Romany community in Vsetin

The Bachelor Thesis Roma Community of Vsetín is concerned with migration of the Roma from Slovakia to Vsetín after WWII. It is particularly focused on the first two waves of migration. The first wave of Roma migration from Western Slovakia and the City of Košice was spontaneous and its main motivation was to find a stable and paid employment. This migration took place within an extended time span from 1945 until late 1950s. The second immigration wave was more vigorous; Roma families from a settlement near the village of Bystrany, in the district of Spišská Nová Ves, were resettled following the Government decision no. 502/1965. The thesis is concerned with the ideological concept of dispersion and it discusses the reasons of its failure. The thesis also outlines further development of the Roma community in Vsetín. Apart from written sources and the material provided by the District Archive, the author worked withthe methods of oral history. The text is supplemented with testimonies of Roma narrators, which were modified minimally and which provide an insight into their view of the recent past. Keywords Roma Community, Gipsy Population, District of Vsetín, Village Bystrany, Migration, Oral Histor