1. Ethnic and national minorities of my country and their
traditional and modern music.
GIMNAZJUM NR 25 W ZABRZU, POLAND
2. ZABRZE- MULTICULTULAR CITY
Poland is today populated mainly by people
who consider themself Polish. In the most
recent census 96.7% of the total population
of almost 39 million labelled themselves as
Polish. This is in stark contrast to the
situation before the Second World
War, where more than one third of the
population of Poland belonged to a nonPolish ethnic group. This change was due to
successful
campaigns
by
Polish
governments (both before and after the
Second World War) to assimilate ethnic
minorities and Polonize the population; the
shifting borders of Poland; and migration.
Poland, has over the years, assimilated
people of various ethnic groups and from
very
different
geographical
origins.
Historically these ethnic groups have
included:
Jews, Germans, Ukrainians, Belorussians,
Russians, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Armenians,
Czechs,
Roma
4. THE JEWISH GRAVEYARD
The Jewish necropolis is one of the most
fascinating places in Zabrze. It is situated in the
district called Zandka. According to the references
of Moses religion it is founded in the suburb of the
city in order to make that „holy place” separated
from the inhabited area. For Jewish believers, the
graveyard was always surrounded with worship
and associated with „gate to haven” but without
cultivating homage of dead. After the Second
World War Jews haven’t lived in Zabrze anymore
and from this time on graveyard there are no new
gravestones but cementary exist nowadays.
7. Our city is a very good place
for ethnics minorities. We
live to each other and go to
schools together. The
youngest generation of the
Romas’ develop their
skills, show us the way they
perceive the world and share
their tradition, culture and
customs with us.
8. There are two
schools’ bands in
Zabrze
representing
Romas’ culture and
folklore. These are
the CIERCHEŃ
ROMA BAND and
the TERNA ROMA
which are famous
among local and
regional
community and are
often invited in
order to honour a
CIERCHEŃ ROMA BAND
lot of celebrations.
10. An integrating class introducing the Roma
assistant
In the latest few years many programmes
for the Roma Community in Poland were
created. The main aims of these
programmes are to reduce disproportions
between the minority ethnic group and the
majority group in the Polish society. The
major objective is to arrive at a full
participation of Romas in the life of the
civil society and level the differences
separating the group from the rest of the
society. Within these programmes the
following areas are supported:
1. education
2. labour market
3. health
4. welfare
5. safety of the Romas and counteracting
ethnic crimes
6. civil education
7. grants for the Roma adolescents
8. culture and preservation of the Roma
ethnic identity
9. knowledge of the Roma community in
the Polish community
IN SCHOOL
11. Some schools in
Zabrze take an
active part in the
programme for
the Roma
community and
help them to
improve current
life quality with
respect to
education.
12. Project “Pindźiar
man”- grants for the
Roma adolescentsthe labour
market, educational
and integrating
activation of the
Roma community in
Zabrze.
14. ALL SAINTS’ DAY IN POLAND
All Saints’ Day – RomanCatholic festival which is
celebrated 1st November
in order to honour all
people
who
passed
away. That day we visit
the graves of our family
and pray to assure them
better eternal life. In
Poland this is a day of
meditation
an
contemplation.
15. ALL SAINTS’ DAY IN ROMAS’ TRADITION
In Romas’ tradition the Day
of All Saints is full of joy in
order
to
mark
the
happiness of Romas that
their relatives are in
paradise. They spend long
hours on the cemetery
celebrating and sharing the
food with their deceased.
Their huge, stately gravestones wallowing in flowers
single out among the
others.
