MARIA GIANAKOPOULOU
Maria Gianakopoulou was born in Greece, in the neighborhood of Dendropotamos in Thessaloniki. Her parents came to Greece many years ago, looking for a better life and a place to call home.
They were not affected by the events of the Second World War, but life was very difficult for them — they lived in poverty and had to work hard to support their family.
Maria remembers that her family lived peacefully with the Greek community around them. They were treated with kindness and respect.
However, they faced discrimination from the Greek state, which did not easily recognize them as Greek citizens because of their Roma origin. For many years, they struggled to be officially accepted and to receive Greek nationality, but it was something that tey overcame in the following years and once the war was over.
