Postwar anti-Jewish violence in Slovakia

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For violence after World War I, see
post-World War I anti-Jewish violence in Czechoslovakia
.

Postwar anti-Jewish violence
in central Europe
Part of
Aftermath of the Holocaust
Dates
1944–1948
Hungary
Poland
Slovakia

Postwar anti-Jewish violence in Slovakia resulted in at least 36 deaths of Jews and more than 100 injuries between 1945 and 1948, according to research by the Polish historian

in Poland. The causes of the violence included antisemitism and conflict over the restitution of property stolen from Jews during the Holocaust in Slovakia
.

The violence often took the form of rioting, and occurred in waves: late 1945, mid-1946, early 1947, and mid-1948. The most notable incidents were the Topoľčany pogrom on 24 September 1945, the Kolbasov massacre in December 1945, and the Partisan Congress riots in Bratislava in early August 1946. The violence ceased after the emigration of most Jews by the end of 1949.

Background

Main article: The Holocaust in Slovakia
Non-Jewish man kicks a stereotypically dressed Orthodox Jew
Slovak State propaganda ordering Jews to "Get out of Slovakia!"

The

SRP (Association of Racially Persecuted People) formed to advocate for the rights of Jewish survivors.[10][11]

Causes

Conflict over Aryanization and restitution characterized postwar relations between Jews and Slovaks.[12][13] At issue was not just large businesses which had been Aryanized, but confiscated movable property (such as furniture) which had been sold to non-Jewish buyers. There were also conflicts regarding movable property that had been entrusted to non-Jews who refused to return it after the war. For many Slovaks, restitution meant returning property that they had paid for under the then-existing law, developed, and considered theirs. From the perspective of Jews, however, it was the obligation of those in possession of stolen property to return it.[14][15] Former partisans, veterans of the Czechoslovak armies abroad, and political prisoners were prioritized for appointment as national administrators[a] of previously Jewish businesses or residences. In some cases, national administrators were appointed even though the owners or their heirs were still alive.[17] The newly appointed national administrators considered their gains just reward for their sacrifices during the war—a rationale that was endorsed by the government.[18]

The Slovak National Uprising brought devastation to central and eastern Slovakia.[6]

Before the war,

UNRRA reported that hundreds of thousands of residents of rural areas in eastern Slovakia still lacked housing.[20] The straitened economic circumstances meant that any sign of favoritism became a cause of ethnic resentment.[26][27] False claims were made that Jews had not suffered as much as non-Jews during the war and had not participated in the Slovak National Uprising, which further fueled resentment against them.[28]

Another source of antisemitism, and trigger for violence, was false rumors and

Czechoslovak citizenship.[33][34] Another issue was the passage of Jewish refugees from Poland and Hungary through Czechoslovakia; these Jews did not speak Czech or Slovak, further inflaming suspicions.[35] The anti-Jewish policies of the wartime government sharpened categorization along ethnic lines; when victims were attacked because of being Jews, their Jewishness overpowered any other affiliations (such as political, national, or economic).[36]

Czech historian Hana Kubátová points out that these accusations against Jews differed little from classical antisemitism as found in, for example, the eighteenth-century novel René mládenca príhody a skúsenosti [sk] by Jozef Ignác Bajza.[37]

1945

Postwar anti-Jewish violence in Slovakia is located in Slovakia
Topoľčany
Topoľčany
Bratislava
Bratislava
Kolbasov
Kolbasov
class=notpageimage|
Locations where significant anti-Jewish violence was reported

The first postwar anti-Jewish riot occurred in

accused of supporting Communism. Jewish community offices, a communal kitchen, and Jewish buildings were robbed and vandalized.[40]

Topoľčany pogrom

Main article: Topoľčany pogrom

In Nitra, local women were infuriated with inadequate food rations. On 11 September 1945, after a rumor spread alleging that nuns at the local school would be replaced by Jewish teachers, the situation escalated into a 200-strong demonstration against the local District National Committee [cs]. One woman complained, "the committee is already stuffed, while we are starving, we have no bread or wood and we have no food to cook for our children. But the Jews have enough of everything, even sugar and boots."[41][b]

Throughout September, anti-Jewish propaganda was distributed in Topoľčany and Jews were physically harassed. In early September, nuns who taught at a local Catholic school for girls heard that their institution was about to be nationalized, and that they would be replaced. Although many Slovak schools were nationalized in 1945, rumors that it was due to a Jewish conspiracy and that Jewish teachers would replace gentiles were unfounded. The mothers of children at the school petitioned the government not to nationalize it and accused Jews of trying to take over the school for the benefit of Jewish children.[42] On Sunday, 23 September 1945, people threw stones at a young Jewish man at a train station and vandalized a house inhabited by Jews in nearby Žabokreky. The next day, gentile Slovaks gathered on the streets and chanted antisemitic slogans; a few Jews were assaulted and their homes burglarized. Policemen declined to intervene based on unfounded rumors that Jews had killed four children in Topoľčany. In Chynorany rumor held that thirty children had been murdered by Jews; at least one Jew was attacked and others were robbed.[31][39]

There are very few people in Topoľčany who would not approve of the events of 24 September 1945. Today in a conversation with a worker, a farmer, or a member of the intelligentsia you will find that people hate Jews outright.

