1 50 23 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e569ca39b248734e436889efd01f4eca.pdf f871f88f76f4deea3b0c30aed267baae PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ �4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- �SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and �6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but �SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly �8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- �SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- �10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these �SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - �12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- �SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states �14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of �SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa. � SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ �4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- �SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and �6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but �SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly �8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- �SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- �10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these �SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - �12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- �SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states �14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of �SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 3 .6JSSEMBL Y OF CAPTIVE EUROPEAN N~TIONS: CONFLICT BETWEEN IDEA AND DEED JOSEPH CIEK·ER The politics of the non-Communi st world loses much of its aggressivenes s, attractiveness and snap because of the frequent conflict between thought and action, between an ideal and reality, between the height of the noblest values and the baseness of those money-change rs who have made a profession out of politics. If this frequent conflict in the politics of the non-Communi st world is judged benevolently, reasons will be found to explain it, even if not for justification. If, however, in the directing of this conflict politics is being made by people whose personal, moral and national obligation it should be to perseveringly make politics of principles, politics of spiritual and moral revival, politics of li-berating the nations fettered by the chains of communist violence, then this conflict even with the greatest benevolence cannot find neither explanation, nor justification. Undoubtedly great ideas and noble ideas inspired the organization of the Assembly of Captive Nations (ACEN) The "Czechoslovak" delegation or represenfation of the A•ssemlbly of Captive European Natioms is made up of persons who were - all of th€.m with the ,exce•p.tion of Dr. Stephen Osusky memlbel's o.f the po·s twar Communist-dom inated National Ff,(mt Government (1945°1948) of the Benes-<Gottwaild coaJitil()n, whi:ch CO'lla'borated fully wi'th the Soviet Union (Benes's ''Czechosl()IVaJk-S<wiet" tr·e aty of Dec. 112, 1'943, was the "cornerstone" of Pr,a gue's foreign policy). They are con'sidered responsilble in a large measure fo.r the present hapless plig,h t of the Slov,aks and Czechs. Osusky was chosen to head the delega,tion, ibecaus·e he was "cleane·r " tha~, the others. on September 20, 1954. The principal aim of this organization, as expressed on its shield, is: "Freedom and national independence for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe enslaved by the Soviets." The roster of the nations "enslaved by the Soviets'~ 4 SLOVAKIA should contain the names of all the nations (not only the names of the political formations they are enslaved in) which, from the day of their occupation by the Reds, are fighting, suffering and dying for the concept of freedom and independence. Europe and the entire non-Communist world would like to see in this Assembly of Captive Nations ALL of the nations that are held captive by the USSR. Elementary political honor and the most primitive political loyalty to the ideal of freedom and independence, to this truth and the political and national realities in Central and Eastern Europe, have demanded from the very beginning - and perseveringly demand even today - that this organization - which has pledged itself before the non--Communist world that it wishes to express the spiritual, moral, and political content of the enslaved nations - will keep its given word and shall in its own conduct be identified with the aim expressed on its shield. Unfortunately, this was not so. And it still is not so. This Assembly is not an assemly of ALL the nations held in captivity. Its beautifully expressed aim has been, and still "At a time when i,n the free part of the world, peoples who have never enjoy,ed self-government in the past are gradua'1ly attaining ruat ionhood and are assisted by the United NatilQlns in the aichievement of their rightful aspirations - the exact reverse process has been t·ailcirng place in Central a1nd :Ela,s tern Europe." (AIO:EJN statement, Sept. 20, 1·954). Adden<lum: Amid this "reverse pr,ocess" has been goin,g on in Ozeicho-Slov.akia {even under the leadership of T. G. Mia•s•aryik and Dr. Edward Benes) ever since the birth of that glorified "isle of democracy." The Slovaks never enjoyed self-govern'ment or home rule within the fr,a1m~ol'lk of Czech<H5lovakia - not eve n, after members of tlhe present "polibiical representations in exile," \\iho now olaillD. to 1b e ''the genuine voice of the peoples," were members of the Czecho.SlO'V,ak government. is, refuted by the actions of this organization. Its actions belie its noble words. From its very beginning, this organization has been in sharp and basic conflict not only with its own expressed noble ideals, but even with its very own substance. It has not become a dynamic force for the realization of the idea of freedom and independence, but only an instrument of obsolete political garnitures and politi- SLOVAKIA 5 cal parties that have been crushed and cast off by Communism. Thinking in terms of their past functions, they want to bring back the past. The organization, which - under the given international circumstances, at this twelfth hour, in this amazing shake-up of continents, in this transformation of people and nations, on this cross-roads of universal history should have a great mission, has remained a paralyzed formation because it has renounced the magnanimity which its ideals had assured. Universally valid ideas and principles - being realized today in the jungles of Africa and Asiatic wastelands - have been scrapped by this organization when the same ideas and principles applied equally to all the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. The Assembly of Captive European Nations has, in fact, become an exclusive club of the privileged. Instead of being the interpreter of the will of the historical, organic and •live nations before the world public opinion, in the press, publications, in cultural, scientific and political institutions, in international organizations, in propaganda organs, in parliaments and congresses, in diplomatic and military circles, this organization has become the interpreter of select and dying political garnitures. After so many tragic experiences of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, after so many disappointments and much suffering, after so many mistakes and catastrophies, Europe and the non-Communist world in general do have the right to learn the truth, the whole truth about the political and national realities of the area which today is primarily dependent on the Kremlin. The fact is that the people in responsible positions in the As~ sembly of Captive European Nations have not come out with the whole truth, and the Western world, making international politics, has not as yet made up its mind to press for the whole truth to find out what the nations in Soviet captivity really want and how they picture the reorganization of Central and Eastern Europe. Europe and the non-Communist world should not be expected to accept, in the name of freedom and independence, political products which time has made obsolete and 6 SLOVAKIA which the moths have eaten through. This Europe going forward with renovation, this Europe which in the interest of its own preservat-ion is on the road to unification on the basis of the positive Christian forces within it existing, as expressed in the national individualities, - this non-Communist world, which is being organized on the basis of freedom and independence of the Afr.ican and Asiatic tribes, cannot be permanently deceived as far as the will of the nations of Central and Eastern Europe is concerned. If on the strengbh of the idea freedom and independence, the Albanians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovakians, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Poles, and Rumanians are represented in the Assembly of Captive European Nations, why are not, on the strength of the same concept of freedom and independence, the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, Byelorussians, Croatians, Slovenians, Serbians, and the rest of the European national individualities, represented there by their interpreters, since they all suffer the same fate? This aJPparent conflict between idea and deed debases eV1en the positive things the organization has accomplished and can still accomplish. One cannot work constructively "We herewi.th d·e elare our solidarity and pledge our assis'ta'r.1Ce to all who are oppressed, to those who aire being wronged, to the exploited, to the down-trodden, to the ,b etrayed, wha1tev,e r their ina1tiionality, race or creed. The misuse of justified national and social aspira,tions by oppre-s-sive interniatiiona1l Communism must be stopped." - Statement of ACEN, Sept. 20, 1954). Words, words, words - sterHe words! The fa.ct is that tbe A&Sembly of Oapti,ve European Naitions ignores and repudiates the right of the Slovaks, Ukr.ainians, Croatia•ns, Slov-e nians, etc., to freedom, irudependence, and self-determination. Indeed, thoe "misuse of justified national and socia1l aspirati-ons" even of oppressive ''Ozechoslovakism" must be stopped! and successfully for the common good of Europe and the non-Communist world if he is burdened with basic ideological, political and moral conflicts. One cannot logically be for freedom and independence of A L L nations and, at the same time, against the freedom and independence of SOME nations. One cannot logically and honestly be for the freedom and independence of a political territory, but SLOVAKIA 7 opposed to the freedom and independence of the peoples within that territory. People who always have their heads turned back to the past (the old order in which they functioned as officials) cannot move along with the development of Europe and the world. If the people of the Assembly of Captive European Nations can have recourse to any kind of legitimacy, the latter can have validity only as long as those "representatives" express the authentic will of their respective nations, and as long as by word and deed they are identified with the concept of freedom and independence of every nation. Furthermore, politically, morally, and legally it is not right to base the legitimacy of expressing the will of the national societies of today on the basis of the legitimacies of political parties and group interests of societies which today do not exist. The nations even in this bondage, in this captivity, have gone forward and new generations have come to the fore in the historical continuity of these nations. Now, what have the adherents of the old political garnitures to say, to these new generations that really means anything? Their political titles and functions are meaningless. And the political records of many, based on their political beliefs, are records of moclrery of the concept of freedom and independence. Some were promoters of the modern feudalistic state, the a:lmighty state based on materialistic socialism. To these new generations, which already have - and will - form ranks, one can approach only with the concept of genuine freedom and independence, only with principles of Christian world-outlook, only with aims that are in accord with their will and the attainment and realization of which will mean not only satisfying every nation that has been deprived of freedom and independence, but also making a substantial contribution to the common good of a united Europe. The Right of Self-Determination Is Indivisible The Parisian daily LE FIGARO of October 18, 1961, devoted its entire fifth page to the meeting of exiled politicians and diploma,ts who are members of the Assembly 8 SLOVAKIA of Captive Nations. The editress, Dominique Auclere, had an extensive interview with seven of them. The title, set up in large bold type, read: ONE HUNDRED M)LLION EUROPEANS DEMAND RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION." According to the editress, the Parisian Congress was called to discuss the ways that would enable the nations in captivity to attain the privilege - so generously granted others - to the right of self-determination. She presented the select group of seven as the "spokesmen" of the nations which could not freely express themselves. "This congress," she said, "is of great importance, because the subject to be discussed is very close to our hearts: the right to self-determination." Now, gentlemen, the first question: "What do you expect from Europe?" Reply: "Everything." Q. "Don't you think that the youth has joined Communism?" A. "No. We wanted to practice co-existence, but all our concessions and sacrifices were in vain. The Russians did Dr. Joseph Lettrich, chaiQ"man of the newly,baked postwar "Slovak Democratic Party" in Slova,lcia, headed the "Czechosfovak" delegation at AIOEN's conference in Paris, Oct. 18-20, 1961. He sig;rued two ag,r eements - the first i,n 1943, and the second i:n 1,945 - w~th the CoonmunLsts in Slovakta to collalborate fully with them . Of Slovak birth, he nevertheless has repud~ated the right of his people to fTeedom , inde'Pendenee, and sel'f-determinati-0n. not tolerate any governments, save those in which the Communists predominated." Q. What else should the West have done?" A. "We reproach the West and Europe, too, for not opposing the status as was demanded (incorporating the countries of Central and Eastern Europe within the Soviet sphere). A counterattack at the liberation of the captive nations, was very much desired .... In Czecho-Slovakia the elections in May, 1946, were only relatively free. The presence of the Red Army was felt ... nevertheless the majority voted democratfo. A putsch was made against this ma- SLOVAKIA 9 jority in 1948. . . THE RIGHT TO SELF~DETERMINATION IS INDIVISIBLE whether we consider Berlin and Germany, or the captive nations. Africans and Asiatics are enjoying this right. Demand - (addressing the French and the West) - to place the question of self-determination for our countries on the agenda of the General Assembly of the United Nations." "The question of self-determination of our nations should not be the subject of discussion of only the General Assembly of the United Nations, but of every discussion between the West and the East... We agree with the right of self-determination which was granted to the countries, the races and tribes of Africa. BUT WHAT ABOUT US ARE WE INFECTED WITH THE PLAGUE?" "You did not know how to exploit the opportunity in 1949 when the USSR was forced to abandon the blockade of Berlin; at the time you had nuclear prevalance. Such an opportunity, which I evaluate as historical, will not come again. But the problem of Berlin is here again. Do not resolve it in an isolationist fashion. Do not say: to speak of the nations in captivity would provoke the Soviet Union .... The spirit of resistance in our countries is a condition of your security. You do not have to figure with that as long as you were not open to attack from the Soviet Union, but now you must think about it." "All our nations in prevailing majority are anti-Communistic. But if we, despite all disappointments, still preserve our faith in the will of Europe to grant us self-determination, our nations, because they are held in captivity, are more vulnerable than we in emigration are .... Europe is not divided and does not appear to be solidified with Europeans of the East .... You go to ,conferences and subjeot yourself to methods, which Hitler invented and which Stalin used, and now that Khrushchev is using. At these conferences you have nothing to gain ,a nd the others have nothing to lose. Take over the offensive! Demand the unification of Germany and self-determination for Eastern Europe, and say: If you want peace, then you shall have to remove all remnants and consequences which issued illegally out of the war .... How could the West allow Soviet Rus- 10 SLOVAKIA sia to become the champion of freedom, that Soviet Russia which has enslaved half of Europe? This is really scandalous! Why is it not said: Let us apply self-determina tion to ALL the nations of the world, including the countries of Eastern Europe! ... France has granted so many African countries independence that we have decided to formulate here our demand to the right of self-determina tion. THE MATTER OF FREEDOM IS INDIVISIBLE !" It must be admitted with satisfaction that the members of the congress expressed principles that are moving the world and without respecting which it is not possible to demolish the world of slavery and to build the foundations .for a new world of justice, equality and cooperation. However, it is easy to express great and noble ideas. Even leading Reds have resorted to them when it served their purpose. Many people keep on washing out their throats with the noblest ideas, but their minds and their deeds are far away from these ideas. It is in this moral conflict that the dissolution of society rests, the dissolution and decay of The Assembly of Captive European Nations requested the Generail Assemlbly of the Uirnited Nations to look into deportations and forced transfel'S of population "ca,r ried out 1by the Soviet Union" (!Resolution of 7th Plenary Meetinig, Nov. 7, 1954!, and Resolution of loth Plenary Meet~n:g, Dec. 18, 1954), but conveniently ignored the brutal transfer of the Sudeten a1nd other Germans from their home·lan:d by Czecho-Slovakia, Poland, etc. Why? 1 institutions and also of the best formulated programs. Words without actions are sterile. Clothes do not make the monk. "THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETER MINATION IS INDIVISIBLE .... THE MATTER OF FREJDDOM IS INDIVISIBLE" - said the members at the conference of European Captive Nations. In other words, in th'is matter of freedom and independence ALL nations must be considered - and none considered more privileged than others. On this we can heartily agree. Why then, we ask, is the Assembly of Captive European Nations limited to nine countries? Nine political territories or formations are members of the Assembly, and there are representative s to speak for these SLOVAKIA 11 territories, but who is really authorized or entitled to speak for the nations within those territories? Who, for example, speaks for the Slovaks? And the Czechs? We know that the persons who presume to speak for "CZEOHOSLOVAKIA'' are definitely opposed to freedom and independence for the Slovaks and the Czechs, because they are working for the liberation of "Czechoslovakia" and not the liberation of the Slovak and Czech nations. People who could not break with the past, who have their minds and hearts burdened with weeds of fictions, cannot be the builders of a new and just order in Central and Eastern Europe. People who knowingly sin against the evident principles of the self-determination of nations, who in a concrete case deny this right of self-determination to the Slovak nation, demonstrate before the world public that they are not seriously concerned with the idea of selfdetermination. They are dishonest. Otherwise, how can they draw the just sword of self-determination against the Soviet Union and, at the same time, with the same sword, behead the freedom and independence of the Slovak nation? But here we are concerned not only with the Slovak nation, but also with many other nations that equally base their future on the validation of the right of self-determination. It is very significant, indeed, that the politicians and diplomats in the Assembly of Captive European Nations preferred and still prefer to ignore them. "We agree with the right of self-determination that was granted to the countries, races and tribes of Africa, but how about us, are we infected with the plague?" - one of the leading members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations said in just anger. In like manner, the Slovak nation asks the West, and particularly the Assembly of the Captive European Nations - which announced at its Paris Conference that it demands the validation of the right of self-determination for the nations of Central and Eastern Europe : "And how about us? Are we Slovaks infected with the plague?" Does not the right to self-determination apply to the Slovak nation - 12 SLOVAKIA the oldest Christian nation in Central Europe - to the extent that it applies to cannibals of the African jungle? An organization which violates, even partially, its own principles and universally valid principles, loses its political and moral right to reproach the Communist world for violating the right of self-determination - and to cast up to the West its inconsistencies and deficiencies in regard to the nations of Central and Eastern Europe. All Nations Are Entitled To Freedom When the editress of Le Figaro asked the members of the Assembly of Captive European Nations how many people demanded self-determination , they answered unanimously : ONE HUNDRED MILLION. This reply is in full accord with the idea which the organization would want to express, but which in practice it denies or repudiates. The name of the organization plainly speaks of NATIONS and not of STATES. Certainly it must be quite clear to the representatives of this organization that it is peoples, national associations, therefore, live and historic personalities that bear an idea, who express an idea, who defend an idea and fight for it. Therefore, the conflict between the "Our politica-1 representations in exile are the gen,uine v,oice of our peoples. They represent our nations' will and desire for independence, freedom, and the democratic form of governmemt. They repr-es-ent the demO'cratic SJpiTi.tuail, political, and socia,l convictions and aspirations which persist amon'g the peoples of Central ar.,d Easllern Europe." - Statement of AJOE)N, Sept. 20, 1954). Dr. Stephen Osusky, chairman of the "Czechoslovak" de'1egation or representation, was never elected to a,my office by his people. He does not represenlt the CZJEOH people, a,n d, even though a SLOVlA!K by birth, he does not represent the SJJOVAK people, and, hence, ca'l~<not be the "genuine voice" of these peoples. As chairman, he has never pwblicly coone out for freedom, ind-ependence, and self-determinatio,n for his peoiple - the SLOVIAK people. concept and reality is all the more apparent, since this organization established its status and structure on the basis of states and did not remain loyal to national individualities. The right of self-determination belongs to a person, to people, to nations. Only through this right of self-determin- SLOVAKIA 13 ation do we get to the state, to national and state independence. But not conversely. What moral and political capital the organization of the Assembly of Captive European Nations could have enjoyed if it had remained loyal to itself and the principles which it undertook to defend and had demanded their validation to the fullest extent! The fact that in practice it bound itself up with the fate of state, therefore secondary, aims - subordinating nations to state formations - it has deprived itself of reality and, as a result of this, also o{ attractiveness for the nations that are waging their fight for freedom and independence in the name of the right of self-determination. But that is not all. Limiting itself only to the territorial part of Central and Eastern Europe and, therefore, rejecting a priori the benefits and positive effectiveness of the right of self-determination of the Slovaks, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Croatians, Slovenes, Serbians, and other live organisms which consider themselves nations, the Assembly of Captive European Nations has unmasked the utter nakedness of its interior, in which there is entirely too much insincerity and very little dedication to the common good, in which prevails sectarian obstinacy and very little political wisdom, and in which decisions are made not according to the needs of great European and Christian aims, ,but according to the needs of small, indeed very small, needs of personal and group aims and interests. How is one to explain the fact that the Assembly sidetracked Yugoslavia where the Communist law governs no less than it does in the Soviet Union, Albania, China, Czecho-Slovakia, and Cuba? The Assembly had spoken: FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF THE NATIONS IS INDIVISIBLE! The right of self-determination is valid for ALL nations. If the Assembly of Captive European Nations repudiates this right for some nations or any one nation, it deserves to be repudiated by the West and cast out on the political rubbish heap. Its representatives are not truly interested in a new and just democratic order of Europe, but only in an exchange of political garnitures in the states 14 SLOVAKIA which they claim to represent, or, in effect, they are telling the West: we st.and for the old order, but not the present regimes. Of course, the representatives of the Assembly can claim - as they even do - that they cannot include ALL nations in their program, because the great powers recognize diplomatically the existing states in Central and Eastern Europe. The great powers have their reasons for such recognition, even though it is not consistent with their expressed policies and, for practical purposes, is even detrimental to the common good. Many informed observers believe it would have been better not to have granted recognition to states whose rulers are dedicated to the enslavement of their subjects and, in faot, to the destruction of the entire free world. But what reasons can an organization like the Assembly have for its conduct - an organization which should be nurtured with the revolutionary and creative spirit of reconstructing order in the sense of the principles which it proclaims and which should be concerned about, in the first place, with a permanent balance of this part of Europe - its Central and Eastern area? Even in politics it is not possible to serve two masters. The Assembly of Captive European Nations - as attested to by its record of action - serves not two masters, but all masters who want to permanently warm their soup on the nO'ble and clean fire of concept of freedom, independence, and the rig.ht of self-determination. One cannot therefore declare that, for example, the Albanians have a right to freedom, independence, and self-determination already today, but that the Slovaks, Croatians, Ukrainians, etc., will be granted that right tomorrow. Speaking and writing for the gallery, from which one expects not only applause, but political and material help as well, one cannot state that the business of freedom, independence, and self-determination of the Poles, Germans, Rumanians, etc., is a matter of validifying the principles of freedom, independence and self-determination, but that the matter of freedom , independence, and self-determination of the Slovaks is the business of the Czechs, that of the Croatians the business of SLOVAKIA 15 the Ser,b ians, that of the Ukrainians the business of the Russians, etc. At a time when the nations in Communist captivity are demanding concrete expression of their own desires, when they are waiting for political motives that would be worthy of their sacrifices and resistance, it is not possible to approach them with the useless, dried-out and stripped branch, broken from the tree of freedom, independence, and self-determination by the careless hands of politicians who are obsessed with their past. From the fruit of this tree of freedom, independence and self-determination which has for long years been sprinkled with their own blood and sweat - the Slovaks, Ukrainians, Croatians, etc., want an equal share. And not tomorrow, but today. As long as the Assembly of Captive European Nations does not bring its own house in order, as long as it promotes self-determination , freedom, and independence only for SOME, but not ALL nations, it will remain in permanent conflict with those noble concepts and those nations to whom it denies the right of self-determination , freedom, and independence. And finally it will be in a paradoxical position: the nations ignored or avoided by it shall have to persistently fight against it in the name of the concept of freedom, independence, and self-determination , as they are now fighting and shall always fight against every violence and every falsehood. "SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE" by Professor Gilbert L. Oddo can now be sent on order. Get your copy rODA \:'. because the -.upply is limited. Over 2.100 copies have been -.old. rhe first real history of the Slovaks and their country in English. rhe book ha~ ~X4 pages and sells for $6.00 per copy postpaid. Order your copy fODA Y from: JED NOT A PRINTERY. P. 0. Box 150. Middletown. Pa.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Assembly of Captive European Nations: onflict Between Idea and Deed Description An account of the resource Joseph Cieker Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 3-15 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cieker, Jozef, 1907-1969 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ccecf2d6faecb47803f7601dd89193b4.pdf 623fc71d8803f7c39c3278872b1bd716 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. �60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and �SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North �62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue �SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or �64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a �SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches �66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave �SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit �68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 �SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 �70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. �SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 �72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 �SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts. � SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. �60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and �SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North �62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue �SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or �64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a �SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches �66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave �SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit �68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 �SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 �70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. �SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 �72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 �SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 59 * EAR!L Y SLOVAK ORATORIES: A STUDY IN SLAVIC-IRANIAN ARCIDTECTURAL TRADITION Joseph G. Cincik The group of medieval churches discovered in the past few decades at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice, Moravia, has not failed to elicit the attention of archeologists (1). It has already given rise to a series of scholarly studies, monographs, articles, and critical notes (2), ye: the original interest in the find is not likely to subside within the near future. And rightly so, for the find may throw a new light on architectural perplexities of the early Middle Ages in Central Europe. It is an established fact that the above churches to be exact, oratories and presbyteries, all of them being of rather small dimensions - were erected in the first, at the latest in the second third of the ninth century, i.e., during the pre-Roman Carolingian period of architec::ure. They stood on what seems to have been both ethnically and historically Slovak soil, a surprisingly large territory consisting of a major part of the present.Jday Moravia and of a major part of the present-day Slovakia, the area covering both banks of the Morava River. It is a well-known fad t that in the early Middle Ages the inhabitants of central and eastern Mora via were known as the Slovieni (Sclavini), and only later were they referred to as the Moravians, obviously after the Morava River(3) . From an ethnic point of view they were actually ancient Slovaks, a fact attested to beyond · a doubt by their dialecrts. The large-scale evangelization of the Slovieni began in the first half of the ninth century(4). At this time a new alignment of political, economic, and social forces emerged on both sides of the Morava River. Various Slovien families, clans, and 1triibes tended to unite under the leadership of their elders and chieftans. This tendency was especially *"MOST," quarterly for Slov:ak culture, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1960, Slovaik ,I nstitute. Cleveland, Ohio. 60 SLOVAKIA strong in the region of the Danube an1d the central area, the latter extending for West to the very Zdan Hills. The growth and unification of the ancient Slovak tribes was a phenomenon of considerable importance wilthout which the establishment of the first Slovak principalities would hardly be understandaible. The first principality to arise was organized by the Priibina dynasty (cca 830) in the N.iltra region, in the territory of present-day Slovakia. Members of the dynasty ruled the principality of Pannonia and chose Blatnohrad as their cap1tal (5). The Mojmir dynasty gained power under Mojmir I (from 836 on) in the lanlds of the present-day southwestern Moravia. As this dynasty controlled the so-called "Amber Route" the main commercial artery between the Baltic and Adriatic seas, - it appeared to be economically superior and, as a result, became the only dynasty to assume power in both the Slovak domains (6). It formed the nucleus of a superstructure that was to emerge as lthe Great Moravian Empire under the rule of Svatopluk I (the Great) around 870. Once esta:blished, the Great Moravian Empire - so called first by Constantine Po11phyrogen1tes, the Emperor of Byzantium - pursued a decisively expansive foreign policy(7). Soon it annexed the Slovien principality of Pannonia and gained, for a ltime at least, complete control thereof (8) . This former Roman province (Pannonia Superior) deserves our serious attention. Prince Pribina (830-861) and Prince Kocel (861-874; from 869 an independent sovereign ruler) became prominent by their zeal in spreading the Gospel and by building new churches and renovating old ones (9). Their activity created a period of Christian revival in Pannonia, a true renascence. It should be noted that only thus the survival of earlier Roman paleo-Christian arch.iltectural forms was made poss~ble (10). Nowhere is it more apparent than in the cities. There the ancient Roman tradition of stone and brick masonry did not die out entirely and could again be put to a constructive use. Builders commissioned by Pribina an!d Kocel had, besides, the opportunity Ito study and SLOVAKIA 61 imitate earlier Roman structures, e.g., the antique Sophiana, ad Quinque Basilicas, in Pees (11). That they did not fail to do so is proven not only by the fact that recent findings pertaining to !~he Pribina-Kocel period were made in the proximity of a Roman sanctuary built according to the clover-leaf plan, but also by churches they themselves built or renova1ted, such as the trinave church of Pribina at Blatnohrad (12). 1 In comparison, the Christian architecture no1t h of the Danube, in both Slovakia and adjoining Moravia, and generally in the regions beyond the ·b oundaries of the Roman provincial tradition, was of a different nature. There the construction techniques and pa,tterns, space arrangements and space divisions developed to a degree independen1tly of the Roman traditions: a situation revealed to us unmistaka!bly by the group of oratories at Stare Mesto, Mikulcice, and lately Pohansko, near Breclav. The building materj.als used in this area consisted of irregularly quarried stone (opus incertum) and pressed and baked clay; wooden posts and ·b eams were quite common, willowreeds were equally frequent. The space division tended to be more simple, the dimensions were much smaller, very much unlike in some churches erected ( or patterned) on Roman foundaJtions in Pannonia ( 13) . The Pannonian needs called for large edifices to accomodate larger congregations; around these the faithful settled 1to live in the proximity of the early feudal and patronal manor to form thereby a large parish of the Carolingian type. Now, while the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia certainly did not fail later 1to re-use abandoned Roman fortifications and camps - and there are in these lands remnants of solid Roman edifices - a direct Roman influence on the ancient Slovak architecture was, to say the least, improbable (14). The dearth of stone block structures (opus certum) and brick masonry is, in this respect, revelatory. Yet 1the Roman military forts and observation towers on the northern border of the Roman Empire, formed between Vindobona (Vienna) and Aquincuum (Budapest), a rather long and impressive chain ; they did not, nevertheless, affect the basic architectural tendencies of the regions further North 62 SLOVAKIA from the Danube River. There an o1der, less elaborated type of structure, better suited for forest areas, retained its hold. Even an occasional presence there of solid structures, destined evidently to serve military purposes, should be interpreted with caution; it does not imply more than sporadic re-use of the Roman brick and stone masonry by the Slovieni ( 15) . Roman fortifications in this area have recently been searched with minute attention for eventual evidence of a Roman-Slovien relationship. As a result, the presence of the Slovieni in the forts, their use of !the abandoned Roman towers (e.g., Vysehrad) as shelters, can no longer be questioned (16). The enigma is, however, far from completely .solved. There still remains the hard problem of exact dating of the Slovien finds and, consequently, of the Slovien arrival to this part of Central Europe. At the presen!t, our only reliable criterion in this respect is the presence of the tyrpical wavy pattern on Slavic ceramics, a fashion, unfortunately, not older than the sixth century(17). On the other hand, no remnants are extant to show a previous direct Roman influence on pagan or Christian architectural 1trends north of the Danube, just as there are no finds to suggest such an immediate cultural continuity before the sixth century. Yet the Slovieni - and the Slavs in general - do appear in Central Europe as early as the fourth century A.D. We see them exerting pressure on rthe Danubian boundary together with the Sarmatians and Venedi ; they can be traced to adjoining Dacia. This we will try to prove in the near future, in a separate study, basing our conclusions on grey ceramics, not yet marked by wavy patJterns and frequent especially around the Tisa River(18). According to our thesis the Slovieni first entered Central Europe by way of eastern Slovakia and settled in the northern valley of the Tisa River as well as in present-day northern Transylvania (19). It is worthy of note, that, already at 1the time of Emperor Trajan (98-117), the toponymy of northern Dacia is in part of Slav character and thus reveals traces of Sarmatian, Dacian, and Slav co-settlements on both northeastern sides of the Carpathian mountain ridges (20). Recent archeological finds continue SLOVAKIA 63 to support our view in this maJtter and, at the same time, attest to a considerable exchange in material culture (21). We believe that the architectural situation in the Siovien territories north of the Danube shoultd be studied against this larger background. As we have observed above, all Slavic material culture develops in the forest-covered Carpathian area where wood, clay, and woven reeds are used as the most convenient material. This occurred in the very shadow of the walled Roman castella and observation towers, streJ:ching from Vindobona through Aquincuum far to the north, to the Dacian, Sarmatian, and Slav cosettlements in northern Docia ( 22). It is of common knowledge that the Romans continued to build in masonry edifices of this type up to 1their evacuation of the territory ( cca 270 A.D.). It is necessary, however, to point out that the presence of Christian churches or oratories in Dacia at this period has not yet been proven ( 23) . Pannonia had Christian churches already in the fourth century (24). It was there that the Slav settlers became acquainted with Christianity, unless they had already known the Gospel in its Arian form during an earlier coexistence with the Goths ( 25). Ye:, the Pannonian Slovieni were the first to call their churches "kostoly," a word coined from the Latin Castellum (26). Protected by the strong walls of the Roman castella that lend themselves easily 1to new functions, the Pannonian Slovieni assembled in fortified castella to celebrate their liturgy with such Roman Christians as survived the Pannonian catastrophes. Nor were they alone doing so. It is more than proba·b le that the Arian Goths also used the same edifices during their migrations ,through Pannonia for purposes of worship. Soon the castellum became a synonym for Slavic oratories and churches, and eventually for all solid structures s8rving Christian liturgical needs in Pannonia and Noricum. In the second renascence of Christianity that took place, as we have seen, during the rule of the Slovak princes, the castellum - kostol was again used as a meeting place for worshi:p(27). This new period was marked by the progressive disappearance of the pagan Slovien liturgical terminology. The church was no longer terebliste or 64 SLOVAKIA zertvovisko, terms used formerly to describe a wide, fenceprotected yard around a Slavic and pagan shrine quasimegaron ( 28) . It was, first of all, a kosfiol. Words are symbols of reality, and it is hardly a mere flight of fancy to consider the new term of church, the kostol, as a symbolic culmination point of early fruitful contacts between the Roman civilization and the Slovieni in their original homelands beyond the Cal'pathians ( 29) . The architectural development in Pannonia enaibles us to study the early medieval ecclesiastical edifices in Moravia, so to say, by contrast. We have already pointed out their small dimensions and hinted at some of their characteristic particularities. At this moment we would like to follow Dr. F. Graus and call the reader's attention to the fact 1that their space arrangements are, in a certain degree, a mere conjecture based on negative traces of foundations and patterns discovered during the excavations. We believe that they offer us, nevertheless, important clues to the peculiar religious and social evolution of the Slovien territory aJt the beginning of the ninth century(30). As far as can be ascertained by the present state of the finds, early builders in this area were not just servile imitators of Roman Christian architectural tra!ditions. Yet they did continue tthem to a certain extent, since they separate the presbytery from the narrow apse, the latter often of quadrangular shape. It is equally worthy of note that the church at Modra, near Velehrad, follows the so-called Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") pattern (31). The relatively small dimensions of tthese churches suggest that they were meant to serve single clans, each of them individually. The new Christian community, actually members of the same clan, led by their elder or chieftain, would assemble around the church in the open yard. They would remain standing on the mounds ( valy) or behind them, as they were wont to during the pagan period when the place of worship was still a terebliste. '!'his custom bears a striking similarity with very ancient Iranian traditions (32). (It can be likensd also to Greece, for did not the ancient Greeks worship standing beneath tthe open skies, or, as it sometimes happened, under the cover of a SLOVAKIA 65 peript.eros, on a plateau, t.emenos, outside the megaron?) The unusual number of oratories at Mikulcice and Stare Mesto, erected apparently within a short time one a.1lter the other, would present an insolvable enigma, were this ageold practice not taken in consideration. And let us point out that, to date, already five oratories (wi1th overall dimensions of 5 x 9-10 meters and 7% x 13¼ meters) were discovered on a small area fifty hectares (33) . The manner of burying the dead (particularly deceased chieftains) and the d ate of origin of these edifices indicate that ithere were no mass conversions (by pressure), but rather a gradual and free acceptance of the Gospel by the leaders of the clans and their families (34). That this occurred mainly in the first and second third of the ninth century is proved by 1the finds beyond any doubt. This impression is strengthened by architectural and architectonic features of the edifices. Their small dimensions in structure is of a pagan-Christian planning and, as far as the space and its use are concerned, reveals a functional duality. The edifice i1tself was traditionally reserved for the priest and his assistants while the courtyard was for the congregation. 1'his type of church architecture reflects both the gradual breaking-away of the Slovieni from paganism in the era of transiJtion from the family control over property held in common, or a distinctly tribal con1trol. It does not as yet reflect, however, the centralized management of civic and religious affairs that is to emerge only under Rastislav's and Svatopluk's reigns, (church patronate), at the time of St. Methodius. The churches at Stare Mesto and Mikulcice were not patronal churches, nor did they serve large parishes, as in Pannonia, or such as existed during the feudalistic period which followed (35) . By their square and rectangular forms, and Jtheir modest dimensions, they remain akin to small roofed edifices of the pagan times. Even the pagan outdoor treblist,e (the gathering place for worship and for the consumption of the offerings of the community) is preserved as i1t was probably in Pannonia, where the large courtyards of the former Roman cast.ella - kostoly needed no special adaptations for a similar use. Thus conceived, the Slovien churches 66 SLOVAKIA required neither the large roof-covered naves nor the spaciousness of the Pannonian city ,b asilicas. (The small rural density of population in Moravia and Slovakia aJt the time should also be taken into consideration). Let us note briefly that in all these open-space places of worship, the natural surroundings of the oratories remained unchanged, unless it was necessary to protecit them by mounds to assure privacy for the faithful present at the Mass, or, inn pagan times, at the sacrifice and consumption of animals ( 36). Mounds, rising above rivers and sloughs, were frequent already in the original Slavic homeland beyond the Carpathians; they wbound wherever the shrines were not protected by swamps. Later ramparts and mounds, erected around the rural shrines of Svantovit in Rujana, of Radgost (Svarozhich) in Rethra, Ptuj (Slovenia), of Perun in Kijev (Ukrainia), etc., manifest the same 1traditional pattern (37). In all these shrines the space division (a small roofed edifice with an a!djoining courtyard) is equally traditional. That this appears to be also the ancient Iranian pattern should cause no surprise, since trwces of a strong Iranian impact on Slavic culture have already been proved in the field of linguistics and mylthology(38). As far as the Slovien Christian churches in Moravia are concerned, we may, certainly, admit a gradual Roman influence, but only as a concomitant factor in their architectural plans. The question is, however, whether this influence has been imposed only on Anglo-Saxon ("Irish") architectural patterns, as claimed by J. Cibulka (39). The writer believes that this type of architectonic space arrangement of sanctuary and yard to be much older and, in territories of Slavs, also of Iranian origin. Considerations of the ethnogenetic nature make our view highly probable. The beginnings of the Slavic family of nations are closely linked, we believe, not only to their Baltic-Slavic linguistic substratum, but also to a common Scythian and Sarmatian civilizaJtion of Iranian origin ( 40). The Slavs were e:iqiosed :to a continuous migration of Iranian mythocreative elements in their original trans-Carpathian homeland and there is no reason to doubt that this impact gave SLOVAKIA 67 birth to common Slavic architectural concepts and usages ( 41) This cultic and cultural situation must have reached its highest point in the first centuries A.D., at the time when the neo-Iranian ethnic waves began to exer\': considerable pressure on Slavic settlements, penetrating the regions both on the Antes and the eastern Slavic tribes. As these usages were 1the result of cultic requirements which, as far as we can judge, did not change essentially, it must be supposed that they follow the Slavs on their migrations. They spread, in fact, as far as ,~he Baltic (Rujana-Rugen) and the Adriatic and Alpine regions (PitujPettovo) and offered serious resistance to architectonic determinants prevalent in those lands prior to Slav occupation. Wherever the Slavic tribes escaped contact with the architectural heritage of Roman provinces, or, wherever they appeared en masse in depopulated areas, they preserved their own building traditions intact. In this connection we would like to stress the importance of a surprisingly "Slavic" adaptation of the then already existing pagan shrine at Ptuj (Pettovio, Slovenia). We are aware of the fact tha:t Christianity was making inroads above ,~he Danube already in the reign of King Samo (623-360) and that there exist Christian remnants of an even earlier period, such as ivory pyxes from the fifth and sixth centuries, found at Zuran (near Brno, Moravia), or stone caps from church pillars discovered in Seitenstnerhof, in the Merovingian borough of Vienna. We are equally aware of Roman building traditions prevailing in the provinces south of the Danube as well as of their renascence in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel. Nevertheless, we deem it our duty to link the architectural finds at Stare Mesta and Mikulcice with the older pagan, Slavic and Iranian, culture. We claim these edifices, in view of their space divisions and functional aspects, must also be inter,preted in connection wi!th such Slavic architectural trends as there existed between the fourth and ninth centuries and, among the Baltic Slavs and the Slavs of the Kijev region, up to the tenth cenicury. Their distinctly two-fold pattern which combines a rather tiny shrine with a large open-space courtyard, does not seem to admit 68 SLOVAKIA any other interpretation. For ;that reason, tentative comparisons with contemporaneous Christian churches in the near-by regions, while always useful and sometimes quite revealing, should be made with extreme prudence. Even where space seems to be almost centrally arranged (e.g., at Modra where four pillars probably supported a baldachino over the church altar, and not a narrow oratory ceiling as J. Ci'bulka claims), conclusions should be all but one-sided. The locale as well as the dimensions, arrangement, and the space function should always be taken as primary factors in all evaluations. We can only hope that such attention combined with useful analysis of all additional aspects of the finds will not fail to support also our· thesis concerning the preservaJtion of the Slav-Iranian elements or traces in the building patterns of that period. This we hum'bly submit for consideration to all who devote their talents to the study of the early medieval CentralEuropean arch~tecture among the Slavs. REFERENCES: 1. The discovel'y of a small church ,a1t IM odra (near Velehrad) was first reported lby J. Neveril in Naiinec (Ol-0mouc, '19111, Vol. 47, No. 295). By the same author: "Velehrad v olbraz'Cich" in SborniJc: velehradsky, Nova Rada, '1940, p.p. 76-80. I. L. Cervinka, Slovane na Morave a rile Velkomoravska, B11n:o, 1928. V. lli•ulby: Pruvodce vysta,v• kou z moravskych archeologickych vyzkumu, 1948, pp. 112-'14. Archeologicke rozhledy, Vol. 'l'-'2, Praha ,1949, pp. 3{H36; Vol. 3, p. 50, 109 sp. J. Poulik, "Jizni :Morav,a, zeme davnych Slovanu," Pravos,av• ny sbornlk na rok 1950, p. IJ112 sq.; same author, "Objev druheho k<ostela ve Starem Meste," Archeoligicke ro:zhlecly, Vol. 2, Praha, 1950, p. 12-22. 2. J. ctbuI:ka: "Velkomoravske kostely, objevene 1949 vo St,arem Meste," Praha, 1'950 (a mul,tigrap1hed lec,ture). V. Hruby: Stlare Mesto, Velkomoravske pohrebi~:e na Valach," Praha, 195 5, in Monumenta archeologica, tom. 3, edit. Ceskoslovenska akad.e mia ved (Dr. J. Bohm); a detailed monogr,a,p h of the finds, rich Mbliography. Hruby, Hochmanova, Pavelcilk: ''IKostel a pohrelbiste z dolby Velkomoravske na Modre v V·elehradu," Casopis Moravskeho Muse-a (Acta Musei Mo .raviae), V-01. Jill, Brno, 1955, pp. 412Jl26. J. Poulik: "Vysledky VY· zkumu na velkioon,or,avskem hradisti '"V•al:Y" u Mdikulcic," Pamatky ar· cheologicke, XI.JVl1IIII, Praha, '1957; sepa,rat-um; pp. 214-3116. J. Oilbulka: Velkomoravsky kostel v Modre u Velehradu a zacatky krest'anstvf na Morave, Praha, 1958, in Monumen,ta archeologica, tom. vm, ed'it. Ceskoslovens:ka akademia ved. J. Poulik: Velkomoravske hradilte Mikulcice: Pruvodce po archeoligickych vyzkumech:, Gottwaldow: Kr,ajElke niaklad'a-telsitvi, 1959; contains a good survey of four oratories found up to 1959 and indications of the tra:ces showing the 1 SLOVAKIA 69 possilbility of the fift'h church on the location. F. Kalousek: "Velkomoravske hradiste Po'hans'ko u Breclave, in Archeologicke rozhledy, XillI, Pr.aha, 11960, pp. 496-530. 3. F. Trav,nicek: Moravska nareci, Praha, 1926, PIP- 14,118; and a geographilcal card showing the boundaries of the Slovak dialects in medie,v al and co111tempora11y Morarvia. J. :Po·ulik: Staroslovanska Moirava, Pra,h a, 1'!}418, pp. 107.ilOB, p. 111'2; see also PmtliJk's card (No.:H) illus1tra1ting the exten,srion of the Slovak dialects in Mmavia, based or. t'he research made by F. Tra¥nicek. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Y.ol. 1, Bratislava, 11958; c'ha,pt. X. "'Sbr·e doveke sloven~ke jazy,k<ove uzemie, 1<. Moraivska dblast'," pp. 14'7·1'55; a good survey of ·opin,i,ons defended by V. Jagic, P. J. Safarik, 0 . ~aemmel J. L. Cervirrk<a, F. 'Dravnicek, J . V. Dekan, S. Schl\Vlaritz et al. P . .J. §a,f arik: SloYanske staroiitnosti, Praha, 11837, p. 7941: ''I think that a l ong time ago, i.e., before the political separation e.f.1fected bebween Hungary and Moravia, the line of di'Vision between the Ozelch and Slovak d<ialects ran somewhere through the center o'f Moravia, and not on t1he mountains dividing the prerent-day Hunga ry from Mo· ravia." 4. Cf. Libellus de conversione Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum ( cca. 87Q.J87,l,), and Epistola episcoporum BaNariensium ad Jo·ha nnem P. IX . .scripta a. 900. (In Monumenf\a Germaniae histol"ica Scriptores XI. pp. 1~115). Of. Migne, P. L. Y,ol. 113'1, col. 34138. F. Dvornik' The Slavs, Their Early History and Civilization, Boston, 1·956, pp. 7 6-81. J. G. Cirrci:k: Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Slovak Ir.sti1tute, R:ome,Oleveland, 11958, pp. 7'1.f74 and pp. 83-88. ·5_ D. Rlapant: Pribinov nitriansky kostolik, 11941142, separa,tum from Elan, Vol. XII, No. 2-3. F. Hrusov:Sky: Sfovenski vladari, Scranton, P.a., 1'!~418; see chapt. on PriJbina , Kocel, and M,o.jmir I. 1 6. F. Bokes: Slovensky iivotny pr'ie5rtor v min.u<losti a dnes, Bra tislav,a : Cas, 1'943, p. 34. A. S1pe11ke: The Andent Amber ~ou,t es and -the Geog.raphical Discovery of the Eastern Baltic, Stoe'kholm: M. Goppers ('ZeUa A!bele). p. 60 s.p . J . G. Oincik: AncierJ Slovak Fibulas .and Pseudo.iFibulas, Ohic:igo-Whi:ting, 11957·; see caird Nlo. 1 for "the AIJlllber Rowt,e " and card N10. 2 showing the eX!tension of the s :ovak influenice in Central Europe in the sixth-tenth centuries A.D. K. Miajewctki: lmporty nymskie n'a ziemiac,h Slowanskic,h, Wro.claw: Wroclaiws:kie T•ow.arzystwo Nauk,o,we, 1949; see mau> No. 2, "Szlaky i ,rnk>ty burs2ltynowe ." 1 7. Constantinus Poriphyrogenitus : De administl'lando lmperio; in •Corpus scrip.t orum historiae Byzantinae, Bonn, 1,949, Edit. G. Morav,c:;;ik, Bud,a·p est, 11949; English v,ersion, by R. J. H. J,enkins. F. Dvornik: The Slavs, op. cit. p. 94. 18. The temporary ar.nex,a tion of Pannonia occurred after the death of Kocel, 87•5. F. Drvornik: op. cit. , pp. 95"9,6; see also the card " The Mioravi,an Empire c:ca 890," p. 99. :9, M. K:os: Conversio Bagaoriorum et Carantanorum, Ljuibljana, 1.93·6, p. 1136, chaipt. 111 sq. J. Ci.Jbulka : Vaclavske rotunda svateho Vf,ta, Praha, 1933; separatum of the Svatovaclavsky sbornik, pp. 1-li7:8; see pages 36 sq. "Kost-ely podunajsky•c h Slovan,u, je,j1ich stavelbnici a po1 70 SLOVAKIA sveceni"; Cilbulka enumerates 312 churches consecrated in Pannonia at the time of Pribina and Kocel, t;wel,ve of bhern corusecratied personally by the A['chibislhop of Sa17Jburg. 10. L. Galdi: "Le Romanisrne transdanllibien.,'' Studi e documenti italo-ungheresi della Reale Accademia d'Ungheria di Roma, Vol. 1, Rome, 1936, pp. 3·9-40; note ·53: "Quant a l'irufluence slave qui apparut a une date relati'Vernent tardive, eUe laissa pro,'balblernent aussi des traices . .. II faut envisager aussi des contacts plus ou rnoins durables entre les Sla'Ves et les Pannoniens romanises." A. Alfoldi: "Tracee d'el Cristian•esirno dell'~poca delle grandi rnigrazioni in- Ungheria," Quaderni dell'llmpero, Rome, 1938, pp. 17-21. L. Nagy: "Pannonia sacra," Szem Istvan kiraly .Emlekkon,y v (ed. J. Seredi). Bud,apest , 11938, Vol. 1·, pp. 29-al48. T. von Nagiy: Die Geschichte des Chris, entums in Pannonia bis zu dem Zusammenbruch des romischen Grenzschutzes, in Dissertationes Pannonicae, series m. 112; a1nd. same author : "A pann6niai 6kerestzeny egyhazkozsegi bazilikak," Szepmiiveszet, Vol. :El, Budapest, 1,94!1, pp. 144Jll48; and' same author: "Zuim Problem der Kontinuti1tiiJt in Pannonien," Das Bildwerk (ed. F. Kup!feriberg), Berlin, 194'2, p. 3-'6. 11. Dercseny,i, Poganyi, Szentikiraly,i; Pees, Budaipest, 19,56, in Varoskepek, miiemlekek (ed. J. Paipp)), see ,p p. 7..S, 1'7"19 on Slavic 'b uilding activiby in the area of the paleo-Ohdsti-an cemetery and around the basilica; lso fig. 2, 3t, 3d about the renovation of aticient Christian buildings under Priibina and Kocel, p. 20. F . Fiiller: "Neuere Ausgralbungen in der cella trichora von Pees Wtin'fkirc hen)," Acta archeol ig ica, torn. X,I, fasc. 1-4, Bud apest, 1959, pp. 399-417. 1 '12. A. Von Radn6ti: "'Une Eglise du haut rnoyen age a Zalavar," E1: udes Slaves et Roumaines, Vol. 1', pp. 2'1•31•. T. von Bogyay: "Izkopavanja v Zalavaru in r..jihov-a zgodovinska razlag,a " Umetnostnozgodinski zbornik, N. S. 2, Ljubljana, pp. 2Ll-24S; s•a me author: Die Kunst und kirchengeshichtliche Bedeutung der Ausgrabungen von Mosapurz-Zalavar, Baden-Baden, '1956, in Forschungen zur Kunstgeschichtlichen und Christlichen Archeologie; same author: "Mios,a purc und Zala'Var: eine Auswertung der archeiligischen Funde und schrift.lichen Quellen," Siidost Forschungen, 1955, Vol. XiIIV, 2, pip. 349-406. D. DercsenyJ: "Uiabb regeszeti k11tatlasok es a pannoniai kontinu i" as kwrdese',, Szazadok, 1947, pp. 203-21Jl; same author: "l!Eglise de Pribina a Zalavar, Etudes slaves et rouma i•nes, Vol. I, 1•9418, pp. 85--100; same author: A magyar miiveszet tortenete, Vol. I, Budapest, 1956, pp. 12~18. L. Kararnan: "A propos de l'eglise a Blatnograd, ville de Baleton," Arc·heologia Jugos lavica, '1, 1954, pp. 91'96. Kararnan is persuaded that the tri-naved church of Pr~bin-a found in the locality of Receskut at Blatnograd (Zalavar, Mos,al)ruc) is of Romar. origin. G. Feher: "Les Fouilles de Zalawar (li9511..i195G)," Acta archeologica, Budaipest, li9514, V•ol. 4, pp. 201'-26Q. Feher claims that tJhe church (see note 10, p. 206J207) was erected, i n the time of Prince Kocel. 13. See the plans of Pannonian churches in L. Nagy and T. von Nagy, op. cil:. (Our note No. ,10). 14. L. Nlagiy: Azeskii teri r6mai erod, Pest, varos ose, Budlaipest, 1946; concerning the settlementJs of the Slav potter y producers in the old Roman cubiculae and their use of t'he niches for kilns. S. SLOVAKIA 71 Soproni: "A visegradi r6ma,l taibor es kozepkori var," Archeo·l ogiai ertesito, Vol. 81, Budapest, 1,954, pp. 49-'.'13. The re,use of Rloman bricks in the early SLavic a['chilteoture in the proximity oif the DaJmbe River has been studied of.ten and repeatedly. For the latest da,ta peritaining to our field see Vera HoclrmainovaJV!avrova, "Sysitema,ticky archeologicky vy21kum u STS ve Starem Meste," Pravek vychodni Moravy, ed. Krajsky vlastivedny ustav, Gottiwald10v, 11959, pp. 73-7\5. 11,5 . J,. Dekan: "Stand und Aufgalben der Limesforschung in der Slowakei," in Vhe volume of lectures Limes Romanus Konferenrz, Nitra, ed. Slovenska akademia vied, .Alrcheologicky ustav v Nitre (A. Tocik, ed.), Bratislava, 195,9, pp. 111-48; a concise survey of the Roman proviillCial finds architectural structures in the river valleys of the Morava, Vah, Nitra, and Hron; es·pecially valualb le for the description of the castrum Milanovce (near Nitra) built in the second or third century A.iD. ,1,6. B. Svolboda: "Uebeir das Nachleiben der romischen Kultur in mibtleren DonaUlbecken," Limes Romanus Kon,f erenz, Nitl'a, p;p. 1072 1116. S. Soproni: "Der spatromische Limes wJsche•r.. Visegrad und Eszter~om," ibid., pp. 'lr.3•1~143. M. Hegy: Visegrad, Budarpest, series Mfremlekeiruk, 1'956, ,p. 10; see also t'he plan of the Roman castrum, fig. 3. 1'7. For the daita,tion, of the Slavic pottery previous to the sixth cerntury,, the so-called Prague type of ceramics (a simple urn wilth str,a igM mouth, made on a potter',s wheel or simp ly by hand's) is of a great value. Of. J. Borarkovsky's: Slovanska keremika ve stredni ,Evrope, Pr,a ha, 1940; same author: "Nejstarsi slov,ar.s'ka k•e remika ze stredni'ch Cech," Pamatky archeologicke, Praha, 1936-3-8. For the evoluti'on of the Slavic pottery patterns in Morava, cf the s:chemes based on th•e Velatice stratas and collected by J . Poulik and W. Hensel. See illustrations (No. ,276-2.'76) in Hensel: Slowianczyzna wczesnorednowieczna: Zarys kultury materialnej, Wai;szarwa: Pols:k,a akiademia nauk, 11956, pp. 281.;300; nd Josip Korosec: Uvod v ma• terialno kulturo Slovanov zgodnjega srednega veka, Ljulbl1ana, 1'9512, p. 1180 sq. 11,8. J. G. Oincik: Ancient Slovak Fibulas, etc., ip. 12, card 2 following p. 3-8. Our views hav•e found a new con'f irmation in t he the• sis of V. Ondrouch: '"Hist-odsche Vio r,a ussetzungen fiir die Limes· forsc'hwng in der Tschechoslowakei," Limes Romanus Kon,fe.renz, pip . 63Jl06, see also card No. L "•E thnigraphische Entw,ilcklung der Tschechoslowakei vom Ende des 1. J,a hrhundeints vor u. Z. bis zur Ankunft der ersten Slawen." 1'9. I. T. Kruglik!ov,a: Dakiya v epokhu .rimskoy okkupasiyi, Mos• cow: Akademia Nauk SSSIR, ]nmituit istorii i inst. istor. material. kultury, 11955, V,ol. 8, p. 163 sq. "Pri102ihenye: 0 svyazakh Daik iyi so Slavyanami." A. Tocik: "Vyznam poslednych archeologicikych vy2ikumov na Slov,e nsku pre dejiny najs,tarsich S'1ovanov a Vel'komoravskej rise," Historicky casopis S·A V, E!I, Bratislava, 1955, p. 4l12. Tocik believes thaJt the ar,cheoiogical finds made in eastern Slovak vall-eys of the ·Hornad and Torysa are from the fourth century A.D. and belong in. the sphere o.f the so-icalled Lipicka Culture; same author: "Prvi Slo·v ania na r.asom uzemi," Praca, 195 8, No. 1,96. 1 1 1 1 1 72 SLOVAKIA 20. N. Iorga: Histoire des Roumains at de la Romanite oriemale, Bucuresti: Aeademie Roumaine, 19317, Vol 2, La Synthese slave, p. 296. E . Moor : "Die Slawischen Ortsnannes der Theisselbene," Zeitschrift fur Ortsnamen Forschung, VoL W , 1930, pp. 1-'317 and 105-ll40. The S1'avic toponomy of northern Dacia has been s,tudied by proif. SeVler Pop; 1his study published in the symposium Trans,y lvan1ia during the ]I_ W. W. was no t accessible to me. P . Olteunu: ' Wumiri slave in Trans,i•!Jvanie de nord," Limba li Literaturia, 11957, Vol. VIT!llI, pp. 195'214; same author : "Aux origines de la culture sl.ave dans la Tuansylvani e du Nord at le Maramures," Romanoslavica, 11958, Vol. 1, pp. 169-1'97. J . Stanislav: Dejiny slovenskeho jazyka, Bratislava : SAV, 1958, par. 4', "Slovenske sidla v hornom a strednom Po~isi," pp. 1180..164. 21. M. J . Bmjcevskij : Starodavni schidni Sloviani, Kijiv: Akad . Nauk Ukrailli>koy RSR, lnstirtwt Archeologiy;i, 19'59, erupt. 8, pp. 316-315'5, card on page 317. Of. the ediforiial introduction to SlovansJc:a archeologia, 1'960, Vlll.J, rpage 6; here a thesis is made concerning t'he Presov type i1111heren,t to the Przewoc,skio-Llrpicka Culture. 22. Structure reipresentatfons on the well-known Trnian a,i d Marcus Aurelius columns ir: Rome reveal the 'basic di.fference bet.iween the barbarian log-sty;le arohiteoture and the masonry-style of the Roman builc:Liin,gs in the Car,pa,thian Basin. In thi,s respect the analyitical p·hotograip'h ic study of the M. Aurelius colUJmn by G. Recatti seem s quite corwi n\cin.g. (Colonna di Marco Aurelio, Milano, Roma, 1957; for comparison see fig. 2, 14; for t he an t·hropological features of the Slavs or Sarimaitians see fig. 42). Via n der Heyden : Scullard·: Allas of the Classical World, Nelson and Sons, 1959, card 511 , p. 127, pp. 109-1'111. 23 . Except for the Christian inscriiption from cca 107...270 A.D., found in Napoca (Cluj), north of the Miaros River. See Var. de Meer, Miohr.mar:n: Atlas of the Early Christian World, Nelson and Sons, 1<958, card No. 8, "Churches founded before the per,secu1ion by Diocletian (304)." 24. See T. von Nagy : Die Geschichte des Christentums in Pannonien,, etc., our nlO'tle No. 10. 25. The Arian heresy spread among the Goths around the yea~ :t40, at the time of Slav-Gothic co-existence. 126. H . Bartek: "Krest'anstvo a slovencina," Nadej vit'azna, Sc-r anton, 1947, pp. 253. The Czech kostel and the ~olish kosci~I are derivatives of this Slavic pannonism. Of. also tJhe toponymic Keszthely ir: the matnohud district. D. Pais: "A r6mai castellum szlavimagyar folyrtat asa," Magyar nyelv, 1049, pp. 107~1,15. Amon.g the eastern and southern Slavic g,r oup, the term oiric:ev, crkva is a deriv,a-tio,n, of t'he Greek kuriakon.; it refers both to the Ohristian communtty and to the place o.f worship. AngI-crS'ax-0n kirchun, kirchen, kirk is of an Eastern Gerimani'c influence. 27. A . .Alfody: "Tracee . . . " (our note No. 10), p. 10, pp. 14•17. 28. B. A. R'y!balrov: Die Kunst der alten Slawen. Dresden, 1,957, in Geschi0hte der russic'1en ku~, Vol. 1, pp. 54-517, .All:fu. 5()-iSl. ,29.M. Szmiszko: Kultury wczesnego okresu epoki cenrstwa rzymskie go w Malopolsce Wschodniej, Lwow, 1932. M. B. Braj1 SLOVAKIA 73 cevsskij: Rimska moneta na teritorii Ukrajlini, Kijiv, 1959, edit. Akademia nau:k Ukraijinsikoy RISR, Inst. Archeolog-ii. K. Miajews'l~i: lmporty rzymskie na zemiach slowianskich, Wroclaiw, .194'9, edit. Pra'Ce WrocI,aw. Toiwarzy&twa Naukovego; series A NlR li3. 30. F. Graus: ''K pofatkum krest'answi na Morave, Cs. casopis historicky, Vol. Vff-.3, Praha, 1959, pp. 4178-4813. A critical review of Oilbulka's monograph abowt the oratory at Mro dra. Graus stresses the importance of addit,i onal hell!l"istic work and comparahve material from the Bavarian and Austrian area. 31. K. Va,v rinek: "K otazce pocatku christianisace Vel'ke Moravy," Listy filologicke, Praha, 1'959, pp. 2117-224. Crirtircal r..otes to Cilbulk-a'•s thesis: The reotangular pattern of the edifice at Miodra is hardly saitis:liaotory proof of its "Irish" character. Vavrinek admits, however, that around 800 there were ''I.ri'Sh" missions in Slova!k ia and Moravia. 3'2. Of. Rylbalrov: op. cit., loco cit. J. Strzygow.~ i: Altslawische Kunst, Augsburg, 1929, FiSlclher Verlag, pp. 26-413. 33. J. Paulik: Velkomoravske hradiUe eltc. (our niote No. 2), fig. 3. ·3 4.The Christianization of the Slovieni in Moravia and Slovakia was not due to typical Oarolingian methods. The moderation used in. this respiect came prolbaibly from hchlbishop .A!lcuin of York. 3i5. Dvornik is right in say-ing that the beginnings of the early feudalistic patronage over the Church are to be looked• fior in Mroravia. T,h e sad oonlfNct 'b etween Svartoplu:k and St. Met hodius is a "prelude to the gigantic investiture struggle whic'h was to end so tragic•aUy in the disrupiton of Western Christiar.ity art; the Reformation" (The Slavs, etc., p. 95). 3•6. R!y,bnik<JIV: op. cit., p. 5'2, p. 54, note 1. 37. For the most com-plete survey of these shrines see Korosec, op. cit., pp. 1170;176. 38. '11he "Iranian" approarch in linguistics is represented by M. V-asmer, in my,thology by R. Jacobson (see his "Slavic Miy,thology" in Funk and w ,a gnall's Standard Diction~ry of Fofklore Myfhol09y and Legend, New Yock, N. Y., 1950, pp. 1025-1028). Adexinsiky: "Slavon-re My,thology" in Larousse .Eycyclopedia of Mythology, New York, N. Y., 11959. F. Dvor,n,i k: The Slavs ertc, pp. 46{iil; see also G. Vernadsky: The Origins of Russia, Oicford: Olarendon Press, 1959, pp. 1-08-117'3. 39. See the opinion of K. Y.avrinek, our nort No. 31. 40. J. ~boril: "Herodotova Skythie a sousede," Slovenska archeo• logia, Vol. Vl!I, 2, 1959, p. 363. Zboril tries to rehaibi'lirtart:e Safarik's theory of a S'cyitr<rSamnart:ian and Sfavic conrtinui,ey, attacked at the begiin,ning of our century by Niederle and- other overzealous ·posiitirvists. >fl. '11he Iranian influence on Sla,vic architectur,e is the thesis of J. Strzy.g01Wsk,i; uhe same influence on Slavic my.thology has been proved by R. Jlacobs,on. Our studies ("Slovak Ruler's Sword,," Scra,nton, 1947, a-nd Anglo-Saxon and Slovak-Avar Patterns of the Cuthbert Gospel, Rome-Oleveland, 1957) try to prove !:his influence, in tihe be exact, the neo-[ranian (Sassanid and A'bassid) influence, in the field o·f fine arts.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Study in Slavic-Iranian Architectural Tradition Description An account of the resource Joseph G. Cincik Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 59-73 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cincík, Jozef G., 1909-1992 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/ad5ad6569148152357724a975663bcdc.pdf 85e08313d02b14b2643eec56feb18bbf PDF Text Text 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were �SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that �60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home. � 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were �SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that �60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 58:.__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...::S:.:L:.;:O...::V..:..AKIA,..:.._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ PRESIDENT TISO AND AMERICA BY KONSTO CULE1N During the war, the propaganda of Dr. Edward Benes, headquarters London, prevailed. The little man, who always had a plan, had surrendered Czecho-Slovakia and its peoples to Hitler at Munich, in 1938, without even consulting parliament. Benes then resigned and fled the country. He fled the country not only to escape capture by the Nazis, but also to escape the wrath of his own people, the Czechs, who felt that he had betrayed them. Of course, after he settled in London and had time to think a-bout his cowardly flight from responsibility, he left no stone unturned to justify his actions. Secretly he swore vengeance on the Slovaks and the Sudeten Germans - and even the Czechs who dared to tell the truth about what had happened in Czecho-Slovakia while Benes was top man. And that was Dr. Benes's postwar policy. For official circles in London and Washington, only Benes was the accepted authority. Benes could do no wrong. His word was the gospel truth. That is, until he told London and Washington off, too, as Stalin's stooge - the pay-off for his being "appointed" president of Czecho-610vakia by Moscow. Benes's London propaganda apparatus attacked the Slovaks and their leaders viciously and maliciously: the Slovaks declared war on the United States; President Tiso sold out to Hitler; the Slovaks mistreated and murdered American flyers; the Slovaks had surrendered Americans to the Nazis, etc. Lies that made Goe'bbels look like an amateur! The fact is that President Tiso and the Slovaks were well aware of their hapless situation - a situation they had not created or asked for. Bombs fell on Slovakia, not on the Czech Skoda Works that worked for Hitler, but the Slovaks understood, because they figured it was not America bombing them, but Dr. Benes whose military advice prevailed with Washington. Of course, the Slovaks were SLOVAKIA 59 hurt, but they suffered without blasting off against America. When Tiso learned that American flyers of Slovak origin were captured by the Germans, he requested that they be transferred to Slovakia. The president wanted to set up a detention camp for them in Central Slovakia where they might spend the rest of the war. "If we coUJld only get them here," Tiso told me on one occasion, we could be sure they would be safe and we could show them all of our Slovakia." When several Americans were taken in Slovakia ( after their mission for Benes had failed), they were treated royally by the Slovaks. They were housed in one of the summer resorts in the Tatras and were practically on their own, with all their needs taken care of. When I visited them, one of them told me outright: "This reaMy is something. I could never have imagined that being captured could be so pleasant. Everybody treats us so kindly and we have just about everything we want." The American prisoners were free to move about, to go to town, have their teeth repaired, to bathe in the spa, etc. And they played tennis with Slovak officers. The only complaint I had heard from them was that they were getting too much meat and not enough vegetables! One of them was of Slovak origin. "How fortunate," he said, "that I had learned at least some Slovak from my mother and now can ad as interpreter for my buddies!" Tiso was very much concerned about their fate and about their comfort. I was present when he ordered our people to give the best possible care to "our American friends" - the sons of our brethren in America. Things went along fine, until one day the Germans demanded the surrender of the American flyers in Slovakia. I happened to be with Tiso when t he order was received. "This is a terriible situation. We shall have to fight for them," he said. "I have already told Mracna of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to do what he can to forestall the execution of the order." It was plainly evident that President Tiso was really worried. I suggested that Mracna use the argument that 60 SLOVAKIA surrendering our American friends could be used propaganda-wise against the independence of Slovakia; our adversaries could say: what kind of an independence does Slovakia enjoy if she has to surrender her own prisoners? Tiso listened nervously and then said: "Go to Mracna at once and talk the matter over with him. We must find a way of keeping the Americans here." It so happened that the Americans were not surrendered to the Germans. We prepared a note, telling just how much harm would come to the Slovak Republic from such a surrender, especially since one of the prisoners was of Slovak origin. If we are forced to surrender the Americans, our American Slovaks would then certainly be led to believe that we ourselves do not control the internal affairs of our country. Furthermore, that it is President Tiso's personal wish that the Americans remain in Slovakia. The result surprised even us : The Germans no longer presented demands to surrender our Americans to them. They spent the rest of the war in comparative comfort. President Tiso was a real friend of America during the most trying times, when the war was on, when the allies were bombing Slovakia according to the strategy planned by Dr. Benes. The Slovaks did not hate America, and never could. Too many of them had been to America and tasted of the fruits of liberty and freedom. They knew America. America was not at war with Slovakia - Benes was. And, unfortunately, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was gullible enough to trust Benes, the errand boy of Stalin! THE TROUBLEMAKER He is the silent one. He never speiak,s up on issues. He never sounlds off in the letter column O'f his looa'l newspaiper. He never writes his Oon,gressman or the Sllaite Deipartment. He is quiet as a clam. How could Democracy succeed if all of us, lilk,e 1!his one, wi1!hheld our opiniions, our idea.s, our cr'i'hcisms? Vo'tiing on election day is only part of a citizen!s duty. Active, day-lby-diay ,parl.iciipation in gov,e rnment, in society, in, busJness associations is a responsilb'ility for each and every one of us. The silent troull:ilemaker foils to understand this. In his worship df " law and order," he never dares to question an oppressive law, never distin·g uishes "o·r der" from stagna'tli'on. He is the aipostle of social deCla-y, not Democracy. In his Wiish t,o offend nobody, he oofends Democracy. And forget it ndt: Democracy, like Charity, begins at home.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource President Tiso and America Description An account of the resource Konšto Čulen Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 58-60 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2459d0887b7c2d09ce8339baaf28b113.pdf cd98f5cf7cc4c1791d3ad267c8c81987 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- �52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- �SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00. � SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- �52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- �SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 51 SOVIET RUSSIAN PUPPETS By Edward Delaney No better example can today than the oft repeated .seizure of Czecho-Slovakia, column in the Congressional A-4447. be spotlighted for the record lie concerning the Communist which is the heading on a Record of May 25, 1960, page In that column is the text of a letter written to the "'New York Times" by Dr. Peter Zenkl. The letter makes reference to the demand by the Czecho-Slovak government that our Secretary of State, Christian Herter, apologize for a remark recen:tly malde, to the effect that Communists seized power in that country by force in February 1948. It certainly is a brazen attempt to rewrite history, because the Communists seized power in Czecho-Slovakia in May 1945 and not in February 1948. Moreover, it was not necessary to use force. Communist control was accomplished months before, when .the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Dr. Eduard Benes, went to Moscow and there signed an agreement with Josef Stalin, in which he betrayed his country and his people to Communist serfdom. As a reward for that gesture and aid to Soviet de.signs, Stalin permitted him to return to Prague in the guise of a "liberator." He was the "front" for the Soviet Union, contrary to volumes of words from his sychophants in an unsuccessful effort to show that he was not a willing collaborator with Moscow. In the Prague government headed by the Communist leader Klement Gottwald, was Peter Zenkl as his deputy or vice premier. Anti-Communists were either liquidated or imprisoned. So when Zenkl returned to Prague to begin his close association with the perfidious Benes he certainly was not one of the anti-Communists, or he would have been jailed wi1:h the genuine patriots who refused to be subservient to Moscow. It was reported that some thirty thousand anti-Com- 52 SLOVAKIA munists were rounded up and jailed. I cannot assert thaJ: number is correct, but I can declare that BartholomewStreet prison, one of the three largest in the city, was filled to severa:l times its capacity, for I was among the an:i-Communists incarcerated in that prison for a'bout six weeks. In the large cell in which I was confined, with prisoners being brought in or taken out all hours of the day and night, were, at various times, the former Mayor of Prague, leading bankers, industrialists, a colonel, a capt ain and two lieutenants of the local militia, who refused t o bow to the Reds, professional athletes, musicians, merchants and other genuine patriots. Zenkl was not among those freedom fighters. Most of the prisoners were Czechs. While Zenk! was vice-premier the most barbarous. terrorism and atrocities were inflicted on the anti-Commu-nists. Special inhumanities were imposed on the Slovaks who were and still are fiercely anti-Communist and on the Sudeten Germans. Zenk! cannot wash his hands of the blood that was. shed by the real patriots during the long period when he was deputy premier for the Communist dictator, Gottwald. He was a reliruble colh1:borator and vassal of Moscow ag. long as the Communists needeid his services. There is a striking contrast between Zenkl and other political leaders in that country who were and are unplacable and militant foes of Communists, whether they be Soviet or of any other nationality. Proposals were made by Moscow to the President, the Foreign Minister and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovakia - the independent state that existed from March 1939 to May 1945 - to re-· main in their respective offices and "front" for the Soviet Union, precisely as Benes had agreed to do in Prague. Because those leaders refused to betray their God and their people by collaborating with atheistic Communists of the Kremlin, they were marked for liquidation. It is a disgraceful chapter in the recorded events of those days, but it is indelliibly written on those pages that 1those Slovak pa:riots, those defiant anti-Communists, were delivered to Stalin and Benes by American military and civilian autho- SLOVAKIA 53 rities- some to be executed and others for lifelong imprisonment. Dr. Peter Zenkl was high in the Communist councils of Czecho-Slovakia at that time. There is no record of him working for the freedom of those valiant antiCommunists. On .the contrary - he - now referred to as a leading Czech patriot - by his silence, gave tacit approval to the destruction of those genuine patriots. For the past fifteen years those of us who witnessed or are familiar with the incidents connected wilth the so-called seizure of Czecho~Slovakia, have stated in print and in public that it became a Soviet satellite in May 1945. The so~called "coup" said to have taken place in February 1948, was merely the consummation of a Soviet design for complete control of thaJt country. It is also a matter of record that the delivery of that country to the Soviet Union, in 1945, was with the approval of the hierar,c hy of our elect in Washington. Deny that charge though they will - they cannot erase the disgraceful reco11d. Those like Zenkl and certain other co-collaborationists with the Communists in that oppressed country, who through devious means and through the influence of certain elements gained admission to this country would like to perpetuate the fiction of a "coup" in 1948, which they say resulted in the seizure of Czecho-Slovakia by the Communists. It will then appear easier for them to whitewash themselves of the guilt they shared in the Communist crimes for the three years 1945 to 1948. Singularly enough, a coterie of those Communist collaborators from Prague has long been identified with the twin frauds , Radio Free Europe and Crusade for Freedom, where they carried on their proselyting for what they preferred to call the "socialist" State of Czecho-Slovakia - which is their verbal camouflage for a Communist state. For that reason we spotlight that column of the Congressional Record - at this time. THE SLOVAKS - their history and traditions - by Peter P. Yurchak; 312 pages, hard cover, bound In cloth - $3.00; paper cover - $2.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY - by Joseph Skultety; 229 pages, well documented; hard cover, bound in cloth $2.00; paper cover - $1.00.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Soviet Russian Puppets Description An account of the resource Edward Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 51-53 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Delaney, Edward L. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/10e68fbdd8ce87e96ba2f99b53a79fbd.pdf 3d17297cd173f1813d92dbf10fef63f3 PDF Text Text 52 SLOVAKIA SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL (Address of P. A. Hrobak in Cologne, Germany, on the occasion of Su• deten German Day, May 20, 1961. The Charles IV Award was given Mr. Hrobak in 1961 by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany.) I feel highly honored, privileged and extremely happy to be with you here today for this "'Sudeten German Day" to voice together with you our rededication to the fundamental principles which are the foundation of every genuine democracy, the principles of justice and liberty. At the very outset, from the bottom of my heart, I thank the Sudeten German Council for the honor of bestowing on me the Award of Charles IV, particularly Herr Minister HansChristoph Seebohm and Herr Dr. Walter Becher. In the name of the Slovak League of America, the outstanding and most representative civic and cultural organization of American of Slovak descent, I greet you sincerely and pray that God hastens the day of your return to your ancestral homeland where you shall be able to fully enjoy the exercise of your God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We commend you wholeheartedly for your patience and, particularly, for the great courage displayed throughout the years under most trydng circumstances to uphold the right of all peoples to self-determina'tion, the right of nations to freely govern themselves as they best see fit. The Slovaks of America are grateful to the West German Government and to the German people for offering asylum to Slovaks who fled the terror and violence which enveloped their homeland in 1945. By the practical application of the Go'lden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), you have earned the admiration and respect of the entire free world. The hristory of the Sudetenland is very much like the history of Slovakia. The people of both territories were faced with a "fait accompli" in 1918, with their demand to exercise the right of self-determinaiton completely ignored. This happened after a war which was fought for the rights of nationality and of national self-determina- �SLOVAKIA 53 tion and "a territorial settlement ... ibased on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed" was one of three fundamental conditions of a permanent peace. With the creation of Czecho-Slovakia under the leadership of T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes both the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks were exploited and treated like second-class citizens. The Sudeten Germans, like the Slovaks, wanted nothing that belonged to the Czech people; they did not seek Czech territory, nor the spiritual or material wealth of the Czechs. And they did not want special treatment, but only that they, too, be able to exercise the prerogative of self-determination. Because this right of self-determination was denied the Sudetenland Germans and the Slovaks, amd others, a grave injustice was done them. The vio1ation of the principle of self-determination at that time led to the crisis of democracy in Central Europe and eventually to the horrible holocaust of World War Two. There was and still is nothing wrong with the great democratic principle of self-determination. Objective observers, I am sure, will agree that the disintegration of large political and economic units following the First World War and the creation of incoherent smaller units at a time when strategic and economic fa:ctors demanded more integration was the result of applying the principle of self-determination avbitrarily. At that time, the notion to build national states in East Central Europe, where many nationalities or ethnic groups had lived intermingled for many centuries had gained the favor of the peacemakers. Unfortunately, experienced and able statesmen and political experts allowed themselves to be persuaded by politically inexperienced, shortsighted and morally unbalanced men, particularly by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes, to accept the idea of creating political units which had no basis in the history of the peoples concerned. Tearing asunder large multi-national political units to esta:blish smaller multi-national units under the guise of the great democratic principle of self-determination could only result in political monstrosities. And that, in my con- �54 SLOVAKIA sidered opm1on, is exactly what, for example, Czecho-Slovakia was - and still is. This violation of the Wilsonian principle presaged only more trouble not only for Central Europe but also for the whole world. The attempt to build a national state in traditionally ,a nd historically multi-national areas failed - and failed miserably. It is a matter of historical record that the violation of the great democratic principle of self-determination led first to discontent and prevented wholesome and peaceful cooperation. As the years rolled by it engendered and fomented hatred of those who ruled high and mighty, utterly disregarding the Creator-endowed rights of the other nations within the state, particularly, in the case of Czecho~Slovakia, the rights of millions of Sudeten Germans and Slovaks. The arbitrary and unjust reorganization of East Central Europe between the wars, characterized as it was by chauvinism, contributed largely to the outbreak of the most horrible slaughter in the history of mankind, and, by a strange and distorted logic, resulted in vengeance and retri~ bution not against those who violated the principle of selfdetermination, but against the victims of chauvinism and oppression in the interwar period. Certainly it must be crystal clear today that the policy of vengeance and unlbridled retribution, depriving millions of Central Europeans of their homes without any compensation and expelling them on the grounds of "collective guilt" can never be justified in the minds of men who are truly interested in justice and the right. The charge of collective guilt, so hastily accepted by some governments against the defeated nations and their nationals in other countries, was and still is, in my humble opinion, as absurd as the label of collective innocence t:o which the victors laid claim. History shall never b'e able to reconcile and justify the brutal mass expulsions of the Sudeten Germans and others which took place after 1945. It is not my intention to resort to recriminations. I believe that peoples of the free democratic world should be more concerned with remedying the injustices of the past �SLOVAKIA 55 - and then pushing on in earnest with the task of establishing a just and lasting peace. First of all, it seems to me, restitution must be made by allowing all expellees to return to their homelands and returning to them all their possessions. Then the East Central European peoples should return to the great democratic principle of the right of self-determination and use it as a basis of a new and more just organization of the area, applying the principle to all nations without exception, with due consideration for the pressing demands of the time. I am greatly inclined to believe the claim or proposition that there is only one answer to the problem of the reorganization of East Central Europe: a federation of free peoples or free states - a United States of East Central Europe or a United States encompassing the whole of Europe proper - guaranteeing the several states composing it full states' rights so that they might freely cultivate and develop their own national traditions, their languages and cultures, not only in their own interest, but also in the highest interest of the welfare and security of the federation. With the passage of time, I am sure, a situation similar to that in the United States of America would develop, where citizens of all ethnic origins and religious persuasions are not only free, but even encouraged, to preserve and enhance the national traditions and customs of their ancestors. