Ratfale Jasfa (Romani: ‘Tears of Blood’) is a poem by the Romani poet Papusza (Bronisława Wajs) who survived the German occupation and the Second World War in Volhynia, currently Ukraine. It is also one of the earliest known testimonies by a Romani genocide survivor and a Romani woman. This book introduces the recently re-discovered manuscript which is four times longer than the previously known text. The volume includes a transcript of the poem in Romani, a translation into English, extensive historical-philological commentaries, alongside stand-alone chapters on the poet, manuscript and the historical context.
Volha Bartash is a Researcher at the Department of History, University of Münster and the Graduate School for East and Southeast European Studies, University of Regensburg.
Tomasz Kamusella is a Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St Andrews.
Viktor Shapoval is an Associate Professor at the Moscow City University.