- Summary
- Videotape testimony of Jan B., a Romani, who was born in Czechoslovakia in 1925. He recalls being raised in Sásová; his father's role as a village elder; all Romanies living in wooden houses; shopping in the store of a Jewish merchant; attending films, cultural events, and musical performances by Romanies; attending school; expulsion under the Slovak regime; training as a mason and working in construction; persecution of both Jews and Romanies; the Jews being forced to wear stars and confiscation of their property; a local priest hiding Romanies when police pursued them; leaving with other students in August 1943 to join the partisans; joining a Czech unit; camaraderie in his group between the many ethnic and national groups, including him and the one other Romani; being treated by a Jewish physician; serving in Banská Bystrica, then Turecká; moving frequently to Topol̕čany, Nitra, Bánovce nad Bebravou, Ilava and other locations; returning home in April 1944; learning from his sisters that six Romani families were shot by Hlinka guards in Kremnicka, including his parents, grandmother, two uncles, and their wives; identifying the Hlinka guard who betrayed his family, a man he knew from childhood; testifying against him at trial; marriage; reconstructing his family home; and improved living conditions and rights under the communist regime.
- Author/Creator
- B., Jan, 1925-
- Published
- Bratislava, Slovakia : Milan Šimečka Foundation, 1999
- Interview Date
- July 17, 1999.
- Locale
- Slovakia
Germany
Czechoslovakia
Banská Bystrica (Slovakia)
Turecká (Slovakia)
Topol̕čany (Slovakia)
Nitra (Slovakia)
Bánovce nad Bebravou (Slovakia)
Ilava (Slovakia)
Sásová (Slovakia)
- Cite As
- Jan B. Holocaust Testimony (HVT-4204). Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale University Library.
- Notes
-
This testimony is in Slovak.
