slovak republic 2005

 

The country recorded a low level of antisemitic activity in 2005; however the trend of desecrating Jewish sites continued. Rehabilitation of the wartime Tiso regime continued to be the main theme of the struggle between neo-fascist, antisemitic, populist elements, and liberal forces. The ultra-nationalist Slovenska Pospolitost registered as a political party, prompting calls from liberals for its disbandment.

 

the Jewish community

Slovakia has some 3,000 Jews out of a total population of 5.35 million. The largest Jewish community is in the capital Bratislava; smaller communities exist in Kosice, Presov, Komarno and Dunajska Sreda.

The Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities in the Slovak Republic is the main communal organization. In general, the Jewish community is an aging one; however, there are signs of a revival of interest in Jewish roots among many of the younger generation. In recent years local branches of B’nai Brith and Maccabi have been established, and the Lauder Foundation and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee promote activities for Jewish youth.

The Museum of Jewish Culture has an impressive collection displaying the rich Jewish heritage of the country. It organizes cultural and educational activities, as well as seminars for teachers, and prepares documentary films featuring Holocaust survivors. It also publishes a variety of publications and books related to Jewish topics.

 

POLITICAL organizations and antisemitic activity

Slovakia’s entry into the EU in May 2004 has dramatically changed the internal and external status of the country, which in several years has advanced rapidly from what was considered a ‘second rate’ state of the former Communist bloc to the elite club of the first eight former Communist states to join the EU.

Slovakia’s new standing has hardened the position of extremist parties toward the Union as well as toward other European structures of integration. The small extreme left and the more vocal extreme right, as well as some populist groups, have warned against the ‘march of globalization’. The Roma became a major issue after social benefit cuts in early 2004 provoked violent clashes between them and the authorities, especially in eastern Slovakia. Sporadic disturbances occurred in 2005. The country’s human rights record was under close scrutiny of European and US monitoring bodies.

Ultra-nationalist parties and movements, such as the Slovak National Party (SNS) led by Ján Slota, often blend xenophobic and antisemitic attitudes with less extreme positions on these issues. SNS and another nationalist organization Matica Slovenska, have been behind the continuing campaign to rehabilitate Jozef Tiso, head of the wartime fascist regime, which was responsible for the deportation of the country’s Jews to the death camps (see US State Department, “Report on Global Anti-Semitism − Slovak Republic, 2004”). Matica Slovenska bestowed a ‘human rights’ award on Jozef Mikus, an official of the Slovak Foreign Ministry during Tiso's regime who fled the country to escape imprisonment.

Other ultra-nationalist organizations include the fringe Slovak People’s Party (SLS), which continued to spread xenophobic hate messages, and the Slovenska Pospolitost (Slovak Community), formed in 1996 by skinheads and other right-wing extremists. Together with several other such organizations, Slovenska Pospolitost publishes bulletins of its activities on the website of the International Third Position, based in the UK.

The organizational structure and modus operandi of Slovenska Pospolitost recall the fascist wartime Hlinka Guard. For instance, it has adopted the anthem of the wartime Slovak fascist state. The movement organized a rally in Bratislava on 14 March 2005 commemorating the 66th anniversary of that state, with some 200 marchers. Its leader is a secondary school teacher, Marian Kotleba. He complained that national symbols of Slovakia were being removed en masse and replaced by Hungarian or Jewish symbols. The aim of the movement is to “rid ourselves once and for all of enemies and parasites. For the good of the Slovak family, as Jozef Tiso wanted.”

While broadening contacts with foreign extremist organizations (see ASW 2004) Slovenska Pospolitost registered as a political party in January 2005, immediately prompting calls from liberal segments of Slovak society for it to be outlawed. The movement’s ideology is clearly pro-Tiso: its bulletin praises the wartime Tiso state and uses its symbols openly. It opposes the EU and accuses the Jews of harming Slovakia's interests, warning “Do not let Slovakia be circumcised.”

The country recorded a low level of antisemitic activity in 2005; however the trend of desecrating Jewish sites continued. In early January 2005, 19 tombstones in the Jewish cemetery of Ruzemberok were vandalized; the investigation was proceeding very slowly. In June 2005 vandals broke a pane of glass on the Bratislava memorial of Rabbi Chatam Sofer. In July signs saying “The Holocaust is a lie,” appeared on a new Holocaust memorial in Rimavska Sec.

 

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NAZI ERA

Rehabilitation of the wartime Tiso regime continued to be the main theme of the struggle in 2005 between neo-fascist, antisemitic, populist elements, and liberal forces. The views of the former are expressed forcefully in public discourse as well as in various publications. Right-wing extremists maintained their high level of activity, begun in 1999 largely in connection with the 66th anniversary of the founding of the wartime Slovak fascist state (14 March 1939).

The attempts to rewrite history took place in a variety of forums, such as ‘scientific’ meetings and numerous publications. Leading revisionists such as Milan S. Durica and Jozef M. Rydlo continued to write positive appraisals of the Tiso regime. Moreover, the apologetic Catholic line in defense of Tiso’s legacy appears to have intensified. Various references to ‘Christian traditions’ and ‘legacy’ are, in fact, connected to the continuous whitewashing of the Tiso era and its deeds (see ASW 2004).

During 2005 the public Institute of National Remembrance gathered information on Jewish property confiscated in the Holocaust. It was intending to publish the names of companies owned by Jews and taken over by the fascist regime in late 2005. The Institute's website (www.upn.gov.sk) also released data on some of the 70,000 Jews who perished in Slovakia and in the extermination camps (Coordination Forum for Countering Antisemitism, 7 Jan. 2006; EJP [European Jewish Press], 18 Dec. 2005).

Since the government agreed to pay, in September 2002, a small amount of compensation to Jews “illegally deprived of their property during World War II,” there have been continued calls to similarly indemnify citizens who lost their lives fighting against communism (see ASW 2002/3).

 

RESPONSES TO ANTISEMITISM

Members of the Jewish community, together with liberal and democratic forces, have been especially involved in the campaign against rehabilitating the Tiso era. Government promises and actions (such as former President Rudolf Schuster’s declaration of 9 September as a memorial day for victims of the Holocaust and of racial violence – see ASW 2000/1) to support these endeavors have done little to weaken the trend of historical revisionism.

Several events commemorating the beginning of the transports to the death camps from Slovakia in March 1942 took place in 2005. Traditional memorial services were held in Nitra and Kosice, as well as in Poprad, from where the first transport of unmarried girls left on 25 March 1942.

Excellent relations between Israel and Slovakia contribute to the development of joint plans for programs in both countries to help educators from Slovakia teach the subject of the Holocaust.

Following increased cooperation between Slovak educational and cultural institutions with their Israeli and Jewish counterparts on Holocaust education, as well as with Yad Vashem, Slovakia became a member of the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research in late 2005.