...to jsou těžké vzpomínky I. svazek – Horváthová Jana (2021)

The book presents thematically organized excerpts of memories from witnesses of the original groups of Czech and Moravian Roma and Sinti. They settled in the Czech lands from the late 17th century and gradually found their true home here, until they were mostly exterminated during World War II for racial reasons. These are memories of the pre-war period and the time of the Protectorate. Two theoretical chapters provide historical context for the following chapters, which contain the core of the book – narratives from the respective epochs. This publication is the first volume of a planned two-volume work, which compiles an image of the almost imperceptible beginnings of the later genocide from original testimonies, very minimally edited. These events unfolded even during peacetime, that is, on the territory of the First Czechoslovak Republic, when the relationship of the majority society towards the Roma minority was marked by deeply rooted prejudices, and the authorities deepened centuries-old stereotypes by criminalizing individuals labeled as 'Gypsies.' This approach facilitated the smooth onset of racial discrimination in the Protectorate, initially somewhat obscured, and later also the realization of overt and systematic racist persecution of Roma and Sinti. The book is limited to the territory of the Protectorate,…