Irena Kroková
No information is given on the date or place of birth or death of Irena Kroková
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Irena Kroková’s father was a musician, as were other Romani people from the village. They went to play in the peasants’ houses, and in her words, when a wedding started on Saturday, it ended on Monday. So the family did not suffer from hunger.
During the war, Irena Kroková’s family stayed in Chmelov, where they were well off because they worked for rich farmers, the Sučeks. Irena Kroková said that her father would not “for the world” have joined the partisans; she said that he was an excellent musician, just like the other Roma, and they would not disgrace themselves by hanging out in the woods all dirty and covered in lice.
Kroková recalled how it was when the Roma in Chmelov defended their claim to land in the village after the war. According to her, the Slovaks did not object at the time there were two Roma houses there – their house and the Horváths’ house. Problems arose later, however, when more and more Roma moved in and caused disorder.
How to cite abstract
Abstract of testimony from: HÜBSCHMANNOVÁ, Milena, ed. “Po židoch cigáni.” Svědectví Romů ze Slovenska 1939 – 1945.: I. díl (1939 – srpen 1944). 1. Praha: Triáda, 2005. Testimonies of the Roma and Sinti. Project of the Prague Center for Romani Histories, https://romatestimonies.org/en/testimony/irena-krokova (accessed 1/27/2026)
Testimony origin
The testimony was recorded in 2000 during the filming of an interview with Agnesa Horváthová[1] and her good friend Elena Lacková,[2] which took place in Irena Kroková’s house. Kroková has no memories of the war she experienced as a young child.
[1] See her testimony in the database.
[2] See her testimony in the database.
