Szczotka, Józef

Born in Milówka [SW of Żywiec], in the wealthy farmers family of Wojciech and Maria; He had three sisters and five brothers; A teacher by profession, he was a great violinist, who also played the Gajdy; He was very active in teaching the traditional music of his region, and founded a well-known regional ensemble, for the band of which he engaged authentic gajdziorze [pipers]; Thanks to the activities of his ensemble not only the Dudy, but also the Gajdy became widely used archaic folk musical instruments among the Żywiec mountaineers; He played together with violinists of Milówka and surroundings, and with gajdziorze [pipers] Andrzej Stańco (1st Gajdy) and Michał Fiedor (2nd Gajdy). He also organised numerous performances for his band, and they even appeared in some radio broadcasts, but during the war most of the recordings were destroyed by the Nazis; In 1939 Józef was called up for military service; After the September campaign he moved to Hungary, and managed to get to the Podhalan regional department of a Polish Travelling Theatre; In order to protect his family in Poland from being harassed by the occupant, he assumed his artistic pseudonym (the literal translation of which is "[Joe] linnet" [NB: Common linnet (Linaria cannabina); ws]), and toured, with an ensemble of 6, all the camps in Hungary, to uplift interned compatriots; After the war, the school inspector ordered him to start the local school in Milówka, where he continued teaching; He took part in the production of a screen-version, directed by [Krzysztof (*1960) ?] Bochenek, of one of his spectacles, entitled „Wesele górali od Żywca” [A wedding of Żywiec mountaineers], which he wrote in 1939; Józef also wrote the text and music for a song about Milówce (which became its hymn); In 1956 he retired from teaching; His last performance took place in July 1963 in Kamesznica, at a ceremony related to the unveiling of a monument dedicated to the war victims; Already seriously ill and blind, Józef was accompanied by his brother; In Milówka there is, at present [i.e. 2014; ws] a regional ensemble named after him; NB: ➺ Jan Fiedor "Kiełbasa", Alojzy Kuźma, Kuba Petrys, and [Błażej?] Stańco.