Hlinka Guard
Commander of Hlinka Guard Interior Minister Alexander Mach and German Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick visit in Nazi Germany | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 1938 |
Preceding agency | |
Dissolved | 1945 |
Type | Paramilitary |
Jurisdiction | Slovak Republic |
Headquarters | Bratislava |
Ministers responsible |
|
Parent agency | Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSLS-SSNJ) |
The Hlinka Guard (Slovak: Hlinkova garda; German: Hlinka-Garde; abbreviated as HG) was the militia maintained by the Slovak People's Party in the period from 1938 to 1945; it was named after Andrej Hlinka.[1]
The Hlinka Guard was preceded by the Rodobrana (Home Defense/Nation's Defense) organization, which existed from 1923 to 1927, when the Czechoslovak authorities ordered its dissolution. During the crisis caused by Hitler's demand for the Sudetenland (in the summer of 1938), the Hlinka Guard emerged spontaneously, and on October 8 of that year, a week after Hitler's demand had been accepted at the Munich conference, the guard was officially set up, with Karol Sidor (1901–1953) as its first commander.
The Hlinka Guard was known for its participation in the
Duties
The guard was the Hlinka party's military arm for internal security, and it continued in that role under the autonomous government of
Membership
Until March 14, 1939, when Slovakia declared its independence, the Hlinka Guard attracted recruits from all walks of life. On the following day, March 15, Alexander Mach became its commander, retaining the post up to the collapse of the pro-Nazi regime in Slovakia in 1945. Its functions were laid down in a series of government decrees: it was to be a paramilitary organization attached to the party, fostering love of country, providing paramilitary training, and safeguarding internal security. By assuming these tasks, the guard was meant to counterbalance the army and the police. In 1941 Hlinka Guard shock troops were trained in SS camps in Germany, and the SS attached an adviser to the guard. At this point many of the guardsmen who were of middle-class origin quit, and thenceforth the organization consisted of peasants and unskilled laborers, together with various doubtful elements. A social message was an integral part of the radical nationalism that it sought to impart.
Deportation of the Jews
In November 1938, the Hlinka Guard participated in the
Political competition
A small group called Náš Boj (Our Struggle), which operated under SS auspices, was the most radical element in the guard. Throughout its years of existence, the Hlinka Guard competed with the Hlinka party for primacy in ruling the country. After the anti-Nazi Slovak National Uprising was crushed in August 1944, the SS took over and shaped the Hlinka Guard to suit its own purposes. Special units of the guard (Hlinka Guard Emergency Divisions – POHG) were employed against partisans and Jews.
Legacy
In the 2010s, the Hlinka Guard's uniforms made a reappearance in Slovakia as the preferred dress of far-right politician
References
- Rajcan, Vanda; Vadkerty, Madeline; Hlavinka, Ján (2018). "Slovakia". In ISBN 978-0-253-02373-5.
- Sokolovič, Peter (2013). Hlinkova Garda 1938 – 1945 [Hlinka Guard 1938 – 1945] (PDF). Bratislava: Ústav pamäti národa. ISBN 978-80-89335-10-7.
Further reading
- Jelinek, Yeshayahu (1971). "Storm-Troopers in Slovakia: The Rodobrana and the Hlinka Guard". S2CID 159713369.
- Hruboň, Anton (2010). 5. poľná rota Hlinkovej gardy [The Fifth Company of the Hlinka Guard] (PDF) (in Slovak). Ružomberok: Historia nostra. ISBN 978-80-9700-80-2-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2019-01-06.)
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References
- ISBN 9780231528788.
- ^ Rajcan, Vadkerty & Hlavinka 2018, p. 844.
- ^ Rajcan, Vadkerty & Hlavinka 2018, p. 847.
- ^ Sokolovič 2013, pp. 346–347.
- ^ Walker, Shaun (14 February 2019). "How a Slovakian neo-Nazi got elected". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 February 2019.