Irena Kroková

* 1952

  • "In 1968, my brother took me to a vacation, saying our mum was living in Trebišov and asking whether I wanted to see her. He left me there with her, said he had to go to work and left. I spent some two months there. It was about time for me to return to the children's home when the Russians came and we couldn't find our way to Svidník. Instead, she brought me to my brother's in Rafajovce. People were crying, nobody was able to get anywhere - neither trains nor buses were running. Everyone was worried about what would happen. People were discussing the events in Prague - bricks flying in the air. Everyone was nervous and scared."

  • "My brother brought me to his place from the children's home and I had to graze the cows. It was raining and I only had a blouse with a short sleeve. One gentleman from the collective saw me there, as my cows scattered into the gardens. He came to me and asked me what was I doing there all alone. I was crying and told him that my brother left me there. He got angry and said he would have him pay for all of it. I was worried my brother would beat me up for that. - 'Don't worry, it's not your fault but his. What was he thinking.' - Then my brother arrived and he was given a dressing-down for leaving me there to graze the cows. - 'The cows could have killed her.' - My brother said he only left me behind for a bit and that he wouldn't let me graze them anymore.

  • "He had a friend who drank a lot and my dad sometimes bought him booze, since he made quite a lot of money. My father's mother encouraged him to drink alcohol because she hated my mother. And so, my father began to drink. Once, he was just given his monthly salary. That friend of his was telling him to go to the pub but my dad told him that he would buy him a few drinks but that he had to go home to his wife and children who were awaiting him. His friend told him that he didn't care and that he had to go drink with him. My dad said he had to go and as he walked home, the angry friend ran him over in a car. He drove away without helping him - he simply wanted to kill him. It took place on a winter evening. He was then ran over once again by a bus. His head was separated from his body and there was a piece of his brain on his coat. He even managed to buy a hat before that. My dad liked to dress up, wearing suits and hats, having tailored shoes. He had one napkin in his breast pocket and one for his shoes. We were waiting for daddy up until the morning. My mum had a feeling something had happened to him."

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    Beroun, 07.07.2017

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I live for my children

Irene
Irene
photo: rodinné album

Irena Kroková was born on 21 January 1952 in the Roma village of Šarišská Trstená, eastern Slovakia. She had eleven siblings. Her father Julius Vaško worked at construction sites as a mason, and also served as a respected intermediary between the official authorities and the Roma community. Her mother Verona Vašková took care of the household but also worked in a cow house. When Irena was seven years old, her father tragically died. Half a year later, the children were taken from her mother and placed in a children’s home in Košice. One of her sons and her mother-in-law made Irena’s mum’s life miserable. Irena was then relocated with her brothers to a home in Svidník. She had spent eight years there without a mother or a family. In 1968, her eldest brother brought her to his place in Rafajovce. Irena got to work very soon, grazing the cows. In the early 70s, she left for Czechia. In 1971, she married František Balog with whom she had three children. In 1976, they got a divorce. Eight years later, she re-married Josef Kroka and permanently settled in Králův Dvůr. There, she was in frequent touch with her mother, whom she later took care of. She managed to contact some of her siblings: Eva, Julius, Helena, Martin and Josef but not Ernest. She brought her three sons up along with her second husband. She retired in 2009 and now is a proud grandma to three grandchildren.