Gusztáv Nagy

Lakatos Menyh, until he died, was an idol for me, as well as Choli Daróczi József, a writer and Pál Ruva Farkas, editor-in-chief of the Romano Nyevipe newspaper. It was fantastic to be amongst these people. They gave me something what my father could not give . The intellect. And that gave me strength. My past is over, my last thirty years. I turned in another direction, trying to be autodidact to learn. I saw the meaning of my life. Not because of financial reasons ,not to get rich. No! Since then, I always try to pass on the thirst of knowledge. Not knowledge, because not that i think i am loaded with it. But the thirst of knowledge that inspires man. You have to learn it! And live with people in good relationship.

In my childhood, we lived a classical Gypsy way of life. We wandered. Until the beginning of school, I went with my uncle from village to village. Between 1956 and 1957 there was a farming life in Békés county, there were a lot of farms where we often traveled to. We rode a horse drawn carriage. And I knew almost every big tree, bushe on the way and all the places where we could camp. Then everywhere we were welcomed with good heart. We were not only welcomed but the people were waiting for us. The reason was that my dad and uncle were drill maker masters. The hand drill had a very big role at that time. They could make huge drill bits and also very tiny ones. So we went to the farms and met on the roads with different gypsy gangs. And I heard and learned a lot from them.

We were lucky to grow up in the village, not at the gypsy cell. I never lived in a gypsy cell. We were among the Hungarians. And we had a good relationship with the Hungarians. I could say that the fifties and the early sixties were much more solid than nowadays. [...] We were able to work and to laugh with the Hungarian people together. In the summer, the elderly sat outside the ditch and talked to midnight. And the work. In the co-operatives and factories people were able to work together. That was a huge change.