Author: Martina HudeckovaLocation: BrnoOne day a friend of mine called Katka and her cousin took a tram to see their aunt. They were speaking Romany. An older man shouted at them to speak Czech. Katka reacted angrily: “It’s none of your business what language we speak. What makes you angry is that you don’t understand […]
Meeting Others
No agreement on minority rights will turn fools into better people
Author: Honza CernyLocation: Usti nad LabemI went to Romania as a member of a Czech delegation to participate in a seminar on the protection of minorities. The seminar was organized under the auspices of the Romanian government and the EU and took place in Praedal, a beautiful Transylvanian town. Most of the fifty-odd participants were […]
None of our guys would have done anything like that
Author: David FerkoLocation: Usti nad LabemChristine told me this story.“I went to a bank to withdraw some money. As I was waiting in line I was looking around, watching people.Suddenly a big ugly fat guy came up close to me and said, ‘Well, you really gave me some last night. It wasn’t bad.’I stood there […]
Even if a Rom were made of solid gold
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 […]
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 […]
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