History of the Jews in Slovakia

The History of the Jews in Slovakia goes back to the 11th century, when the first Jews settled in the area.

Early History

In the 14th century, about 800 Jews lived in Bratislava, the majority of them engaged in commerce and money lending. In the early 15th century, a Jewish cemetery was established at Tisinec and was in use until 1892.

In 1494, a blood libel caused a number of Jews to be burned at the stake, and in 1526, after the Battle of Mohács, Jews were expelled from all major towns. In 1529, thirty Jews were burned at the stake in Pezinok.

In the late 17th century and early 18th century, Jews began to return to their original cities and establish organized communities, though they were barred from many trading industries and often in conflict with non-Jews. In 1683, hundreds of Jews from Moravia fled to Slovakia, seeking refuge from Kuruc riots and restrictions on their living imposed in Moravia. In 1700, a leading yeshiva was established in Bratislava and recognized by the government. Under Joseph II, Jews received many additional civil liberties.

19th century

Synagogue in Malacky

In 1867, Slovakia became part of Austria-Hungary and was classified as "Northern Hungary". The Hungarian parliament subsequently passed legislation promoting assimilation among minorities, including Jews, although the government supported Jewish participation in industry and finance. The Jewish population grew, especially in small, secluded towns in the east. However, widespread antisemitism prevented Jews from assimilating. In 1882 and 1883, antisemitic rioting occurred in several towns.

In 1896, the "Reception Law" was introduced. Under this law, Judaism and Christianity were placed on an equal level. Shortly afterward, the Slovak Clerical People's Party was formed. Its main interests were anti-liberalism and limiting Jewish influence.

During the 19th century and early 20th century, the Zionist movement also reached Slovakia, and eight local Zionist groups were formed. In 1903, Bratislava hosted the First Hungarian Zionist Convention, and the following year, the First World Mizrahi Congress was held there.

20th century

After World War I and the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, Jews had the right to declare themselves a separate nationality and prospered in industry and cultural life, holding more than one-third of all industrial investments. In 1919, the National Federation of Slovak Jews and the Jewish Party were established. In the 1929 elections, the Jewish Party won two seats in parliament. In addition, a Jewish newspaper, the "Jewish People's Paper", was first published in Bratislava on August 2, 1919. In the first national census in Czechoslovakia, carried out on February 15, 1921, 135,918 people registered as practicing Jews, and 70,522 declared themselves of Jewish nationality. In addition, there were 165 Orthodox and 52 Reform congregations in the country.

In the 1930s, antisemitic rioting and demonstrations broke out, incited by the Slovak People's Party. During the rioting, professional Jewish boxers and wrestlers took to the streets to defend their neighborhoods from antisemitic gangs, and one of them, Imi Lichtenfeld, would later use his experiences to develop Krav Maga.

Holocaust

Orthodox synagogue in Bratislava

Interior of the Jewish memorial in Bratislava, Slovakia (with the grave of the rabbi Chatam Sofer at the left).

Some 5,000 Jews emigrated before the outbreak of World War II and several thousands afterwards (mostly to the British Mandate of Palestine), but most were killed in the Holocaust. After the Slovak Republic proclaimed its independence in March 1939 under the protection of Nazi Germany, Slovakia began a series of measures aimed against the Jews in the country, first excluding them from the military and government positions. The Hlinka Guard began to attack Jews, and the "Jewish Code" was passed in September 1941. Resembling the Nuremberg Laws, the Code required that Jews wear a yellow armband and were banned from intermarriage and many jobs. By 1940, more than 6,000 Jews had emigrated.

The pro-Nazi regime of President Jozef Tiso, a Catholic priest, agreed to deport its Jews as part of the Nazi Final Solution.^[5][6]

By October 1941, 15,000 Jews were expelled from Bratislava; many were sent to labor camps. Originally, the Slovak government tried to make a deal with Germany in October 1941 to deport its Jews as a substitute for providing Slovak workers to help the war effort. After the Wannsee Conference, the Germans agreed to the Slovak proposal, and a deal was reached where the Slovak Republic would pay for each Jew deported, and, in return, Germany promised that the Jews would never return to the republic. The initial terms were for "20,000 young, strong Jews", but the Slovak government quickly agreed to a German proposal to deport the entire population for "evacuation to territories in the east".

The deportations of Jews from Slovakia started on March 25, 1942 (the first transport was made up solely of 999 young women; it was also the first mass transport of Jews to Auschwitz ^[7]). Thery were halted on October 20, 1942. A group of Jewish activists led by Gisi Fleischmann and Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl tried, in vain, to stop the process through a mix of bribery and negotiation. However, some 58,000 Jews had already been deported by October 1942, mostly to the death camps in the General Gouvernment in occupied Poland and to Auschwitz. More than 99% of the 58 000 Jews deported from Slovakia in 1942 were murdered in the concentration and death camps.

Jewish deportations resumed on September 30, 1944, after German troops occupied the Slovak territory in order to defeat the Slovak National Uprising. During the German occupation, up to 13,500 Slovak Jews were deported (mostly to Auschwitz where most of them were gassed upon arrival), principally through the Jewish transit camp in Sereď under the command of Alois Brunner, and about 2,000 were murdered at the Slovak territory by members of the Einsatzgruppe H of the Sicherheitspolizei and the SD and their, mostly Slovak, collaborators. Deportations continued until March 31, 1945 when the last group of Jewish prisoners was taken from Sereď to the Terezín ghetto. In all, German and Slovak authorities deported about 70,000 Jews from Slovakia; about 65,000 of them were murdered or died in concentration camps. The overall figures are inexact, partly because many Jews did not identify themselves, but one 2006 estimate is that approximately 105,000 Slovak Jews, or 77% of their prewar population, died during the war.^[8]

After WWII

Synagogue in Trenčín

11 Jews were murdered by an unidentified group in September 1945 in Kolbasov^[9]

In Topoľčany pogrom 48 Jews were seriously injured. 13 anti-Jewish incidents called partisan pogroms took place 1–5 August 1946, the biggest one in Žilina, where 15 people were wounded.^{[10] [11]} Anti-Semitic manifestations took place in Bratislava in August 1946 and in August 1948.^[12]

After the war, the number of Jews in Slovakia was estimated to 25,000. Most of them decided to emigrate. In 1948, Communist rule was established, lasting until 1989, and little or no Jewish life existed. Many Jews emigrated to Israel or the United States to regain their freedom of religion. After 1989, and with the peaceful breakup of Czechoslovakia and Slovak independence in 1993, there was some resurgence in Jewish life. However, most Jews were elderly, and younger ones largely assimilated through intermarriage.

Notable Slovakian Jews

See also

• Oberlander Jews
• History of the Jews in Carpathian Ruthenia
• History of the Jews in the Czech Republic

References

External links

• The Story of the Jewish Community in Bratislava An online exhibition by Yad Vashem
• History of the Jews in Slovakia
• Concise Jewish History of Slovakia
• Jewish heritage of Slovakia
• Jewish Community Museum in Bratislava
• Chatam Sofer Memorial in Bratislava
• Nazi Camp Engerau in Bratislava-Petržalka

Ethnic groups in Slovakia
Bulgarians Carpathian Germans Croats Czechs Hungarians Jews Poles Romani Rusyns Serbs Ukrainians