the winter was so cold and they couldn't heat the room properly...
how they were constantly forced to move from place to place because people didn't want them to camp on their land and stay there permanently although they often wanted to...
how her beloved big brother Paul was murdered by a racist...
And the thing is- These weren't made-up stories, these things really happened in her life... These stories were true.
And they learned me something... I swore never to treat anyone else differently just because the way they looked, seemed or because they were different from me in any way... That you should fight actively against discrimination and oppression until every people are treated equally in this society and nobody are seen as 'less' worth than anyone else just because the way they happened to be born... And that even tiny little girls can help change things, if they just work hard enough and make people listen.
... And how did it go? Katitzi herself grew up, became an author (despite only 2 years of school as a child), became famous in Sweden, married a swede and got a pretty comfortable life but never forgot her background and kept fighting all her life for the rights of the Roma people and to improve their conditions. Katarina's big sister Rosa, who learned the traditional craft of their family and became a silversmith, was the first Roma ever to be accepted into the Swedish Art Academy (Konstfack), and at the age of 90-something still works as a silversmith today.
My wish would be that these books could be translated into other european languages, as if you give these books to children at a young age and make them read Katitzi's story, they perhaps naturally will understand that racism and discrimination of any kind is a bad thing, and that Katitzi was not 'just' a roma girl, but a little girl like everyone else and that she were just like you and me... And once you understand that, you'll never treat all the other Katitzi's in this world any differently because you see that we are all humans in this world, and we are all the same and we deserve the same.
That's what Katitzi taught me...
Katarina Taikon-Langhammer, née Taikon (1932- 1995), rest in peace.
