Author: Pavel HorvathLocation: Kolin[transcribed by Jan Horvath Jr.]I’m eighteen, and I had this bad experience six month ago, when I went into a shop to buy some food. I walked into the shop and already when I took the shopping basket, I noticed the saleswoman looking me over. I picked out some stuff in the […]
Meeting Others
It’s black and white
Author: Hana KozurikovaLocation: Libice nad CidlinouOne day when I was on my way home from a friend’s house I saw a pond by the side of the road and decided to take a dip. When I’d hit the grass to catch some sun, I saw a young couple trying to convince their little girl to […]
It’s only white people who steal here
Author: Tereza VrbovaLocation: PragueI heard this story from Jana Zavadilová, who sells suitcases and purses in a shop. She is a tidy, slim brunette in her forties. She looks very self-confident, has a high style of expression, and in my view is an ideal shop assistant. She told me this story in a café at […]
If they kick me with those boots, I would not survive
Author: Martina HudeckováLocation: BrnoThis is a story I collected from my mother. It is not a new one, but we remembered it by chance, so I thought it was not a bad idea to write it. My mother is five feet two inches tall. She is, as they say, in her best age. And she […]
Nothing can stand in the way
Author: Jan Horvath, Sr.Location: StudenkaIt all started about four years ago in Brno, where my family was living at the time. In those days I was working with documents in the Museum of Romany Culture. Someone came to see me and introduced himself as Adolf Vesely. He asked me if I could help him see […]
The Czechs could have whistled until they were blue in the face
Author: Tereza VrbovaLocation: PragueMy uncle Jan Vrba, a hardworking, well-traveled man in his early sixties, tells this story.“When I was a kid I didn’t know any Gypsies. I paid very little attention to that sort of travelling people. I had heard that they often put up their camp close to landfills outside our suburbs. And […]
We showed the whites that we were also human
Author: Jan Horváth, Sr.Location: StudenkaNot long ago our organization “Romano jilo” (Roma Heart) organized an event with the title “Traditional Romany Folklore and Music.” Whoever organizes similar actions and is active with Romany issues knows what that involves. But we fear nothing and we have demonstrated to the town leaders, to Madame Mayor and the […]
Are you surprised that some of us emigrate?
Author: Vera GynovaLocation: Kolin[transcribed by Jan Horvath, Jr.]Every young person wants to have fun: that’s natural. These days you have places to go, and you have your favorite disco. Of course if they don’t want to let you in because your skin is darker than theirs, that’s not so good. Probably every Rom, like me, […]
My heart flew out of my body and hovered
Author: David FerkoLocation: Usti nad LabemI’ll tell you something that happened to me. I was employed by a company that had a social gathering every year for the employees. We were invited for dinner to a restaurant. We had a great time, drank a little, and – , it was all very nice. It was around eleven […]
I told him that I know them
Author: Ivana Simikova, BrnoLocation: EastWest Institute – PragueI just successfully completed an international project.We had eight young Germans from Leipzig come to our Center in Brno. Four of them were Russian Germans, immigrants from Russia, and three – and the leader – were Germans. They met with our Romany kids and also with Czech students. We spent four days together. We […]
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