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have, or presume to have, a monopoly on freedom; and certainly no nation or state has the right to enslave other nations or states. Freedom is the greatest of God's gifts and blessings to mankind; it is the universal heritage of all the ages. The more we develop and share it, the more abundant are its fruits, and the more secure is our own freedom. History has also taught us that evil, unprincipled men cannot make good citizens and so much the less good public servants and honest advocates of lasting peace. It is impossible that a nation of infidels and idolaters should be a nation · of freemen. It is when people forget God - the ultimate Truth and Prince of Peace - that tyrants forge their �56 SLOVAKIA chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. In America "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un:alienaJble righ'ts, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But we do not hold that life is so dear and peace so sweet that it must be purchased at the price of chains and slavery! The people of the democratic republic of the United States of America believe that all men should be free; that all nations without exception have an inherent, God-given right to establish their own political units in their ancestral homelands and to determine their form of government. If at times in the past the impression was given that this is not so, that is the fault not of the American people, but the fault of those in authority who as their representatives yielded to the force of expediency, forgetting that expedients are but of the hour - principles for the ages. The time has come, I believe, that we must do more than just pay lip service to the nolJle principles which are the foundation of genuine democracy and liberty. The time has come for all men to seek the things that unite them and not divide them; the time has come for all free nations to demand a stop to the shadow-boxing in the United Nations and more real action in support of the noble aims of its charter; the time has come to deal justly with all, not just some, crimes against humanity no matter by whom they were perpetrated: the time is here to supplement words for peace with concrete actions for a genuine and lasting peace. But how can we possibly expect a just peace and a lasting settlement, as long as the great democratic principle of self-determination is denied the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks and other nations, and as long as the right of expellees and forcibly departed ethnic groups to freely return to their ancestral homelands is not recognized and respected? Indeed, as long as some earthly power is seriously dedicated to the enslavement of mankind? We in the Slovak League of America still regard the brutal expulsion of the Germans from their centuries-old �57 SLOVAKIA homeland as immoral and criminal. The expulsion of any people from their rightful homeland cannot be justified by or reconciled with the expressed political beliefs of any civilized, genuinely democratic country. And certainly not with the political beliefs of the United States of America. In the land of my parents - the land inhabited by the Slovak people since time immemorial - the Slovaks have lived with the Germans in peace and friendship for many long years. Here is a shining example of the cohabitation of a nation with a minority. Indeed, a cohabitation much like that of many ethnic groups of America. There is nothing better I could wish for the whole of Europe, for the entire world. God bless you and all of Germany! God bless America and the rest of the free world! And may God hasten the day of liberation of my hapless Slovak people! LONG-RANGE m1i:ssile ramps are bei,n,g constructed by the Red Czechs of Prague i,n, Slova'kia. 'Dhey are locla'ted near the town, Olf Spi.s• ska Nova Vres a·nd are the first Communist intercon:tinental missile siltes located outside the bordrers of the Soviet Union. Medilum-range siites harvre been operationia1 i,n, Czecho-Slovakiia at bases near Uzhorod, Kosice, RufomlbeTok, Frydek (all in Slovaki-a) and Moravska Ostrava siruce Jruly 1959. The Czech Reds together with the Kremlin preferred to sel~ct Slovakia foc most of these sites, since they know tha't they will.I be the prdmary targets in the event of a nuclear war. The Slovaks are expendaible, accOTdi,n-g to the Czech Red bosses. lJ(l lJ(l lJ(l helart" as it is teruned by Prague R-eds, were draJWn up lin the USSR. It wiU be the largest foundry in alll. Europe and one of the ten largest works of its kind in the world. It will cost an esti• mated 10.5 binions Crow,ns. S·o viet experts are in charge Olf construction and operation. lJ(l )l{l )l{l IN C2lECiHO-S·L OVAKIA pension- ers were recalled to work in October and women were recruited to make up for ma,n,poiwer lost in the -emergency bulild-up of the armed forces, a'Ccord'ing to offiloilal Prague sources. Forty per cent of the adult women in Czecho-Sllovakiia already held jobs in the paradise of the Red Czechs. )l{l )l{l )l{l "CRUCIFIXE•S must go" - ac- ONIE OF THE MOST urgent as· cordling to tlhe Czech Reds under ,si:gnimenrt:s of the new Five-Year Plan (1001-'1965) Olf the Czech Oommunist Party's Oen'.tTal Committee is the completion ·o f the huge Ironwoiics ini K!osice, Slovakia. Blueprinrt:s for 1Jhis "second steel Anton,ini Novotny. NotMng has changed ffilllCh sin'Ce the birth of Czecho-Slovaklia. Novotny is contin udng the policy of Masaryk and Benes: in 1918, c,rucif.ixes were hauled in wagons to manure pill.es! � 52 SLOVAKIA SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL (Address of P. A. Hrobak in Cologne, Germany, on the occasion of Su• deten German Day, May 20, 1961. The Charles IV Award was given Mr. Hrobak in 1961 by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany.) I feel highly honored, privileged and extremely happy to be with you here today for this "'Sudeten German Day" to voice together with you our rededication to the fundamental principles which are the foundation of every genuine democracy, the principles of justice and liberty. At the very outset, from the bottom of my heart, I thank the Sudeten German Council for the honor of bestowing on me the Award of Charles IV, particularly Herr Minister HansChristoph Seebohm and Herr Dr. Walter Becher. In the name of the Slovak League of America, the outstanding and most representative civic and cultural organization of American of Slovak descent, I greet you sincerely and pray that God hastens the day of your return to your ancestral homeland where you shall be able to fully enjoy the exercise of your God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We commend you wholeheartedly for your patience and, particularly, for the great courage displayed throughout the years under most trydng circumstances to uphold the right of all peoples to self-determina'tion, the right of nations to freely govern themselves as they best see fit. The Slovaks of America are grateful to the West German Government and to the German people for offering asylum to Slovaks who fled the terror and violence which enveloped their homeland in 1945. By the practical application of the Go'lden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), you have earned the admiration and respect of the entire free world. The hristory of the Sudetenland is very much like the history of Slovakia. The people of both territories were faced with a "fait accompli" in 1918, with their demand to exercise the right of self-determinaiton completely ignored. This happened after a war which was fought for the rights of nationality and of national self-determina- �SLOVAKIA 53 tion and "a territorial settlement ... ibased on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed" was one of three fundamental conditions of a permanent peace. With the creation of Czecho-Slovakia under the leadership of T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes both the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks were exploited and treated like second-class citizens. The Sudeten Germans, like the Slovaks, wanted nothing that belonged to the Czech people; they did not seek Czech territory, nor the spiritual or material wealth of the Czechs. And they did not want special treatment, but only that they, too, be able to exercise the prerogative of self-determination. Because this right of self-determination was denied the Sudetenland Germans and the Slovaks, amd others, a grave injustice was done them. The vio1ation of the principle of self-determination at that time led to the crisis of democracy in Central Europe and eventually to the horrible holocaust of World War Two. There was and still is nothing wrong with the great democratic principle of self-determination. Objective observers, I am sure, will agree that the disintegration of large political and economic units following the First World War and the creation of incoherent smaller units at a time when strategic and economic fa:ctors demanded more integration was the result of applying the principle of self-determination avbitrarily. At that time, the notion to build national states in East Central Europe, where many nationalities or ethnic groups had lived intermingled for many centuries had gained the favor of the peacemakers. Unfortunately, experienced and able statesmen and political experts allowed themselves to be persuaded by politically inexperienced, shortsighted and morally unbalanced men, particularly by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes, to accept the idea of creating political units which had no basis in the history of the peoples concerned. Tearing asunder large multi-national political units to esta:blish smaller multi-national units under the guise of the great democratic principle of self-determination could only result in political monstrosities. And that, in my con- �54 SLOVAKIA sidered opm1on, is exactly what, for example, Czecho-Slovakia was - and still is. This violation of the Wilsonian principle presaged only more trouble not only for Central Europe but also for the whole world. The attempt to build a national state in traditionally ,a nd historically multi-national areas failed - and failed miserably. It is a matter of historical record that the violation of the great democratic principle of self-determination led first to discontent and prevented wholesome and peaceful cooperation. As the years rolled by it engendered and fomented hatred of those who ruled high and mighty, utterly disregarding the Creator-endowed rights of the other nations within the state, particularly, in the case of Czecho~Slovakia, the rights of millions of Sudeten Germans and Slovaks. The arbitrary and unjust reorganization of East Central Europe between the wars, characterized as it was by chauvinism, contributed largely to the outbreak of the most horrible slaughter in the history of mankind, and, by a strange and distorted logic, resulted in vengeance and retri~ bution not against those who violated the principle of selfdetermination, but against the victims of chauvinism and oppression in the interwar period. Certainly it must be crystal clear today that the policy of vengeance and unlbridled retribution, depriving millions of Central Europeans of their homes without any compensation and expelling them on the grounds of "collective guilt" can never be justified in the minds of men who are truly interested in justice and the right. The charge of collective guilt, so hastily accepted by some governments against the defeated nations and their nationals in other countries, was and still is, in my humble opinion, as absurd as the label of collective innocence t:o which the victors laid claim. History shall never b'e able to reconcile and justify the brutal mass expulsions of the Sudeten Germans and others which took place after 1945. It is not my intention to resort to recriminations. I believe that peoples of the free democratic world should be more concerned with remedying the injustices of the past �SLOVAKIA 55 - and then pushing on in earnest with the task of establishing a just and lasting peace. First of all, it seems to me, restitution must be made by allowing all expellees to return to their homelands and returning to them all their possessions. Then the East Central European peoples should return to the great democratic principle of the right of self-determination and use it as a basis of a new and more just organization of the area, applying the principle to all nations without exception, with due consideration for the pressing demands of the time. I am greatly inclined to believe the claim or proposition that there is only one answer to the problem of the reorganization of East Central Europe: a federation of free peoples or free states - a United States of East Central Europe or a United States encompassing the whole of Europe proper - guaranteeing the several states composing it full states' rights so that they might freely cultivate and develop their own national traditions, their languages and cultures, not only in their own interest, but also in the highest interest of the welfare and security of the federation. With the passage of time, I am sure, a situation similar to that in the United States of America would develop, where citizens of all ethnic origins and religious persuasions are not only free, but even encouraged, to preserve and enhance the national traditions and customs of their ancestors. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have, or presume to have, a monopoly on freedom; and certainly no nation or state has the right to enslave other nations or states. Freedom is the greatest of God's gifts and blessings to mankind; it is the universal heritage of all the ages. The more we develop and share it, the more abundant are its fruits, and the more secure is our own freedom. History has also taught us that evil, unprincipled men cannot make good citizens and so much the less good public servants and honest advocates of lasting peace. It is impossible that a nation of infidels and idolaters should be a nation · of freemen. It is when people forget God - the ultimate Truth and Prince of Peace - that tyrants forge their �56 SLOVAKIA chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. In America "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un:alienaJble righ'ts, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But we do not hold that life is so dear and peace so sweet that it must be purchased at the price of chains and slavery! The people of the democratic republic of the United States of America believe that all men should be free; that all nations without exception have an inherent, God-given right to establish their own political units in their ancestral homelands and to determine their form of government. If at times in the past the impression was given that this is not so, that is the fault not of the American people, but the fault of those in authority who as their representatives yielded to the force of expediency, forgetting that expedients are but of the hour - principles for the ages. The time has come, I believe, that we must do more than just pay lip service to the nolJle principles which are the foundation of genuine democracy and liberty. The time has come for all men to seek the things that unite them and not divide them; the time has come for all free nations to demand a stop to the shadow-boxing in the United Nations and more real action in support of the noble aims of its charter; the time has come to deal justly with all, not just some, crimes against humanity no matter by whom they were perpetrated: the time is here to supplement words for peace with concrete actions for a genuine and lasting peace. But how can we possibly expect a just peace and a lasting settlement, as long as the great democratic principle of self-determination is denied the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks and other nations, and as long as the right of expellees and forcibly departed ethnic groups to freely return to their ancestral homelands is not recognized and respected? Indeed, as long as some earthly power is seriously dedicated to the enslavement of mankind? We in the Slovak League of America still regard the brutal expulsion of the Germans from their centuries-old �57 SLOVAKIA homeland as immoral and criminal. The expulsion of any people from their rightful homeland cannot be justified by or reconciled with the expressed political beliefs of any civilized, genuinely democratic country. And certainly not with the political beliefs of the United States of America. In the land of my parents - the land inhabited by the Slovak people since time immemorial - the Slovaks have lived with the Germans in peace and friendship for many long years. Here is a shining example of the cohabitation of a nation with a minority. Indeed, a cohabitation much like that of many ethnic groups of America. There is nothing better I could wish for the whole of Europe, for the entire world. God bless you and all of Germany! God bless America and the rest of the free world! And may God hasten the day of liberation of my hapless Slovak people! LONG-RANGE m1i:ssile ramps are bei,n,g constructed by the Red Czechs of Prague i,n, Slova'kia. 'Dhey are locla'ted near the town, Olf Spi.s• ska Nova Vres a·nd are the first Communist intercon:tinental missile siltes located outside the bordrers of the Soviet Union. Medilum-range siites harvre been operationia1 i,n, Czecho-Slovakiia at bases near Uzhorod, Kosice, RufomlbeTok, Frydek (all in Slovaki-a) and Moravska Ostrava siruce Jruly 1959. The Czech Reds together with the Kremlin preferred to sel~ct Slovakia foc most of these sites, since they know tha't they will.I be the prdmary targets in the event of a nuclear war. The Slovaks are expendaible, accOTdi,n-g to the Czech Red bosses. lJ(l lJ(l lJ(l helart" as it is teruned by Prague R-eds, were draJWn up lin the USSR. It wiU be the largest foundry in alll. Europe and one of the ten largest works of its kind in the world. It will cost an esti• mated 10.5 binions Crow,ns. S·o viet experts are in charge Olf construction and operation. lJ(l )l{l )l{l IN C2lECiHO-S·L OVAKIA pension- ers were recalled to work in October and women were recruited to make up for ma,n,poiwer lost in the -emergency bulild-up of the armed forces, a'Ccord'ing to offiloilal Prague sources. Forty per cent of the adult women in Czecho-Sllovakiia already held jobs in the paradise of the Red Czechs. )l{l )l{l )l{l "CRUCIFIXE•S must go" - ac- ONIE OF THE MOST urgent as· cordling to tlhe Czech Reds under ,si:gnimenrt:s of the new Five-Year Plan (1001-'1965) Olf the Czech Oommunist Party's Oen'.tTal Committee is the completion ·o f the huge Ironwoiics ini K!osice, Slovakia. Blueprinrt:s for 1Jhis "second steel Anton,ini Novotny. NotMng has changed ffilllCh sin'Ce the birth of Czecho-Slovaklia. Novotny is contin udng the policy of Masaryk and Benes: in 1918, c,rucif.ixes were hauled in wagons to manure pill.es! � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 52 SLOVAKIA SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL (Address of P. A. Hrobak in Cologne, Germany, on the occasion of Su• deten German Day, May 20, 1961. The Charles IV Award was given Mr. Hrobak in 1961 by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany.) I feel highly honored, privileged and extremely happy to be with you here today for this "'Sudeten German Day" to voice together with you our rededication to the fundamental principles which are the foundation of every genuine democracy, the principles of justice and liberty. At the very outset, from the bottom of my heart, I thank the Sudeten German Council for the honor of bestowing on me the Award of Charles IV, particularly Herr Minister HansChristoph Seebohm and Herr Dr. Walter Becher. In the name of the Slovak League of America, the outstanding and most representative civic and cultural organization of American of Slovak descent, I greet you sincerely and pray that God hastens the day of your return to your ancestral homeland where you shall be able to fully enjoy the exercise of your God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We commend you wholeheartedly for your patience and, particularly, for the great courage displayed throughout the years under most trydng circumstances to uphold the right of all peoples to self-determina'tion, the right of nations to freely govern themselves as they best see fit. The Slovaks of America are grateful to the West German Government and to the German people for offering asylum to Slovaks who fled the terror and violence which enveloped their homeland in 1945. By the practical application of the Go'lden Rule (Do unto others as you would have them do unto you), you have earned the admiration and respect of the entire free world. The hristory of the Sudetenland is very much like the history of Slovakia. The people of both territories were faced with a "fait accompli" in 1918, with their demand to exercise the right of self-determinaiton completely ignored. This happened after a war which was fought for the rights of nationality and of national self-determina- SLOVAKIA 53 tion and "a territorial settlement ... ibased on the right of self-determination or the consent of the governed" was one of three fundamental conditions of a permanent peace. With the creation of Czecho-Slovakia under the leadership of T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes both the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks were exploited and treated like second-class citizens. The Sudeten Germans, like the Slovaks, wanted nothing that belonged to the Czech people; they did not seek Czech territory, nor the spiritual or material wealth of the Czechs. And they did not want special treatment, but only that they, too, be able to exercise the prerogative of self-determination. Because this right of self-determination was denied the Sudetenland Germans and the Slovaks, amd others, a grave injustice was done them. The vio1ation of the principle of self-determination at that time led to the crisis of democracy in Central Europe and eventually to the horrible holocaust of World War Two. There was and still is nothing wrong with the great democratic principle of self-determination. Objective observers, I am sure, will agree that the disintegration of large political and economic units following the First World War and the creation of incoherent smaller units at a time when strategic and economic fa:ctors demanded more integration was the result of applying the principle of self-determination avbitrarily. At that time, the notion to build national states in East Central Europe, where many nationalities or ethnic groups had lived intermingled for many centuries had gained the favor of the peacemakers. Unfortunately, experienced and able statesmen and political experts allowed themselves to be persuaded by politically inexperienced, shortsighted and morally unbalanced men, particularly by T. G. Masaryk and Edward Benes, to accept the idea of creating political units which had no basis in the history of the peoples concerned. Tearing asunder large multi-national political units to esta:blish smaller multi-national units under the guise of the great democratic principle of self-determination could only result in political monstrosities. And that, in my con- 54 SLOVAKIA sidered opm1on, is exactly what, for example, Czecho-Slovakia was - and still is. This violation of the Wilsonian principle presaged only more trouble not only for Central Europe but also for the whole world. The attempt to build a national state in traditionally ,a nd historically multi-national areas failed - and failed miserably. It is a matter of historical record that the violation of the great democratic principle of self-determination led first to discontent and prevented wholesome and peaceful cooperation. As the years rolled by it engendered and fomented hatred of those who ruled high and mighty, utterly disregarding the Creator-endowed rights of the other nations within the state, particularly, in the case of Czecho~Slovakia, the rights of millions of Sudeten Germans and Slovaks. The arbitrary and unjust reorganization of East Central Europe between the wars, characterized as it was by chauvinism, contributed largely to the outbreak of the most horrible slaughter in the history of mankind, and, by a strange and distorted logic, resulted in vengeance and retri~ bution not against those who violated the principle of selfdetermination, but against the victims of chauvinism and oppression in the interwar period. Certainly it must be crystal clear today that the policy of vengeance and unlbridled retribution, depriving millions of Central Europeans of their homes without any compensation and expelling them on the grounds of "collective guilt" can never be justified in the minds of men who are truly interested in justice and the right. The charge of collective guilt, so hastily accepted by some governments against the defeated nations and their nationals in other countries, was and still is, in my humble opinion, as absurd as the label of collective innocence t:o which the victors laid claim. History shall never b'e able to reconcile and justify the brutal mass expulsions of the Sudeten Germans and others which took place after 1945. It is not my intention to resort to recriminations. I believe that peoples of the free democratic world should be more concerned with remedying the injustices of the past SLOVAKIA 55 - and then pushing on in earnest with the task of establishing a just and lasting peace. First of all, it seems to me, restitution must be made by allowing all expellees to return to their homelands and returning to them all their possessions. Then the East Central European peoples should return to the great democratic principle of the right of self-determination and use it as a basis of a new and more just organization of the area, applying the principle to all nations without exception, with due consideration for the pressing demands of the time. I am greatly inclined to believe the claim or proposition that there is only one answer to the problem of the reorganization of East Central Europe: a federation of free peoples or free states - a United States of East Central Europe or a United States encompassing the whole of Europe proper - guaranteeing the several states composing it full states' rights so that they might freely cultivate and develop their own national traditions, their languages and cultures, not only in their own interest, but also in the highest interest of the welfare and security of the federation. With the passage of time, I am sure, a situation similar to that in the United States of America would develop, where citizens of all ethnic origins and religious persuasions are not only free, but even encouraged, to preserve and enhance the national traditions and customs of their ancestors. History has taught us this one great lesson: no nation can have, or presume to have, a monopoly on freedom; and certainly no nation or state has the right to enslave other nations or states. Freedom is the greatest of God's gifts and blessings to mankind; it is the universal heritage of all the ages. The more we develop and share it, the more abundant are its fruits, and the more secure is our own freedom. History has also taught us that evil, unprincipled men cannot make good citizens and so much the less good public servants and honest advocates of lasting peace. It is impossible that a nation of infidels and idolaters should be a nation · of freemen. It is when people forget God - the ultimate Truth and Prince of Peace - that tyrants forge their 56 SLOVAKIA chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. In America "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain un:alienaJble righ'ts, and that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." But we do not hold that life is so dear and peace so sweet that it must be purchased at the price of chains and slavery! The people of the democratic republic of the United States of America believe that all men should be free; that all nations without exception have an inherent, God-given right to establish their own political units in their ancestral homelands and to determine their form of government. If at times in the past the impression was given that this is not so, that is the fault not of the American people, but the fault of those in authority who as their representatives yielded to the force of expediency, forgetting that expedients are but of the hour - principles for the ages. The time has come, I believe, that we must do more than just pay lip service to the nolJle principles which are the foundation of genuine democracy and liberty. The time has come for all men to seek the things that unite them and not divide them; the time has come for all free nations to demand a stop to the shadow-boxing in the United Nations and more real action in support of the noble aims of its charter; the time has come to deal justly with all, not just some, crimes against humanity no matter by whom they were perpetrated: the time is here to supplement words for peace with concrete actions for a genuine and lasting peace. But how can we possibly expect a just peace and a lasting settlement, as long as the great democratic principle of self-determination is denied the Sudeten Germans and the Slovaks and other nations, and as long as the right of expellees and forcibly departed ethnic groups to freely return to their ancestral homelands is not recognized and respected? Indeed, as long as some earthly power is seriously dedicated to the enslavement of mankind? We in the Slovak League of America still regard the brutal expulsion of the Germans from their centuries-old 57 SLOVAKIA homeland as immoral and criminal. The expulsion of any people from their rightful homeland cannot be justified by or reconciled with the expressed political beliefs of any civilized, genuinely democratic country. And certainly not with the political beliefs of the United States of America. In the land of my parents - the land inhabited by the Slovak people since time immemorial - the Slovaks have lived with the Germans in peace and friendship for many long years. Here is a shining example of the cohabitation of a nation with a minority. Indeed, a cohabitation much like that of many ethnic groups of America. There is nothing better I could wish for the whole of Europe, for the entire world. God bless you and all of Germany! God bless America and the rest of the free world! And may God hasten the day of liberation of my hapless Slovak people! LONG-RANGE m1i:ssile ramps are bei,n,g constructed by the Red Czechs of Prague i,n, Slova'kia. 'Dhey are locla'ted near the town, Olf Spi.s• ska Nova Vres a·nd are the first Communist intercon:tinental missile siltes located outside the bordrers of the Soviet Union. Medilum-range siites harvre been operationia1 i,n, Czecho-Slovakiia at bases near Uzhorod, Kosice, RufomlbeTok, Frydek (all in Slovaki-a) and Moravska Ostrava siruce Jruly 1959. The Czech Reds together with the Kremlin preferred to sel~ct Slovakia foc most of these sites, since they know tha't they will.I be the prdmary targets in the event of a nuclear war. The Slovaks are expendaible, accOTdi,n-g to the Czech Red bosses. lJ(l lJ(l lJ(l helart" as it is teruned by Prague R-eds, were draJWn up lin the USSR. It wiU be the largest foundry in alll. Europe and one of the ten largest works of its kind in the world. It will cost an esti• mated 10.5 binions Crow,ns. S·o viet experts are in charge Olf construction and operation. lJ(l )l{l )l{l IN C2lECiHO-S·L OVAKIA pension- ers were recalled to work in October and women were recruited to make up for ma,n,poiwer lost in the -emergency bulild-up of the armed forces, a'Ccord'ing to offiloilal Prague sources. Forty per cent of the adult women in Czecho-Sllovakiia already held jobs in the paradise of the Red Czechs. )l{l )l{l )l{l "CRUCIFIXE•S must go" - ac- ONIE OF THE MOST urgent as· cordling to tlhe Czech Reds under ,si:gnimenrt:s of the new Five-Year Plan (1001-'1965) Olf the Czech Oommunist Party's Oen'.tTal Committee is the completion ·o f the huge Ironwoiics ini K!osice, Slovakia. Blueprinrt:s for 1Jhis "second steel Anton,ini Novotny. NotMng has changed ffilllCh sin'Ce the birth of Czecho-Slovaklia. Novotny is contin udng the policy of Masaryk and Benes: in 1918, c,rucif.ixes were hauled in wagons to manure pill.es!  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Self-Determination for All Description An account of the resource Address of P. A. Hrobak in Cologne, Germany, on the occasion of Sudeten German Day, May 20, 1961 Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 52-57 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/acec2c5db69f47b46d0909a1d21b118e.pdf 30516e1e999cb239056f61180e379ec0 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI MARCH-J,UNE, 1961 NO. 1 (33) PRAGUE: RED ESPIONAGE CENTER By Philip A. Hrobak (Among the Slwaik esoarpees snaitched by the Czech Reds in Austria, alild West Germany is one Jioserph Bla-skovic. Shortly before his aibducti-on, this Slovak pa-tr,i ot sent ain a11ticle to his friend, alil escapee from .Slovailcia ruow residing in New York. T.hiis stor,y is based on tha,t article whicll was wri1bt,e n in Slovak.) The Czecho-Slovakia the American public is acquainted with is not the real Czecho-Slovakia of Thomas Guarrigue Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This glorified "·isle of democracy in Europe," painted in such roseate color-s to deceive the West, particularly the United States of America, was destined to become the European beachhead for communism from its very inception. Believe it or not, the simple fact is that the Russian OGPU (Secret Police) was organized in the propaganda state of Masaryk and Benes already in 1918, after Dr. Benes had concluded a secret agreement with Moscow. The OGPU was directed by the notorious agent Skoblin, who personally bossed the group in Prague whose task it was to kidna:p White Russians and ship them to Russia. Skoblin's outfit organized the Red Cells of volunteers, which were approved by Benes and his intimates, and also made all the arrangements for political murders in Poland. Prague thus became a center of the Cominform, second only to Moscow. The Prague Cominform set up an espionage office under the name of the Central European Bureau (1Stredo-Europska Kancelaria - SEK). This office directed the organized Cells and paid off underground espionage groups in the Central European states for services rendered, which included sabotage, kidnapping, and murder. Skoblin's group also organized the West~European Bureau (Zaipado-Eu- �2 SLOVAKIA ropska Kancelaria - ZEK) in Prague to promote communist interests in the Wes't European States. To organize the communists in the Balkan States, a bureau was set up in Vienna under the supervision of the Prague Bureau. The Vienna office at that time was headed by Dimitrov, the Secretary-General of the Cominform who had gained favor in the W esit. The Prague Bureau was made up of such Red worthies as Dimitrov, Gottwald, Manuilsky, Pakosta, Florin, and Ercoli - all graduates of the Moscow School of Red Leaders. Gottwald and Pakosta, both Czechs were ordered by Moscow to work in Slovakia. Pakosta came to the Turiec province and soon got a jeib in the Tatra furniture enterprise a t Turciansky Svaty Martin. Several months later he was elected an official of the local Sick-Benefit Insurance Association; and six months later he became manager of the branch office at Trnava. Pakosta didn't do too bad for himself in Slovakia: within a year he bought himself a large tract of land in the vicinity of Trnava, even though he kept on bellowing "down with the bourgeoisie"! Gottwald was sent to Vrutky in Slovakia where he was employed by the State railway system as a caibinet-maker. After Gottwald became a "master" of his trade, he began to publish a Red periodical in Banska Bystrica. Gottwald and Pakosta had the task of selecting the "right" people for the Red School in Moscow. Among the first selectees were Stephen Hadera, Vlado Clemen'tis, and Gustav Husak. After this trio completed its schooling in Moscow, it formed a "triangle" in Slovakia. Later on Moscow made Gottwa:ld a liaison officer to relay orders of the Cominform to States that had an organized underground. Orders were sentt from Turkey to the Gibraltar and Copenhagen. Gottwald was assisted by Hlozknecht and Prochniak and, later, also by the Polish Reds of Galicia Krumlov, Berend, Doppler, and Ackermann. The Prague Central Bureau directed the Red organizations in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria, where the communists engaged in -s ubversive activities as "Social Democrats." As in Czecho-Slovakia, so �SLOVAKIA 3 here too, only "reliable" communists were selected for schooling in Moscow. After graduation, the Reds returned to their respective countries as "socialists" of one shade or another to form "triangles." Whenever things would get too hot for them, they would resort to the tactic of uncovering and repor~ing ordinary laborers as "dangerous communists." It so happened that while innocent people sweated it out in jails, the real subversives, parading as Social Democrats, were free to continue in their nefarious work. In March, 1933, Moscow had prepared detailed plans for the Prague Central Bureau to initiate revolutions in C::echo-Slovakia and Austria. German intelligence, however, uncovered the plot and rushed into action, occupying Austria on March 13. The Reds were lucky to save the incriminating documents of the Vienna office. Otto Katz, alias Andrei Simone, a member of the Zionist and communist organizations, brought them to Bratislava where he personally handed them over to Sankoff-Rappaport, a Zionist, and ·::. o Kreschner, a leader of the German Reds. The latter collaborated closely with the Prague Central Bureau in preparing a revolt in Germany. You may not find it easy to believe, but the fact is that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was organized in Prague. The story was published by the Czech press of Prague in June, 1946, when Lenin's Hall in the "Peoples Home" (Lidovy dum) on Hybernska Street in Prague was ceremoniously opened to the public. It was in this hall that Vladimir Iljic Lenin presided at a meeting of the Russian Social Democratic Party, January 19-30, 1912. And it was at this meeting that J osip Visarionovich Dzhugashvili, later known as Stalin, was eleoted a member of the Central Committee of the party. At that time Lenin used the name of "Majer." The dedication ceremony in 1946 was attended by Soviet Ambassador Zarin, who thanked the government of Benes-Gottwald for honoring the memory of Lenin in such a noble fashion. �4 SLOVAKIA After Hitler came to power and ordered a general round-up of Reds in Germany, the Reds moved their office from Vienna to Paris where they operated under the title "Auslandskomite" (Foreign Committee). Dr. Benes, however, concurred secretly with Litvinov-Finkelste in that it would be more advantageous to transfer the Red German outfit to Prague, making it an adjunct of the Central European Bureau (CIDB). In Prague this group operated under the label "Komunistische Deutsche Partein (KDP). It was assigned the task of organizing Red movements, espionage, sabotage, and political murders in Silesia, central Germany, the Saar, Berlin, Brandenburg, and Bavaria. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds was charged with the responsibility of promoting communism in twothirds of Europe. Dr. Edward Benes, highly trusted and favored by the West, was well aware of this activity. He had his agents in the KDP and other ReJd groups: and he had them in England, America, and Mexico, as well. He knew that Reds operaJted from the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Washington, because he placed them there himself. Nevertheless the West regarded Benes as a non-Marxist socialist and the "greatest democrat" of Europe. The entire CzechoSlovak State propaganda apparatus was controlled by Benes and his political henchmen: the West knew Benes as Benes wanted it to know him. But the West is gradually waking up to the fact that it did not know the real Benes, Benes, the Marxist socialist, Benes, the servant of Moscow. (Edwaird B. Hiitchcook, who had the privilege of knowing Dr. Benes iruttmateI,y, wrote the only complete biography oif Benes. Nevertheless, the author teHs ,u s thalt Benes, ear]Jy in life, "d•eveloped iiruto a believer of brute materia11ilsm, anarch1is,m, socialism. He was aga.inst <religion. He was opposed to almost every estalblished order in bhe world of that day.") The Prague Central Bureau also had to care for Red refugees from Germany; together with the "Zentral Fraktionsleitung" (Central Group Leadership), the Prague Bureau had to train the most capaible Reds in espionage and underground work. The "Rote Hilfe" (Red Aid), a communist banking institution, and the organiza!Uon called "Union flir Freiheit und Recht" (Union for Freedom and Justice) were connected with the Prague Bureau of the �SLOVAKIA 5 Reds. When this motley outfit stamped one as unfit for espionage and subversive work in Germany, it would report him to the Czech police, who in turn would be ordered to surrender him to Germany as a communist. In the eyes of the world this made Dr. Benes and his intimates appear very "anti-communistic" - indeed, the cleanest of all socialists. Duplicity was the hallmark of Benes and his colleagues. Prior to February 25, 1948, when the Reds took over complete power in Czecho-Slovakia, they could not find enough words of prnise for Stalin and the Soviet Union. Then suddenly they were "expelled" from the country and became "anti-communists"! As followers of Benes, Peter Zenkl, Hubert Ripka, Ferdinand Peroutka, and others, nevertheless, had little difficulty in being employed by Radio Free Europe to broadcast "words of truth" to those whom they had helped to betray to the Moloch of Moscow. The Prague Bureau established "Homes For Escapees" in Prague, Strasnice, Kosice, Brno, Msec, and several other cities. The Prague home was managed by a former deputy of the German Reich, one Mrs. Hana Sandtner, a confidante of Karl Schwab who was in charge of the organization called "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten" (The Alliance for the Aid of German Emigrants), the outfit that cared for Red refugees from Germany. One of the largest homes for Red escapees, the Salda Home, was situated in Msec, Bohemia; it was named after the eminent Israelite warrior who was a Red. In this home escapees were given six-month courses in Marxism, espionage, sabotage, and underground activities. The graduates were then sent out to battle for universal communism (the "International Brigades," for example, in Spain). Military training was in charge of Leon Schnittmann, whose real name was Adol,ph Lejba, one of the best the Soviet had in the business. Officers from the Czech General Staff, selected by Lejba himself, helped with the training of recruits; so dii:l French officers who spoke Russian fluently. Lejba at one time had served as military attache in Prague. After Moscow announced that it had removed Lejba :from his position, he did not return to Russia but remained in Prague, where he opened a private business office. As a �6 SLOVAKIA businessman Lejba was free to travel; and he was in constant touch with the authorities, the ministries and political personalities. It was thus that Lej1ba succeeded in building up a "Czechoslovak-Russian" army. When Schnittman-Lejba visited neighboring States, he called on cryptocommunists in the Social Democratic parties to gather information and give orders. His reports were delivered in person to the Central European Bureau in Prague. Thanks to Lejba and the collaboration of Dr. Benes, Moscow had, in 1938, over 2,000 trained spies in Prague who were dispatched to aH countries of Europe and the West. While the press, the diplomats, and the statesmen of the West referred to the republic of Masairyk and Benes as a "model democracy" and an "isle of democracy in Europe," in reality Czecho~Slovakia was a state in which the Reds ruled under the guise of socialists. Financial help for these Red spies and saboteurs also came from the United States. The president of the "Friends of Nature" (3911 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, Ill.) sent money to the Red Bureau in Prague from the account of the "Ocean Travel Bureau" (2233 N. Ashland Avenue). The money was sent to Karl Schwab of the "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten." Comrade Dr. Goldschneidt, a "persecuted" Jew, was in charge of the office in Prague (Jachymov Street, 3), which busied itself with espionage under the label of "Zentral Hilfstelle flir Deutsche Fllichtlingskinder" (Central Office to Help Children of German Escapees). With the outbreak of the civil war in Spain, spies were sent there by these Red training centers. During the first weeks of the revolution more than a thousand men were dispatched to Spain by the Prague Bureau. Karl Schwab took care of all the arrangements: with the Czech police he prepared false passes and provided for the transportation of Reds to Spain. After a time, however, Moscow ordered the leading Reds to quit Spain and return to the haven of the Reds, Benes's Czecho-S'1ovakia. After the Slovak Republic was establi,shed on March 14, 1939, by the proclaimation of independence of the autonomous parliament · of Slovakia, the Prague-trained Reds �SLOVAKIA 7 presented quite a problem. Communism and Freemasonry had been outlawed already in 1938 by autonomous Slovakia while it was still witthin the framework of Czecho-Slovalda. The Reds went underground, but most of their leaders fled from Prague and Bratislava to Moscow. To ferret out the Reds and disarm them, the Slovak Sta.te ordered Imrich (Henry) Sudsky of the State Security Police to organize a special security uni!t of 100 mem!bers. Sudsky was a brilliant police official, having served under the Masaryk-Bene s regimes. Slovak authorities, however, did not know that Sudsky was also a secret agent of the Czech Reds. Charged with the task of rounding up the Reds in Slovakia, Sudsky applied himself diligently and eventually caught up with Stephen Hadera. The latter exposed the Red movement in Slovakia under questioning and the Red "triangle" was disrupted. This was followed by mass arrests of Reds and communist activities practically ceased in Slovakia until the last year of the war. When the Red armies overran the Slovak Republic in May, 1945, and Stalin made Benes "presiden!t" of Czecho-Slovak ia again, Sudsky was immediately placed into service by the Czech Reds. In 1957 he was held res,ponsible for the abduction of several Slovak patriots from Austria. The Czecho-Slovak Republic of Masaryk and Benes which western powers regarded as the most exemplary democratic country in Europe, was in fact the beachhead of Communism in Europe, as Stojadinovich , Yugoslav Minister of the Interior, had declared to newsmen on April 24, 1936, adding that "the Yugoslav communists are financially supported by Benes's Czecho-Slovak Republic." About an hour after he made this statement, Stojadinovich was a dead man, murdered by an agent of the Reds. His assailant escaped to Czecho-Slovakia through Hungary. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds fixed him up with a new set of forged papers so that he might conltinue in his dastardly trade. In the free western world, there are thousands of agents roaming about, promoting the program of Moscow. After the great massacre of World War II, some of them were employed by Radio Free Europe in Munich. I knew them from �8 SLOVAKIA back home. There was, for example, Robert Valuch of Salzburg, an adjutant of a Brigade Commissioner during the Red putsch in Slovakia in August, 1944; then, Mi.so (Michael) Sagat, whose last known address was Etst Delast Marcheprime girange, France, who issued orders to murder people and murdered many himself; also one Joseph Micudik, a captain of the paritsans who was schooled in Moscow; and then, Joseph Antl, and so many others employed by Radio Free Europe and moving aJbout freely in the service of the Reds. In the light of the above, it is surprising indeed that responsi'ble people of western governments do not see, or pretend not to see or know what is going on in their countries to promote the scourge of communism and enslave the remaining free peoples of the earth. Thus far goes the story of the Slovak patriot, Joseph Bla,skovic, written a ,s hort time before he was abducted !from Austria and imprisoned in Prague by the Czech Reds. The people and governments of the West know that Moscow has its trained agents everywhere. But apparently they do not know thaJt Prague is second only to Mo·s oow as a Red espionage center. Governments of the West, if they do know about it, are loathe to divulge information. CzechoSlovakia and its builders, Thomas G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, are still regarded highly, and their followers are still the favored "experts" of government ,people. They still .are the "unltoucha1bles" of the political West. Blaskovic' s story is highly plausi-ble, because it is backed by events past and present. Lausman, B. Cerny, Kucera, Folta, Machacek, Ka;las, Sychrava, Haulik, Molin, Marie Dvorak, and other Czechs, posing a,s "esca,pees" and employed by Radio Free Europe, returned to Prague to broadcast to the world how "stupid" Americans were. These agents received Amer.ican "trnth dollars" for their dastardly work. Back in the days of the Office of War Information (OWI), headman Elmer Davis assured Congress that he could spot Communists by a simple rule of thumb: if he was against Polish.iBritish-French resistance to dictator- �SLOVAKIA 9 ship aggression in the days of the Stalin-Hitler , pact • and then howled for war against Germany when Russia was attacked, then he was a Commie. N :, the very time Davis was speaking, and even afterwards, the chief of the Czech division of the OWI, was a Red Czech, Adolph Hoffmeister, an agent of Dr. Edward Benes, who was not only a card carrying Communist, but later the ambassador to Paris for the first Red Czech government. During the trial of one Emil Swiertina, a Red spy caught and sentenced to 12 years by American authori!ties in Munich, the names of several politicians of Benes's socialistic entourage were mentioned. The matter was treated as hush-hush, getting practkally no publicity here. It was known that Swiertina worked wit h a Czech Colonel, Dr. Springer, a subordinate of Colonel Koenig. After his imprisonment, Swiertina's correspondence was handled by Dr. Patek. On orders .from Col. Koenig, these letters were not turned over to American authorities, because it was feared that ,they would incriminate some of Benes's followers, members of the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," an organization highly favored by our State Department and the Radio Free Europe people. Otto Katz (alias Andre Simone, alias Kofatko), liquidated in the 1952 Red purge trial in Prague, was an intimate of Dr. Hubert Ripka who was regarded as the righthand man of Dr. Edward Benes. Katz, a Red spy who at one time edi!:ed the Rude Pravo (Red Justice), the official organ of the Czech Communists, spent the war years in Mexico and returned to Prague in 1946. Guenther Reinhardt, author af "Crime Without Punishment," links Katz with the 1943 murder of Ca-rlo Tresca in New York. At his trial Katz declared that he once was hired to work for the Overseas News Agency (ONA) which was affiliated with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency untH 1949. Katz had contacts with Adolph Hoffmeister of the OWI; also with Dezider Benau, wartJi.me editor of the New Y orksky Dennik, a newspaper published in Slovak, and with Karel Leitner, editor of the New Yorkske Listy, published in Czech - both papers at that time being owned by one �SLOVAKIA 10 Richard Vogel who did big business with Czecho-Slovalri'a. Katz was also in touch with Dr. Erwin Munk, Otto Biheller, and T. Florin-Hrkel, Czech agents who worked out of the Czech Embassy in Washington when Dr. Juraj Slavik was Benes's ambassador there. It is signif.icant that Miss Pavlina Svoboda, testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Feb. 5, 1952, was not even asked the names of the newspapers which Benau and Leitner edited. Both newspapers published many editorials by leading Communists. After his escape from the United States, Gerhard t Eisler ended up in Prague, haven of the Reds. When Communist Albert S. Stern, whose wife is the Red Martha Dodd Stern, was wanted to testify in the Jack Soble-Soviet spy case, both made off for Prague via Mexico. There they were joined by Maurice Halpern, a former Boston University teacher. In his testimony before the HUAC (released May 10, 1960), Frantisek Tisler, former Military and Air Attache of Cziecho-Slovakia at the embassy in Washington, declared that "one of the main reasons for the maintenance of a Czechoslovak Embassy in Washington, D. C., is to conduct espionage against the United Sfates." It is a matter of record tha:t most of .the politicians of Dr. Edward Benes's official family were active supporters of his pro-Sovi et poHcy. They were members of CzechoSlovakia's communist-dominated National Front government which eliminated all anti-communist elements from the political life of the country. Now, posing as "democratic" exiles and "an/ti-communist" fighters, they would have the West believe that they alway,s were on our side against the diabolic forces of communism. Incredible as it may sound, the fact is that these Red collaborators were accepted immediately by our Staite Department (under Acheson) as "democratic exiles," and their organiza:tion in America, the Council of Free Czechoslovakia, was recognized as "the supreme political body of the Czech and Slovak exile." With the _b lessing of the State Department, the fellow-1ravelers from Czecho-,Slovakia had no trouble at all in finding employment with Radio Free Europe, The Voice of America , 1 �SLOVAKIA 11 the CIC, the Library of Congress, and other agencies of U. S. Government, as well as our universities. More incredi'ble yet is the fact that some of these people are still holding their jobs. Red Prague is paying off to Red Moscow: with the help of the Czechs, who were "remade" under the regimes of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, Soviet Russia 's campaign of penetration is proceeding successfully in Africa, South America, Mexico, and Nol'lth America, in a word, everywhere! Czech and Soviet officers are instructing Castro's men in tactics and use of Czech arms at Gramma, Baracoa Beach and Managua - the three major bases of Castro's Army. A Czech officer commands the Cuban troops fighting the rebels i-n the Escambray Mountains. Anti-Castro forces in Cuba are trying to speed up the time for civil war there, because Castro, as of now, still does not have much of an air force. But he has about 1000 young Cubans in Czecho-Slovakia learning to fly jets. When they are ready, the Red Russians can create a Cuban air force in less than a day. In the new nations of Africa, you see few Russians, but plenty of Czech salesmen and diplomats. Not Russians, but Czechs are doing the groundwork for Moscow. According to U. S. News and World Report (April 3, 1961) : "Cairo is the Center of Czech operartions i-n, Africa. From Cairo, Czech goods are f11oiwin,g - art twice the 1950 level - to bobh North and West Aifrioa. A Czech airline operates from Praigu:e tlhrowgth Cairo to po'ints in West Afri~. "Am,e,ricans fo Gui•n ea h1ave notioed how fast the Czechs have moved in Wlhen French pulled out. Now, pro-Moscow Guinea is headquarters £or Czech opera,tions in au West Africa. A Czech shoe factory was shipped to Giha;na via Conakry, Gu~•nea. Czech machine to'o1s, preci£·ion instruments for Glhaina and Mali c-ame the same way. "Tirade is jus;t a part of i,t. A total of 270 Czech experts - military advisers, poUce adviisers, teachers - were counted in Cornaik,r,y at one time recently. "To date, this· Sorvi>et-Czech arran,gement has wol'ked smoothly. The Czec1hs are seUing Czech ,goods in Africa for themselves and Commundsm for Moscow." When the Slovaks, over thirty years ago, told America and the world that Benes and his Czech National Socialists were peddling Communism for Moscow, they were ignored �12 SLOVAKIA and scorned. The socialistic state created by Masaryk and Benes came into being in 1918 because of America's intervention. Now we are gradually learning the truth about the poli:tical monstrosity we not only made possible, but nurtured and enriched for over forty years. Imagine, American know-how and doUars are in a large mea·s ure responsible for the fact that Czech Prague has become a Red espion • age training center, second only to Moscow! SLOVAK PEASANT ART: a kitchen in Vinicne � SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI MARCH-J,UNE, 1961 NO. 1 (33) PRAGUE: RED ESPIONAGE CENTER By Philip A. Hrobak (Among the Slwaik esoarpees snaitched by the Czech Reds in Austria, alild West Germany is one Jioserph Bla-skovic. Shortly before his aibducti-on, this Slovak pa-tr,i ot sent ain a11ticle to his friend, alil escapee from .Slovailcia ruow residing in New York. T.hiis stor,y is based on tha,t article whicll was wri1bt,e n in Slovak.) The Czecho-Slovakia the American public is acquainted with is not the real Czecho-Slovakia of Thomas Guarrigue Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This glorified "·isle of democracy in Europe," painted in such roseate color-s to deceive the West, particularly the United States of America, was destined to become the European beachhead for communism from its very inception. Believe it or not, the simple fact is that the Russian OGPU (Secret Police) was organized in the propaganda state of Masaryk and Benes already in 1918, after Dr. Benes had concluded a secret agreement with Moscow. The OGPU was directed by the notorious agent Skoblin, who personally bossed the group in Prague whose task it was to kidna:p White Russians and ship them to Russia. Skoblin's outfit organized the Red Cells of volunteers, which were approved by Benes and his intimates, and also made all the arrangements for political murders in Poland. Prague thus became a center of the Cominform, second only to Moscow. The Prague Cominform set up an espionage office under the name of the Central European Bureau (1Stredo-Europska Kancelaria - SEK). This office directed the organized Cells and paid off underground espionage groups in the Central European states for services rendered, which included sabotage, kidnapping, and murder. Skoblin's group also organized the West~European Bureau (Zaipado-Eu- �2 SLOVAKIA ropska Kancelaria - ZEK) in Prague to promote communist interests in the Wes't European States. To organize the communists in the Balkan States, a bureau was set up in Vienna under the supervision of the Prague Bureau. The Vienna office at that time was headed by Dimitrov, the Secretary-General of the Cominform who had gained favor in the W esit. The Prague Bureau was made up of such Red worthies as Dimitrov, Gottwald, Manuilsky, Pakosta, Florin, and Ercoli - all graduates of the Moscow School of Red Leaders. Gottwald and Pakosta, both Czechs were ordered by Moscow to work in Slovakia. Pakosta came to the Turiec province and soon got a jeib in the Tatra furniture enterprise a t Turciansky Svaty Martin. Several months later he was elected an official of the local Sick-Benefit Insurance Association; and six months later he became manager of the branch office at Trnava. Pakosta didn't do too bad for himself in Slovakia: within a year he bought himself a large tract of land in the vicinity of Trnava, even though he kept on bellowing "down with the bourgeoisie"! Gottwald was sent to Vrutky in Slovakia where he was employed by the State railway system as a caibinet-maker. After Gottwald became a "master" of his trade, he began to publish a Red periodical in Banska Bystrica. Gottwald and Pakosta had the task of selecting the "right" people for the Red School in Moscow. Among the first selectees were Stephen Hadera, Vlado Clemen'tis, and Gustav Husak. After this trio completed its schooling in Moscow, it formed a "triangle" in Slovakia. Later on Moscow made Gottwa:ld a liaison officer to relay orders of the Cominform to States that had an organized underground. Orders were sentt from Turkey to the Gibraltar and Copenhagen. Gottwald was assisted by Hlozknecht and Prochniak and, later, also by the Polish Reds of Galicia Krumlov, Berend, Doppler, and Ackermann. The Prague Central Bureau directed the Red organizations in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria, where the communists engaged in -s ubversive activities as "Social Democrats." As in Czecho-Slovakia, so �SLOVAKIA 3 here too, only "reliable" communists were selected for schooling in Moscow. After graduation, the Reds returned to their respective countries as "socialists" of one shade or another to form "triangles." Whenever things would get too hot for them, they would resort to the tactic of uncovering and repor~ing ordinary laborers as "dangerous communists." It so happened that while innocent people sweated it out in jails, the real subversives, parading as Social Democrats, were free to continue in their nefarious work. In March, 1933, Moscow had prepared detailed plans for the Prague Central Bureau to initiate revolutions in C::echo-Slovakia and Austria. German intelligence, however, uncovered the plot and rushed into action, occupying Austria on March 13. The Reds were lucky to save the incriminating documents of the Vienna office. Otto Katz, alias Andrei Simone, a member of the Zionist and communist organizations, brought them to Bratislava where he personally handed them over to Sankoff-Rappaport, a Zionist, and ·::. o Kreschner, a leader of the German Reds. The latter collaborated closely with the Prague Central Bureau in preparing a revolt in Germany. You may not find it easy to believe, but the fact is that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was organized in Prague. The story was published by the Czech press of Prague in June, 1946, when Lenin's Hall in the "Peoples Home" (Lidovy dum) on Hybernska Street in Prague was ceremoniously opened to the public. It was in this hall that Vladimir Iljic Lenin presided at a meeting of the Russian Social Democratic Party, January 19-30, 1912. And it was at this meeting that J osip Visarionovich Dzhugashvili, later known as Stalin, was eleoted a member of the Central Committee of the party. At that time Lenin used the name of "Majer." The dedication ceremony in 1946 was attended by Soviet Ambassador Zarin, who thanked the government of Benes-Gottwald for honoring the memory of Lenin in such a noble fashion. �4 SLOVAKIA After Hitler came to power and ordered a general round-up of Reds in Germany, the Reds moved their office from Vienna to Paris where they operated under the title "Auslandskomite" (Foreign Committee). Dr. Benes, however, concurred secretly with Litvinov-Finkelste in that it would be more advantageous to transfer the Red German outfit to Prague, making it an adjunct of the Central European Bureau (CIDB). In Prague this group operated under the label "Komunistische Deutsche Partein (KDP). It was assigned the task of organizing Red movements, espionage, sabotage, and political murders in Silesia, central Germany, the Saar, Berlin, Brandenburg, and Bavaria. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds was charged with the responsibility of promoting communism in twothirds of Europe. Dr. Edward Benes, highly trusted and favored by the West, was well aware of this activity. He had his agents in the KDP and other ReJd groups: and he had them in England, America, and Mexico, as well. He knew that Reds operaJted from the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Washington, because he placed them there himself. Nevertheless the West regarded Benes as a non-Marxist socialist and the "greatest democrat" of Europe. The entire CzechoSlovak State propaganda apparatus was controlled by Benes and his political henchmen: the West knew Benes as Benes wanted it to know him. But the West is gradually waking up to the fact that it did not know the real Benes, Benes, the Marxist socialist, Benes, the servant of Moscow. (Edwaird B. Hiitchcook, who had the privilege of knowing Dr. Benes iruttmateI,y, wrote the only complete biography oif Benes. Nevertheless, the author teHs ,u s thalt Benes, ear]Jy in life, "d•eveloped iiruto a believer of brute materia11ilsm, anarch1is,m, socialism. He was aga.inst <religion. He was opposed to almost every estalblished order in bhe world of that day.") The Prague Central Bureau also had to care for Red refugees from Germany; together with the "Zentral Fraktionsleitung" (Central Group Leadership), the Prague Bureau had to train the most capaible Reds in espionage and underground work. The "Rote Hilfe" (Red Aid), a communist banking institution, and the organiza!Uon called "Union flir Freiheit und Recht" (Union for Freedom and Justice) were connected with the Prague Bureau of the �SLOVAKIA 5 Reds. When this motley outfit stamped one as unfit for espionage and subversive work in Germany, it would report him to the Czech police, who in turn would be ordered to surrender him to Germany as a communist. In the eyes of the world this made Dr. Benes and his intimates appear very "anti-communistic" - indeed, the cleanest of all socialists. Duplicity was the hallmark of Benes and his colleagues. Prior to February 25, 1948, when the Reds took over complete power in Czecho-Slovakia, they could not find enough words of prnise for Stalin and the Soviet Union. Then suddenly they were "expelled" from the country and became "anti-communists"! As followers of Benes, Peter Zenkl, Hubert Ripka, Ferdinand Peroutka, and others, nevertheless, had little difficulty in being employed by Radio Free Europe to broadcast "words of truth" to those whom they had helped to betray to the Moloch of Moscow. The Prague Bureau established "Homes For Escapees" in Prague, Strasnice, Kosice, Brno, Msec, and several other cities. The Prague home was managed by a former deputy of the German Reich, one Mrs. Hana Sandtner, a confidante of Karl Schwab who was in charge of the organization called "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten" (The Alliance for the Aid of German Emigrants), the outfit that cared for Red refugees from Germany. One of the largest homes for Red escapees, the Salda Home, was situated in Msec, Bohemia; it was named after the eminent Israelite warrior who was a Red. In this home escapees were given six-month courses in Marxism, espionage, sabotage, and underground activities. The graduates were then sent out to battle for universal communism (the "International Brigades," for example, in Spain). Military training was in charge of Leon Schnittmann, whose real name was Adol,ph Lejba, one of the best the Soviet had in the business. Officers from the Czech General Staff, selected by Lejba himself, helped with the training of recruits; so dii:l French officers who spoke Russian fluently. Lejba at one time had served as military attache in Prague. After Moscow announced that it had removed Lejba :from his position, he did not return to Russia but remained in Prague, where he opened a private business office. As a �6 SLOVAKIA businessman Lejba was free to travel; and he was in constant touch with the authorities, the ministries and political personalities. It was thus that Lej1ba succeeded in building up a "Czechoslovak-Russian" army. When Schnittman-Lejba visited neighboring States, he called on cryptocommunists in the Social Democratic parties to gather information and give orders. His reports were delivered in person to the Central European Bureau in Prague. Thanks to Lejba and the collaboration of Dr. Benes, Moscow had, in 1938, over 2,000 trained spies in Prague who were dispatched to aH countries of Europe and the West. While the press, the diplomats, and the statesmen of the West referred to the republic of Masairyk and Benes as a "model democracy" and an "isle of democracy in Europe," in reality Czecho~Slovakia was a state in which the Reds ruled under the guise of socialists. Financial help for these Red spies and saboteurs also came from the United States. The president of the "Friends of Nature" (3911 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, Ill.) sent money to the Red Bureau in Prague from the account of the "Ocean Travel Bureau" (2233 N. Ashland Avenue). The money was sent to Karl Schwab of the "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten." Comrade Dr. Goldschneidt, a "persecuted" Jew, was in charge of the office in Prague (Jachymov Street, 3), which busied itself with espionage under the label of "Zentral Hilfstelle flir Deutsche Fllichtlingskinder" (Central Office to Help Children of German Escapees). With the outbreak of the civil war in Spain, spies were sent there by these Red training centers. During the first weeks of the revolution more than a thousand men were dispatched to Spain by the Prague Bureau. Karl Schwab took care of all the arrangements: with the Czech police he prepared false passes and provided for the transportation of Reds to Spain. After a time, however, Moscow ordered the leading Reds to quit Spain and return to the haven of the Reds, Benes's Czecho-S'1ovakia. After the Slovak Republic was establi,shed on March 14, 1939, by the proclaimation of independence of the autonomous parliament · of Slovakia, the Prague-trained Reds �SLOVAKIA 7 presented quite a problem. Communism and Freemasonry had been outlawed already in 1938 by autonomous Slovakia while it was still witthin the framework of Czecho-Slovalda. The Reds went underground, but most of their leaders fled from Prague and Bratislava to Moscow. To ferret out the Reds and disarm them, the Slovak Sta.te ordered Imrich (Henry) Sudsky of the State Security Police to organize a special security uni!t of 100 mem!bers. Sudsky was a brilliant police official, having served under the Masaryk-Bene s regimes. Slovak authorities, however, did not know that Sudsky was also a secret agent of the Czech Reds. Charged with the task of rounding up the Reds in Slovakia, Sudsky applied himself diligently and eventually caught up with Stephen Hadera. The latter exposed the Red movement in Slovakia under questioning and the Red "triangle" was disrupted. This was followed by mass arrests of Reds and communist activities practically ceased in Slovakia until the last year of the war. When the Red armies overran the Slovak Republic in May, 1945, and Stalin made Benes "presiden!t" of Czecho-Slovak ia again, Sudsky was immediately placed into service by the Czech Reds. In 1957 he was held res,ponsible for the abduction of several Slovak patriots from Austria. The Czecho-Slovak Republic of Masaryk and Benes which western powers regarded as the most exemplary democratic country in Europe, was in fact the beachhead of Communism in Europe, as Stojadinovich , Yugoslav Minister of the Interior, had declared to newsmen on April 24, 1936, adding that "the Yugoslav communists are financially supported by Benes's Czecho-Slovak Republic." About an hour after he made this statement, Stojadinovich was a dead man, murdered by an agent of the Reds. His assailant escaped to Czecho-Slovakia through Hungary. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds fixed him up with a new set of forged papers so that he might conltinue in his dastardly trade. In the free western world, there are thousands of agents roaming about, promoting the program of Moscow. After the great massacre of World War II, some of them were employed by Radio Free Europe in Munich. I knew them from �8 SLOVAKIA back home. There was, for example, Robert Valuch of Salzburg, an adjutant of a Brigade Commissioner during the Red putsch in Slovakia in August, 1944; then, Mi.so (Michael) Sagat, whose last known address was Etst Delast Marcheprime girange, France, who issued orders to murder people and murdered many himself; also one Joseph Micudik, a captain of the paritsans who was schooled in Moscow; and then, Joseph Antl, and so many others employed by Radio Free Europe and moving aJbout freely in the service of the Reds. In the light of the above, it is surprising indeed that responsi'ble people of western governments do not see, or pretend not to see or know what is going on in their countries to promote the scourge of communism and enslave the remaining free peoples of the earth. Thus far goes the story of the Slovak patriot, Joseph Bla,skovic, written a ,s hort time before he was abducted !from Austria and imprisoned in Prague by the Czech Reds. The people and governments of the West know that Moscow has its trained agents everywhere. But apparently they do not know thaJt Prague is second only to Mo·s oow as a Red espionage center. Governments of the West, if they do know about it, are loathe to divulge information. CzechoSlovakia and its builders, Thomas G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, are still regarded highly, and their followers are still the favored "experts" of government ,people. They still .are the "unltoucha1bles" of the political West. Blaskovic' s story is highly plausi-ble, because it is backed by events past and present. Lausman, B. Cerny, Kucera, Folta, Machacek, Ka;las, Sychrava, Haulik, Molin, Marie Dvorak, and other Czechs, posing a,s "esca,pees" and employed by Radio Free Europe, returned to Prague to broadcast to the world how "stupid" Americans were. These agents received Amer.ican "trnth dollars" for their dastardly work. Back in the days of the Office of War Information (OWI), headman Elmer Davis assured Congress that he could spot Communists by a simple rule of thumb: if he was against Polish.iBritish-French resistance to dictator- �SLOVAKIA 9 ship aggression in the days of the Stalin-Hitler , pact • and then howled for war against Germany when Russia was attacked, then he was a Commie. N :, the very time Davis was speaking, and even afterwards, the chief of the Czech division of the OWI, was a Red Czech, Adolph Hoffmeister, an agent of Dr. Edward Benes, who was not only a card carrying Communist, but later the ambassador to Paris for the first Red Czech government. During the trial of one Emil Swiertina, a Red spy caught and sentenced to 12 years by American authori!ties in Munich, the names of several politicians of Benes's socialistic entourage were mentioned. The matter was treated as hush-hush, getting practkally no publicity here. It was known that Swiertina worked wit h a Czech Colonel, Dr. Springer, a subordinate of Colonel Koenig. After his imprisonment, Swiertina's correspondence was handled by Dr. Patek. On orders .from Col. Koenig, these letters were not turned over to American authorities, because it was feared that ,they would incriminate some of Benes's followers, members of the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," an organization highly favored by our State Department and the Radio Free Europe people. Otto Katz (alias Andre Simone, alias Kofatko), liquidated in the 1952 Red purge trial in Prague, was an intimate of Dr. Hubert Ripka who was regarded as the righthand man of Dr. Edward Benes. Katz, a Red spy who at one time edi!:ed the Rude Pravo (Red Justice), the official organ of the Czech Communists, spent the war years in Mexico and returned to Prague in 1946. Guenther Reinhardt, author af "Crime Without Punishment," links Katz with the 1943 murder of Ca-rlo Tresca in New York. At his trial Katz declared that he once was hired to work for the Overseas News Agency (ONA) which was affiliated with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency untH 1949. Katz had contacts with Adolph Hoffmeister of the OWI; also with Dezider Benau, wartJi.me editor of the New Y orksky Dennik, a newspaper published in Slovak, and with Karel Leitner, editor of the New Yorkske Listy, published in Czech - both papers at that time being owned by one �SLOVAKIA 10 Richard Vogel who did big business with Czecho-Slovalri'a. Katz was also in touch with Dr. Erwin Munk, Otto Biheller, and T. Florin-Hrkel, Czech agents who worked out of the Czech Embassy in Washington when Dr. Juraj Slavik was Benes's ambassador there. It is signif.icant that Miss Pavlina Svoboda, testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Feb. 5, 1952, was not even asked the names of the newspapers which Benau and Leitner edited. Both newspapers published many editorials by leading Communists. After his escape from the United States, Gerhard t Eisler ended up in Prague, haven of the Reds. When Communist Albert S. Stern, whose wife is the Red Martha Dodd Stern, was wanted to testify in the Jack Soble-Soviet spy case, both made off for Prague via Mexico. There they were joined by Maurice Halpern, a former Boston University teacher. In his testimony before the HUAC (released May 10, 1960), Frantisek Tisler, former Military and Air Attache of Cziecho-Slovakia at the embassy in Washington, declared that "one of the main reasons for the maintenance of a Czechoslovak Embassy in Washington, D. C., is to conduct espionage against the United Sfates." It is a matter of record tha:t most of .the politicians of Dr. Edward Benes's official family were active supporters of his pro-Sovi et poHcy. They were members of CzechoSlovakia's communist-dominated National Front government which eliminated all anti-communist elements from the political life of the country. Now, posing as "democratic" exiles and "an/ti-communist" fighters, they would have the West believe that they alway,s were on our side against the diabolic forces of communism. Incredible as it may sound, the fact is that these Red collaborators were accepted immediately by our Staite Department (under Acheson) as "democratic exiles," and their organiza:tion in America, the Council of Free Czechoslovakia, was recognized as "the supreme political body of the Czech and Slovak exile." With the _b lessing of the State Department, the fellow-1ravelers from Czecho-,Slovakia had no trouble at all in finding employment with Radio Free Europe, The Voice of America , 1 �SLOVAKIA 11 the CIC, the Library of Congress, and other agencies of U. S. Government, as well as our universities. More incredi'ble yet is the fact that some of these people are still holding their jobs. Red Prague is paying off to Red Moscow: with the help of the Czechs, who were "remade" under the regimes of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, Soviet Russia 's campaign of penetration is proceeding successfully in Africa, South America, Mexico, and Nol'lth America, in a word, everywhere! Czech and Soviet officers are instructing Castro's men in tactics and use of Czech arms at Gramma, Baracoa Beach and Managua - the three major bases of Castro's Army. A Czech officer commands the Cuban troops fighting the rebels i-n the Escambray Mountains. Anti-Castro forces in Cuba are trying to speed up the time for civil war there, because Castro, as of now, still does not have much of an air force. But he has about 1000 young Cubans in Czecho-Slovakia learning to fly jets. When they are ready, the Red Russians can create a Cuban air force in less than a day. In the new nations of Africa, you see few Russians, but plenty of Czech salesmen and diplomats. Not Russians, but Czechs are doing the groundwork for Moscow. According to U. S. News and World Report (April 3, 1961) : "Cairo is the Center of Czech operartions i-n, Africa. From Cairo, Czech goods are f11oiwin,g - art twice the 1950 level - to bobh North and West Aifrioa. A Czech airline operates from Praigu:e tlhrowgth Cairo to po'ints in West Afri~. "Am,e,ricans fo Gui•n ea h1ave notioed how fast the Czechs have moved in Wlhen French pulled out. Now, pro-Moscow Guinea is headquarters £or Czech opera,tions in au West Africa. A Czech shoe factory was shipped to Giha;na via Conakry, Gu~•nea. Czech machine to'o1s, preci£·ion instruments for Glhaina and Mali c-ame the same way. "Tirade is jus;t a part of i,t. A total of 270 Czech experts - military advisers, poUce adviisers, teachers - were counted in Cornaik,r,y at one time recently. "To date, this· Sorvi>et-Czech arran,gement has wol'ked smoothly. The Czec1hs are seUing Czech ,goods in Africa for themselves and Commundsm for Moscow." When the Slovaks, over thirty years ago, told America and the world that Benes and his Czech National Socialists were peddling Communism for Moscow, they were ignored �12 SLOVAKIA and scorned. The socialistic state created by Masaryk and Benes came into being in 1918 because of America's intervention. Now we are gradually learning the truth about the poli:tical monstrosity we not only made possible, but nurtured and enriched for over forty years. Imagine, American know-how and doUars are in a large mea·s ure responsible for the fact that Czech Prague has become a Red espion • age training center, second only to Moscow! SLOVAK PEASANT ART: a kitchen in Vinicne � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI MARCH-J,UNE, 1961 NO. 1 (33) PRAGUE: RED ESPIONAGE CENTER By Philip A. Hrobak (Among the Slwaik esoarpees snaitched by the Czech Reds in Austria, alild West Germany is one Jioserph Bla-skovic. Shortly before his aibducti-on, this Slovak pa-tr,i ot sent ain a11ticle to his friend, alil escapee from .Slovailcia ruow residing in New York. T.hiis stor,y is based on tha,t article whicll was wri1bt,e n in Slovak.) The Czecho-Slovakia the American public is acquainted with is not the real Czecho-Slovakia of Thomas Guarrigue Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes. This glorified "·isle of democracy in Europe," painted in such roseate color-s to deceive the West, particularly the United States of America, was destined to become the European beachhead for communism from its very inception. Believe it or not, the simple fact is that the Russian OGPU (Secret Police) was organized in the propaganda state of Masaryk and Benes already in 1918, after Dr. Benes had concluded a secret agreement with Moscow. The OGPU was directed by the notorious agent Skoblin, who personally bossed the group in Prague whose task it was to kidna:p White Russians and ship them to Russia. Skoblin's outfit organized the Red Cells of volunteers, which were approved by Benes and his intimates, and also made all the arrangements for political murders in Poland. Prague thus became a center of the Cominform, second only to Moscow. The Prague Cominform set up an espionage office under the name of the Central European Bureau (1Stredo-Europska Kancelaria - SEK). This office directed the organized Cells and paid off underground espionage groups in the Central European states for services rendered, which included sabotage, kidnapping, and murder. Skoblin's group also organized the West~European Bureau (Zaipado-Eu- 2 SLOVAKIA ropska Kancelaria - ZEK) in Prague to promote communist interests in the Wes't European States. To organize the communists in the Balkan States, a bureau was set up in Vienna under the supervision of the Prague Bureau. The Vienna office at that time was headed by Dimitrov, the Secretary-General of the Cominform who had gained favor in the W esit. The Prague Bureau was made up of such Red worthies as Dimitrov, Gottwald, Manuilsky, Pakosta, Florin, and Ercoli - all graduates of the Moscow School of Red Leaders. Gottwald and Pakosta, both Czechs were ordered by Moscow to work in Slovakia. Pakosta came to the Turiec province and soon got a jeib in the Tatra furniture enterprise a t Turciansky Svaty Martin. Several months later he was elected an official of the local Sick-Benefit Insurance Association; and six months later he became manager of the branch office at Trnava. Pakosta didn't do too bad for himself in Slovakia: within a year he bought himself a large tract of land in the vicinity of Trnava, even though he kept on bellowing "down with the bourgeoisie"! Gottwald was sent to Vrutky in Slovakia where he was employed by the State railway system as a caibinet-maker. After Gottwald became a "master" of his trade, he began to publish a Red periodical in Banska Bystrica. Gottwald and Pakosta had the task of selecting the "right" people for the Red School in Moscow. Among the first selectees were Stephen Hadera, Vlado Clemen'tis, and Gustav Husak. After this trio completed its schooling in Moscow, it formed a "triangle" in Slovakia. Later on Moscow made Gottwa:ld a liaison officer to relay orders of the Cominform to States that had an organized underground. Orders were sentt from Turkey to the Gibraltar and Copenhagen. Gottwald was assisted by Hlozknecht and Prochniak and, later, also by the Polish Reds of Galicia Krumlov, Berend, Doppler, and Ackermann. The Prague Central Bureau directed the Red organizations in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Rumania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria, where the communists engaged in -s ubversive activities as "Social Democrats." As in Czecho-Slovakia, so SLOVAKIA 3 here too, only "reliable" communists were selected for schooling in Moscow. After graduation, the Reds returned to their respective countries as "socialists" of one shade or another to form "triangles." Whenever things would get too hot for them, they would resort to the tactic of uncovering and repor~ing ordinary laborers as "dangerous communists." It so happened that while innocent people sweated it out in jails, the real subversives, parading as Social Democrats, were free to continue in their nefarious work. In March, 1933, Moscow had prepared detailed plans for the Prague Central Bureau to initiate revolutions in C::echo-Slovakia and Austria. German intelligence, however, uncovered the plot and rushed into action, occupying Austria on March 13. The Reds were lucky to save the incriminating documents of the Vienna office. Otto Katz, alias Andrei Simone, a member of the Zionist and communist organizations, brought them to Bratislava where he personally handed them over to Sankoff-Rappaport, a Zionist, and ·::. o Kreschner, a leader of the German Reds. The latter collaborated closely with the Prague Central Bureau in preparing a revolt in Germany. You may not find it easy to believe, but the fact is that the Russian Revolution of 1917 was organized in Prague. The story was published by the Czech press of Prague in June, 1946, when Lenin's Hall in the "Peoples Home" (Lidovy dum) on Hybernska Street in Prague was ceremoniously opened to the public. It was in this hall that Vladimir Iljic Lenin presided at a meeting of the Russian Social Democratic Party, January 19-30, 1912. And it was at this meeting that J osip Visarionovich Dzhugashvili, later known as Stalin, was eleoted a member of the Central Committee of the party. At that time Lenin used the name of "Majer." The dedication ceremony in 1946 was attended by Soviet Ambassador Zarin, who thanked the government of Benes-Gottwald for honoring the memory of Lenin in such a noble fashion. 4 SLOVAKIA After Hitler came to power and ordered a general round-up of Reds in Germany, the Reds moved their office from Vienna to Paris where they operated under the title "Auslandskomite" (Foreign Committee). Dr. Benes, however, concurred secretly with Litvinov-Finkelste in that it would be more advantageous to transfer the Red German outfit to Prague, making it an adjunct of the Central European Bureau (CIDB). In Prague this group operated under the label "Komunistische Deutsche Partein (KDP). It was assigned the task of organizing Red movements, espionage, sabotage, and political murders in Silesia, central Germany, the Saar, Berlin, Brandenburg, and Bavaria. