Czech Republic: New book tells Emil Ščuka's life story, asks where the Romani nation is heading
On Monday, 26 May the book Quo vadis, Romové? Ptá se Emil Ščuka [Emil Ščuka Asks: Roma, Quo vadis?], written by Jaroslav Balvín in collaboration with Emil Ščuka, was launched in Prague. The book launch was part of the 27th annual Khamoro World Roma Festival.
The new publication brings historical and personal insight into Ščuka’s life and reflects on the questions of the direction of the Romani nation, national pride, and Romani identity. Where are the Roma heading?
Emil Ščuka, a former politician, lawyer, Romani leader, and visionary, is one of the most important figures in the modern history of the Romani nation in the Czech Republic and in Europe, and has been asking himself that question his whole life. He has been fighting for the rights of Romani people and is not afraid to ask unpleasant questions of himself, of his fellow Roma, and of society.
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In Balvín’s book, Ščuka answers this essential question. It maps his life story in its historical, personal, and professional contexts over more than 350 pages.
The book also covers crucial moments in the national revival of the Roma. It does not just look backward, but is an inspiration for the future.
Gala evening brings important figures of Romani culture and education onstage
The book launch was moderated by Nikola Kokyová, and in addition to author Jaroslav Balvín and the main protagonist, Emil Ščuka, other guests joined them onstage, such as Professor Hristo Kyuchukov and the journalist Orhan Galjus of Patrin Radio. Balvín called Ščuka a “very significant figure” and said that it is important to view his life in its wider historical and political context.
Balvín emphasized that his book is not just a biographical “dictionary” list of events, but a reflection on the role of leading figures in the emancipation movement of the Roma. “This book was written intensively over the course of one year, but it took six years to publish it,” he said, adding that he considers the release of the publication to be a significant input to academia and to the culture of the Roma.
Ščuka: We don’t just need to follow the sun, but to have a point of stability here on earth as well
In an interview for ROMEA TV, Ščuka admitted that the book’s title captures a crucial question he has been asking himself his whole life: “Where are we Roma heading?” However, in his view, the answer to that question remains unclear.
“I don’t know the answer and I don’t know whether some Roma do know the answer or if this book will give them some kind of answer,” Ščuka said. In his view, Romani people have been building something worldwide, but not in the material sense – “they are building great riches in their hearts, in their souls, and in their folklore.”
Ščuka also reflected on the fact that Romani people do not have a country of their own. “Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – we do not have as much land as the others who surrounded the land such that there was nothing left for us. What now, when no land is left for us?” Ščuka asks, recalling that František Demeter responded beautifully to that painful reality when he wrote in a poem that: “Our country is everywhere the sun shines, there where we follow the sun.”
However, Ščuka warned that the romantic notion of a pilgrimage guided by the sun is not enough today. “We cannot just follow the sun anymore. We must find a point of stability on earth, and from that point we must get somewhere, break free, start our lives in such a way as to harm nobody, including ourselves, in such as a way as to aid others. Those are the questions this book might give an answer to – or not,” he told ROMEA TV.
Professor Hristo Kyuchukov, who wrote the foreword to the book and played the role of the godfather during its launch, highlighted its importance and that of the collaboration with both its protagonists. “This book is showing us the history of the Roma, and not just in Czechia and Slovakia, but in all of Europe,” he said, stressing that the publication should speak to the younger generation of Roma first and foremost.
Journalist Orhan Galjus expressed similar wishes, saying the book maps the “Romani revolution” that Ščuka started in the 1990s. “It’s brilliant to be here in Prague for the launch of this book. My heart is full of joy,” he said.
The program included musical performances by students of the International Conservatory Prague, of which Ščuka is the director, and readings from the book by Jiří Brož.
