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 […]
Meeting Others
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 […]
What a bunch of ungrateful shits
Author: Honza CernyLocation: Usti nad LabemMaticni Street in Usti nad Labem was the location of a wall which Czech residents built in 1999 between themselves and their Romany neighbors.The “tent-in” protest of Romany activists against the Maticni wall took place last fall. The weather was cold and rainy, and we offered the group shelter in […]
We can speak whatever language we like
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 […]
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 […]
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