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds was charged with the responsibility of promoting communism in twothirds of Europe. Dr. Edward Benes, highly trusted and favored by the West, was well aware of this activity. He had his agents in the KDP and other ReJd groups: and he had them in England, America, and Mexico, as well. He knew that Reds operaJted from the Czecho-Slovak embassy in Washington, because he placed them there himself. Nevertheless the West regarded Benes as a non-Marxist socialist and the "greatest democrat" of Europe. The entire CzechoSlovak State propaganda apparatus was controlled by Benes and his political henchmen: the West knew Benes as Benes wanted it to know him. But the West is gradually waking up to the fact that it did not know the real Benes, Benes, the Marxist socialist, Benes, the servant of Moscow. (Edwaird B. Hiitchcook, who had the privilege of knowing Dr. Benes iruttmateI,y, wrote the only complete biography oif Benes. Nevertheless, the author teHs ,u s thalt Benes, ear]Jy in life, "d•eveloped iiruto a believer of brute materia11ilsm, anarch1is,m, socialism. He was aga.inst <religion. He was opposed to almost every estalblished order in bhe world of that day.") The Prague Central Bureau also had to care for Red refugees from Germany; together with the "Zentral Fraktionsleitung" (Central Group Leadership), the Prague Bureau had to train the most capaible Reds in espionage and underground work. The "Rote Hilfe" (Red Aid), a communist banking institution, and the organiza!Uon called "Union flir Freiheit und Recht" (Union for Freedom and Justice) were connected with the Prague Bureau of the SLOVAKIA 5 Reds. When this motley outfit stamped one as unfit for espionage and subversive work in Germany, it would report him to the Czech police, who in turn would be ordered to surrender him to Germany as a communist. In the eyes of the world this made Dr. Benes and his intimates appear very "anti-communistic" - indeed, the cleanest of all socialists. Duplicity was the hallmark of Benes and his colleagues. Prior to February 25, 1948, when the Reds took over complete power in Czecho-Slovakia, they could not find enough words of prnise for Stalin and the Soviet Union. Then suddenly they were "expelled" from the country and became "anti-communists"! As followers of Benes, Peter Zenkl, Hubert Ripka, Ferdinand Peroutka, and others, nevertheless, had little difficulty in being employed by Radio Free Europe to broadcast "words of truth" to those whom they had helped to betray to the Moloch of Moscow. The Prague Bureau established "Homes For Escapees" in Prague, Strasnice, Kosice, Brno, Msec, and several other cities. The Prague home was managed by a former deputy of the German Reich, one Mrs. Hana Sandtner, a confidante of Karl Schwab who was in charge of the organization called "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten" (The Alliance for the Aid of German Emigrants), the outfit that cared for Red refugees from Germany. One of the largest homes for Red escapees, the Salda Home, was situated in Msec, Bohemia; it was named after the eminent Israelite warrior who was a Red. In this home escapees were given six-month courses in Marxism, espionage, sabotage, and underground activities. The graduates were then sent out to battle for universal communism (the "International Brigades," for example, in Spain). Military training was in charge of Leon Schnittmann, whose real name was Adol,ph Lejba, one of the best the Soviet had in the business. Officers from the Czech General Staff, selected by Lejba himself, helped with the training of recruits; so dii:l French officers who spoke Russian fluently. Lejba at one time had served as military attache in Prague. After Moscow announced that it had removed Lejba :from his position, he did not return to Russia but remained in Prague, where he opened a private business office. As a 6 SLOVAKIA businessman Lejba was free to travel; and he was in constant touch with the authorities, the ministries and political personalities. It was thus that Lej1ba succeeded in building up a "Czechoslovak-Russian" army. When Schnittman-Lejba visited neighboring States, he called on cryptocommunists in the Social Democratic parties to gather information and give orders. His reports were delivered in person to the Central European Bureau in Prague. Thanks to Lejba and the collaboration of Dr. Benes, Moscow had, in 1938, over 2,000 trained spies in Prague who were dispatched to aH countries of Europe and the West. While the press, the diplomats, and the statesmen of the West referred to the republic of Masairyk and Benes as a "model democracy" and an "isle of democracy in Europe," in reality Czecho~Slovakia was a state in which the Reds ruled under the guise of socialists. Financial help for these Red spies and saboteurs also came from the United States. The president of the "Friends of Nature" (3911 Greenview Avenue, Chicago, Ill.) sent money to the Red Bureau in Prague from the account of the "Ocean Travel Bureau" (2233 N. Ashland Avenue). The money was sent to Karl Schwab of the "Vereinigung zur Unterstutzung deutscher Emigranten." Comrade Dr. Goldschneidt, a "persecuted" Jew, was in charge of the office in Prague (Jachymov Street, 3), which busied itself with espionage under the label of "Zentral Hilfstelle flir Deutsche Fllichtlingskinder" (Central Office to Help Children of German Escapees). With the outbreak of the civil war in Spain, spies were sent there by these Red training centers. During the first weeks of the revolution more than a thousand men were dispatched to Spain by the Prague Bureau. Karl Schwab took care of all the arrangements: with the Czech police he prepared false passes and provided for the transportation of Reds to Spain. After a time, however, Moscow ordered the leading Reds to quit Spain and return to the haven of the Reds, Benes's Czecho-S'1ovakia. After the Slovak Republic was establi,shed on March 14, 1939, by the proclaimation of independence of the autonomous parliament · of Slovakia, the Prague-trained Reds SLOVAKIA 7 presented quite a problem. Communism and Freemasonry had been outlawed already in 1938 by autonomous Slovakia while it was still witthin the framework of Czecho-Slovalda. The Reds went underground, but most of their leaders fled from Prague and Bratislava to Moscow. To ferret out the Reds and disarm them, the Slovak Sta.te ordered Imrich (Henry) Sudsky of the State Security Police to organize a special security uni!t of 100 mem!bers. Sudsky was a brilliant police official, having served under the Masaryk-Bene s regimes. Slovak authorities, however, did not know that Sudsky was also a secret agent of the Czech Reds. Charged with the task of rounding up the Reds in Slovakia, Sudsky applied himself diligently and eventually caught up with Stephen Hadera. The latter exposed the Red movement in Slovakia under questioning and the Red "triangle" was disrupted. This was followed by mass arrests of Reds and communist activities practically ceased in Slovakia until the last year of the war. When the Red armies overran the Slovak Republic in May, 1945, and Stalin made Benes "presiden!t" of Czecho-Slovak ia again, Sudsky was immediately placed into service by the Czech Reds. In 1957 he was held res,ponsible for the abduction of several Slovak patriots from Austria. The Czecho-Slovak Republic of Masaryk and Benes which western powers regarded as the most exemplary democratic country in Europe, was in fact the beachhead of Communism in Europe, as Stojadinovich , Yugoslav Minister of the Interior, had declared to newsmen on April 24, 1936, adding that "the Yugoslav communists are financially supported by Benes's Czecho-Slovak Republic." About an hour after he made this statement, Stojadinovich was a dead man, murdered by an agent of the Reds. His assailant escaped to Czecho-Slovakia through Hungary. The Prague Central Bureau of the Reds fixed him up with a new set of forged papers so that he might conltinue in his dastardly trade. In the free western world, there are thousands of agents roaming about, promoting the program of Moscow. After the great massacre of World War II, some of them were employed by Radio Free Europe in Munich. I knew them from 8 SLOVAKIA back home. There was, for example, Robert Valuch of Salzburg, an adjutant of a Brigade Commissioner during the Red putsch in Slovakia in August, 1944; then, Mi.so (Michael) Sagat, whose last known address was Etst Delast Marcheprime girange, France, who issued orders to murder people and murdered many himself; also one Joseph Micudik, a captain of the paritsans who was schooled in Moscow; and then, Joseph Antl, and so many others employed by Radio Free Europe and moving aJbout freely in the service of the Reds. In the light of the above, it is surprising indeed that responsi'ble people of western governments do not see, or pretend not to see or know what is going on in their countries to promote the scourge of communism and enslave the remaining free peoples of the earth. Thus far goes the story of the Slovak patriot, Joseph Bla,skovic, written a ,s hort time before he was abducted !from Austria and imprisoned in Prague by the Czech Reds. The people and governments of the West know that Moscow has its trained agents everywhere. But apparently they do not know thaJt Prague is second only to Mo·s oow as a Red espionage center. Governments of the West, if they do know about it, are loathe to divulge information. CzechoSlovakia and its builders, Thomas G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, are still regarded highly, and their followers are still the favored "experts" of government ,people. They still .are the "unltoucha1bles" of the political West. Blaskovic' s story is highly plausi-ble, because it is backed by events past and present. Lausman, B. Cerny, Kucera, Folta, Machacek, Ka;las, Sychrava, Haulik, Molin, Marie Dvorak, and other Czechs, posing a,s "esca,pees" and employed by Radio Free Europe, returned to Prague to broadcast to the world how "stupid" Americans were. These agents received Amer.ican "trnth dollars" for their dastardly work. Back in the days of the Office of War Information (OWI), headman Elmer Davis assured Congress that he could spot Communists by a simple rule of thumb: if he was against Polish.iBritish-French resistance to dictator- SLOVAKIA 9 ship aggression in the days of the Stalin-Hitler , pact • and then howled for war against Germany when Russia was attacked, then he was a Commie. N :, the very time Davis was speaking, and even afterwards, the chief of the Czech division of the OWI, was a Red Czech, Adolph Hoffmeister, an agent of Dr. Edward Benes, who was not only a card carrying Communist, but later the ambassador to Paris for the first Red Czech government. During the trial of one Emil Swiertina, a Red spy caught and sentenced to 12 years by American authori!ties in Munich, the names of several politicians of Benes's socialistic entourage were mentioned. The matter was treated as hush-hush, getting practkally no publicity here. It was known that Swiertina worked wit h a Czech Colonel, Dr. Springer, a subordinate of Colonel Koenig. After his imprisonment, Swiertina's correspondence was handled by Dr. Patek. On orders .from Col. Koenig, these letters were not turned over to American authorities, because it was feared that ,they would incriminate some of Benes's followers, members of the so-called "Council of Free Czechoslovakia," an organization highly favored by our State Department and the Radio Free Europe people. Otto Katz (alias Andre Simone, alias Kofatko), liquidated in the 1952 Red purge trial in Prague, was an intimate of Dr. Hubert Ripka who was regarded as the righthand man of Dr. Edward Benes. Katz, a Red spy who at one time edi!:ed the Rude Pravo (Red Justice), the official organ of the Czech Communists, spent the war years in Mexico and returned to Prague in 1946. Guenther Reinhardt, author af "Crime Without Punishment," links Katz with the 1943 murder of Ca-rlo Tresca in New York. At his trial Katz declared that he once was hired to work for the Overseas News Agency (ONA) which was affiliated with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency untH 1949. Katz had contacts with Adolph Hoffmeister of the OWI; also with Dezider Benau, wartJi.me editor of the New Y orksky Dennik, a newspaper published in Slovak, and with Karel Leitner, editor of the New Yorkske Listy, published in Czech - both papers at that time being owned by one SLOVAKIA 10 Richard Vogel who did big business with Czecho-Slovalri'a. Katz was also in touch with Dr. Erwin Munk, Otto Biheller, and T. Florin-Hrkel, Czech agents who worked out of the Czech Embassy in Washington when Dr. Juraj Slavik was Benes's ambassador there. It is signif.icant that Miss Pavlina Svoboda, testifying before the House Committee on Un-American Activities, Feb. 5, 1952, was not even asked the names of the newspapers which Benau and Leitner edited. Both newspapers published many editorials by leading Communists. After his escape from the United States, Gerhard t Eisler ended up in Prague, haven of the Reds. When Communist Albert S. Stern, whose wife is the Red Martha Dodd Stern, was wanted to testify in the Jack Soble-Soviet spy case, both made off for Prague via Mexico. There they were joined by Maurice Halpern, a former Boston University teacher. In his testimony before the HUAC (released May 10, 1960), Frantisek Tisler, former Military and Air Attache of Cziecho-Slovakia at the embassy in Washington, declared that "one of the main reasons for the maintenance of a Czechoslovak Embassy in Washington, D. C., is to conduct espionage against the United Sfates." It is a matter of record tha:t most of .the politicians of Dr. Edward Benes's official family were active supporters of his pro-Sovi et poHcy. They were members of CzechoSlovakia's communist-dominated National Front government which eliminated all anti-communist elements from the political life of the country. Now, posing as "democratic" exiles and "an/ti-communist" fighters, they would have the West believe that they alway,s were on our side against the diabolic forces of communism. Incredible as it may sound, the fact is that these Red collaborators were accepted immediately by our Staite Department (under Acheson) as "democratic exiles," and their organiza:tion in America, the Council of Free Czechoslovakia, was recognized as "the supreme political body of the Czech and Slovak exile." With the _b lessing of the State Department, the fellow-1ravelers from Czecho-,Slovakia had no trouble at all in finding employment with Radio Free Europe, The Voice of America , 1 SLOVAKIA 11 the CIC, the Library of Congress, and other agencies of U. S. Government, as well as our universities. More incredi'ble yet is the fact that some of these people are still holding their jobs. Red Prague is paying off to Red Moscow: with the help of the Czechs, who were "remade" under the regimes of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Edward Benes, Soviet Russia 's campaign of penetration is proceeding successfully in Africa, South America, Mexico, and Nol'lth America, in a word, everywhere! Czech and Soviet officers are instructing Castro's men in tactics and use of Czech arms at Gramma, Baracoa Beach and Managua - the three major bases of Castro's Army. A Czech officer commands the Cuban troops fighting the rebels i-n the Escambray Mountains. Anti-Castro forces in Cuba are trying to speed up the time for civil war there, because Castro, as of now, still does not have much of an air force. But he has about 1000 young Cubans in Czecho-Slovakia learning to fly jets. When they are ready, the Red Russians can create a Cuban air force in less than a day. In the new nations of Africa, you see few Russians, but plenty of Czech salesmen and diplomats. Not Russians, but Czechs are doing the groundwork for Moscow. According to U. S. News and World Report (April 3, 1961) : "Cairo is the Center of Czech operartions i-n, Africa. From Cairo, Czech goods are f11oiwin,g - art twice the 1950 level - to bobh North and West Aifrioa. A Czech airline operates from Praigu:e tlhrowgth Cairo to po'ints in West Afri~. "Am,e,ricans fo Gui•n ea h1ave notioed how fast the Czechs have moved in Wlhen French pulled out. Now, pro-Moscow Guinea is headquarters £or Czech opera,tions in au West Africa. A Czech shoe factory was shipped to Giha;na via Conakry, Gu~•nea. Czech machine to'o1s, preci£·ion instruments for Glhaina and Mali c-ame the same way. "Tirade is jus;t a part of i,t. A total of 270 Czech experts - military advisers, poUce adviisers, teachers - were counted in Cornaik,r,y at one time recently. "To date, this· Sorvi>et-Czech arran,gement has wol'ked smoothly. The Czec1hs are seUing Czech ,goods in Africa for themselves and Commundsm for Moscow." When the Slovaks, over thirty years ago, told America and the world that Benes and his Czech National Socialists were peddling Communism for Moscow, they were ignored 12 SLOVAKIA and scorned. The socialistic state created by Masaryk and Benes came into being in 1918 because of America's intervention. Now we are gradually learning the truth about the poli:tical monstrosity we not only made possible, but nurtured and enriched for over forty years. Imagine, American know-how and doUars are in a large mea·s ure responsible for the fact that Czech Prague has become a Red espion • age training center, second only to Moscow! SLOVAK PEASANT ART: a kitchen in Vinicne  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Prague: Red Espionage Center Description An account of the resource Philip A. Hrobak Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 1-12 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hrobak, Philip Anthony, 1904-1964 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/381bb0784bfd37eebcd96837261c4b13.pdf d1ccaf0725964245ee605b85153fc161 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West �62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated �SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of �64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 1 � SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West �62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated �SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of �64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 1 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 61 EUROPEAN FEDERALISTS WELCOME DR. KIRSCIIBAUM'S BOOK {We are pleased to publish for the benefit of our readers -and of the Slovak cause a translation of an article wh'ich appeared in French in the Europea"' Bulletfn (Jian.-Feb. 1001'), the official organ of Euro• pean Federalists, puiblished in Blome. Kirschlbawm's ,book was received 'by critics in the UnHed States, Canad:a, Germany, Spain and! ]taly, as a brilliant defer.se o.f the Slo• vak cause and an overdue scholarly wol.'k on Slovalkia. The European, Federalists welcome the book as an excellent de· .f ense of the idea of Central Ewope,a n Federation. This is the transla· tion of the French article in the Bulletin Euro-peen, J-anuary-Felbruary issue, .19611.) A DIFFICULT BUT HOPEFUL FEDERATION By Georges Kallay A!lmost a century ago, on March 1, 1871, before the French National Assembly, during a sitting held at Bordeaux, Victor Hugo delivered a speech. Mainly he said: "and one shall hear France cry out: my turn has come. Am I your enemy? No, I am your sister. I took everything back from you and I return you everything on one condiftion: that we shall be nothing else but one people, one family, and one repU!blic. I shall demolish my fortresses, you shall demolish yours. Fraternity is my vengeance. No more frontiers, the Rhine belongs to all. Let us be the same repU!blic, let us be the United States of Europe. Let us be the Continental federation, let us be European liberty." These words for a public opinion of a century ago must have lbeen as non-contemporary as they were visionary. France had just been vanquished by Germany. Circumstances were hardly favorable for such ideas. However, the speaker had the courage to formulate them and the audience had the cou~age to hear them. Today Europe has the courage to realize them. However there is still a part of Europe where one seeks to unite the states by an entirely different method than the one Victor Hugo was thinking of, with the West behind him. It is a question of the states uf Central and Oriental Europe. Of these states, lbhose turned to the West 62 SLOVAKIA have always tried to defend Europe against the advance of Oriental Powers. The greatest confusion reigns in these countries with regards to a federal idea, because of con/tradictory directions which originate from the central power, It.he Kremlin. A federal idea exists in this sense that these countries must unite, willy nilly, around the Soviet Union. Yet, or just because of this, the federal idea is not popular. There is proof in the fact ,that all material prepared and published on the occasion of the Congress of 'Stockholm ignored or even sought to refute the federal idea. The Czech historian Zdenek Jindra, for example, in his work "Contributions a FHistoire Contemporaine des Peuples de FEurope Centrale," edited in Prague, hazards to say that a federation of Central Europe is bU!t the expression of the German spirit of domination because a German, Friedrich Neumann, dared to say forty years ago that a federation of Central Europe would be a good thing. By such reasoning one concludes that to prevent the realization of German ideas of domination, there is only one remedy: to turn to the Soviet Union for aid. One of the most eminent representatives of the federal thesis among his advocates in Central Europe, is a historian who now lives in Canada, Joseph Kirschbaum. Born at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, he was only six years old when it ·Collapsed and, ·consequently, officially he became a "Czechoslovak." When Slovakia gained its independence, Kirschbaum, 23 years of age, •b ecame one of the most prominent representatives in Slovak politics. Slovak national politics condemned Czech domination as well as German domination which equally sought to subjugate the Slovak people. In many of his political works, Kirschbaum affirms the necessity of a Central European Federation. His most recent work, "Slovakia, Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe," is but the e~pression of his federal thesis. He points out that ithe countries of Central and Oriental Europe must come to understand that they must unite if they do not wish to play the role of satellites of a foreign power. A full chapter of the book 'b y Kirschbaum is dedicated SLOVAKIA 63 to the necessity of an integration of Central Europe. The author speaks mainly of the dangers which threaten the countries of Central Europe. Two forces want to dominate these territories at all costs: Pan-Germanism and PanSlavism. The first wants German domination, and the second, Russian domination. But Kirschbaum points out that it is not a question of Hitler's Germany, nor a Stalinist Russia, but a general historical tendency of these two states toward expansion. To conquer or put these tendencies to sleep, there would be no better remedy than a union of the peoples of Central Europe even under a simple federal form. Wilth regards to this •p oint of view, the peace treaties which followed the second World War were particularly injurious in the sense that they served no other purpose but to put the peoples against one another. One single example which was particulaTly marked: Czecho-Slovakia was reconstructed while the major part of the population, t he Czechs and the Slovaks did not wish it. If these two peoples had ·b een united in 1918 by a federation, this union would have been sanctioned, in the years which followed, the defense of liberty and democracy. But the corutrary was achieved so as to throw them as prey to dictatorial ambitions. The powers which dictated the peace treaties had followed the principle: divide et impera. But another power made profit of rt:he division. According to Kirschbaum, the states of Central Europe were opposed to dictatorial ideas as much in 1938 as in 1945. But ·b eing divided, they were unable to press their opinions and oppose dictatorships. I must refer once more to Kirschbaum when I affirm that the union of 1the peoples of Central Europe would have been profifable not only to themselves, but also to all of Europe and to the peace of the world. One must not forget that iboth World Wars originated in Central Eu.rope. Kirschbaum affirms (and he seems 1to be right not only in appearance but when studying reality closely) that as long as an impregnable wall shall exist ,b etween Germany and Russia, there shall be neither order nor peace in Central Europe. This troubled situation in that corner of 64 SLOVAKIA the world means trouble for the entire world. According to Kirschbaum the only way ,to prevent a new aggression is to realize a federation of these territories. And the way matters stand presently, peace shall not reign in Europe as long as half of its people are suffering under the Soviet yoke. Even though I am not in full accord wi!th all of the author's views, in panticular with the project of the federation to be realized, I must say that I agree with him fully on the principle. At the moment the rest is unimportant. What is now important is to communicate to the peoples on the other side of the Iron Curtain, the faith of their union. It is a difficult but necessary task, because from an ideological point of view they find themselves under a complete anarchy: on one side 1they see the complete unification imposed by the Kremlin and, on the other, they have a tendency to reject any federal idea because they are unable to see how to realize it. Evirdently refugees from the countries behind the Iron Curtain are persuaded by the necessity of a federation perhaps more easily than men who have always known freedom. But the refugees represen/t only a small fraction of the population of Central and Oriental Europe. Behind the Iron Curtain chaos and confusion still reign: there nationalism has lost a great part of its prestige, most certainly. Bwt one cannot conclude and say that supernationalization has gained all the votes. cho-6lovakia by Antonin Novotny, Red Czeeh president. And the a,n.1Ji-stalinist bloc annauniced in Prague that the body of former Ozech President Klement Gottwald will 1:J,e moved ifrom ilts mausoleum in Prague. The body of Gottwald, an old Stallirui:st wlho died ·1ni 1953, will be interred "in the same manner as those of the ot'her leading fighters in the Party," NCJ1Votny decla'I'ed. The Czech Reds are also l!C ll!: ll!: reconsidering ~ e names of streets THE COMIC OPE ~ of "d~ta- antl enter.prises whidh bear the l'inization" bias ·b een staged in Oze- names of Stalin and Gottw•ald. SLOVAKS everywhere in the free world are making preparations to celebrate the 1100th airmiversary of the adrvent of SS. Cyril and Methodlius to Slav•akia, the homeliand of the Slovaks. T•h e Slovalk apostles began their mission in SlCJ1Vakiia in 863. The year 1963 will fo·c us the limelight of hlistory on the Christian character of the Slovak nation. The first Ohristilan church was bu't'Dt 1oi Nitra in 830. 1  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Difficult But Hopeful Federation Description An account of the resource Georges Kallay Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 61-64 editor explains in introduction titled "European Federalists Welcome Kirschbaum's Book" that article is a translation from French originally printed in Bulletin Européen (European Bulletin), Jan.-Feb. 1961 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kallay, Georges Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/91bb2073abb8b07e12abe6e46955f225.pdf c706ea730e4f553db7404252c785bb38 PDF Text Text 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the �SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the �24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also �SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: �26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 �28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. �SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- �30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica �31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the �32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. �SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. �34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- �SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. �36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole �SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- �38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- �SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). �40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• �SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of �42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) . � 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the �SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the �24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also �SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: �26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 �28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. �SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- �30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica �31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the �32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. �SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. �34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- �SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. �36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole �SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- �38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- �SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). �40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• �SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of �42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) . � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 22 SLOVAKIA MISCONCEPTIONS OF AMERICAN SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK LITERATURE J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. I American Slavists and Slovak Literature For the past two decades we have witnessed in America a fast growing interest in the Slavic world and Slavic culture. There is hardly a reputaJble American Uniiversi:ty which would not have organired a department of Slavic Studies, and the number of books published on Slavic subjects, as well as the number of periodicals('l) which deal entirely or pa:r,tly with the problems of East Centrial Europe, is without precedent in any other country. '.Dhere are, however, severa'l phenomena in this vast and fast development of Slavic Studies and in books and symposia about the Slavs, which indicate that American Slavic Studies may easily be pushed on a wrong track. American scholarship in this field of Slavic S:udies is predominantly in the hands of scholars, teachers or writers, who came from Europe during or after the Second World War, and who brought with them not only knowledge and a;bi-lities for academic work, but some of them brought also their prejudices, old rivalries, national prides and the nationa,l aspirations of their countries of origin. This is especially true with regard to some former politicians, diplomats, an!d civil servants from Eastern European countries who became teachers, lecturers, and professors at American universities or contrilbutors to periodicals and symposia published by universities. Institutions, books and periodicals deal1ing with Slavic Studies became for some of them new arenas for fighting lost cultural or political battles, for fostering cultural naitionalism or even poHtical chauvinism. They often use university positions or academic periodicals not for spreading objective scholarly knowledge about a very important area of the globe and about several vigorous peoples which represent the Slavic world, but rather try to prevent the SLOVAKIA 23 truth to be known or ignorance and false propaganda to be exposed. This politkal element, though it is less apparent during the last yea-rs, certainly did some harm to American scholarshi,p in the field of Slavic Studies. How far unobjective and unscholarly some writers on Slavic subjeots can become, we can see best by anailyzing the contributions on Slovakia and on Slowk literature to the American symposia and books on Czecho-Slovakia(2). It is true that Slovak Hterature did not achieve a prominence such as some other Slavic literature did, but from various points of view it is an intereslting field for academic research. The history of Slovak literature did not begin in 1844, as some American symposia emphasize, but goes back to the ninth century to the Great Moravian Empire(3). After the collapse of the Great Moravian Empire in the ten'bh century, Slovakia became a part of the Central European cultura,l area in which a:11 peoples (Poles, Slovaks, Magyars, Czechs, Croats, etc.) used the Latin language as their literary medium and began to develop their cultures and literatures in their own vernacular only from the 17th or 18th century, if not later. And so did also the Slovaks, though we can find some literary writings or documents in the Slovak vernacular a long time before, and a Slovak professor at the University of Prague, Vavrinec Benedikti of Nedozery, reproached his Slovak countrymen for neglecting their Slovak language as early as in 1603. We can safely say that Slovakia and Silovak culture developed along the same pattern as the cultures and literatures of a!ll other Cenltra,l European peoples, mainly the Western Slavs, from Humanism to Olassi:cism, Romantism, Realism, and modern literary currents{4). Humanism found an early entry into Slovakia through the University of Bratislava (Academia Istropolitana, founlded in 1645), and through numerous students and professora studying or 'teaching abroad (Bologna, Padova, Prague, Cracow). It giave a meaningful impulse to 'literary production, especiaUy in. homiletic writings. The second university on the Slovak territory, the University of Trnava, founded in 1635, gave a strong impulse to the 24 SLOVAKIA cultural life in Slovakia both in the Latin and Slovak languages, but literary activities were mostly restrided to religion, history, geogrnphy, ma!thematics and jurisprudence(5). It was not before 1750 that a volume of original verses in the Slovak vernacufar was composed and published by Hugolin Gavlovic (1712-1787)). The first translation of the Bible was accomplished in 1756; the first LatinSlovak dictionary appeared in 1763; religious hymns were com posed by Jan Silvan in 1536 ; amd the first collection of religious songs, containing 227 iitems in the Slovak vernacu'lar, was published in the Cantus Catholici in 1655. Between this period and the date when the first novel in Slovak language appeared in 1783, there was more than a score of Slova,k scho'lars and writers who wrote grammars (V. Benedicti, D. Kriman), historical and apologetic works (D. Jacobeaus, D. Synapius Horcicka, J. Piscatoris Fischer, M. Szentivany, J. B. Magin, Samuel Timon, M. Bel, J. Severini, J. Fandly A. F. Kollar, etc) anld who defended in Latin 'the Slovak people,. its right to its own national life and nationail language, and developed also several theories on the past and origin of Slavs, on Slovak culture and the continuity of Slovakia with Great Moravia. The era of Enlightenment brought a general revival of national culture in Slovakia. The Protestants still used t he btblical Czech language also in secu[ar writings (besides German), but the Catholic Slovaks, abandoning Latin since the beginning of the Counter-Reformation, passed to 1:Jhe exclusive use of the Slovak vernacular, codified befor the end of the 18th century by Anton Bernolak in several scholarly works. Thus literature in the Slovak language was created continuously from the 17th century and produced, before the period of Romanticism, over 100 writers in Bernolak's school alone, among them the poet Jan Holly, whose genius according to many literary historians, was not surpassed by any Slovak poet except P. 0. Hviezdoslav in the 20th century. From the 18th century, Classicism, Romanticism, Realism, Symbolism, and aM dther literary currents which appeared in the European literatures, were represented also SLOVAKIA 23 in Slovakia more or less in the same way as in other Slavic countrie s. Similar to other Slavic literatur es is also the dErvelopment under the impact of Soviet literatur e and Marxist theories on literary history(6 ). Despite the fact that this develop ment was for a long time scholarl y explored and support ed by a score of works in Slovak, as well as in foreign languag es, the history of Slovak literatur e has been an object of confuse d nad controversial interpre tations in books and symposi a publishe d by America n Slavis'~s . The best known America n and Canadia n symposi a are in basic disagree ment with this outline of Slovak literary history as we can see from the followin g: 1. Accordi ng to S. H. Thomso n, who in his book "Czechoslova kia in Europea n History" (?) attempt ed to give a fair picture of the Slovak past but was apparen tly misled by his sources, "The Slovaks had no opportu ity to develop (after the disappearance of the Great Moravian Empire in the 10th century ) their own culture, written languag e, political instituti ons or social concepts in any indepen dent way." This situation lasted for nine cen'turie s, accordin g to Prof. Thomso n's views. "A deli-bera te effort to substitute for the written Czech then in use in Slovakia a language based upon a local diailect came from the Ca-tholire camp only in 1790, when Anton Bernola k publishe d a Gramati ca Slavica. " But "about the onlly follower s Bernolak had were Catholic writers, and even among them the vogue for his gramma r and dictiona ry soon died out," writes Prof. Thomso n, stating that the year 1834-1835 is usually given as the date of the rise of written Slovak, although s':rictly speaking , ~tur did not make his first formal declarat ion until 1846." 2. The contribu ,~or to L. I. Strakho vsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies"(B), the Czech writer Otto Radl, gives even a more inaccura te and incompl ete piicture of Slovak literature. On page 491 he writes that "As early as 1635 in Trnava books were still printed in differen t Slovak dialects, more than two hundred years before the introduc tion of Slovak as a separate literary languag e," but three pages. further he sta,tes: 26 SLOVAKIA "While the quantity of Roma,rutrc literature in the Czech lang uage •was growing in Bohemia and Morarvia,, an illllPoritant ch•a nge was taking place in Slovakia. The heretofore common written langua:ge, the Czech, was being replaced by a newly originated Slovak literary la,ruguage. This movement had begun a,t the end of the 1.S'th century ,by the learned Slovak p'hilologist Antonin Bernolak who pufblished sever-al woi,ks in Latin in which he tried to show that the Slovaks were a separate nation and that they should therefor•e use their own distinctive written la,ruguage based on dia'lect spoken in Western Slov>alkia. "Some of the mo·s t important writers• of Slo:vak origin, such as Kollar and Saifariik, were strong1y oppos·ed to this change. . . Opposing them stood siUICh S'lovak writers -as Stur and Hurban .. ... SlOIVak as a ·written language wa·s first introduced Ln, J r8 44." Slovak literatu~e begins for Ra-dl with I'... Stur in 1844, and no literary work or Slovak writer, except Bernonak, Kol,lar and Safarik (the :two later indluded by him in Czech literature) is mentioned in his study dea.Jing with Slovak literature for the periods preceeding Romanticism and Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language. 3. According to R. J. Kerner's "Czechoslovakia"(9) Slovak literature began only in 1845 anld that Slovak renaissance was linked with "what was going on in Bohemia and with the philosophy of Enlightenmen t and the Romanticism of Herder" and "had its center in Bratislava." "Catholic Slovaks under Bernolak tried to create, with indifferent success at the time, a written Slovak dialect," says the book. Trnava is not at all mentioned. KoNar and Safarik are mentioned as Slovaks, hurt placed among the Czech writers. Altogether three S1ovak poets are mentioned (Samo Chaluka, J anko Krar, and Jan Botto) in the whole chapter dealing with the period from the battle of White Mountain (1620) to World War I, and three others (A. Sladkovic (1820-1872), P. 0. Hv:ie~doselav (1849-1921) and Hurban Vajansky (1847-1916) - in the chapter on "Czechoslovak" literature. For the after-war period the book gives four names: Ivan Krasko, Martin Razus, E. B. Lukac, and J. Gregor-Tajov sky. 4. The most recent symposium, V. Busek-N. SpuJber's "Czechoslovakia" Cl-0), did not try to dispel confusion and complete the knowledge on Slovak literature, although the work was published in 1957 by the Mid-European Studies Center and one of the editors, Professor V. Busek, spent many years in Slovakia. SLOVAKIA 27 While the Marxist literary historians produced a book of 320 pages on the older Slovak literature and a bibliography on Bernolak's movement ( 410 pages) shows over 100 writers, Busek-Spulber's symposium has only the fo1lowing to say in the chapter on Czech and Slovak literature: ... "the first attempts were made ~asid,e from earlier sporad'ic venrtures' to esta1blish a distinct Slovak literary language in the last decade of the 1'8th century by Anton Bernolak Cl 76Vlt81t3) who selected the Westenn, Slovak dialects as a basis of the new literary me• dium : his suggestions, not elaJborated Hn-guistically, did not taike permanent hold. "The decisiN"e step towards the estatbHshment of a Sl'orvak lite,rary language was undertaken through the initJiative of the ProteSlttants. Uudovit Stur selected the centra.l Slovak dialect for the Sl.ovak literary medium. Beginning in the 1840's, severa,l poets followed Stur a,n,d used the new literary language with great skHl." Jlt would appear from the above quotations that Amer- ican Slavists will have to revise many of their views and complete their knowledge{l l). It is evident that they generally regarid Slovak literature of the cen'turies preceding Sh'.ir's reform of the S'lovak literary language as not worth much attention. Outstanding figures of Slovak cultural life are eibher unknown or treated as quantite negligea'ble (Bernolak) by contributors to American or Canadian symposia. The periods of Baroque and Enlightenment, in whi~h erudite Slovaks wrote in their mother tongue besides Latin and biblical "Czech", were undoU'bted!ly important s tages in Slovak cultural life and national development. And yet, even the leading fitgures of the Slovak renaissance around Anton Bernolak and the poet Jan Ho'11y are either unknown or greatly underestimated if at all mentioned. Such is also the case with regard to writers and scholars who in previous periods published high:ly interesting works on the origin of Slavs in genera,1, and on the past of 'the Slovaks in particular, as well as on Slavic languages, Slavic culture, and the significance of the Sfavs in European civHization. It has been more or less generally accepted that, for instance, Paul J. Safarik's or John Kollar's Slavic consciousness were awakened by German philosophers during their studies in Jena and that t:he idea of Slavic unity and greatness became known mostly by the merits of Safarik and Kol'lar. In fact, Safarik and Kollar had several pre1 28 SLOVAKIA decessors among Slovak writers and scholars who developed their theories on the origin of the Slavs, on Slavic linguistic and racial unity and the "glorious past" in voluminous Latin works in the 17th and 18th centuries(12), and Jan Holly described the "glorious past" of the Slavs in his great epic works, written in Slovak, much better and with greater poetic talent than Jan Kollar. Safarik wrote his volume of poetry "Muza Tatranska s lyrou slovanskou" (The Tatrean Muse With Slavic Lyra) also a long time before he went to Jena, because the Slovak writers of the 17th and 18th centuries created an a'tmosphere of Slavic patriotism and mutuaiJ.ity in S'lovakia. This will certainly be new to many American Slavists although it is not new .in Slovakia or in some S:lavic and West European works on Slavic literatures. Not only the so-called "nationalist" Slovak scholars published many works and st udies in which they outlined the continuous development of Slovak culture and literature, but also some Americans of Slovak descent tried to acqua..int American scholars with the true picture of Srl ovakia's literary development,(13). Most recently the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians published severa'1 comprehensive works which besides 'their "Marxist interpretation" make an interesting contribution to Slavic studies(14). In aH American symposia from which we have quoted, it is, however, Bernolak's movement which has been presented most superficially and most unobjectively. Contributors to these symposia are in this regard even far behind the "Marxist" literary historians who, forgetting their customary prejudices against Catlholic clergymen, present Bernolak's scho()l and his movement as "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th cent ury," and expressed no doubts about the scholarly merits of Bernolak's linguistic works or Holly's poetic greatness. For this reason we feel that Bernolak's movement dzserves a more detailed ana'lysis in a separate chapter. SLOVAKIA 29 II Bernolak's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature Bernolak's movement is concurrent with the period of Enlightenmen't and represents a final phase of Slovak literary and national renaissance whfoh began in the seventeenth century. This has been recognized even by the Marxist literary historians who state that "the process of linguistic Slovakization in Slovak literature was on the upgrade mainly since the seventeenth century" and that the "nation-forming tendencies in the Slovak language and culture were best expressed in the movement led by Anton Bernolak (1763-1813) especially in his endeavor to raise to the status of a literary language the Western Slovak dialect"(l\5). Berno'lak's movement lasted over 60 years and comprised three genera1tions of writers who in their Slovak or Latin writings expressed comparatively strong Slovak and Slovanic (Slaviic) national consciousness. According to Jaroslav Vlcek, professor at the University of Prague, the literature of Bernolak's school "developed in al'l directions: it had scholarly and popular writers in the field of theology, it had linguists an!d aiuthors of diclJionaries, translators and editors of antiquities, successful popular writers and generous supporters. In Jan Holly the Bernolak school got also its poeta laureatus"(16). And it had also its historians. Vlcek wrote these lines on Bernolak's movement in 1890 and contemporary research proves that he was not overestimating its importance. According to Marxist histori'a ns, ,~he Slovak Learned Society, founded in Trnava in 1792 with numerous branches in Central and Eastern Slovakia, and even outside Slovakia, numlbered in Slovakia alone about 500 registered members, mainly Catholic clergymen, of whom about 100 were active authors and writers(l 7). Among its members and generous supporters was .Mexander Cardinal Rudnay, Primate of Hungary, who besides writing many sermons and translating Cicero into Slovak assisted the Society financially. Professor of theology Canon Jur Palkovic translated the Bible into Slo- 30 SLOVAKIA vak and financed Bernola.k's and Holly's works. Professors of theologic faculties from Ostrihom, Trnava, Nitra, also were members of the Learned Society. P. J. Safa.rik, who later favored a sort of a Slo,v ak lite,r ary language based on a Czech grammar, wrote in his first work, published in 1826~118), regarding Bernola.k's school: "their growing zeal for the development and advancement of Slovak literature cannot be praised enough." And Professor Vlcek wrote in 1890 that "what in literatures of all Slavic peoples appeared as an expression of an awakened national consciousness and nationail indivilduality, it logically appeared also aimong Slovaks. The firslt to express that as a firm literary principle was A. Bernola.k." Bernola.k "was not a literary revolutionary," continues Prof. Vlcek, "but a consequent codifier of what grew and ripened before him over one hundred years in the writings of Catholic Slovaks as a linguistic fact",('19). Of course, Prof. Vlcek does not share the opinion of American symposia stating that "Bernola.k's attempts to est31blish a distinct Slovak literary language were not elaiborated linguistically," or that he tried "with indif.ferent success to create a written Slovak dia~ec't." On the contrary, in his Dejiny literatiiry slovenskej, Prof. Vlcek states that Bernola.k was well acquainted with the work done in the field of linguistics by predecessors such as Matej Bel and Pavel Dolefal, both from the first half of the 18th century, as well as wiith the tendencies of Catholic writers associated with the University of Trnava. There can ha11dly be any doubt that Bernola.k's movement means an important stage in Sfovak cultural and national development. The first manifestation of this new era in the Slovak national life was the publication of Bernola.k's work Disser'tation Philologic<rCritica de Literis Slavorum (1787) in which Bernola.k formulated the principles of the Slovak literary language. His formal directives for the introduction of the Slovak language into literature Bernola.k gave in the same yeair in his work Linguae Slavonicae per Regnum Hungariae Usitatae Compendiosa simul et facilis Orthographia. In 1790 he published in Latin his grammar of the new Slovak Literary language, Gramatica 31 SLOVAKIA Slavica, which later appeared in two German translations; and in 1791 was published his work on the etymology of Slovak words, Ethymologia Vocum Slavicarum. Bernolak's main work Slowar Slovenski, Cesko-Latinsko..:Nemecko-Uherski, was published (1825-1827) after Bernolak's death by Canon Jur Palkovic in six volumes, 530 pp. The work, which reads in English translation "A Dictionary of the Slovak, Czech, Latin, German and Hungarian Tongues," contained also phraseology, etymology and synonyms of the new Slovak literary language. Bernolak's works "gave a stimulus to the development of modern Slovak literature growing up directly from the living sources of the Slovak people," as admitte'd even by Marxist critics, and his movement "was, on the whole, in agreement with similar contemporary trends current among the Ukrainians, the Bulgarians, the Serbs, the Croats and the Slovenes." His "Dissertatio" caused "a revolution in the development of Slovak language," says I. Kotvan, "and at the same time led to a desirable national advancement in the ideo1ogical development of Slovak nationa I consciousness; it also hastened the foundation of the Slovak Learned Society in 1792 which grouped in its ranks all ardent Slovaks, en'l:!husiastic for Slovak culture, social and economic progress and for the political and national fate of Slovakia"(20). 1 Bernolak and the members of hi's Slovak Learned Society, among whom most prominent were Juraj Fandly (1754-1811), Jozef Ignac Bajza (1755-1836), Jan Holly (1785-1849), Juraj Papanek (1738-1802), Juraj Sklenar (1746-1790), .A!lexander Cardinal Rudnay, Canon Jur Palkovic, were faithful adherents of Enlightenment, sincerely attached to the Slovak people and working for its progress. Juraj Fandly was the leading organizer of the Society, author of popular educational writings and editor of a miscellany dealing with the history of the Slovaks (Compendiata Historiae Gentis Slavae - 1793) . J. I. Bajza wrote the first Slovak novel and a col'leotion of Slovak epigrams; J. Papanek is the author of Historia Gentis Slavae - DeRegno Regibusque Slavorum (1780) ; Juraj Sklenar is the 32 SLOVAKIA author of Vetustissimus Magnae Moraviae Situs (1784); Jan Holly is until now the greatest of Slovak poets who alone "created nearly all poetic genres: the epos, the elegy, the ode and the song, and in whose hanlds the cold form of antique poetry had warmth enough to express strongly the modern idea of national consciousness," as stated Prof. Vlcek in 1890. Actually, all writers of Bernolak's school expressed in their works strong national feelings and their views regarding Slavs, Slavic languages and the plaice of the Slavs in the world; this makes of them precursors of Kollar's and Safarik's ideas of Slavdom. Berno1ak himself regarded the Slavs as one nation with one language divided into "dia~ects" which conception was developed by P. J. Safarik in Geschichte der Slawischen Sprache und Literatur nearly 40 years later. In the introdu~tion to his Gramatica Slavica, published in 1790, Bernolak regarded the Slovak vernacular as one of the Sfavic dialects and urged his countrymen to use it as a literary medium in the same way as the Czechs, the Russians, the Croats and Poles used t heir respective vernaculars. Juraj Papanek in his Historia Gentis Slavae, Fandly in his Compendiata Historiae Slavae an'd in his other writings, and Holly in his poetic works, manirfested also fiery Slovak and Slavic consciousness and national feelings, so that we may see in Bernolak's movement not only a connecting link between his school and Safarik's and Kollar's conceptions of Slavdom, but also an organic and close relation with Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language and his nationalist movement. In this respect we can fully agree with the Marxist literc1ry historians that both movements "grew up from the same process, 1'rom the process of formaJtion of the Slovak nation and are but two different phases of Slovak cultural and national development:Q21). Wh:ile Bernolak's linguistic works substantially influenced the final form of Stu.r's reform of the Slovak literary language which accepted many 'linguistic elements, used in all parts of Slovakia only because there existed Bernolak's literary language before, ideologically Stu.r's group was influenced mainly by the epics of Jan Holly, poet laureate of Bernolak's school. SLOVAKIA 33 Stu,r himself acknowledged Holly's dominant influence on the formation of Slovak national ideology and so did until now the " nationalist" as well as the "Marxist" Slovak literary historians(22). Accordtng to Jaroslav Vlcek: "Holly means many things in Slovak literature. He achieved alone wha;t the Czech and the Hungarian poets of classicism worked on a'H togetherC23). For another literary historian "Holly has not been surpassed by any S,l ovak poet, and nowhere else is there to be found such depth of national consciousness and such glory. In crystallized form Holly vigorously enounced the modern idea of nationalism, and this already in the 1800's, and his unsurpassable expression of the national soul has made him and will continue t o make him the grea;test of the Slovak poets"(24). And he is so judged also by contemporary Marxist historians. "Holly is a great poet," says prof. A. Mraz, the main Marxist authority on Slovak literary history, " an:d a cultivated and excellent translator of antique poetry, who synthetized in his works an'tique influences with European Classicism and philosophy of Enlightenmen t. He awakened nationa1 consciousness of his countrymen combining Slavic and Slovak elements in his conception of the Slovak nation. His works prove that even in Bernolak's movement Slavic components were strongly represented. Slovak and Slav unite in harmoneous accord in Holly's ideology"~25). Holly deserves this praise and recognition not only for his own works but also for his masterful transiaJtions from practically all renowned poets from Virgil, Ovid, Theocritus, Horace to Homer. The first volume of his translations was published in 1824, the translation of Virgiil's Aeneid in 1828; these were highly commended even of Jungmann, Safarik and Niederle. After having enriched Slovak literatures by his translations, Holly composed in cfa:ssic mold anld with many overtones of 'bhe antique poetry his three epics in which he proved that his talent and erudition were outstanding and that the new Slovak literary language was rioh and flexible enough for complex poetic creations. At the same time he also demonstrated to the Slovaks and to the out side world thait the Slovak past was great and glorious and that there is, therefore, also a future for the Slovak people. 34 SLOVAKIA To achieve this, Holly created in his poetic works a new national ideology, anchored in the traditions of the Great Moravian Empire and in the cultural achievements of SS. Cyril and Methddius, the founders of Slovanic letters. In 1833 he published his Svatopluk, a heroic epic about the life and glory of the powerf.Ull ruler of Great Moravia, in twelve cantos. In 1835 his Cyrilo-Methodiada, a poetic account of the achievements of the Apostles of Slovaks, was published in Budapest in six cantos, and to complete the ima:ge of a heroic past of his people, Holly crea1~ed also an epic in seven cantos about a mythical forefather of the Slovaks, Slav, and in his Elegies he 'lamented over the desb-uction of the Great Moravian Empire, 'bhe first kingdom of the Slovaks, ruined by treachery, villainy, and perfidy. The national and ideological components of Holly's poetry are strong also in his Odes and Idylles (1835), which, together with his epics, a,wakened to life a new generation that broke with the past not only in linguistic division of Slovaks but also in cultural and political orientation. "At a time," says Mraz, "when the Slovaks mostly felt the need to strengthen their national ideology by historic consciousness, Holly came in a monumenta,1 way with his support." He created by his works not only a Slovak national poetry and ideology, but urging the Slovaks to regard their past with pride he revived the present and encouraged the Slovaks to look to the future with hope. Holly achieved this "w~t:h nothing more than a nonliterary, formless dialect at his disposa[ which he molded and shaped into a rich poetic language." His poetry was not much influenced by European pseudo-Classicism and contemporary Romanticism. He g.r ew up f<rom an antique culture and poetry, and ideologically only he interpreted . the feelings and aspirations of the Slovak people of the period oif Enlightenment and t he f.irst decades of Romanticism. While his contemporary Jan KoHar "wandered on the expansive meadows of Slavdom," Holly devoted his talents to building Slovak national consciousness, culture and ideology which made him a precursor anld: a spiritual leader also for the coming generation of C. Stt'.ir's na- SLOVAKIA 35 tionalist and romantic school. "HoHy's message lived also in the generation to come which refused his classicist forms but creatively clung to his ideological heritage," admits the Marxist literary historian A. Mraz, and adds that "Bernolak's movement triumphed in Holly's achievements and greatness; it found in his works the most creative and ideological culmination"(26). III Marxist Evaluation of Bernolak's Movement Unlike the contributors to American symposia who be1ittled A. Bernolak and his movement, Marxist literary historians write about Bernolak and his followers with high esteem. Although the works of the members of Bernolak's school and his Learned Societies clearly indica!te the tendency to reflect the national struggle and the awakening of a national consciousness among Slovaks - which is in conflict with the "Czechoslovak" tendencies of the Communist party - the Marxist literary historians were allowed to publish scores of books and studies on Bernolak and his movement. Among the first works which dealt with this period in a suvprisingly tolerant way was "A History of Slovak Literature" (Dejiny sfovenskej literatury) by Prof. A. Mraz, who for his services to the present regime in Slovakia was promoted to the rank of an "akademik" (academician). Other valuable works and studies were published by Dr. Imrich Kotvan and Jan Tiibensky, who apparently specializes in this period "ex offo." Kotvan's work Bernolakovci (1948) and Bibliografia Bernolakovcov (Bibliography of Bernolak's School) published in 1957, together with T. Ti'bensky's book J. Papanek-J. SklenarC27), also published in 1957, as well as a series of his stu!dies in periodi'caJs, give the impression that Marxist literary historians try to evaluate Bernolak's movement without the customary prejudice against Catholic writers, and that in many respects :they agree with the views expressed before by the "bourgeois and nationalist" scholars and literary historians (J. Vlcek, J. 36 SLOVAKIA Skultety, S. Krcmery, J. Kacka, A. A . Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, etc.) . This is evident especiaHy in Ti'bensky's controversy with Prof. Wollmann's uncritical deprecation of Bernolak's movement(28), but also in some recen :: studies of Mraz and in the new History of Slovak Literature, compiled by a " coHective" of younger historians under the direction of Prof. M. Pisut. In a comprehensive explanatory note to Kotvan's Bibliography, which on 400 pages gives an interesting picture of Bernolak's movement, we can read that the Marxist scholars "consider the second half of :the eighteenth and the first half od: the nineteenth century, which is the period of Bernolak's activities, "one of the interesting , not yet thoroughly investigated periods forming a milestone in Sfovak history"{29). In the opinion of Prof. A. Mraz, who still remains the main authority in Marxist literary history in Slovakia, Anton Bernolak not only reformed and cddiified the Sfovak literary language and its orthography, but also started a vast national and cultural movement based on a t radition m,ore tJhan a hundred years old. Mraz regards the activity which originated around the Catholic University of Trnava (1635) as a starting point for introducing Slovak vernacular as a literary medium and stresses that the first manifestation of the new era in Slovak national life was the publication of Cantus Catholici by Benedict Szollossi in 1655. "The book Cantus Catholid," says Mraz, "laid the foundation on whioh the language used by Slovak Catholic writers, was formed into an in\dependent Slovak literary language. CrystallizaJtion of the language, which Slovak Catholic writers used during the period of the University of Trnava (1635-1777) , progressed so far in accordance with the spoken language in Western Slovakia that, when Bernolak and his foHowers came, at the end of the 18th century, with the idea of an independent literary language, t hey merely codified, in many respects, a language used and domesticated among the Catholic Slovak writers of the preceding period"(30). Mraz also recognizes Bernolak's merits in the whole SLOVAKIA 37 of Slovak cultural life. "Bernolak did not stop at writing his s,c holarly works," says Mraz. "He used them to push ahead Slovak national and cultural life on new tracks, which he attained by his cu]tural and organizatory activities." According to Tibensky, who made some original research into this period, Bernolak's movement was "the largest organized movement of cultural and national character which existed in Slovakia before the end of the 18th century, and it undoubtedly played a progressive role in the Slovak naJtional development"1(®L). "There is no doubt whatsover," says Tibensky, "that Bernolak's literary language and his movement played a very important role in the Slovak national development. Their importance is far from being sufficiently explored and evaluated. Works published until now are merely the first step to the accomplishment of an imporitant task of Slovak scholarship." There is ndt, so far, much new in the Marxist writings on Bernolak's movement. The Marxist Academy of Sciences is merely compiling the scholaI"ly research which was going on for the last 25-30 years and in which scholars like A. A. Banik, C. Lepacek, S. Jurovsky, V. Gajdos and others, brought to light new manuscripts or additional information. 'Dhe Marxist literary historians, of course, at·tempt to give a new interpretation to what the "bourgeois" scholars said on Slovak literature, language, national consciousness and Slovak national aspirations. "While in the past !the researchers into the origin of Bernolak's movement and especialtly into its literary language considered in the first place ideological elements, for instance, the influence of the Counter-Reformation, the Marxist scholarship," says Ti1bensky, "endeavors to explain the origin of Bernolak's movement and of its literary medium in the context of the entire Slovak social and economic development in given centuries: it takes into account, in the first place, economic and pomico-cultural factors"(32). Ideological influences are considered by Marxist historians as seconldary in the formation of Bernolak's move- 38 SLOVAKIA ment. "The movement is an outstanding manifestation of 'the process of transformation of a feudal Slovak nationality into a modern bourgeois nation," conclu'des Tibensky. In view of this, Bernolak's movement is credited by Marxist historians also with the fact that, as a result of Bernolak's activities, "the process of the formation of the Slovak nation and cu~ture was entering a new stage, determined by the activities of r.. Stur (1815-1856), and by the creation, on the basis of a Central Slovak dialect, of the modern Slovak literary language"{G3). Prof. Eugen Pauliny, who apparently is regarded among contemporary Marxist Slovak phHologists as an authority on the history of the Slovak language, regards Bernolak's period as an important stage in the development of Slovak national life. "Bernolak's language and his conceptions of Slovak national life, conceptions in which his reform originated, mean an important milestone in Slovak nrubional development," says Pauliny in his "Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny" (A History of the Slovak Literary Language). "Bernolak's movement, even if represenlted only by Slovak Catholics, takes Slovak national individuality, in a clear and understandable formulation, as a fact and connects it with the whole of Slavdom in its contemporary as weH as historical context. As a tool of this ideology Bernolak brought his theoretically elaborated and practically tested Slovak literary language," continues Pauliny. According to Pauliny, Bernolak's language was not used only for religious purposes, as some Slavists assert. "There were in Bernolak's school also religious writings, but not of a polemic char8!Cter; they were didactic and, besides them, 'there was religious poetry and theological writings. However, the center of gravity of Bernolak's school lays in vafoable writings for the education of the large masses, and in poetry. Bernolak's language was a well elaborated literary language which the Catholic Slovaks useid for more than a ha:lf century, in fact, officially up to 1851, when unity was achieved in the literary language" (among CaJtholics and Protestants). From the philological point of view, Bernolak's re- SLOVAKIA 39 form was based not only on the language, written and spoken by the educated Slovak strata in Western Slovakia and created in the cultural center of Trnava, but also on the dia'l ect of Bernolak's native province Orava, which belongs to the cenltral Slovak dialectical areas('36). In his contribution to a volume "0 vzajomnych vz€ahov Oechov a Slovakov," published in 1956 by the Slovak Academy of Sciences, Pauliny states: "Bernola:k codified a language which can be traced in the writings of the middle-class, the lower nobility and educated Slovaks back to the 15th century, and this in both Ca!bholic an!d. Protestant writings" (3r7). As for the connection of Bernolak'is school with Stiir's group, Pauliny agrees with the other Marxist literary historians and philologists. Stu.r's reform, which is erroneously presented by some American Slavists as the beginilling of tJhe Slovak literary language (in this respect even Jakobson is wrong), in Pauliny's view, is but a "younger branch of Bernolak's school," and he adds: "In Bernolak's school c,ulminates the older phase of Slovak natio nal diwelopment, but simultaneously it means also the beginning of a new epoch a,nd is very closely connected with the develo;pmen,t of nrutional consciousness of Stur's period. Bernolak''s movement tbuilds upon the feudail Slwak national con\Sdousness of the li8th century, but at the same time this movement enounces and consciously fo11mulates , for the first time, the modem Slovak nation,alism. "We find in the writings of the most important members oif Bernolak's Learned Society, Bernolak, Fandly, J HoMy, a compl~tely different ideology from that of the clergy of t he Gouniter-Uleformation of the 1"7:th and 18th century. It is an ideology of Slowk ,n,ationalism as derined and 11.mderstood by the Enlightenment, and it evci.1ved in bhe writings of the most out.Sitanding members of this group, Fan.dly an'd Jlolly, into the ideology of a modern Slovak nation. Stu.r's group used it as a foundation and developed it int o a mor•e modem conception in accordance with contemporary Euro·p ean ideological trends." 1 • Stur himself admitted this in his "Narecia slovenskuo," writing: "Our Catholic brothers did exactly what we are doing now and intend to do; they desired to a,chieve what we are desiring to achieve; they were concerned in their hearts a:bout the same matter that we cherish in our hearts''(3-8). 40 SLOVAKIA We hardly need any more convincing proof that Sb1r's group considered Bernolak's group as "older co-fighters on the same ideological battlefield," concludes Pauliny. To sum up, we can safely say that Bernolak's work and his school were an important factor in Slovak cultural and lilterary development and as such they deserve more attention and more objective anlaysis by scholars in the field of American Slavic studies. On the other hand, Slovak scholars in the free world have a moral duty to correct the mi,sconceptions which crept into Slavic studies largely because of a lack of English written studies on Slovak culture other than those supplied by Slavists of Czech origin and the works by Slovaks mentioned below. REFERENCE NOTES: '1. Journal of Central European Affairs, University of Colorado, The American Slavic and East European Review, Columbia University Press, The Slavic and East European Journal, Ln<liana UnLversity, Slavic and East European Studies, Un1versity of Montreal, Canadian Slavonic Pape.rs, University of Toronto Press. 2. Besides books edited· by Kerner, Strakhovsky, Busek-Spul1ber, and S. H. Thomson-, there are many misconceptions al-so in works w,rit-ten or edited by Prof. J. S. Rloucek, namely in his Cemral Entern Europe, or Slavonic Encyclopedi·a, by Felix Gross and C. E. BJ.ack. 3. The thesis that Great l\furarvian writings and culture belong to the cu1tural heritage of Slovaks has been sUJpported by both ,n.ationalist and Marxist Slovak literary ,h istorians. Cf. in English Jioseph Skultety: Sketches From Slovak History, Middletown, Pa., 1930, p. 229; J. M. Kirschbaum: Slovakia - Nation At the Crossroads of Cerwtral E·urope; and in the Slovak la,n guage: Dej iny star sei slovenskej literatury by M,axxist historfans (JI. MisianLk, J. Minarik, M. Mich'aloova, A. Melichercilk), Bratislava,, 1008, p. 3120. ,4. Cf. Dmitry Cizevsky: Outline of Comparative Slavic Literatures, AmerLcan Academy of Arts and Scienees, Boston, Mass., 1952; Lvalil J. Krarnoris: Chrono1ogic.al Outline of Slovak Literature and History, Passaic, 1946; Peter P. Yurchak : The SloYaks, J . J. Lach, Pulblications, Whiting, Indiiana•, 1947; J'. M. Kirschlbaum: Slovakia: Nation At the Crossroads of Central E-u rope, p. 35-00. 5. See University Traditions in Slovakia in J. M. · Kirsch:baUJm's op. cit.; and Stephen J. Palickar's Slovakian Culture in the Light of History, The Hampshire Press, Cambrid·ge, Mass., 1954. 6. Cf. Slovak Literature Under the Soviet Impact in The Slavic and East EuT.opean Sltudies, Montreal, 1956, Part I, p. 4>:x54. 7. Published by Princeton University Press, 1943, 390 pp. A critical review from the Slovak poi.n-t of view see in Slovak Review, Vol. I, Nio. 2., by Ivan, J. Kra,rnoris. 8. Published by HarvaTd University Press, Cambridge, Mas•s .• SLOVAKIA 41 1949. Chapter on Slovak linguistics by A. Senn is more in line with scholarly research. 9. Published by University of Oalifornia Press, 1949. A critical review froon the Slovak point df view in quarterly Slovakiia, Middletown, Pa .. , Vol. v,v,r, by Philiip A. Hrobak. 10. P;u!blished by Mid,,European Stu<lies Ce,n,t er of the Free Europe Commi>ttee, Inc., New Yol'k, 1957. The chapter on Slovaik literaiture was wz,iflten by Czech writers H. Kucera and E. lfovtun, who are unknown in Slovak literary history. 'lil. American presentation of Slovak literature is strangely d<iffererut also from European evaluation as ev,i denced in the works: Ernest Denis: Le probleme de l'Autriche-Les Slovaques, Piaris, 1917; A. Fischel: Pa,nslavismus bis zum Weltkrieg, Stuttgart and• Berlin, 191•9; Bruno Meriggi, Storia delle letterature ceca e Slovacca, University of Florence, 195'9. 112. Of. J. J:~obeus: Vii:a Gentis Slavicae, published in '164Q; introduction to B. Szollossi's Cantus Catholici, pu1b li5hed in 16>55; D. Sinapius Horcicka, Neoforum Latino-Slovenicum, 1679; J. Piscatori-sFischer: De origine, inre ac utilitatae linguae slavonicae, pulblished in 1697; J . B. Magin: ·Murices .. sive Apologia, pulblished in 1728; S. Timon: Imago an,t ique Hunga,riae, 11735; J. Papanek: Historia gen•: is slavae, '1'7•80; J. Fandly: Compendiata Historiae Slavae, 17193. 13. See op. cit. by P. P. Yurt:hak, S. J. Palickar, I. J . Kramoris, as well as articles by C. Piotocek ifil; Slovak Review, by Philip A. Hro\bak in Slovakia, by E. Podikrivac!Jcy in Slovakia, Vol. m, 3, a,n d J. Pombsky's book K stemu vyrociu literarnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), abrana Press, Scranlton, 1945, 290 pp. 'l><t. Cf. Prof. A. MTaz: Dejiny slovenskej literatury, S'1ovenska aikademia vied a umeni, Bratisla,va, 1948, Dejin.y star-lei slovenskej litel'a:u,ry, SA V, 1-959, Dejiny slovenskej Literatury, Osveta, Bratislava, 1960; as well as works by I. Kotvan, Jlan 'J1i1bens'ky, etc., quoted farther. 16. Cf. Dr. :Emrich Kotvan: Biblografia Bernolakovcov, Ma·tica sl-ovensika, Martin, 195'7', p. 403-404. 16. Cf. Jarosla;v Vlcek: Dejiny litera,t ury slovenskej, 1st edition, 1,890, second edition by .Miatica slovenska, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1923, p. 27-39, e tc. Prof. V'lcek's work is the first aicademic history of Slo;vak liternture and as such was incomplete. His views were, nevertheless, accepted by ma•n y contemporary histori-ans. Prof. V'lceik was born in Slovakia, but his main work is A History of Czech Literature. As a professor at the University of Prague he changed some of his views in favor of the official "Czechoslovak" thesis. 17. Cf. Dr. Imrich Kotvan, op. cit. p. 403-404. ·1.8. Geschichte der Slaiwischen Sprache und Literatur nach alien Mundar-ten, Offen, 1826, p. 373-300. ·w. Qp. cit. p 32-34. 20. Cf. limrich Kotvan: Bernol·a kovci, Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Trnaiva, 1'948, p. 4. '21. Cf. J·a n T~bensky's inrtrod-uc-tion to I. K,otvan's mbliografia Bernolaklovcov, p. 7-9. 22. Of. J. M. Kirschlbaum: l!udovit Stiur and His Place in the Sliavic World, Slavistica No. 32, Winnipeg, 1956. Alccordfog to M. Pisut, a Marxist expert on Sttir's period, the fina-1 sta•ge of Slovak eMorts to build an independent national culture had its roots in t,he wol'ks· of 42 SLOVAKIA P. J. Safm-ik, Jan Holly, Kollar, a1nd Kuzmar..y. Mraz stresses Holly's significan:Ce in connection wLth Stur's movement. Cf. Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. Medzinarodni sjezd slavisitu v Moskve, Priaha, 1958, p. 3313-345 and 4l2:l-46~. 23. Op. cit. p. 80. 124. Cf. Jioz,ef ~acka: Dejin,y literatury slovenskej, Rufomberok, li92L, pUJblished in English translation by the Nation·al News, Pittsburgh, Pa., '119441, quoted from P. P. Yurchak, op. cit. p. 103Jl.04. '25. Of. his artfole in Ceskoslovenske prednasky pro IV. sjezd sla• vistu v Moskve. 26. ]bidem ,27. Cf. Jian T,ilbensky, J. Papanek-J. Sklenar: Obrancovia slovenskej narodnOS11i v 18. sitoroci, Osveta, Martin, 1958. 28. Of. K problemu hodnotenia bernolactiny a bernolakovskeho hnutia, Historicky cas()fpis, ViJ!I, 4, 1'959, p. 557~576. Tilbensky proves thia,t many views of Prof. WoUma,n n, in his Slovanstvi v ja11:ykovelite• rarnim obro11:eni Slovanu, Praha, 1'!)58, are prejudilced against S<Iovaiks and particularly a•g ainst Catho1ics. 29. Op. cit., p. 403-405. 3'0. Op. cit., p, 416-1108. :n. Historicky casqpis, ViII, 4, 574. 32. B~bUograd'ia bernolakoVICOV, p. 8. 3'3. ]bidem, p. 404. 34. Published: in '19418. 35. Eug,e n Paulin:y: Dejiny spisovnej slovenciny, p . 65. 3·6. ]bLdem, p. 63. 37. p. 111'3. 38. Eugen Pawliny: 0 vzajomnych vzt'ahov Cechov a Slovakov, Slovenska AkadiemLa Vied, Bra1t;islav,a, 1956; pp. 1)1.3, 11115. 3•9. Among periodicals pulblished •b y Universities it is only the Slavic and Ea·Slt European Studies (University of Miontreal, Quebec, Canada) which sy,steana:tically comments Slovalk literary and cultur,al topics in an objective mar.iner. ANONYMOUS LETTERS, wri.tten, to Red leader,s in Slo,vak,ia, are causing some concern to tihe regime. 'I1he Bra1tiislav,a RJadii,o recently reminded its listeners that writers of .s uch le•uters, if revealed, ar,e in for stiff filnes and long jail sentences. T·he reaction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the collaborators of Red Prague. • • • IN THIE WOR<KERS' PAR.4.DISE, according to Radio Bratisfava: SI,ovakiia is behind in its milk quota 6,600,666 liiters (4'18-61,); the Trebisov district owes !!he S<tate 1,0815,000 lirter,s of milk this year (,3Jl0,6l'; Dolny Kubin, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did n-Olt produce even a deciliter per COIW (3-9-61); in Braltislav,a (S.tiree't of the Defenders of Peace) women waited for meat from 2:00 to 6:3,0 p. m. (3~20.,61); there is a· great abUJnd'ance o:f feed for cattle and calves, 'but it's all r,ot,ten; the people work the ·farms, but ste,al over haif the prodootion (~20-GL); we have no tires, 'i>ut why,? I heard the explanation that t he reason, for this is the war in Lao-s (2-0.11,61 1) .  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Misconceptions of American Slavists About Slovak Literature Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D.<br />Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961<br />pp. 22-42<br /><ol type="I"><li>American Slavists and Slovak Literature</li> <li>Bernolák's Movement and Its Importance In Slovak Literature</li> <li>Marxist Evaluation of Bernolák's Movement</li> </ol> Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/15031c10663fc3f090a16d5383329955.pdf 031657d391a1e38901fafc0f4f842c2a PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 65 Castles of Slovakia: KREMNICA BY HUBERT MACKO, O.S.B. Rome was built on ,seive:n hiHs. Kremnica is situated in a valley surrounded by seiven hills and is cal•led .t he "queen of the mining cities," 1because of its gold and silver mines. The city has a mint, a Franciscan monastery, dating ba:clk to. the 1'7th century, and the famous fortress which is still in fair state of preservation. The history of the fortress is the history of the town of Kxemnica. It was built to jprotect the town and its gold and si!Jver mines. When the fortress was bui1lrt, no one can say. Some historians claim that the fortress dates from the time of the Romans, others say the Goths built it. But this we do know: in the time of King Charles Robert, in the year 1328, the fortress was important. Some historians claim that Kremnica was of Slovalk origin, built therefoTe in the 9th or 10th century. They ·b ase theiT claim on the name itself, whkh is deri1ved from the word "kremeii," meaning .flint or quartz. ln old documents, Kremnica is designated by V1arious names: Cremnychlbana, Cremnyc'Z, Kremnica, Cremnich, Cremic, Keormeocz and Cremnicha. The fortress, aside from protecting the town and the gold mines, also contained the mint, which made the money for twelve countries. It is difficult to believe, but there are no records either albout the town of Kremnioa or the fortress for about a hundred years, from about 1339 to the death of King ALbert in 1439. It has been estalblished, hoM1e1Ver, that at the dawn of the 15th century, after the death of Jan ~izka, Hussite armies began their depradations in Slovalkia. One :part of the army came through Poland as fa,r as Spis, thence through Liptov to Turciansky Svaty Martin, which was burned to the ground, thence toward Tekov and Kremnica. It i:s the opinion of many historians that Kremnioa was besieged •b y this arnny. However, there are no historical documents to support this claim. �66 SLOVAKIA After the death of King Albert (1439) his widow Elizaibeth, g3/Ve ibirth to a son, Ladislaiv V., caUed the ''Posthumous", whom only one part of the country acknowledged as king. He was crowned king, but the other faction acknowledged the Polish King Ladislav as king. Ladislav's chief supporter was Jan Hunady. It is understandalble that great confusion per:vaded the country with. two existing kings and two opposing armies. The widowed queen ElizaJbeth, to def'end the rights of her son, enlisted the support of the Hussite leader; John. Jiskra of Brandys. The importaint mining towns backed Elizalbeth's son; among these W8$ Kremnica. Jiskra was a great military leader and in a short time many towns and fortresses in Gerner county fell before his victorious army and pledged allegiance to young King Ladislav. Hasko of Schellendorf, the right hand man of Jislkra, became the caiptain in Kremnica. In the year 1442 the army orf Jan Hunady's •u nder the leadership of the hunter...bishop Simon Rozgon, laid siege to Kremnica. For four weeks the soldiers pillaged the neighiboring towns. When news reached Simon Rozgon that John Jiskra was hastening to help Kremnica, the hunter-bishop withdrew his army. Then in 1451, Hunady himself led an army against Kremnica, but he was no match for Jiskra and had to withdraw. In 1455 King Mathias Corvin made peace with Jiskra, and Kremnica beoome the property of the crown. After the death of King Louis IT. in the historic battle of Mohac, Kremnica became the property of Queen Mary. When she died Kremnica passed into the possession of her brother, Ferdinand I, exchequer of the king. Between the yeara 1528 and 1533 Kremnica was the scene of many 1battles. It was during those turbulent times that ibands of predatory ik,n ights were born. Raiphael Podmanicky and Mathias Baso attacked the gold city and stole much of its gold. To protect itself and its .gold, a meetin!g was called of the lords of all the suTTOunding fortresses, on October 4, 1537, where it was decided to outfit an army of 700 men. King Ferdinand I wais asked to .gilV'e his consent and to appoint a commander, 'but he �SLOVAKIA 67 saiw a threat to the cro!Wil from such a pooling of forces. He neither consented nor did he appoint a commander, leaving Kremnica to defend itself as best it could, which it prOm1ptly did by fortifying not only the fortress, but the town as well. H01Wever, in the year 1560 a fire destroyed much of the to1WI1 and the fortress. The fire was so hot that the very bells in the towers of the fortress and the canon on the walls melted like wax. The buHd.ing housing the airchi,ves ,w as destroyed completely. It took a long time and much effort to rebuild the town and the fortress. Du:rfag the Turkish invasion both the town and the fortress were besieged, but neiver taken. In 1604 Stefan Bockay besieged the town, succeeded in entering and burning pa;rt off it, but the fortre.ss proved impregnable. Since Bockay was a great menace to Kremnica, the town offered him 4000 pieces of gold to sign a treaty, which he accepted. In 1620 fortress Kremnica joined with Gabriel Bethlen, and in 1622 capitulated to King Ferdinand II. During Veselini's uprising in the neighboring fortress of Muran against King Leopold, the master of fortress Kremnica and the townspeople were accused by archbishop Juraj Szelepcsenyi of partisanship. Many were taken to Bratislava, tried, and convicted. Kremn!ica suffered much from fire.s. Besides the fires already mentioned, there were four other major fires: in 1690, 1707, 1716, and 1777. As the science of warfare became perfected fortress Kremnica lost much of its defense value foo- the town and consequently was left to the elements. However, even today a great deal of the fortress remains. It is one of the proud possessions of the town. Amidst its ruins there WatS until recently a chapel and a library of the Franciscan Fathers, connecting with the monastery itself. It is noteworthy to state that peacocks were a1ways raised in the fortress firom the time when one of them sounded the alwrm during the Turldsh invasion thus frustrating a sneak attack and :perh3lPS disaster, something akin to the geese of Rome, frustrating the attacks of the Gauls upon the capital of the Roman Empire. � SLOVAKIA 65 Castles of Slovakia: KREMNICA BY HUBERT MACKO, O.S.B. Rome was built on ,seive:n hiHs. Kremnica is situated in a valley surrounded by seiven hills and is cal•led .t he "queen of the mining cities," 1because of its gold and silver mines. The city has a mint, a Franciscan monastery, dating ba:clk to. the 1'7th century, and the famous fortress which is still in fair state of preservation. The history of the fortress is the history of the town of Kxemnica. It was built to jprotect the town and its gold and si!Jver mines. When the fortress was bui1lrt, no one can say. Some historians claim that the fortress dates from the time of the Romans, others say the Goths built it. But this we do know: in the time of King Charles Robert, in the year 1328, the fortress was important. Some historians claim that Kremnica was of Slovalk origin, built therefoTe in the 9th or 10th century. They ·b ase theiT claim on the name itself, whkh is deri1ved from the word "kremeii," meaning .flint or quartz. ln old documents, Kremnica is designated by V1arious names: Cremnychlbana, Cremnyc'Z, Kremnica, Cremnich, Cremic, Keormeocz and Cremnicha. The fortress, aside from protecting the town and the gold mines, also contained the mint, which made the money for twelve countries. It is difficult to believe, but there are no records either albout the town of Kremnioa or the fortress for about a hundred years, from about 1339 to the death of King ALbert in 1439. It has been estalblished, hoM1e1Ver, that at the dawn of the 15th century, after the death of Jan ~izka, Hussite armies began their depradations in Slovalkia. One :part of the army came through Poland as fa,r as Spis, thence through Liptov to Turciansky Svaty Martin, which was burned to the ground, thence toward Tekov and Kremnica. It i:s the opinion of many historians that Kremnioa was besieged •b y this arnny. However, there are no historical documents to support this claim. �66 SLOVAKIA After the death of King Albert (1439) his widow Elizaibeth, g3/Ve ibirth to a son, Ladislaiv V., caUed the ''Posthumous", whom only one part of the country acknowledged as king. He was crowned king, but the other faction acknowledged the Polish King Ladislav as king. Ladislav's chief supporter was Jan Hunady. It is understandalble that great confusion per:vaded the country with. two existing kings and two opposing armies. The widowed queen ElizaJbeth, to def'end the rights of her son, enlisted the support of the Hussite leader; John. Jiskra of Brandys. The importaint mining towns backed Elizalbeth's son; among these W8$ Kremnica. Jiskra was a great military leader and in a short time many towns and fortresses in Gerner county fell before his victorious army and pledged allegiance to young King Ladislav. Hasko of Schellendorf, the right hand man of Jislkra, became the caiptain in Kremnica. In the year 1442 the army orf Jan Hunady's •u nder the leadership of the hunter...bishop Simon Rozgon, laid siege to Kremnica. For four weeks the soldiers pillaged the neighiboring towns. When news reached Simon Rozgon that John Jiskra was hastening to help Kremnica, the hunter-bishop withdrew his army. Then in 1451, Hunady himself led an army against Kremnica, but he was no match for Jiskra and had to withdraw. In 1455 King Mathias Corvin made peace with Jiskra, and Kremnica beoome the property of the crown. After the death of King Louis IT. in the historic battle of Mohac, Kremnica became the property of Queen Mary. When she died Kremnica passed into the possession of her brother, Ferdinand I, exchequer of the king. Between the yeara 1528 and 1533 Kremnica was the scene of many 1battles. It was during those turbulent times that ibands of predatory ik,n ights were born. Raiphael Podmanicky and Mathias Baso attacked the gold city and stole much of its gold. To protect itself and its .gold, a meetin!g was called of the lords of all the suTTOunding fortresses, on October 4, 1537, where it was decided to outfit an army of 700 men. King Ferdinand I wais asked to .gilV'e his consent and to appoint a commander, 'but he �SLOVAKIA 67 saiw a threat to the cro!Wil from such a pooling of forces. He neither consented nor did he appoint a commander, leaving Kremnica to defend itself as best it could, which it prOm1ptly did by fortifying not only the fortress, but the town as well. H01Wever, in the year 1560 a fire destroyed much of the to1WI1 and the fortress. The fire was so hot that the very bells in the towers of the fortress and the canon on the walls melted like wax. The buHd.ing housing the airchi,ves ,w as destroyed completely. It took a long time and much effort to rebuild the town and the fortress. Du:rfag the Turkish invasion both the town and the fortress were besieged, but neiver taken. In 1604 Stefan Bockay besieged the town, succeeded in entering and burning pa;rt off it, but the fortre.ss proved impregnable. Since Bockay was a great menace to Kremnica, the town offered him 4000 pieces of gold to sign a treaty, which he accepted. In 1620 fortress Kremnica joined with Gabriel Bethlen, and in 1622 capitulated to King Ferdinand II. During Veselini's uprising in the neighboring fortress of Muran against King Leopold, the master of fortress Kremnica and the townspeople were accused by archbishop Juraj Szelepcsenyi of partisanship. Many were taken to Bratislava, tried, and convicted. Kremn!ica suffered much from fire.s. Besides the fires already mentioned, there were four other major fires: in 1690, 1707, 1716, and 1777. As the science of warfare became perfected fortress Kremnica lost much of its defense value foo- the town and consequently was left to the elements. However, even today a great deal of the fortress remains. It is one of the proud possessions of the town. Amidst its ruins there WatS until recently a chapel and a library of the Franciscan Fathers, connecting with the monastery itself. It is noteworthy to state that peacocks were a1ways raised in the fortress firom the time when one of them sounded the alwrm during the Turldsh invasion thus frustrating a sneak attack and :perh3lPS disaster, something akin to the geese of Rome, frustrating the attacks of the Gauls upon the capital of the Roman Empire. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 65 Castles of Slovakia: KREMNICA BY HUBERT MACKO, O.S.B. Rome was built on ,seive:n hiHs. Kremnica is situated in a valley surrounded by seiven hills and is cal•led .t he "queen of the mining cities," 1because of its gold and silver mines. The city has a mint, a Franciscan monastery, dating ba:clk to. the 1'7th century, and the famous fortress which is still in fair state of preservation. The history of the fortress is the history of the town of Kxemnica. It was built to jprotect the town and its gold and si!Jver mines. When the fortress was bui1lrt, no one can say. Some historians claim that the fortress dates from the time of the Romans, others say the Goths built it. But this we do know: in the time of King Charles Robert, in the year 1328, the fortress was important. Some historians claim that Kremnica was of Slovalk origin, built therefoTe in the 9th or 10th century. They ·b ase theiT claim on the name itself, whkh is deri1ved from the word "kremeii," meaning .flint or quartz. ln old documents, Kremnica is designated by V1arious names: Cremnychlbana, Cremnyc'Z, Kremnica, Cremnich, Cremic, Keormeocz and Cremnicha. The fortress, aside from protecting the town and the gold mines, also contained the mint, which made the money for twelve countries. It is difficult to believe, but there are no records either albout the town of Kremnioa or the fortress for about a hundred years, from about 1339 to the death of King ALbert in 1439. It has been estalblished, hoM1e1Ver, that at the dawn of the 15th century, after the death of Jan ~izka, Hussite armies began their depradations in Slovalkia. One :part of the army came through Poland as fa,r as Spis, thence through Liptov to Turciansky Svaty Martin, which was burned to the ground, thence toward Tekov and Kremnica. It i:s the opinion of many historians that Kremnioa was besieged •b y this arnny. However, there are no historical documents to support this claim. 66 SLOVAKIA After the death of King Albert (1439) his widow Elizaibeth, g3/Ve ibirth to a son, Ladislaiv V., caUed the ''Posthumous", whom only one part of the country acknowledged as king. He was crowned king, but the other faction acknowledged the Polish King Ladislav as king. Ladislav's chief supporter was Jan Hunady. It is understandalble that great confusion per:vaded the country with. two existing kings and two opposing armies. The widowed queen ElizaJbeth, to def'end the rights of her son, enlisted the support of the Hussite leader; John. Jiskra of Brandys. The importaint mining towns backed Elizalbeth's son; among these W8$ Kremnica. Jiskra was a great military leader and in a short time many towns and fortresses in Gerner county fell before his victorious army and pledged allegiance to young King Ladislav. Hasko of Schellendorf, the right hand man of Jislkra, became the caiptain in Kremnica. In the year 1442 the army orf Jan Hunady's •u nder the leadership of the hunter...bishop Simon Rozgon, laid siege to Kremnica. For four weeks the soldiers pillaged the neighiboring towns. When news reached Simon Rozgon that John Jiskra was hastening to help Kremnica, the hunter-bishop withdrew his army. Then in 1451, Hunady himself led an army against Kremnica, but he was no match for Jiskra and had to withdraw. In 1455 King Mathias Corvin made peace with Jiskra, and Kremnica beoome the property of the crown. After the death of King Louis IT. in the historic battle of Mohac, Kremnica became the property of Queen Mary. When she died Kremnica passed into the possession of her brother, Ferdinand I, exchequer of the king. Between the yeara 1528 and 1533 Kremnica was the scene of many 1battles. It was during those turbulent times that ibands of predatory ik,n ights were born. Raiphael Podmanicky and Mathias Baso attacked the gold city and stole much of its gold. To protect itself and its .gold, a meetin!g was called of the lords of all the suTTOunding fortresses, on October 4, 1537, where it was decided to outfit an army of 700 men. King Ferdinand I wais asked to .gilV'e his consent and to appoint a commander, 'but he SLOVAKIA 67 saiw a threat to the cro!Wil from such a pooling of forces. He neither consented nor did he appoint a commander, leaving Kremnica to defend itself as best it could, which it prOm1ptly did by fortifying not only the fortress, but the town as well. H01Wever, in the year 1560 a fire destroyed much of the to1WI1 and the fortress. The fire was so hot that the very bells in the towers of the fortress and the canon on the walls melted like wax. The buHd.ing housing the airchi,ves ,w as destroyed completely. It took a long time and much effort to rebuild the town and the fortress. Du:rfag the Turkish invasion both the town and the fortress were besieged, but neiver taken. In 1604 Stefan Bockay besieged the town, succeeded in entering and burning pa;rt off it, but the fortre.ss proved impregnable. Since Bockay was a great menace to Kremnica, the town offered him 4000 pieces of gold to sign a treaty, which he accepted. In 1620 fortress Kremnica joined with Gabriel Bethlen, and in 1622 capitulated to King Ferdinand II. During Veselini's uprising in the neighboring fortress of Muran against King Leopold, the master of fortress Kremnica and the townspeople were accused by archbishop Juraj Szelepcsenyi of partisanship. Many were taken to Bratislava, tried, and convicted. Kremn!ica suffered much from fire.s. Besides the fires already mentioned, there were four other major fires: in 1690, 1707, 1716, and 1777. As the science of warfare became perfected fortress Kremnica lost much of its defense value foo- the town and consequently was left to the elements. However, even today a great deal of the fortress remains. It is one of the proud possessions of the town. Amidst its ruins there WatS until recently a chapel and a library of the Franciscan Fathers, connecting with the monastery itself. It is noteworthy to state that peacocks were a1ways raised in the fortress firom the time when one of them sounded the alwrm during the Turldsh invasion thus frustrating a sneak attack and :perh3lPS disaster, something akin to the geese of Rome, frustrating the attacks of the Gauls upon the capital of the Roman Empire.