Mária Bartošová
Mária Bartošová (born 1927, Uľanka – today a district of Banská Bystrica)
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Less than two weeks after giving birth, Mária Bartošová had gone to wash the baby’s diapers when seven Germans ambushed her and tried to rape her. She was saved by her brother-in-law, by coincidence also a German, who had been living in Slovakia for twenty years. He spoke to the soldiers in German and promised to bring them another woman. Mária Bartošová was able to escape. She did not give any further information about the other woman, only that the Germans raped her and then she was hit by shrapnel during the bombing, and died. After this traumatic experience, Mária Bartošová hid in the cellar and was afraid to go out in case the Germans attacked her again.
How to cite abstract
Abstract of testimony from: VAGAČOVÁ Ingrid, FOTTA Martin eds. Rómovia a druhá svetová vojna, Čítanka. Bratislava: Nadácia Milana Šimečku, 2006. ISBN 80−89008−20−8, 126 (slk), 135 (rom). Testimonies of the Roma and Sinti. Project of the Prague Center for Romani Histories, https://www.romatestimonies.org/testimony/maria-bartosova (accessed 4/17/2026)
Testimony origin
The interview with Mária Bartošová was recorded in the late 1990s as part of the Milan Šimečka Foundation’s project entitled The Fate of Holocaust Survivors. It was conducted in Slovak and recorded on camera. The transcript has been shortened, slightly edited, and a translation into Romani is printed alongside the Slovak original.
