Ladislav Mirga

* 1949

  • Just imagine, the Romas from Letanovce have moved over here. This is where I built my house. Sometimes I meet them, show them around and talk to them. Some of them are even well-off. They work somewhere in England or even in here. Some are even running businesses and you can see it. Their houses are well-equipped and they have cars. Things they never had in possession before. The got inspired from us. These are things they were missing over there [their native place]. Initially they were not allowed to be in the village. Nobody would let them be here. Nobody would help them.

  • It was a horrible mistake to let them move here. It was a dirty trick from the white inhabitants of Letanovce to send them over here. I know they have properties in here but we all protested, the whole village. It could have been organized somewhere else. If they have some respect and if they believe in God, they didn't have to force it so much. They are of no help. Sometimes they come to ask, whether they could cut some wood or something else. They come to offer their services. Almost everyone in here has a boy among them who he hires for small jobs. But we feel ashamed when they come here, also because there are tourists crossing on the way to Hrabušice or Slovak Paradise (national park), so when they see them, they think of them as of 'the black gypsies from Spišský Štvrtok'.

  • Gott sang with Gondolán. I saw them both in Prague. Gondolán used to come to boarding-house and play violin. One of us, a boy from Machalovce played violin as well but only using his little finger because his other fingers were cut off. It made Gondolán cry. He couldn't believe someone could play so good with one finger. Even Karol Gott came once. He was amazed when he heard our boys sing. One of the boys sang very well, Karol Gott couldn't believe it. He was astonished. The boy was very gifted, without any training.

  • One building site where I enjoyed to work at was Slnečnica, located in the south Poprad. It is a 13-floors building with three sections. I worked there from the beginning til the end. Next to it there is Zámeček in Poprad. I worked there as well. I have built a lot. The neighborhood in Letanovce is mostly my work. I have built two housing blocs in Spišský Štvrtok as well. I managed the project and built it with the local men. There are many constructions I build from the scratch.

  • Celé nahrávky
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    Spišský Štiavnik, 13.05.2017

    (audio)
    délka: 01:39:51
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I like helping people.

Mirga Ladislav - dobové foto.jpg (historic)
Ladislav Mirga
zdroj: dobové foto: archív Ladislava Mirgu; aktuálne foto: Foto Alexander Mušinka

He was born on September 10th, 1949 in Spišský Štvrtok (Levoča District) into a Roma blacksmith‘s family. He had 7 siblings. He successfully completed elementary school in his hometown. Afterwards he received his secondary education in Poprad as a butcher. He had worked in this field for a few years. However he re-educated later on and started to work in a construction industry. Prior to 1989, he worked in an agricultural co-operative, but also in other business firms - railway engineering, building construction and so on. He slowly worked his way up through the company to become a construction manager.On November 29th, 1989 he was among the first Romas to receive a trade license for building construction and butchery. Since then he has been running the business actively. He retired in 2003. However, he is still active in his business operations.  He married in 1970. Unfortunately, his wife died in 2006. They had 4 children. He is actively present in the political, cultural, and social life in the community. He participates in the local church community. He had been a member of municipal board and still is an active member of the political party SMER - SD. Moreover, he cooperates with educational institutions for which he takes care of the practice for students in the field of masonry.