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Castles of Slovakia: Kremnica Description An account of the resource Hubert Macko, O.S.B. Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 65-67 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Macko, Hubert Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 castles name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6cb2f9b2986ac84da51e30d62bea6a32.pdf fc5cf8e5db9e8902cfcca6529f847537 PDF Text Text 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with �56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the � 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- �SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with �56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 54 SLOVAKIA THE FAILURE OF COMMUNIST SCHOOLS By Eberhart Mahnert Red Justice ("Rude Pravo"), official Communist Party mouthpiece for Czecho-Slovakia, recently reported that thirty percent of the students enrolled in Czech and Slovak colleges and universities had to drop out. Only last Septem!ber, however, the same paper had lauded the socialist school system as the most efficacious an1d progressive, giving ,the indiviidual citizen the widest possible benefits by systematic development of his abilities. One month later the same news sheet had to admit the downright failure of the educational set-up it had so lavishly praised. Who is at fault? The teachers, of course, especially those not yet imbued with the "new spirit." A series of political purges is soon to be launched, despite the conspicuous shortage of teachers in Czecho-Slovakia, a situation likewise due to the "cleansing" that followed the Communist power grab. At that time an educational framework which had proved workable for a century and a half was jettisoned in favor of a Soviet-styled imitation. Until 1948 the Czecho-Slova:k school system was based on principles developed during the reign of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and her son Joseph II and found acceptance in the territories of the Danubian Monarchy. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic was careful not to alter this well esta:blished structure, which was the very foundation of the high educational level of the Czech nation. The case was different with the Slovaiks whom the Czechs did not allow to maintain their own schools of higher learning. With the communist putsch the " reactionary" school system was swept aside ; so-called reform measures were inJ:roduced. The entire structure was radically transformed to •duplicate its Soviet original, regardless of whether or not it suited the educational needs of the Czech and Slovak peoples. The new measures a:bolished the former system of five years of primary school, eight years of high school and four to five years of college. They introduced a new system with an eight-gra:de primary school plus an additional three years of secondary school .that were ap- SLOVAKIA 55 proved as an adequate basis for college entrance. Courses in certain subjects were reduced to half their former number, making it possible for a pupil to get a degree in engineering at the age of 19 or 20, where he was previously not ready for graduation until 22 or 23. Subjects that formerly had been given priority were placed un!der the new set-up by intensive courses in political propaganda that stressed Party ideology. During the years 1952 to 1953 a number of schools of technology were founded - today there are seventeen such colleges - many of them with but little more than the -crudest types of la:boratories, technical libraries and the like. Seldom does one find a textbook available; for the most part the students work from so-called scripts which they themselves have compiled. In selecting aspirants for -college preparatory schools and universities, the authorities show preference for children from proletarian homes, a tactic ,that envisages the complete annihilation of the Czech middle class with its high standar!ds of education. Some years ago it became evident that students educated under these new conditions, whose time was also taken up by paramilitary training, Communist Youth Association commitments and Party organization duties, Jagged behind in their studies. Furthermore, several weeks of the year are taken up in so-called "polytechnical training" at unpaid jobs in industry. Small wonder, then, thrut students who lack ability due to their "proletarian" origins, fail to stand the pace. They make up the bulk of the thirty percent forced to throw in the sponge. In 1959 the Czech Communist regime, following the lead of the Soviet school reform of 1959, also introduced new educational measures, the first stage of which will take effect in 1961 at the beginning of the scholastic year. To raise the educational standards of the general public, primary school will be extended from eight to nine years. "Polytechnical training," thus far encouraged only by the Czech Communist Party, will become obligatory, with intensification of paramilitary training. This shake-up of the school system to conform to Communist aims will certainly not· raise the over-all educational level. Today industries that employ "engineers" with 56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource The Failure of Communist Schools Description An account of the resource Eberhart Mahnert Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 54-56 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mahnert, Eberhard Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2c017a6896daf026af8d5ac438d38ef0.pdf f8dbb8f2841770df75e3a36c27f9d70c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 41 SLOVAK.IA AND CENTRAL EUROPE CHARLES MURilN, LL.D., Ph.D. "Slovakia Nation. at the Crossroads of Central Europe" by Jioseph M. Kirs·ch'baum, l.JL.D., Ph.D., 1proif.eS1Soc at the Univ•e rsity of 'Montreal, iDeipartment of Sl<avic Studies. Preif,a ce by U. S. Congressma•n Alvin M. Bentley, Member of the Committee olf Forei.gn A'llfo.irs. Pp. x~:x 3711,; 7'2 dlocumEmts, 2 maips, 22 p'ho,togr-a phs, bilbliography, index. Pulb · + lisher Robert S'pe!Ier and Sons, Inc., Ne<w Yol'k. $5.00. Can a book concerning a small nation of four million behind the Iron Curtain draw the attention of the American and Canadian public at a time when Khrushchev is explodin•g nuclear bombs, Castro is defying the powerful U. S., and the struggle between West and East in Asia, Africa, and Europe is intensifying? The American reader might sigh and say: let bygones be bygones, there are more pressing problems today than the fate of four million Slovaks in the immediate neighborhood of the Soviet Union. Actually this might be the reaction of the man in the street who restricts his interests to what is presented to his sight, to the sensational. Professor Kirschbaum's book is by no means sensational in this sense, since it is written for both the intelligent observer of the international politics and those whose task it is to participate in the shaping of the current international situation which seems to contain an amount of irrational elements to a degree probably never equaled in the period of modern history. Kirschbaum's book is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the premises and origins of the presentday situation, restricted to one of its sections: Central Europe. Genetically this seems to be the most important field though the quantitive aspects of the problems in Asia and Africa overshadow the European problems. The author relates the political history of Slovakia and of Central Europe. The period described, however, happens to be the one which preceded the Soviet hegemony over half of Europe. Thus the book contains excellent material offered to the English reader who wants to trace down the errors of the past and is willing both to learn from past errors and re- �42 SLOVAKIA think the categories of living ideas and for<:es which simultaneously are being shaped by and are shaping this world of ours. The basic service this book renders to the reader is that it shows him to what degree the conceptions of the West in regard to the political organization of one of the neuralgic spots in Europe were dominated by facts and to what degree by fancy. To show the interplay of reality and illusion, the genuine and the phony in the official views of the state departments of the West in regard to Central Europe seems to us to be the aim of the book. Further the author shows to what extent these conceptions contained inherent contradictions and were therefore doomed in the long run. Be it noted that some of the prejudfres discussed in the book represent an inheritance from the postW orld-War I arrangements. The book under discussion is divided in four parts : the first is concerned with the past; the second with the present-past; the third with the present-future; and the fourth contains documents, maps, bibliography, and index. Part I introduces the reader to the topic of the book 1by giving the historical background of the problem. The service rendered by the author in this part of the book is the presentation of the Czech and Magyar historians, who usually treat Slovak history as a peripheral phenomenon of the Czech or Magyar past respectively. The characteristics one can as a rule find in the works of Magyar and Czech writers are the following: (a) Functional approach: the Slovaks are simply denied ethnical, linguistic, cultural, social and political individuality and thus are made part of either the Czech or the Magyar nation; the intelligibility of the Slovak history, if they agree at least to take notice of the fact, comes from without, i.e., from Czech history for a Czech writer, and from Magyar history if the writer is a Magyar. The meaning of Slovak history is seen, still according to these views, in an orientation of Slovaks towards loosing their weak traces of identity and ultimately in melting together with the one or the other nation. �SLOVAKIA 43 (b) For the principle of interpretation of the history of Slovakia (some writers use this term exclusively in a geographical sense) they use concepts upon which the national aspirations and dreams of their own people are based. It is not unusual for them to project a modern concept of the nineteenth and twentieth century to the ninth and tenth century of Slovak history. An interesting observation follows from the use of this method. If a certain conception of man, society and reality is embraced as unconditionally and metaphysically true, this conception and the laws which constitute its explication can be used as the principle of interpretation of each and every man, society, event and situation. This is exactly what Marxists do. Therefore it was no surprise for those acquainted with Marxist philosophy that a book was recently published in Slovakia in which the Great Moravian Empire of the King Svatopluk of the tenth century is interpreted in terms of a class struggle. A similar method is used by some Czech and Magyar historical writers in their interpretation of Slovak history, however, with the difference that the supposedly universally valid laws of the dialectical and historical materialism are replaced by the concepts of the meaning of history (i.e., either Czech or Magyar history), of national destiny, of mission, of glory, of interests, etc. True, the validity of these concepts is not universal; it is restricted to the one or the other nation. But in relation to the Slovak history, they are purposefully given a universal character, because outside of these concepts the history of Slovakia becomes, in the view of these writers, unintelligible, an irrational collection of unrelated facts which might find their interpretation on the level of Nature but never on the level of Spirit. Many conclusions of the historians in question cannot be understood without knowing these tacit or openly avowed premises. Although Professor Kirschbaum raises no claim to be a professional historian, nevertheless, as the author of many historical essays and several biographies and monographies, he has mastered more than sufficiently the material he is dealing with and is in a solid position to give an accurate �SLOVAKIA 44 account on Slovak history, an account based on a sober relativistic character of historical events, thus avoiding the peculiar exclusivities not only of the Czech and Magyar writers, but also of their Slovak antipodes. In Part I , the author shows that the Slovaks belong to the group of the most ancient peoples in Central Europe, they were the first of the Slovanic peoples to adhere to Christianism, always belonged to the orbit .o f the Western world, never were willing to lose and never lost their individuality and ethnical identity. The meaning of all Slovak history can be found only within and never outside the events that make up the drama of the Slovak nation. Part II seems to us to be the central piece of the book. This is the author's proper domain containing the events .of founding the first Czecho-Slovak Republic, the causes of its disintegration, the period of the Slovak Republic, and, finally, the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic .following World War IL By far the greatest attention is given to the period of the Slovak RepU'blic. This is under.standable since it is mainly in this period that the author was active in the political life of Slovakia until ousted from the political scene under pressure of Hitlerite Germans and the small number of Slovak-Nazi sympathizers. Both his 7-year-long stay in neutral Switzerland (for three years as diplomatic representative of the Slovak Republic) and a period of 15-20 years, from the events he describes, permit Professor Kirsch baum to reach a degree of objectivity seldom achieved in books in which the authors touch upon the problems they contributed intrinsically both to .shape and to solve. When a number of the pages is of an apologetic character, not a personal defense of the author is involved but a rejection of the distortions of historical facts and a reproach of not seeing events in their true .light. It is extremely difficult to summarize this part of the book without going into some details and without transgressing the material limits of this reflection. Therefore, we shall restrain ourselves to the essential points which might be of interest to intelligent observers of international politics. 1 �SLOVAKIA 45 Part II begins with a demyth!ing of the legends propagated rubout the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic at the end of World War I. The principle which gave birth to the first Republic was self-determination. President Wilson consented to dismemberment of the ethnical mosaic of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the name of the principle of self-determination, and it was in the name of the same principle that another ethnical mosaic was created, i.e., the Czecho-Slovak Republic. No one of the six ethnical groups included in the new state constituted a simple majority of the population. Therefore, the only admissible structure of the state, even if one does not use anything more than common horse sense, was a federation. The leading statesmen of the Paris Peace Conference somehow sensed this, but did not know the facts clearly enough, and the whole problem became in their eyes one of minor importance. In order that at least one of the ethnical nations might constitute a simple majority in the state, a fusion of the two nations into one was needed. This tour de force on the diplomatic level was achieved by the presentation of the one ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation by Masaryk and Benes. Concerning this illusion of a "Czechoslovak" nation, one can find two contradictory legends. According to the one, the Slovaks joined the first republic willingly, over-eagerly, renouncing their own ethnical identity, and adherence to the new state equaled to merging with the Czech ethnical nation (this is the Czech version). In terms of the second version, the Slovaks were forced, duped or tricked into joining the Czech state (the Magyar version). Now, the truth is that the Slovaks were willing cofounders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and much, possibly too much hope had been placed in the new state. At the same time, however, they were cautious and did not enter the partnership with the Czechs without a written guaranty of their rights which were supposed to secure free and democratic development of their national life (see document No. 2, p. 235-236). The refusal to implement the au- �46 SLOVAKIA tonomy of Slovakia, promised by the Agreement of Pittsburgh of May 30, 1918, and signed by T. G. Masaryk, dominated the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs fer 20 years of the first Republic. Although this unsolved problem of the Republic reflected unfavorably on the military value and strength of the state integrated in a system of alliances headed by France, neither the latter nor any other western government ddsplayed any wisdom to exerting a friendly influence in favor of a solution of this basic problem until it was far too late. When the Sudeten~German problem was used by Hitler as an excuse of attacking Czecho-Slovakia, the lack of internal coherence of the Republic brought an end to the illusion of strength both abroad and within the Republic itself. The Second Czecho-Slovak (post-Munich) Republic, territorially mutilated, vanished from the Central European scene after a brief period of six months. The State was doomed by the very treaties by which it was founded and the Constitution of the Republic of 1920. They were based on too much fantasy and too little facts, too many political illusions and not enough sociological reality. Most of the attention is given by the author to the period of the Slovak Republic, 1939-1945, apparently this being the crux of the problem exposed by Professor Kirschbaum. His thesis, supported by many documents, can be shortly yet fairly resumed as follows: Slovakia, since the dawn of its history, went Westward. The central ideal of modern Slovak political history was and remains the idea of freedom as developed in the West. The right of self-determination of nations is but an insepara•ble aspect of the Western concept of freedom. However, when it comes to the concrete application of the concept of freedom, more than one of the great Western Powers simply ignore or even deny this right to the nations which are unable to support their claim to a free and independent life by physical force. The reasons for this virtual condemnation of some nations to third or fourth grade national existence are �SLOVAKIA 47 usually several: economic interests of powerful friends or weak friends who are to be made powerful; lack of information or much bad information, etc. The claims of Slovaks to a free life hit upon deaf ears. More than that. When the Slovaks made the best of a bad situation which they did not create, objections were raised and they were told: if you keep your freedom ( a difficult freedom in an extremely tense situation, it is true), we shall have to use force to put you back where you were in 1938, or even in 1920 ; but if you renounce your will to a free life, be.have as a good child, we shall spare you. Freedom is something you fight for - and this the Slovaks did. But freedom is also what you legitimately expect to be respected for in a community whose distinctive mark is respect for freedom - and this the Slovaks did not receive. There is no doubt that the West takes freedom seriously, as a mission to mankind, yet when it comes to putting into reality the ideal of freedom, the West remains somehow hesitantly in the abstract and condones situations which make the Western concept of freedom look vague and restricted in its application to some nations only, or even to only a segment of the nations. As a result, the cornerstone of Western society, the gospel of freedom and dignity of man assumes a verbal character that can be ultimately argued away by skillful dialectics even of the materialistic brand. This is the reason why the nations on the verge of making their choice between West and East do not easily recognize the difference between the concrete articulation of the freedom of the West and the steps taken to a systematic enslavement of man and nations by the Communist Marxists. The Slovaks do not have to make their decision, this they have done over eleven hundred years ago. No matter what treatment they receive from the Western Powers, they will remain West.Jbound because they cannot deny their own identity. At this point, the somehow apologetic character of the book turns out to be both a silent and delicate rebuke �48 SLOVAKIA to the Western Powers and an eloquent wavning to present and future policy-ma kers of the West no matter which area of the world they are dealing with. An air of tragedy surround s both the reproach and the warning as the nations enslaved by the Soviets might foreshado w the future destiny of those who still use or a,buse their freedom. In this light the mistakes committe d during the period of the Slovak Republic (some of them bearing the fatality of a natural force) become more understan dable. The author does not confine himself to pointing out the errors to be avoided. He proposes a formula for the future arrangem ent of the Central European area which offers the best chance to secure a sound developm ent of the crossroad s between Eastern and Wes tern Europe. Part III of the book, under the section entitled "For a New Democracy in Central Europe," contains the author's views concernin g the future, shared, we believe, by many. The geopolitical location of the nations in question between Germany and Russia, demands a federalist solution, no matter what the political ideologies of the two great neighbori ng powers happen to be. Only by uniting their forces can the Central European nations secure their freedom. This is beyond the point of discussion and, furthermore, being the only logical solution, it receives a conffrmatur by recent and remote history. The question of internal structure of the Central European Federatio n is a much more delicate and less evident one than its necessity in the field of inter-play of powers. The principle on which the author suggests to reconstruct the Central European area can be called, we think, without being unfair to the author who does not use this term, the principle of regional balance of power. This represent s a realistic implemen tation of the moral claim for freedom, the other point beyond discussion. The principle of regional balance of power takes into considera tion the political and economical deve}opment in the direction to greater units, with the ultimate result of a wo~ld (federated) governme nt to be establishe d in the future. At the same time the principle takes into account, human nature being what it is, that the organizat ion of �SLOVAKIA 49 greater units (e.g., Western Europe, Central Europe, etc.) must be such that they could safeguard the freedom of concerned nations more on the lowest level of the administration than on the level of the Central government, be the latter of regional, continental, or of world-wide character. The strength and efficiency of the Federal Central Government rests ultimately upon the concrete human persons at the bottom (lack of this was the greaitest weakness of the Czecho-Slovak Republic) who are at the same time the foundation and the aim of any government. There always will ar,ise problems among the nations, as there always will be problems among individuals. The point is that the structure of institutions and organizations must be such that it permits to give an adequate and just answer both to the existing problems and to those which may arise. In this regard again the Czecho-Slovak Republic did not meet these requirements, and the political status of 1918, 1938, or of 1945 stands for the Wes tern concept of the Centra1 European area, in that case, this is a desperately backward concept which lags well behind the development. The visible signs of a change in this concept are represented by some very vague promises and semi-official declarations, but on the whole it is rather hard to guess to what extent there really is a change. What Professor Kirschbaum proposes is this: there is and proba1bly there will remain in the foreseeable future a certa1in antagonism ( call it: problem) among the Central European nations, the outcome of a centuries-long historical developement of this area which will not be eliminated over night (even if the night is as dark as the night under Commuruism). In defense of their national ideal some writers and orators resort at times to real living forces shaped by history, but sometimes to political fossils whose symbolic force and imaginative attraction is a matter of the past because they are without any meaning for the man of the second half of the twentieth century. Let us speak a more concrete language. The Masaryk and Benes governments molded their national aspirations to the image of the former Bohemian kings who in a certain period of time happened to be Roman-Germanic em- �50 SLOVAKIA perors who ruled the Central European area. The Hungarian government, on the other hand, claJimed the title of makers and organizers of Central Europe in the restricted sense of the word, because there was a period in which the nations of "Hungaria" actively participated together with the Magyars in constructive work for the common good. The two nations, i.e., the Czechs and the Magyars, possessing roughly an equal potential force, set themselves on a search for a surplus of power which would give them an edge over the power of the respective partner-opponent. Both agreed that Slovakia could represent this hoped for surplus, and, to no one's surprise, political writers "uncovered historical facts which favored either the one or the other conception of Slovak history, with the result of what we called a:bove the functional approach to the past of Slovakia. As a matter of fact, the theory of the surplus value of Slovakia for the Czechs and for the Magyars seemed to have received a confirmation by the political events of the twentieth century. PTior to World War I, when Slovakia was a part of Hungary, the Magyars held a wide edge over the Czechs. When, however , Slovakia joined forces with the Czechs, the latter emerged as the stronger power in the valley of the Danube. The only trouble with these two solutions was that besides being radically unjust, they led to a catastrophy of all the involved nations. There are other theoretical possibilities, i.e., Slovakia as a part of Poland, or as part of the Ukraine or Russia, yet we think that they would not yield better results since they seem to us to be even of a more violent nature than those just mentioned. It follows that the only realistic way to secure a regional balance of power and to safeguard the freedom of all nations in this erea is to recognize Slovakia as one of the national units in the Central Europeon Federation. The more so that only this solution renders justice to the ideal of freedom of nations. Fo:vtunately, the CentTal European nations are begiinning to realize the imperative character of this solution, and there is more than one confirmation of the development in the political thinking of nations under the Communist yoke towards this solution. �SLOVAKIA 51 What is lagging in the most unfortunate way behind this evolution is, e.g., Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America (Canadian and British, Rome and Madrid broadcasts have their Slovak sections) and, it would seem, since these are related to some officials of the U. S. State Department in an unofficial way, that these officials of the State Department are behind recent developments. The fact that the "statesmen," who substantially contributed to the present predicament of Central Europe, find not only willing ears to listen and, but also active support from some official circles of the U. S. is in support of our opinion. Part IV of the book contains a valuable collection of documents, many of them available for the first time to the English reader. This ensemble of documents control the author's affirmation and let the reader see the other side of the medal which, up to now, has been presented to the Western public in a purely functional way. The weakest part of the book is the bibliography. It is extremely summary - some 150 books referred to in the book not being listed. We learned that this regrettable shortcoming in Professor Kirschbaum's book was due to an error with the printers and that it will be corrected in the second edition of the book. RADIO FREIE EUROPE continues its policy of ignoring the rightful demands of the Slovak people a,n d ignoring Americans o,£ Slovak des·c ent and the'ir organizations. Its "Czedhoslovak" desk is sti11 dominated by former Czech National F1ronters, Czech socialists of all shades who co11ialborated with the Czech Reds and Moscow dJUring the Benes-Gottwa~d coalition (1945-lMS). Accordi,n,g to them freedom is for evieryibody except the Slovaks; Czecho.Sl·o vakia and the Czechs must be liberated, but not the Sfovaks. The latter are supposed to be doomed to Czeclh domination eternaUy! What a moclcery of the fundamenml pr,inciples of d,emocracy! IN THE WORKERS' PARADISE, a~ording to Radio Bratislava: Sllova'kia is be-hind in dts milk quota 6,600,000 Lite-rs (4-Jli&-61); thus far the Trelbisov tlistrict owes the State 1,,085,000 liters of milk this year (3-10-61); Dolny Kulbi,n, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did not produce even a deci'liiter per cow (3-9-61); -i n Bratisllava (Street of the De>fende-rs of Peace) women waitetl for meat from 2:00 to 6:30 P. M. (3'-20-61); there is a great albundan:ce of feed for cattle and calves, but it's all rotten-; t!he people work tlhe farim:s, but steal over hallf the production (3-2().,61•); we have no tires, but why? I heard the exiplanlation that the reason for this is the war in Laos (2-U-61.) � SLOVAKIA 41 SLOVAK.IA AND CENTRAL EUROPE CHARLES MURilN, LL.D., Ph.D. "Slovakia Nation. at the Crossroads of Central Europe" by Jioseph M. Kirs·ch'baum, l.JL.D., Ph.D., 1proif.eS1Soc at the Univ•e rsity of 'Montreal, iDeipartment of Sl<avic Studies. Preif,a ce by U. S. Congressma•n Alvin M. Bentley, Member of the Committee olf Forei.gn A'llfo.irs. Pp. x~:x 3711,; 7'2 dlocumEmts, 2 maips, 22 p'ho,togr-a phs, bilbliography, index. Pulb · + lisher Robert S'pe!Ier and Sons, Inc., Ne<w Yol'k. $5.00. Can a book concerning a small nation of four million behind the Iron Curtain draw the attention of the American and Canadian public at a time when Khrushchev is explodin•g nuclear bombs, Castro is defying the powerful U. S., and the struggle between West and East in Asia, Africa, and Europe is intensifying? The American reader might sigh and say: let bygones be bygones, there are more pressing problems today than the fate of four million Slovaks in the immediate neighborhood of the Soviet Union. Actually this might be the reaction of the man in the street who restricts his interests to what is presented to his sight, to the sensational. Professor Kirschbaum's book is by no means sensational in this sense, since it is written for both the intelligent observer of the international politics and those whose task it is to participate in the shaping of the current international situation which seems to contain an amount of irrational elements to a degree probably never equaled in the period of modern history. Kirschbaum's book is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the premises and origins of the presentday situation, restricted to one of its sections: Central Europe. Genetically this seems to be the most important field though the quantitive aspects of the problems in Asia and Africa overshadow the European problems. The author relates the political history of Slovakia and of Central Europe. The period described, however, happens to be the one which preceded the Soviet hegemony over half of Europe. Thus the book contains excellent material offered to the English reader who wants to trace down the errors of the past and is willing both to learn from past errors and re- �42 SLOVAKIA think the categories of living ideas and for<:es which simultaneously are being shaped by and are shaping this world of ours. The basic service this book renders to the reader is that it shows him to what degree the conceptions of the West in regard to the political organization of one of the neuralgic spots in Europe were dominated by facts and to what degree by fancy. To show the interplay of reality and illusion, the genuine and the phony in the official views of the state departments of the West in regard to Central Europe seems to us to be the aim of the book. Further the author shows to what extent these conceptions contained inherent contradictions and were therefore doomed in the long run. Be it noted that some of the prejudfres discussed in the book represent an inheritance from the postW orld-War I arrangements. The book under discussion is divided in four parts : the first is concerned with the past; the second with the present-past; the third with the present-future; and the fourth contains documents, maps, bibliography, and index. Part I introduces the reader to the topic of the book 1by giving the historical background of the problem. The service rendered by the author in this part of the book is the presentation of the Czech and Magyar historians, who usually treat Slovak history as a peripheral phenomenon of the Czech or Magyar past respectively. The characteristics one can as a rule find in the works of Magyar and Czech writers are the following: (a) Functional approach: the Slovaks are simply denied ethnical, linguistic, cultural, social and political individuality and thus are made part of either the Czech or the Magyar nation; the intelligibility of the Slovak history, if they agree at least to take notice of the fact, comes from without, i.e., from Czech history for a Czech writer, and from Magyar history if the writer is a Magyar. The meaning of Slovak history is seen, still according to these views, in an orientation of Slovaks towards loosing their weak traces of identity and ultimately in melting together with the one or the other nation. �SLOVAKIA 43 (b) For the principle of interpretation of the history of Slovakia (some writers use this term exclusively in a geographical sense) they use concepts upon which the national aspirations and dreams of their own people are based. It is not unusual for them to project a modern concept of the nineteenth and twentieth century to the ninth and tenth century of Slovak history. An interesting observation follows from the use of this method. If a certain conception of man, society and reality is embraced as unconditionally and metaphysically true, this conception and the laws which constitute its explication can be used as the principle of interpretation of each and every man, society, event and situation. This is exactly what Marxists do. Therefore it was no surprise for those acquainted with Marxist philosophy that a book was recently published in Slovakia in which the Great Moravian Empire of the King Svatopluk of the tenth century is interpreted in terms of a class struggle. A similar method is used by some Czech and Magyar historical writers in their interpretation of Slovak history, however, with the difference that the supposedly universally valid laws of the dialectical and historical materialism are replaced by the concepts of the meaning of history (i.e., either Czech or Magyar history), of national destiny, of mission, of glory, of interests, etc. True, the validity of these concepts is not universal; it is restricted to the one or the other nation. But in relation to the Slovak history, they are purposefully given a universal character, because outside of these concepts the history of Slovakia becomes, in the view of these writers, unintelligible, an irrational collection of unrelated facts which might find their interpretation on the level of Nature but never on the level of Spirit. Many conclusions of the historians in question cannot be understood without knowing these tacit or openly avowed premises. Although Professor Kirschbaum raises no claim to be a professional historian, nevertheless, as the author of many historical essays and several biographies and monographies, he has mastered more than sufficiently the material he is dealing with and is in a solid position to give an accurate �SLOVAKIA 44 account on Slovak history, an account based on a sober relativistic character of historical events, thus avoiding the peculiar exclusivities not only of the Czech and Magyar writers, but also of their Slovak antipodes. In Part I , the author shows that the Slovaks belong to the group of the most ancient peoples in Central Europe, they were the first of the Slovanic peoples to adhere to Christianism, always belonged to the orbit .o f the Western world, never were willing to lose and never lost their individuality and ethnical identity. The meaning of all Slovak history can be found only within and never outside the events that make up the drama of the Slovak nation. Part II seems to us to be the central piece of the book. This is the author's proper domain containing the events .of founding the first Czecho-Slovak Republic, the causes of its disintegration, the period of the Slovak Republic, and, finally, the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic .following World War IL By far the greatest attention is given to the period of the Slovak RepU'blic. This is under.standable since it is mainly in this period that the author was active in the political life of Slovakia until ousted from the political scene under pressure of Hitlerite Germans and the small number of Slovak-Nazi sympathizers. Both his 7-year-long stay in neutral Switzerland (for three years as diplomatic representative of the Slovak Republic) and a period of 15-20 years, from the events he describes, permit Professor Kirsch baum to reach a degree of objectivity seldom achieved in books in which the authors touch upon the problems they contributed intrinsically both to .shape and to solve. When a number of the pages is of an apologetic character, not a personal defense of the author is involved but a rejection of the distortions of historical facts and a reproach of not seeing events in their true .light. It is extremely difficult to summarize this part of the book without going into some details and without transgressing the material limits of this reflection. Therefore, we shall restrain ourselves to the essential points which might be of interest to intelligent observers of international politics. 1 �SLOVAKIA 45 Part II begins with a demyth!ing of the legends propagated rubout the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic at the end of World War I. The principle which gave birth to the first Republic was self-determination. President Wilson consented to dismemberment of the ethnical mosaic of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the name of the principle of self-determination, and it was in the name of the same principle that another ethnical mosaic was created, i.e., the Czecho-Slovak Republic. No one of the six ethnical groups included in the new state constituted a simple majority of the population. Therefore, the only admissible structure of the state, even if one does not use anything more than common horse sense, was a federation. The leading statesmen of the Paris Peace Conference somehow sensed this, but did not know the facts clearly enough, and the whole problem became in their eyes one of minor importance. In order that at least one of the ethnical nations might constitute a simple majority in the state, a fusion of the two nations into one was needed. This tour de force on the diplomatic level was achieved by the presentation of the one ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation by Masaryk and Benes. Concerning this illusion of a "Czechoslovak" nation, one can find two contradictory legends. According to the one, the Slovaks joined the first republic willingly, over-eagerly, renouncing their own ethnical identity, and adherence to the new state equaled to merging with the Czech ethnical nation (this is the Czech version). In terms of the second version, the Slovaks were forced, duped or tricked into joining the Czech state (the Magyar version). Now, the truth is that the Slovaks were willing cofounders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and much, possibly too much hope had been placed in the new state. At the same time, however, they were cautious and did not enter the partnership with the Czechs without a written guaranty of their rights which were supposed to secure free and democratic development of their national life (see document No. 2, p. 235-236). The refusal to implement the au- �46 SLOVAKIA tonomy of Slovakia, promised by the Agreement of Pittsburgh of May 30, 1918, and signed by T. G. Masaryk, dominated the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs fer 20 years of the first Republic. Although this unsolved problem of the Republic reflected unfavorably on the military value and strength of the state integrated in a system of alliances headed by France, neither the latter nor any other western government ddsplayed any wisdom to exerting a friendly influence in favor of a solution of this basic problem until it was far too late. When the Sudeten~German problem was used by Hitler as an excuse of attacking Czecho-Slovakia, the lack of internal coherence of the Republic brought an end to the illusion of strength both abroad and within the Republic itself. The Second Czecho-Slovak (post-Munich) Republic, territorially mutilated, vanished from the Central European scene after a brief period of six months. The State was doomed by the very treaties by which it was founded and the Constitution of the Republic of 1920. They were based on too much fantasy and too little facts, too many political illusions and not enough sociological reality. Most of the attention is given by the author to the period of the Slovak Republic, 1939-1945, apparently this being the crux of the problem exposed by Professor Kirschbaum. His thesis, supported by many documents, can be shortly yet fairly resumed as follows: Slovakia, since the dawn of its history, went Westward. The central ideal of modern Slovak political history was and remains the idea of freedom as developed in the West. The right of self-determination of nations is but an insepara•ble aspect of the Western concept of freedom. However, when it comes to the concrete application of the concept of freedom, more than one of the great Western Powers simply ignore or even deny this right to the nations which are unable to support their claim to a free and independent life by physical force. The reasons for this virtual condemnation of some nations to third or fourth grade national existence are �SLOVAKIA 47 usually several: economic interests of powerful friends or weak friends who are to be made powerful; lack of information or much bad information, etc. The claims of Slovaks to a free life hit upon deaf ears. More than that. When the Slovaks made the best of a bad situation which they did not create, objections were raised and they were told: if you keep your freedom ( a difficult freedom in an extremely tense situation, it is true), we shall have to use force to put you back where you were in 1938, or even in 1920 ; but if you renounce your will to a free life, be.have as a good child, we shall spare you. Freedom is something you fight for - and this the Slovaks did. But freedom is also what you legitimately expect to be respected for in a community whose distinctive mark is respect for freedom - and this the Slovaks did not receive. There is no doubt that the West takes freedom seriously, as a mission to mankind, yet when it comes to putting into reality the ideal of freedom, the West remains somehow hesitantly in the abstract and condones situations which make the Western concept of freedom look vague and restricted in its application to some nations only, or even to only a segment of the nations. As a result, the cornerstone of Western society, the gospel of freedom and dignity of man assumes a verbal character that can be ultimately argued away by skillful dialectics even of the materialistic brand. This is the reason why the nations on the verge of making their choice between West and East do not easily recognize the difference between the concrete articulation of the freedom of the West and the steps taken to a systematic enslavement of man and nations by the Communist Marxists. The Slovaks do not have to make their decision, this they have done over eleven hundred years ago. No matter what treatment they receive from the Western Powers, they will remain West.Jbound because they cannot deny their own identity. At this point, the somehow apologetic character of the book turns out to be both a silent and delicate rebuke �48 SLOVAKIA to the Western Powers and an eloquent wavning to present and future policy-ma kers of the West no matter which area of the world they are dealing with. An air of tragedy surround s both the reproach and the warning as the nations enslaved by the Soviets might foreshado w the future destiny of those who still use or a,buse their freedom. In this light the mistakes committe d during the period of the Slovak Republic (some of them bearing the fatality of a natural force) become more understan dable. The author does not confine himself to pointing out the errors to be avoided. He proposes a formula for the future arrangem ent of the Central European area which offers the best chance to secure a sound developm ent of the crossroad s between Eastern and Wes tern Europe. Part III of the book, under the section entitled "For a New Democracy in Central Europe," contains the author's views concernin g the future, shared, we believe, by many. The geopolitical location of the nations in question between Germany and Russia, demands a federalist solution, no matter what the political ideologies of the two great neighbori ng powers happen to be. Only by uniting their forces can the Central European nations secure their freedom. This is beyond the point of discussion and, furthermore, being the only logical solution, it receives a conffrmatur by recent and remote history. The question of internal structure of the Central European Federatio n is a much more delicate and less evident one than its necessity in the field of inter-play of powers. The principle on which the author suggests to reconstruct the Central European area can be called, we think, without being unfair to the author who does not use this term, the principle of regional balance of power. This represent s a realistic implemen tation of the moral claim for freedom, the other point beyond discussion. The principle of regional balance of power takes into considera tion the political and economical deve}opment in the direction to greater units, with the ultimate result of a wo~ld (federated) governme nt to be establishe d in the future. At the same time the principle takes into account, human nature being what it is, that the organizat ion of �SLOVAKIA 49 greater units (e.g., Western Europe, Central Europe, etc.) must be such that they could safeguard the freedom of concerned nations more on the lowest level of the administration than on the level of the Central government, be the latter of regional, continental, or of world-wide character. The strength and efficiency of the Federal Central Government rests ultimately upon the concrete human persons at the bottom (lack of this was the greaitest weakness of the Czecho-Slovak Republic) who are at the same time the foundation and the aim of any government. There always will ar,ise problems among the nations, as there always will be problems among individuals. The point is that the structure of institutions and organizations must be such that it permits to give an adequate and just answer both to the existing problems and to those which may arise. In this regard again the Czecho-Slovak Republic did not meet these requirements, and the political status of 1918, 1938, or of 1945 stands for the Wes tern concept of the Centra1 European area, in that case, this is a desperately backward concept which lags well behind the development. The visible signs of a change in this concept are represented by some very vague promises and semi-official declarations, but on the whole it is rather hard to guess to what extent there really is a change. What Professor Kirschbaum proposes is this: there is and proba1bly there will remain in the foreseeable future a certa1in antagonism ( call it: problem) among the Central European nations, the outcome of a centuries-long historical developement of this area which will not be eliminated over night (even if the night is as dark as the night under Commuruism). In defense of their national ideal some writers and orators resort at times to real living forces shaped by history, but sometimes to political fossils whose symbolic force and imaginative attraction is a matter of the past because they are without any meaning for the man of the second half of the twentieth century. Let us speak a more concrete language. The Masaryk and Benes governments molded their national aspirations to the image of the former Bohemian kings who in a certain period of time happened to be Roman-Germanic em- �50 SLOVAKIA perors who ruled the Central European area. The Hungarian government, on the other hand, claJimed the title of makers and organizers of Central Europe in the restricted sense of the word, because there was a period in which the nations of "Hungaria" actively participated together with the Magyars in constructive work for the common good. The two nations, i.e., the Czechs and the Magyars, possessing roughly an equal potential force, set themselves on a search for a surplus of power which would give them an edge over the power of the respective partner-opponent. Both agreed that Slovakia could represent this hoped for surplus, and, to no one's surprise, political writers "uncovered historical facts which favored either the one or the other conception of Slovak history, with the result of what we called a:bove the functional approach to the past of Slovakia. As a matter of fact, the theory of the surplus value of Slovakia for the Czechs and for the Magyars seemed to have received a confirmation by the political events of the twentieth century. PTior to World War I, when Slovakia was a part of Hungary, the Magyars held a wide edge over the Czechs. When, however , Slovakia joined forces with the Czechs, the latter emerged as the stronger power in the valley of the Danube. The only trouble with these two solutions was that besides being radically unjust, they led to a catastrophy of all the involved nations. There are other theoretical possibilities, i.e., Slovakia as a part of Poland, or as part of the Ukraine or Russia, yet we think that they would not yield better results since they seem to us to be even of a more violent nature than those just mentioned. It follows that the only realistic way to secure a regional balance of power and to safeguard the freedom of all nations in this erea is to recognize Slovakia as one of the national units in the Central Europeon Federation. The more so that only this solution renders justice to the ideal of freedom of nations. Fo:vtunately, the CentTal European nations are begiinning to realize the imperative character of this solution, and there is more than one confirmation of the development in the political thinking of nations under the Communist yoke towards this solution. �SLOVAKIA 51 What is lagging in the most unfortunate way behind this evolution is, e.g., Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America (Canadian and British, Rome and Madrid broadcasts have their Slovak sections) and, it would seem, since these are related to some officials of the U. S. State Department in an unofficial way, that these officials of the State Department are behind recent developments. The fact that the "statesmen," who substantially contributed to the present predicament of Central Europe, find not only willing ears to listen and, but also active support from some official circles of the U. S. is in support of our opinion. Part IV of the book contains a valuable collection of documents, many of them available for the first time to the English reader. This ensemble of documents control the author's affirmation and let the reader see the other side of the medal which, up to now, has been presented to the Western public in a purely functional way. The weakest part of the book is the bibliography. It is extremely summary - some 150 books referred to in the book not being listed. We learned that this regrettable shortcoming in Professor Kirschbaum's book was due to an error with the printers and that it will be corrected in the second edition of the book. RADIO FREIE EUROPE continues its policy of ignoring the rightful demands of the Slovak people a,n d ignoring Americans o,£ Slovak des·c ent and the'ir organizations. Its "Czedhoslovak" desk is sti11 dominated by former Czech National F1ronters, Czech socialists of all shades who co11ialborated with the Czech Reds and Moscow dJUring the Benes-Gottwa~d coalition (1945-lMS). Accordi,n,g to them freedom is for evieryibody except the Slovaks; Czecho.Sl·o vakia and the Czechs must be liberated, but not the Sfovaks. The latter are supposed to be doomed to Czeclh domination eternaUy! What a moclcery of the fundamenml pr,inciples of d,emocracy! IN THE WORKERS' PARADISE, a~ording to Radio Bratislava: Sllova'kia is be-hind in dts milk quota 6,600,000 Lite-rs (4-Jli&-61); thus far the Trelbisov tlistrict owes the State 1,,085,000 liters of milk this year (3-10-61); Dolny Kulbi,n, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did not produce even a deci'liiter per cow (3-9-61); -i n Bratisllava (Street of the De>fende-rs of Peace) women waitetl for meat from 2:00 to 6:30 P. M. (3'-20-61); there is a great albundan:ce of feed for cattle and calves, but it's all rotten-; t!he people work tlhe farim:s, but steal over hallf the production (3-2().,61•); we have no tires, but why? I heard the exiplanlation that the reason for this is the war in Laos (2-U-61.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 41 SLOVAK.IA AND CENTRAL EUROPE CHARLES MURilN, LL.D., Ph.D. "Slovakia Nation. at the Crossroads of Central Europe" by Jioseph M. Kirs·ch'baum, l.JL.D., Ph.D., 1proif.eS1Soc at the Univ•e rsity of 'Montreal, iDeipartment of Sl<avic Studies. Preif,a ce by U. S. Congressma•n Alvin M. Bentley, Member of the Committee olf Forei.gn A'llfo.irs. Pp. x~:x 3711,; 7'2 dlocumEmts, 2 maips, 22 p'ho,togr-a phs, bilbliography, index. Pulb · + lisher Robert S'pe!Ier and Sons, Inc., Ne<w Yol'k. $5.00. Can a book concerning a small nation of four million behind the Iron Curtain draw the attention of the American and Canadian public at a time when Khrushchev is explodin•g nuclear bombs, Castro is defying the powerful U. S., and the struggle between West and East in Asia, Africa, and Europe is intensifying? The American reader might sigh and say: let bygones be bygones, there are more pressing problems today than the fate of four million Slovaks in the immediate neighborhood of the Soviet Union. Actually this might be the reaction of the man in the street who restricts his interests to what is presented to his sight, to the sensational. Professor Kirschbaum's book is by no means sensational in this sense, since it is written for both the intelligent observer of the international politics and those whose task it is to participate in the shaping of the current international situation which seems to contain an amount of irrational elements to a degree probably never equaled in the period of modern history. Kirschbaum's book is a valuable contribution to the understanding of the premises and origins of the presentday situation, restricted to one of its sections: Central Europe. Genetically this seems to be the most important field though the quantitive aspects of the problems in Asia and Africa overshadow the European problems. The author relates the political history of Slovakia and of Central Europe. The period described, however, happens to be the one which preceded the Soviet hegemony over half of Europe. Thus the book contains excellent material offered to the English reader who wants to trace down the errors of the past and is willing both to learn from past errors and re- 42 SLOVAKIA think the categories of living ideas and for<:es which simultaneously are being shaped by and are shaping this world of ours. The basic service this book renders to the reader is that it shows him to what degree the conceptions of the West in regard to the political organization of one of the neuralgic spots in Europe were dominated by facts and to what degree by fancy. To show the interplay of reality and illusion, the genuine and the phony in the official views of the state departments of the West in regard to Central Europe seems to us to be the aim of the book. Further the author shows to what extent these conceptions contained inherent contradictions and were therefore doomed in the long run. Be it noted that some of the prejudfres discussed in the book represent an inheritance from the postW orld-War I arrangements. The book under discussion is divided in four parts : the first is concerned with the past; the second with the present-past; the third with the present-future; and the fourth contains documents, maps, bibliography, and index. Part I introduces the reader to the topic of the book 1by giving the historical background of the problem. The service rendered by the author in this part of the book is the presentation of the Czech and Magyar historians, who usually treat Slovak history as a peripheral phenomenon of the Czech or Magyar past respectively. The characteristics one can as a rule find in the works of Magyar and Czech writers are the following: (a) Functional approach: the Slovaks are simply denied ethnical, linguistic, cultural, social and political individuality and thus are made part of either the Czech or the Magyar nation; the intelligibility of the Slovak history, if they agree at least to take notice of the fact, comes from without, i.e., from Czech history for a Czech writer, and from Magyar history if the writer is a Magyar. The meaning of Slovak history is seen, still according to these views, in an orientation of Slovaks towards loosing their weak traces of identity and ultimately in melting together with the one or the other nation. SLOVAKIA 43 (b) For the principle of interpretation of the history of Slovakia (some writers use this term exclusively in a geographical sense) they use concepts upon which the national aspirations and dreams of their own people are based. It is not unusual for them to project a modern concept of the nineteenth and twentieth century to the ninth and tenth century of Slovak history. An interesting observation follows from the use of this method. If a certain conception of man, society and reality is embraced as unconditionally and metaphysically true, this conception and the laws which constitute its explication can be used as the principle of interpretation of each and every man, society, event and situation. This is exactly what Marxists do. Therefore it was no surprise for those acquainted with Marxist philosophy that a book was recently published in Slovakia in which the Great Moravian Empire of the King Svatopluk of the tenth century is interpreted in terms of a class struggle. A similar method is used by some Czech and Magyar historical writers in their interpretation of Slovak history, however, with the difference that the supposedly universally valid laws of the dialectical and historical materialism are replaced by the concepts of the meaning of history (i.e., either Czech or Magyar history), of national destiny, of mission, of glory, of interests, etc. True, the validity of these concepts is not universal; it is restricted to the one or the other nation. But in relation to the Slovak history, they are purposefully given a universal character, because outside of these concepts the history of Slovakia becomes, in the view of these writers, unintelligible, an irrational collection of unrelated facts which might find their interpretation on the level of Nature but never on the level of Spirit. Many conclusions of the historians in question cannot be understood without knowing these tacit or openly avowed premises. Although Professor Kirschbaum raises no claim to be a professional historian, nevertheless, as the author of many historical essays and several biographies and monographies, he has mastered more than sufficiently the material he is dealing with and is in a solid position to give an accurate SLOVAKIA 44 account on Slovak history, an account based on a sober relativistic character of historical events, thus avoiding the peculiar exclusivities not only of the Czech and Magyar writers, but also of their Slovak antipodes. In Part I , the author shows that the Slovaks belong to the group of the most ancient peoples in Central Europe, they were the first of the Slovanic peoples to adhere to Christianism, always belonged to the orbit .o f the Western world, never were willing to lose and never lost their individuality and ethnical identity. The meaning of all Slovak history can be found only within and never outside the events that make up the drama of the Slovak nation. Part II seems to us to be the central piece of the book. This is the author's proper domain containing the events .of founding the first Czecho-Slovak Republic, the causes of its disintegration, the period of the Slovak Republic, and, finally, the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic .following World War IL By far the greatest attention is given to the period of the Slovak RepU'blic. This is under.standable since it is mainly in this period that the author was active in the political life of Slovakia until ousted from the political scene under pressure of Hitlerite Germans and the small number of Slovak-Nazi sympathizers. Both his 7-year-long stay in neutral Switzerland (for three years as diplomatic representative of the Slovak Republic) and a period of 15-20 years, from the events he describes, permit Professor Kirsch baum to reach a degree of objectivity seldom achieved in books in which the authors touch upon the problems they contributed intrinsically both to .shape and to solve. When a number of the pages is of an apologetic character, not a personal defense of the author is involved but a rejection of the distortions of historical facts and a reproach of not seeing events in their true .light. It is extremely difficult to summarize this part of the book without going into some details and without transgressing the material limits of this reflection. Therefore, we shall restrain ourselves to the essential points which might be of interest to intelligent observers of international politics. 1 SLOVAKIA 45 Part II begins with a demyth!ing of the legends propagated rubout the foundation of the Czecho-Slovak Republic at the end of World War I. The principle which gave birth to the first Republic was self-determination. President Wilson consented to dismemberment of the ethnical mosaic of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the name of the principle of self-determination, and it was in the name of the same principle that another ethnical mosaic was created, i.e., the Czecho-Slovak Republic. No one of the six ethnical groups included in the new state constituted a simple majority of the population. Therefore, the only admissible structure of the state, even if one does not use anything more than common horse sense, was a federation. The leading statesmen of the Paris Peace Conference somehow sensed this, but did not know the facts clearly enough, and the whole problem became in their eyes one of minor importance. In order that at least one of the ethnical nations might constitute a simple majority in the state, a fusion of the two nations into one was needed. This tour de force on the diplomatic level was achieved by the presentation of the one ethnic "Czechoslovak" nation by Masaryk and Benes. Concerning this illusion of a "Czechoslovak" nation, one can find two contradictory legends. According to the one, the Slovaks joined the first republic willingly, over-eagerly, renouncing their own ethnical identity, and adherence to the new state equaled to merging with the Czech ethnical nation (this is the Czech version). In terms of the second version, the Slovaks were forced, duped or tricked into joining the Czech state (the Magyar version). Now, the truth is that the Slovaks were willing cofounders of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and much, possibly too much hope had been placed in the new state. At the same time, however, they were cautious and did not enter the partnership with the Czechs without a written guaranty of their rights which were supposed to secure free and democratic development of their national life (see document No. 2, p. 235-236). The refusal to implement the au- 46 SLOVAKIA tonomy of Slovakia, promised by the Agreement of Pittsburgh of May 30, 1918, and signed by T. G. Masaryk, dominated the relations between the Slovaks and Czechs fer 20 years of the first Republic. Although this unsolved problem of the Republic reflected unfavorably on the military value and strength of the state integrated in a system of alliances headed by France, neither the latter nor any other western government ddsplayed any wisdom to exerting a friendly influence in favor of a solution of this basic problem until it was far too late. When the Sudeten~German problem was used by Hitler as an excuse of attacking Czecho-Slovakia, the lack of internal coherence of the Republic brought an end to the illusion of strength both abroad and within the Republic itself. The Second Czecho-Slovak (post-Munich) Republic, territorially mutilated, vanished from the Central European scene after a brief period of six months. The State was doomed by the very treaties by which it was founded and the Constitution of the Republic of 1920. They were based on too much fantasy and too little facts, too many political illusions and not enough sociological reality. Most of the attention is given by the author to the period of the Slovak Republic, 1939-1945, apparently this being the crux of the problem exposed by Professor Kirschbaum. His thesis, supported by many documents, can be shortly yet fairly resumed as follows: Slovakia, since the dawn of its history, went Westward. The central ideal of modern Slovak political history was and remains the idea of freedom as developed in the West. The right of self-determination of nations is but an insepara•ble aspect of the Western concept of freedom. However, when it comes to the concrete application of the concept of freedom, more than one of the great Western Powers simply ignore or even deny this right to the nations which are unable to support their claim to a free and independent life by physical force. The reasons for this virtual condemnation of some nations to third or fourth grade national existence are SLOVAKIA 47 usually several: economic interests of powerful friends or weak friends who are to be made powerful; lack of information or much bad information, etc. The claims of Slovaks to a free life hit upon deaf ears. More than that. When the Slovaks made the best of a bad situation which they did not create, objections were raised and they were told: if you keep your freedom ( a difficult freedom in an extremely tense situation, it is true), we shall have to use force to put you back where you were in 1938, or even in 1920 ; but if you renounce your will to a free life, be.have as a good child, we shall spare you. Freedom is something you fight for - and this the Slovaks did. But freedom is also what you legitimately expect to be respected for in a community whose distinctive mark is respect for freedom - and this the Slovaks did not receive. There is no doubt that the West takes freedom seriously, as a mission to mankind, yet when it comes to putting into reality the ideal of freedom, the West remains somehow hesitantly in the abstract and condones situations which make the Western concept of freedom look vague and restricted in its application to some nations only, or even to only a segment of the nations. As a result, the cornerstone of Western society, the gospel of freedom and dignity of man assumes a verbal character that can be ultimately argued away by skillful dialectics even of the materialistic brand. This is the reason why the nations on the verge of making their choice between West and East do not easily recognize the difference between the concrete articulation of the freedom of the West and the steps taken to a systematic enslavement of man and nations by the Communist Marxists. The Slovaks do not have to make their decision, this they have done over eleven hundred years ago. No matter what treatment they receive from the Western Powers, they will remain West.Jbound because they cannot deny their own identity. At this point, the somehow apologetic character of the book turns out to be both a silent and delicate rebuke 48 SLOVAKIA to the Western Powers and an eloquent wavning to present and future policy-ma kers of the West no matter which area of the world they are dealing with. An air of tragedy surround s both the reproach and the warning as the nations enslaved by the Soviets might foreshado w the future destiny of those who still use or a,buse their freedom. In this light the mistakes committe d during the period of the Slovak Republic (some of them bearing the fatality of a natural force) become more understan dable. The author does not confine himself to pointing out the errors to be avoided. He proposes a formula for the future arrangem ent of the Central European area which offers the best chance to secure a sound developm ent of the crossroad s between Eastern and Wes tern Europe. Part III of the book, under the section entitled "For a New Democracy in Central Europe," contains the author's views concernin g the future, shared, we believe, by many. The geopolitical location of the nations in question between Germany and Russia, demands a federalist solution, no matter what the political ideologies of the two great neighbori ng powers happen to be. Only by uniting their forces can the Central European nations secure their freedom. This is beyond the point of discussion and, furthermore, being the only logical solution, it receives a conffrmatur by recent and remote history. The question of internal structure of the Central European Federatio n is a much more delicate and less evident one than its necessity in the field of inter-play of powers. The principle on which the author suggests to reconstruct the Central European area can be called, we think, without being unfair to the author who does not use this term, the principle of regional balance of power. This represent s a realistic implemen tation of the moral claim for freedom, the other point beyond discussion. The principle of regional balance of power takes into considera tion the political and economical deve}opment in the direction to greater units, with the ultimate result of a wo~ld (federated) governme nt to be establishe d in the future. At the same time the principle takes into account, human nature being what it is, that the organizat ion of SLOVAKIA 49 greater units (e.g., Western Europe, Central Europe, etc.) must be such that they could safeguard the freedom of concerned nations more on the lowest level of the administration than on the level of the Central government, be the latter of regional, continental, or of world-wide character. The strength and efficiency of the Federal Central Government rests ultimately upon the concrete human persons at the bottom (lack of this was the greaitest weakness of the Czecho-Slovak Republic) who are at the same time the foundation and the aim of any government. There always will ar,ise problems among the nations, as there always will be problems among individuals. The point is that the structure of institutions and organizations must be such that it permits to give an adequate and just answer both to the existing problems and to those which may arise. In this regard again the Czecho-Slovak Republic did not meet these requirements, and the political status of 1918, 1938, or of 1945 stands for the Wes tern concept of the Centra1 European area, in that case, this is a desperately backward concept which lags well behind the development. The visible signs of a change in this concept are represented by some very vague promises and semi-official declarations, but on the whole it is rather hard to guess to what extent there really is a change. What Professor Kirschbaum proposes is this: there is and proba1bly there will remain in the foreseeable future a certa1in antagonism ( call it: problem) among the Central European nations, the outcome of a centuries-long historical developement of this area which will not be eliminated over night (even if the night is as dark as the night under Commuruism). In defense of their national ideal some writers and orators resort at times to real living forces shaped by history, but sometimes to political fossils whose symbolic force and imaginative attraction is a matter of the past because they are without any meaning for the man of the second half of the twentieth century. Let us speak a more concrete language. The Masaryk and Benes governments molded their national aspirations to the image of the former Bohemian kings who in a certain period of time happened to be Roman-Germanic em- 50 SLOVAKIA perors who ruled the Central European area. The Hungarian government, on the other hand, claJimed the title of makers and organizers of Central Europe in the restricted sense of the word, because there was a period in which the nations of "Hungaria" actively participated together with the Magyars in constructive work for the common good. The two nations, i.e., the Czechs and the Magyars, possessing roughly an equal potential force, set themselves on a search for a surplus of power which would give them an edge over the power of the respective partner-opponent. Both agreed that Slovakia could represent this hoped for surplus, and, to no one's surprise, political writers "uncovered historical facts which favored either the one or the other conception of Slovak history, with the result of what we called a:bove the functional approach to the past of Slovakia. As a matter of fact, the theory of the surplus value of Slovakia for the Czechs and for the Magyars seemed to have received a confirmation by the political events of the twentieth century. PTior to World War I, when Slovakia was a part of Hungary, the Magyars held a wide edge over the Czechs. When, however , Slovakia joined forces with the Czechs, the latter emerged as the stronger power in the valley of the Danube. The only trouble with these two solutions was that besides being radically unjust, they led to a catastrophy of all the involved nations. There are other theoretical possibilities, i.e., Slovakia as a part of Poland, or as part of the Ukraine or Russia, yet we think that they would not yield better results since they seem to us to be even of a more violent nature than those just mentioned. It follows that the only realistic way to secure a regional balance of power and to safeguard the freedom of all nations in this erea is to recognize Slovakia as one of the national units in the Central Europeon Federation. The more so that only this solution renders justice to the ideal of freedom of nations. Fo:vtunately, the CentTal European nations are begiinning to realize the imperative character of this solution, and there is more than one confirmation of the development in the political thinking of nations under the Communist yoke towards this solution. SLOVAKIA 51 What is lagging in the most unfortunate way behind this evolution is, e.g., Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America (Canadian and British, Rome and Madrid broadcasts have their Slovak sections) and, it would seem, since these are related to some officials of the U. S. State Department in an unofficial way, that these officials of the State Department are behind recent developments. The fact that the "statesmen," who substantially contributed to the present predicament of Central Europe, find not only willing ears to listen and, but also active support from some official circles of the U. S. is in support of our opinion. Part IV of the book contains a valuable collection of documents, many of them available for the first time to the English reader. This ensemble of documents control the author's affirmation and let the reader see the other side of the medal which, up to now, has been presented to the Western public in a purely functional way. The weakest part of the book is the bibliography. It is extremely summary - some 150 books referred to in the book not being listed. We learned that this regrettable shortcoming in Professor Kirschbaum's book was due to an error with the printers and that it will be corrected in the second edition of the book. RADIO FREIE EUROPE continues its policy of ignoring the rightful demands of the Slovak people a,n d ignoring Americans o,£ Slovak des·c ent and the'ir organizations. Its "Czedhoslovak" desk is sti11 dominated by former Czech National F1ronters, Czech socialists of all shades who co11ialborated with the Czech Reds and Moscow dJUring the Benes-Gottwa~d coalition (1945-lMS). Accordi,n,g to them freedom is for evieryibody except the Slovaks; Czecho.Sl·o vakia and the Czechs must be liberated, but not the Sfovaks. The latter are supposed to be doomed to Czeclh domination eternaUy! What a moclcery of the fundamenml pr,inciples of d,emocracy! IN THE WORKERS' PARADISE, a~ording to Radio Bratislava: Sllova'kia is be-hind in dts milk quota 6,600,000 Lite-rs (4-Jli&-61); thus far the Trelbisov tlistrict owes the State 1,,085,000 liters of milk this year (3-10-61); Dolny Kulbi,n, Cadca, Prievidza, and Zilina did not produce even a deci'liiter per cow (3-9-61); -i n Bratisllava (Street of the De>fende-rs of Peace) women waitetl for meat from 2:00 to 6:30 P. M. (3'-20-61); there is a great albundan:ce of feed for cattle and calves, but it's all rotten-; t!he people work tlhe farim:s, but steal over hallf the production (3-2().,61•); we have no tires, but why? I heard the exiplanlation that the reason for this is the war in Laos (2-U-61.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovakia and Central Europe Description An account of the resource Charles Murin, LL.D., Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 41-51 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Murín, Karol, 1913-1998 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/765bc103ba58fb3af349d96c74fafee3.pdf 792c7e0706d68c7f49b1f660b2c03934 PDF Text Text 16 SLOVAKIA HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BY GEORGE N,AGY In his article, which appeared in the September-Decem ber (1960) issue of "SLOVAKIA" entitled "Magyar Exiles and Slovakia," Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum brings up the question why official Hungarian exile circles, notably the Hungarian National Council of New York, are not cooperating w'ith the exiled Slovak independence movement and why several Hungarian "journalists and more or less known diplomats," notably Andrew Gyorgy, Stephen Kertesz, and Stephen Borsody, in their scientific works show a lack of objectively regarding Slovakia and the Slovaks. Before trying to clarify these questions, I have to object to Dr. Kirschbaum's constant use of the expression "Magyar" instead of "Hungarian." While, in the Hungarian language, the terms "Hungaria" and "Hungarian" are unknown, they are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not arbitrarily be replaced in English (French, German, etc.) by the expression "Magyar." To use the word "Hungary" as a geographical term - intending to indicate that historical Hungary against present-day Hungary has been inha!bited not by "Magyars" alone, but by Slovaks, Croatians, and other nationalities, too - might serve as an artificial justification for certain Slovak claims to parts of Hunga11ian history, coat-ofarms, etc., but is both historically wrong and linguistically mistaken, because originally the expression "Hungarian," derived from the words "Onogur," "Ungur," was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (mainly by the Germans) before entering the Danube Basin. Returning now to the questions brought up by Dr. Kirschbaum, I have to deal with the different aspects involved in this problem. First of all, up to now, due to an outdated political misconception supported by legalistic conservatism, the United States Government recognizes Czecho-Slovakia, and, consequently, the Czecho-Slovak, and not the Czech and �SLOVAKIA 17 Slovak exile groups and their organizations only. For this reason, all other exile groups which are recognized by the U. S. Administratio n, including the Hungarian National Council, have to deal with the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" as the only officially recognized representative organization of both Czech and Slovak exile groups. Apart from this fact, it is undeniable that many Hungarian politicians, especially those of the elder generation, considered the Czechs and not the Slovaks as the ones with whom Hungary had to deal in questions regarding relations between Hungary and Czecho~Slovakia. The reason for this attitude is plausible, if we consider the historical developments of the past. Since medieval times, the Czechs played an important part in the history of Central Europe and their influence was often prominent, if not dominant, in directing both external and domestic affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. Then, after the First World War, when Czecho-Slovak ia was born, Benes and Masaryk, who forged the new and unha,ppy order of Central Europe, became de facto dictators of the international affairs of that area. So great was their prestige and their influence in the chancelaries of Western Europe that there was hardly any chance to conduct successful political negotiations in the Danube Basin, and, of course, regarding Czecho-Slovakia, without their participation. In spite of the lessons taught to us by the history of the past forty years, and particularly since 1945, much of the false glory of Benes's political conception is still alive, especially in American official and intellectual circles. The influence of this spirit is felt strongly in many a scientific work written even in recent times and a clear indication of it can be found in the preface of Borsody's book, too. Another reason for the lack of understanding of the Slovak problem is the fact that Slovak national consciousness is of a rather recent or~gin. While Slovak intellectuals cherished the idea of Slovak autonomy long ago and fought later for independence, the broad masses of the people embraced these aspirations fully only after Slovakia did gain its independence in 1939 and made a success of it. There- �18 SLOVAKIA fore, any outsider, who did not follow closely the developments which led to Slovak independence and the astonishing achievements of the Slovak State during its short-lived existence, is naturally inclined to underestimate the effect that these events had on the minds of the Slovak people. Hungarian politicians of that time were mostly too preoccupied with the mounting pressure of international events upon the fate of Hungary itself to devote much of their attention to a thorough study of the developments in Slovakia. Few of them had a chance, as I did, to witness closely what went on beyond Hungary's northern border. It is the duty of the few of us who followed the Slovak independence movement closely to take the initiative and eliminate past misunderstandings. The differences between Slovaks and Hungarians have to be settled between Bratislava and Budapest, without outside interference by Czechs or anybody else. But, as our peoples in our homelands are at present prevented from expressing their free will, it is up to us, exile groups in the Free World, to join forces and to pave the way for a sincere understanding and friendship between our two peoples. I am convinced that our close cooperation in working together for the restoration of Slovak independence could become a key factor in creating a new and healthy political order in the Danube Basin after its liberation from Soviet domination. X X IX X MORE CLARl,FICA1110N N1E1EOEO I fuilly appreciate the effort of Mr. George Nagy, SecretaryGeneral of the Canadian.Jlungarian Federation, to clarify some questions relating to Hungaria1w ~agyar)'5lovak relations. He is, of course, entitled to his opinions. History, however, is - rather should lbe - based on facts. And the fact is that Mlagyar historians, politicians, statesmen, and even religious leaders have thus far preferred either to iglill().fll the Slovaks of both past and present Hungary or to humiliate and vHMy them when re!ferrincg to them rn their writings. Certainly it is a situation that should be corrected. In his attempt to clarify the question r,a,i sed by Dr. Joseph Kirscblbaum, '.Mr. Nagy malres several good points, but i,n several instances, unfortunately, on1y adds to the confusion whioh he attempts to dispel. He objects "to the constant use of the expression 'Magyar' i,nstead of 'Hung•arian', because," he says: "While, in the Hungarian language, the terms 'Hungaria' and 'Hungarian' are unknown, they �19 SLOVAKIA are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not ar:bitrarily 'be replaced in Engli'Sh, (French, German, etc.), by the expression 'M!a,gy1ar'." What is Mr. Nagy trying to sell? Now, why are those terms unknown in the HilliNG!A!RIDAlN language? Simply because there is no HUING.AlR!tAN language! But there is a MAGYIAiR la,ngua,ge. 11he terms, however, ar,e very well known - and have been for centuries - in the SrLOVAK language. Hum•gary is a ,p olitioal entity, a multi-national state. The official language of the c,o untry, since the Magyars domiinlaited it, hras ailiways been MAGIY'iAR - anld to tlhe Magyrars -tlhe land of Hungary has always been, MAGYARORSZAG - Magya1'land, present!~ Magyar Nepkozt.trsasag - People's Repulblic of Magyarland), and so they always ~n6isted on using the English HUNGARY fur the Magyar MAGYAR0RSZAG, even though the term IIDNGAlRY, as Nagy says, does not exis't in the HUiNGA!R!liAN (he means Malgyiar) l anguage. Therr-e is no Hungarian language, but p11actically all Magyar periodicals, writers, schoiars, scienltists and arti'Sts are lafbeled Hungarian. Gyufa von Zathure:czky, we read just recently (SUl)iET.IDN BUILlJEIDIN, Dec. 1961), now residling in Munich, Germany, is a freelamce writer, "formerly editor-in-chief of the Hungarian daily iELLElN~ElK and BerHn corresponldent for variolll.S Hungarian parpers." Furthermore, the Slovaks do not have to resort to "artificial justification" forr any claims they may ha,v e "to parts of Hungarian" histor,y. The hist-ori~al fact is that the forefathers of the Slovaks i.nhafbited the teru-itory of Hum•g,ariy long before the forebears of the Magyars invaded it. "It is both historicaUy wr.o ng and linguistically mistaken" to use the term Magyar instead of Hungary, declares Mr. Nagy, '"because originally the expression 'Hungarran' deri'Ved from the words '0nogur', 'Ungur' - was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (ma·ionly by the Ge!'lman,s) before entering the 1 Danube basin." This I cannot bu,y. 'I1he "Hun~r'ian trilbes," referred to by Nagy could hardly ha.ve beeru "Hungarian triib es" before they entered the Da,nwbian basin, the territory of Hungary. If the Germans or ,a ny other peorple called those tri!bes "Onogur" or "Ungur," as Nragy claims, they must harve had some reason for it. Nagy's attempt to ma•k e Hungary MAGYAR f.aills shol1t aga,in. Those terms, Nagy had told us, ai"e wniknown in the M-agy,ai- language. But they are kn()IWn in the Slovak language (uhor; uhorie; U:hor; Uhry; uhorsky). But there is no "uhorctna" - Hunlg arian language, just as there is no "ceskoslovencina" - Czechoslovak language. The ''Hum•gari,an trtbes" re'feNed to must ha,ve beem, the forebears of the Slovaks. What Mr. Na-gy has to say a/bout Ozecho-Slovakra (use the hyphen, pJease!), and T. G. Masarylk and Dr. Edlwarrd Bene§, is in a large sense true. But that is hardly sulfiicienit reaSOIIl! - iif it is real11Jy interested in truth and justice - that the Hungarian National Coundl should "HAVE TO" deal wi.1lh the so-called Ooun·cil ,o:f Fu-ee Cze~hoslovakia. I say th'at even though it still may be "the onLy offi.cia•Hy recognized repr,esentatirve organization of both Czech and Slo- = �20 SLOVAKIA vak exile groups" - recognized as such by the United States Government or a,ny other govexin,ment. Mr. Nagy a,n d the Hungarian National CounJCH know that the "Council of Free Czechosltov,aki,a " is completely dominated by the Benes Czechs, the Czech socialists who collalbor•a ted fully with the Czech Reds amd Moscow, especially stnce 11945. If Magyars or Hungadans prefer to dea'l with the people of the "Council of ftee Czechoslo,vakia" - who deny the right of self-determin•altion to the Slovak nab-on and aire in princi'p le opposed to Slovak freedom and i,n d•eipeliltdence - they do so at their own peril. To go along with such people because they still enjoy prestige a,nd recognition means to make a mockery of democralcy, justice and the right. Principles should not be saori'ficed for expediency. Slovak nationalism, Mr. Nagy i:ndticates, i'S of "rather rec•e nt origi,n ." HOIW receinit? When did national states· originate in Europe? How many were there before the 19th century? Wti.11 Mr. Na•gy deny that the Mag,y ars· considered themselves the "State-nation" and really became chauvinistic after the estalblishment of the Dual-Mor.iarchy tn 1867? Preoccupation with anything else but matters of State can make for the downlfaH of a political formation. The fa.te of Austria-<Hunigary was decidted by politicians who were "too preodcurpi·e d with mounting pressure of i,nterna'tional ev,e nts" to see what was happening inside the countriy. The Magyars of Huin,gary adamantl,y opposed Slovak autonoony ~ and 1ost Slovakia. The Masarytk-lBenes "democracy" of Ozecho-Slovatkiia - a bad copy of old Austria~unigary - also coUaipsed: the Czedhs, even tlhough T. G. Masaryk had guaranteed it im, writing (The Pittsburgh Pact, May 30, HHS), denied autonomy to the Slovaks - and lost them. Sure, Czecho.Slovatkia still exists on paper a·n d is recognized as the land of the Slovaks and the Czechs, but as far as the Slovaks are concerned, it is deader than the proverbi<al door naH. The time to work for Magyar-Hungarian and Slo,v ak independeinice is NOW - and not after Magya1".