Zuzana Tumiová

Zuzana Tumiová’s father was a black­smith and musi­cian. Many Roma also made bas­kets and brooms.

In 1941 or 1942, before the fight­ing broke out, Tumiová’s hus­band was dig­ging tun­nels. The Roma in Chyžné were only allowed into the vil­lage for one hour a day. If they stayed longer, they had their hair cut off. The Hlin­ka Guards destroyed the Roma cot­tages in the vil­lage and forced them to live out­side the vil­lage near the for­est. She remem­bered what a nice house they had before. The Roma were forced to work.[1] They came in vehi­cles to get them, and made the Roma dig shel­ters for them.

Tumiová added to her hus­band’s sto­ry about the Russ­ian man and his wife who were cap­tured by the Ger­mans. The woman hid, but after­wards she fell to the ground broken-hearted. 

[1] This was the forced labour that the Roma, and also Slo­vaks in some places, had to do for the Ger­mans. (ed.)

Tumiová’s hus­band worked for forty years on con­struc­tion sites and then laboured on the con­struc­tion of the fam­i­ly house. One eye became infect­ed and he lost it, and lat­er he became blind in the oth­er eye. They had nine chil­dren togeth­er, and all but one daugh­ter mar­ried a Roma partner.