Slovak police report[43]

The antisemitic riot that occurred in

Czechoslovak Communist Party exploited the riots to accuse the democratic authorities of ineffectiveness.[47] The event in Topoľčany had a greater significance than to the people directly affected because it became synecdoche for postwar antisemitism in Slovakia.[48]

Trebišov riot

On 14 November 1945, a riot occurred in the eastern Slovak town of Trebišov over the refusal of the authorities to distribute shoes to people who did not belong to a recognized trade union. About four hundred rioters went to a prison where Andrej Danko, who had led the district during the Slovak State, was held awaiting trial, shouting that Danko would have distributed the shoes fairly. A Jewish veterinarian named Hecht was attacked, either after being dragged out of his apartment or on the street. Hecht was blamed for Danko's arrest because he had informed the authorities of Danko's past as a Slovak State administrator, and was beaten until he promised to withdraw his accusations.[49]

Kolbasov massacre

Polish victims of Ukrainian Insurgent Army massacre in Lipniki, Volhniya

The most deadly attacks against Jews occurred in Snina District,[50][51] where eighteen Jews were murdered in November and December 1945.[39] On 23 November 1945, a Jewish man named David Gelb was abducted in Nová Sedlica and disappeared.[50] On 6 December 1945 around 20:00, armed men entered the house of Alexander Stein in Ulič, and murdered him along with his wife and another two Jewish women who were present. Later than night, they entered Mendel Polák's house in nearby Kolbasov, where twelve young Holocaust survivors were living. The invaders raped the women, forced the men to sing, stole some alcohol, jewelry, and money, and shot four men and seven women.[52][53] Seventeen-year-old Auschwitz survivor Helena Jakubičová survived by hiding under a blanket next to the corpses of her two sisters.[52][54] After the attackers left, she fled to another house in the same town where several Jews lived, but were apparently not known to the attackers. She testified that the attackers had identified themeslevs as followers of Stepan Bandera. When the SRP came to investigate, it found non-Jewish neighbors stealing belongings from Polák's house, including a cow and a sewing machine.[50][53][55]

The murders attracted national attention and led to widespread criticism of local police for failing to prevent the killings.[52] It was assumed that the murderers were members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who had crossed over into Slovakia. The presence of the UPA in the area was documented; their modus operandi was to ask locals where Jews and Communists lived, then return at night to attack them. However, the culprits of the massacre were never identified, and it is possible that they belonged to an unrelated armed group.[50][51] Slovak historian Michal Šmigeľ notes that the police and government tried to downplay local antisemitism and blame incidents on the UPA instead. He hypothesizes that local police, Communists, or people seeking to acquire Jewish property were responsible for some of the violence, and may have collaborated with the UPA.[52][56] Slovak historian Jana Šišjaková theorizes that a Polish–Slovak criminal gang may have been responsible for the killings in Kolbasov.[39]

1946

Main article: Partisan Congress riots
Kapucínska Street, Bratislava, where passersby were assaulted during the riots

Tensions between Jewish and non-Jewish Slovaks were exacerbated in May 1946 by the passage of the

Restitution Act 128/1946, an unpopular law that mandated the restoration of Aryanized property and businesses to their original owners.[57][58] Both antisemitic leaflets and attacks on Jews—many of them initiated by former partisans—increased following the restitution law.[59][60] Multiple leaflets gave Jews an ultimatum to leave the country by the end of July 1946;[61][62] Šmigeľ suggests that the similarities in the leaflets imply that there was a coordinated campaign.[62] In late July and early August, leaflets appeared with the phrases "Beat the Jews!", "Now or never, away with the Jews!", and even "Death to the Jews!".[61][c] During the last week of July, posters were put up around Bratislava with slogans such as "Attention Jew, a partisan is coming to beat Jews", "Czechoslovakia is for Slovaks and Czechs, Palestine is for Jews", "Jews to Palestine!" "Jews out!" and "Hang the Jews!"[65][d] In early July, two former partisans in Bytča repeatedly attacked Jews.[66] In August, Ján Kováčik, the secretary of the local chapter of the Union of Slovak Partisans, formed a group of several partisans in order to attack the Jewish residents in the area. Kováčik's group was shut down a few months later by the authorities.[35] From mid-July 1946, minor anti-Jewish incidents were occurring on an almost daily basis in Bratislava.[64]