<ffungar~ans and S1ovatks a•r e li'bernted from Soviet domination. The Slovaks at home and albroad will continue to fight the plague of Communiism - as they have fought it for the past 100 y,e ars - even id' the Ma,g yars and Czechs, Hungariain-s and Czechosloval~s do collalborate with it or with its former collaiborators. They do not wairnt to be tofd that they MIUST join wiith the CZIDOHJS to f,i ght the Reds - and specifically with those Czechs who, after February 25, 1948, suddenly became "democratic, anti-Oommunist exiles froon Czecho-Sl-01Vakia." The Slovaks are in the same boat as the Magyar-<Hungarians, the Ozechs, the Senbo-Slovenia,nC:rtoat'iain Yu·goslavs, the Poles, Chinese, U1rnaiinians, Byelorussians, East Germans, Estonians, Latvians and L'ithuanfans, and others who were sacrificed to the Red Molo>ch of Moscow by the drun'k-'withvictory Uniited N~tions. All wainit to be :ftree and independent of alien ruile, no matter how benevolent it may appear to be; all want to be masters of their own destiny. Let us remember: expedients are for the hour; pr~niciples for the ages. Justice delayed, is justice denied. P. A. H!ROBtAJK. � 16 SLOVAKIA HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BY GEORGE N,AGY In his article, which appeared in the September-Decem ber (1960) issue of "SLOVAKIA" entitled "Magyar Exiles and Slovakia," Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum brings up the question why official Hungarian exile circles, notably the Hungarian National Council of New York, are not cooperating w'ith the exiled Slovak independence movement and why several Hungarian "journalists and more or less known diplomats," notably Andrew Gyorgy, Stephen Kertesz, and Stephen Borsody, in their scientific works show a lack of objectively regarding Slovakia and the Slovaks. Before trying to clarify these questions, I have to object to Dr. Kirschbaum's constant use of the expression "Magyar" instead of "Hungarian." While, in the Hungarian language, the terms "Hungaria" and "Hungarian" are unknown, they are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not arbitrarily be replaced in English (French, German, etc.) by the expression "Magyar." To use the word "Hungary" as a geographical term - intending to indicate that historical Hungary against present-day Hungary has been inha!bited not by "Magyars" alone, but by Slovaks, Croatians, and other nationalities, too - might serve as an artificial justification for certain Slovak claims to parts of Hunga11ian history, coat-ofarms, etc., but is both historically wrong and linguistically mistaken, because originally the expression "Hungarian," derived from the words "Onogur," "Ungur," was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (mainly by the Germans) before entering the Danube Basin. Returning now to the questions brought up by Dr. Kirschbaum, I have to deal with the different aspects involved in this problem. First of all, up to now, due to an outdated political misconception supported by legalistic conservatism, the United States Government recognizes Czecho-Slovakia, and, consequently, the Czecho-Slovak, and not the Czech and �SLOVAKIA 17 Slovak exile groups and their organizations only. For this reason, all other exile groups which are recognized by the U. S. Administratio n, including the Hungarian National Council, have to deal with the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" as the only officially recognized representative organization of both Czech and Slovak exile groups. Apart from this fact, it is undeniable that many Hungarian politicians, especially those of the elder generation, considered the Czechs and not the Slovaks as the ones with whom Hungary had to deal in questions regarding relations between Hungary and Czecho~Slovakia. The reason for this attitude is plausible, if we consider the historical developments of the past. Since medieval times, the Czechs played an important part in the history of Central Europe and their influence was often prominent, if not dominant, in directing both external and domestic affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. Then, after the First World War, when Czecho-Slovak ia was born, Benes and Masaryk, who forged the new and unha,ppy order of Central Europe, became de facto dictators of the international affairs of that area. So great was their prestige and their influence in the chancelaries of Western Europe that there was hardly any chance to conduct successful political negotiations in the Danube Basin, and, of course, regarding Czecho-Slovakia, without their participation. In spite of the lessons taught to us by the history of the past forty years, and particularly since 1945, much of the false glory of Benes's political conception is still alive, especially in American official and intellectual circles. The influence of this spirit is felt strongly in many a scientific work written even in recent times and a clear indication of it can be found in the preface of Borsody's book, too. Another reason for the lack of understanding of the Slovak problem is the fact that Slovak national consciousness is of a rather recent or~gin. While Slovak intellectuals cherished the idea of Slovak autonomy long ago and fought later for independence, the broad masses of the people embraced these aspirations fully only after Slovakia did gain its independence in 1939 and made a success of it. There- �18 SLOVAKIA fore, any outsider, who did not follow closely the developments which led to Slovak independence and the astonishing achievements of the Slovak State during its short-lived existence, is naturally inclined to underestimate the effect that these events had on the minds of the Slovak people. Hungarian politicians of that time were mostly too preoccupied with the mounting pressure of international events upon the fate of Hungary itself to devote much of their attention to a thorough study of the developments in Slovakia. Few of them had a chance, as I did, to witness closely what went on beyond Hungary's northern border. It is the duty of the few of us who followed the Slovak independence movement closely to take the initiative and eliminate past misunderstandings. The differences between Slovaks and Hungarians have to be settled between Bratislava and Budapest, without outside interference by Czechs or anybody else. But, as our peoples in our homelands are at present prevented from expressing their free will, it is up to us, exile groups in the Free World, to join forces and to pave the way for a sincere understanding and friendship between our two peoples. I am convinced that our close cooperation in working together for the restoration of Slovak independence could become a key factor in creating a new and healthy political order in the Danube Basin after its liberation from Soviet domination. X X IX X MORE CLARl,FICA1110N N1E1EOEO I fuilly appreciate the effort of Mr. George Nagy, SecretaryGeneral of the Canadian.Jlungarian Federation, to clarify some questions relating to Hungaria1w ~agyar)'5lovak relations. He is, of course, entitled to his opinions. History, however, is - rather should lbe - based on facts. And the fact is that Mlagyar historians, politicians, statesmen, and even religious leaders have thus far preferred either to iglill().fll the Slovaks of both past and present Hungary or to humiliate and vHMy them when re!ferrincg to them rn their writings. Certainly it is a situation that should be corrected. In his attempt to clarify the question r,a,i sed by Dr. Joseph Kirscblbaum, '.Mr. Nagy malres several good points, but i,n several instances, unfortunately, on1y adds to the confusion whioh he attempts to dispel. He objects "to the constant use of the expression 'Magyar' i,nstead of 'Hung•arian', because," he says: "While, in the Hungarian language, the terms 'Hungaria' and 'Hungarian' are unknown, they �19 SLOVAKIA are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not ar:bitrarily 'be replaced in Engli'Sh, (French, German, etc.), by the expression 'M!a,gy1ar'." What is Mr. Nagy trying to sell? Now, why are those terms unknown in the HilliNG!A!RIDAlN language? Simply because there is no HUING.AlR!tAN language! But there is a MAGYIAiR la,ngua,ge. 11he terms, however, ar,e very well known - and have been for centuries - in the SrLOVAK language. Hum•gary is a ,p olitioal entity, a multi-national state. The official language of the c,o untry, since the Magyars domiinlaited it, hras ailiways been MAGIY'iAR - anld to tlhe Magyrars -tlhe land of Hungary has always been, MAGYARORSZAG - Magya1'land, present!~ Magyar Nepkozt.trsasag - People's Repulblic of Magyarland), and so they always ~n6isted on using the English HUNGARY fur the Magyar MAGYAR0RSZAG, even though the term IIDNGAlRY, as Nagy says, does not exis't in the HUiNGA!R!liAN (he means Malgyiar) l anguage. Therr-e is no Hungarian language, but p11actically all Magyar periodicals, writers, schoiars, scienltists and arti'Sts are lafbeled Hungarian. Gyufa von Zathure:czky, we read just recently (SUl)iET.IDN BUILlJEIDIN, Dec. 1961), now residling in Munich, Germany, is a freelamce writer, "formerly editor-in-chief of the Hungarian daily iELLElN~ElK and BerHn corresponldent for variolll.S Hungarian parpers." Furthermore, the Slovaks do not have to resort to "artificial justification" forr any claims they may ha,v e "to parts of Hungarian" histor,y. The hist-ori~al fact is that the forefathers of the Slovaks i.nhafbited the teru-itory of Hum•g,ariy long before the forebears of the Magyars invaded it. "It is both historicaUy wr.o ng and linguistically mistaken" to use the term Magyar instead of Hungary, declares Mr. Nagy, '"because originally the expression 'Hungarran' deri'Ved from the words '0nogur', 'Ungur' - was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (ma·ionly by the Ge!'lman,s) before entering the 1 Danube basin." This I cannot bu,y. 'I1he "Hun~r'ian trilbes," referred to by Nagy could hardly ha.ve beeru "Hungarian triib es" before they entered the Da,nwbian basin, the territory of Hungary. If the Germans or ,a ny other peorple called those tri!bes "Onogur" or "Ungur," as Nragy claims, they must harve had some reason for it. Nagy's attempt to ma•k e Hungary MAGYAR f.aills shol1t aga,in. Those terms, Nagy had told us, ai"e wniknown in the M-agy,ai- language. But they are kn()IWn in the Slovak language (uhor; uhorie; U:hor; Uhry; uhorsky). But there is no "uhorctna" - Hunlg arian language, just as there is no "ceskoslovencina" - Czechoslovak language. The ''Hum•gari,an trtbes" re'feNed to must ha,ve beem, the forebears of the Slovaks. What Mr. Na-gy has to say a/bout Ozecho-Slovakra (use the hyphen, pJease!), and T. G. Masarylk and Dr. Edlwarrd Bene§, is in a large sense true. But that is hardly sulfiicienit reaSOIIl! - iif it is real11Jy interested in truth and justice - that the Hungarian National Coundl should "HAVE TO" deal wi.1lh the so-called Ooun·cil ,o:f Fu-ee Cze~hoslovakia. I say th'at even though it still may be "the onLy offi.cia•Hy recognized repr,esentatirve organization of both Czech and Slo- = �20 SLOVAKIA vak exile groups" - recognized as such by the United States Government or a,ny other govexin,ment. Mr. Nagy a,n d the Hungarian National CounJCH know that the "Council of Free Czechosltov,aki,a " is completely dominated by the Benes Czechs, the Czech socialists who collalbor•a ted fully with the Czech Reds amd Moscow, especially stnce 11945. If Magyars or Hungadans prefer to dea'l with the people of the "Council of ftee Czechoslo,vakia" - who deny the right of self-determin•altion to the Slovak nab-on and aire in princi'p le opposed to Slovak freedom and i,n d•eipeliltdence - they do so at their own peril. To go along with such people because they still enjoy prestige a,nd recognition means to make a mockery of democralcy, justice and the right. Principles should not be saori'ficed for expediency. Slovak nationalism, Mr. Nagy i:ndticates, i'S of "rather rec•e nt origi,n ." HOIW receinit? When did national states· originate in Europe? How many were there before the 19th century? Wti.11 Mr. Na•gy deny that the Mag,y ars· considered themselves the "State-nation" and really became chauvinistic after the estalblishment of the Dual-Mor.iarchy tn 1867? Preoccupation with anything else but matters of State can make for the downlfaH of a political formation. The fa.te of Austria-<Hunigary was decidted by politicians who were "too preodcurpi·e d with mounting pressure of i,nterna'tional ev,e nts" to see what was happening inside the countriy. The Magyars of Huin,gary adamantl,y opposed Slovak autonoony ~ and 1ost Slovakia. The Masarytk-lBenes "democracy" of Ozecho-Slovatkiia - a bad copy of old Austria~unigary - also coUaipsed: the Czedhs, even tlhough T. G. Masaryk had guaranteed it im, writing (The Pittsburgh Pact, May 30, HHS), denied autonomy to the Slovaks - and lost them. Sure, Czecho.Slovatkia still exists on paper a·n d is recognized as the land of the Slovaks and the Czechs, but as far as the Slovaks are concerned, it is deader than the proverbi<al door naH. The time to work for Magyar-Hungarian and Slo,v ak independeinice is NOW - and not after Magya1".<ffungar~ans and S1ovatks a•r e li'bernted from Soviet domination. The Slovaks at home and albroad will continue to fight the plague of Communiism - as they have fought it for the past 100 y,e ars - even id' the Ma,g yars and Czechs, Hungariain-s and Czechosloval~s do collalborate with it or with its former collaiborators. They do not wairnt to be tofd that they MIUST join wiith the CZIDOHJS to f,i ght the Reds - and specifically with those Czechs who, after February 25, 1948, suddenly became "democratic, anti-Oommunist exiles froon Czecho-Sl-01Vakia." The Slovaks are in the same boat as the Magyar-<Hungarians, the Ozechs, the Senbo-Slovenia,nC:rtoat'iain Yu·goslavs, the Poles, Chinese, U1rnaiinians, Byelorussians, East Germans, Estonians, Latvians and L'ithuanfans, and others who were sacrificed to the Red Molo>ch of Moscow by the drun'k-'withvictory Uniited N~tions. All wainit to be :ftree and independent of alien ruile, no matter how benevolent it may appear to be; all want to be masters of their own destiny. Let us remember: expedients are for the hour; pr~niciples for the ages. Justice delayed, is justice denied. P. A. H!ROBtAJK. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 16 SLOVAKIA HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BY GEORGE N,AGY In his article, which appeared in the September-Decem ber (1960) issue of "SLOVAKIA" entitled "Magyar Exiles and Slovakia," Dr. Joseph Kirschbaum brings up the question why official Hungarian exile circles, notably the Hungarian National Council of New York, are not cooperating w'ith the exiled Slovak independence movement and why several Hungarian "journalists and more or less known diplomats," notably Andrew Gyorgy, Stephen Kertesz, and Stephen Borsody, in their scientific works show a lack of objectively regarding Slovakia and the Slovaks. Before trying to clarify these questions, I have to object to Dr. Kirschbaum's constant use of the expression "Magyar" instead of "Hungarian." While, in the Hungarian language, the terms "Hungaria" and "Hungarian" are unknown, they are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not arbitrarily be replaced in English (French, German, etc.) by the expression "Magyar." To use the word "Hungary" as a geographical term - intending to indicate that historical Hungary against present-day Hungary has been inha!bited not by "Magyars" alone, but by Slovaks, Croatians, and other nationalities, too - might serve as an artificial justification for certain Slovak claims to parts of Hunga11ian history, coat-ofarms, etc., but is both historically wrong and linguistically mistaken, because originally the expression "Hungarian," derived from the words "Onogur," "Ungur," was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (mainly by the Germans) before entering the Danube Basin. Returning now to the questions brought up by Dr. Kirschbaum, I have to deal with the different aspects involved in this problem. First of all, up to now, due to an outdated political misconception supported by legalistic conservatism, the United States Government recognizes Czecho-Slovakia, and, consequently, the Czecho-Slovak, and not the Czech and SLOVAKIA 17 Slovak exile groups and their organizations only. For this reason, all other exile groups which are recognized by the U. S. Administratio n, including the Hungarian National Council, have to deal with the "Council of Free Czechoslovakia" as the only officially recognized representative organization of both Czech and Slovak exile groups. Apart from this fact, it is undeniable that many Hungarian politicians, especially those of the elder generation, considered the Czechs and not the Slovaks as the ones with whom Hungary had to deal in questions regarding relations between Hungary and Czecho~Slovakia. The reason for this attitude is plausible, if we consider the historical developments of the past. Since medieval times, the Czechs played an important part in the history of Central Europe and their influence was often prominent, if not dominant, in directing both external and domestic affairs of the Habsburg Monarchy. Then, after the First World War, when Czecho-Slovak ia was born, Benes and Masaryk, who forged the new and unha,ppy order of Central Europe, became de facto dictators of the international affairs of that area. So great was their prestige and their influence in the chancelaries of Western Europe that there was hardly any chance to conduct successful political negotiations in the Danube Basin, and, of course, regarding Czecho-Slovakia, without their participation. In spite of the lessons taught to us by the history of the past forty years, and particularly since 1945, much of the false glory of Benes's political conception is still alive, especially in American official and intellectual circles. The influence of this spirit is felt strongly in many a scientific work written even in recent times and a clear indication of it can be found in the preface of Borsody's book, too. Another reason for the lack of understanding of the Slovak problem is the fact that Slovak national consciousness is of a rather recent or~gin. While Slovak intellectuals cherished the idea of Slovak autonomy long ago and fought later for independence, the broad masses of the people embraced these aspirations fully only after Slovakia did gain its independence in 1939 and made a success of it. There- 18 SLOVAKIA fore, any outsider, who did not follow closely the developments which led to Slovak independence and the astonishing achievements of the Slovak State during its short-lived existence, is naturally inclined to underestimate the effect that these events had on the minds of the Slovak people. Hungarian politicians of that time were mostly too preoccupied with the mounting pressure of international events upon the fate of Hungary itself to devote much of their attention to a thorough study of the developments in Slovakia. Few of them had a chance, as I did, to witness closely what went on beyond Hungary's northern border. It is the duty of the few of us who followed the Slovak independence movement closely to take the initiative and eliminate past misunderstandings. The differences between Slovaks and Hungarians have to be settled between Bratislava and Budapest, without outside interference by Czechs or anybody else. But, as our peoples in our homelands are at present prevented from expressing their free will, it is up to us, exile groups in the Free World, to join forces and to pave the way for a sincere understanding and friendship between our two peoples. I am convinced that our close cooperation in working together for the restoration of Slovak independence could become a key factor in creating a new and healthy political order in the Danube Basin after its liberation from Soviet domination. X X IX X MORE CLARl,FICA1110N N1E1EOEO I fuilly appreciate the effort of Mr. George Nagy, SecretaryGeneral of the Canadian.Jlungarian Federation, to clarify some questions relating to Hungaria1w ~agyar)'5lovak relations. He is, of course, entitled to his opinions. History, however, is - rather should lbe - based on facts. And the fact is that Mlagyar historians, politicians, statesmen, and even religious leaders have thus far preferred either to iglill().fll the Slovaks of both past and present Hungary or to humiliate and vHMy them when re!ferrincg to them rn their writings. Certainly it is a situation that should be corrected. In his attempt to clarify the question r,a,i sed by Dr. Joseph Kirscblbaum, '.Mr. Nagy malres several good points, but i,n several instances, unfortunately, on1y adds to the confusion whioh he attempts to dispel. He objects "to the constant use of the expression 'Magyar' i,nstead of 'Hung•arian', because," he says: "While, in the Hungarian language, the terms 'Hungaria' and 'Hungarian' are unknown, they 19 SLOVAKIA are generally used throughout the Western world and can, therefore, not ar:bitrarily 'be replaced in Engli'Sh, (French, German, etc.), by the expression 'M!a,gy1ar'." What is Mr. Nagy trying to sell? Now, why are those terms unknown in the HilliNG!A!RIDAlN language? Simply because there is no HUING.AlR!tAN language! But there is a MAGYIAiR la,ngua,ge. 11he terms, however, ar,e very well known - and have been for centuries - in the SrLOVAK language. Hum•gary is a ,p olitioal entity, a multi-national state. The official language of the c,o untry, since the Magyars domiinlaited it, hras ailiways been MAGIY'iAR - anld to tlhe Magyrars -tlhe land of Hungary has always been, MAGYARORSZAG - Magya1'land, present!~ Magyar Nepkozt.trsasag - People's Repulblic of Magyarland), and so they always ~n6isted on using the English HUNGARY fur the Magyar MAGYAR0RSZAG, even though the term IIDNGAlRY, as Nagy says, does not exis't in the HUiNGA!R!liAN (he means Malgyiar) l anguage. Therr-e is no Hungarian language, but p11actically all Magyar periodicals, writers, schoiars, scienltists and arti'Sts are lafbeled Hungarian. Gyufa von Zathure:czky, we read just recently (SUl)iET.IDN BUILlJEIDIN, Dec. 1961), now residling in Munich, Germany, is a freelamce writer, "formerly editor-in-chief of the Hungarian daily iELLElN~ElK and BerHn corresponldent for variolll.S Hungarian parpers." Furthermore, the Slovaks do not have to resort to "artificial justification" forr any claims they may ha,v e "to parts of Hungarian" histor,y. The hist-ori~al fact is that the forefathers of the Slovaks i.nhafbited the teru-itory of Hum•g,ariy long before the forebears of the Magyars invaded it. "It is both historicaUy wr.o ng and linguistically mistaken" to use the term Magyar instead of Hungary, declares Mr. Nagy, '"because originally the expression 'Hungarran' deri'Ved from the words '0nogur', 'Ungur' - was the name by which the Hungarian tribes were called in Europe (ma·ionly by the Ge!'lman,s) before entering the 1 Danube basin." This I cannot bu,y. 'I1he "Hun~r'ian trilbes," referred to by Nagy could hardly ha.ve beeru "Hungarian triib es" before they entered the Da,nwbian basin, the territory of Hungary. If the Germans or ,a ny other peorple called those tri!bes "Onogur" or "Ungur," as Nragy claims, they must harve had some reason for it. Nagy's attempt to ma•k e Hungary MAGYAR f.aills shol1t aga,in. Those terms, Nagy had told us, ai"e wniknown in the M-agy,ai- language. But they are kn()IWn in the Slovak language (uhor; uhorie; U:hor; Uhry; uhorsky). But there is no "uhorctna" - Hunlg arian language, just as there is no "ceskoslovencina" - Czechoslovak language. The ''Hum•gari,an trtbes" re'feNed to must ha,ve beem, the forebears of the Slovaks. What Mr. Na-gy has to say a/bout Ozecho-Slovakra (use the hyphen, pJease!), and T. G. Masarylk and Dr. Edlwarrd Bene§, is in a large sense true. But that is hardly sulfiicienit reaSOIIl! - iif it is real11Jy interested in truth and justice - that the Hungarian National Coundl should "HAVE TO" deal wi.1lh the so-called Ooun·cil ,o:f Fu-ee Cze~hoslovakia. I say th'at even though it still may be "the onLy offi.cia•Hy recognized repr,esentatirve organization of both Czech and Slo- = 20 SLOVAKIA vak exile groups" - recognized as such by the United States Government or a,ny other govexin,ment. Mr. Nagy a,n d the Hungarian National CounJCH know that the "Council of Free Czechosltov,aki,a " is completely dominated by the Benes Czechs, the Czech socialists who collalbor•a ted fully with the Czech Reds amd Moscow, especially stnce 11945. If Magyars or Hungadans prefer to dea'l with the people of the "Council of ftee Czechoslo,vakia" - who deny the right of self-determin•altion to the Slovak nab-on and aire in princi'p le opposed to Slovak freedom and i,n d•eipeliltdence - they do so at their own peril. To go along with such people because they still enjoy prestige a,nd recognition means to make a mockery of democralcy, justice and the right. Principles should not be saori'ficed for expediency. Slovak nationalism, Mr. Nagy i:ndticates, i'S of "rather rec•e nt origi,n ." HOIW receinit? When did national states· originate in Europe? How many were there before the 19th century? Wti.11 Mr. Na•gy deny that the Mag,y ars· considered themselves the "State-nation" and really became chauvinistic after the estalblishment of the Dual-Mor.iarchy tn 1867? Preoccupation with anything else but matters of State can make for the downlfaH of a political formation. The fa.te of Austria-<Hunigary was decidted by politicians who were "too preodcurpi·e d with mounting pressure of i,nterna'tional ev,e nts" to see what was happening inside the countriy. The Magyars of Huin,gary adamantl,y opposed Slovak autonoony ~ and 1ost Slovakia. The Masarytk-lBenes "democracy" of Ozecho-Slovatkiia - a bad copy of old Austria~unigary - also coUaipsed: the Czedhs, even tlhough T. G. Masaryk had guaranteed it im, writing (The Pittsburgh Pact, May 30, HHS), denied autonomy to the Slovaks - and lost them. Sure, Czecho.Slovatkia still exists on paper a·n d is recognized as the land of the Slovaks and the Czechs, but as far as the Slovaks are concerned, it is deader than the proverbi<al door naH. The time to work for Magyar-Hungarian and Slo,v ak independeinice is NOW - and not after Magya1".<ffungar~ans and S1ovatks a•r e li'bernted from Soviet domination. The Slovaks at home and albroad will continue to fight the plague of Communiism - as they have fought it for the past 100 y,e ars - even id' the Ma,g yars and Czechs, Hungariain-s and Czechosloval~s do collalborate with it or with its former collaiborators. They do not wairnt to be tofd that they MIUST join wiith the CZIDOHJS to f,i ght the Reds - and specifically with those Czechs who, after February 25, 1948, suddenly became "democratic, anti-Oommunist exiles froon Czecho-Sl-01Vakia." The Slovaks are in the same boat as the Magyar-<Hungarians, the Ozechs, the Senbo-Slovenia,nC:rtoat'iain Yu·goslavs, the Poles, Chinese, U1rnaiinians, Byelorussians, East Germans, Estonians, Latvians and L'ithuanfans, and others who were sacrificed to the Red Molo>ch of Moscow by the drun'k-'withvictory Uniited N~tions. All wainit to be :ftree and independent of alien ruile, no matter how benevolent it may appear to be; all want to be masters of their own destiny. Let us remember: expedients are for the hour; pr~niciples for the ages. Justice delayed, is justice denied. P. A. H!ROBtAJK.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Hungarian Exiles and Slovak Independence Description An account of the resource George Nagy Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 16-20 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Nagy, George Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e023c3484c4b5dd82617765ba4f434bc.pdf b570148a0978c0eba0cbabb3cac8a3d1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 13 SLOVAK.IA UNDER COMMUNISM By Joseph Pauco During the past three months I met several Americams of Slovak descent who had visiited Slovakia. All were Amevican citizens. Since none played any active role in politics, they had no difficulty in obtainling visas from Red Prague. "They know I am not a politician," said my friend , "but they also know that I am bringing American dollars to P,r ague and Brati'slava, so the Reds do not hesitate to place their signa:ture to my viisa. But my spivitua;l director, t he pastor of my parish, could not get a visa, even though he, too, does no politioing. Being a priest apparently is reason enough not to allow him entry on Slovak soil, which today is washed by streams of innocent blood of martyrs fighting for the freedom of Slovakia. Communism Destroying All Hope One of the visitors told me this: "My brother-fa-law is a teacher. I talked with him for two hours; •but, except for his deploring the communist regime, I learned nothing new from him. He did, however, stress that there are very few active teachers from the old school, that is, those who taught during the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), and that the communist regime carefully supervises even the new school or generation of teachers, brought up and trained by the communists themselves, makes them renounce their religious convictions, and prohibits them even to mention religion except to ridicule, vilify, and condemn it. "This, of course, shocked me. My brother-in-law, alt hough 15 years younger, looked muoh older .than I. Indeed, he was unable to believe that there could be such a difference. "Communism," he would say, "brings no good to anyone; and when one does not approve of it, even though one does not actively oppose it, it destroys one s·p iritually and this in its turn reacts physically and one's body succumbs and slowly deteriorates. "Lt is even worse among the Slovak intellectuals, who �14 SLOVAKIA are desperate and have given up all hope. And this isn' t only among those who are years in prison or who, instead of having their regular office or teaching position, are working in the uranium mines, but also among those who still are at large, undetected. Despair is stalking them everywhere because they cannot tell when they also will be ,s eized and shipped to unlmown regions. "In a word, today in Slovakia, as perhaps in other communist countries, people are losing all hope. My brother-in-law specifically reiterated: "What can we now await, when for 15 years there was no undoing, no overturning and no possibility for such an undoing or overturning? Those of us who have been hoping for this transformation are aging and cannot live long enough to see any reversal or change-over so long as the West continues ,to ignore or to pay little attention to us . "And our ,c hildren and grandchildren? I'm dreadfully afraid most of them will be thoroughly brainwashed and trained in godless marxist ideology. And th~s will be disastrous for our nation and for all of central Europe." Take Us To America "Take us to Amer.ica !" is the pleading cry of a young man, bidding rfarewell to his American uncle, who was returning to America after visiting Slovakia. "Immediately, but immediately I'd leave with you even though I'd have to live on dry bread and water in your trunk the whole trip half-unconscious!" Those words express ,p ractically everything the communized and oppressed Slovaks feel. They long above all to escape and shake off the slavery of communism; and the only way to do this now is, it seems to them, to come to America. Even -though some Slovaks lost all hope and feel that the USA will come to terms with the Soviet Union, nevertheless the vast majority of them is still of the opinion that America will not abandon the nations behind the Iron Curtain and that it, therefore, will not abandon Slovaki,a either. "It is most unfortunate," remarked a Slovak native to our visitor in Slovakia, "that the USA did not act more energetically in 1956 when the Hungarians rebelled against communism. We were ready to rise up also. So would have the Poles, the Rumanians, the Croatians, �SLOVAKIA 15 and Slovenfans, and the whole of Central Europe would have been on the maroh to freedom." Even the communists at the time were apprehensive that the time had come for a change and were preparing for it. For instance, t:hey treated their prisoners wi th a:. healthy respect. The Slovaks often mention their relatives in America anld relay to them, as our informant tells us, that "If the American Slovaks do no-t help us out of communism's diabolical clui:ches, we have lived and struggled in vain. It is useless to continue to live as we do. Tell our Slovak Americans that never did a people so need assistance as we need it now. Tell them to knock daily at the White House in Washington and under the leadersh,ip of the Slovak League of America to rise up •:ogether in behalf of our Slovak Nation and its independent State. We want to be free and independent of communism, Czech imperialism, and every outside pressure." Slovaks in Slovakia have confidence in Amerka even though communist propaganda tells them that hunger and poverty prevail in Amer.ica, that children are barefooted and one third of its people unemployed. Slovaks, knowing that, like every country, America a:lso has its· economic problems, smile at this propaganda. But they also know, as they told v1sitovs from the USA, .that nowhere in the world are people as well off and free as in. America. Godless Communist Schools In Slovakia religion is still taught as an unprescr.i-bed subject; but only where the parents demand it. The communist press and administration are viciously opposed to religious instruction and training in any school. We read in a rather comprehensive article in the Bratisfava "Praca," dated September 28, 1960, and titled "Does Religion Belong In A Socialist School?": " ... religion, for i ts unscientific · character which emanates wholly from fantastic supersitions and not from real facts , is harmful. One of its basic principles is: Not to undermine or rebel against the gods created by a profit and exploiting system and not to destroy them and their plundering system if an eternal and blissful hereafter is to be successfully attained. It is difficult to visualize in-. �16 SLOVAKIA spired builders of a communistic future, builders belabored and burdened with such falise and silly concepts and ideals. Hence the socialistic school is and must basically and solely imbue and train the young from the scientific base - the materialistic Marxist world-wide view, the cor,r ectness of which not only does science confirm but also more often even practice. Therefore, in CzechoSlovak schools religion, even as an elective, is really never taught." "Praca" then further anailyzes the reasons of the communist regime as to why religion must not be taught. It alleges that "even our constitution ... guarantees freeeven though dom of worship and religious service truly only if this is not contrary to (communist) law." Who, however makes the laws in Slova:kia? The communists. And if they do not care to have religion taught or promulgated, then they pass such laws which will not permit religion to be .taught. "Praca" continues: "No religion, no religious concept is permitted in the educational program or its text books ; it is neither named nor alluded to, and the person who might dare teach it is not considered a teacher or a member of .t he teaching staff. And hence it is not a part of the course of education." Communists are convinced that "from the pedagogical viewpoint it is not only improper and incorrect but also confusing and unhealthy for a child to be placed into periods of conflict and contradiction between religion and science ; for instance, between the theories of divine creation and the scientific origin of the world." " ... there is no room for useless obstructions and burdening of young minds into lethargic religious imaginings which have no concrete value to a child.... "In a socialist state, religion, a:s an outlived form of socia'l science, loses the nm1bur.ing soil humus for its existence and inevitably dies. This is very obvious even in our schools where the number of children registered for religious instructions is constantly decreasing, and even this year is substantially lower than la,st year. This dying out of religion, however, must not be lerft to elementals. �SLOVAKIA 17 We feel that with purposeful work, after a definite time, interest ,i n the teaching of religion in Slovakia will decrease to such an extent, for example, as it hras in Mostecko and Karlovarski, where practically no religion is taug.ht." Rather it appears that the reason for this demise is its own inherent invia,b ility and destructive uselessness; and hence in the course of time t he designed purposeful training and education that youth will get ,in the socia1ist state will deminish and eliminate the ,i nterest in religion and its upbringing ait least to the tiny degree thaJt it is alveady eliminated for instance in Mostec or .in Karlovar where practica:l'ly no religion is given. Then the hours or periods for religious instruction will become wholly useless in all of our schools and religion and religious instructions wiU have outlived usefulness." "Praca" is organizing heckling units to instigate and incite opposition against the teaching of religion. Thus on October 10th of this year, it published a rep'l y to its article. The letter is significant for two things: (1) communism has already trained atheists in Slov,a kia; and (2) resistance against communism's a.ibolishment of ·r eligious education in schools continues. We quote the letter literaHy: "Everything which you write is true. We also are atheists and give priority to science over the tales of the clergy. But we see that difficulties do arise in the families when they must decide whether the child is to study religion. One of our fel'low-workers, for instance, did not register his daughter for religious instruction, and now he has great misunderstandings with his wife. In our own families we, too, have little children - and we expect complications when the children become of school age and bring their applications to register for religious instruction. How can quarrels in the families be avoided? We think that religion should not be taug,ht at all in our schools. - Rudolf Skolkay and Ludovit Vaverika, Hlohovec." 1 Communists Destroyed Hundreds of Thousands of Books An a,cquaintance, who spent two months in Slovakia, tells us how the communist authorities had confiscated and destroyed all the religious and cultural books they found in �16 SLOVAKIA the Matica Slovenska (Slovak Insti:tute), the Spolok Sv. Vojteoha (St. Adalbert's Society) and other publishing houses, and which tihe communist reg.ime regarded as not acceptable from the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint. Our acquaintance ascertained that one iday trucks pulled up to the publishing houses with the police, who ordered the confiscation of all books they had on prepared lists. Seven truckloads were taken from St. Adalbert's Society a:lone. At the head of the list were the religious books prayerbooks, catechisms, lives of the saints, entire volumes of religious periodicals, and everything with an imprimatur in it. Then they took all the books published during the existence Olf the Republic of Slovia:kia, the authors of which are either in exile or in prison. "When we learned this," sa:id the acquaintance, "we were shocked .... we just couldn't believe it. People had hoped that the communist regime would not go to this extreme and that somehow or other the books would still be saved at least in the stockrooms of the publishers since bookstores and book-sellers were not allowed to buy or sell them. Instead, however, the books - hundreds of thousands of good books - were destroyed." The books were ground up to a pulp to make new paper which is to serve the communist press. Paper that once carried the Word of God, religious thoughts and literature, is now being used against God, religion, democracy and humanity. Communism destroys everything that stands in its way. Tension Between Slovak and Czech Writers . We know an American whose relative in Slovakia is a wri:ter. Returning from Slovakia, this man told us of some of the problems of writers. The communists, he related, hesitated for a long time to permit a new edition of the novel, "Tri Gastanove Kone" (Three Chestnut Horses) which Margita Figuli wrote and published long before the communists came into control. The reason for this was nolt that the author or the novel was political or anti-communistic. Not at all; for it is a novel with many love affairs. Nor was the author on any �SLOVAKIA 19 political index. She had never been in politics, and if she ever was incHned or orienta,ted to any political view it was towards Prague, the Czech viewpoint. Nevertheless she had .to wait a full six years till the communist regime of Prague permitted her to put out a new edition of her novel. The reason for this delay? The vinain of the novel, the tyrant, the torturer of women and horses, is a man na:med Zapotocny. 'Dhe Czech communists feared that the readers would confuse this name with the name of the communist president of Czecho-Slovakia whose name was Zapotocky. So the party waited until Za.potocky di'ed and then aMowed a new edition af Figuli's novel. The consent of the Slovak .communists was not enough. The Slovak communists had first to consult and get the approval of .bhe Czech communists. This, however, is how things go in Slovakia in all things- politics, economics, literary works, justice, in a word, in everything, the Red Czechs of Prag,ue must first be consulted and their approval or decision must first be obtained, or else My friend mentioned other problems that Slovak }VI'iters have. For instance, there is a tremendous amount of tension and antagonism between .the Czech and Slovak writers. For the communist party is trying to fuse or merge the two groups of writers - the Czech and the Slov,ak into one, the Czecho-Slovak writers, as the Academy of Science previously attempted. The Slovak writers, whether communist or not, adamantly refuse to give up their Slovak aHiance and submit to the Czech or Czech-Slovak Alliance. They told WiHiam Siroky, who pressured them: "A united alliance can be achieved only through the medium of our lorn up communist idenitification cards!" Low Wages and High Prices Another Slovak American who visited Slovakia, related how much Slovaks can earn anid how much they pay for the things they need. Today most of the Slovaks have to work in groups or collectives. In the .rural areas - and Slovakia is predominantly agricultural - to work they must belong to single farm collectives or · "kokhozes". The farmers' fields or �20 SLOVAKIA farms were .taken away and nationalized; now they must work on them for the state. The collective worker however, does not make more than seven crowns ($1.00) a day. Sometimes only six crowns, depending on the way his unit of work is estimated. A woman, working in a poultry-house 14 hours a day, gets almost 10 crowns. Likewise a dairy-maid, but she must milk by hand 18 cows twice daily. A construction worker receives only 6.50 crowns a day. Stoneworkers are better off; they get 1,000 crowns a month. But let us see how this compa,,res with the price of things. The American visitor expla,ineld it this way: If only one person works in the collective, two people cannot live on his income. Simply because: A kilogram (2.2 l'b s.) of the blackest bread costs 8 crowns; a better bread 10 crowns; and a half-white bread costs 12 crowns. It is obvious that a laborer cannot make enough a day to buy a kilogram of good bread. And if he wants to buy a little cheese-cake, or a little poppy-seed roll or jelly-bun (roll), which in America would cost about 40 cents, in Slovakia he won•rt be able to obtain it for less than 6 crowns. Hence a construction worker labors almost all day for a ro'll or good bun which won't be enough to go with one cup of coffee. Wi,th meat it's the same business. Beef and pork cost 48 crowns a kilogram. Women stand in front of butcher shops in lines blocks long from 5 in the morning sometimes until noon; but the last ones usually get no meat at all. For a kilogram of meat a collective worker must work seven days. Average oloth or material fior men's clothing costs 750 crowns. A well paid worker then must toil 3 weeks just for the material for a suit of clothes. In Slovakia common summer-shoes or sa,,ndals cost 500 crowns a pair; and a well paid worker must work a good 15 days for a pair of these shoes. A commune worker has to work over two months to be able to buy a good pair of sanidals. My friend also visited the Czech lands, where his relatives from Slovakia work in Bohemia and Moravia. From �SLOVAKIA 21 them he learned of the dis<!rimination and inequality in the wages paid in the Czech lands as compared w.ith those in Slovakia. It is unbelievingly shocking inequa:lity, injustice and discrimination. Every worker in the Czech lands receives dowble the amount he would receive for the same work in Slovakia. This inequality and discrimination gives rise to serious misunderstandings . The Czechs have not learned the lessons of history; little has changed since the days of T. G. Masaryk and Benes : the Slovaks are still regarded as servants of the Czechs, to be exploited solely for Czech interests. 'NIE SLOVA.KS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pwblk library, in every college and university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy-· $2.00; in cloth $3.00. SLOVAKl,A: the women of Rejdova, Gerner Province, once wore this type of headdress. � SLOVAKIA 13 SLOVAK.IA UNDER COMMUNISM By Joseph Pauco During the past three months I met several Americams of Slovak descent who had visiited Slovakia. All were Amevican citizens. Since none played any active role in politics, they had no difficulty in obtainling visas from Red Prague. "They know I am not a politician," said my friend , "but they also know that I am bringing American dollars to P,r ague and Brati'slava, so the Reds do not hesitate to place their signa:ture to my viisa. But my spivitua;l director, t he pastor of my parish, could not get a visa, even though he, too, does no politioing. Being a priest apparently is reason enough not to allow him entry on Slovak soil, which today is washed by streams of innocent blood of martyrs fighting for the freedom of Slovakia. Communism Destroying All Hope One of the visitors told me this: "My brother-fa-law is a teacher. I talked with him for two hours; •but, except for his deploring the communist regime, I learned nothing new from him. He did, however, stress that there are very few active teachers from the old school, that is, those who taught during the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), and that the communist regime carefully supervises even the new school or generation of teachers, brought up and trained by the communists themselves, makes them renounce their religious convictions, and prohibits them even to mention religion except to ridicule, vilify, and condemn it. "This, of course, shocked me. My brother-in-law, alt hough 15 years younger, looked muoh older .than I. Indeed, he was unable to believe that there could be such a difference. "Communism," he would say, "brings no good to anyone; and when one does not approve of it, even though one does not actively oppose it, it destroys one s·p iritually and this in its turn reacts physically and one's body succumbs and slowly deteriorates. "Lt is even worse among the Slovak intellectuals, who �14 SLOVAKIA are desperate and have given up all hope. And this isn' t only among those who are years in prison or who, instead of having their regular office or teaching position, are working in the uranium mines, but also among those who still are at large, undetected. Despair is stalking them everywhere because they cannot tell when they also will be ,s eized and shipped to unlmown regions. "In a word, today in Slovakia, as perhaps in other communist countries, people are losing all hope. My brother-in-law specifically reiterated: "What can we now await, when for 15 years there was no undoing, no overturning and no possibility for such an undoing or overturning? Those of us who have been hoping for this transformation are aging and cannot live long enough to see any reversal or change-over so long as the West continues ,to ignore or to pay little attention to us . "And our ,c hildren and grandchildren? I'm dreadfully afraid most of them will be thoroughly brainwashed and trained in godless marxist ideology. And th~s will be disastrous for our nation and for all of central Europe." Take Us To America "Take us to Amer.ica !" is the pleading cry of a young man, bidding rfarewell to his American uncle, who was returning to America after visiting Slovakia. "Immediately, but immediately I'd leave with you even though I'd have to live on dry bread and water in your trunk the whole trip half-unconscious!" Those words express ,p ractically everything the communized and oppressed Slovaks feel. They long above all to escape and shake off the slavery of communism; and the only way to do this now is, it seems to them, to come to America. Even -though some Slovaks lost all hope and feel that the USA will come to terms with the Soviet Union, nevertheless the vast majority of them is still of the opinion that America will not abandon the nations behind the Iron Curtain and that it, therefore, will not abandon Slovaki,a either. "It is most unfortunate," remarked a Slovak native to our visitor in Slovakia, "that the USA did not act more energetically in 1956 when the Hungarians rebelled against communism. We were ready to rise up also. So would have the Poles, the Rumanians, the Croatians, �SLOVAKIA 15 and Slovenfans, and the whole of Central Europe would have been on the maroh to freedom." Even the communists at the time were apprehensive that the time had come for a change and were preparing for it. For instance, t:hey treated their prisoners wi th a:. healthy respect. The Slovaks often mention their relatives in America anld relay to them, as our informant tells us, that "If the American Slovaks do no-t help us out of communism's diabolical clui:ches, we have lived and struggled in vain. It is useless to continue to live as we do. Tell our Slovak Americans that never did a people so need assistance as we need it now. Tell them to knock daily at the White House in Washington and under the leadersh,ip of the Slovak League of America to rise up •:ogether in behalf of our Slovak Nation and its independent State. We want to be free and independent of communism, Czech imperialism, and every outside pressure." Slovaks in Slovakia have confidence in Amerka even though communist propaganda tells them that hunger and poverty prevail in Amer.ica, that children are barefooted and one third of its people unemployed. Slovaks, knowing that, like every country, America a:lso has its· economic problems, smile at this propaganda. But they also know, as they told v1sitovs from the USA, .that nowhere in the world are people as well off and free as in. America. Godless Communist Schools In Slovakia religion is still taught as an unprescr.i-bed subject; but only where the parents demand it. The communist press and administration are viciously opposed to religious instruction and training in any school. We read in a rather comprehensive article in the Bratisfava "Praca," dated September 28, 1960, and titled "Does Religion Belong In A Socialist School?": " ... religion, for i ts unscientific · character which emanates wholly from fantastic supersitions and not from real facts , is harmful. One of its basic principles is: Not to undermine or rebel against the gods created by a profit and exploiting system and not to destroy them and their plundering system if an eternal and blissful hereafter is to be successfully attained. It is difficult to visualize in-. �16 SLOVAKIA spired builders of a communistic future, builders belabored and burdened with such falise and silly concepts and ideals. Hence the socialistic school is and must basically and solely imbue and train the young from the scientific base - the materialistic Marxist world-wide view, the cor,r ectness of which not only does science confirm but also more often even practice. Therefore, in CzechoSlovak schools religion, even as an elective, is really never taught." "Praca" then further anailyzes the reasons of the communist regime as to why religion must not be taught. It alleges that "even our constitution ... guarantees freeeven though dom of worship and religious service truly only if this is not contrary to (communist) law." Who, however makes the laws in Slova:kia? The communists. And if they do not care to have religion taught or promulgated, then they pass such laws which will not permit religion to be .taught. "Praca" continues: "No religion, no religious concept is permitted in the educational program or its text books ; it is neither named nor alluded to, and the person who might dare teach it is not considered a teacher or a member of .t he teaching staff. And hence it is not a part of the course of education." Communists are convinced that "from the pedagogical viewpoint it is not only improper and incorrect but also confusing and unhealthy for a child to be placed into periods of conflict and contradiction between religion and science ; for instance, between the theories of divine creation and the scientific origin of the world." " ... there is no room for useless obstructions and burdening of young minds into lethargic religious imaginings which have no concrete value to a child.... "In a socialist state, religion, a:s an outlived form of socia'l science, loses the nm1bur.ing soil humus for its existence and inevitably dies. This is very obvious even in our schools where the number of children registered for religious instructions is constantly decreasing, and even this year is substantially lower than la,st year. This dying out of religion, however, must not be lerft to elementals. �SLOVAKIA 17 We feel that with purposeful work, after a definite time, interest ,i n the teaching of religion in Slovakia will decrease to such an extent, for example, as it hras in Mostecko and Karlovarski, where practically no religion is taug.ht." Rather it appears that the reason for this demise is its own inherent invia,b ility and destructive uselessness; and hence in the course of time t he designed purposeful training and education that youth will get ,in the socia1ist state will deminish and eliminate the ,i nterest in religion and its upbringing ait least to the tiny degree thaJt it is alveady eliminated for instance in Mostec or .in Karlovar where practica:l'ly no religion is given. Then the hours or periods for religious instruction will become wholly useless in all of our schools and religion and religious instructions wiU have outlived usefulness." "Praca" is organizing heckling units to instigate and incite opposition against the teaching of religion. Thus on October 10th of this year, it published a rep'l y to its article. The letter is significant for two things: (1) communism has already trained atheists in Slov,a kia; and (2) resistance against communism's a.ibolishment of ·r eligious education in schools continues. We quote the letter literaHy: "Everything which you write is true. We also are atheists and give priority to science over the tales of the clergy. But we see that difficulties do arise in the families when they must decide whether the child is to study religion. One of our fel'low-workers, for instance, did not register his daughter for religious instruction, and now he has great misunderstandings with his wife. In our own families we, too, have little children - and we expect complications when the children become of school age and bring their applications to register for religious instruction. How can quarrels in the families be avoided? We think that religion should not be taug,ht at all in our schools. - Rudolf Skolkay and Ludovit Vaverika, Hlohovec." 1 Communists Destroyed Hundreds of Thousands of Books An a,cquaintance, who spent two months in Slovakia, tells us how the communist authorities had confiscated and destroyed all the religious and cultural books they found in �16 SLOVAKIA the Matica Slovenska (Slovak Insti:tute), the Spolok Sv. Vojteoha (St. Adalbert's Society) and other publishing houses, and which tihe communist reg.ime regarded as not acceptable from the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint. Our acquaintance ascertained that one iday trucks pulled up to the publishing houses with the police, who ordered the confiscation of all books they had on prepared lists. Seven truckloads were taken from St. Adalbert's Society a:lone. At the head of the list were the religious books prayerbooks, catechisms, lives of the saints, entire volumes of religious periodicals, and everything with an imprimatur in it. Then they took all the books published during the existence Olf the Republic of Slovia:kia, the authors of which are either in exile or in prison. "When we learned this," sa:id the acquaintance, "we were shocked .... we just couldn't believe it. People had hoped that the communist regime would not go to this extreme and that somehow or other the books would still be saved at least in the stockrooms of the publishers since bookstores and book-sellers were not allowed to buy or sell them. Instead, however, the books - hundreds of thousands of good books - were destroyed." The books were ground up to a pulp to make new paper which is to serve the communist press. Paper that once carried the Word of God, religious thoughts and literature, is now being used against God, religion, democracy and humanity. Communism destroys everything that stands in its way. Tension Between Slovak and Czech Writers . We know an American whose relative in Slovakia is a wri:ter. Returning from Slovakia, this man told us of some of the problems of writers. The communists, he related, hesitated for a long time to permit a new edition of the novel, "Tri Gastanove Kone" (Three Chestnut Horses) which Margita Figuli wrote and published long before the communists came into control. The reason for this was nolt that the author or the novel was political or anti-communistic. Not at all; for it is a novel with many love affairs. Nor was the author on any �SLOVAKIA 19 political index. She had never been in politics, and if she ever was incHned or orienta,ted to any political view it was towards Prague, the Czech viewpoint. Nevertheless she had .to wait a full six years till the communist regime of Prague permitted her to put out a new edition of her novel. The reason for this delay? The vinain of the novel, the tyrant, the torturer of women and horses, is a man na:med Zapotocny. 'Dhe Czech communists feared that the readers would confuse this name with the name of the communist president of Czecho-Slovakia whose name was Zapotocky. So the party waited until Za.potocky di'ed and then aMowed a new edition af Figuli's novel. The consent of the Slovak .communists was not enough. The Slovak communists had first to consult and get the approval of .bhe Czech communists. This, however, is how things go in Slovakia in all things- politics, economics, literary works, justice, in a word, in everything, the Red Czechs of Prag,ue must first be consulted and their approval or decision must first be obtained, or else My friend mentioned other problems that Slovak }VI'iters have. For instance, there is a tremendous amount of tension and antagonism between .the Czech and Slovak writers. For the communist party is trying to fuse or merge the two groups of writers - the Czech and the Slov,ak into one, the Czecho-Slovak writers, as the Academy of Science previously attempted. The Slovak writers, whether communist or not, adamantly refuse to give up their Slovak aHiance and submit to the Czech or Czech-Slovak Alliance. They told WiHiam Siroky, who pressured them: "A united alliance can be achieved only through the medium of our lorn up communist idenitification cards!" Low Wages and High Prices Another Slovak American who visited Slovakia, related how much Slovaks can earn anid how much they pay for the things they need. Today most of the Slovaks have to work in groups or collectives. In the .rural areas - and Slovakia is predominantly agricultural - to work they must belong to single farm collectives or · "kokhozes". The farmers' fields or �20 SLOVAKIA farms were .taken away and nationalized; now they must work on them for the state. The collective worker however, does not make more than seven crowns ($1.00) a day. Sometimes only six crowns, depending on the way his unit of work is estimated. A woman, working in a poultry-house 14 hours a day, gets almost 10 crowns. Likewise a dairy-maid, but she must milk by hand 18 cows twice daily. A construction worker receives only 6.50 crowns a day. Stoneworkers are better off; they get 1,000 crowns a month. But let us see how this compa,,res with the price of things. The American visitor expla,ineld it this way: If only one person works in the collective, two people cannot live on his income. Simply because: A kilogram (2.2 l'b s.) of the blackest bread costs 8 crowns; a better bread 10 crowns; and a half-white bread costs 12 crowns. It is obvious that a laborer cannot make enough a day to buy a kilogram of good bread. And if he wants to buy a little cheese-cake, or a little poppy-seed roll or jelly-bun (roll), which in America would cost about 40 cents, in Slovakia he won•rt be able to obtain it for less than 6 crowns. Hence a construction worker labors almost all day for a ro'll or good bun which won't be enough to go with one cup of coffee. Wi,th meat it's the same business. Beef and pork cost 48 crowns a kilogram. Women stand in front of butcher shops in lines blocks long from 5 in the morning sometimes until noon; but the last ones usually get no meat at all. For a kilogram of meat a collective worker must work seven days. Average oloth or material fior men's clothing costs 750 crowns. A well paid worker then must toil 3 weeks just for the material for a suit of clothes. In Slovakia common summer-shoes or sa,,ndals cost 500 crowns a pair; and a well paid worker must work a good 15 days for a pair of these shoes. A commune worker has to work over two months to be able to buy a good pair of sanidals. My friend also visited the Czech lands, where his relatives from Slovakia work in Bohemia and Moravia. From �SLOVAKIA 21 them he learned of the dis<!rimination and inequality in the wages paid in the Czech lands as compared w.ith those in Slovakia. It is unbelievingly shocking inequa:lity, injustice and discrimination. Every worker in the Czech lands receives dowble the amount he would receive for the same work in Slovakia. This inequality and discrimination gives rise to serious misunderstandings . The Czechs have not learned the lessons of history; little has changed since the days of T. G. Masaryk and Benes : the Slovaks are still regarded as servants of the Czechs, to be exploited solely for Czech interests. 'NIE SLOVA.KS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pwblk library, in every college and university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy-· $2.00; in cloth $3.00. SLOVAKl,A: the women of Rejdova, Gerner Province, once wore this type of headdress. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 13 SLOVAK.IA UNDER COMMUNISM By Joseph Pauco During the past three months I met several Americams of Slovak descent who had visiited Slovakia. All were Amevican citizens. Since none played any active role in politics, they had no difficulty in obtainling visas from Red Prague. "They know I am not a politician," said my friend , "but they also know that I am bringing American dollars to P,r ague and Brati'slava, so the Reds do not hesitate to place their signa:ture to my viisa. But my spivitua;l director, t he pastor of my parish, could not get a visa, even though he, too, does no politioing. Being a priest apparently is reason enough not to allow him entry on Slovak soil, which today is washed by streams of innocent blood of martyrs fighting for the freedom of Slovakia. Communism Destroying All Hope One of the visitors told me this: "My brother-fa-law is a teacher. I talked with him for two hours; •but, except for his deploring the communist regime, I learned nothing new from him. He did, however, stress that there are very few active teachers from the old school, that is, those who taught during the Slovak Republic (1939-1945), and that the communist regime carefully supervises even the new school or generation of teachers, brought up and trained by the communists themselves, makes them renounce their religious convictions, and prohibits them even to mention religion except to ridicule, vilify, and condemn it. "This, of course, shocked me. My brother-in-law, alt hough 15 years younger, looked muoh older .than I. Indeed, he was unable to believe that there could be such a difference. "Communism," he would say, "brings no good to anyone; and when one does not approve of it, even though one does not actively oppose it, it destroys one s·p iritually and this in its turn reacts physically and one's body succumbs and slowly deteriorates. "Lt is even worse among the Slovak intellectuals, who 14 SLOVAKIA are desperate and have given up all hope. And this isn' t only among those who are years in prison or who, instead of having their regular office or teaching position, are working in the uranium mines, but also among those who still are at large, undetected. Despair is stalking them everywhere because they cannot tell when they also will be ,s eized and shipped to unlmown regions. "In a word, today in Slovakia, as perhaps in other communist countries, people are losing all hope. My brother-in-law specifically reiterated: "What can we now await, when for 15 years there was no undoing, no overturning and no possibility for such an undoing or overturning? Those of us who have been hoping for this transformation are aging and cannot live long enough to see any reversal or change-over so long as the West continues ,to ignore or to pay little attention to us . "And our ,c hildren and grandchildren? I'm dreadfully afraid most of them will be thoroughly brainwashed and trained in godless marxist ideology. And th~s will be disastrous for our nation and for all of central Europe." Take Us To America "Take us to Amer.ica !" is the pleading cry of a young man, bidding rfarewell to his American uncle, who was returning to America after visiting Slovakia. "Immediately, but immediately I'd leave with you even though I'd have to live on dry bread and water in your trunk the whole trip half-unconscious!" Those words express ,p ractically everything the communized and oppressed Slovaks feel. They long above all to escape and shake off the slavery of communism; and the only way to do this now is, it seems to them, to come to America. Even -though some Slovaks lost all hope and feel that the USA will come to terms with the Soviet Union, nevertheless the vast majority of them is still of the opinion that America will not abandon the nations behind the Iron Curtain and that it, therefore, will not abandon Slovaki,a either. "It is most unfortunate," remarked a Slovak native to our visitor in Slovakia, "that the USA did not act more energetically in 1956 when the Hungarians rebelled against communism. We were ready to rise up also. So would have the Poles, the Rumanians, the Croatians, SLOVAKIA 15 and Slovenfans, and the whole of Central Europe would have been on the maroh to freedom." Even the communists at the time were apprehensive that the time had come for a change and were preparing for it. For instance, t:hey treated their prisoners wi th a:. healthy respect. The Slovaks often mention their relatives in America anld relay to them, as our informant tells us, that "If the American Slovaks do no-t help us out of communism's diabolical clui:ches, we have lived and struggled in vain. It is useless to continue to live as we do. Tell our Slovak Americans that never did a people so need assistance as we need it now. Tell them to knock daily at the White House in Washington and under the leadersh,ip of the Slovak League of America to rise up •:ogether in behalf of our Slovak Nation and its independent State. We want to be free and independent of communism, Czech imperialism, and every outside pressure." Slovaks in Slovakia have confidence in Amerka even though communist propaganda tells them that hunger and poverty prevail in Amer.ica, that children are barefooted and one third of its people unemployed. Slovaks, knowing that, like every country, America a:lso has its· economic problems, smile at this propaganda. But they also know, as they told v1sitovs from the USA, .that nowhere in the world are people as well off and free as in. America. Godless Communist Schools In Slovakia religion is still taught as an unprescr.i-bed subject; but only where the parents demand it. The communist press and administration are viciously opposed to religious instruction and training in any school. We read in a rather comprehensive article in the Bratisfava "Praca," dated September 28, 1960, and titled "Does Religion Belong In A Socialist School?": " ... religion, for i ts unscientific · character which emanates wholly from fantastic supersitions and not from real facts , is harmful. One of its basic principles is: Not to undermine or rebel against the gods created by a profit and exploiting system and not to destroy them and their plundering system if an eternal and blissful hereafter is to be successfully attained. It is difficult to visualize in-. 16 SLOVAKIA spired builders of a communistic future, builders belabored and burdened with such falise and silly concepts and ideals. Hence the socialistic school is and must basically and solely imbue and train the young from the scientific base - the materialistic Marxist world-wide view, the cor,r ectness of which not only does science confirm but also more often even practice. Therefore, in CzechoSlovak schools religion, even as an elective, is really never taught." "Praca" then further anailyzes the reasons of the communist regime as to why religion must not be taught. It alleges that "even our constitution ... guarantees freeeven though dom of worship and religious service truly only if this is not contrary to (communist) law." Who, however makes the laws in Slova:kia? The communists. And if they do not care to have religion taught or promulgated, then they pass such laws which will not permit religion to be .taught. "Praca" continues: "No religion, no religious concept is permitted in the educational program or its text books ; it is neither named nor alluded to, and the person who might dare teach it is not considered a teacher or a member of .t he teaching staff. And hence it is not a part of the course of education." Communists are convinced that "from the pedagogical viewpoint it is not only improper and incorrect but also confusing and unhealthy for a child to be placed into periods of conflict and contradiction between religion and science ; for instance, between the theories of divine creation and the scientific origin of the world." " ... there is no room for useless obstructions and burdening of young minds into lethargic religious imaginings which have no concrete value to a child.... "In a socialist state, religion, a:s an outlived form of socia'l science, loses the nm1bur.ing soil humus for its existence and inevitably dies. This is very obvious even in our schools where the number of children registered for religious instructions is constantly decreasing, and even this year is substantially lower than la,st year. This dying out of religion, however, must not be lerft to elementals. SLOVAKIA 17 We feel that with purposeful work, after a definite time, interest ,i n the teaching of religion in Slovakia will decrease to such an extent, for example, as it hras in Mostecko and Karlovarski, where practically no religion is taug.ht." Rather it appears that the reason for this demise is its own inherent invia,b ility and destructive uselessness; and hence in the course of time t he designed purposeful training and education that youth will get ,in the socia1ist state will deminish and eliminate the ,i nterest in religion and its upbringing ait least to the tiny degree thaJt it is alveady eliminated for instance in Mostec or .in Karlovar where practica:l'ly no religion is given. Then the hours or periods for religious instruction will become wholly useless in all of our schools and religion and religious instructions wiU have outlived usefulness." "Praca" is organizing heckling units to instigate and incite opposition against the teaching of religion. Thus on October 10th of this year, it published a rep'l y to its article. The letter is significant for two things: (1) communism has already trained atheists in Slov,a kia; and (2) resistance against communism's a.ibolishment of ·r eligious education in schools continues. We quote the letter literaHy: "Everything which you write is true. We also are atheists and give priority to science over the tales of the clergy. But we see that difficulties do arise in the families when they must decide whether the child is to study religion. One of our fel'low-workers, for instance, did not register his daughter for religious instruction, and now he has great misunderstandings with his wife. In our own families we, too, have little children - and we expect complications when the children become of school age and bring their applications to register for religious instruction. How can quarrels in the families be avoided? We think that religion should not be taug,ht at all in our schools. - Rudolf Skolkay and Ludovit Vaverika, Hlohovec." 1 Communists Destroyed Hundreds of Thousands of Books An a,cquaintance, who spent two months in Slovakia, tells us how the communist authorities had confiscated and destroyed all the religious and cultural books they found in 16 SLOVAKIA the Matica Slovenska (Slovak Insti:tute), the Spolok Sv. Vojteoha (St. Adalbert's Society) and other publishing houses, and which tihe communist reg.ime regarded as not acceptable from the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint. Our acquaintance ascertained that one iday trucks pulled up to the publishing houses with the police, who ordered the confiscation of all books they had on prepared lists. Seven truckloads were taken from St. Adalbert's Society a:lone. At the head of the list were the religious books prayerbooks, catechisms, lives of the saints, entire volumes of religious periodicals, and everything with an imprimatur in it. Then they took all the books published during the existence Olf the Republic of Slovia:kia, the authors of which are either in exile or in prison. "When we learned this," sa:id the acquaintance, "we were shocked .... we just couldn't believe it. People had hoped that the communist regime would not go to this extreme and that somehow or other the books would still be saved at least in the stockrooms of the publishers since bookstores and book-sellers were not allowed to buy or sell them. Instead, however, the books - hundreds of thousands of good books - were destroyed." The books were ground up to a pulp to make new paper which is to serve the communist press. Paper that once carried the Word of God, religious thoughts and literature, is now being used against God, religion, democracy and humanity. Communism destroys everything that stands in its way. Tension Between Slovak and Czech Writers . We know an American whose relative in Slovakia is a wri:ter. Returning from Slovakia, this man told us of some of the problems of writers. The communists, he related, hesitated for a long time to permit a new edition of the novel, "Tri Gastanove Kone" (Three Chestnut Horses) which Margita Figuli wrote and published long before the communists came into control. The reason for this was nolt that the author or the novel was political or anti-communistic. Not at all; for it is a novel with many love affairs. Nor was the author on any SLOVAKIA 19 political index. She had never been in politics, and if she ever was incHned or orienta,ted to any political view it was towards Prague, the Czech viewpoint. Nevertheless she had .to wait a full six years till the communist regime of Prague permitted her to put out a new edition of her novel. The reason for this delay? The vinain of the novel, the tyrant, the torturer of women and horses, is a man na:med Zapotocny. 'Dhe Czech communists feared that the readers would confuse this name with the name of the communist president of Czecho-Slovakia whose name was Zapotocky. So the party waited until Za.potocky di'ed and then aMowed a new edition af Figuli's novel. The consent of the Slovak .communists was not enough. The Slovak communists had first to consult and get the approval of .bhe Czech communists. This, however, is how things go in Slovakia in all things- politics, economics, literary works, justice, in a word, in everything, the Red Czechs of Prag,ue must first be consulted and their approval or decision must first be obtained, or else My friend mentioned other problems that Slovak }VI'iters have. For instance, there is a tremendous amount of tension and antagonism between .the Czech and Slovak writers. For the communist party is trying to fuse or merge the two groups of writers - the Czech and the Slov,ak into one, the Czecho-Slovak writers, as the Academy of Science previously attempted. The Slovak writers, whether communist or not, adamantly refuse to give up their Slovak aHiance and submit to the Czech or Czech-Slovak Alliance. They told WiHiam Siroky, who pressured them: "A united alliance can be achieved only through the medium of our lorn up communist idenitification cards!" Low Wages and High Prices Another Slovak American who visited Slovakia, related how much Slovaks can earn anid how much they pay for the things they need. Today most of the Slovaks have to work in groups or collectives. In the .rural areas - and Slovakia is predominantly agricultural - to work they must belong to single farm collectives or · "kokhozes". The farmers' fields or 20 SLOVAKIA farms were .taken away and nationalized; now they must work on them for the state. The collective worker however, does not make more than seven crowns ($1.00) a day. Sometimes only six crowns, depending on the way his unit of work is estimated. A woman, working in a poultry-house 14 hours a day, gets almost 10 crowns. Likewise a dairy-maid, but she must milk by hand 18 cows twice daily. A construction worker receives only 6.50 crowns a day. Stoneworkers are better off; they get 1,000 crowns a month. But let us see how this compa,,res with the price of things. The American visitor expla,ineld it this way: If only one person works in the collective, two people cannot live on his income. Simply because: A kilogram (2.2 l'b s.) of the blackest bread costs 8 crowns; a better bread 10 crowns; and a half-white bread costs 12 crowns. It is obvious that a laborer cannot make enough a day to buy a kilogram of good bread. And if he wants to buy a little cheese-cake, or a little poppy-seed roll or jelly-bun (roll), which in America would cost about 40 cents, in Slovakia he won•rt be able to obtain it for less than 6 crowns. Hence a construction worker labors almost all day for a ro'll or good bun which won't be enough to go with one cup of coffee. Wi,th meat it's the same business. Beef and pork cost 48 crowns a kilogram. Women stand in front of butcher shops in lines blocks long from 5 in the morning sometimes until noon; but the last ones usually get no meat at all. For a kilogram of meat a collective worker must work seven days. Average oloth or material fior men's clothing costs 750 crowns. A well paid worker then must toil 3 weeks just for the material for a suit of clothes. In Slovakia common summer-shoes or sa,,ndals cost 500 crowns a pair; and a well paid worker must work a good 15 days for a pair of these shoes. A commune worker has to work over two months to be able to buy a good pair of sanidals. My friend also visited the Czech lands, where his relatives from Slovakia work in Bohemia and Moravia. From SLOVAKIA 21 them he learned of the dis<!rimination and inequality in the wages paid in the Czech lands as compared w.ith those in Slovakia. It is unbelievingly shocking inequa:lity, injustice and discrimination. Every worker in the Czech lands receives dowble the amount he would receive for the same work in Slovakia. This inequality and discrimination gives rise to serious misunderstandings . The Czechs have not learned the lessons of history; little has changed since the days of T. G. Masaryk and Benes : the Slovaks are still regarded as servants of the Czechs, to be exploited solely for Czech interests. 'NIE SLOVA.KS by Peter P. Yurchak, should be in every pwblk library, in every college and university, in the home of every American of Slovak descent. Get your copy NOW. Paper bound copy-· $2.00; in cloth $3.00. SLOVAKl,A: the women of Rejdova, Gerner Province, once wore this type of headdress.