After my father died I found out he grew up in a carnival near Bratislava in what is now the Slovak Republic. It looks as though he might have been Romani in origin, or at least have Romani in his blood. It looks as though he ran away from the carnival and changed his identity to avoid persecution by the Nazis. Unfortunately, young men of his age whose identity papers indicated "ethnically purity" were conscripted to fight for Hitler. I have written a novel inspired by his journey. Here's where I need help: it's been challenging to find accurate data on the carnival gypsies of the 1920's and 1930's in Slovakia and Austria. When I went there most of his relatives seemed to have disappeared during WWII (probably sent to concentration camps). If anyone has web sites or knows of a researcher who could help me, I would be most grateful. I believe the carnival traveled up and down the Danube river and possible family names of the carnival owners were: Rieger, Hehal, Schubert, or Spevacek. I'm looking for details about how they lived and interacted to make sure the story is as accurate as possible...also to find descendants.
