SZTOJKA DEZSŐ & SZTOJKA DEZSŐNÉ
Sztojka Dezsoné, born in 1932, is a Roma survivor whose testimony preserves rare firsthand memories of wartime violence and survival. As a child, she lived through the Doboz massacre, when Hungarian gendarmes rounded up Roma families, beat them, tortured them, and executed many-killing adults, elders, and even children. She recalls grenades thrown into her family’s home, relatives wounded, and nights filled with terror. She witnessed Roma lined up, selected, and taken away by truck, as well as the burial of murdered community members-some still alive when thrown into mass graves. Her survival depended partly on the help and protection of Cndividuals who intervened on her family’s behalf. After the war, she rebuilt her life through hard, persistent work. She earned a living by feather picking, furniture trading, and dealing in antiques, developing her trade over 73 years. Known as a skilled businesswoman, she travelled widely for work, formed connections across towns and communities, and raised eight children. In her later years, she became committed to remembrance, helping establish annual commemorations for the Roma victims of the Doboz massacre and ensuring that the history of Roma suffering would not be forgotten. Her testimony is a vital record of the Roma experience of war, persecution, survival, and community resilience.
Sztojka Dezso was a member of a long-established Roma family whose life was shaped by the upheavals of the Second World War. Although no direct testimony from him survives in the documents, his story appears through the memories of his wife and the experiences of his wider family. Several of his brothers served during the war: one died on the front, another spent nine years in Soviet captivity in Siberia before walking home, and others returned deeply affected by the conflict. His family, like many Roma families in the region, faced violence from Hungarian gendarmes, including the persecution, torture, and killing of Roma civilians during wartime purges. After the war, Dezso built a stable life in Doboz. He was part of the traditional Roma world of music, trade, and community networks, and he supported his wife’s decades-long work in feather picking, furniture trading, and antique dealing. Together they raised a large family and helped preserve the cultural and communal heritage of the local Roma community. Although the details of his personal wartime experience remain limited, his life reflects the resilience and continuity of a generation marked by loss, survival, and the long process of rebuilding after trauma.