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Slovakia Under Communism Description An account of the resource Joseph Paučo Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 13-21 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paučo, Jozef, 1914-1975 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8320014a1e675180cb66a4d5cd12571a.pdf 0492c598abeb6d567b20343bd0edda41 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 27 CZECHO-SWVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY BY VLADIMiR PEKEILSKY In the past several years some writers of our Czech exile have attempted to diagnose the tragedy of us all at home and in foreign lands. But they have had little success with it. J. M. Kolar, for example, is today already forgotten and the more actual Dr. Radimsky has been elevated particularly by publishers and the Czech National Socialists. Both authors came out with much that was true, but they either did not want to or did not know how to express the whole truth. Perhaps they feared the consequences. And fear has big eyes. Nevertheless, many times it is not only fear, but opportunism and various other interests which prevent authors from writing about matters that might interest readers the most. It was just this that inspired me to touch upon problems which still are strictly taboo in most Czech exile publications. Czecho-Slovakia 1918-1938 Today very few of our people want to recall the whole truth about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Without regard to nationality and political affiliation, that is. The younger generation, born after 1925, did not know the first Repu blic and, therefore, cannot make any judgments of it from personal experiences. For us oldsters it meant much, though only 20 years in the thousand-year history of our Czech nation, and the judgment of history may arouse only criticism, because with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia the road for modern dictatorships into Central Europe was facilitated. In exile we have become accustomed to read - from articles of former collaborators of Dr. Edward Benes - nothing but praise about the first republic. The writers deliberately fail to see the state bankruptcies of 1938-1939 and 1945-1948, the internal causes thereof. They blame everything on outside intervention. The first Republic was presented to the world as a model of democracy, freedom, state order and welfare, and, were it not - according to them - for the bad Germans 1 �28 SLOVAKIA and Russians, it still could have been the "perfection" it was. Not a word is said a'bout the patronage of France. Thus they continue to falsify the facts, just as they did during the time of Masaryk and Benes w'hen huge sums were paid out to foreign journals and journalists to sing nothing but praises aibout the first Republic. Of course, we can and we should recall the many good things about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Yet it would be irresponsible of us if we did not look into the causes of the bankruptcy and collapse of democratic Czecho-Slovakia within ourselves and in internal circumstances. Dr. Vaclav Boucek, principal defender of Masaryk and Benes, did not flatter the state system of Czecho-Slovakia when he described it as a "quasi-democracy with a quasiparliamentary system." A multitude of good people, financially well-founded groups, investors, state officers, but also political barterers were satisfied with the then Prague ·r egime. The propertyless groups of inhabitants, the indebted peasants and home owners, the unemployed and the adherents of nonCzech nationalities (e.g., the greater unemployment in the German sectors and the vain attempts of the new Slovak intelligentsia to fill positions in the public life of Slovakia) looked upon the state system with more or less criticism. And today very few of our people want to admit that comIJ11mism had a significant voice in our political life from the very first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the fact is that it did. The following statistics show the results of three elections, the mandates won by the respective parties: Politica•l Party cs Social Demo.c ratic (1) cs People's Party (2) c.s A1grarian ORepulblioam,) (3) C"'5 Na:ti,o nal Socialist (4) C-S Niattiona,l Democratic (5) C,S Tradesmen's C-S Progressive Socialist Slovak Na-tionail (6) (Hlinka's) Slovak People's (7) Czech Na,tcional Fascist 'Mand-at-es won by tihe Parties 1920 1925 1-935 33 29 3'1 28 415 24 28 113' 13 74 1,9 6 3 1~ 23 38 22 45 28 17 l:'7 22 6 �29 SLOVAKIA German Sociialist Democratic German Community German Nationalist German Nat'io.n1al So,ci,a iist German Agrariain German Christian Socialists German Democraili:c Sudeten Germ-run, Magyar Agrarian Miaigyar-Germain Soc. Dem. Magy,a r Christian Socia,Jist Ma,gyair Bloc GS Communist (8) Others Tota,] Number of Mandates 17 111 1-0 7 1,1 24 10 5 1,3 5 6 44 1 4 5 4 9 30 285 300 300 (1) The main worker's Gsocialist) party founded in 11878. (2) Hliruka's Slovak People's Party voted with this party in the 19!20 elec1Jiions and was allowed 12 manda:tes, 1while the resp. Czeoho,Slovak P,e ople's Pa,r ty (Sra1mek's) got 21. The largest Slovak politi'c al p,arty in Slovakia. (3) Founded by Amltonin Svehla in 1899. (4) Founded by Czeclh soci-a.Jists in 1896. Dr. Edward Benes later lbecame its leader. (5) Fiounded tby Dr. Kramar in 19118 ; comlbi·n ed witlh the Dle'c.h Nation/al Union Party (Strilbrny's) be!fo,r e the 19315 elections. (6) Founded be'fore fhe 1872 elections. In 19315 it voted wiith Hlinka's party as the Autonomist BJ.oc. (7) The Slovatk People's (Populist) :Party was founded by !Father Andrew Hlinika, Dec. 5, 1905. (8) The Czecho-'SJ,o,v ak (iread "Cm;)OH") Communist Party was fuunijed Nov. 2, 1920, after .brea~ing with the So'Ci-a•l Democrats; the deputies joining it: 23 Czeeho..Slovak S1oci1al Democraits, 3 German Social Democrats, aind 1· Ma,g;yar Soci,al Democrat. (The parties qualified as "Czecho-Slovak" were in fact Czech-dominated parties · with affiliates in Slovakia. There were only two genuine SLOVAK political parties: the IDinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party; both supported autonomy for Slovakia, the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918. - Ed. note). The municipal election in Prague, May 29, 1938, showed the following five parties. with the largest vote: Cze<:h National Socialists - 151,600; Communists - 99,900; Social Democrats - 75,809; National Unity - 68,007; Czech Populist - 37,749. In the 1925 parliamentary elections the Communist �30 SLOVAKIA Party received 933,711 votes; ten years later (1935) it got 849,0000 votes. Do the above statistics warrant the frequently used phrase "Masaryk's or Benes's Republic" and calling the citizens of Czecho-Slovakia "the children of Masaryk"? Would any Czech want to say that the communists, Henleinists, Magyars, Poles, and Slovaks considered themselves "children of Masaryk"? It is a fact that even the Czech rightists criticized or repudiated Masaryk in a large measure. Not only the extreme groups but even a large part of the Czech National Democrats, Agrarians, and adherents of the Czech People's Party in Moravia. We know that during the rule of Masaryk and Benes many things were done which were not honorable. For example, already in 1924 freedom of the press was limited by Law No. 124, and the freedom of the press in the "democratic Czecho-:Slovak Republic," so highly praised by Radio Free Europe even today, in reality looked much less free than in France, the United States and England. Various publications, not only those of the opposition, were frequently confiscated and censored and were issued with "white windows" or as "corrected" issues after censorship. At that time it was said that the journalists were thereby trained "to worship at the willows." ,' Corruption was extensive, but no law could be promulgated to wipe it out because political parties and many government people were against passing such a law. Hundreds of millions of crowns thus disappeared in bottomless pockets. We still remember the alcohol case, the gasoline affair, the corruption in the sugar business, in the construction of the electrical plant in Ervenice and the Fenix Insurance affair, and the corruption connected with the land reform, the parceling out of surplus estates. In tlhe first Republic even the elections cannot be called- truly democratic. The broad masses of the people were not satisfied with the electoral system, because: they were not allowed to choose candidates. The law, however, ordered all citizens .to take part in the elections and to vote for the political parties and their selected candidates. Ob- �SLOVAKIA 31 viously many incapable people thus became members of the parliament, interested not in the welfare of the people and the country, but in the first place in the welfare and power of their respective parties. Corruption flourished. Only the political key was used in forming a government and qualifications for a ministerial position meant practically nothing. The parties controlled all public service jobs in the State on the national and local levels. Since one had a large selection of political parties, quite a few citizens carried memib ership cards of several political parties. Thus was the first Czecho-Slovak Republic undermined, as well as confidence in the State and the democratic system which hypocritically bore the slogan "Truth prevails" on its escutcheon - which even the present communist regime has allowed to remain on the State insignia. The enthusiasm with which the Slovaks and Czechs welcomed the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 soon cooled and forced many hot heads into opposition. The am1bitious Dr. Benes, however, knew how to deal with the opposition: he liquidated it ruthlessly. To this end he used his secret archive which he had made up for opportune moments, even doctors' opinions, as in the case of Stnbrny. Democracy became limited during the lifetime of T. G. Masaryk, and more so during the presidency of Dr. Benes. Masaryk did not seek the support of political parties; he was above all parties. Benes, on the other hand, depended on the support of t!he National Socialists, who, in 1935 tried, though unsuccessfully, to promulgate a law to dissolve all political parties and to establish a new uniform State party with himself at its head. The National Socialists must be regard~d as the grave-diggers of CzechoSlovakia and democracy; their active collaboration with the communists during the war and after is still fresh in our memories. The parasites of Benes's political clique refuse to admit their guilt in the catastrophe. They still sing praises to Bene~ with the help of whose name they hope to find favor with Czech settlers in Canada and the United States. �32 SLOVAKIA Ruthenia illustrate s Benes's political character quite clearly. During a visit to that country in May, 1934, when he was still Foreign Minister, Benes said: "Czecho-S lovakia, having become the holder (trustee) of Sub-Carp athian Russia by the decision of the Peace Conferenc e, will never give up this land, it will never allow any revisionism in this question and shall defend this land with you to its last drop of blood" (Narodna Politika: May 6, 1924) . We know just how Benes defended Ruthenia : he negotiated with Soviet Ambassa dor Majsky in London, in 1941, to sell out that hapless country. On July 4, 1938, Dr. Benes prophesie d to a deputatio n of Sokols: "Nothing will happen tha,t might harm our State, our Republic and our democrat ic regime; in this jubilee year of our Republic, with our sincere effort for just colla:boratio n with all citizens of all nationalit ies, we shall demonstrat e anew to the world that our State is just, solid, ready to resist aggressio n, mature and peace-lov ing." The result: Munich! To complem ent the shameles s character of Benes in his statemen t, published in the "Wiedom osci polskie" (June 15, 1941): "And when a man thinks of it, we Czechs nevertheless did foresee actually everythin g!" When a Polish journalis t asked him whether he really meant everythin g, Benes replied: "Yes, I mean everythin g!" The Munich catastrop he, the capitulati on and flight of Dr. Benes into foreign lands did away for the time being with any remnants of sympafili y the Czech nation had for Benes (the Slovaks and others had none for him). In 1945, the Czech nation welcomed his return, but the enthusiasm displayed was not for him but rather an expressio n of joy that the war and Nazi occupatio n had ended. The Second Republic Post-Mun ich Czecho-S lovakia, the second Republic, was of short duration. It was still free, but betrayed by all its foreign friends; it was smaller in area and without great !hopes of preservat ion. It was also without Benes, who had voluntari ly resigned from the presidenc y and, after his �SLOVAKIA 33 flight from Czecho-Slovakia, had even wished much success to the new, constitutionally elected, President, Dr. Emil Ha.cha. With the voluntary joining of the parties of the right in the Party of National Unity and the parties of the left in the Labor Party, an effort was expressed to simplify and cure the ills of political life. The relations of the first Republic, particularly the person and environment of Dr. Benes, were the target of wide criticism, especially from the Party of National Unity which, surprisingly enough, even the National Socialists joined. The party renounced Benes and favored the right. Its chairman, J. V. Klofac, identifying Czech National Socialism with Hitler's National Socialism, said: "We must not only catch up with Germany and its National Socialism, but surpass it .... In Central Europe we must give a model example of coexistence of the Slovanic peoples and Germans, which is all the easier for us, since we are also connected by blood. My Father's mother was a full-blooded German." And referring to Benes quite obviously, Klofac proclaimed: "We must repudiate everyone who prattles like a child about the approaching moment that shall return to us everything we lost in October - and which is definitely lost." No Czech political party so completely reversed itself up to that time. The conflict with the Slovaks and Hitler's intervention liquidated the second Republic; the Czech lands became the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia." The Protectorat.e of Bohemia and Moravia The burden of the German occupation was felt not only in public life, but also by every society and family. German pressure was terrific; aJbout 300,000 Czechs proclaimed themselves Germans. Children were taught German and sang German songs. The attempt to unite the parties and groups of the right, which after March 15, 1939, formed the so-called "National Committee," failed and the party of the so-called "National Alliance" was formed. Various rightist and fascist groups existed too, illegally but tolerated, which had little or practically no influence with the Germans. Opportunistic servants and functionaries of �34 SLOVAKIA former political parties better served the purposes of the Germans than the nationalistic groups. Even though no one wants to admit it, the fact is that, after the arrival of the German Army in Pilsen, among the first to be arrested and liquidated, along with the students, on November 17, 1939, were also fascists and Vlajkists. Collaboration with the Germans was ratlher common; it was rather a question of the personal character of individuals without regard to political belief. Opportunism played a significant role until the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. Czech resistance against nazism grew with the approaching end of the war. One of the most notorious collaborators was Emanuel Moravec, Minister of Enlightenment, former co-worker of Stransky's "Lidove Noviny" and Benes's Military propagandist (alias Stanislav Yester). We remember, too, Arno Baise, former communist, who held the leading position in the trade organization NO-OZ; and Emanuel Slechta, designated in the Records of the London Department of the Interior as a collaborator, who nevertheless was given a place in the presidium of the Czech National Socialists and, in 1948, became the chairman of the communized Czech socialists. Benes's decrees, prepared by Dr. Jaroslav Stransky in London, often punishing with the tendency of personal vengeance (recall the cases of Stribrny, R. Beran, and others), created the possibility of settling personal accounts and were more or less a weapon for political blackmail. Benes often assured the world that the Constitution of 1920 was still valid during the war and after 1945, bu't he ruled by decrees, flaunting ther~by the highest law of the land, which he had sworn to uphold. The Foreign Activity of Dr. Benes . As an exile in London, Benes proclaimed himself president of Czecho-Slovakia, organized a government, proclaimed war against Hitler and all his allies, borrowed from Britain for his. activity over fifty million pounds Sterling, and covered with a veil of secrecy the fate of the gold treasure that was in foreign lands. Benes welcomed the defeat of France, wlhich showed him no sympathy, organized �SLOVAKIA 35 a foreign army of a!bout 4,000 men in England, and every year prophesied the aproaching end of Hitler. Churchill was criticized openly even during the war, but anyone who attempted to criticize Benes was ruthlessly denounced and liquidated. Benes's vanity and ambition knew no bounds; critics and opponents were arrested or politically isolated (Gen. Lev Prchala, Deputy Fr. Schwarz, Ambassador Osusky, former Prime Minister M. Hod.fa, Rudolph Be~hyne, leader of the Czech Social Democrats, Malim, president of the State Bank,and others). Benes had quite a bit of opposition not only among the exiles, but even among the old settlers in the United States and Canada. In 1940, Czech Catholics still backed Dr. Emil Ha.cha, the duly elected president of Czecho-Slovakia; Slovak emigration was for the most part for the Slovak State. While the freethinkers and socialists supported Benes at the outset, the Communists adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In the United States, the most outspoken against Benes was the Czech Monsignor F. Mikolasek, whose scorching articles appeared in the St. Louis "Hlas," and the "Katolicky Delnik." Many of us expected Dr. Charles Pergler to openly stand against Benes, since he was evicted from Czecho-Slovakia by Masaryk and Benes despite his many merits for the Czecho-Slovak Republic and his deputorial mandate. But he remained silent like so many others. In the London exile, Dr. Benes committed further treason against the principles of freedom and democracy: he prepared the liquidation of civic parties that were always strongly opposed to him. The National Socialists he had in the palm of his hand; to the Social Democrats and the Populists he sent his agents (B. Lausman, V. Majer, P. Tigrid, I. Duch.a.eek, and others). The only problem that Benes had, as far as the presidency of Czecho-Slovakia was concerned, were the communists toward whom, however, he had had no internal opposition. In 1939, Benes wrote in his "Democracy Today and Tomorrow": . "On the other hand, Communism in its philosophy and morality has a certain similarity with democracy. It also stands for equality ,of all peoples and nations. It is also humanitarian, : un.ivel"Salistiic, intellectu-alistic and rationalistic. It is also pacifist, intemationalistic �36 SLOVAKIA and stands for a policy of United Nations. From this standpoint its moral and phil050phical basis is the same as that of democracy." The main supposition of Benes's agreement with the Reds was the assurance that with their support he would again become President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and be able to rule dictatorially by means of "revolutionary" decrees. He turned his back cooly on the anti-communist Polish exiles with whom, when he needed them to gain the support of the English, Benes concluded pacts of friendship and close political and economical cooperation in the future. The People's Democracy 1945-1948 The events of 1945-1948 are well known to us. Benes's decrees contributed to the socialization of Czecho-Slovakia, tJhe expulsion of the Sudeten Germans caused an economical vacuum for many years, and retributional decrees helped to liquidate the anti-communist opposition. The height of the immorality of Benes's regime was the issuance of his decree of October 27, 1945, which amnestied all crimes against humanity during the "punishment of Germans and collaborators" after May 5, 1945. In the history of justice this amnesty represents a singular document wher~by a government sanctioned murder, violence, and thievery - something that no dictatorship, not even the Nazi type, allowed itself up to that time. Benes, his government, and the non-communist parties indisputably helped to bolshevize Czecho~Slovakia. They tried to suripass the Reds in cruelty during the expulsion of Germans and Magyars and they out-trumped them in chauvinism. On June 25, 1945, the National Socialists formed the so-called socialistic bloc with the Social Democrats and Communists and then tried to create a common socialistic party - similar to the SED in East Germany - which, however, the Communists would not buy. In 1945 there was no freedom of the press, the government controlling everything. There were a few exceptional journalists who, from time to time, tried to criticize some of the existing conditions, but to no avail. The Kosice Program, approved by all the political parties permitted to ex- �SLOVAKIA 37 ist by Prague and united in the so-called National Front, clearly stated the limits of post-war freedom for everyone and was the program for the progressive bolshevization of Czecho-Slovakia. The first postwar elections, in May, 1946, brought victory for the Communists who received 38.1 per cent (in Slovakia only 30.4 per cent) of the votes cast. During the election campaign the solidarity of the National Front was not violated in the new government of Klement Gottwald. All political leaders vowed to remain loyal to the Soviet Union and unanimously approved the two-year economic plan which was on the order of the Soviet five-year..plan. Dr. Hubert Ripka, the National Socialist Minister, zealously propagated the Czecho-Slovak-Soviet Treaty of colla1boration (Dec. 13, 1943) and tied the economy of the country to that of the Soviet Union. When Stalin forced Prague not to participate in the Marshall Plan, in 1947, the non-Communist Ministers had more cause to resign then than they had in February 1948. At that time, however, the Ministers still speculated that they would be able to continue to share power with the Reds. They were not concerned about the principle of freedom, democracy, or western orientation; they simply wanted to remain in power. The resignation of twelve non-communist Ministers (out of a total of 26), headed by Dr. Peter Zenkl, on February 20, 1948, helped only the Communists to gain all positions which tJhey did not occupy up to that time. The Reds were completely prepared for t 1he events of February 1948, whereas the non-communist parties were not. In fact they played into the hands of the Reds. In the fall of 1947, several anti-Communist deputies had been liquidated by the National Front coalition of Benes-Gottwald. The Reds had no trouble in finding quislings and informers to oust the resigned ministers and their adherents from the parties and replacing them with "reliaible" people. Dr. Zenkl and company - after President Benes did what Gottwald asked him to do - then realized that they were through governing. Some were arrested but many of them departed to the West, the Reds doing practically nothing �38 SLOVAKIA to stop them. The blackguards had done their work, they were free to go. The Present Communist Czecho-Slovakia After February, 1948, political persecution had free reign, the decisions of the People's Courts from the years 1945-1948 were revised and new processes initiated. Tens of thousands citizens left the Republic. The Communist Party took over all positions; the Social Democrats united with the Communists on June 27, 1948; the National Socialists, changing their name to "Czech Socialists," recognized the leading role of the Communists and today are criticizing themselves for their "bourgeois past"; Sramek's Populists became the party of Catholic Socialism with the task of completing the collectivization of agriculture. 'Dhe Communist Party and its secret police ruthlessly liquidated all non-communist influence and practically all possibility of resistance, including that of the ecclesiastical hierachy, which could perhaps hinder their progress toward socialism and communism. Small industrial enterprises, up to 1948 not affected by Benes's decrees, were nationalized, as were gradually even the smaller businesses and trades. At the same time the industrialization of the Czech lands and Slovakia was increased, costing billions of crowns which lowered the living standard of the inhabitants to a minimum. The Communist party purged itself of "undesirable" elements, deviationists and nationalists, thus ridding itself of pre-war malcontents. In the end Rudolph Slansky, Secretary-General of the Czecho-Slovak Communist Party, and ten other leading Reds were executed November 27, 1952. They were charged with "anti-State activities, espionage, Zionism, and economic sa!botage." Gottwald's group within the party was victorious over the Slansky faction, •b ut Gottwald did not enjoy his victory very long. He died nine days after Stalin in 1953 (March 14). After a t!hree year purge the situation within the Communist Party became sta!bilized in 1953. The money reform of June 1, 1953, with which some dissatisfaction was displayed in various places, was sup- �SLOVAKIA 39 posed to raise the living standard of the people and improve the economical situation. The buying power of the Czecho-Slovak crown was restored and the quality of products became better. Prices of commodities and wages of workers were adjusted, swelling the ranks of the people who had little. From 1956 the Red regime has been using more refined methods of psychological persuasion with the peasants, so that by October 1, 1959, only 19 per cent of the land remained in private hands. All sectors of political and economical life have been patterned after the Soviet model. Industrial production, according to official statistics, was four times higher in 1959 than in 1938, and by 1965 it is supposed to be sixteen times higher. In Slovakia, industrial production increased seven times over that in 1937. The standard of living, however, has not been keeping up with increased production. Prices on many necessities are still rather higih. A large majority of the population is not communist, nor is it happy with the communist regime. Annually, however, people who knew better times are dying; their places are being taken over by the younger generation which knows little else than "people's democracy." The successes of the Red regimes with sputniks and luniks has influenced the thinking of many; as has also the policy of appeasement and containment of the West. Active resistance against the Reds is practically nil. To hold onto what people have and perhaps for more material advantage, many people are cooperating with the Reds. In 1960 we saw new changes and reorganization. Some 200,000 employees in the administration of the State were made available for industry and agriculture with the dissolution of the provincial system which was replaced by ten larger economic regions. Great changes took place also in the organization of work; gradually two shifts are being instituted in all the larger enterprises. A new Constitution has been adopted to replace the Constitution of 1920. If we criticize the "golden times" of the First Republic and do not mention the many positive deeds of that period, it is because the First Republic did not fulfill the promises of the Castle propaganda. Worse, however, is �40 SLOVAKIA the fact that the representative s of the First Republic could not strengthen the morale of the people which was shaken by the long hegemony of the Habsburgs, and Benes' s capitulation broke many a backbone. Neither was morale helped by the Protectorate; and it attained a new low after 1945 when the very people who were expected to possess so much morality willingly collaborated with the enemies of all morality. The Czech nation will live even after communism. Its tragedy was caused in 1918 by politicians who cared not about national interests, a better future , solidarity and moral strength, but in the first place sought to satisfy their own ambitions (Benes) and their own glorification (Masaryk), etc. Of course, indirectly our entire nation is responsible for the development that took place from 1918 to 1948. It allowed itself to be deceived by false slogans, legends, hypocritical propaganda, and failed to heed the warnings of really devoted politicians (Kramar, Dyk, Machar, etc.). Masaryk's slogan "evolution is going to the left" and Benes's collaboration with the Reds greatly facilitated the government of the Communists. Some of those responsi1ble for our national tragedy are still among us in exile; they have the brazen impertinence to organize circles of Czech interests (The Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia, the Czech National Socialist Party in exile, etc.) with feelers in American societies for exiles, such as Radio Free Europe (RFE), Assembly of Captive European Nations (ACEN), and American Czech societies. To the wide masses of our countrymen in exile they cannot serve as an exemplary model, and, therefore, we notice in our exile increasing influences of materialism, national callousness, egocentrism, chicanery and intrigue, hypocrisy and fraud. Of course, not in our entire exile, but in a good part of it. And it is the question of our morality that will decide whether our exile will be a,ble to live through the next several years which will be according to all indications, very tough and ruthless years. (Vladimir Pekelsky, a Crech in exile, is the editor ,an/cl pu/bli,s her o'f the CzOC'h peniodidal "Sbornik Bohemia" which is pulblislh~d in Koln,Ehrenfold, W. Germany.) � SLOVAKIA 27 CZECHO-SWVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY BY VLADIMiR PEKEILSKY In the past several years some writers of our Czech exile have attempted to diagnose the tragedy of us all at home and in foreign lands. But they have had little success with it. J. M. Kolar, for example, is today already forgotten and the more actual Dr. Radimsky has been elevated particularly by publishers and the Czech National Socialists. Both authors came out with much that was true, but they either did not want to or did not know how to express the whole truth. Perhaps they feared the consequences. And fear has big eyes. Nevertheless, many times it is not only fear, but opportunism and various other interests which prevent authors from writing about matters that might interest readers the most. It was just this that inspired me to touch upon problems which still are strictly taboo in most Czech exile publications. Czecho-Slovakia 1918-1938 Today very few of our people want to recall the whole truth about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Without regard to nationality and political affiliation, that is. The younger generation, born after 1925, did not know the first Repu blic and, therefore, cannot make any judgments of it from personal experiences. For us oldsters it meant much, though only 20 years in the thousand-year history of our Czech nation, and the judgment of history may arouse only criticism, because with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia the road for modern dictatorships into Central Europe was facilitated. In exile we have become accustomed to read - from articles of former collaborators of Dr. Edward Benes - nothing but praise about the first republic. The writers deliberately fail to see the state bankruptcies of 1938-1939 and 1945-1948, the internal causes thereof. They blame everything on outside intervention. The first Republic was presented to the world as a model of democracy, freedom, state order and welfare, and, were it not - according to them - for the bad Germans 1 �28 SLOVAKIA and Russians, it still could have been the "perfection" it was. Not a word is said a'bout the patronage of France. Thus they continue to falsify the facts, just as they did during the time of Masaryk and Benes w'hen huge sums were paid out to foreign journals and journalists to sing nothing but praises aibout the first Republic. Of course, we can and we should recall the many good things about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Yet it would be irresponsible of us if we did not look into the causes of the bankruptcy and collapse of democratic Czecho-Slovakia within ourselves and in internal circumstances. Dr. Vaclav Boucek, principal defender of Masaryk and Benes, did not flatter the state system of Czecho-Slovakia when he described it as a "quasi-democracy with a quasiparliamentary system." A multitude of good people, financially well-founded groups, investors, state officers, but also political barterers were satisfied with the then Prague ·r egime. The propertyless groups of inhabitants, the indebted peasants and home owners, the unemployed and the adherents of nonCzech nationalities (e.g., the greater unemployment in the German sectors and the vain attempts of the new Slovak intelligentsia to fill positions in the public life of Slovakia) looked upon the state system with more or less criticism. And today very few of our people want to admit that comIJ11mism had a significant voice in our political life from the very first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the fact is that it did. The following statistics show the results of three elections, the mandates won by the respective parties: Politica•l Party cs Social Demo.c ratic (1) cs People's Party (2) c.s A1grarian ORepulblioam,) (3) C"'5 Na:ti,o nal Socialist (4) C-S Niattiona,l Democratic (5) C,S Tradesmen's C-S Progressive Socialist Slovak Na-tionail (6) (Hlinka's) Slovak People's (7) Czech Na,tcional Fascist 'Mand-at-es won by tihe Parties 1920 1925 1-935 33 29 3'1 28 415 24 28 113' 13 74 1,9 6 3 1~ 23 38 22 45 28 17 l:'7 22 6 �29 SLOVAKIA German Sociialist Democratic German Community German Nationalist German Nat'io.n1al So,ci,a iist German Agrariain German Christian Socialists German Democraili:c Sudeten Germ-run, Magyar Agrarian Miaigyar-Germain Soc. Dem. Magy,a r Christian Socia,Jist Ma,gyair Bloc GS Communist (8) Others Tota,] Number of Mandates 17 111 1-0 7 1,1 24 10 5 1,3 5 6 44 1 4 5 4 9 30 285 300 300 (1) The main worker's Gsocialist) party founded in 11878. (2) Hliruka's Slovak People's Party voted with this party in the 19!20 elec1Jiions and was allowed 12 manda:tes, 1while the resp. Czeoho,Slovak P,e ople's Pa,r ty (Sra1mek's) got 21. The largest Slovak politi'c al p,arty in Slovakia. (3) Founded by Amltonin Svehla in 1899. (4) Founded by Czeclh soci-a.Jists in 1896. Dr. Edward Benes later lbecame its leader. (5) Fiounded tby Dr. Kramar in 19118 ; comlbi·n ed witlh the Dle'c.h Nation/al Union Party (Strilbrny's) be!fo,r e the 19315 elections. (6) Founded be'fore fhe 1872 elections. In 19315 it voted wiith Hlinka's party as the Autonomist BJ.oc. (7) The Slovatk People's (Populist) :Party was founded by !Father Andrew Hlinika, Dec. 5, 1905. (8) The Czecho-'SJ,o,v ak (iread "Cm;)OH") Communist Party was fuunijed Nov. 2, 1920, after .brea~ing with the So'Ci-a•l Democrats; the deputies joining it: 23 Czeeho..Slovak S1oci1al Democraits, 3 German Social Democrats, aind 1· Ma,g;yar Soci,al Democrat. (The parties qualified as "Czecho-Slovak" were in fact Czech-dominated parties · with affiliates in Slovakia. There were only two genuine SLOVAK political parties: the IDinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party; both supported autonomy for Slovakia, the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918. - Ed. note). The municipal election in Prague, May 29, 1938, showed the following five parties. with the largest vote: Cze<:h National Socialists - 151,600; Communists - 99,900; Social Democrats - 75,809; National Unity - 68,007; Czech Populist - 37,749. In the 1925 parliamentary elections the Communist �30 SLOVAKIA Party received 933,711 votes; ten years later (1935) it got 849,0000 votes. Do the above statistics warrant the frequently used phrase "Masaryk's or Benes's Republic" and calling the citizens of Czecho-Slovakia "the children of Masaryk"? Would any Czech want to say that the communists, Henleinists, Magyars, Poles, and Slovaks considered themselves "children of Masaryk"? It is a fact that even the Czech rightists criticized or repudiated Masaryk in a large measure. Not only the extreme groups but even a large part of the Czech National Democrats, Agrarians, and adherents of the Czech People's Party in Moravia. We know that during the rule of Masaryk and Benes many things were done which were not honorable. For example, already in 1924 freedom of the press was limited by Law No. 124, and the freedom of the press in the "democratic Czecho-:Slovak Republic," so highly praised by Radio Free Europe even today, in reality looked much less free than in France, the United States and England. Various publications, not only those of the opposition, were frequently confiscated and censored and were issued with "white windows" or as "corrected" issues after censorship. At that time it was said that the journalists were thereby trained "to worship at the willows." ,' Corruption was extensive, but no law could be promulgated to wipe it out because political parties and many government people were against passing such a law. Hundreds of millions of crowns thus disappeared in bottomless pockets. We still remember the alcohol case, the gasoline affair, the corruption in the sugar business, in the construction of the electrical plant in Ervenice and the Fenix Insurance affair, and the corruption connected with the land reform, the parceling out of surplus estates. In tlhe first Republic even the elections cannot be called- truly democratic. The broad masses of the people were not satisfied with the electoral system, because: they were not allowed to choose candidates. The law, however, ordered all citizens .to take part in the elections and to vote for the political parties and their selected candidates. Ob- �SLOVAKIA 31 viously many incapable people thus became members of the parliament, interested not in the welfare of the people and the country, but in the first place in the welfare and power of their respective parties. Corruption flourished. Only the political key was used in forming a government and qualifications for a ministerial position meant practically nothing. The parties controlled all public service jobs in the State on the national and local levels. Since one had a large selection of political parties, quite a few citizens carried memib ership cards of several political parties. Thus was the first Czecho-Slovak Republic undermined, as well as confidence in the State and the democratic system which hypocritically bore the slogan "Truth prevails" on its escutcheon - which even the present communist regime has allowed to remain on the State insignia. The enthusiasm with which the Slovaks and Czechs welcomed the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 soon cooled and forced many hot heads into opposition. The am1bitious Dr. Benes, however, knew how to deal with the opposition: he liquidated it ruthlessly. To this end he used his secret archive which he had made up for opportune moments, even doctors' opinions, as in the case of Stnbrny. Democracy became limited during the lifetime of T. G. Masaryk, and more so during the presidency of Dr. Benes. Masaryk did not seek the support of political parties; he was above all parties. Benes, on the other hand, depended on the support of t!he National Socialists, who, in 1935 tried, though unsuccessfully, to promulgate a law to dissolve all political parties and to establish a new uniform State party with himself at its head. The National Socialists must be regard~d as the grave-diggers of CzechoSlovakia and democracy; their active collaboration with the communists during the war and after is still fresh in our memories. The parasites of Benes's political clique refuse to admit their guilt in the catastrophe. They still sing praises to Bene~ with the help of whose name they hope to find favor with Czech settlers in Canada and the United States. �32 SLOVAKIA Ruthenia illustrate s Benes's political character quite clearly. During a visit to that country in May, 1934, when he was still Foreign Minister, Benes said: "Czecho-S lovakia, having become the holder (trustee) of Sub-Carp athian Russia by the decision of the Peace Conferenc e, will never give up this land, it will never allow any revisionism in this question and shall defend this land with you to its last drop of blood" (Narodna Politika: May 6, 1924) . We know just how Benes defended Ruthenia : he negotiated with Soviet Ambassa dor Majsky in London, in 1941, to sell out that hapless country. On July 4, 1938, Dr. Benes prophesie d to a deputatio n of Sokols: "Nothing will happen tha,t might harm our State, our Republic and our democrat ic regime; in this jubilee year of our Republic, with our sincere effort for just colla:boratio n with all citizens of all nationalit ies, we shall demonstrat e anew to the world that our State is just, solid, ready to resist aggressio n, mature and peace-lov ing." The result: Munich! To complem ent the shameles s character of Benes in his statemen t, published in the "Wiedom osci polskie" (June 15, 1941): "And when a man thinks of it, we Czechs nevertheless did foresee actually everythin g!" When a Polish journalis t asked him whether he really meant everythin g, Benes replied: "Yes, I mean everythin g!" The Munich catastrop he, the capitulati on and flight of Dr. Benes into foreign lands did away for the time being with any remnants of sympafili y the Czech nation had for Benes (the Slovaks and others had none for him). In 1945, the Czech nation welcomed his return, but the enthusiasm displayed was not for him but rather an expressio n of joy that the war and Nazi occupatio n had ended. The Second Republic Post-Mun ich Czecho-S lovakia, the second Republic, was of short duration. It was still free, but betrayed by all its foreign friends; it was smaller in area and without great !hopes of preservat ion. It was also without Benes, who had voluntari ly resigned from the presidenc y and, after his �SLOVAKIA 33 flight from Czecho-Slovakia, had even wished much success to the new, constitutionally elected, President, Dr. Emil Ha.cha. With the voluntary joining of the parties of the right in the Party of National Unity and the parties of the left in the Labor Party, an effort was expressed to simplify and cure the ills of political life. The relations of the first Republic, particularly the person and environment of Dr. Benes, were the target of wide criticism, especially from the Party of National Unity which, surprisingly enough, even the National Socialists joined. The party renounced Benes and favored the right. Its chairman, J. V. Klofac, identifying Czech National Socialism with Hitler's National Socialism, said: "We must not only catch up with Germany and its National Socialism, but surpass it .... In Central Europe we must give a model example of coexistence of the Slovanic peoples and Germans, which is all the easier for us, since we are also connected by blood. My Father's mother was a full-blooded German." And referring to Benes quite obviously, Klofac proclaimed: "We must repudiate everyone who prattles like a child about the approaching moment that shall return to us everything we lost in October - and which is definitely lost." No Czech political party so completely reversed itself up to that time. The conflict with the Slovaks and Hitler's intervention liquidated the second Republic; the Czech lands became the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia." The Protectorat.e of Bohemia and Moravia The burden of the German occupation was felt not only in public life, but also by every society and family. German pressure was terrific; aJbout 300,000 Czechs proclaimed themselves Germans. Children were taught German and sang German songs. The attempt to unite the parties and groups of the right, which after March 15, 1939, formed the so-called "National Committee," failed and the party of the so-called "National Alliance" was formed. Various rightist and fascist groups existed too, illegally but tolerated, which had little or practically no influence with the Germans. Opportunistic servants and functionaries of �34 SLOVAKIA former political parties better served the purposes of the Germans than the nationalistic groups. Even though no one wants to admit it, the fact is that, after the arrival of the German Army in Pilsen, among the first to be arrested and liquidated, along with the students, on November 17, 1939, were also fascists and Vlajkists. Collaboration with the Germans was ratlher common; it was rather a question of the personal character of individuals without regard to political belief. Opportunism played a significant role until the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. Czech resistance against nazism grew with the approaching end of the war. One of the most notorious collaborators was Emanuel Moravec, Minister of Enlightenment, former co-worker of Stransky's "Lidove Noviny" and Benes's Military propagandist (alias Stanislav Yester). We remember, too, Arno Baise, former communist, who held the leading position in the trade organization NO-OZ; and Emanuel Slechta, designated in the Records of the London Department of the Interior as a collaborator, who nevertheless was given a place in the presidium of the Czech National Socialists and, in 1948, became the chairman of the communized Czech socialists. Benes's decrees, prepared by Dr. Jaroslav Stransky in London, often punishing with the tendency of personal vengeance (recall the cases of Stribrny, R. Beran, and others), created the possibility of settling personal accounts and were more or less a weapon for political blackmail. Benes often assured the world that the Constitution of 1920 was still valid during the war and after 1945, bu't he ruled by decrees, flaunting ther~by the highest law of the land, which he had sworn to uphold. The Foreign Activity of Dr. Benes . As an exile in London, Benes proclaimed himself president of Czecho-Slovakia, organized a government, proclaimed war against Hitler and all his allies, borrowed from Britain for his. activity over fifty million pounds Sterling, and covered with a veil of secrecy the fate of the gold treasure that was in foreign lands. Benes welcomed the defeat of France, wlhich showed him no sympathy, organized �SLOVAKIA 35 a foreign army of a!bout 4,000 men in England, and every year prophesied the aproaching end of Hitler. Churchill was criticized openly even during the war, but anyone who attempted to criticize Benes was ruthlessly denounced and liquidated. Benes's vanity and ambition knew no bounds; critics and opponents were arrested or politically isolated (Gen. Lev Prchala, Deputy Fr. Schwarz, Ambassador Osusky, former Prime Minister M. Hod.fa, Rudolph Be~hyne, leader of the Czech Social Democrats, Malim, president of the State Bank,and others). Benes had quite a bit of opposition not only among the exiles, but even among the old settlers in the United States and Canada. In 1940, Czech Catholics still backed Dr. Emil Ha.cha, the duly elected president of Czecho-Slovakia; Slovak emigration was for the most part for the Slovak State. While the freethinkers and socialists supported Benes at the outset, the Communists adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In the United States, the most outspoken against Benes was the Czech Monsignor F. Mikolasek, whose scorching articles appeared in the St. Louis "Hlas," and the "Katolicky Delnik." Many of us expected Dr. Charles Pergler to openly stand against Benes, since he was evicted from Czecho-Slovakia by Masaryk and Benes despite his many merits for the Czecho-Slovak Republic and his deputorial mandate. But he remained silent like so many others. In the London exile, Dr. Benes committed further treason against the principles of freedom and democracy: he prepared the liquidation of civic parties that were always strongly opposed to him. The National Socialists he had in the palm of his hand; to the Social Democrats and the Populists he sent his agents (B. Lausman, V. Majer, P. Tigrid, I. Duch.a.eek, and others). The only problem that Benes had, as far as the presidency of Czecho-Slovakia was concerned, were the communists toward whom, however, he had had no internal opposition. In 1939, Benes wrote in his "Democracy Today and Tomorrow": . "On the other hand, Communism in its philosophy and morality has a certain similarity with democracy. It also stands for equality ,of all peoples and nations. It is also humanitarian, : un.ivel"Salistiic, intellectu-alistic and rationalistic. It is also pacifist, intemationalistic �36 SLOVAKIA and stands for a policy of United Nations. From this standpoint its moral and phil050phical basis is the same as that of democracy." The main supposition of Benes's agreement with the Reds was the assurance that with their support he would again become President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and be able to rule dictatorially by means of "revolutionary" decrees. He turned his back cooly on the anti-communist Polish exiles with whom, when he needed them to gain the support of the English, Benes concluded pacts of friendship and close political and economical cooperation in the future. The People's Democracy 1945-1948 The events of 1945-1948 are well known to us. Benes's decrees contributed to the socialization of Czecho-Slovakia, tJhe expulsion of the Sudeten Germans caused an economical vacuum for many years, and retributional decrees helped to liquidate the anti-communist opposition. The height of the immorality of Benes's regime was the issuance of his decree of October 27, 1945, which amnestied all crimes against humanity during the "punishment of Germans and collaborators" after May 5, 1945. In the history of justice this amnesty represents a singular document wher~by a government sanctioned murder, violence, and thievery - something that no dictatorship, not even the Nazi type, allowed itself up to that time. Benes, his government, and the non-communist parties indisputably helped to bolshevize Czecho~Slovakia. They tried to suripass the Reds in cruelty during the expulsion of Germans and Magyars and they out-trumped them in chauvinism. On June 25, 1945, the National Socialists formed the so-called socialistic bloc with the Social Democrats and Communists and then tried to create a common socialistic party - similar to the SED in East Germany - which, however, the Communists would not buy. In 1945 there was no freedom of the press, the government controlling everything. There were a few exceptional journalists who, from time to time, tried to criticize some of the existing conditions, but to no avail. The Kosice Program, approved by all the political parties permitted to ex- �SLOVAKIA 37 ist by Prague and united in the so-called National Front, clearly stated the limits of post-war freedom for everyone and was the program for the progressive bolshevization of Czecho-Slovakia. The first postwar elections, in May, 1946, brought victory for the Communists who received 38.1 per cent (in Slovakia only 30.4 per cent) of the votes cast. During the election campaign the solidarity of the National Front was not violated in the new government of Klement Gottwald. All political leaders vowed to remain loyal to the Soviet Union and unanimously approved the two-year economic plan which was on the order of the Soviet five-year..plan. Dr. Hubert Ripka, the National Socialist Minister, zealously propagated the Czecho-Slovak-Soviet Treaty of colla1boration (Dec. 13, 1943) and tied the economy of the country to that of the Soviet Union. When Stalin forced Prague not to participate in the Marshall Plan, in 1947, the non-Communist Ministers had more cause to resign then than they had in February 1948. At that time, however, the Ministers still speculated that they would be able to continue to share power with the Reds. They were not concerned about the principle of freedom, democracy, or western orientation; they simply wanted to remain in power. The resignation of twelve non-communist Ministers (out of a total of 26), headed by Dr. Peter Zenkl, on February 20, 1948, helped only the Communists to gain all positions which tJhey did not occupy up to that time. The Reds were completely prepared for t 1he events of February 1948, whereas the non-communist parties were not. In fact they played into the hands of the Reds. In the fall of 1947, several anti-Communist deputies had been liquidated by the National Front coalition of Benes-Gottwald. The Reds had no trouble in finding quislings and informers to oust the resigned ministers and their adherents from the parties and replacing them with "reliaible" people. Dr. Zenkl and company - after President Benes did what Gottwald asked him to do - then realized that they were through governing. Some were arrested but many of them departed to the West, the Reds doing practically nothing �38 SLOVAKIA to stop them. The blackguards had done their work, they were free to go. The Present Communist Czecho-Slovakia After February, 1948, political persecution had free reign, the decisions of the People's Courts from the years 1945-1948 were revised and new processes initiated. Tens of thousands citizens left the Republic. The Communist Party took over all positions; the Social Democrats united with the Communists on June 27, 1948; the National Socialists, changing their name to "Czech Socialists," recognized the leading role of the Communists and today are criticizing themselves for their "bourgeois past"; Sramek's Populists became the party of Catholic Socialism with the task of completing the collectivization of agriculture. 'Dhe Communist Party and its secret police ruthlessly liquidated all non-communist influence and practically all possibility of resistance, including that of the ecclesiastical hierachy, which could perhaps hinder their progress toward socialism and communism. Small industrial enterprises, up to 1948 not affected by Benes's decrees, were nationalized, as were gradually even the smaller businesses and trades. At the same time the industrialization of the Czech lands and Slovakia was increased, costing billions of crowns which lowered the living standard of the inhabitants to a minimum. The Communist party purged itself of "undesirable" elements, deviationists and nationalists, thus ridding itself of pre-war malcontents. In the end Rudolph Slansky, Secretary-General of the Czecho-Slovak Communist Party, and ten other leading Reds were executed November 27, 1952. They were charged with "anti-State activities, espionage, Zionism, and economic sa!botage." Gottwald's group within the party was victorious over the Slansky faction, •b ut Gottwald did not enjoy his victory very long. He died nine days after Stalin in 1953 (March 14). After a t!hree year purge the situation within the Communist Party became sta!bilized in 1953. The money reform of June 1, 1953, with which some dissatisfaction was displayed in various places, was sup- �SLOVAKIA 39 posed to raise the living standard of the people and improve the economical situation. The buying power of the Czecho-Slovak crown was restored and the quality of products became better. Prices of commodities and wages of workers were adjusted, swelling the ranks of the people who had little. From 1956 the Red regime has been using more refined methods of psychological persuasion with the peasants, so that by October 1, 1959, only 19 per cent of the land remained in private hands. All sectors of political and economical life have been patterned after the Soviet model. Industrial production, according to official statistics, was four times higher in 1959 than in 1938, and by 1965 it is supposed to be sixteen times higher. In Slovakia, industrial production increased seven times over that in 1937. The standard of living, however, has not been keeping up with increased production. Prices on many necessities are still rather higih. A large majority of the population is not communist, nor is it happy with the communist regime. Annually, however, people who knew better times are dying; their places are being taken over by the younger generation which knows little else than "people's democracy." The successes of the Red regimes with sputniks and luniks has influenced the thinking of many; as has also the policy of appeasement and containment of the West. Active resistance against the Reds is practically nil. To hold onto what people have and perhaps for more material advantage, many people are cooperating with the Reds. In 1960 we saw new changes and reorganization. Some 200,000 employees in the administration of the State were made available for industry and agriculture with the dissolution of the provincial system which was replaced by ten larger economic regions. Great changes took place also in the organization of work; gradually two shifts are being instituted in all the larger enterprises. A new Constitution has been adopted to replace the Constitution of 1920. If we criticize the "golden times" of the First Republic and do not mention the many positive deeds of that period, it is because the First Republic did not fulfill the promises of the Castle propaganda. Worse, however, is �40 SLOVAKIA the fact that the representative s of the First Republic could not strengthen the morale of the people which was shaken by the long hegemony of the Habsburgs, and Benes' s capitulation broke many a backbone. Neither was morale helped by the Protectorate; and it attained a new low after 1945 when the very people who were expected to possess so much morality willingly collaborated with the enemies of all morality. The Czech nation will live even after communism. Its tragedy was caused in 1918 by politicians who cared not about national interests, a better future , solidarity and moral strength, but in the first place sought to satisfy their own ambitions (Benes) and their own glorification (Masaryk), etc. Of course, indirectly our entire nation is responsible for the development that took place from 1918 to 1948. It allowed itself to be deceived by false slogans, legends, hypocritical propaganda, and failed to heed the warnings of really devoted politicians (Kramar, Dyk, Machar, etc.). Masaryk's slogan "evolution is going to the left" and Benes's collaboration with the Reds greatly facilitated the government of the Communists. Some of those responsi1ble for our national tragedy are still among us in exile; they have the brazen impertinence to organize circles of Czech interests (The Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia, the Czech National Socialist Party in exile, etc.) with feelers in American societies for exiles, such as Radio Free Europe (RFE), Assembly of Captive European Nations (ACEN), and American Czech societies. To the wide masses of our countrymen in exile they cannot serve as an exemplary model, and, therefore, we notice in our exile increasing influences of materialism, national callousness, egocentrism, chicanery and intrigue, hypocrisy and fraud. Of course, not in our entire exile, but in a good part of it. And it is the question of our morality that will decide whether our exile will be a,ble to live through the next several years which will be according to all indications, very tough and ruthless years. (Vladimir Pekelsky, a Crech in exile, is the editor ,an/cl pu/bli,s her o'f the CzOC'h peniodidal "Sbornik Bohemia" which is pulblislh~d in Koln,Ehrenfold, W. Germany.) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 27 CZECHO-SWVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY BY VLADIMiR PEKEILSKY In the past several years some writers of our Czech exile have attempted to diagnose the tragedy of us all at home and in foreign lands. But they have had little success with it. J. M. Kolar, for example, is today already forgotten and the more actual Dr. Radimsky has been elevated particularly by publishers and the Czech National Socialists. Both authors came out with much that was true, but they either did not want to or did not know how to express the whole truth. Perhaps they feared the consequences. And fear has big eyes. Nevertheless, many times it is not only fear, but opportunism and various other interests which prevent authors from writing about matters that might interest readers the most. It was just this that inspired me to touch upon problems which still are strictly taboo in most Czech exile publications. Czecho-Slovakia 1918-1938 Today very few of our people want to recall the whole truth about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Without regard to nationality and political affiliation, that is. The younger generation, born after 1925, did not know the first Repu blic and, therefore, cannot make any judgments of it from personal experiences. For us oldsters it meant much, though only 20 years in the thousand-year history of our Czech nation, and the judgment of history may arouse only criticism, because with the establishment of Czecho-Slovakia the road for modern dictatorships into Central Europe was facilitated. In exile we have become accustomed to read - from articles of former collaborators of Dr. Edward Benes - nothing but praise about the first republic. The writers deliberately fail to see the state bankruptcies of 1938-1939 and 1945-1948, the internal causes thereof. They blame everything on outside intervention. The first Republic was presented to the world as a model of democracy, freedom, state order and welfare, and, were it not - according to them - for the bad Germans 1 28 SLOVAKIA and Russians, it still could have been the "perfection" it was. Not a word is said a'bout the patronage of France. Thus they continue to falsify the facts, just as they did during the time of Masaryk and Benes w'hen huge sums were paid out to foreign journals and journalists to sing nothing but praises aibout the first Republic. Of course, we can and we should recall the many good things about the first Czecho-Slovak Republic. Yet it would be irresponsible of us if we did not look into the causes of the bankruptcy and collapse of democratic Czecho-Slovakia within ourselves and in internal circumstances. Dr. Vaclav Boucek, principal defender of Masaryk and Benes, did not flatter the state system of Czecho-Slovakia when he described it as a "quasi-democracy with a quasiparliamentary system." A multitude of good people, financially well-founded groups, investors, state officers, but also political barterers were satisfied with the then Prague ·r egime. The propertyless groups of inhabitants, the indebted peasants and home owners, the unemployed and the adherents of nonCzech nationalities (e.g., the greater unemployment in the German sectors and the vain attempts of the new Slovak intelligentsia to fill positions in the public life of Slovakia) looked upon the state system with more or less criticism. And today very few of our people want to admit that comIJ11mism had a significant voice in our political life from the very first years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. But the fact is that it did. The following statistics show the results of three elections, the mandates won by the respective parties: Politica•l Party cs Social Demo.c ratic (1) cs People's Party (2) c.s A1grarian ORepulblioam,) (3) C"'5 Na:ti,o nal Socialist (4) C-S Niattiona,l Democratic (5) C,S Tradesmen's C-S Progressive Socialist Slovak Na-tionail (6) (Hlinka's) Slovak People's (7) Czech Na,tcional Fascist 'Mand-at-es won by tihe Parties 1920 1925 1-935 33 29 3'1 28 415 24 28 113' 13 74 1,9 6 3 1~ 23 38 22 45 28 17 l:'7 22 6 29 SLOVAKIA German Sociialist Democratic German Community German Nationalist German Nat'io.n1al So,ci,a iist German Agrariain German Christian Socialists German Democraili:c Sudeten Germ-run, Magyar Agrarian Miaigyar-Germain Soc. Dem. Magy,a r Christian Socia,Jist Ma,gyair Bloc GS Communist (8) Others Tota,] Number of Mandates 17 111 1-0 7 1,1 24 10 5 1,3 5 6 44 1 4 5 4 9 30 285 300 300 (1) The main worker's Gsocialist) party founded in 11878. (2) Hliruka's Slovak People's Party voted with this party in the 19!20 elec1Jiions and was allowed 12 manda:tes, 1while the resp. Czeoho,Slovak P,e ople's Pa,r ty (Sra1mek's) got 21. The largest Slovak politi'c al p,arty in Slovakia. (3) Founded by Amltonin Svehla in 1899. (4) Founded by Czeclh soci-a.Jists in 1896. Dr. Edward Benes later lbecame its leader. (5) Fiounded tby Dr. Kramar in 19118 ; comlbi·n ed witlh the Dle'c.h Nation/al Union Party (Strilbrny's) be!fo,r e the 19315 elections. (6) Founded be'fore fhe 1872 elections. In 19315 it voted wiith Hlinka's party as the Autonomist BJ.oc. (7) The Slovatk People's (Populist) :Party was founded by !Father Andrew Hlinika, Dec. 5, 1905. (8) The Czecho-'SJ,o,v ak (iread "Cm;)OH") Communist Party was fuunijed Nov. 2, 1920, after .brea~ing with the So'Ci-a•l Democrats; the deputies joining it: 23 Czeeho..Slovak S1oci1al Democraits, 3 German Social Democrats, aind 1· Ma,g;yar Soci,al Democrat. (The parties qualified as "Czecho-Slovak" were in fact Czech-dominated parties · with affiliates in Slovakia. There were only two genuine SLOVAK political parties: the IDinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party; both supported autonomy for Slovakia, the Pittsburgh Pact of May 30, 1918. - Ed. note). The municipal election in Prague, May 29, 1938, showed the following five parties. with the largest vote: Cze<:h National Socialists - 151,600; Communists - 99,900; Social Democrats - 75,809; National Unity - 68,007; Czech Populist - 37,749. In the 1925 parliamentary elections the Communist 30 SLOVAKIA Party received 933,711 votes; ten years later (1935) it got 849,0000 votes. Do the above statistics warrant the frequently used phrase "Masaryk's or Benes's Republic" and calling the citizens of Czecho-Slovakia "the children of Masaryk"? Would any Czech want to say that the communists, Henleinists, Magyars, Poles, and Slovaks considered themselves "children of Masaryk"? It is a fact that even the Czech rightists criticized or repudiated Masaryk in a large measure. Not only the extreme groups but even a large part of the Czech National Democrats, Agrarians, and adherents of the Czech People's Party in Moravia. We know that during the rule of Masaryk and Benes many things were done which were not honorable. For example, already in 1924 freedom of the press was limited by Law No. 124, and the freedom of the press in the "democratic Czecho-:Slovak Republic," so highly praised by Radio Free Europe even today, in reality looked much less free than in France, the United States and England. Various publications, not only those of the opposition, were frequently confiscated and censored and were issued with "white windows" or as "corrected" issues after censorship. At that time it was said that the journalists were thereby trained "to worship at the willows." ,' Corruption was extensive, but no law could be promulgated to wipe it out because political parties and many government people were against passing such a law. Hundreds of millions of crowns thus disappeared in bottomless pockets. We still remember the alcohol case, the gasoline affair, the corruption in the sugar business, in the construction of the electrical plant in Ervenice and the Fenix Insurance affair, and the corruption connected with the land reform, the parceling out of surplus estates. In tlhe first Republic even the elections cannot be called- truly democratic. The broad masses of the people were not satisfied with the electoral system, because: they were not allowed to choose candidates. The law, however, ordered all citizens .to take part in the elections and to vote for the political parties and their selected candidates. Ob- SLOVAKIA 31 viously many incapable people thus became members of the parliament, interested not in the welfare of the people and the country, but in the first place in the welfare and power of their respective parties. Corruption flourished. Only the political key was used in forming a government and qualifications for a ministerial position meant practically nothing. The parties controlled all public service jobs in the State on the national and local levels. Since one had a large selection of political parties, quite a few citizens carried memib ership cards of several political parties. Thus was the first Czecho-Slovak Republic undermined, as well as confidence in the State and the democratic system which hypocritically bore the slogan "Truth prevails" on its escutcheon - which even the present communist regime has allowed to remain on the State insignia. The enthusiasm with which the Slovaks and Czechs welcomed the establishment of the Czecho-Slovak Republic in 1918 soon cooled and forced many hot heads into opposition. The am1bitious Dr. Benes, however, knew how to deal with the opposition: he liquidated it ruthlessly. To this end he used his secret archive which he had made up for opportune moments, even doctors' opinions, as in the case of Stnbrny. Democracy became limited during the lifetime of T. G. Masaryk, and more so during the presidency of Dr. Benes. Masaryk did not seek the support of political parties; he was above all parties. Benes, on the other hand, depended on the support of t!he National Socialists, who, in 1935 tried, though unsuccessfully, to promulgate a law to dissolve all political parties and to establish a new uniform State party with himself at its head. The National Socialists must be regard~d as the grave-diggers of CzechoSlovakia and democracy; their active collaboration with the communists during the war and after is still fresh in our memories. The parasites of Benes's political clique refuse to admit their guilt in the catastrophe. They still sing praises to Bene~ with the help of whose name they hope to find favor with Czech settlers in Canada and the United States. 32 SLOVAKIA Ruthenia illustrate s Benes's political character quite clearly. During a visit to that country in May, 1934, when he was still Foreign Minister, Benes said: "Czecho-S lovakia, having become the holder (trustee) of Sub-Carp athian Russia by the decision of the Peace Conferenc e, will never give up this land, it will never allow any revisionism in this question and shall defend this land with you to its last drop of blood" (Narodna Politika: May 6, 1924) . We know just how Benes defended Ruthenia : he negotiated with Soviet Ambassa dor Majsky in London, in 1941, to sell out that hapless country. On July 4, 1938, Dr. Benes prophesie d to a deputatio n of Sokols: "Nothing will happen tha,t might harm our State, our Republic and our democrat ic regime; in this jubilee year of our Republic, with our sincere effort for just colla:boratio n with all citizens of all nationalit ies, we shall demonstrat e anew to the world that our State is just, solid, ready to resist aggressio n, mature and peace-lov ing." The result: Munich! To complem ent the shameles s character of Benes in his statemen t, published in the "Wiedom osci polskie" (June 15, 1941): "And when a man thinks of it, we Czechs nevertheless did foresee actually everythin g!" When a Polish journalis t asked him whether he really meant everythin g, Benes replied: "Yes, I mean everythin g!" The Munich catastrop he, the capitulati on and flight of Dr. Benes into foreign lands did away for the time being with any remnants of sympafili y the Czech nation had for Benes (the Slovaks and others had none for him). In 1945, the Czech nation welcomed his return, but the enthusiasm displayed was not for him but rather an expressio n of joy that the war and Nazi occupatio n had ended. The Second Republic Post-Mun ich Czecho-S lovakia, the second Republic, was of short duration. It was still free, but betrayed by all its foreign friends; it was smaller in area and without great !hopes of preservat ion. It was also without Benes, who had voluntari ly resigned from the presidenc y and, after his SLOVAKIA 33 flight from Czecho-Slovakia, had even wished much success to the new, constitutionally elected, President, Dr. Emil Ha.cha. With the voluntary joining of the parties of the right in the Party of National Unity and the parties of the left in the Labor Party, an effort was expressed to simplify and cure the ills of political life. The relations of the first Republic, particularly the person and environment of Dr. Benes, were the target of wide criticism, especially from the Party of National Unity which, surprisingly enough, even the National Socialists joined. The party renounced Benes and favored the right. Its chairman, J. V. Klofac, identifying Czech National Socialism with Hitler's National Socialism, said: "We must not only catch up with Germany and its National Socialism, but surpass it .... In Central Europe we must give a model example of coexistence of the Slovanic peoples and Germans, which is all the easier for us, since we are also connected by blood. My Father's mother was a full-blooded German." And referring to Benes quite obviously, Klofac proclaimed: "We must repudiate everyone who prattles like a child about the approaching moment that shall return to us everything we lost in October - and which is definitely lost." No Czech political party so completely reversed itself up to that time. The conflict with the Slovaks and Hitler's intervention liquidated the second Republic; the Czech lands became the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia." The Protectorat.e of Bohemia and Moravia The burden of the German occupation was felt not only in public life, but also by every society and family. German pressure was terrific; aJbout 300,000 Czechs proclaimed themselves Germans. Children were taught German and sang German songs. The attempt to unite the parties and groups of the right, which after March 15, 1939, formed the so-called "National Committee," failed and the party of the so-called "National Alliance" was formed. Various rightist and fascist groups existed too, illegally but tolerated, which had little or practically no influence with the Germans. Opportunistic servants and functionaries of 34 SLOVAKIA former political parties better served the purposes of the Germans than the nationalistic groups. Even though no one wants to admit it, the fact is that, after the arrival of the German Army in Pilsen, among the first to be arrested and liquidated, along with the students, on November 17, 1939, were also fascists and Vlajkists. Collaboration with the Germans was ratlher common; it was rather a question of the personal character of individuals without regard to political belief. Opportunism played a significant role until the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. Czech resistance against nazism grew with the approaching end of the war. One of the most notorious collaborators was Emanuel Moravec, Minister of Enlightenment, former co-worker of Stransky's "Lidove Noviny" and Benes's Military propagandist (alias Stanislav Yester). We remember, too, Arno Baise, former communist, who held the leading position in the trade organization NO-OZ; and Emanuel Slechta, designated in the Records of the London Department of the Interior as a collaborator, who nevertheless was given a place in the presidium of the Czech National Socialists and, in 1948, became the chairman of the communized Czech socialists. Benes's decrees, prepared by Dr. Jaroslav Stransky in London, often punishing with the tendency of personal vengeance (recall the cases of Stribrny, R. Beran, and others), created the possibility of settling personal accounts and were more or less a weapon for political blackmail. Benes often assured the world that the Constitution of 1920 was still valid during the war and after 1945, bu't he ruled by decrees, flaunting ther~by the highest law of the land, which he had sworn to uphold. The Foreign Activity of Dr. Benes . As an exile in London, Benes proclaimed himself president of Czecho-Slovakia, organized a government, proclaimed war against Hitler and all his allies, borrowed from Britain for his. activity over fifty million pounds Sterling, and covered with a veil of secrecy the fate of the gold treasure that was in foreign lands. Benes welcomed the defeat of France, wlhich showed him no sympathy, organized SLOVAKIA 35 a foreign army of a!bout 4,000 men in England, and every year prophesied the aproaching end of Hitler. Churchill was criticized openly even during the war, but anyone who attempted to criticize Benes was ruthlessly denounced and liquidated. Benes's vanity and ambition knew no bounds; critics and opponents were arrested or politically isolated (Gen. Lev Prchala, Deputy Fr. Schwarz, Ambassador Osusky, former Prime Minister M. Hod.fa, Rudolph Be~hyne, leader of the Czech Social Democrats, Malim, president of the State Bank,and others). Benes had quite a bit of opposition not only among the exiles, but even among the old settlers in the United States and Canada. In 1940, Czech Catholics still backed Dr. Emil Ha.cha, the duly elected president of Czecho-Slovakia; Slovak emigration was for the most part for the Slovak State. While the freethinkers and socialists supported Benes at the outset, the Communists adopted a wait-and-see attitude. In the United States, the most outspoken against Benes was the Czech Monsignor F. Mikolasek, whose scorching articles appeared in the St. Louis "Hlas," and the "Katolicky Delnik." Many of us expected Dr. Charles Pergler to openly stand against Benes, since he was evicted from Czecho-Slovakia by Masaryk and Benes despite his many merits for the Czecho-Slovak Republic and his deputorial mandate. But he remained silent like so many others. In the London exile, Dr. Benes committed further treason against the principles of freedom and democracy: he prepared the liquidation of civic parties that were always strongly opposed to him. The National Socialists he had in the palm of his hand; to the Social Democrats and the Populists he sent his agents (B. Lausman, V. Majer, P. Tigrid, I. Duch.a.eek, and others). The only problem that Benes had, as far as the presidency of Czecho-Slovakia was concerned, were the communists toward whom, however, he had had no internal opposition. In 1939, Benes wrote in his "Democracy Today and Tomorrow": . "On the other hand, Communism in its philosophy and morality has a certain similarity with democracy. It also stands for equality ,of all peoples and nations. It is also humanitarian, : un.ivel"Salistiic, intellectu-alistic and rationalistic. It is also pacifist, intemationalistic 36 SLOVAKIA and stands for a policy of United Nations. From this standpoint its moral and phil050phical basis is the same as that of democracy." The main supposition of Benes's agreement with the Reds was the assurance that with their support he would again become President of the Czecho-Slovak Republic and be able to rule dictatorially by means of "revolutionary" decrees. He turned his back cooly on the anti-communist Polish exiles with whom, when he needed them to gain the support of the English, Benes concluded pacts of friendship and close political and economical cooperation in the future. The People's Democracy 1945-1948 The events of 1945-1948 are well known to us. Benes's decrees contributed to the socialization of Czecho-Slovakia, tJhe expulsion of the Sudeten Germans caused an economical vacuum for many years, and retributional decrees helped to liquidate the anti-communist opposition. The height of the immorality of Benes's regime was the issuance of his decree of October 27, 1945, which amnestied all crimes against humanity during the "punishment of Germans and collaborators" after May 5, 1945. In the history of justice this amnesty represents a singular document wher~by a government sanctioned murder, violence, and thievery - something that no dictatorship, not even the Nazi type, allowed itself up to that time. Benes, his government, and the non-communist parties indisputably helped to bolshevize Czecho~Slovakia. They tried to suripass the Reds in cruelty during the expulsion of Germans and Magyars and they out-trumped them in chauvinism. On June 25, 1945, the National Socialists formed the so-called socialistic bloc with the Social Democrats and Communists and then tried to create a common socialistic party - similar to the SED in East Germany - which, however, the Communists would not buy. In 1945 there was no freedom of the press, the government controlling everything. There were a few exceptional journalists who, from time to time, tried to criticize some of the existing conditions, but to no avail. The Kosice Program, approved by all the political parties permitted to ex- SLOVAKIA 37 ist by Prague and united in the so-called National Front, clearly stated the limits of post-war freedom for everyone and was the program for the progressive bolshevization of Czecho-Slovakia. The first postwar elections, in May, 1946, brought victory for the Communists who received 38.1 per cent (in Slovakia only 30.4 per cent) of the votes cast. During the election campaign the solidarity of the National Front was not violated in the new government of Klement Gottwald. All political leaders vowed to remain loyal to the Soviet Union and unanimously approved the two-year economic plan which was on the order of the Soviet five-year..plan. Dr. Hubert Ripka, the National Socialist Minister, zealously propagated the Czecho-Slovak-Soviet Treaty of colla1boration (Dec. 13, 1943) and tied the economy of the country to that of the Soviet Union. When Stalin forced Prague not to participate in the Marshall Plan, in 1947, the non-Communist Ministers had more cause to resign then than they had in February 1948. At that time, however, the Ministers still speculated that they would be able to continue to share power with the Reds. They were not concerned about the principle of freedom, democracy, or western orientation; they simply wanted to remain in power. The resignation of twelve non-communist Ministers (out of a total of 26), headed by Dr. Peter Zenkl, on February 20, 1948, helped only the Communists to gain all positions which tJhey did not occupy up to that time. The Reds were completely prepared for t 1he events of February 1948, whereas the non-communist parties were not. In fact they played into the hands of the Reds. In the fall of 1947, several anti-Communist deputies had been liquidated by the National Front coalition of Benes-Gottwald. The Reds had no trouble in finding quislings and informers to oust the resigned ministers and their adherents from the parties and replacing them with "reliaible" people. Dr. Zenkl and company - after President Benes did what Gottwald asked him to do - then realized that they were through governing. Some were arrested but many of them departed to the West, the Reds doing practically nothing 38 SLOVAKIA to stop them. The blackguards had done their work, they were free to go. The Present Communist Czecho-Slovakia After February, 1948, political persecution had free reign, the decisions of the People's Courts from the years 1945-1948 were revised and new processes initiated. Tens of thousands citizens left the Republic. The Communist Party took over all positions; the Social Democrats united with the Communists on June 27, 1948; the National Socialists, changing their name to "Czech Socialists," recognized the leading role of the Communists and today are criticizing themselves for their "bourgeois past"; Sramek's Populists became the party of Catholic Socialism with the task of completing the collectivization of agriculture. 'Dhe Communist Party and its secret police ruthlessly liquidated all non-communist influence and practically all possibility of resistance, including that of the ecclesiastical hierachy, which could perhaps hinder their progress toward socialism and communism. Small industrial enterprises, up to 1948 not affected by Benes's decrees, were nationalized, as were gradually even the smaller businesses and trades. At the same time the industrialization of the Czech lands and Slovakia was increased, costing billions of crowns which lowered the living standard of the inhabitants to a minimum. The Communist party purged itself of "undesirable" elements, deviationists and nationalists, thus ridding itself of pre-war malcontents. In the end Rudolph Slansky, Secretary-General of the Czecho-Slovak Communist Party, and ten other leading Reds were executed November 27, 1952. They were charged with "anti-State activities, espionage, Zionism, and economic sa!botage." Gottwald's group within the party was victorious over the Slansky faction, •b ut Gottwald did not enjoy his victory very long. He died nine days after Stalin in 1953 (March 14). After a t!hree year purge the situation within the Communist Party became sta!bilized in 1953. The money reform of June 1, 1953, with which some dissatisfaction was displayed in various places, was sup- SLOVAKIA 39 posed to raise the living standard of the people and improve the economical situation. The buying power of the Czecho-Slovak crown was restored and the quality of products became better. Prices of commodities and wages of workers were adjusted, swelling the ranks of the people who had little. From 1956 the Red regime has been using more refined methods of psychological persuasion with the peasants, so that by October 1, 1959, only 19 per cent of the land remained in private hands. All sectors of political and economical life have been patterned after the Soviet model. Industrial production, according to official statistics, was four times higher in 1959 than in 1938, and by 1965 it is supposed to be sixteen times higher. In Slovakia, industrial production increased seven times over that in 1937. The standard of living, however, has not been keeping up with increased production. Prices on many necessities are still rather higih. A large majority of the population is not communist, nor is it happy with the communist regime. Annually, however, people who knew better times are dying; their places are being taken over by the younger generation which knows little else than "people's democracy." The successes of the Red regimes with sputniks and luniks has influenced the thinking of many; as has also the policy of appeasement and containment of the West. Active resistance against the Reds is practically nil. To hold onto what people have and perhaps for more material advantage, many people are cooperating with the Reds. In 1960 we saw new changes and reorganization. Some 200,000 employees in the administration of the State were made available for industry and agriculture with the dissolution of the provincial system which was replaced by ten larger economic regions. Great changes took place also in the organization of work; gradually two shifts are being instituted in all the larger enterprises. A new Constitution has been adopted to replace the Constitution of 1920. If we criticize the "golden times" of the First Republic and do not mention the many positive deeds of that period, it is because the First Republic did not fulfill the promises of the Castle propaganda. Worse, however, is 40 SLOVAKIA the fact that the representative s of the First Republic could not strengthen the morale of the people which was shaken by the long hegemony of the Habsburgs, and Benes' s capitulation broke many a backbone. Neither was morale helped by the Protectorate; and it attained a new low after 1945 when the very people who were expected to possess so much morality willingly collaborated with the enemies of all morality. The Czech nation will live even after communism. Its tragedy was caused in 1918 by politicians who cared not about national interests, a better future , solidarity and moral strength, but in the first place sought to satisfy their own ambitions (Benes) and their own glorification (Masaryk), etc. Of course, indirectly our entire nation is responsible for the development that took place from 1918 to 1948. It allowed itself to be deceived by false slogans, legends, hypocritical propaganda, and failed to heed the warnings of really devoted politicians (Kramar, Dyk, Machar, etc.). Masaryk's slogan "evolution is going to the left" and Benes's collaboration with the Reds greatly facilitated the government of the Communists. Some of those responsi1ble for our national tragedy are still among us in exile; they have the brazen impertinence to organize circles of Czech interests (The Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia, the Czech National Socialist Party in exile, etc.) with feelers in American societies for exiles, such as Radio Free Europe (RFE), Assembly of Captive European Nations (ACEN), and American Czech societies. To the wide masses of our countrymen in exile they cannot serve as an exemplary model, and, therefore, we notice in our exile increasing influences of materialism, national callousness, egocentrism, chicanery and intrigue, hypocrisy and fraud. Of course, not in our entire exile, but in a good part of it. And it is the question of our morality that will decide whether our exile will be a,ble to live through the next several years which will be according to all indications, very tough and ruthless years. (Vladimir Pekelsky, a Crech in exile, is the editor ,an/cl pu/bli,s her o'f the CzOC'h peniodidal "Sbornik Bohemia" which is pulblislh~d in Koln,Ehrenfold, W. Germany.)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Czecho-Slovakia Yesterday and Today Description An account of the resource Vladimír Pekelský Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 27-40 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pekelský, Vladimír Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/7faee7d435be46044f656ffd9b992786.pdf 76d70870c601eca9b12c18063bd56be0 PDF Text Text 56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the �SLOVAKIA 57 discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark, that according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to ,the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918-38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationaliUes poli-cy in the CSR, aimed at the destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State. The Communists with KoMer as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solwtion of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931, in an article in Roter Vorwarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . .. The nat ional demagogy o.f au these Obour,g.eois German) parties climaxes in the demand for national self-administration and cultural autonomy' for the Ger1rnan ,people wi.thim, the Czooho-Slovak Stiate. . . . Na1tiona,l autonomy meanis, the recognition of ,t he CzechoSlo\naik State . .. means rejedion a priori of the self-determinat'ion right of the German ,people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time ,~o make itse1f an advocate of the interests of the nonCzech ethnic groups in the OSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC : "Since the OPC recognizes the rig.hit of ,n ational seltfdetwminati,on, in'Cluding se•p ara,tion from the State, and combalts to keep nationa,l minorities wHhlin the fu-amework o;f State structure by means of force, it is obligated to demand·s posed ·by national minorities ag,ainst national ,by every possi'ble means." al~ attempts the pre-sent support the suppression But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in ,the CSSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Su'Cleten Germans and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno Kohler even admits this himself when he wriites, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: "The transfer of the Gernnan minority, t otalling mmions, did �58 SLOVAKIA not take plaice without difficulty, pa;rticul-arly for those a1ffocted ;b y the shidJt. . . . The consistent and timely solution of the problem of the Germain, minortiy proved to be especially advantageous dur.ing the glorious dayis of February 1'948 when the workers conJCentrated all their energies on achievling v,ictory over t-he reaction, on a victory tha1t finally made the road free for the estalblishment of SociaiJ.ism in our country." Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory -of Communism in the CSSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every ruttempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSSR today - because ,the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may weH be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSSR, thaJt this is planned anld systematicalfy organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the a:bove-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different situation, the quesbion of the German minority had to be solved entirely differenltly from that of the Mlagyar, Ukrainian -and Po1ish minor,i<ty in the CSSR. This diltlference ,i s also evi'dent in the formulation of the republic's new constitution which legally crystallires an the important social changes we hav-e a!Mected. The constitutional text can con.tarn no stipulation as to something which no longer exiists, namely, a German minomty 1n, the CSSR." � 56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the �SLOVAKIA 57 discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark, that according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to ,the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918-38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationaliUes poli-cy in the CSR, aimed at the destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State. The Communists with KoMer as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solwtion of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931, in an article in Roter Vorwarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . .. The nat ional demagogy o.f au these Obour,g.eois German) parties climaxes in the demand for national self-administration and cultural autonomy' for the Ger1rnan ,people wi.thim, the Czooho-Slovak Stiate. . . . Na1tiona,l autonomy meanis, the recognition of ,t he CzechoSlo\naik State . .. means rejedion a priori of the self-determinat'ion right of the German ,people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time ,~o make itse1f an advocate of the interests of the nonCzech ethnic groups in the OSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC : "Since the OPC recognizes the rig.hit of ,n ational seltfdetwminati,on, in'Cluding se•p ara,tion from the State, and combalts to keep nationa,l minorities wHhlin the fu-amework o;f State structure by means of force, it is obligated to demand·s posed ·by national minorities ag,ainst national ,by every possi'ble means." al~ attempts the pre-sent support the suppression But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in ,the CSSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Su'Cleten Germans and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno Kohler even admits this himself when he wriites, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: "The transfer of the Gernnan minority, t otalling mmions, did �58 SLOVAKIA not take plaice without difficulty, pa;rticul-arly for those a1ffocted ;b y the shidJt. . . . The consistent and timely solution of the problem of the Germain, minortiy proved to be especially advantageous dur.ing the glorious dayis of February 1'948 when the workers conJCentrated all their energies on achievling v,ictory over t-he reaction, on a victory tha1t finally made the road free for the estalblishment of SociaiJ.ism in our country." Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory -of Communism in the CSSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every ruttempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSSR today - because ,the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may weH be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSSR, thaJt this is planned anld systematicalfy organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the a:bove-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different situation, the quesbion of the German minority had to be solved entirely differenltly from that of the Mlagyar, Ukrainian -and Po1ish minor,i<ty in the CSSR. This diltlference ,i s also evi'dent in the formulation of the republic's new constitution which legally crystallires an the important social changes we hav-e a!Mected. The constitutional text can con.tarn no stipulation as to something which no longer exiists, namely, a German minomty 1n, the CSSR." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 56 SLOVAKIA such limited training are already beginning to complain of their lack of ability. These young men report for work without knowing the most elementary techniques in their field nor is there much likelihood of improvement in the future. If unchanged, however, such conditions will reduce a population with a higher than average educrutional pot.e n-U-al to a generation of robots . • • • A POLICY OF GENOCIDE Anton F. Wuschek After the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans there remained approximately 170,000 to 200,000 Germans in the area that now embraces Czecho~Slovakia. Many of them are still residing in their old homes in ,the Sudetenland, others have been transferred to original Czech areas. Along with the Hungarian, Ukrainian and Polish minorities in the CSSR, the German element is one of the largest ethnic groups that do not belong to the official nation of the S,:ate of Czechs and Slovaks. Little has been said of the existence of this German group within the past years. Not unti'l last year did they become the subject of considera,ble discussion within Czecho~lovak Communist Party circles, when, in connection with the ini:roduction of the new Socialist constitution in the CSSR the new status of the ethnic minorities was decided on. Whereas the new constitution gives a minimum of cultural rights to the Ukrainian, Hungarian and Polish minorities, it deprives the German minority every right to an autonomous group life. State President Antonin Novotny justified this fact with the statement that ,the German question was settled by the expulsion from their homes of some three million Sudeten Germans. The remaining Germans would thus no longer be considered as a minority. The logic of this s tatement was by no means given unanimous approval. Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czec'ho-Slovakia (CPC), Bruno Koh'ler, took the opportunity to discuss the Sudeten German issue in detail in the official organ of the CPC tivot Strany (Par:y Life, No. 16, 1960). Kohler justified the SLOVAKIA 57 discrepancy in the minorities policy of the CPC with the remark, that according to the teachings of Leninism, a correct solution of the nationalities issue called for application of the principle of adjustment to ,the current political situations while giving consideration to the interests of Communism. During the first Czecho-Slovak Republic under Thomas Masaryk (1918-38) the Communists were the greatest proponents of a radical nationaliUes poli-cy in the CSR, aimed at the destruction of the Czecho-Slovak State. The Communists with KoMer as their spokesman vehemently condemned the attitude of the German parties in the CSR that were seeking a federative solwtion of the nationalities question within the scope of the existing State. Kohler criticized this stand on February 1, 1931, in an article in Roter Vorwarts (Red Forward), which reads as follows: " . .. The nat ional demagogy o.f au these Obour,g.eois German) parties climaxes in the demand for national self-administration and cultural autonomy' for the Ger1rnan ,people wi.thim, the Czooho-Slovak Stiate. . . . Na1tiona,l autonomy meanis, the recognition of ,t he CzechoSlo\naik State . .. means rejedion a priori of the self-determinat'ion right of the German ,people." Just how much Communist policy sought at that time ,~o make itse1f an advocate of the interests of the nonCzech ethnic groups in the OSR becomes evident from the address of the secretary of the Communist International, Dimitri Z. Manuilskij, before the second regular congress of the CPC : "Since the OPC recognizes the rig.hit of ,n ational seltfdetwminati,on, in'Cluding se•p ara,tion from the State, and combalts to keep nationa,l minorities wHhlin the fu-amework o;f State structure by means of force, it is obligated to demand·s posed ·by national minorities ag,ainst national ,by every possi'ble means." al~ attempts the pre-sent support the suppression But times have changed in the meanwhile and the interests of the Communist rulers in ,the CSSR are other than they were in Czecho-Slovakia during the period between the two world wars. The expulsion of the Su'Cleten Germans and the confiscation of their property were welcome conditions for complete communization of CzechoSlovakia. Bruno Kohler even admits this himself when he wriites, in the above-mentioned issue of Zivot strany: "The transfer of the Gernnan minority, t otalling mmions, did 58 SLOVAKIA not take plaice without difficulty, pa;rticul-arly for those a1ffocted ;b y the shidJt. . . . The consistent and timely solution of the problem of the Germain, minortiy proved to be especially advantageous dur.ing the glorious dayis of February 1'948 when the workers conJCentrated all their energies on achievling v,ictory over t-he reaction, on a victory tha1t finally made the road free for the estalblishment of SociaiJ.ism in our country." Today the CPC openly declares that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans was a prerequisite for the victory -of Communism in the CSSR. In order to retain the fruits of this victory, the Red regime in Prague resists with all its might every ruttempt of the Sudeten Germans and the West to revise the expulsion of the rightful inhabitants of the Sudetenland. In trying to make permanent the injustice, the small minority of Germans still living in the CSSR today - because ,the authorities deny them permission to emigrate - are disregarded entirely. Not only are they disregarded, but systematic attempts are being made to do away with them altogether. At this point there begins a policy of genocide, a crime against international law. By conscious and deliberate action the Czech State leaders are trying to uproot an entire ethnic group by surrounding them by conditions that make it impossible for them to cultivate and perpetuate their native tongue and cultural attributes. Although international jurists may differ as to whether the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans as such, which took place in 1945-46, may be classified as genocide although expulsion measures were aimed at destruction of the entire Sudeten group - there may weH be unanimity of opinion as to the new measures in the CSSR with regard to the total extirpation of the German minority in the CSSR, thaJt this is planned anld systematicalfy organized genocide. Bruno Kohler already anticipates the outcome of this policy when, in the a:bove-cited article, he writes: "Due to the entirely different situation, the quesbion of the German minority had to be solved entirely differenltly from that of the Mlagyar, Ukrainian -and Po1ish minor,i<ty in the CSSR. This diltlference ,i s also evi'dent in the formulation of the republic's new constitution which legally crystallires an the important social changes we hav-e a!Mected. The constitutional text can con.tarn no stipulation as to something which no longer exiists, namely, a German minomty 1n, the CSSR."