Ceija Stojka was born on May 23, 1933, in Kraubath, Austria.
Ceija Stojka was born on May 23, 1933, in the town of Kraubath, Styria, Austria. She was a member of the Lovara Romani, born to a family renowned for horse trading. Her early life was marked by the idyllic yet marginalized existence of Romani people in Europe. Her birth came during a tumultuous time just before the Nazi regime spread its influence across Austria and the rest of Europe.
Her family's traditional Romani way of life was soon threatened by the racial policies enacted under the Nazi rule. Stojka's story of survival and eventual emergence as a poignant voice and artist is deeply rooted in the events that began with her birth in this rural Austrian setting.