A national conference of former Slovak partisans was held in Bratislava on 2–4 August 1946. Rioting began on 1 August, and many of the rioters were identified as former partisans. Despite attempts by the

Veľká Bytča.[65][68] The rioting in Žilina left another fifteen people injured; police detained only a few people as a result of the attacks in Bratislava and elsewhere.[69] Slovak historian Ján Mlynárik suggests that the occurrence of similar events in multiple locations in Slovakia may indicate that they were planned in advance.[35] Czechoslovak media either denied the riots occurred, or claimed that partisans had not been involved in violence against Jews.[70] The government responded by announcing stricter security measures[31] and simultaneously suspending restitution to Jews.[71]

1947

The

trial of Jozef Tiso, the former president of the Slovak State, raised fears of anti-Jewish violence,[72] which the Slovak nationalist underground unsuccessfully tried to incite.[73] The police made up a list of politically unreliable individuals to be arrested if there was any violence, which the Communist Party planned to exploit to increase its power.[74] At some of the pro-Tiso demonstrations there were antisemitic elements: in Piešťany, demonstrators shouted anti-Jewish and anti-Czech slogans; in Chynorany and Žabokreky, they sang Hlinka Guard songs and reportedly stopped vehicles asking if there were Czechs or Jews in the car.[72][75] The only full-blown riot was in Bardejov in early June.[72][76]

1948

Stalin Square in 1959

There were additional anti-Jewish riots in Bratislava on 20 and 21 August 1948. The riots originated in an altercation at a farmers' market in Stalin Square in which Emilia Prášilová, a pregnant non-Jewish Slovak woman, accused sellers of favoring Jews. Alica Franková, a Jewish woman, called Prášilová "an SS woman" and they attacked each other. After both women were arrested, passersby beat up another two Jewish women, one of whom was hospitalized. Yelling "Hang the Jews!" and "Jews out!" they sacked the same Jewish kitchen that had been attacked two years previously. Another attempted demonstration the next day was dispersed by police, and 130 rioters were arrested, of whom forty were convicted.[77][78] By the summer of 1948, however, antisemitic incidents were decreasing in Slovakia.[79]

Reactions

In mid-1945,

Maurice Perlzweig urged Czechoslovak authorities to act to stop the violence: "It is really a terrible blow to us to have to face the fact that Jews are subjected to physical violence in any part of Czechoslovakia. We might regard it as normal elsewhere, but not there."[80] Stories of anti-Jewish incidents in Slovakia were quickly picked up by the Hungarian press, which passed them to the Jewish media to discredit Czechoslovakia.[81] The Slovak government in turn blamed the incidents on Hungarians in Slovakia.[35][81] Despite this, most of the incidents were by ethnic Slovaks, not Hungarians, although some anti-Jewish riots by Hungarians in southern Slovakia also occurred.[82] Slovak authorities sometimes blamed the victims for the violence, such as claiming that Jews' "provocative behavior" caused the hostility against them.[35][43] Both the Democratic Party and the Communist Party officially condemned antisemitism, blaming the other party for it.[83]

Aftermath

Violence against Jews was one of the factors driving emigration from Slovakia.

1948 Communist coup—only a few thousand were left by the end of 1949[85][86]—antisemitism transmuted into a political form as evinced in the Slánský trial.[86] The 2004 film Miluj blížneho svojho ("Love thy neighbor") discussed the riots in Topoľčany and contemporary attitudes towards them, attracting considerable critical attention. The mayor of Topoľčany apologized for the rioting a year later.[87]

Comparison

Memorial to the 42 Jews murdered during the Kielce pogrom

Postwar anti-Jewish violence also occurred in

death camps were located in Poland, not Slovakia.[91] Sources on the violence are fragmentary and incomplete, making it difficult to estimate how many Jews were killed or injured as a result. Polish historian Anna Cichopek speculates that at least 36 Jews were killed and 100 injured.[38] Women were prominent agitators in many of the anti-Jewish demonstrations including Topoľčany in 1945, Piešťany in 1947, and Bratislava in 1948. American historian James Ramon Felak suggests that women did not fear police mistreatment especially if they went to demonstrations with their children, as well as women in rural areas tending to be devout Catholics and strong supporters of the Slovak People's Party.[92][75]