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Policy of Genocide Description An account of the resource Anton F. Wuschek Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 56-58 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wuschek, Anton F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b18108215852bc4a08f208666081e79b.pdf 9a4ab27d7e272cd3622a29d351930724 PDF Text Text 76 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Dejiny sta.rlej slovenskej literatury (iHistory of the Older Slowrlc Literature) by J . Misia,n<iik, J. Minarik, M. Midhalcova, A. Me'llichercik; 11>ublished by Slovenska ~kademia vied (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Bratis]arva, 1'960; p. a20, iJll. 'During the past decade, The Slovalk Academy of Sciences published several workis which shed a new Hght on the history of Slovaik literature and basically contrast wtl.th the views otf American syIIlJPosia dealing wifa Slov,alkfa's past. The volume on older Slovaik literature, W1hkh d:ates the ·beginniings <ff the history oif Slovak l,i terature back to the ninth cenltiury, wi'll perhaps be one of the most unexpected surprises to foreign Sla,v,ists, accustomed a,s they are to regard Slovalk literature not oMer than a hundred years. The contrilbutors to L. I. Str•a'k hovsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies," to R. J . Kero-er's "Czechoslovakia," or to the present volwme on "Czechoslovakia," ed•ited :b y V. Busek.JN. Spul'ber and pulblished by the Mid1European Studies Center, set the birtfrld•aite of SloVlak literature as the year 1844, minimizing or ignorJng prwious literary efforts in Slovak cwture. And their views have been accepted favoraibly by many scho~ars in the f\ield Olf Slavilc stud,ies. Mancist literary his'toriam<S, who prepared the volume under review, produced a volume of 320 pages on Slovak Hterary rustory which ends with 11he year 1•7 00, and a bibliography Olf 410 pages on the period 17,80-1844, indicating .tlrat only in Bernolak's movement there were albout 100 writers. There also were severa!l outstanding Slovak scholars ,be!foa-e, who emphasized as early as 1655. that Slovaldla was the heir of Great M!oravfa and that the Slavs in genera·! and the Slovaks in panticwar, had an old culture and were an old Europea1n ra-ce. rt should be stressed that neither Professor Strakhovsky nor R. J . Kerner can be held responsi!Jjle for the misrepresentatiorn; in their symposia because the ir contr~butors were the closest SiJiavic ki n to the Slovaks. Nor any lack of original s'tud'ies on, Sl10vak literature can be re!:lPOnsilble for the distorited .accounts, because there is not m'UCh new in the Marxtist ''Histor,y of 11he Older Slovak Literature" which so-caned ' 1bourgeiois nationalist" literary historians would not hlaive kn()IW,n, albout. In numerous monog:r,aphies and studies wri~n by A . A. Banik, J . Skultety, S. J:urovsky, C. F . Lepacek, V. Bobelk, S. Krcmery, J. Vlcek, A. Prazalk, A . Mraz, R. Brtan, etc., more or less all the pulblished material was made known a long t~e aigo . It was known to some extent even to Prdfessor Ernest Denis from t he So11bon,n e, as evidenced by his boOik La question d'Autriche Les Slovaques, pulblished in 1&17. Slovak Marxist liiterary historians merely compiled results of prevfous researches and gave to tlhe histocy of Slovak literature a new '"Mar~ist" interpretati10n and a new periodization. The older Slo'Vak li'terature is d'iv.ided by the Marxist historians in-to four periods: the epoch df Great Moravi,a (the ninth ,and tenth century); the Romanesque and Gothic per.i'Od (tenth- fifteenth cen- �77 SLOVAKIA tury); Renaissance (filfteen:th~seventeenth centucy); and Baroque (1Jhe first half of the seventeenlth century to 1'780). This periodization is new and it is based on the principles of .Miarxist philoso.ph!y of history rather than on, the ideoliogicai and literary currents of Western ciwlization which found an e'C'ho in .Slovakia. In their a•p praisal of older Slovak wniiters and Marxist literary his'torians are cliose to former "bourgeois aoo nationaHst" scholars wiho also i,n,dluded into the history of Slovak literature the Cyrifo~ethod'ian peniod and all literary works created by Slovaks in Latin, Gennan, Biblical Czech, or other languages. ]t is the "Czechosl<ovalk" intenpr,etation wh!iich the Marxist li17erary historians vehemently oppose, since the Czech scholars (A. Prazak, F . Wollman, J. Chaloupecky) re~rded Slovak literature before 11844 (Stur's reform cxf the Slovalk la,n,g.uage) as a part of Crec!h 1iterature (including even Satfarik, Kollar, e1Jc., Into it) and belittled its si:gn'ificance. While we may disagree with the critenia and aipproach of 17he Marxist literary historians, we ca·nnot disregard maniy positive aspects ocf this first comprehensi'Ve volwme on, the older Slovak literature. It wiH fiill a gap in the fieltl of Slaviic literatures, and to ma11y Slavists on this continenlt it will bring a new looik at the Slovak pa'St. The book unfortu,niately lac~ a resume in foreign languages whidh other recent Slovak ,publications usua.Uy conrtain. In form and cont ents tihe book is not without scho1ar1y values. J. M. Kirschbaum, Un i'Vers•i ty of Monit•r>ea'1. 1 R:oma,n Smal-Stocki: The Captive Nations: Nationalism of the NonRuss,ian Nations in the Soviet Union, Bookman Associates Nesw York, 1960; 118 pp. A popular fallacy is that smaU volumes have little to saiy, large ones much. As many scholars learn very early in their tra,ining, the reverse is often the case. The present slender volume is a distillate of the many years of study - alild of a of personal exiperience particularly vJtal asp·eict of the Soviet phenomenon by a distinguished scholar, Dr. Roman SmalStocki, for over ten ~ars on the faculty of Marquette University. It is because this is must reading for all America that we point out that brevity in -this study of naticma1ism in the Soviet orbit affords two advantages: a wide scope compressed such that the significance of the oppressed peoples may easily be gra,sped; and the relatively little reading required to grasp it. Dr. Smal-Stocki, witty as well as penetrating, is pro'balbly unrivallled for such an accoonp1ishment; and he has admiralb~ succeeded. Internationally !mown for his scholarship, he has also been acclaimed for his life-long struggle (conducted kom no Ivory Tower) for the right o'f self-detel'IJllination for all non4lussian nati ons in the S'o viet "m001olith." A'S president of the Promethe,m Lea~ue, representing all the nations oppressed by Russia, he effectua.ted a common front of all significant non.Jtussian emigre groups op.pressed by Soviet Russia. From 1924: to 1929 the champi!oned the victims of Russian aggression at the League of Nation,s. His importance was certified by Hitler, eager to aicqu.ire Ukraine without interference as an 1 �78 SLOVAKIA agricultural reservoir: Dr. SmalStocki was interned in Prague for the dur,ation of the war. '11he pres• ent W-Ol'lk is but one olf a ser,i es of brd:lliant studies conducted by this indivi'd ual, gifted both as a scholar and ais a main, during his years in America. This study of naitionalism, if disseminated properJy, should go f.ar to correct present tendencies in Amerkan thinking with regard to the importance of modern nationali'sm in modern times. Ir-0nically enough, "the principles for which Americans fought 1'heir own mother counitry" are ''the very principles whiich Amer,i cans h,ave been ignoriing in their foreign policy t01WaTd the new Re'd Russian Em· pire for 4-0 year-s." Especially in recent times, Wlilson's conlcept of "seLf-detel.'lffiiniation of small nations" wen,t to the way.side. It beicame fashionalble, in schoJ.,ar,ly cireles and elsewhere, to attack ,t he application, of th~s doctrJne for not emasculating itsel! in the mystical goal of inlternationalism. Even in ouT 01Wn day we oan hear the claii'm that -t he Russians, wha1:ever their failures in pr,aicvice so far, are continuing a revolutioo w,h ich is "a necessary successor" to the French a·n d the American Rievolutions. Such thinking is in no little wise responsilble for t he "r,apid and catastrophic deoliine from world leadershti;p as oiccurred to the United State's from 1946 to lt958 in world polit,ics." Defeatism ha-s been on the march - and shows no signs of flagging. Such schools of thought" as these have developed: (1) with giradual lilberalization, the Ru·ssian revolutoin wdll end with staibi1ization of a "democratic fede!"ated republic" ; (2) acbive support of national communiJSm , called Ti'toism, to speed up "1-tberolization" (disregarding the fact that "national" cOOll!Illunism i:s commun- ism and d,i ctatorship, nonetheles's) ; (3) status quo ad,voca,tes, on the premise that the communist revoluti'onary expansiM has ended; •this, goes the claim, would give the USSR "secuTity." Dr. Sma'1-Stocld points out tha t the non.JRuss,i,a,n nait-ions (which compose over half of the Russian" populatfon of the USSR) believe that the communist revolution is unfinished. "The begLn,niing of the last act of thi's revolution started Jn East Germany (BerJin), in Poland, and in Hungiary, but was stopped by the moral apathy and ,l etharg,y of the free w-0rl'Cl. (It) can be stopped and broken onJy by a democratic revolution of the victims of Russian imperda1ism, supported by the whole 'strengt-h of the democratic p01Wers for the c01Inmon cause." The alterinates are, to say -the least, dista'steful. H the free world tolerates the further conbinuation of Russ-ian expansion, in the ,n,ext 20 years or sooner, declares the all!thor, the Wlorld Sovi•e t Union wi11 be estaiblJshed. Or, ontce convinced its technical adva,n ces have outstriipped us gr e at 1 y enough, SoVliet Moscow can taike its chances with a gigantic ''Pearl Haribor" type of attack on the whole U. S. The Russian Communis,t dictatorship is a past master at ubiliiz.iln,g every mJstake or act olf magnanimity on the part of the free world, the author points out. "Only 1b y realizing the self-determination of the non.JRussi,an natfons, only by i'ntel'IIl,ational concert of the free nations, nationalities and· peoples, can re·al peatce be achieved," concludes Dr. Smal,Stocki. A highly recommended hooik to all, whfoh, going back in its study of natn:ona1ism in the nomri.Riu:ssian n'aitions, even before World War I, afil'ords us a perspective wh'ich leads, under the author's �SLOVAKIA cogent guidance, to a realization that our true weapon is the explosive force of ideas contained 1n, the national freedom aspirations of the non.JRussian nations. - W.D. William L. Shlirer: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. A History of Na2i Germany, Sim,o,n. and· Schusrter, New Yol'ik, 1960; 12415 pp., $10.00. <In the guise of objective hiistory this volume presents a harrow.ing, massive but one-sided record of unrelieved German crimes• and blunders. W.illiam L. Shirer, fored·g n correspondent and news commentator, is also on, the board Olf directors Olf the "Society for ~he Prevention Olf World War Ill, Inc." of which Dorothy Thompson wrote (Mary 311, 1,950) that it "has conducted a systematic campadgn ag1ainst any constructive peace with Germany ... and vilified every person in pulblilc life who tried to warn that procedure alon,g Morgenthau 1ines would encompass the rwin of Europe." Shirer does not allOIW that the Versailles Treaty was unjust (p. 58). He st,ates that "Nazism and the Third Reich, in fact, were but a Logical colilltinuafron of German histor,y" (p. 90). His piling up of Nazi crimes, failing to put them 1n, perspecllive with the crimes of the opp·onents, never in fact alludi'ng to the worst Soviet cr,imes, such as their brutal population transfers and their mass raping Olf not only German but also Hungarian, Slovak and Austrirun women, .seem calculated to make any unwary reader hate more than ever the German people - now our allies - who tolera,ted the monsti,ous Nazis, and to think of the equally monstrous Bol'shev~ks, no•w o.ur cold war enemies, as really not so bad! ln, pages on the Nazi aibuse of Soviet and Polish p:rtlsoners of war 79 he does not once allude to the Soviet mass murder of Polish of.f,ilcers at Katyn. He never mentions General Vilassov and hrs insur.ge'Illt Russians who preferred fiighti,ng for the Germans to livi,n,g under the Soviets. He gives good inlformation on several German attempts to remove Hitler, three even be:fore '194'1, but he makes no relference to the Miorgenthau plan, CommunistJinspired, which was calcul'a ted to dr,ive the Germans to desperate resistan1ee instead of revolt. For the rest, despite distoi,tions and some clear falsehoods, there is much interesting information in the book. Hitler is depicted as an uncanny genius, aJmost puriban, fanatically warped on Ioy;alitJy and honor, pathologica~ly airuti-IBolshev,i k and anti-Jewish, absolutely ag:a,i nst war w.ith the West, but certainly plotting 1t against Poland and Russia. Reading of Hitler's crimes and •b lunders in detail, deducing from the facts that truly moral st•atesmanship a,nyiwhere from 1918 on could· have prevented the colossal misery of World War II and aifter, makes one feel aibout the human ra,ce as Swiift dlid. ln sum: more harmful th-.in good except for trained histor,ians. A. J. A,pp. H. G. Adler: Die Judttn in Deutschland. From the Enlightenment to Natiorual Socialism. Ki:ise1Verlag, Munich, 1960; 17·8 pp., DM 6.80. National Socialism produced nothing really new, particularly antiSemLtism, although dt remained for sa-id regjme to exercise i1t in the modern age in an a1pocalyptic way. H. G. Adler is a Jew from Prague, sun~ivor of the concentration camps of Theresienstad•t and Auschwitz, who has anal~ed the origins of anti-semi1tism, the Eman- �80 SLOVAKIA cipation, and the plight of the J'Elws in Germany. 'l1he results cxf the author's endeavor are procuralble in a smaU book prolif.ic with quotes and sources. Adler candidJy acknowledges that dur1nlg the Middle Ages a Jewish prdblem was poss1ble only in Germany ·b ecause the Eur®ean na:!Ji,onal states, after a period cxf severe op,pression "divested themselves of their Jews" by means of expulsion, England in 1200, FIia.nee in li306 (a.nd, after temporary readmittance, again i.n, '1933), Spain in 1492 and Portug•al in 1497." Hatred of the Jews was due for cenwries to ,theh- belonging to a different religion; the sol'Utiion lay therefore i.n, conversion to Christianity, or by remedying their "otherness." Heine spoke of his baiptism as the "ticket O£f admission to European culture." Yet the position of the Jews in Germanry was as varied as the very diversilfied nature of the First Reioh itself. As fate as 1,81,7, for example, the English prov,ince of Hannover quite firmly resisted the ,proposed emanlci,pation of the Jews which had been sought by Christians and Jews alike ever since the Enlightenment. Mter the founding of the Second Reich religious dilfference was, to be sure, no longer the tme cause cxf anti-semitism, for 1n, the Bismarokian constitution one's religious affiliation was irreleivant. Adler cites in addition to the longstanding religious a$Pect of the Jewish question German aruti'-semites like the Berlin court preacher Stocker, the Viennese Biirgermeister Lueger, Richard Wagner, Lagarde, and Fritsch. Aocording to these persons race and not religion was the cause of anti-Jewish feeling. One notes a breach in developments that is not bri:dged· by any explanation and one wonders why this surprising change. Was it due to the l"apid increase after 18711 of Jewish banking a.nd trad- ing firms, the entranice of J·ewish lawyers, doctors, and teachers into prcxfessions that had been barred to them hitherto? Was it due to enviy cxf thei'r quiick social climb? Even during the period of religious anti-Jewish hatred the c-u rse "his blood be on us and on our chillren" was not the sole reason for the pogroms, but also the desire to be rid of the annoying creditors. A similar trend developed in many lia.r,ge German cities fo the "golden t,w,en,ties." Germ•an anti-semitism, in the final analysis, has come to be a stain not only on the name of Germany for years to coone bwt bas actually estranged one of the most ardent Ge Tm ,a n protagonists throughout the world, the German speaking J~s. Adler's book shows primarily, too, the zeal with which the German Jews all over the world were ready to serve their peopl'e, a fact whi'ch is seldom rememlbered today - L. Rainalter. ANONYMOUS LETTIERS, wriltten to Red leaders in Slovakia, are caiusing some conc,ern to th~ regiime. The Bra'tisla'Va Radio recently reminded its listeners that Wl'liters of such letters, ill: revealed, are in fur stiff fin~s and long jail sentences. The rea'ction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the coHalborators of Red P11ague. :IE: :IE: )l(! is 1b e in g planned in Bratislava, Slovakia, according to the dlaiily PRA-OA. It should be ready by the end of 1!963; the cost: 9 million, Crowns; and location: near the present Bra,tislava cemeter.y. Thi! Reds are happy that finaUy consideratfon has been given "to this modern and scientiific way of buryi<11,g the dead." A CREMATORY �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presidents Michael Msgr. F. J . Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Pet er P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. Ge-0rge Kantor P:·esident Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presi dents Joseph Bend i k John P. 0 . Box 230 Uniontown, P a . Ju l ia Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Krajcovic Helen Ko can 1648 W. 18th Street Chi cago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 22 64 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Paul C. Kazimer St ephen J. Tkach 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead, Pa. Nationa l President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko An.drew Hudak Nation.al President Slov,ak Catholic Cadet Union 15701 Bennett Rd. No. Royalton 33, Ohio SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSKA JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. Scranton, Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO SLOVENSKE NOVINY ZORNICKA Cleve land, Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST OSADNE HLASY Passaic, N . J. Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. �SLOVAKIA : The ruins of Strecno Castle above the Vah river in the Trencin Province (13th century). � 76 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Dejiny sta.rlej slovenskej literatury (iHistory of the Older Slowrlc Literature) by J . Misia,n<iik, J. Minarik, M. Midhalcova, A. Me'llichercik; 11>ublished by Slovenska ~kademia vied (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Bratis]arva, 1'960; p. a20, iJll. 'During the past decade, The Slovalk Academy of Sciences published several workis which shed a new Hght on the history of Slovaik literature and basically contrast wtl.th the views otf American syIIlJPosia dealing wifa Slov,alkfa's past. The volume on older Slovaik literature, W1hkh d:ates the ·beginniings <ff the history oif Slovak l,i terature back to the ninth cenltiury, wi'll perhaps be one of the most unexpected surprises to foreign Sla,v,ists, accustomed a,s they are to regard Slovalk literature not oMer than a hundred years. The contrilbutors to L. I. Str•a'k hovsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies," to R. J . Kero-er's "Czechoslovakia," or to the present volwme on "Czechoslovakia," ed•ited :b y V. Busek.JN. Spul'ber and pulblished by the Mid1European Studies Center, set the birtfrld•aite of SloVlak literature as the year 1844, minimizing or ignorJng prwious literary efforts in Slovak cwture. And their views have been accepted favoraibly by many scho~ars in the f\ield Olf Slavilc stud,ies. Mancist literary his'toriam<S, who prepared the volume under review, produced a volume of 320 pages on Slovak Hterary rustory which ends with 11he year 1•7 00, and a bibliography Olf 410 pages on the period 17,80-1844, indicating .tlrat only in Bernolak's movement there were albout 100 writers. There also were severa!l outstanding Slovak scholars ,be!foa-e, who emphasized as early as 1655. that Slovaldla was the heir of Great M!oravfa and that the Slavs in genera·! and the Slovaks in panticwar, had an old culture and were an old Europea1n ra-ce. rt should be stressed that neither Professor Strakhovsky nor R. J . Kerner can be held responsi!Jjle for the misrepresentatiorn; in their symposia because the ir contr~butors were the closest SiJiavic ki n to the Slovaks. Nor any lack of original s'tud'ies on, Sl10vak literature can be re!:lPOnsilble for the distorited .accounts, because there is not m'UCh new in the Marxtist ''Histor,y of 11he Older Slovak Literature" which so-caned ' 1bourgeiois nationalist" literary historians would not hlaive kn()IW,n, albout. In numerous monog:r,aphies and studies wri~n by A . A. Banik, J . Skultety, S. J:urovsky, C. F . Lepacek, V. Bobelk, S. Krcmery, J. Vlcek, A. Prazalk, A . Mraz, R. Brtan, etc., more or less all the pulblished material was made known a long t~e aigo . It was known to some extent even to Prdfessor Ernest Denis from t he So11bon,n e, as evidenced by his boOik La question d'Autriche Les Slovaques, pulblished in 1&17. Slovak Marxist liiterary historians merely compiled results of prevfous researches and gave to tlhe histocy of Slovak literature a new '"Mar~ist" interpretati10n and a new periodization. The older Slo'Vak li'terature is d'iv.ided by the Marxist historians in-to four periods: the epoch df Great Moravi,a (the ninth ,and tenth century); the Romanesque and Gothic per.i'Od (tenth- fifteenth cen- �77 SLOVAKIA tury); Renaissance (filfteen:th~seventeenth centucy); and Baroque (1Jhe first half of the seventeenlth century to 1'780). This periodization is new and it is based on the principles of .Miarxist philoso.ph!y of history rather than on, the ideoliogicai and literary currents of Western ciwlization which found an e'C'ho in .Slovakia. In their a•p praisal of older Slovak wniiters and Marxist literary his'torians are cliose to former "bourgeois aoo nationaHst" scholars wiho also i,n,dluded into the history of Slovak literature the Cyrifo~ethod'ian peniod and all literary works created by Slovaks in Latin, Gennan, Biblical Czech, or other languages. ]t is the "Czechosl<ovalk" intenpr,etation wh!iich the Marxist li17erary historians vehemently oppose, since the Czech scholars (A. Prazak, F . Wollman, J. Chaloupecky) re~rded Slovak literature before 11844 (Stur's reform cxf the Slovalk la,n,g.uage) as a part of Crec!h 1iterature (including even Satfarik, Kollar, e1Jc., Into it) and belittled its si:gn'ificance. While we may disagree with the critenia and aipproach of 17he Marxist literary historians, we ca·nnot disregard maniy positive aspects ocf this first comprehensi'Ve volwme on, the older Slovak literature. It wiH fiill a gap in the fieltl of Slaviic literatures, and to ma11y Slavists on this continenlt it will bring a new looik at the Slovak pa'St. The book unfortu,niately lac~ a resume in foreign languages whidh other recent Slovak ,publications usua.Uy conrtain. In form and cont ents tihe book is not without scho1ar1y values. J. M. Kirschbaum, Un i'Vers•i ty of Monit•r>ea'1. 1 R:oma,n Smal-Stocki: The Captive Nations: Nationalism of the NonRuss,ian Nations in the Soviet Union, Bookman Associates Nesw York, 1960; 118 pp. A popular fallacy is that smaU volumes have little to saiy, large ones much. As many scholars learn very early in their tra,ining, the reverse is often the case. The present slender volume is a distillate of the many years of study - alild of a of personal exiperience particularly vJtal asp·eict of the Soviet phenomenon by a distinguished scholar, Dr. Roman SmalStocki, for over ten ~ars on the faculty of Marquette University. It is because this is must reading for all America that we point out that brevity in -this study of naticma1ism in the Soviet orbit affords two advantages: a wide scope compressed such that the significance of the oppressed peoples may easily be gra,sped; and the relatively little reading required to grasp it. Dr. Smal-Stocki, witty as well as penetrating, is pro'balbly unrivallled for such an accoonp1ishment; and he has admiralb~ succeeded. Internationally !mown for his scholarship, he has also been acclaimed for his life-long struggle (conducted kom no Ivory Tower) for the right o'f self-detel'IJllination for all non4lussian nati ons in the S'o viet "m001olith." A'S president of the Promethe,m Lea~ue, representing all the nations oppressed by Russia, he effectua.ted a common front of all significant non.Jtussian emigre groups op.pressed by Soviet Russia. From 1924: to 1929 the champi!oned the victims of Russian aggression at the League of Nation,s. His importance was certified by Hitler, eager to aicqu.ire Ukraine without interference as an 1 �78 SLOVAKIA agricultural reservoir: Dr. SmalStocki was interned in Prague for the dur,ation of the war. '11he pres• ent W-Ol'lk is but one olf a ser,i es of brd:lliant studies conducted by this indivi'd ual, gifted both as a scholar and ais a main, during his years in America. This study of naitionalism, if disseminated properJy, should go f.ar to correct present tendencies in Amerkan thinking with regard to the importance of modern nationali'sm in modern times. Ir-0nically enough, "the principles for which Americans fought 1'heir own mother counitry" are ''the very principles whiich Amer,i cans h,ave been ignoriing in their foreign policy t01WaTd the new Re'd Russian Em· pire for 4-0 year-s." Especially in recent times, Wlilson's conlcept of "seLf-detel.'lffiiniation of small nations" wen,t to the way.side. It beicame fashionalble, in schoJ.,ar,ly cireles and elsewhere, to attack ,t he application, of th~s doctrJne for not emasculating itsel! in the mystical goal of inlternationalism. Even in ouT 01Wn day we oan hear the claii'm that -t he Russians, wha1:ever their failures in pr,aicvice so far, are continuing a revolutioo w,h ich is "a necessary successor" to the French a·n d the American Rievolutions. Such thinking is in no little wise responsilble for t he "r,apid and catastrophic deoliine from world leadershti;p as oiccurred to the United State's from 1946 to lt958 in world polit,ics." Defeatism ha-s been on the march - and shows no signs of flagging. Such schools of thought" as these have developed: (1) with giradual lilberalization, the Ru·ssian revolutoin wdll end with staibi1ization of a "democratic fede!"ated republic" ; (2) acbive support of national communiJSm , called Ti'toism, to speed up "1-tberolization" (disregarding the fact that "national" cOOll!Illunism i:s commun- ism and d,i ctatorship, nonetheles's) ; (3) status quo ad,voca,tes, on the premise that the communist revoluti'onary expansiM has ended; •this, goes the claim, would give the USSR "secuTity." Dr. Sma'1-Stocld points out tha t the non.JRuss,i,a,n nait-ions (which compose over half of the Russian" populatfon of the USSR) believe that the communist revolution is unfinished. "The begLn,niing of the last act of thi's revolution started Jn East Germany (BerJin), in Poland, and in Hungiary, but was stopped by the moral apathy and ,l etharg,y of the free w-0rl'Cl. (It) can be stopped and broken onJy by a democratic revolution of the victims of Russian imperda1ism, supported by the whole 'strengt-h of the democratic p01Wers for the c01Inmon cause." The alterinates are, to say -the least, dista'steful. H the free world tolerates the further conbinuation of Russ-ian expansion, in the ,n,ext 20 years or sooner, declares the all!thor, the Wlorld Sovi•e t Union wi11 be estaiblJshed. Or, ontce convinced its technical adva,n ces have outstriipped us gr e at 1 y enough, SoVliet Moscow can taike its chances with a gigantic ''Pearl Haribor" type of attack on the whole U. S. The Russian Communis,t dictatorship is a past master at ubiliiz.iln,g every mJstake or act olf magnanimity on the part of the free world, the author points out. "Only 1b y realizing the self-determination of the non.JRussi,an natfons, only by i'ntel'IIl,ational concert of the free nations, nationalities and· peoples, can re·al peatce be achieved," concludes Dr. Smal,Stocki. A highly recommended hooik to all, whfoh, going back in its study of natn:ona1ism in the nomri.Riu:ssian n'aitions, even before World War I, afil'ords us a perspective wh'ich leads, under the author's �SLOVAKIA cogent guidance, to a realization that our true weapon is the explosive force of ideas contained 1n, the national freedom aspirations of the non.JRussian nations. - W.D. William L. Shlirer: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. A History of Na2i Germany, Sim,o,n. and· Schusrter, New Yol'ik, 1960; 12415 pp., $10.00. <In the guise of objective hiistory this volume presents a harrow.ing, massive but one-sided record of unrelieved German crimes• and blunders. W.illiam L. Shirer, fored·g n correspondent and news commentator, is also on, the board Olf directors Olf the "Society for ~he Prevention Olf World War Ill, Inc." of which Dorothy Thompson wrote (Mary 311, 1,950) that it "has conducted a systematic campadgn ag1ainst any constructive peace with Germany ... and vilified every person in pulblilc life who tried to warn that procedure alon,g Morgenthau 1ines would encompass the rwin of Europe." Shirer does not allOIW that the Versailles Treaty was unjust (p. 58). He st,ates that "Nazism and the Third Reich, in fact, were but a Logical colilltinuafron of German histor,y" (p. 90). His piling up of Nazi crimes, failing to put them 1n, perspecllive with the crimes of the opp·onents, never in fact alludi'ng to the worst Soviet cr,imes, such as their brutal population transfers and their mass raping Olf not only German but also Hungarian, Slovak and Austrirun women, .seem calculated to make any unwary reader hate more than ever the German people - now our allies - who tolera,ted the monsti,ous Nazis, and to think of the equally monstrous Bol'shev~ks, no•w o.ur cold war enemies, as really not so bad! ln, pages on the Nazi aibuse of Soviet and Polish p:rtlsoners of war 79 he does not once allude to the Soviet mass murder of Polish of.f,ilcers at Katyn. He never mentions General Vilassov and hrs insur.ge'Illt Russians who preferred fiighti,ng for the Germans to livi,n,g under the Soviets. He gives good inlformation on several German attempts to remove Hitler, three even be:fore '194'1, but he makes no relference to the Miorgenthau plan, CommunistJinspired, which was calcul'a ted to dr,ive the Germans to desperate resistan1ee instead of revolt. For the rest, despite distoi,tions and some clear falsehoods, there is much interesting information in the book. Hitler is depicted as an uncanny genius, aJmost puriban, fanatically warped on Ioy;alitJy and honor, pathologica~ly airuti-IBolshev,i k and anti-Jewish, absolutely ag:a,i nst war w.ith the West, but certainly plotting 1t against Poland and Russia. Reading of Hitler's crimes and •b lunders in detail, deducing from the facts that truly moral st•atesmanship a,nyiwhere from 1918 on could· have prevented the colossal misery of World War II and aifter, makes one feel aibout the human ra,ce as Swiift dlid. ln sum: more harmful th-.in good except for trained histor,ians. A. J. A,pp. H. G. Adler: Die Judttn in Deutschland. From the Enlightenment to Natiorual Socialism. Ki:ise1Verlag, Munich, 1960; 17·8 pp., DM 6.80. National Socialism produced nothing really new, particularly antiSemLtism, although dt remained for sa-id regjme to exercise i1t in the modern age in an a1pocalyptic way. H. G. Adler is a Jew from Prague, sun~ivor of the concentration camps of Theresienstad•t and Auschwitz, who has anal~ed the origins of anti-semi1tism, the Eman- �80 SLOVAKIA cipation, and the plight of the J'Elws in Germany. 'l1he results cxf the author's endeavor are procuralble in a smaU book prolif.ic with quotes and sources. Adler candidJy acknowledges that dur1nlg the Middle Ages a Jewish prdblem was poss1ble only in Germany ·b ecause the Eur®ean na:!Ji,onal states, after a period cxf severe op,pression "divested themselves of their Jews" by means of expulsion, England in 1200, FIia.nee in li306 (a.nd, after temporary readmittance, again i.n, '1933), Spain in 1492 and Portug•al in 1497." Hatred of the Jews was due for cenwries to ,theh- belonging to a different religion; the sol'Utiion lay therefore i.n, conversion to Christianity, or by remedying their "otherness." Heine spoke of his baiptism as the "ticket O£f admission to European culture." Yet the position of the Jews in Germanry was as varied as the very diversilfied nature of the First Reioh itself. As fate as 1,81,7, for example, the English prov,ince of Hannover quite firmly resisted the ,proposed emanlci,pation of the Jews which had been sought by Christians and Jews alike ever since the Enlightenment. Mter the founding of the Second Reich religious dilfference was, to be sure, no longer the tme cause cxf anti-semitism, for 1n, the Bismarokian constitution one's religious affiliation was irreleivant. Adler cites in addition to the longstanding religious a$Pect of the Jewish question German aruti'-semites like the Berlin court preacher Stocker, the Viennese Biirgermeister Lueger, Richard Wagner, Lagarde, and Fritsch. Aocording to these persons race and not religion was the cause of anti-Jewish feeling. One notes a breach in developments that is not bri:dged· by any explanation and one wonders why this surprising change. Was it due to the l"apid increase after 18711 of Jewish banking a.nd trad- ing firms, the entranice of J·ewish lawyers, doctors, and teachers into prcxfessions that had been barred to them hitherto? Was it due to enviy cxf thei'r quiick social climb? Even during the period of religious anti-Jewish hatred the c-u rse "his blood be on us and on our chillren" was not the sole reason for the pogroms, but also the desire to be rid of the annoying creditors. A similar trend developed in many lia.r,ge German cities fo the "golden t,w,en,ties." Germ•an anti-semitism, in the final analysis, has come to be a stain not only on the name of Germany for years to coone bwt bas actually estranged one of the most ardent Ge Tm ,a n protagonists throughout the world, the German speaking J~s. Adler's book shows primarily, too, the zeal with which the German Jews all over the world were ready to serve their peopl'e, a fact whi'ch is seldom rememlbered today - L. Rainalter. ANONYMOUS LETTIERS, wriltten to Red leaders in Slovakia, are caiusing some conc,ern to th~ regiime. The Bra'tisla'Va Radio recently reminded its listeners that Wl'liters of such letters, ill: revealed, are in fur stiff fin~s and long jail sentences. The rea'ction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the coHalborators of Red P11ague. :IE: :IE: )l(! is 1b e in g planned in Bratislava, Slovakia, according to the dlaiily PRA-OA. It should be ready by the end of 1!963; the cost: 9 million, Crowns; and location: near the present Bra,tislava cemeter.y. Thi! Reds are happy that finaUy consideratfon has been given "to this modern and scientiific way of buryi<11,g the dead." A CREMATORY �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presidents Michael Msgr. F. J . Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Pet er P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. Ge-0rge Kantor P:·esident Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presi dents Joseph Bend i k John P. 0 . Box 230 Uniontown, P a . Ju l ia Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Krajcovic Helen Ko can 1648 W. 18th Street Chi cago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 22 64 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Paul C. Kazimer St ephen J. Tkach 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead, Pa. Nationa l President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko An.drew Hudak Nation.al President Slov,ak Catholic Cadet Union 15701 Bennett Rd. No. Royalton 33, Ohio SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSKA JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. Scranton, Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO SLOVENSKE NOVINY ZORNICKA Cleve land, Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST OSADNE HLASY Passaic, N . J. Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. �SLOVAKIA : The ruins of Strecno Castle above the Vah river in the Trencin Province (13th century). � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 76 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Dejiny sta.rlej slovenskej literatury (iHistory of the Older Slowrlc Literature) by J . Misia,n<iik, J. Minarik, M. Midhalcova, A. Me'llichercik; 11>ublished by Slovenska ~kademia vied (Slovak Academy of Sciences), Bratis]arva, 1'960; p. a20, iJll. 'During the past decade, The Slovalk Academy of Sciences published several workis which shed a new Hght on the history of Slovaik literature and basically contrast wtl.th the views otf American syIIlJPosia dealing wifa Slov,alkfa's past. The volume on older Slovaik literature, W1hkh d:ates the ·beginniings <ff the history oif Slovak l,i terature back to the ninth cenltiury, wi'll perhaps be one of the most unexpected surprises to foreign Sla,v,ists, accustomed a,s they are to regard Slovalk literature not oMer than a hundred years. The contrilbutors to L. I. Str•a'k hovsky's "Handbook of Slavic Studies," to R. J . Kero-er's "Czechoslovakia," or to the present volwme on "Czechoslovakia," ed•ited :b y V. Busek.JN. Spul'ber and pulblished by the Mid1European Studies Center, set the birtfrld•aite of SloVlak literature as the year 1844, minimizing or ignorJng prwious literary efforts in Slovak cwture. And their views have been accepted favoraibly by many scho~ars in the f\ield Olf Slavilc stud,ies. Mancist literary his'toriam<S, who prepared the volume under review, produced a volume of 320 pages on Slovak Hterary rustory which ends with 11he year 1•7 00, and a bibliography Olf 410 pages on the period 17,80-1844, indicating .tlrat only in Bernolak's movement there were albout 100 writers. There also were severa!l outstanding Slovak scholars ,be!foa-e, who emphasized as early as 1655. that Slovaldla was the heir of Great M!oravfa and that the Slavs in genera·! and the Slovaks in panticwar, had an old culture and were an old Europea1n ra-ce. rt should be stressed that neither Professor Strakhovsky nor R. J . Kerner can be held responsi!Jjle for the misrepresentatiorn; in their symposia because the ir contr~butors were the closest SiJiavic ki n to the Slovaks. Nor any lack of original s'tud'ies on, Sl10vak literature can be re!:lPOnsilble for the distorited .accounts, because there is not m'UCh new in the Marxtist ''Histor,y of 11he Older Slovak Literature" which so-caned ' 1bourgeiois nationalist" literary historians would not hlaive kn()IW,n, albout. In numerous monog:r,aphies and studies wri~n by A . A. Banik, J . Skultety, S. J:urovsky, C. F . Lepacek, V. Bobelk, S. Krcmery, J. Vlcek, A. Prazalk, A . Mraz, R. Brtan, etc., more or less all the pulblished material was made known a long t~e aigo . It was known to some extent even to Prdfessor Ernest Denis from t he So11bon,n e, as evidenced by his boOik La question d'Autriche Les Slovaques, pulblished in 1&17. Slovak Marxist liiterary historians merely compiled results of prevfous researches and gave to tlhe histocy of Slovak literature a new '"Mar~ist" interpretati10n and a new periodization. The older Slo'Vak li'terature is d'iv.ided by the Marxist historians in-to four periods: the epoch df Great Moravi,a (the ninth ,and tenth century); the Romanesque and Gothic per.i'Od (tenth- fifteenth cen- 77 SLOVAKIA tury); Renaissance (filfteen:th~seventeenth centucy); and Baroque (1Jhe first half of the seventeenlth century to 1'780). This periodization is new and it is based on the principles of .Miarxist philoso.ph!y of history rather than on, the ideoliogicai and literary currents of Western ciwlization which found an e'C'ho in .Slovakia. In their a•p praisal of older Slovak wniiters and Marxist literary his'torians are cliose to former "bourgeois aoo nationaHst" scholars wiho also i,n,dluded into the history of Slovak literature the Cyrifo~ethod'ian peniod and all literary works created by Slovaks in Latin, Gennan, Biblical Czech, or other languages. ]t is the "Czechosl<ovalk" intenpr,etation wh!iich the Marxist li17erary historians vehemently oppose, since the Czech scholars (A. Prazak, F . Wollman, J. Chaloupecky) re~rded Slovak literature before 11844 (Stur's reform cxf the Slovalk la,n,g.uage) as a part of Crec!h 1iterature (including even Satfarik, Kollar, e1Jc., Into it) and belittled its si:gn'ificance. While we may disagree with the critenia and aipproach of 17he Marxist literary historians, we ca·nnot disregard maniy positive aspects ocf this first comprehensi'Ve volwme on, the older Slovak literature. It wiH fiill a gap in the fieltl of Slaviic literatures, and to ma11y Slavists on this continenlt it will bring a new looik at the Slovak pa'St. The book unfortu,niately lac~ a resume in foreign languages whidh other recent Slovak ,publications usua.Uy conrtain. In form and cont ents tihe book is not without scho1ar1y values. J. M. Kirschbaum, Un i'Vers•i ty of Monit•r>ea'1. 1 R:oma,n Smal-Stocki: The Captive Nations: Nationalism of the NonRuss,ian Nations in the Soviet Union, Bookman Associates Nesw York, 1960; 118 pp. A popular fallacy is that smaU volumes have little to saiy, large ones much. As many scholars learn very early in their tra,ining, the reverse is often the case. The present slender volume is a distillate of the many years of study - alild of a of personal exiperience particularly vJtal asp·eict of the Soviet phenomenon by a distinguished scholar, Dr. Roman SmalStocki, for over ten ~ars on the faculty of Marquette University. It is because this is must reading for all America that we point out that brevity in -this study of naticma1ism in the Soviet orbit affords two advantages: a wide scope compressed such that the significance of the oppressed peoples may easily be gra,sped; and the relatively little reading required to grasp it. Dr. Smal-Stocki, witty as well as penetrating, is pro'balbly unrivallled for such an accoonp1ishment; and he has admiralb~ succeeded. Internationally !mown for his scholarship, he has also been acclaimed for his life-long struggle (conducted kom no Ivory Tower) for the right o'f self-detel'IJllination for all non4lussian nati ons in the S'o viet "m001olith." A'S president of the Promethe,m Lea~ue, representing all the nations oppressed by Russia, he effectua.ted a common front of all significant non.Jtussian emigre groups op.pressed by Soviet Russia. From 1924: to 1929 the champi!oned the victims of Russian aggression at the League of Nation,s. His importance was certified by Hitler, eager to aicqu.ire Ukraine without interference as an 1 78 SLOVAKIA agricultural reservoir: Dr. SmalStocki was interned in Prague for the dur,ation of the war. '11he pres• ent W-Ol'lk is but one olf a ser,i es of brd:lliant studies conducted by this indivi'd ual, gifted both as a scholar and ais a main, during his years in America. This study of naitionalism, if disseminated properJy, should go f.ar to correct present tendencies in Amerkan thinking with regard to the importance of modern nationali'sm in modern times. Ir-0nically enough, "the principles for which Americans fought 1'heir own mother counitry" are ''the very principles whiich Amer,i cans h,ave been ignoriing in their foreign policy t01WaTd the new Re'd Russian Em· pire for 4-0 year-s." Especially in recent times, Wlilson's conlcept of "seLf-detel.'lffiiniation of small nations" wen,t to the way.side. It beicame fashionalble, in schoJ.,ar,ly cireles and elsewhere, to attack ,t he application, of th~s doctrJne for not emasculating itsel! in the mystical goal of inlternationalism. Even in ouT 01Wn day we oan hear the claii'm that -t he Russians, wha1:ever their failures in pr,aicvice so far, are continuing a revolutioo w,h ich is "a necessary successor" to the French a·n d the American Rievolutions. Such thinking is in no little wise responsilble for t he "r,apid and catastrophic deoliine from world leadershti;p as oiccurred to the United State's from 1946 to lt958 in world polit,ics." Defeatism ha-s been on the march - and shows no signs of flagging. Such schools of thought" as these have developed: (1) with giradual lilberalization, the Ru·ssian revolutoin wdll end with staibi1ization of a "democratic fede!"ated republic" ; (2) acbive support of national communiJSm , called Ti'toism, to speed up "1-tberolization" (disregarding the fact that "national" cOOll!Illunism i:s commun- ism and d,i ctatorship, nonetheles's) ; (3) status quo ad,voca,tes, on the premise that the communist revoluti'onary expansiM has ended; •this, goes the claim, would give the USSR "secuTity." Dr. Sma'1-Stocld points out tha t the non.JRuss,i,a,n nait-ions (which compose over half of the Russian" populatfon of the USSR) believe that the communist revolution is unfinished. "The begLn,niing of the last act of thi's revolution started Jn East Germany (BerJin), in Poland, and in Hungiary, but was stopped by the moral apathy and ,l etharg,y of the free w-0rl'Cl. (It) can be stopped and broken onJy by a democratic revolution of the victims of Russian imperda1ism, supported by the whole 'strengt-h of the democratic p01Wers for the c01Inmon cause." The alterinates are, to say -the least, dista'steful. H the free world tolerates the further conbinuation of Russ-ian expansion, in the ,n,ext 20 years or sooner, declares the all!thor, the Wlorld Sovi•e t Union wi11 be estaiblJshed. Or, ontce convinced its technical adva,n ces have outstriipped us gr e at 1 y enough, SoVliet Moscow can taike its chances with a gigantic ''Pearl Haribor" type of attack on the whole U. S. The Russian Communis,t dictatorship is a past master at ubiliiz.iln,g every mJstake or act olf magnanimity on the part of the free world, the author points out. "Only 1b y realizing the self-determination of the non.JRussi,an natfons, only by i'ntel'IIl,ational concert of the free nations, nationalities and· peoples, can re·al peatce be achieved," concludes Dr. Smal,Stocki. A highly recommended hooik to all, whfoh, going back in its study of natn:ona1ism in the nomri.Riu:ssian n'aitions, even before World War I, afil'ords us a perspective wh'ich leads, under the author's SLOVAKIA cogent guidance, to a realization that our true weapon is the explosive force of ideas contained 1n, the national freedom aspirations of the non.JRussian nations. - W.D. William L. Shlirer: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. A History of Na2i Germany, Sim,o,n. and· Schusrter, New Yol'ik, 1960; 12415 pp., $10.00. <In the guise of objective hiistory this volume presents a harrow.ing, massive but one-sided record of unrelieved German crimes• and blunders. W.illiam L. Shirer, fored·g n correspondent and news commentator, is also on, the board Olf directors Olf the "Society for ~he Prevention Olf World War Ill, Inc." of which Dorothy Thompson wrote (Mary 311, 1,950) that it "has conducted a systematic campadgn ag1ainst any constructive peace with Germany ... and vilified every person in pulblilc life who tried to warn that procedure alon,g Morgenthau 1ines would encompass the rwin of Europe." Shirer does not allOIW that the Versailles Treaty was unjust (p. 58). He st,ates that "Nazism and the Third Reich, in fact, were but a Logical colilltinuafron of German histor,y" (p. 90). His piling up of Nazi crimes, failing to put them 1n, perspecllive with the crimes of the opp·onents, never in fact alludi'ng to the worst Soviet cr,imes, such as their brutal population transfers and their mass raping Olf not only German but also Hungarian, Slovak and Austrirun women, .seem calculated to make any unwary reader hate more than ever the German people - now our allies - who tolera,ted the monsti,ous Nazis, and to think of the equally monstrous Bol'shev~ks, no•w o.ur cold war enemies, as really not so bad! ln, pages on the Nazi aibuse of Soviet and Polish p:rtlsoners of war 79 he does not once allude to the Soviet mass murder of Polish of.f,ilcers at Katyn. He never mentions General Vilassov and hrs insur.ge'Illt Russians who preferred fiighti,ng for the Germans to livi,n,g under the Soviets. He gives good inlformation on several German attempts to remove Hitler, three even be:fore '194'1, but he makes no relference to the Miorgenthau plan, CommunistJinspired, which was calcul'a ted to dr,ive the Germans to desperate resistan1ee instead of revolt. For the rest, despite distoi,tions and some clear falsehoods, there is much interesting information in the book. Hitler is depicted as an uncanny genius, aJmost puriban, fanatically warped on Ioy;alitJy and honor, pathologica~ly airuti-IBolshev,i k and anti-Jewish, absolutely ag:a,i nst war w.ith the West, but certainly plotting 1t against Poland and Russia. Reading of Hitler's crimes and •b lunders in detail, deducing from the facts that truly moral st•atesmanship a,nyiwhere from 1918 on could· have prevented the colossal misery of World War II and aifter, makes one feel aibout the human ra,ce as Swiift dlid. ln sum: more harmful th-.in good except for trained histor,ians. A. J. A,pp. H. G. Adler: Die Judttn in Deutschland. From the Enlightenment to Natiorual Socialism. Ki:ise1Verlag, Munich, 1960; 17·8 pp., DM 6.80. National Socialism produced nothing really new, particularly antiSemLtism, although dt remained for sa-id regjme to exercise i1t in the modern age in an a1pocalyptic way. H. G. Adler is a Jew from Prague, sun~ivor of the concentration camps of Theresienstad•t and Auschwitz, who has anal~ed the origins of anti-semi1tism, the Eman- 80 SLOVAKIA cipation, and the plight of the J'Elws in Germany. 'l1he results cxf the author's endeavor are procuralble in a smaU book prolif.ic with quotes and sources. Adler candidJy acknowledges that dur1nlg the Middle Ages a Jewish prdblem was poss1ble only in Germany ·b ecause the Eur®ean na:!Ji,onal states, after a period cxf severe op,pression "divested themselves of their Jews" by means of expulsion, England in 1200, FIia.nee in li306 (a.nd, after temporary readmittance, again i.n, '1933), Spain in 1492 and Portug•al in 1497." Hatred of the Jews was due for cenwries to ,theh- belonging to a different religion; the sol'Utiion lay therefore i.n, conversion to Christianity, or by remedying their "otherness." Heine spoke of his baiptism as the "ticket O£f admission to European culture." Yet the position of the Jews in Germanry was as varied as the very diversilfied nature of the First Reioh itself. As fate as 1,81,7, for example, the English prov,ince of Hannover quite firmly resisted the ,proposed emanlci,pation of the Jews which had been sought by Christians and Jews alike ever since the Enlightenment. Mter the founding of the Second Reich religious dilfference was, to be sure, no longer the tme cause cxf anti-semitism, for 1n, the Bismarokian constitution one's religious affiliation was irreleivant. Adler cites in addition to the longstanding religious a$Pect of the Jewish question German aruti'-semites like the Berlin court preacher Stocker, the Viennese Biirgermeister Lueger, Richard Wagner, Lagarde, and Fritsch. Aocording to these persons race and not religion was the cause of anti-Jewish feeling. One notes a breach in developments that is not bri:dged· by any explanation and one wonders why this surprising change. Was it due to the l"apid increase after 18711 of Jewish banking a.nd trad- ing firms, the entranice of J·ewish lawyers, doctors, and teachers into prcxfessions that had been barred to them hitherto? Was it due to enviy cxf thei'r quiick social climb? Even during the period of religious anti-Jewish hatred the c-u rse "his blood be on us and on our chillren" was not the sole reason for the pogroms, but also the desire to be rid of the annoying creditors. A similar trend developed in many lia.r,ge German cities fo the "golden t,w,en,ties." Germ•an anti-semitism, in the final analysis, has come to be a stain not only on the name of Germany for years to coone bwt bas actually estranged one of the most ardent Ge Tm ,a n protagonists throughout the world, the German speaking J~s. Adler's book shows primarily, too, the zeal with which the German Jews all over the world were ready to serve their peopl'e, a fact whi'ch is seldom rememlbered today - L. Rainalter. ANONYMOUS LETTIERS, wriltten to Red leaders in Slovakia, are caiusing some conc,ern to th~ regiime. The Bra'tisla'Va Radio recently reminded its listeners that Wl'liters of such letters, ill: revealed, are in fur stiff fin~s and long jail sentences. The rea'ction: more and still more anonymous letters to worry the coHalborators of Red P11ague. :IE: :IE: )l(! is 1b e in g planned in Bratislava, Slovakia, according to the dlaiily PRA-OA. It should be ready by the end of 1!963; the cost: 9 million, Crowns; and location: near the present Bra,tislava cemeter.y. Thi! Reds are happy that finaUy consideratfon has been given "to this modern and scientiific way of buryi<11,g the dead." A CREMATORY Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presidents Michael Msgr. F. J . Dubosh, P.A. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Pet er P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd., Box 48 Warrensville, Ill. Ge-0rge Kantor P:·esident Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presi dents Joseph Bend i k John P. 0 . Box 230 Uniontown, P a . Ju l ia Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Krajcovic Helen Ko can 1648 W. 18th Street Chi cago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 22 64 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Paul C. Kazimer St ephen J. Tkach 1122 Sylvan Avenue Homestead, Pa. Nationa l President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat National President Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko An.drew Hudak Nation.al President Slov,ak Catholic Cadet Union 15701 Bennett Rd. No. Royalton 33, Ohio SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSKA JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. Scranton, Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO SLOVENSKE NOVINY ZORNICKA Cleve land, Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL SVORNOST OSADNE HLASY Passaic, N . J. Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. SLOVAKIA : The ruins of Strecno Castle above the Vah river in the Trencin Province (13th century).  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34) Description An account of the resource includes book reviews, pp. 76-80, and photo of ruins of Strečno Castle above the Váh river in the Trenčin Province Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/109d7f19e362e41b2328ae36c9ec4019.pdf da2eb74c7748262fb494020a40361424 PDF Text Text 68 SLOVAKIA SUDETEN GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19-22, 1961 The month of May, 1961, saw more than 200,000 Sudeten German expellees again convene - this year in the Rhine metropolis of Cologne - to be counted among those refusing to relinquish claims to native lands now under Soviet rule. Events that extended over four days (May 19-22) were highlighted by messages by U. S. Congressmen Morgan M. Moulder (Dem., Mo.), Gordon H. Scherer (Rep., 0 .), Roy A. Taylor (Dem., N. C.), Henry C. Schadeberg (Rep., Wis.), who flew to Cologne expressly to participate in the Sudeten German rally. The United States was also represented in the person of Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America and editor of the Slovak publication Jednota, who was awarded the Sudeten German Karl's Prize for his untiring efforts toward harmony among the peoples of East Central Europe. The Karl's Prize, named for Karl IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor of Germany, of the House of Luxemburg (1346-1378), is awarded each year to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. Reminiscent of a Scout jamboree, 3,500 Sudeten German boys and girls pitched their tents on the Cologne city fair grounds and camped there during the rally. Although most of them are too young to remember their native homes in Sudetenland from which their families were expelled in 1945-46, they have pledged their allegiance to a Europe in which all peoples and ethnic groups shall live in peace, freedom and harmony and, like their parents, refuse to give up their just claim to their homes now behind the iron curtain. At the grand youth finale, ruling Burgomaster of Berlin, Willy Brandt, addressed 15,000 listeners, scoring a demand for "unity, justice and freedom." A voice-speaking choir of South Moravians intoned the tragedy of a divided Germany, eager for reunification but incapable of �SLOVAKIA 69 true unity unless it be achieved in freedom and not at the expense of freedom. Said Oskar Boese as spokesman of the Sudeten German Youth: The younger genera,tion o'f the Sudeten Germans, wants to contrilbute to the endeavors eventually leadin,g to a r-e al and long riange reconici'Hation between the peo,pl-es of Centra,l and East EurQPe and !Minister of Transportation Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, congratulates recip,ient of European Charles Prize, Mr. Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America. �70 SLOVAKIA to help briidge the gaip between Germany aml her eastern neighbors, a gaip caused by war antl post-w,ar events. According to the speaker, the Sudeten German Youth considers it its task to strengthen among the young people the many spiritual and social duties towards the people of other continents. The principle emphasis of this work lies on the dignity and freedom of the human being. Concluded Mr. Boese: We fully recognize a,n d adhere to the basic huma,n, rughlts, the in,violalbii.ity of the legally acquired homeland, the right olf self-detel"!Jllin,ation, and the ideals and duties of deanocralcy. Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, German Federal Minister and President of the Sudeten German Council, one of the main speakers of the Sudeten rally in Cologne, emphasized that Sudeten expellees are using solely peaceful means to achieve their goals of repatriation and self-determination. Addressing the many thousands gathered at the Cologne fair grounds he said: You have come here voluntariiLy and at great per-sonal sacrifice O!f time ,a nd m001ey to rededlioaite yourselves to our homelamd, the Sudetenlantl aind ito prove before the world that we Sudeten German-s exist as an ethnic group aoo are resolved to deanand that the r,i,ght to the h-0meiand and to selif-detemni,n,ation in our homelarud eventuaUy be re,alized. We do not claim this right merely for ourselves, but fur aill peolJ)le and for all nations and ethnic g,r oups all -0ver the world, beca use we know that only by the realization O!f these rig•h ts can a lasting peace, based on a recoI11Ciiliation and coo:peration, C1f peoples and eth111k groups, be ushered in as a genuiiine and equal partnership. We are working toward this goal with the peaceful means of the law. We rejelct force, booause force would lead to new injustices whkh would endanger the future of •posterity. We do not intend to peripetua,t e the irujusti.ce of the exipulsi10n by add'i•ng new expulsions. The ri'ght O!f seld'-d•etermin,ation, which cannot be exercised periodli,cally Hke an election, is inseparaUJly 11inked to the right of the individual to his homeland antl can on,ly be exe-rci,red iin c-0njunction with that righlt. The Bolshevist wo,r ld pays l!ip service to the right Olf self-determination and hlas only used it as an enticement. It believes that the rig,ht Olf selif-deter,mination ended with the expulsion. We say, h'owever, the dght to the home'La<rud can never be crushed 'by force . Only the indiividual can relinquish i,t by giving up his ties with his peOI)le and his homela,n<ii as an aict of free will and conscience. Conscience cannot ·be silenced by force; it cannot even be siilenced by deportation and enslla~emenit. A:s long as poople stand by their �SLOVAKIA 71 native land, as long ais they remain lo)'lal to their people or ethnic group, they will retain this right to their hoonetand and the right to sel.f-detemninati-0n within thalt homeland. We do not believe that the .£utur.e oo Europe cam, be made saife by the restoroitiion of oubwom forms of national States. In vi-ew of the overlapping aireas of se!Jtlement of Oenltral European peoples and ethnic groups which stJil'l. exist despite the eJOI)'lllsron oo the Germans, a new, supra-naUonal order is needled. Peace a,nd harmony can be assured to these peoples onily when all natioml'l ambttions and lust for hegemony are bra•nded as a vio1'ation o.f the coomnonly estalblished order. Tolerance a•nd partnership wiU ha'V'e to overcome eidstiing tensions. We Sudeten Germans have renounced all thought oif reverrge, retlalliia'tioon and force ,i n the Charrt;er of the Elcpellees and the Wiesbaden A1gree:ment (signed by General Lev Ptchala for the Czech nati-ooo:l Counicil in London; and Dr. Rudold' Lodgman von Auen, Hans Schiltz and Rii:chard Rteitznoer o!ll, behallf of the Association for the Protection of Sudeiten German Interests). Guests of honor a,t Sudeten German Day (left to l"i9ht): Mr. Mouser, U. S. Embassy; the Hon. Ray A. Taylor, Gordon H. Scherer, Henry C. Schadeberg, members of U. S. Congress; General Lev Prchala, Czech National Council, and Hon. Morgan M. Moulder, Member U. S. Congress. �72 SLOVAKIA We want the peOII)les living today m Mioraiviia, Si,lesia, and Slo• vakra to know: We recognize, Czechs and Slovaks, your right to the homeland and your right of self-determinatioin just as we expect you to recogn,ize our respective rights. We want freedom for you, we want justice for you. We want you to live in a democratic and supranationally organized European order. We want to serve as equal and conscientious partners, the great aim: Freedom, justice and peace for all of Central Eastern Europe. Dr. Hans-Joachim von Merkatz, West Ger m an Minister of E xpellee and Refugee Affairs, speaking fo r t h e F eder al Chancellor and t h e German F ederal Government , said: When you ask to be 3Jble to retur,n. to your homeland, to your free homeLand, it has nothing whatsoever to do w.ith [Plans ~md id€.as as expressed by the National Socialists. It is the nart:urail ex· -p ression of love .for on,e's native soil!. Your ethnic group is under fire by Eastern propaganda. How· ever , you are not in bad company if people accuse you oif being "revengists," •n,or is this accusation borne out me,re}y by constant repetitio•n. ]t simply shows how sensifaveliy the Eas,t reacts to our pledge of allegrian,c,e to your hiomeland and t he .right to thart 'homeland• - which is one of the most n,aitural cxf all rights. You are not seeking revenge. We who are the most recent victims of re· ven,ge ar e the first om~s ,to break its vicious circl.e. The expellees ha:ve fong srin•ce 3Jbandoned a•ny thought of revenge and retaliation ... The Gerunan Bumd·estaog, in a soleimn declaraltion made in 1,950, stated that the right to the homeland is an inalien-3Jble claim of man a1nd that irt raises protest agairnst tire su:nrender oif this right of the homeland belon ging to those Germans from Ozeicho-Slovakiia en,tr,usted to the caire of the West Ger.man Federal RepulblLc. Th~ Fed,eirail Government has repeatedly spoken out in this vein on behalif of the prinlciplie of the r1ght to the homeland and the rioght ad' selif-determination for all Ger,ma·ns. 1 The Hon. Gordon H. Scherer, member of t he U. S. House of Representatives, addressing t he Sudenten Germ an expellees, gathered at Cologne's fair grounds said : I brin•g you the warmest greetings od' the Congress a•nd the people of the United states of America. This meeting is imp ortant becaus·e you a·r e courageously facing up to the g,r e·a test issue oif thris generation, that .issue before which all oth1ers pass into ionsiogn,it.fioance. It is the fight w.ith the So·v iet Uniorn for survival, with the international Communist conspiracy 1by aill those people on borth sides of the ioron curtain who love and want lilberty and the right of se'hf-d•ete-run ination. I am cme of those, however, who does not beliieve that we a,r e going to have all-o ut nuclear war. Why? Simply because today the fire·pQlWer between the Eaist and the W es't is fairly well balanced and neither side is going to risk the total ,destruction of its cities. �SLOVAKIA 73 The Russians -are not dumb. Wh,y should they risk a1lmost total annihilation? As ·long as the Communist empire corutinues to move for,ward , how, as a practical matter, c,a n the Sudeten. Ge.rmans expect to have their lands -andi propertiies returned to 'them? Hoiw can you or any of the people behind the iron curtain ex,pe'Ct the right of selfdetenmin.ation as long as the despots in the KremHn continue cynica11,y to maniipuliare the strings thiat control theiJ- puppets in Czecho,Slov.a'kia, Pola•nd, Ru.mania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, China, Tibet and, yes, EJa,sit Germany? Onl,y aifter we in the .free world, with the help of millions cxf our secret a'llies behind the iron, and ballnfboo curtaiiin6, turn the tide of arthei,sti.c, godJ:ess Communism, will Su,d,e'ten Ge:rnnans be alble to realire their cheiriished goals of "restoraltion of their homelands" and "seltf-detel'trll1i:n,a,tion." Congressman Roy A. Taylor, praised the Sudeten Garmans as one of the greatest anti-Communist forces in the 1T he main speakers at Sudeten German Day. (Left to right): Wenzel Jaksch, President of Sudeten German Federal Assembly; Willy Brandt, Mayor of West Berlin; Ha.ns-Christoph Seebohm, President of the Sudeten German Council. �74 SLOVAKIA world, saying they had greatly contributed to the struggle for the preservation of freedom. The Sudetens know, he stated, what it means to suffer at the hands of Communism. "Through your actions you have won the admiration of all free people of the world. "We need to believe that right in the world will triumph over might, and that truth crushed to earth will rise again. We want you to know that we in America are anxious to help correct the injustices of the past and recover the world's greatest lost treasure, which is world peace." Representative Henry C. Schadeberg declared that: Sud>eten Germ~ms have the title to thei·r homeland as aM other people of the world arud Communist measures must be tolerated in no ease. be ,t hey directed ag,ainst the Po,!es or the Germans. Your magnificent way to demonstrate for cooperation with the Slovak people by awarding the Charles Prize to the President of the Slovak League of America is a manifestation for cooperation with all other nations of Eastern Europe. y;our attitud e is greatly ,a·ppreciated by keed01m-loving people in Amer,k!a a,nd <in al11 of the free world. We believe with you tha.t freedom will not oisappear from this world - that freedom and not Communist tyrianny is the "w.ave of the fut ure," and tha,t faiith !in God wHl str,e ngthen and :remain ,t he buliwark of tree men, in the West. Our work .and your work wiU be successful becaus e freedom is righ't and tyranny is wrong. 1 From Congressman Morgan M. Moulder the audience heard that the Communists were following quite clear aims by expelling the Sudeten Germans from their homelands. Said he: The Communists wanted to pus:h the borders of their ter,r itocy as fa:r west a<s possible. They br,iJbed followers by oistri'buting Germain, expellees' propel1ty; thereby they were able to colle1etivize Sudeten German and East German agriculture ,a nd industry, -and have tried to corrupt the morale of a-11 East Gernnan peoples and create ete11na1l hatred between the Germans on th·e one hand and the Czechs and the Poles on the other. Every Amerilcan who loves freedom should condemn these Communist aims. Every Almer,iican should support the rapprochement between n,ations that have become victims of Coonmunism. It Ls our belief that this ra'PProchement must be based on justice. We believe that aU people h<l!Ve a right to th•eir h'Omeland and that the inj,usti-ces committed since world Oommun,ism arose must be removed. We ,b elieve that the nations long for and deserve full freedom a,nd sellf-deternnin-ati'on. The Sudeten Germans shoUJ1d haive the r ~g,ht to return to their centuries-Old hoone1'and and to their sebf-determination. Wenzel Jaksch, member of the German Federal Par- �SLOVAKIA 75 1iament and President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly, Wiesbaden, told the Cologne rally: ]f we look at the Sudeten problem as an isolated question, it becomes one rnf the most diif£icult ones Ln Europe todlay. Today, as in the past, it is our hilstoriic perseverance thait will decide the fUJture of our hooneland. A homeland' that is written o<flf the books is lost forever. We are ,c alled illusionists because we do not want to fonreit the old homela,n,d. Yet those who beHeve they can retain West Gerunainiy ,p ermanently, irf they yield East Germanry .and the Sudetenland, ar,e even greater illusionists. At this pOlint we a,r e faced wilth an in,n.er decision between political deifensi~ and political offensi:ve thinking. 'J.1he malking of that decision is a,n unesoa,paible ta.sk. An European democracy that thinks offensively should see in the loya,ty of Sudeten a•nd East Germans to their hooneJ,and its most va,l1U1aible aUies. Any over.all Euroipean pea'ce plan Olf the uniited democracies cannot a.Jif-Ord to ex!Clude the reparation of the expulJ,sions. This i-s no biased Germain, demand but a prerequ1si<te oo fr,eedom and self-d•eteriminaiion of the East European peoples. The price of freed om for all European peoples is their restriction to histm:iically confiruned bounda<ries Olf settlemerut and respect for the neighlbor's boundM-ies dra,wn by the plowsha•re and not by the sword. Willy Brandt, popular Burgomaster (Mayor) of Berlin, made a special trip to Cologne to address the Sudeten German rally. In his speech Brandt said: The citizens of Berlin today, even as the eX!pel:lees in the post,war era , are syim1bolica1ly shouldering the load for the entire niaition. Berlin is the brid•ge between the people -Orf our divided country. If the lights should go out iln, Berllin, darrkness would set in for the entire Gerunan Federail Repwblic. We in Berlin f.eel that we need no counter-ideology. The East Block ide·ology i1S not such a Herculean thing that we can or.Jy meet it on the deifensiive. The Ber>lin questi,on is not the cause but the result of tensions ,b etween East and West a1nd of Gerunany's partition. There is no isolated Berlin solution. What there may be, until the rees·talb1ishment of Ge11ma•ny's unity in freedom and in a·greemen,t with the ju,sitiJie-d securiity initerests of aU coruc,erned, is a sett:,ament of solely practilcal maitters. The following points rema·in essen,tia~: 1. The right of Berlin's citizens freely to decide their own matters. 2. The rights and d,uties of the A,llied Protecting Powers to prov,i de for access to Berlin a•nd for preparations for a peace treaty with an a1l-German governime.nt. 3. '!\he indissolUJble conneicti·on between West Berlin and the economic a•n.d legal system -0f the German F1ede-rall Repulblic. 4. The community of the population, of both sectors of Berlin, which must no't ,b e jeo,pa;rdfael by changing the d'emar>cation line of ,t he ci,ty into State boundaries. - "Sudeten Bulletin." � 68 SLOVAKIA SUDETEN GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19-22, 1961 The month of May, 1961, saw more than 200,000 Sudeten German expellees again convene - this year in the Rhine metropolis of Cologne - to be counted among those refusing to relinquish claims to native lands now under Soviet rule. Events that extended over four days (May 19-22) were highlighted by messages by U. S. Congressmen Morgan M. Moulder (Dem., Mo.), Gordon H. Scherer (Rep., 0 .), Roy A. Taylor (Dem., N. C.), Henry C. Schadeberg (Rep., Wis.), who flew to Cologne expressly to participate in the Sudeten German rally. The United States was also represented in the person of Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America and editor of the Slovak publication Jednota, who was awarded the Sudeten German Karl's Prize for his untiring efforts toward harmony among the peoples of East Central Europe. The Karl's Prize, named for Karl IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor of Germany, of the House of Luxemburg (1346-1378), is awarded each year to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. Reminiscent of a Scout jamboree, 3,500 Sudeten German boys and girls pitched their tents on the Cologne city fair grounds and camped there during the rally. Although most of them are too young to remember their native homes in Sudetenland from which their families were expelled in 1945-46, they have pledged their allegiance to a Europe in which all peoples and ethnic groups shall live in peace, freedom and harmony and, like their parents, refuse to give up their just claim to their homes now behind the iron curtain. At the grand youth finale, ruling Burgomaster of Berlin, Willy Brandt, addressed 15,000 listeners, scoring a demand for "unity, justice and freedom." A voice-speaking choir of South Moravians intoned the tragedy of a divided Germany, eager for reunification but incapable of �SLOVAKIA 69 true unity unless it be achieved in freedom and not at the expense of freedom. Said Oskar Boese as spokesman of the Sudeten German Youth: The younger genera,tion o'f the Sudeten Germans, wants to contrilbute to the endeavors eventually leadin,g to a r-e al and long riange reconici'Hation between the peo,pl-es of Centra,l and East EurQPe and !Minister of Transportation Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, congratulates recip,ient of European Charles Prize, Mr. Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America. �70 SLOVAKIA to help briidge the gaip between Germany aml her eastern neighbors, a gaip caused by war antl post-w,ar events. According to the speaker, the Sudeten German Youth considers it its task to strengthen among the young people the many spiritual and social duties towards the people of other continents. The principle emphasis of this work lies on the dignity and freedom of the human being. Concluded Mr. Boese: We fully recognize a,n d adhere to the basic huma,n, rughlts, the in,violalbii.ity of the legally acquired homeland, the right olf self-detel"!Jllin,ation, and the ideals and duties of deanocralcy. Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, German Federal Minister and President of the Sudeten German Council, one of the main speakers of the Sudeten rally in Cologne, emphasized that Sudeten expellees are using solely peaceful means to achieve their goals of repatriation and self-determination. Addressing the many thousands gathered at the Cologne fair grounds he said: You have come here voluntariiLy and at great per-sonal sacrifice O!f time ,a nd m001ey to rededlioaite yourselves to our homelamd, the Sudetenlantl aind ito prove before the world that we Sudeten German-s exist as an ethnic group aoo are resolved to deanand that the r,i,ght to the h-0meiand and to selif-detemni,n,ation in our homelarud eventuaUy be re,alized. We do not claim this right merely for ourselves, but fur aill peolJ)le and for all nations and ethnic g,r oups all -0ver the world, beca use we know that only by the realization O!f these rig•h ts can a lasting peace, based on a recoI11Ciiliation and coo:peration, C1f peoples and eth111k groups, be ushered in as a genuiiine and equal partnership. We are working toward this goal with the peaceful means of the law. We rejelct force, booause force would lead to new injustices whkh would endanger the future of •posterity. We do not intend to peripetua,t e the irujusti.ce of the exipulsi10n by add'i•ng new expulsions. The ri'ght O!f seld'-d•etermin,ation, which cannot be exercised periodli,cally Hke an election, is inseparaUJly 11inked to the right of the individual to his homeland antl can on,ly be exe-rci,red iin c-0njunction with that righlt. The Bolshevist wo,r ld pays l!ip service to the right Olf self-determination and hlas only used it as an enticement. It believes that the rig,ht Olf selif-deter,mination ended with the expulsion. We say, h'owever, the dght to the home'La<rud can never be crushed 'by force . Only the indiividual can relinquish i,t by giving up his ties with his peOI)le and his homela,n<ii as an aict of free will and conscience. Conscience cannot ·be silenced by force; it cannot even be siilenced by deportation and enslla~emenit. A:s long as poople stand by their �SLOVAKIA 71 native land, as long ais they remain lo)'lal to their people or ethnic group, they will retain this right to their hoonetand and the right to sel.f-detemninati-0n within thalt homeland. We do not believe that the .£utur.e oo Europe cam, be made saife by the restoroitiion of oubwom forms of national States. In vi-ew of the overlapping aireas of se!Jtlement of Oenltral European peoples and ethnic groups which stJil'l. exist despite the eJOI)'lllsron oo the Germans, a new, supra-naUonal order is needled. Peace a,nd harmony can be assured to these peoples onily when all natioml'l ambttions and lust for hegemony are bra•nded as a vio1'ation o.f the coomnonly estalblished order. Tolerance a•nd partnership wiU ha'V'e to overcome eidstiing tensions. We Sudeten Germans have renounced all thought oif reverrge, retlalliia'tioon and force ,i n the Charrt;er of the Elcpellees and the Wiesbaden A1gree:ment (signed by General Lev Ptchala for the Czech nati-ooo:l Counicil in London; and Dr. Rudold' Lodgman von Auen, Hans Schiltz and Rii:chard Rteitznoer o!ll, behallf of the Association for the Protection of Sudeiten German Interests). Guests of honor a,t Sudeten German Day (left to l"i9ht): Mr. Mouser, U. S. Embassy; the Hon. Ray A. Taylor, Gordon H. Scherer, Henry C. Schadeberg, members of U. S. Congress; General Lev Prchala, Czech National Council, and Hon. Morgan M. Moulder, Member U. S. Congress. �72 SLOVAKIA We want the peOII)les living today m Mioraiviia, Si,lesia, and Slo• vakra to know: We recognize, Czechs and Slovaks, your right to the homeland and your right of self-determinatioin just as we expect you to recogn,ize our respective rights. We want freedom for you, we want justice for you. We want you to live in a democratic and supranationally organized European order. We want to serve as equal and conscientious partners, the great aim: Freedom, justice and peace for all of Central Eastern Europe. Dr. Hans-Joachim von Merkatz, West Ger m an Minister of E xpellee and Refugee Affairs, speaking fo r t h e F eder al Chancellor and t h e German F ederal Government , said: When you ask to be 3Jble to retur,n. to your homeland, to your free homeLand, it has nothing whatsoever to do w.ith [Plans ~md id€.as as expressed by the National Socialists. It is the nart:urail ex· -p ression of love .for on,e's native soil!. Your ethnic group is under fire by Eastern propaganda. How· ever , you are not in bad company if people accuse you oif being "revengists," •n,or is this accusation borne out me,re}y by constant repetitio•n. ]t simply shows how sensifaveliy the Eas,t reacts to our pledge of allegrian,c,e to your hiomeland and t he .right to thart 'homeland• - which is one of the most n,aitural cxf all rights. You are not seeking revenge. We who are the most recent victims of re· ven,ge ar e the first om~s ,to break its vicious circl.e. The expellees ha:ve fong srin•ce 3Jbandoned a•ny thought of revenge and retaliation ... The Gerunan Bumd·estaog, in a soleimn declaraltion made in 1,950, stated that the right to the homeland is an inalien-3Jble claim of man a1nd that irt raises protest agairnst tire su:nrender oif this right of the homeland belon ging to those Germans from Ozeicho-Slovakiia en,tr,usted to the caire of the West Ger.man Federal RepulblLc. Th~ Fed,eirail Government has repeatedly spoken out in this vein on behalif of the prinlciplie of the r1ght to the homeland and the rioght ad' selif-determination for all Ger,ma·ns. 1 The Hon. Gordon H. Scherer, member of t he U. S. House of Representatives, addressing t he Sudenten Germ an expellees, gathered at Cologne's fair grounds said : I brin•g you the warmest greetings od' the Congress a•nd the people of the United states of America. This meeting is imp ortant becaus·e you a·r e courageously facing up to the g,r e·a test issue oif thris generation, that .issue before which all oth1ers pass into ionsiogn,it.fioance. It is the fight w.ith the So·v iet Uniorn for survival, with the international Communist conspiracy 1by aill those people on borth sides of the ioron curtain who love and want lilberty and the right of se'hf-d•ete-run ination. I am cme of those, however, who does not beliieve that we a,r e going to have all-o ut nuclear war. Why? Simply because today the fire·pQlWer between the Eaist and the W es't is fairly well balanced and neither side is going to risk the total ,destruction of its cities. �SLOVAKIA 73 The Russians -are not dumb. Wh,y should they risk a1lmost total annihilation? As ·long as the Communist empire corutinues to move for,ward , how, as a practical matter, c,a n the Sudeten. Ge.rmans expect to have their lands -andi propertiies returned to 'them? Hoiw can you or any of the people behind the iron curtain ex,pe'Ct the right of selfdetenmin.ation as long as the despots in the KremHn continue cynica11,y to maniipuliare the strings thiat control theiJ- puppets in Czecho,Slov.a'kia, Pola•nd, Ru.mania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, China, Tibet and, yes, EJa,sit Germany? Onl,y aifter we in the .free world, with the help of millions cxf our secret a'llies behind the iron, and ballnfboo curtaiiin6, turn the tide of arthei,sti.c, godJ:ess Communism, will Su,d,e'ten Ge:rnnans be alble to realire their cheiriished goals of "restoraltion of their homelands" and "seltf-detel'trll1i:n,a,tion." Congressman Roy A. Taylor, praised the Sudeten Garmans as one of the greatest anti-Communist forces in the 1T he main speakers at Sudeten German Day. (Left to right): Wenzel Jaksch, President of Sudeten German Federal Assembly; Willy Brandt, Mayor of West Berlin; Ha.ns-Christoph Seebohm, President of the Sudeten German Council. �74 SLOVAKIA world, saying they had greatly contributed to the struggle for the preservation of freedom. The Sudetens know, he stated, what it means to suffer at the hands of Communism. "Through your actions you have won the admiration of all free people of the world. "We need to believe that right in the world will triumph over might, and that truth crushed to earth will rise again. We want you to know that we in America are anxious to help correct the injustices of the past and recover the world's greatest lost treasure, which is world peace." Representative Henry C. Schadeberg declared that: Sud>eten Germ~ms have the title to thei·r homeland as aM other people of the world arud Communist measures must be tolerated in no ease. be ,t hey directed ag,ainst the Po,!es or the Germans. Your magnificent way to demonstrate for cooperation with the Slovak people by awarding the Charles Prize to the President of the Slovak League of America is a manifestation for cooperation with all other nations of Eastern Europe. y;our attitud e is greatly ,a·ppreciated by keed01m-loving people in Amer,k!a a,nd <in al11 of the free world. We believe with you tha.t freedom will not oisappear from this world - that freedom and not Communist tyrianny is the "w.ave of the fut ure," and tha,t faiith !in God wHl str,e ngthen and :remain ,t he buliwark of tree men, in the West. Our work .and your work wiU be successful becaus e freedom is righ't and tyranny is wrong. 1 From Congressman Morgan M. Moulder the audience heard that the Communists were following quite clear aims by expelling the Sudeten Germans from their homelands. Said he: The Communists wanted to pus:h the borders of their ter,r itocy as fa:r west a<s possible. They br,iJbed followers by oistri'buting Germain, expellees' propel1ty; thereby they were able to colle1etivize Sudeten German and East German agriculture ,a nd industry, -and have tried to corrupt the morale of a-11 East Gernnan peoples and create ete11na1l hatred between the Germans on th·e one hand and the Czechs and the Poles on the other. Every Amerilcan who loves freedom should condemn these Communist aims. Every Almer,iican should support the rapprochement between n,ations that have become victims of Coonmunism. It Ls our belief that this ra'PProchement must be based on justice. We believe that aU people h<l!Ve a right to th•eir h'Omeland and that the inj,usti-ces committed since world Oommun,ism arose must be removed. We ,b elieve that the nations long for and deserve full freedom a,nd sellf-deternnin-ati'on. The Sudeten Germans shoUJ1d haive the r ~g,ht to return to their centuries-Old hoone1'and and to their sebf-determination. Wenzel Jaksch, member of the German Federal Par- �SLOVAKIA 75 1iament and President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly, Wiesbaden, told the Cologne rally: ]f we look at the Sudeten problem as an isolated question, it becomes one rnf the most diif£icult ones Ln Europe todlay. Today, as in the past, it is our hilstoriic perseverance thait will decide the fUJture of our hooneland. A homeland' that is written o<flf the books is lost forever. We are ,c alled illusionists because we do not want to fonreit the old homela,n,d. Yet those who beHeve they can retain West Gerunainiy ,p ermanently, irf they yield East Germanry .and the Sudetenland, ar,e even greater illusionists. At this pOlint we a,r e faced wilth an in,n.er decision between political deifensi~ and political offensi:ve thinking. 'J.1he malking of that decision is a,n unesoa,paible ta.sk. An European democracy that thinks offensively should see in the loya,ty of Sudeten a•nd East Germans to their hooneJ,and its most va,l1U1aible aUies. Any over.all Euroipean pea'ce plan Olf the uniited democracies cannot a.Jif-Ord to ex!Clude the reparation of the expulJ,sions. This i-s no biased Germain, demand but a prerequ1si<te oo fr,eedom and self-d•eteriminaiion of the East European peoples. The price of freed om for all European peoples is their restriction to histm:iically confiruned bounda<ries Olf settlemerut and respect for the neighlbor's boundM-ies dra,wn by the plowsha•re and not by the sword. Willy Brandt, popular Burgomaster (Mayor) of Berlin, made a special trip to Cologne to address the Sudeten German rally. In his speech Brandt said: The citizens of Berlin today, even as the eX!pel:lees in the post,war era , are syim1bolica1ly shouldering the load for the entire niaition. Berlin is the brid•ge between the people -Orf our divided country. If the lights should go out iln, Berllin, darrkness would set in for the entire Gerunan Federail Repwblic. We in Berlin f.eel that we need no counter-ideology. The East Block ide·ology i1S not such a Herculean thing that we can or.Jy meet it on the deifensiive. The Ber>lin questi,on is not the cause but the result of tensions ,b etween East and West a1nd of Gerunany's partition. There is no isolated Berlin solution. What there may be, until the rees·talb1ishment of Ge11ma•ny's unity in freedom and in a·greemen,t with the ju,sitiJie-d securiity initerests of aU coruc,erned, is a sett:,ament of solely practilcal maitters. The following points rema·in essen,tia~: 1. The right of Berlin's citizens freely to decide their own matters. 2. The rights and d,uties of the A,llied Protecting Powers to prov,i de for access to Berlin a•nd for preparations for a peace treaty with an a1l-German governime.nt. 3. '!\he indissolUJble conneicti·on between West Berlin and the economic a•n.d legal system -0f the German F1ede-rall Repulblic. 4. The community of the population, of both sectors of Berlin, which must no't ,b e jeo,pa;rdfael by changing the d'emar>cation line of ,t he ci,ty into State boundaries. - "Sudeten Bulletin." � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 68 SLOVAKIA SUDETEN GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19-22, 1961 The month of May, 1961, saw more than 200,000 Sudeten German expellees again convene - this year in the Rhine metropolis of Cologne - to be counted among those refusing to relinquish claims to native lands now under Soviet rule. Events that extended over four days (May 19-22) were highlighted by messages by U. S. Congressmen Morgan M. Moulder (Dem., Mo.), Gordon H. Scherer (Rep., 0 .), Roy A. Taylor (Dem., N. C.), Henry C. Schadeberg (Rep., Wis.), who flew to Cologne expressly to participate in the Sudeten German rally. The United States was also represented in the person of Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America and editor of the Slovak publication Jednota, who was awarded the Sudeten German Karl's Prize for his untiring efforts toward harmony among the peoples of East Central Europe. The Karl's Prize, named for Karl IV, King of Bohemia and Emperor of Germany, of the House of Luxemburg (1346-1378), is awarded each year to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. Reminiscent of a Scout jamboree, 3,500 Sudeten German boys and girls pitched their tents on the Cologne city fair grounds and camped there during the rally. Although most of them are too young to remember their native homes in Sudetenland from which their families were expelled in 1945-46, they have pledged their allegiance to a Europe in which all peoples and ethnic groups shall live in peace, freedom and harmony and, like their parents, refuse to give up their just claim to their homes now behind the iron curtain. At the grand youth finale, ruling Burgomaster of Berlin, Willy Brandt, addressed 15,000 listeners, scoring a demand for "unity, justice and freedom." A voice-speaking choir of South Moravians intoned the tragedy of a divided Germany, eager for reunification but incapable of SLOVAKIA 69 true unity unless it be achieved in freedom and not at the expense of freedom. Said Oskar Boese as spokesman of the Sudeten German Youth: The younger genera,tion o'f the Sudeten Germans, wants to contrilbute to the endeavors eventually leadin,g to a r-e al and long riange reconici'Hation between the peo,pl-es of Centra,l and East EurQPe and !Minister of Transportation Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, congratulates recip,ient of European Charles Prize, Mr. Philip A. Hrobak, President of the Slovak League of America. 