ROMA ARE FREE PEOPLEZdenka SimovaNymburkAugust 2000 The following story was told to me by Mrs. Vejtrubova, an officer at the Social Affairs Department in the Nymburk City Hall . She was very kind and told me about experiences that she has had working there. “I met a very interesting man at a training session recently. […]
Stories & Responses
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]
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