Emílie Machálková, a Czech Romani Holocaust survivor, has passed away

Emílie Machálková, a Czech Romani woman who survived the Holocaust, has passed away at the age of 90. The news was confirmed to Czech Radio by her family and reported on 17 July.

A member of the famous Holomek family, Emílie Machálková, nicknamed Elina, was born on 25 November in Nesovice. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia she had to leave school and at the age of 13 was forced to work in a factory in Slavkov.

Thanks to the mayor of Nesovice, she, her parents and her siblings were not transported to the concentration camps. However, most of her extended family were not so lucky and perished in the concentration camps.

After the war she had her own family and dedicated herself to music. She sang with leading Czechoslovak folk singers such as Jožka Severin, Eugen Horváth, Jožka Černý and others.

As a retiree she began to actively lecture about her life experiences, the fate of her family, and life during occupation, especially as part of the Living Memory project. The Museum of Romani Culture has also published her recollections and stories in its “Romani Women’s Memoirs” series in the volume called “Elina – Saga of the Holomek Family” (Memoáry romských žen – Elina – Sága rodu Holomků).