Notes

  1. ^ National administrators (Slovak: národné správcovia) were the state-appointed managers of nationalized property Aryanized by the Slovak State regime, left behind by deported Jews, or confiscated from "traitors and politically unreliable people" (Germans and Hungarians) by the postwar Czechoslovak government. The administrators were required to be "nationally and politically reliable, with appropriate professional and practical knowledge", and benefitted economically from their appointment.[16]
  2. ^ "Výbor sa o nás nestará, aby sme mali čo jesť, však výbor je už napchatý, ale my hladujeme, nemáme chleba, dreva a nemáme deťom čo variť, aby sa najedli. Preto ale Židia majú všetkého dosť, títo majú dostať cukor aj baganče."[24]
  3. ^ "Bite Židov!" (29 July in Bratislava), "Teraz alebo nikdy preč so Židmi!" (1 August in Zlaté Moravce) and "Smrť Židom!" (1/2 August in Žilina).[63][64]
  4. ^ "Pozor žide, partisan ide židov biť" "ČSR pre Slovákov a Čechov, Palestína pre židákov" "Židia do Palestíny!" "Židia von!" "Židov obesiť!"[65]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 12–13.
  2. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 90–92.
  3. ^ Rajcan, Vadkerty & Hlavinka 2018, p. 845.
  4. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 14–16.
  5. ^ Rajcan, Vadkerty & Hlavinka 2018, p. 847.
  6. ^ a b c Cichopek 2014, p. 21.
  7. ^ Rajcan, Vadkerty & Hlavinka 2018, p. 849.
  8. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 19.
  9. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 3.
  10. ^ Bumová 2007, pp. 14–15.
  11. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 96.
  12. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 90.
  13. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 272.
  14. ^ Bumová 2007, p. 27.
  15. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 330–331, 336.
  16. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 94–96.
  17. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 96, 99.
  18. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 105, 107.
  19. ^ Nižňanský 2014, pp. 49–50.
  20. ^ a b c Lônčíková 2019, p. 6.
  21. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 59.
  22. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 58.
  23. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 60.
  24. ^ a b Kubátová 2016, p. 326.
  25. ^ Kubátová 2016, p. 336.
  26. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 61.
  27. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 326–327.
  28. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 326, 339–340.
  29. ^ a b c d Lônčíková 2019, p. 4.
  30. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 128.
  31. ^ a b c Cichopek 2014, p. 118.
  32. ^ Lônčíková 2019, pp. 13–14.
  33. ^ Lônčíková 2019, p. 5.
  34. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 170, 174, 178.
  35. ^ a b c d e f Mlynárik 2005.
  36. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 145.
  37. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 330–331.
  38. ^ a b c Cichopek 2014, p. 117.
  39. ^ a b c d e Šišjaková 2008.
  40. ^ Lônčíková 2019, pp. 11–12.
  41. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 325–326.
  42. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 127.
  43. ^ a b Cichopek 2014, p. 137.
  44. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 127–130.
  45. ^ Lônčíková 2020, p. 153.
  46. ^ Büchler 2005, p. 267.
  47. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 130, 135.
  48. ^ Kubátová 2016, p. 321.
  49. ^ Lônčíková 2019, p. 12.
  50. ^ a b c d Lônčíková 2019, pp. 8–9.
  51. ^ a b Lônčíková 2020, pp. 160–161.
  52. ^ a b c d Šmigeľ 2008.
  53. ^ a b Lônčíková 2020, p. 161.
  54. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 331–332.
  55. ^ Kubátová 2016, p. 333.
  56. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 332–333.
  57. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 102–103.
  58. ^ Bumová 2007, p. 21.
  59. ^ Bumová 2007, pp. 17–18, 27.
  60. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 257, 259–260.
  61. ^ a b Bumová 2007, p. 17.
  62. ^ a b Šmigeľ 2011, p. 257.
  63. ^ Bumová 2007, pp. 17–18.
  64. ^ a b Šmigeľ 2011, p. 259.
  65. ^ a b c d Cichopek 2014, p. 119.
  66. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 258.
  67. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 118–119.
  68. ^ Bumová 2007, pp. 18, 20.
  69. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 264.
  70. ^ Bumová 2007, pp. 21–22.
  71. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 105.
  72. ^ a b c Cichopek 2014, pp. 119–120.
  73. ^ Felak 2009, pp. 86, 92.
  74. ^ Felak 2009, pp. 88, 94.
  75. ^ a b Felak 2009, p. 102.
  76. ^ "Jews Beaten in Slovakia; Press Charges Democratic Party Creating Anti-jewish Feeling". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 13 June 1947. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  77. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 120–121.
  78. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, pp. 268–271.
  79. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 273.
  80. ^ Láníček 2013, p. 162.
  81. ^ a b Láníček 2013, p. 170.
  82. ^ Bumová 2007, p. 25.
  83. ^ Šmigeľ 2011, p. 268.
  84. ^ Lônčíková 2020, p. 162.
  85. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 230.
  86. ^ a b Šmigeľ 2011, p. 275.
  87. ^ Paulovičová 2013, p. 578.
  88. ^ Kubátová 2016, pp. 321–322.
  89. ^ Kubátová 2016, p. 322.
  90. ^ Láníček 2014, p. 80.
  91. ^ Cichopek 2014, pp. 142–143.
  92. ^ Cichopek 2014, p. 120.

Sources

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