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Beginnings
The Munich Agreement on September 29, 1938, betrayed
Czechoslovakia. Military alliances of the First Czechoslovak
Republic with France were not upheld and the United Kingdom and
France allowed Hitler’s Nazi Germany to occupy Sudetenland
(mostly German-speaking north of the Czech lands). Thinking that
this would satisfy Hitler, the powers were mistaken in believing
that appeasement would get them very far. Shortly after Munich,
Czechoslovak president Edvard Beneš immigrated and on October
6, 1938, the leading Slovak parties met and declared autonomy of
the Slovak part of Czechoslovakia. Jozef Tiso was named prime
minister. There were various efforts by those supporting
Czechoslovakia to preserve its territorial integrity (“Homola´s
Coup” on March 9, 1939 – a coup d’état deposing and
replacing prime minister Tiso). However, after negotiating with
Hitler in Munich on March 13, 1939, Tiso and other Slovak
officials assembled the parliament and declared independence on
March 14, 1939. This date marks the founding of the First Slovak
State (it was officially a republic after October 1, 1939, when
a constitution was ratified and Tiso became president). The
Czech part became a protectorate of Nazi Germany. Hitler invaded
it on March 15. |
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Monsignor Jozef Tiso
Jozef Tiso was a Roman-Catholic
priest. He also served as chaplain in the Hungarian army in
World War I. At that time, church officials were often educated
better than most people, so it was not uncommon to see priests
in politics and public life. Tiso entered the Slovak People’s
Party (later called Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party) in 1918
– a party fighting for Slovak autonomy since its founding by
Andrej Hlinka (also a priest). He was a member of the
Czechoslovak Parliament as well as a government minister. After
Andrej Hlinka died in 1938, Tiso practically became the leader
of Hlinka’s Slovak People’s Party.
The Slovak State and
WWII
The First Slovak Republic was an
authoritarian regime with government censorship and single-party
political spectrum. Almost immediately after declaring
independence, the Slovak State signed a friendship treaty with
Germany. The Slovak Republic declared war on many states
including, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet
Union. It was the only Axis nation besides Germany to
participate in the Blitzkrieg – the attack on Poland. Besides
this attack, Slovak units fought especially on the Eastern front
in the Soviet Union On August 29, 1944, the Slovak National
Uprising began. It was an armed revolt against the government of
Jozef Tiso. Its units consisted of rebel units of the Slovak
Army, Slovak partisans, communist partisans, as well as some
international forces. Though it did not achieve much militarily
(especially due to lack of coordination and organization) –
like in Yugoslavia or Poland, the Slovak National Uprising
illustrated that not everyone unanimously supported the regime
and remains one of the key positives of the Slovak military in
World War II. After the Slovak National Uprising was suppressed
by German and Slovak forces, the Slovak State remained under
German occupation until it was liberated by the Soviet Army in
1945.
The Jewish Question
Shortly after independence, the
Slovak State began taking measures against Jews. Known as the
Jewish Code, the law defined Jews on racial grounds and
specified their social, economic and political rights (or lack
of rights, rather). It was the last step before deportations
took place. Almost 60,000 Jews were deported to German
concentration camps from Slovakia during the year 1942. Another
nearly 14,000 were deported during German occupation in 1944.
The anti-Jewish laws were in many ways more severe than those in
Nazi Germany. What remains horrifying yet fascinating is that
the Jewish Code was passed by the Slovak government and that the
laws for deportations were passed by the entire Slovak
Parliament. The Slovak State was officially a Christian country;
its president was a Catholic priest. But this excerpt from his
speech from August of 1942 summarizing the stance of most
Slovaks shows how the horrors were possible: “As regards the
Jewish question, people ask if what we do is Christian and
humane. I ask that too: is it Christian if the Slovaks want to
rid themselves of their eternal enemies the Jews? Love for
oneself is God's command, and this love makes it imperative for
me to remove anything harming me.“ The Vatican, as well as
other church and civic authorities spoke out against the harsh
measures against Jews and against the deportations in Slovakia.
But Jozef Tiso, under immense pressure from Germany and other
radical Slovak politicians (though not without a conscience)
remained adamant. Slovak participation in the Holocaust is an
ineffaceable stain on Slovak history and Jozef Tiso remains a
very controversial figure. Even today there are influential
personages like Ján Sokol, an important Slovak archbishop, and
many historians who do not condemn his actions.
Frantisek Butora
CS Lewis Bilingual High School |
