Edita Rusnáková

For next 4 classes I went to Slavošovce, where I was rather shocked by teachers, because they were doing huge exceptions, they didn´t want any Roma. They gave us worse grades... once I was to read an article at the literature in front of whole class; we used to read in two, one white boy and me. I was almost reciting and he could hardly syllabize. I got one minus and he got one. I will remember this for my whole life...

R: Every time, my mother would buy me half kilo of assortments, grandpa bought me one box of chocolates and I made the tree. I was looking forward to potato salad and schnitzels. A: And how did pass that day, the Christmas Day? R: Well, we were cooking from morning and in the evening the whole family met, those godparents with those kids came to us. We had dinner at us, then we again went to them, there we ate and then watched TV. A: Did you have a TV? R: We didn´t have TV yet, so we went to watch it there.

R: Well, those Roma from Rejdová came, even though all Roma from Ochtiná had written a letter, that they didn´t want them in Ochtiná, that family were thugs. Nevertheless, former comrade chairman used to drink with them, so they bribed him and that´s how they got to Ochtiná. A: How old were you then? R: Around 10... No, no... I was already 15, when they came, I made a mistake... At first, the ones from settlement came to the village and then they came... Even now, local Roma from Ochtiná don´t want to band together with them. They still live so to say at the village periphery.