Slovak National Theater's drama about century-old pogrom against the Roma fails to include a single Romani voice
The history of Romani people is a history of marginalization, and today is no different, the coexistence between non-Romani and Romani people has always been complicated. Throughout history, we Roma have repeatedly encountered attempts to annihilate us through brutality and hate, but the majority society nevertheless has a tendency to downplay the importance of its own such attitudes, whether viewed from an historical perspective or that of the present day.
How can we discover these blank spots, find mutual understanding, and learn to honor our own history? We do this by not forgetting the past, by hearing both sides of the story, by making sure to not promote one perspective at the expense of others, by smoothing over differences in the interest of improving coexistence, by speaking and writing about the past.
Apparently the Pobedim pogrom against Romani people remains a traumatic event even though it happened almost a century ago. It must be noted that neither in Pobedim itself nor anywhere else in Slovakia is there any information plaque or memorial commemorating this history.
Little has been written about these events sparked by animosity, intolerance and poor coexistence. The first author to reflect on it was Slavo Kalný in his book Cigánsky pláč a smích [Gypsy Laughter and Tears] (Bratislava 1960), followed a few years later by Emília Horváthová’s monograph Cigáni na Slovensku [Gypsies in Slovakia] (Bratislava 1964).
What happened in Pobedim?
In October 1928, the non-Romani inhabitants of this village near Piešťany in Trenčín County decided to take alleged “justice” into their own hands. It is likely that coexistence with Romani people had involved conflicts for some time in Pobedim.
The non-Romani inhabitants wrote letters asking the authorities to evict Romani people from the village. However, when the higher authorities did not come to their aid, local aversion produced an organized attack on the Romani community.
Several days prior to the pogrom, a pile of straw caught fire near the village. Romani people were blamed.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the blaze was staged by local non-Romani inhabitants as a pretext for the lynching that followed. On 1 October, during a holiday, the non-Romani villagers gathered in the local inn and then set out in an inebriated but organized fashion for the local Romani settlement that night to instill “order”.
Less than 100 Romani people were living in the settlement in 16 houses, next to which there were about eight blacksmiths’ workshops. The non-Romani inhabitants of Pobedim, armed with First World War-era blade weapons and revolvers, decided to turn against the Romani ones.
The result was 20 Romani people injured and six dead: Ondrej Dycha, Verona Biháriová, Apolena Toráčová, Maria Biháriová, Pavlína Toráčová and six-year-old Aranka Heráková. The defenseless victims were unable to fend off the men who outnumbered them.
The houses of the Roma were also demolished. The gendarmerie’s investigation concluded that the attack on the settlement had been undertaken in a military fashion, organized with predetermined targets.
Before trial more than 1,000 pages of documents were put together from which it can be seen that the crimes of disturbing domestic peace, damage to the property of another, material harm, grievous bodily harm, felony murder and the continuing crime of murder had been committed by the accused. Many assailants were tried, but just four were convicted and sentenced to prison time: Alojz Brandstätter, Gejza Miklovič and Cyril Melicher got two years in prison, while Jozef Miklovič got two years and three months.
The convicts did not even serve their full sentences, but were granted early release for good behavior. All indications are that the injured Romani people were quite generously compensated before the trial was even over through a collection that was taken up by the villagers and very probably by their sympathizers from all over Slovakia.
Far from being an act of contrition, this was the defendants’ way of bribing the victims to change their testimony, or rather, to get them to “stop remembering”. The case revealed the position of the Roma.
Not only were the Roma in an unequal position, “justice” itself was also for sale. The Pobedim pogrom was then forgotten for almost 90 years – in the academic literature the only scholars to write about it to date have been Pavel Baloun and Karol Janas.
The broader public in Slovakia did not hear the Pobedim story until the journalist Peter Getting published his first extensive article about these events in 2018 and returned to the subject throughout the following years. He has repeatedly stated that nothing is known about this pogrom in Slovakia and that it remains a taboo topic in the village itself.
After years of silence, the subject of the Pobedim pogrom has ended up at the center of attention, literally, in the Slovak National Theater. An original play entitled Budete mít luft [You’ll Have the Air] premiered there on 1 April 2023.
The play is based on police records of the investigation of the Pobedim pogrom. The authors’ collective of Martin Krč, playwright, and director Pavol Viecha have produced it with all the verve of their youth, which is not always to the benefit of such a serious subject.
From these police records, which are more than 90 years old, they have selected the testimonies of the non-Romani inhabitants of Pobedim who, in their attempts to exculpate themselves, reiterated various stereotypical stories about the anti-social nature of the Roma, alleging that they stole from their fields and took their crops. In the logic of the non-Romani inhabitants, that was enough of a reason to commit aggression against the Roma, to assault them and to establish “their own justice”.
I hope those attending the performances in Bratislava will understand the approach taken to this dramatization. Would it be understood beyond the capital, though?
Would it be understood in a small town in eastern Slovakia, or in Pobedim itself? I strongly doubt it.
Not one Romani voice is heard during this production. There is no reflection whatsoever on what the Romani people affected by these events believed and felt when they lost their loved ones, when they were beaten, when they lost their property, when they were harmed.
The attitudes and perspectives of those whose history is marginalized remain silenced. How is this not just a further marginalization of the Roma?
Academic studies, articles in newspapers and theatrical productions are not enough to make sure the Pobedim pogrom won’t continue to be a blank spot in our common history. We can all attempt to forget it, as we have for the last 90 years, or we can open the issue up with sensitivity so that we all comprehend it and take responsibility for it – not by allowing just the assailants’ voices to be heard, but also the voices of the victims.
The path to reconciliation is arduous and difficult, and it is already clear that sweeping this under the carpet aids nothing. If we want to live here together, we have to learn to speak of unpleasant things.
This is all the more important in a situation where Romani people face exclusion, marginalization and poverty in many localities and when it seems that addressing these questions pragmatically is a priority. Employment, better housing and roads are important, but it is acceptance, equality and respect which are the essence of democracy – which cannot be selective and must not be allowed to be.