70 SLOVAKIA to help briidge the gaip between Germany aml her eastern neighbors, a gaip caused by war antl post-w,ar events. According to the speaker, the Sudeten German Youth considers it its task to strengthen among the young people the many spiritual and social duties towards the people of other continents. The principle emphasis of this work lies on the dignity and freedom of the human being. Concluded Mr. Boese: We fully recognize a,n d adhere to the basic huma,n, rughlts, the in,violalbii.ity of the legally acquired homeland, the right olf self-detel"!Jllin,ation, and the ideals and duties of deanocralcy. Dr. Hans-Christoph Seebohm, German Federal Minister and President of the Sudeten German Council, one of the main speakers of the Sudeten rally in Cologne, emphasized that Sudeten expellees are using solely peaceful means to achieve their goals of repatriation and self-determination. Addressing the many thousands gathered at the Cologne fair grounds he said: You have come here voluntariiLy and at great per-sonal sacrifice O!f time ,a nd m001ey to rededlioaite yourselves to our homelamd, the Sudetenlantl aind ito prove before the world that we Sudeten German-s exist as an ethnic group aoo are resolved to deanand that the r,i,ght to the h-0meiand and to selif-detemni,n,ation in our homelarud eventuaUy be re,alized. We do not claim this right merely for ourselves, but fur aill peolJ)le and for all nations and ethnic g,r oups all -0ver the world, beca use we know that only by the realization O!f these rig•h ts can a lasting peace, based on a recoI11Ciiliation and coo:peration, C1f peoples and eth111k groups, be ushered in as a genuiiine and equal partnership. We are working toward this goal with the peaceful means of the law. We rejelct force, booause force would lead to new injustices whkh would endanger the future of •posterity. We do not intend to peripetua,t e the irujusti.ce of the exipulsi10n by add'i•ng new expulsions. The ri'ght O!f seld'-d•etermin,ation, which cannot be exercised periodli,cally Hke an election, is inseparaUJly 11inked to the right of the individual to his homeland antl can on,ly be exe-rci,red iin c-0njunction with that righlt. The Bolshevist wo,r ld pays l!ip service to the right Olf self-determination and hlas only used it as an enticement. It believes that the rig,ht Olf selif-deter,mination ended with the expulsion. We say, h'owever, the dght to the home'La<rud can never be crushed 'by force . Only the indiividual can relinquish i,t by giving up his ties with his peOI)le and his homela,n<ii as an aict of free will and conscience. Conscience cannot ·be silenced by force; it cannot even be siilenced by deportation and enslla~emenit. A:s long as poople stand by their SLOVAKIA 71 native land, as long ais they remain lo)'lal to their people or ethnic group, they will retain this right to their hoonetand and the right to sel.f-detemninati-0n within thalt homeland. We do not believe that the .£utur.e oo Europe cam, be made saife by the restoroitiion of oubwom forms of national States. In vi-ew of the overlapping aireas of se!Jtlement of Oenltral European peoples and ethnic groups which stJil'l. exist despite the eJOI)'lllsron oo the Germans, a new, supra-naUonal order is needled. Peace a,nd harmony can be assured to these peoples onily when all natioml'l ambttions and lust for hegemony are bra•nded as a vio1'ation o.f the coomnonly estalblished order. Tolerance a•nd partnership wiU ha'V'e to overcome eidstiing tensions. We Sudeten Germans have renounced all thought oif reverrge, retlalliia'tioon and force ,i n the Charrt;er of the Elcpellees and the Wiesbaden A1gree:ment (signed by General Lev Ptchala for the Czech nati-ooo:l Counicil in London; and Dr. Rudold' Lodgman von Auen, Hans Schiltz and Rii:chard Rteitznoer o!ll, behallf of the Association for the Protection of Sudeiten German Interests). Guests of honor a,t Sudeten German Day (left to l"i9ht): Mr. Mouser, U. S. Embassy; the Hon. Ray A. Taylor, Gordon H. Scherer, Henry C. Schadeberg, members of U. S. Congress; General Lev Prchala, Czech National Council, and Hon. Morgan M. Moulder, Member U. S. Congress. 72 SLOVAKIA We want the peOII)les living today m Mioraiviia, Si,lesia, and Slo• vakra to know: We recognize, Czechs and Slovaks, your right to the homeland and your right of self-determinatioin just as we expect you to recogn,ize our respective rights. We want freedom for you, we want justice for you. We want you to live in a democratic and supranationally organized European order. We want to serve as equal and conscientious partners, the great aim: Freedom, justice and peace for all of Central Eastern Europe. Dr. Hans-Joachim von Merkatz, West Ger m an Minister of E xpellee and Refugee Affairs, speaking fo r t h e F eder al Chancellor and t h e German F ederal Government , said: When you ask to be 3Jble to retur,n. to your homeland, to your free homeLand, it has nothing whatsoever to do w.ith [Plans ~md id€.as as expressed by the National Socialists. It is the nart:urail ex· -p ression of love .for on,e's native soil!. Your ethnic group is under fire by Eastern propaganda. How· ever , you are not in bad company if people accuse you oif being "revengists," •n,or is this accusation borne out me,re}y by constant repetitio•n. ]t simply shows how sensifaveliy the Eas,t reacts to our pledge of allegrian,c,e to your hiomeland and t he .right to thart 'homeland• - which is one of the most n,aitural cxf all rights. You are not seeking revenge. We who are the most recent victims of re· ven,ge ar e the first om~s ,to break its vicious circl.e. The expellees ha:ve fong srin•ce 3Jbandoned a•ny thought of revenge and retaliation ... The Gerunan Bumd·estaog, in a soleimn declaraltion made in 1,950, stated that the right to the homeland is an inalien-3Jble claim of man a1nd that irt raises protest agairnst tire su:nrender oif this right of the homeland belon ging to those Germans from Ozeicho-Slovakiia en,tr,usted to the caire of the West Ger.man Federal RepulblLc. Th~ Fed,eirail Government has repeatedly spoken out in this vein on behalif of the prinlciplie of the r1ght to the homeland and the rioght ad' selif-determination for all Ger,ma·ns. 1 The Hon. Gordon H. Scherer, member of t he U. S. House of Representatives, addressing t he Sudenten Germ an expellees, gathered at Cologne's fair grounds said : I brin•g you the warmest greetings od' the Congress a•nd the people of the United states of America. This meeting is imp ortant becaus·e you a·r e courageously facing up to the g,r e·a test issue oif thris generation, that .issue before which all oth1ers pass into ionsiogn,it.fioance. It is the fight w.ith the So·v iet Uniorn for survival, with the international Communist conspiracy 1by aill those people on borth sides of the ioron curtain who love and want lilberty and the right of se'hf-d•ete-run ination. I am cme of those, however, who does not beliieve that we a,r e going to have all-o ut nuclear war. Why? Simply because today the fire·pQlWer between the Eaist and the W es't is fairly well balanced and neither side is going to risk the total ,destruction of its cities. SLOVAKIA 73 The Russians -are not dumb. Wh,y should they risk a1lmost total annihilation? As ·long as the Communist empire corutinues to move for,ward , how, as a practical matter, c,a n the Sudeten. Ge.rmans expect to have their lands -andi propertiies returned to 'them? Hoiw can you or any of the people behind the iron curtain ex,pe'Ct the right of selfdetenmin.ation as long as the despots in the KremHn continue cynica11,y to maniipuliare the strings thiat control theiJ- puppets in Czecho,Slov.a'kia, Pola•nd, Ru.mania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, China, Tibet and, yes, EJa,sit Germany? Onl,y aifter we in the .free world, with the help of millions cxf our secret a'llies behind the iron, and ballnfboo curtaiiin6, turn the tide of arthei,sti.c, godJ:ess Communism, will Su,d,e'ten Ge:rnnans be alble to realire their cheiriished goals of "restoraltion of their homelands" and "seltf-detel'trll1i:n,a,tion." Congressman Roy A. Taylor, praised the Sudeten Garmans as one of the greatest anti-Communist forces in the 1T he main speakers at Sudeten German Day. (Left to right): Wenzel Jaksch, President of Sudeten German Federal Assembly; Willy Brandt, Mayor of West Berlin; Ha.ns-Christoph Seebohm, President of the Sudeten German Council. 74 SLOVAKIA world, saying they had greatly contributed to the struggle for the preservation of freedom. The Sudetens know, he stated, what it means to suffer at the hands of Communism. "Through your actions you have won the admiration of all free people of the world. "We need to believe that right in the world will triumph over might, and that truth crushed to earth will rise again. We want you to know that we in America are anxious to help correct the injustices of the past and recover the world's greatest lost treasure, which is world peace." Representative Henry C. Schadeberg declared that: Sud>eten Germ~ms have the title to thei·r homeland as aM other people of the world arud Communist measures must be tolerated in no ease. be ,t hey directed ag,ainst the Po,!es or the Germans. Your magnificent way to demonstrate for cooperation with the Slovak people by awarding the Charles Prize to the President of the Slovak League of America is a manifestation for cooperation with all other nations of Eastern Europe. y;our attitud e is greatly ,a·ppreciated by keed01m-loving people in Amer,k!a a,nd <in al11 of the free world. We believe with you tha.t freedom will not oisappear from this world - that freedom and not Communist tyrianny is the "w.ave of the fut ure," and tha,t faiith !in God wHl str,e ngthen and :remain ,t he buliwark of tree men, in the West. Our work .and your work wiU be successful becaus e freedom is righ't and tyranny is wrong. 1 From Congressman Morgan M. Moulder the audience heard that the Communists were following quite clear aims by expelling the Sudeten Germans from their homelands. Said he: The Communists wanted to pus:h the borders of their ter,r itocy as fa:r west a<s possible. They br,iJbed followers by oistri'buting Germain, expellees' propel1ty; thereby they were able to colle1etivize Sudeten German and East German agriculture ,a nd industry, -and have tried to corrupt the morale of a-11 East Gernnan peoples and create ete11na1l hatred between the Germans on th·e one hand and the Czechs and the Poles on the other. Every Amerilcan who loves freedom should condemn these Communist aims. Every Almer,iican should support the rapprochement between n,ations that have become victims of Coonmunism. It Ls our belief that this ra'PProchement must be based on justice. We believe that aU people h<l!Ve a right to th•eir h'Omeland and that the inj,usti-ces committed since world Oommun,ism arose must be removed. We ,b elieve that the nations long for and deserve full freedom a,nd sellf-deternnin-ati'on. The Sudeten Germans shoUJ1d haive the r ~g,ht to return to their centuries-Old hoone1'and and to their sebf-determination. Wenzel Jaksch, member of the German Federal Par- SLOVAKIA 75 1iament and President of the Sudeten German Federal Assembly, Wiesbaden, told the Cologne rally: ]f we look at the Sudeten problem as an isolated question, it becomes one rnf the most diif£icult ones Ln Europe todlay. Today, as in the past, it is our hilstoriic perseverance thait will decide the fUJture of our hooneland. A homeland' that is written o<flf the books is lost forever. We are ,c alled illusionists because we do not want to fonreit the old homela,n,d. Yet those who beHeve they can retain West Gerunainiy ,p ermanently, irf they yield East Germanry .and the Sudetenland, ar,e even greater illusionists. At this pOlint we a,r e faced wilth an in,n.er decision between political deifensi~ and political offensi:ve thinking. 'J.1he malking of that decision is a,n unesoa,paible ta.sk. An European democracy that thinks offensively should see in the loya,ty of Sudeten a•nd East Germans to their hooneJ,and its most va,l1U1aible aUies. Any over.all Euroipean pea'ce plan Olf the uniited democracies cannot a.Jif-Ord to ex!Clude the reparation of the expulJ,sions. This i-s no biased Germain, demand but a prerequ1si<te oo fr,eedom and self-d•eteriminaiion of the East European peoples. The price of freed om for all European peoples is their restriction to histm:iically confiruned bounda<ries Olf settlemerut and respect for the neighlbor's boundM-ies dra,wn by the plowsha•re and not by the sword. Willy Brandt, popular Burgomaster (Mayor) of Berlin, made a special trip to Cologne to address the Sudeten German rally. In his speech Brandt said: The citizens of Berlin today, even as the eX!pel:lees in the post,war era , are syim1bolica1ly shouldering the load for the entire niaition. Berlin is the brid•ge between the people -Orf our divided country. If the lights should go out iln, Berllin, darrkness would set in for the entire Gerunan Federail Repwblic. We in Berlin f.eel that we need no counter-ideology. The East Block ide·ology i1S not such a Herculean thing that we can or.Jy meet it on the deifensiive. The Ber>lin questi,on is not the cause but the result of tensions ,b etween East and West a1nd of Gerunany's partition. There is no isolated Berlin solution. What there may be, until the rees·talb1ishment of Ge11ma•ny's unity in freedom and in a·greemen,t with the ju,sitiJie-d securiity initerests of aU coruc,erned, is a sett:,ament of solely practilcal maitters. The following points rema·in essen,tia~: 1. The right of Berlin's citizens freely to decide their own matters. 2. The rights and d,uties of the A,llied Protecting Powers to prov,i de for access to Berlin a•nd for preparations for a peace treaty with an a1l-German governime.nt. 3. '!\he indissolUJble conneicti·on between West Berlin and the economic a•n.d legal system -0f the German F1ede-rall Repulblic. 4. The community of the population, of both sectors of Berlin, which must no't ,b e jeo,pa;rdfael by changing the d'emar>cation line of ,t he ci,ty into State boundaries. - "Sudeten Bulletin."  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Sudeten German Days: May 19-22, 1961 Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 68-75 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d922dbae150a2019dbea52d6546773f4.pdf d435bd9f363ef6e34c7aefadab00c025 PDF Text Text :u SLOVAKIA BENES AND MOSCOW Prague and Moscow are wont to pompously celebrate December 12th of each year; it was on that day in 1943 that the ill-fated Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of friendship, mutual aid and postwar collaJboration was signed. In reality the name of the treaty is not correct; it should be titled the Benes-Soviet Treaty, because Czecho-<Slovak'ia, the duly elected representatives of that state, had nothing to do with it. The Siovaks certainly had no word in it. Furthermore, Benes - having resigned in 1938 - had aJbsolutely no authority to negotiate any treaties. 'Since December 12, 1943, when the treaty was signed in the presence of Dr. Edward Benes, much has changed in the world. The Second World War came to a close and the wartime united nations began to fall apart because of the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes stresses in his MEMOIRS (Pameti, p. 242) that the treaty came about at his request. In March, 1943, he asked Ambassador Bogomolov, among other things, whether Moscow was ready to conclude a treaty with Czecho-Slovakia. The reply was made on April 23rd, when Bogomolov "brought a positive answer in essential points" and said: "The Soviet Government therefore invites you to prepare a draft of the treaty and submit it to the Soviet Government." Dr. Edward Benes then prepared the draft of the treaty with John Masaryk and Dr. Hubert Ripka. This treaty was to dispel any mistrust of the West for the Soviet Union and demonstrate that the Soviet Union does not want to engulf Czecho-Slovakia or any other European states. Furthermore, the treaty could be pointed to "as an example, even in the U. S. A. , and that the Aflies, particularly the greater Powers, would thereby be fundamentally drawn closer together. All unfounded suspicions of the Soviet Union would be allayed or eliminated, and this would help to prepare the ground for what finally took place at both the Allied Conferences in Moscow and Teheran" (Benes's Message to the State Council, London, Feb. 3, 1944: EAST AND WEST, Hubect: Ripka, 1944; p. 135). 1 �22 SLOVAKIA According to Ripka, it is not only Czeoho-Slovakia that benefits by the Treaty, but also the Soviet Union: "But its value assuredly resides also in its very significant bearings on the interests of the Soviet Union; on the one hand it very effectively promotes the security of the Soviet Union against the aggressive designs of Germany, which, as far as Central Europe is concerned, are countered first and foremost by Czecho-Slovakia as a truly powerful bastion, and on the other hand it grants at the same time a definite guarantee that in this area there is no possibility for the creation of a sufficiently powerful bloc which could seriously menace Soviet secu.rity" ('Ri'Pkia: pp. l,Wl.25). Thereby, too, "an end had been made to all attempts, the folly of which might long ago have been clear, seeking to bring a-bout the isolation of the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe by some confederated middle zone, in which it was only too plain that the former anti-Soviet cordon sanitaire was to be restored to life. I may add in passing that all such scihemes were impossi•ble to put into effect for the sole reason that Czecho-Slovakia would never have participated in them" (Ripka: p. 113). There is no doubt that Czech politicians knowingly and intentionally worked to get the nations of central Europe within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Benes's wish was fulfilled: the treaJty became a model for Moscow to attain this end. Accordingly similar treaties were concluded with the rest of the nations of this part of Europe : with Yugoslavia on April 11, 1945; with Poland on April 21, 1945; with Rumania on February 4, 1948; with Hungary on February 18, 1948; with Bulgaria on March 18, 1948, and with Finland on April 6, 1948. Within the framework of this allied system treaties were negotiated between the individual satellite states: between Poland and Yugoslavia on March 18, 1946; between Yugoslavia and Czecho-Slovakia on May 9, 1946; between Albania and Yugoslavia on July 9, 1946; between CzechoSlovakia and Poland on March 10, 1947; between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on November 27, 1947; between Hungary and Yugoslavia on December 8, 1947; between Altb ania and Bulgaria on December 16, 1947; between Rumania and Yugoslavia on December 19, 1947; between Bulgaria and Rumania on January 16, 1948; between Hungary and Ru- �SLOVAKIA 23 mania on January 24, 1948; between Czecho-Slovakia and Bulgaria on April 23, 1948. Therefore Dr. Edward Benes and his collaborators not only tJheoretically but also practically to the very last moment did everything to strengthen the sphere of influence of Moscow in central Europe. The pro-Soviet policy of Benes was accepted by the Czechs without any reservations. This was the political line of the Czech leaders who directed the destiny of the Slovak and Czech nations after 1945. Dr. Ivo Duchacek expressed the mind of the Czech politicians on March 8, 1946, when he said in the Provisional National Parliament: "It is not, therefore, just a phrase when we say that our alliance with the Soviet Union is the pillar of our foreign policy. What other pillar, if it is not to be created ou,t of paper, could we possibly have? Our paGt with the Soviet Union, guarantees us immed,i ate help of the Red Army in case we are threatened. The pact with brotherly Russia, whiGh is the foundation of our foreign and military policy is, it is true, also an expression of our joilllt efforts and in,t erests. "Therefore the Czecho-Slovak People's Party {Sramek's CZECH Populist Party), whose chairman contributed in such a significant way to conclude the treaty with Russia even before the end of the war, even though certain elements of the West were against this, fully agrees with the theme th.it this alliance with Russia must not be a subject of partisan discussions, and must not be dragged into the pre-election campaign. The alliance with Russia is the affair of all the parties of the Na,tion~I Front, i,t is the result of their joint effort, it is the affair of the entire nation and not the affair of one party. If the treaty is a common affair, then the meri,ts for co~luding this trea,t y are also a joint matter. N'o party has the right to claim exclusive credit for it. This treaty was prepared after due discussion by Sramek's governmen,t in London. The Communists, we know, were not members of the governmen,t and, therefore, have no direct participation in, the treaty, nevertheless the Communists col• laborated with the government within the framework of the State Council; and the politicians who emigra,t ed to Moscow undoubtedly also helped the successful course of negotiations with their conversations with Soviet leaders. Therefore, even though the Communists were not in the London government, which discussed and cor-=luded the treaty, the credit for concluding this historic treaty reaUy belongs to all of us, to all the parties of the Na,t ional Front. Finally, this competition for the credit of concluding the treaty with the Soviet Union is not in substance a sickly sign. It really proves and again confirms that all the people of this country really stand behind this treaty." �24 SLOVAKIA According to Dr. V. Bernard, who also spoke in the Czech parliament on March 8, 1946, "the Czecho..Slova:kSoviet Treaty must continue to remain the nucleus of our foreign policy, because the alliance with the Soviet Union is the most reliable guarantee of the independence of our Republic and the assurance against any attack in the future. Our alliance with the Soviet Union in the end is not the object of any internal political quarrel, and everyone concerned with the security of the Republic, observing the development in the world with open eyes, must be a sincere adherent of this orientation in our foreign policy." It is assuredly noteworthy that Dr. Edward Benes and his co-workers, most of whom today are refugees in the West, saw in the treaty of alliance with Soviet Russia not only the means of attaining an international goal, but also envisioned the realization of Pan-Slavistic and socialistic goals. Dr. Benes himself expressed this clearly on various occasions. And Dr. V. Bernard, too, is concerned with ideological reasons, inasmuch as he said. "we cannot help but see the connection of international policy with the relationship between the forces of decadent capitalism and progressive socialism in universal extent." Czech politicians labored to attain their chauvinistic aims so that with the aid of this treaty they could assure for the Czech nation hegemony over Slovakia in their conflict with the Slovak people, and also so that they could realize the expulsion of .the Sudeten Germans and thus to Czechize the Sudetenland. This was stressed by both Dr. Hubert Ripka in his statement to the State Council in London on May 15, 1943, and also by Dr. Edward Benes in his Moscow broadcast of December 21, 1943. This treaty expresses the thinking of Czech politicians and their partners from Slovakia. On various occasions they consistently and in varied forms did not hesitate to remind us that, in the case of misunderstanding arising between the East and West, they would remain on the side of the East. At that time they ruled with Benes by the grace of Stalin. They (Kocvara, Zenkl, Lettrich, F. Hodfa, Duchacek, Taborsky, etc.) suddenly became "anti-commu- �SLOVAKIA 25 nist" after F~bruary 25, 1948. But up to that time they faithfully followed Benes's pro-Soviet line ad nuseam. ~hey were not the victims of a mistake, nor were they deceived. They knew what they were doing without regard to the development of world politics. And what about the eventuality of the West collaborating with the Germans as a defense against Soviet aggression? The Czechs also thought about that, as Ripka so clearly stated in 1944: "Some Centr'al and Eastern-European politicians ... assume that Britain and America will be unable to suffer Russia to be predominant on the con,tin.e n,t of Europe and that, although the Anglo-Saxon countries may not no•w be able to prevent Rus!.ia from realizing her territorial or other claims, they will strive, after the war, to curt&il her power and later to effect a 'reasonable adjustment' of the Soviet 'a nnexations.' Anyone cherishing hopes of this nature is simply speculating on a new world war; and the realization of such plans neces• sarily presupposes an alliance between the Anglo.Saxon coun,t ries and Germany, since without Germany they cannot be put into effect" (Hulbert Rip~a : EAST AND WEST, Lond'On, 1944; p. 62). It is obvious that between the aims of Soviet policy and the aims of the policy of Dr. Edward Benes and his followers, who today are in emigration, there were no basic differences. That they could not continue at home in their efforts is not because they changed their political line, but simply because Moscow no longer had any interest to collaborate with Peter Zenk!, Hube:r,t Ripka, Joseph Lettrich, Fedor Hodza, Adolph Prochazka, Vaclav Majer. It did nothing to prevent their departure to the West. In fact it facilitated it by making the necessary provisions so they could "escape" without any difficulty to promote their political line in the main cities of the West. They are still against the arming of West Germany and for the Russian Empire, discouraging the union of the West against Moscow imperialism. The people joined together in the "Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia" have consistently followed the line formulated by Dr. A. Klatkovsky: "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death. ... Not ony because we have a common eastern boundary with our greatest ally, but more so because on our western border stands our greatest enemy. The guarantee of the greatest gain of our history _ �SLOVAKIA 26 the expulsion of the Germans - is the might of the Soviet Union, whose merit it also is that the expulsion was carried out so thoroughly. Our entire future is based on the expulsion of the Germans; ally change in this direction would be our ruin •..• If war would come between the East and the West, and the East would be defeated, we would be as its ally hit the hardest, nay even ruined because the Germans would return to us. However, if in such a conflict we should stand with the West - even though this is practically un· thinkable - we still would not escape the fate of the return of Germans. Therefo.re, the theme that we are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death is a self-evident axiom of our foreign policy, whether anyone likes it or not. And, therefore, no government of ours can make anti-Soviet foreign policy. This would be suicidal politics and such a government would immediately be swept out by the people." The Czechs have not changed. They still act like Schweiks on occasions, but they are still allied with Moscow more than with the West and its interests. In a word, the Czechs are still promoting Benes's ruinous policy which made enemies of all non-Czech citizens in Czecho-Slovakia and enemiei:;, of all neighboring countries. Because of that the Czech Schweiks now tell the world: We are forced to hang with Russia! (a'he Slovak original of this article was published in the SLOVENiSKA REPUBLIKA, Orgrun of the Slovak Lilber'ation Committee, Vol. VI; No. 1, (60), J'anuary, 1954.) ALL LAND in Slova'kita, Moravia, and Bohemi!a haJS been nationa'1ized. However, in Slovakia (predominantly an agricultural region) the farmers have shown more stubborn resista,nee to the new order, parti'CulaTly in their fighlt to retain ownershiip of their cows. I.Jaitest availaible reports have it that abO'llt 50 per cent of all cows in Slovaki,a are still indi>Vlidually owned. Increased mechanlization and stricter Party con:t>rol is in evlidence eiverywhere. 3{l 3{l 3{l of Czecho~lovakia has produced the first four records of a s'ertl.es oa'lled "Musica Nova Bohemica et Slov,e nica." !included is the Balladic Suite (Su,a 10046) of ARTIA Eugen Suchoil., eminenlt Sl'ov•ak composer. Datling £rom 1936, it is a lengthy opus for a large orchestra, "foll of bri'lliant orehestral devices and strong melddirc ideas," according to Alan Rkh of The New York Tomes. Noting that Sachoil. is a composer well worth investigation, Mr. Rich adds that Suchon's Balladic Suite, "while its h•armonic sty;le is no more sitaTtling than that of the late Dvorak, Suchoii at least has the aibfil.ty to operate freely and quite soocess'fu'lly within the framework of a bygone la,ngu1age." SrUJchoil. also composed "The Whirlpool," -a powerlul tragi,c opera, and the "Psalm of the Carpa1lhian Country," a brtl.lliarn large sea-le choral work. � :u SLOVAKIA BENES AND MOSCOW Prague and Moscow are wont to pompously celebrate December 12th of each year; it was on that day in 1943 that the ill-fated Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of friendship, mutual aid and postwar collaJboration was signed. In reality the name of the treaty is not correct; it should be titled the Benes-Soviet Treaty, because Czecho-<Slovak'ia, the duly elected representatives of that state, had nothing to do with it. The Siovaks certainly had no word in it. Furthermore, Benes - having resigned in 1938 - had aJbsolutely no authority to negotiate any treaties. 'Since December 12, 1943, when the treaty was signed in the presence of Dr. Edward Benes, much has changed in the world. The Second World War came to a close and the wartime united nations began to fall apart because of the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes stresses in his MEMOIRS (Pameti, p. 242) that the treaty came about at his request. In March, 1943, he asked Ambassador Bogomolov, among other things, whether Moscow was ready to conclude a treaty with Czecho-Slovakia. The reply was made on April 23rd, when Bogomolov "brought a positive answer in essential points" and said: "The Soviet Government therefore invites you to prepare a draft of the treaty and submit it to the Soviet Government." Dr. Edward Benes then prepared the draft of the treaty with John Masaryk and Dr. Hubert Ripka. This treaty was to dispel any mistrust of the West for the Soviet Union and demonstrate that the Soviet Union does not want to engulf Czecho-Slovakia or any other European states. Furthermore, the treaty could be pointed to "as an example, even in the U. S. A. , and that the Aflies, particularly the greater Powers, would thereby be fundamentally drawn closer together. All unfounded suspicions of the Soviet Union would be allayed or eliminated, and this would help to prepare the ground for what finally took place at both the Allied Conferences in Moscow and Teheran" (Benes's Message to the State Council, London, Feb. 3, 1944: EAST AND WEST, Hubect: Ripka, 1944; p. 135). 1 �22 SLOVAKIA According to Ripka, it is not only Czeoho-Slovakia that benefits by the Treaty, but also the Soviet Union: "But its value assuredly resides also in its very significant bearings on the interests of the Soviet Union; on the one hand it very effectively promotes the security of the Soviet Union against the aggressive designs of Germany, which, as far as Central Europe is concerned, are countered first and foremost by Czecho-Slovakia as a truly powerful bastion, and on the other hand it grants at the same time a definite guarantee that in this area there is no possibility for the creation of a sufficiently powerful bloc which could seriously menace Soviet secu.rity" ('Ri'Pkia: pp. l,Wl.25). Thereby, too, "an end had been made to all attempts, the folly of which might long ago have been clear, seeking to bring a-bout the isolation of the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe by some confederated middle zone, in which it was only too plain that the former anti-Soviet cordon sanitaire was to be restored to life. I may add in passing that all such scihemes were impossi•ble to put into effect for the sole reason that Czecho-Slovakia would never have participated in them" (Ripka: p. 113). There is no doubt that Czech politicians knowingly and intentionally worked to get the nations of central Europe within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Benes's wish was fulfilled: the treaJty became a model for Moscow to attain this end. Accordingly similar treaties were concluded with the rest of the nations of this part of Europe : with Yugoslavia on April 11, 1945; with Poland on April 21, 1945; with Rumania on February 4, 1948; with Hungary on February 18, 1948; with Bulgaria on March 18, 1948, and with Finland on April 6, 1948. Within the framework of this allied system treaties were negotiated between the individual satellite states: between Poland and Yugoslavia on March 18, 1946; between Yugoslavia and Czecho-Slovakia on May 9, 1946; between Albania and Yugoslavia on July 9, 1946; between CzechoSlovakia and Poland on March 10, 1947; between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on November 27, 1947; between Hungary and Yugoslavia on December 8, 1947; between Altb ania and Bulgaria on December 16, 1947; between Rumania and Yugoslavia on December 19, 1947; between Bulgaria and Rumania on January 16, 1948; between Hungary and Ru- �SLOVAKIA 23 mania on January 24, 1948; between Czecho-Slovakia and Bulgaria on April 23, 1948. Therefore Dr. Edward Benes and his collaborators not only tJheoretically but also practically to the very last moment did everything to strengthen the sphere of influence of Moscow in central Europe. The pro-Soviet policy of Benes was accepted by the Czechs without any reservations. This was the political line of the Czech leaders who directed the destiny of the Slovak and Czech nations after 1945. Dr. Ivo Duchacek expressed the mind of the Czech politicians on March 8, 1946, when he said in the Provisional National Parliament: "It is not, therefore, just a phrase when we say that our alliance with the Soviet Union is the pillar of our foreign policy. What other pillar, if it is not to be created ou,t of paper, could we possibly have? Our paGt with the Soviet Union, guarantees us immed,i ate help of the Red Army in case we are threatened. The pact with brotherly Russia, whiGh is the foundation of our foreign and military policy is, it is true, also an expression of our joilllt efforts and in,t erests. "Therefore the Czecho-Slovak People's Party {Sramek's CZECH Populist Party), whose chairman contributed in such a significant way to conclude the treaty with Russia even before the end of the war, even though certain elements of the West were against this, fully agrees with the theme th.it this alliance with Russia must not be a subject of partisan discussions, and must not be dragged into the pre-election campaign. The alliance with Russia is the affair of all the parties of the Na,tion~I Front, i,t is the result of their joint effort, it is the affair of the entire nation and not the affair of one party. If the treaty is a common affair, then the meri,ts for co~luding this trea,t y are also a joint matter. N'o party has the right to claim exclusive credit for it. This treaty was prepared after due discussion by Sramek's governmen,t in London. The Communists, we know, were not members of the governmen,t and, therefore, have no direct participation in, the treaty, nevertheless the Communists col• laborated with the government within the framework of the State Council; and the politicians who emigra,t ed to Moscow undoubtedly also helped the successful course of negotiations with their conversations with Soviet leaders. Therefore, even though the Communists were not in the London government, which discussed and cor-=luded the treaty, the credit for concluding this historic treaty reaUy belongs to all of us, to all the parties of the Na,t ional Front. Finally, this competition for the credit of concluding the treaty with the Soviet Union is not in substance a sickly sign. It really proves and again confirms that all the people of this country really stand behind this treaty." �24 SLOVAKIA According to Dr. V. Bernard, who also spoke in the Czech parliament on March 8, 1946, "the Czecho..Slova:kSoviet Treaty must continue to remain the nucleus of our foreign policy, because the alliance with the Soviet Union is the most reliable guarantee of the independence of our Republic and the assurance against any attack in the future. Our alliance with the Soviet Union in the end is not the object of any internal political quarrel, and everyone concerned with the security of the Republic, observing the development in the world with open eyes, must be a sincere adherent of this orientation in our foreign policy." It is assuredly noteworthy that Dr. Edward Benes and his co-workers, most of whom today are refugees in the West, saw in the treaty of alliance with Soviet Russia not only the means of attaining an international goal, but also envisioned the realization of Pan-Slavistic and socialistic goals. Dr. Benes himself expressed this clearly on various occasions. And Dr. V. Bernard, too, is concerned with ideological reasons, inasmuch as he said. "we cannot help but see the connection of international policy with the relationship between the forces of decadent capitalism and progressive socialism in universal extent." Czech politicians labored to attain their chauvinistic aims so that with the aid of this treaty they could assure for the Czech nation hegemony over Slovakia in their conflict with the Slovak people, and also so that they could realize the expulsion of .the Sudeten Germans and thus to Czechize the Sudetenland. This was stressed by both Dr. Hubert Ripka in his statement to the State Council in London on May 15, 1943, and also by Dr. Edward Benes in his Moscow broadcast of December 21, 1943. This treaty expresses the thinking of Czech politicians and their partners from Slovakia. On various occasions they consistently and in varied forms did not hesitate to remind us that, in the case of misunderstanding arising between the East and West, they would remain on the side of the East. At that time they ruled with Benes by the grace of Stalin. They (Kocvara, Zenkl, Lettrich, F. Hodfa, Duchacek, Taborsky, etc.) suddenly became "anti-commu- �SLOVAKIA 25 nist" after F~bruary 25, 1948. But up to that time they faithfully followed Benes's pro-Soviet line ad nuseam. ~hey were not the victims of a mistake, nor were they deceived. They knew what they were doing without regard to the development of world politics. And what about the eventuality of the West collaborating with the Germans as a defense against Soviet aggression? The Czechs also thought about that, as Ripka so clearly stated in 1944: "Some Centr'al and Eastern-European politicians ... assume that Britain and America will be unable to suffer Russia to be predominant on the con,tin.e n,t of Europe and that, although the Anglo-Saxon countries may not no•w be able to prevent Rus!.ia from realizing her territorial or other claims, they will strive, after the war, to curt&il her power and later to effect a 'reasonable adjustment' of the Soviet 'a nnexations.' Anyone cherishing hopes of this nature is simply speculating on a new world war; and the realization of such plans neces• sarily presupposes an alliance between the Anglo.Saxon coun,t ries and Germany, since without Germany they cannot be put into effect" (Hulbert Rip~a : EAST AND WEST, Lond'On, 1944; p. 62). It is obvious that between the aims of Soviet policy and the aims of the policy of Dr. Edward Benes and his followers, who today are in emigration, there were no basic differences. That they could not continue at home in their efforts is not because they changed their political line, but simply because Moscow no longer had any interest to collaborate with Peter Zenk!, Hube:r,t Ripka, Joseph Lettrich, Fedor Hodza, Adolph Prochazka, Vaclav Majer. It did nothing to prevent their departure to the West. In fact it facilitated it by making the necessary provisions so they could "escape" without any difficulty to promote their political line in the main cities of the West. They are still against the arming of West Germany and for the Russian Empire, discouraging the union of the West against Moscow imperialism. The people joined together in the "Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia" have consistently followed the line formulated by Dr. A. Klatkovsky: "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death. ... Not ony because we have a common eastern boundary with our greatest ally, but more so because on our western border stands our greatest enemy. The guarantee of the greatest gain of our history _ �SLOVAKIA 26 the expulsion of the Germans - is the might of the Soviet Union, whose merit it also is that the expulsion was carried out so thoroughly. Our entire future is based on the expulsion of the Germans; ally change in this direction would be our ruin •..• If war would come between the East and the West, and the East would be defeated, we would be as its ally hit the hardest, nay even ruined because the Germans would return to us. However, if in such a conflict we should stand with the West - even though this is practically un· thinkable - we still would not escape the fate of the return of Germans. Therefo.re, the theme that we are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death is a self-evident axiom of our foreign policy, whether anyone likes it or not. And, therefore, no government of ours can make anti-Soviet foreign policy. This would be suicidal politics and such a government would immediately be swept out by the people." The Czechs have not changed. They still act like Schweiks on occasions, but they are still allied with Moscow more than with the West and its interests. In a word, the Czechs are still promoting Benes's ruinous policy which made enemies of all non-Czech citizens in Czecho-Slovakia and enemiei:;, of all neighboring countries. Because of that the Czech Schweiks now tell the world: We are forced to hang with Russia! (a'he Slovak original of this article was published in the SLOVENiSKA REPUBLIKA, Orgrun of the Slovak Lilber'ation Committee, Vol. VI; No. 1, (60), J'anuary, 1954.) ALL LAND in Slova'kita, Moravia, and Bohemi!a haJS been nationa'1ized. However, in Slovakia (predominantly an agricultural region) the farmers have shown more stubborn resista,nee to the new order, parti'CulaTly in their fighlt to retain ownershiip of their cows. I.Jaitest availaible reports have it that abO'llt 50 per cent of all cows in Slovaki,a are still indi>Vlidually owned. Increased mechanlization and stricter Party con:t>rol is in evlidence eiverywhere. 3{l 3{l 3{l of Czecho~lovakia has produced the first four records of a s'ertl.es oa'lled "Musica Nova Bohemica et Slov,e nica." !included is the Balladic Suite (Su,a 10046) of ARTIA Eugen Suchoil., eminenlt Sl'ov•ak composer. Datling £rom 1936, it is a lengthy opus for a large orchestra, "foll of bri'lliant orehestral devices and strong melddirc ideas," according to Alan Rkh of The New York Tomes. Noting that Sachoil. is a composer well worth investigation, Mr. Rich adds that Suchon's Balladic Suite, "while its h•armonic sty;le is no more sitaTtling than that of the late Dvorak, Suchoii at least has the aibfil.ty to operate freely and quite soocess'fu'lly within the framework of a bygone la,ngu1age." SrUJchoil. also composed "The Whirlpool," -a powerlul tragi,c opera, and the "Psalm of the Carpa1lhian Country," a brtl.lliarn large sea-le choral work. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document :u SLOVAKIA BENES AND MOSCOW Prague and Moscow are wont to pompously celebrate December 12th of each year; it was on that day in 1943 that the ill-fated Soviet-Czechoslovak Treaty of friendship, mutual aid and postwar collaJboration was signed. In reality the name of the treaty is not correct; it should be titled the Benes-Soviet Treaty, because Czecho-<Slovak'ia, the duly elected representatives of that state, had nothing to do with it. The Siovaks certainly had no word in it. Furthermore, Benes - having resigned in 1938 - had aJbsolutely no authority to negotiate any treaties. 'Since December 12, 1943, when the treaty was signed in the presence of Dr. Edward Benes, much has changed in the world. The Second World War came to a close and the wartime united nations began to fall apart because of the Soviet Union. Dr. Benes stresses in his MEMOIRS (Pameti, p. 242) that the treaty came about at his request. In March, 1943, he asked Ambassador Bogomolov, among other things, whether Moscow was ready to conclude a treaty with Czecho-Slovakia. The reply was made on April 23rd, when Bogomolov "brought a positive answer in essential points" and said: "The Soviet Government therefore invites you to prepare a draft of the treaty and submit it to the Soviet Government." Dr. Edward Benes then prepared the draft of the treaty with John Masaryk and Dr. Hubert Ripka. This treaty was to dispel any mistrust of the West for the Soviet Union and demonstrate that the Soviet Union does not want to engulf Czecho-Slovakia or any other European states. Furthermore, the treaty could be pointed to "as an example, even in the U. S. A. , and that the Aflies, particularly the greater Powers, would thereby be fundamentally drawn closer together. All unfounded suspicions of the Soviet Union would be allayed or eliminated, and this would help to prepare the ground for what finally took place at both the Allied Conferences in Moscow and Teheran" (Benes's Message to the State Council, London, Feb. 3, 1944: EAST AND WEST, Hubect: Ripka, 1944; p. 135). 1 22 SLOVAKIA According to Ripka, it is not only Czeoho-Slovakia that benefits by the Treaty, but also the Soviet Union: "But its value assuredly resides also in its very significant bearings on the interests of the Soviet Union; on the one hand it very effectively promotes the security of the Soviet Union against the aggressive designs of Germany, which, as far as Central Europe is concerned, are countered first and foremost by Czecho-Slovakia as a truly powerful bastion, and on the other hand it grants at the same time a definite guarantee that in this area there is no possibility for the creation of a sufficiently powerful bloc which could seriously menace Soviet secu.rity" ('Ri'Pkia: pp. l,Wl.25). Thereby, too, "an end had been made to all attempts, the folly of which might long ago have been clear, seeking to bring a-bout the isolation of the Soviet Union from the rest of Europe by some confederated middle zone, in which it was only too plain that the former anti-Soviet cordon sanitaire was to be restored to life. I may add in passing that all such scihemes were impossi•ble to put into effect for the sole reason that Czecho-Slovakia would never have participated in them" (Ripka: p. 113). There is no doubt that Czech politicians knowingly and intentionally worked to get the nations of central Europe within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. Benes's wish was fulfilled: the treaJty became a model for Moscow to attain this end. Accordingly similar treaties were concluded with the rest of the nations of this part of Europe : with Yugoslavia on April 11, 1945; with Poland on April 21, 1945; with Rumania on February 4, 1948; with Hungary on February 18, 1948; with Bulgaria on March 18, 1948, and with Finland on April 6, 1948. Within the framework of this allied system treaties were negotiated between the individual satellite states: between Poland and Yugoslavia on March 18, 1946; between Yugoslavia and Czecho-Slovakia on May 9, 1946; between Albania and Yugoslavia on July 9, 1946; between CzechoSlovakia and Poland on March 10, 1947; between Bulgaria and Yugoslavia on November 27, 1947; between Hungary and Yugoslavia on December 8, 1947; between Altb ania and Bulgaria on December 16, 1947; between Rumania and Yugoslavia on December 19, 1947; between Bulgaria and Rumania on January 16, 1948; between Hungary and Ru- SLOVAKIA 23 mania on January 24, 1948; between Czecho-Slovakia and Bulgaria on April 23, 1948. Therefore Dr. Edward Benes and his collaborators not only tJheoretically but also practically to the very last moment did everything to strengthen the sphere of influence of Moscow in central Europe. The pro-Soviet policy of Benes was accepted by the Czechs without any reservations. This was the political line of the Czech leaders who directed the destiny of the Slovak and Czech nations after 1945. Dr. Ivo Duchacek expressed the mind of the Czech politicians on March 8, 1946, when he said in the Provisional National Parliament: "It is not, therefore, just a phrase when we say that our alliance with the Soviet Union is the pillar of our foreign policy. What other pillar, if it is not to be created ou,t of paper, could we possibly have? Our paGt with the Soviet Union, guarantees us immed,i ate help of the Red Army in case we are threatened. The pact with brotherly Russia, whiGh is the foundation of our foreign and military policy is, it is true, also an expression of our joilllt efforts and in,t erests. "Therefore the Czecho-Slovak People's Party {Sramek's CZECH Populist Party), whose chairman contributed in such a significant way to conclude the treaty with Russia even before the end of the war, even though certain elements of the West were against this, fully agrees with the theme th.it this alliance with Russia must not be a subject of partisan discussions, and must not be dragged into the pre-election campaign. The alliance with Russia is the affair of all the parties of the Na,tion~I Front, i,t is the result of their joint effort, it is the affair of the entire nation and not the affair of one party. If the treaty is a common affair, then the meri,ts for co~luding this trea,t y are also a joint matter. N'o party has the right to claim exclusive credit for it. This treaty was prepared after due discussion by Sramek's governmen,t in London. The Communists, we know, were not members of the governmen,t and, therefore, have no direct participation in, the treaty, nevertheless the Communists col• laborated with the government within the framework of the State Council; and the politicians who emigra,t ed to Moscow undoubtedly also helped the successful course of negotiations with their conversations with Soviet leaders. Therefore, even though the Communists were not in the London government, which discussed and cor-=luded the treaty, the credit for concluding this historic treaty reaUy belongs to all of us, to all the parties of the Na,t ional Front. Finally, this competition for the credit of concluding the treaty with the Soviet Union is not in substance a sickly sign. It really proves and again confirms that all the people of this country really stand behind this treaty." 24 SLOVAKIA According to Dr. V. Bernard, who also spoke in the Czech parliament on March 8, 1946, "the Czecho..Slova:kSoviet Treaty must continue to remain the nucleus of our foreign policy, because the alliance with the Soviet Union is the most reliable guarantee of the independence of our Republic and the assurance against any attack in the future. Our alliance with the Soviet Union in the end is not the object of any internal political quarrel, and everyone concerned with the security of the Republic, observing the development in the world with open eyes, must be a sincere adherent of this orientation in our foreign policy." It is assuredly noteworthy that Dr. Edward Benes and his co-workers, most of whom today are refugees in the West, saw in the treaty of alliance with Soviet Russia not only the means of attaining an international goal, but also envisioned the realization of Pan-Slavistic and socialistic goals. Dr. Benes himself expressed this clearly on various occasions. And Dr. V. Bernard, too, is concerned with ideological reasons, inasmuch as he said. "we cannot help but see the connection of international policy with the relationship between the forces of decadent capitalism and progressive socialism in universal extent." Czech politicians labored to attain their chauvinistic aims so that with the aid of this treaty they could assure for the Czech nation hegemony over Slovakia in their conflict with the Slovak people, and also so that they could realize the expulsion of .the Sudeten Germans and thus to Czechize the Sudetenland. This was stressed by both Dr. Hubert Ripka in his statement to the State Council in London on May 15, 1943, and also by Dr. Edward Benes in his Moscow broadcast of December 21, 1943. This treaty expresses the thinking of Czech politicians and their partners from Slovakia. On various occasions they consistently and in varied forms did not hesitate to remind us that, in the case of misunderstanding arising between the East and West, they would remain on the side of the East. At that time they ruled with Benes by the grace of Stalin. They (Kocvara, Zenkl, Lettrich, F. Hodfa, Duchacek, Taborsky, etc.) suddenly became "anti-commu- SLOVAKIA 25 nist" after F~bruary 25, 1948. But up to that time they faithfully followed Benes's pro-Soviet line ad nuseam. ~hey were not the victims of a mistake, nor were they deceived. They knew what they were doing without regard to the development of world politics. And what about the eventuality of the West collaborating with the Germans as a defense against Soviet aggression? The Czechs also thought about that, as Ripka so clearly stated in 1944: "Some Centr'al and Eastern-European politicians ... assume that Britain and America will be unable to suffer Russia to be predominant on the con,tin.e n,t of Europe and that, although the Anglo-Saxon countries may not no•w be able to prevent Rus!.ia from realizing her territorial or other claims, they will strive, after the war, to curt&il her power and later to effect a 'reasonable adjustment' of the Soviet 'a nnexations.' Anyone cherishing hopes of this nature is simply speculating on a new world war; and the realization of such plans neces• sarily presupposes an alliance between the Anglo.Saxon coun,t ries and Germany, since without Germany they cannot be put into effect" (Hulbert Rip~a : EAST AND WEST, Lond'On, 1944; p. 62). It is obvious that between the aims of Soviet policy and the aims of the policy of Dr. Edward Benes and his followers, who today are in emigration, there were no basic differences. That they could not continue at home in their efforts is not because they changed their political line, but simply because Moscow no longer had any interest to collaborate with Peter Zenk!, Hube:r,t Ripka, Joseph Lettrich, Fedor Hodza, Adolph Prochazka, Vaclav Majer. It did nothing to prevent their departure to the West. In fact it facilitated it by making the necessary provisions so they could "escape" without any difficulty to promote their political line in the main cities of the West. They are still against the arming of West Germany and for the Russian Empire, discouraging the union of the West against Moscow imperialism. The people joined together in the "Council of Free Czecho-Slovakia" have consistently followed the line formulated by Dr. A. Klatkovsky: "We are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death. ... Not ony because we have a common eastern boundary with our greatest ally, but more so because on our western border stands our greatest enemy. The guarantee of the greatest gain of our history _ SLOVAKIA 26 the expulsion of the Germans - is the might of the Soviet Union, whose merit it also is that the expulsion was carried out so thoroughly. Our entire future is based on the expulsion of the Germans; ally change in this direction would be our ruin •..• If war would come between the East and the West, and the East would be defeated, we would be as its ally hit the hardest, nay even ruined because the Germans would return to us. However, if in such a conflict we should stand with the West - even though this is practically un· thinkable - we still would not escape the fate of the return of Germans. Therefo.re, the theme that we are united with the Soviet Union for life and unto death is a self-evident axiom of our foreign policy, whether anyone likes it or not. And, therefore, no government of ours can make anti-Soviet foreign policy. This would be suicidal politics and such a government would immediately be swept out by the people." The Czechs have not changed. They still act like Schweiks on occasions, but they are still allied with Moscow more than with the West and its interests. In a word, the Czechs are still promoting Benes's ruinous policy which made enemies of all non-Czech citizens in Czecho-Slovakia and enemiei:;, of all neighboring countries. Because of that the Czech Schweiks now tell the world: We are forced to hang with Russia! (a'he Slovak original of this article was published in the SLOVENiSKA REPUBLIKA, Orgrun of the Slovak Lilber'ation Committee, Vol. VI; No. 1, (60), J'anuary, 1954.) ALL LAND in Slova'kita, Moravia, and Bohemi!a haJS been nationa'1ized. However, in Slovakia (predominantly an agricultural region) the farmers have shown more stubborn resista,nee to the new order, parti'CulaTly in their fighlt to retain ownershiip of their cows. I.Jaitest availaible reports have it that abO'llt 50 per cent of all cows in Slovaki,a are still indi>Vlidually owned. Increased mechanlization and stricter Party con:t>rol is in evlidence eiverywhere. 3{l 3{l 3{l of Czecho~lovakia has produced the first four records of a s'ertl.es oa'lled "Musica Nova Bohemica et Slov,e nica." !included is the Balladic Suite (Su,a 10046) of ARTIA Eugen Suchoil., eminenlt Sl'ov•ak composer. Datling £rom 1936, it is a lengthy opus for a large orchestra, "foll of bri'lliant orehestral devices and strong melddirc ideas," according to Alan Rkh of The New York Tomes. Noting that Sachoil. is a composer well worth investigation, Mr. Rich adds that Suchon's Balladic Suite, "while its h•armonic sty;le is no more sitaTtling than that of the late Dvorak, Suchoii at least has the aibfil.ty to operate freely and quite soocess'fu'lly within the framework of a bygone la,ngu1age." SrUJchoil. also composed "The Whirlpool," -a powerlul tragi,c opera, and the "Psalm of the Carpa1lhian Country," a brtl.lliarn large sea-le choral work.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Beneš and Moscow Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 21-26 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e0d1f2d53ba58b0615f7d1ba9f832aea.pdf 4c29783a5823eb3445e252bd4bbff483 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI SEPTEMBE1R-'DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2(34) DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM April 18, 1961, marked the 14th anniversary of the death of Monsignor Dr. Jozef Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic, who died a martyr's death at the hands of Benes and the Soviets, a victim of a disastrous policy, the cornerstone of which was laid aJt Yalta in February, 1945. Instead of ushering in freedom, democracy and selfdetermination, it led to the subjugation of an additional 200 million Europeans. On their soil in Northern, Central and Southern Europe, there arose a new Soviet colonial system at a time when 100 millions of people in Asia and Africa began their march ,to independent statehood. It was a policy that destroyed Europe's individuality and enlarged the power of the Kremlin, a power that has kept all humanity under constant tension since 1945 and is a threat to the freedom of all the states it has not yet captured. The Slovak Republic was one of the vidtims of this policy. The invasion of Slovakia by the Red Army crushed its growing individuality and brutally incor-porated that little country into Czecho-Slovakia. A Communist regime was imposed upon Slovakia, supponted and represented by Czech Communists. This regime is able to maintain its power only by employing Czech-Communist commissars. Dr. Jozef Tiso constantly warned the free world of the dual danger inherent in the Soviet system: Moscow's imperialism on the one hand; the tyranny of godless Communism on the other. His warning words unfortunately fell on deaf ears. When Dr. Tiso refused to cooperate with Moscow in spreading the Communist dictatorship, he was treated like a criminal of the worst sort. U. S. Military units, operating against esta'blished international procedures, on order f.rom Washington surrendered Dr. Tiso and a number of Slovak opponents of Soviet Russia to lthe �2 SLOVAKIA Prague Communists. Much effort was expended to degrade Dr. Tiso in the eyes of the rest of the world for the frankness of his convictions and to place him in a bad light. His opponents succeeded in doing so by recourse 1to propaganda. At that time 1the USA lent its support to the policy of Dr. Edward Benes, a pioneer in cooperating with the Soviets, and an ideal representative of the policy of Yalta. The West helped the Communist system to ·e xpand its power and thus took ruthless measures against Dr. Tiso who warned of the consequences of this policy. Events after 1950 documented the correctness of the words of both the Slovak president and the Slovak people. At the same time they disclosed - as convincing arguments - the shont-sightedness, agoistic and immoral policy of Dr. Benes, which today is still erroneously referred to as "democratic." By murdering President Jozef Tiso the Czech-Communist regime hoped to break the anti.-Communist res,i stance of the Slovak people an<l crush their ambitions toward freedom and independence. It did not succeed in doing so and will never succeed. The Slovak people will hold fast to the idea of Slovak statehood throughout all the ruthlessness and terror to which they are submitted and will stand up to the Czech-Communist regime with every bit of resolve they can muster, regardless of the cost. The policy of Yalta spells misfortune not only for the Slovak people but for all mankind. The West dare not lose sight of the fact that tdday neither nazism nor fascism constitutes a danger - they are systems of the past - but Communism, to rid itself of which is the task of the hour. Bearing in mind !the countless martyrs, victims of an "historical error," of the policy of Yalta, the entire free world should resolve to take uncompromising and more energetic steps to oppose the Communist system and do so, as well, in the interest of the enslaved peoples behind the iron curtain. Freedom and independence belong not ,t o a privileged few but to all, including the Slovak people. - A. M. � SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI SEPTEMBE1R-'DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2(34) DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM April 18, 1961, marked the 14th anniversary of the death of Monsignor Dr. Jozef Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic, who died a martyr's death at the hands of Benes and the Soviets, a victim of a disastrous policy, the cornerstone of which was laid aJt Yalta in February, 1945. Instead of ushering in freedom, democracy and selfdetermination, it led to the subjugation of an additional 200 million Europeans. On their soil in Northern, Central and Southern Europe, there arose a new Soviet colonial system at a time when 100 millions of people in Asia and Africa began their march ,to independent statehood. It was a policy that destroyed Europe's individuality and enlarged the power of the Kremlin, a power that has kept all humanity under constant tension since 1945 and is a threat to the freedom of all the states it has not yet captured. The Slovak Republic was one of the vidtims of this policy. The invasion of Slovakia by the Red Army crushed its growing individuality and brutally incor-porated that little country into Czecho-Slovakia. A Communist regime was imposed upon Slovakia, supponted and represented by Czech Communists. This regime is able to maintain its power only by employing Czech-Communist commissars. Dr. Jozef Tiso constantly warned the free world of the dual danger inherent in the Soviet system: Moscow's imperialism on the one hand; the tyranny of godless Communism on the other. His warning words unfortunately fell on deaf ears. When Dr. Tiso refused to cooperate with Moscow in spreading the Communist dictatorship, he was treated like a criminal of the worst sort. U. S. Military units, operating against esta'blished international procedures, on order f.rom Washington surrendered Dr. Tiso and a number of Slovak opponents of Soviet Russia to lthe �2 SLOVAKIA Prague Communists. Much effort was expended to degrade Dr. Tiso in the eyes of the rest of the world for the frankness of his convictions and to place him in a bad light. His opponents succeeded in doing so by recourse 1to propaganda. At that time 1the USA lent its support to the policy of Dr. Edward Benes, a pioneer in cooperating with the Soviets, and an ideal representative of the policy of Yalta. The West helped the Communist system to ·e xpand its power and thus took ruthless measures against Dr. Tiso who warned of the consequences of this policy. Events after 1950 documented the correctness of the words of both the Slovak president and the Slovak people. At the same time they disclosed - as convincing arguments - the shont-sightedness, agoistic and immoral policy of Dr. Benes, which today is still erroneously referred to as "democratic." By murdering President Jozef Tiso the Czech-Communist regime hoped to break the anti.-Communist res,i stance of the Slovak people an<l crush their ambitions toward freedom and independence. It did not succeed in doing so and will never succeed. The Slovak people will hold fast to the idea of Slovak statehood throughout all the ruthlessness and terror to which they are submitted and will stand up to the Czech-Communist regime with every bit of resolve they can muster, regardless of the cost. The policy of Yalta spells misfortune not only for the Slovak people but for all mankind. The West dare not lose sight of the fact that tdday neither nazism nor fascism constitutes a danger - they are systems of the past - but Communism, to rid itself of which is the task of the hour. Bearing in mind !the countless martyrs, victims of an "historical error," of the policy of Yalta, the entire free world should resolve to take uncompromising and more energetic steps to oppose the Communist system and do so, as well, in the interest of the enslaved peoples behind the iron curtain. Freedom and independence belong not ,t o a privileged few but to all, including the Slovak people. - A. M. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA Published by the Slovak League of America VOL. XI SEPTEMBE1R-'DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2(34) DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM April 18, 1961, marked the 14th anniversary of the death of Monsignor Dr. Jozef Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic, who died a martyr's death at the hands of Benes and the Soviets, a victim of a disastrous policy, the cornerstone of which was laid aJt Yalta in February, 1945. Instead of ushering in freedom, democracy and selfdetermination, it led to the subjugation of an additional 200 million Europeans. On their soil in Northern, Central and Southern Europe, there arose a new Soviet colonial system at a time when 100 millions of people in Asia and Africa began their march ,to independent statehood. It was a policy that destroyed Europe's individuality and enlarged the power of the Kremlin, a power that has kept all humanity under constant tension since 1945 and is a threat to the freedom of all the states it has not yet captured. The Slovak Republic was one of the vidtims of this policy. The invasion of Slovakia by the Red Army crushed its growing individuality and brutally incor-porated that little country into Czecho-Slovakia. A Communist regime was imposed upon Slovakia, supponted and represented by Czech Communists. This regime is able to maintain its power only by employing Czech-Communist commissars. Dr. Jozef Tiso constantly warned the free world of the dual danger inherent in the Soviet system: Moscow's imperialism on the one hand; the tyranny of godless Communism on the other. His warning words unfortunately fell on deaf ears. When Dr. Tiso refused to cooperate with Moscow in spreading the Communist dictatorship, he was treated like a criminal of the worst sort. U. S. Military units, operating against esta'blished international procedures, on order f.rom Washington surrendered Dr. Tiso and a number of Slovak opponents of Soviet Russia to lthe 2 SLOVAKIA Prague Communists. Much effort was expended to degrade Dr. Tiso in the eyes of the rest of the world for the frankness of his convictions and to place him in a bad light. His opponents succeeded in doing so by recourse 1to propaganda. At that time 1the USA lent its support to the policy of Dr. Edward Benes, a pioneer in cooperating with the Soviets, and an ideal representative of the policy of Yalta. The West helped the Communist system to ·e xpand its power and thus took ruthless measures against Dr. Tiso who warned of the consequences of this policy. Events after 1950 documented the correctness of the words of both the Slovak president and the Slovak people. At the same time they disclosed - as convincing arguments - the shont-sightedness, agoistic and immoral policy of Dr. Benes, which today is still erroneously referred to as "democratic." By murdering President Jozef Tiso the Czech-Communist regime hoped to break the anti.-Communist res,i stance of the Slovak people an<l crush their ambitions toward freedom and independence. It did not succeed in doing so and will never succeed. The Slovak people will hold fast to the idea of Slovak statehood throughout all the ruthlessness and terror to which they are submitted and will stand up to the Czech-Communist regime with every bit of resolve they can muster, regardless of the cost. The policy of Yalta spells misfortune not only for the Slovak people but for all mankind. The West dare not lose sight of the fact that tdday neither nazism nor fascism constitutes a danger - they are systems of the past - but Communism, to rid itself of which is the task of the hour. Bearing in mind !the countless martyrs, victims of an "historical error," of the policy of Yalta, the entire free world should resolve to take uncompromising and more energetic steps to oppose the Communist system and do so, as well, in the interest of the enslaved peoples behind the iron curtain. Freedom and independence belong not ,t o a privileged few but to all, including the Slovak people. - A. M.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dr. Jozef Tiso In Memoriam Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34), September-December 1961 pp. 1-2 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0d4a65c0fd5e264f1465f40f7fc98746.pdf fa37bec518cac491a7ef0ac45053a48b PDF Text Text VOL. XI SEPTEMBER- DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2 (34) IN THIS ISSUE: DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM ASSEMBLY OF CAP T IVE EUROPEAN NATIONS HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BENES AND MOSCOW CZECHO-SLOVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL THE TROUBLEMAK E R EURO PE AN FEDER A LISTS WELCOME KIRSCHBAUM ' S BOOK CASTL ES OF SLOV A KIA: KREMNICA SUDET E N GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19- 22, 1961 NEWS ITEMS: 26, 51, 57, 64, 80 • • • Edited and compiled by PHILIP A. I-IROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa . • • • Publis hed by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPIJE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF OENTRAL EUROPE, K.irsehba-um; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNOONQUERJAIBDES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � VOL. XI SEPTEMBER- DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2 (34) IN THIS ISSUE: DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM ASSEMBLY OF CAP T IVE EUROPEAN NATIONS HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BENES AND MOSCOW CZECHO-SLOVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL THE TROUBLEMAK E R EURO PE AN FEDER A LISTS WELCOME KIRSCHBAUM ' S BOOK CASTL ES OF SLOV A KIA: KREMNICA SUDET E N GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19- 22, 1961 NEWS ITEMS: 26, 51, 57, 64, 80 • • • Edited and compiled by PHILIP A. I-IROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa . • • • Publis hed by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPIJE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF OENTRAL EUROPE, K.irsehba-um; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNOONQUERJAIBDES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document VOL. XI SEPTEMBER- DECEMBER, 1961 NO. 2 (34) IN THIS ISSUE: DR. JOZEF TISO IN MEMORIAM ASSEMBLY OF CAP T IVE EUROPEAN NATIONS HUNGARIAN EXILES AND SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE BENES AND MOSCOW CZECHO-SLOVAKIA YESTERDAY AND TODAY SLOVAKIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE SELF-DETERMINATION FOR ALL THE TROUBLEMAK E R EURO PE AN FEDER A LISTS WELCOME KIRSCHBAUM ' S BOOK CASTL ES OF SLOV A KIA: KREMNICA SUDET E N GERMAN DAYS: MAY 19- 22, 1961 NEWS ITEMS: 26, 51, 57, 64, 80 • • • Edited and compiled by PHILIP A. I-IROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa . • • • Publis hed by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPIJE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA - NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF OENTRAL EUROPE, K.irsehba-um; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA" - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UNOONQUERJAIBDES, Pauco; $2.00 L'UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00. ♦ ♦ ♦ SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. $1.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Front Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 2 (34) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource September-December 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/be3851cca4aed3cb2b75cd1e507d9eab.pdf 58c0528665d3bb1f1afc697fe0b32fff PDF Text Text 74 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Joseph G. Cincik, Anglo-Saxon and because the present book is a nd Slovak-Avar Paf!;erns of Cuth- written with the same sicholarly berth Gospels, Editions Slovak 'Ln- method and knowledge, his am.alystitute, Cleveland, Ohio, Rome, Italy, 1958, p. 1 24, XW pl. The kn01wn illuminated ma<nu• script called the Gospel of Cuthbert ha'S been, Jior a long time a favoriite olbject of scholarly research and analysis by several owtstanding hlstorians of medfoval art, such as (T. D. Kendrick, J. Zykan, J. Strzgowski, H. J. Hermann, G. Slwarzenski, and E. H. Zimmerman. The Gospel or Codex is preserved in the State Ubrary of Vienna', Austria,, and was originally included iin the rare illuminated Codices categorized by arthistories under the general title ''The Insular Book Illuminiations" wrich are believed to be of insular Anglo-Saxcm onigin. Some modern analysts (T. D. Kendrii'Ck, J. Zyikan) noted that non- Anglo,Sax:on ornaments in the Cuthbert Gospel predomina,te over other Codices iin quantity and they stressed that in case of the vegetal or,n aments the irufluence of AlpineDanubian ornamentation was more than casuaL They did not, however, undertake a more detailed analysis and did not arrive at any new conclusions as to the origin of the non~nglo.;saxon artistic in;fluen~s. Prof. Cinctk's w@k, his third book (See: S lovak Ru le r's Sword, Scranton, Pa., 1947, and Anc ient 1 Slovak Fibu las and Pseudo,Fibu • las, Chicago, 1,957), pulblished on the subject of medieval art in the Oarpathian and Danubian area w,ithin the last few years, sheds new Hght on all three prolblems: the origin, the date, and the nonAnglo,Saxon influences. Since both previous woriks by Professor Cincik were farvoraibly received by European as well as American critics sis and conclusions undou,btedly desel'Ve to be considered. A,s Cincilk states in the foreword to his work, he became interested in the similarity of the SlovakAivar omamental pa1tterns to those in the Cuthlbert Gospel duriin,g h1is studies of the Meroving,i,an and Oarolingian epoch at Vienna in 19351,936. During the turibulent years of the Second World War he interrwpted his work, but in exile, during his stay in Bavaria and Rome, between the years 194511947, he once again took up the work "on the complicated prolblem of solvJng the origin of the ornamental elements, the circumstances, and the time of the illuminations of Cuthbert's Gospel." The resuLts of the author's many years of study ba,sed on historicalgenetic, geograiphical, ethnic, and stylo-crJtical analyiSis, are now contained in his book, artistiicalily illustrated either by plates or original drawings made by the author •h imself. The book undoubtedly presents highly 'i nteresting scholarly readiin,g and like his previous works on medi'eval art of the Danulbian and Carpathian basin, it sheds new lig ht not only on the illuminations of the Go's pel in question aind their origin, but also on many rella ted artistic and ethnic probelms and histori'cal events. Cin'Cik's approach throughout the book is that of a highly qualified historian of medieval art with rare artistic intuition and solid knowledge of archeology, political history and literature on, the sulbj,ect in half a dozen a,nrcient and modern languages. To be assured of the accuracy of his conclusions, Cincik compared his a,nalysi:s and synthesis with work's amd docu1 �81.-0VAKIA 75 ments of numerous libra.ries air.,d of th-is illuiminated manuscript" museums suich as the Pontif.ica· (P. 10). Oriental Institute, the Va1tican 12. Piace of the Origin of the AJpostolit Library, and the Am,eri can Alcademy in Rome, the Insti' Gospel: tute of Medieval Studies of HarHavi,r.,g set the date, Prof. Cincik vard University, the Ubrary o.f the presents in his analysis a ne•w Cleve!:and Art Museum, the Art theory atbout the place. "The ornaMuseum Ln Chilca,go, the State Li- menta,t ions point to the ye,a rs of bracy and Museums in Vienna, Pa- the final destruction of the Avar ris, Lond·on, etc. supreml!K!y - says the author Wha,t are the new elements and over Slovak and Sliovenian tri/bes conclusions of Prof. Cincitk's re- in the A!Jpine a,n<l Danubian researeh and anaiysis? gion. " There ar,e in ,the Gospel, says '1. Date of Origin: Several scho • 1Cinicik, contri,bu,ti,ons from the Jars have dated the Go'spel, on the Slo,vak-Avaric patterns, and the basis of paleogra.phic evid-em:e, inspirational historical event for the hand-like and interlaced oma- the Slovak1Avar elements, found ments and the composiltional in the onniamental parts of the mascheme of illuminations as a pro- nuscript "can be traiced to the duct emanating from th•e South- grandiose loot of aTtistic ornamenEng,lish monastic scriptoria relat- tal creations hauled out from the ed to the Merr,cian-NorthJUmlbri'an Canpathian Basin aJfter the defea t scribaJ pr,a ctice, as being "circa of the Aivars by the armies of 770 A.D.". Cinlcik analysing in de- Chadamagne under his son Pepin taH the illuminations a,nd the or- and Dutke Erich of Friaulfa.." Acnamerntal elements of the Gospel cording to the judgment of the has advainiced its date of origin author, the artist 'lwas influenced "into more devieloped art-forms of during the illumi•n ation work on the pre•Carolingia,n and early Ca- the Codex by the artistic form-Ian rolingian art as circa 800 A.D." guage of the above J.oot" and "thus "Since the paleographical cha,r- from the cohalbit-a tion of the Sloacter of "lettering" in the Codex vaks a-nd Avars in Trans-Danulbia i.; unique for the date of its ori- we find ,i,r:, the Go,s,pel many ornagin, its iLlumi'nations - especially mentations which prove the Sarthe artistic elements a,n<l style ap- 1ma tian,Slavic arfo:tic continuity. 'Pear indicative of a later period •Pro.£. Cincik condudes that "Cuthsays Prof. Cin!cik. It postdates the 1bert's Gospel stands before us on Gospel into the last dooade o;f the the threshold of early medieval ar t eighth century, i,f not slightly pas , in Trans,Da.nubia as a miss,ionary ·heritage of the Ghristianiza.tio,r:. of 800 A.D." 'I1he author sta-tes that the pUlb the Slovaks and Avars during and lished works a,nd studies albout a±tter the rule of Charlamagne." Cuthlbert's Gospel initiated by G. He even suggests tha,t the autho r Swarzenski, H. J. Herman an E of the illumina:tions could als·o b e H. Zimmerman, together with si- a .r..ative of the Danulbfan and Carmilar findings in the books of E pathi,an region, and holds to the Herzfeld a,n d Smirnov, and finally view that "this rare Cod·ex played the keen insight of J. Zy,kan con- am, important role in the beginvinced him "albout the accura cy of ning of the Ohristiaruization of the his views concerning the historical Slova~s, A,l pine and Pannonic Sloand evoluti'onary appraisal aJbout ivenes and Avars in the period of the place and time of the mission the strong Omaiad and .A!bba.said 1 �76 SLOVAKIA inf.luem,ces in fine ar.t in the Danubian basin" (IP. 13). 3. Non-Anglo-Saxon Elements: While other scholars who analyzed the Gospel merely noted non-Anglo-Saxon elements and ornamental pa,tterns, Pro.f. Ci-ncik states emphatically that "the Alpine-Danubian character of the ilI,umination's with predominain1t Slovak and Av,aric ornamental elements or with sU'ch ornamentac local and animal figures in relationship to the contemporary New Persian Art of the Omaiad and first Albbaside Ca1ip-hs is indisputalble" ('P. 28). In his view the Cuthlbert Gospel "thus adorned predominantly with Slovak and Avaric elements, had a direct, distinct and psychological ef.fect on the acti,vity of the priest - missionaries coming from Sal:dburg region to the inhabita,n,ts whose ornamentation was used by the illuminator in the book illustrations of the Gospel." (p. 64'). Cincik builds this conclusion, which at first glance could seem nationalisti'c, on a thorough study of ornamenta~ elements which illustrate the book, as well as on, the histor,really proven presence of Irish missi:onaries among the Slovaks a,n d Slovenes during the reign of Ohadamagne. These missionaries must have been familiar not only with the local dialects o·f the Slovaks, Slovenes, Moravians, and Avars, but they also understood the local morphology of the pagian symlbolism. "Thus," ac• cording to Prof. Cincik, "the .illumin,ating p.'.llbterns brou•g ht to the Sal21burg area from the 'South EngLish Schools' even though insular, served as a sample to the illumina-tor of Outhlbert's GospeJ., OJ!, the basis of the relationship between VirgibA.l.cuin-iArno (the latter was arch/bishop of the area). Likewise, elements of the local artistic form and the symlbolic language of S'lovak and Avaric art were at his disposal after the defeat of the Avars." (ip. 86). Besides ornamental element's and patterns, the color schemes aJso are, aocording to 01nlcik's ana-lysis, "completel,y different." "The lively, fiery coioring,' 'says Cincik, "nowhere f.ades in the iUuminations of the Gospel and it thus testifies to the permanent and basic temper o;f the illuminator. It verifiles also that it was neither of Angl~axon nor perhaips e,v en Thankish or Italian origin. A continuous effort to mafotai'n a wide sca'1e of v,iviid colors sponta.neousJ.y points to the taste and· sen'se of priJIDa,r y colors used at that time by !:he local population" (p. 89). 'IH)a,v ing considered these facts," Prof. Oincik writes on, the last page o;f h<is work, "together with the Anglo,Saxon ornamental influence and the prevalent elemental trace's and colorisan, we condude that the art of Cuth!bel't's Gospel •is purposely that of the ancient Slovak and Arv.ari'c or,niamenrtal art sty,lization." "With many characteristics of Caroling-ian and local art style in the Middle~,anuJbia,n region, Cuthbert's Gospel sta.nds out as Romianesque Slovak art at the daJWn of the early medieval period. As such, i't is not only an imipol'tant histor,ical and cultural heritage of the Anglo.Saxon missions d-uring the time of Charlemagne in the Ela-stern Alps, but al,so a famous and outs~ding artisti•c relic testifying to the decorative art style develop•ed in the Slovak Christian pr,irncipalities, the ca,p itals of whi~h we r e Nitm and the !Bannoniain, Blatnohrad after the year 800 A.D. M: is an art remruant developed by signiifa:ant hii:s.torical events at the begi.nning o.f the filrst half of the ninth century which witnessed a gradual Christianrizaition of Slovakian pr,incipa,Mies in Slovakd:a pro- �SLOVAKIA per, Morarvia, and the Slavs in _general around the Carpa,t hian Ba.sin, a;nd terminated later in a Great Moravian Empire and in the .apostolic activity of SS. Cyril and Method1us ... " Pmf. Cincilk corrOlborates his conclusions and ·suggestions w~th 23 pages of illustraitions. He also refer,s to many works of outstandr ing EurQPean aind American scholars in the fileld oif the history of art, ar-cheology, paleography, and cu1tural history. Some scholars at Central European universities ha'Ve en<thusi>astilcaJ:ly accepted• Oincilk's study and its coniclusions. If generally accepted by exper,ts in mediev-al art history, Cincik's work will meain. for Slarvic studies a new important and: valualble contriibution. :Some of the conclusions are unnecessarily repeated in the book and the awthor is inconsistent when using the ,n;a,me Olf the Gospel (Curt!hlberts or Cuthlbert?) as well as the term Arvar or Avaric. Seveml chapters of the book do not directly refer to the Gospel but make the text and the author'o conclusions easi'er to understand and to aocept. The teX!t would indicate that i>t is a translation from Slovak or other European language and sometimes quite far from perfect English. An ilmpressive bibliogr,aiphy and a great number of references in footnotes prove that Prof. Oincik took his task seriously. J. M. Kirschbaum, Uni:Versilty oif Mlo-ntreaJ. Rev. B. S. Bue, OJF.IM., Ph.ID.: Slovak Nationalism; published by the Slovak League oif America, M1dd<letawn, Pa., 1960; pp. 67. This book is the aurthor's thesis for his Mlasber Degree in Political Science a,t the Uni'ver,s ity of Pittsburgh. The a~eptance of a thesfa by a University Falculty ilmplies that the swbm'itted work is 77 serious, well documented, and written in a solid way. '!1his work of the Rev. Bue has all these qualities. The author first discusses the history oif Slovak nationalism a,s it had developed under the influence of Enlightenmen1t and Roonanticism in the Aiustro-iHungarian Monarchy, until, in the middle -Orf the pa,s t century, it ac,q uired definite political fol"ms. In the old Monarchy the Slo,vak-s struggled f •o r nati'on,a,1 self.,presewa-tion a,g ain'st the offilcial trend of magy,arizati-on. J!l'om 19.1.8, when the FJrst Czecho-Slovak Republic was estalblished, until 1009 they had to defend their distinct national character against the so-called 'ICzecho-Slovruc i'dea," the offiicial trend of the Prague governmemrt to assimilate the Slov,aiks into the Czech ethnic growp. The proclamarti-on of the Slovak Rerpu'blic in M<arch, 19319, is considered· by the awthor as a logical conclusion of Slov-a!k national aspirati1ons. Rev. Bue defends Slovak nation.al aspiraUons ag,a inst the all•e· gations oif anti,Slcwak political enemies who claim that the Slovaks with their na1tionalism have been a des-trucfone elemenrt in the Danwbian Basin. He proves that the Slova'ks defended their un.al~ena1ble rights for their own nartional life wi'thiin the poli:tical entity in which they Hved, filr-s t in A'll'!>tro-,Hung,ary, and then in Czecho,Slovakia. OnJy when these political en• tities were destroyed in coniflicts of the great power block,s, the Slova!ks took the opportunity to improve their nartional position in a new un~t, namely in Czecho-Slovakia (19118), and then, ◊1939) in thefr indeipendent Slovak Repulblic. •I n the develQpment of Slovak national consciousness and in the struggle for th·e improV'e'IDem.t of the Sliovak politilcal position, a prominent role wa,s played by �SLOVAKIA 78 Slovak emigrants, particularly by those in the U. S. A. American Slovaks, toget her with American Czechs, took an active part in fighting against the Hapsburg Monarchy. To saifeguard Slovak .r.iational rights in the commoniwealt:i oi Czechs arnd Slovaks which was to come into ex.istence under the name of Czecho-Sl.ovakfa, Slovak political leaders concluded an agreement with Czech represem,tat,ives in P.ittsiburgh, May 30, MHS. By this agreement S1ovakia wa•s to dbtain an autonomous posit-ion in the Czecho-Slovalk Republic. La ter the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and EdJWard Benes denownced this agreement as void and tried to assimilate the Slovak ethnic group in to the so-called "Czech-oslovak" nation. The Pilttsburg.h Agreement, howe~r, became the poJ.itical credo of the Slovak autonomists under the leadershiip orf iMsgr. Am,dr e<w Hlinka. Slovak emigrant s of the period after World War ]I are almost withoult a-n exception for complete independenc·e of Slovakia and work intensely for tha t goal. Very interesting is the last chapter of Rev. Buc's book which describes commu,n-islt tactics in re· lation to Slovak naitona1is,m. During the First Czecho-Slovak Rlepublic the Slovak communist s, though few in number, were more separatist than the Father IDinka (Catho lie) P>eople's Party or Rev. Razus' (Lu,theran) Nationa l P.arty. The Slovak communists propounded the idea of coonpl•e te separat ion of Slovakia from Czecho-Slova'kfa, while the other two Slovak parties had for their aim the autonomy of Slovakia wJthiin, the CzechO-Slo-vak Republic. During the Second World War the Slovak communisits, apparently with the approval of Moscow, continued to work their or,i ginal line. Bult when the idea of a reborn Czecho--SlCl'Vakia 1 preva,iJed in Moscow. the Slovak communists had to be satisfied with only a guarantee of autonomy for Slovakia, gramited under commuruist pressure by President Dr. Edlward Benes in the Slovak city of Kosice. Nevertheless, following the communis:t coup d'etat of 1948, the Ozech communists gradually liquidated Slovak nationalist commun~·sts branding them as national bourgeois deviationists aind rescinding all Slovak autonomous pr,erogatives . After 1'948, cenitralism, stricter than that of the First Czecho--Slovak Repulblic, was re-established. The book of Rev. Bue not only pro,j ects objective light over Slovak nationalism in its historical structure, but also gives a pr.aspec t for a sound solution of the Slovak question. This solution, in the conclusions of Rev. Bue, is no-thin,g less tha1n full independence for the Slovaks within their ethnographic Boundaries. - T. Z. Gj~bert L. Oddo: Slovakia and People, :Robert Speller and Sons, New York, 1960,. 370 pp. , $6.00. The eyes and ears of the world are focused as .never before on the African and! Asiat ic peoples in their frenzied attempt to !break encrusted •colonial political patterns and1 asser,t their right of pol i tic al self-determinatio n. That right is not som•et hing newly conceived iby the no,n .mhite world; the non -w-hite peoples, however, have newly disc01Vered it. The right of self-determinatio n of peoples was popularized for European peoples at the peace po,w-wows of 19r118-19. [n approaching [)r. Oddo's minute history of the Slovak nation, one should recall that the Slovaks, like their neighbors in Cen,t ral Eurape, ,t he Sudeter:: Germans, were among the "little" Il'atio·ns Wils·on had in mind when he ipropounded its �SLOVAKIA his aims of self-determinatoin, a worthy cause that was frustrated by C'hauv,i nis,t exploitation, later tossed' into the political waste-masket. iHere we find a long-needed presentation of 11:J.istoric 1b ac~ground events requisite to the underst1and ing of the formation ·a nd growth of Slovakia into a politically conscious ethnic group seeking independence from foreign overlords, even to the present dlay. Dr. Oddo shows the emergence of Great Miorarvia, starting with the d,3wn of history and moving into the Christian- era; he tells of the warring elements that, made tlhe Slovak country little more than a battleground for centuries, highlights t he age of !Maria Theresia, then o.f her son Jioseph I[ and the influence ·of the Slovak life of his reforms. One by one Oddo peels off the coats of legendary myt'h that have olbscured the true telling of the Slova,k story for de cades. Boldly the author daubs his canvas with vivid colors of historical truth, producing a series of coherent scenes that show a people tenacious, conscious of pur:pose, idealistic and proud, slowly bu t surely emerging from oppression ar.d imposed servitude into a cohesive political and ehhnic entity. The talblea ux take the reader on through tJhe 'Europeon revolution of '1848 jnto the era of the Dual Monal"chy, continuing• into the "tro1.11blous days o.f the '1~20's . . . and t,he more cha'Otic years of the 30's. We see Slovakia's saga as a never-ending, torment•ed striving for ethnic self-eX,pression an,d, poliWhat a tical se1f-determination. tragic coin:ciden'Ce that inde-p endence, however short-liv,ed , had to come -a t a time when National Socialism was to :form its political back-dro,p, casting unwarranted as- 79 persions on- the aims and methods of SlO'Vak statesmen. A£ter the short brea,tJhing s,pell of rnberty we see the light o.f truth and freedom quenched again, this time from the !East. The con'Cluding chapter on Slovak emigration deals prilJ'Ilarily with the Slovaks who emigrated to the USA and tells what they harve been a!ble to achieve from their new home on belhalf of their captive fellowcountrymen: "We ask for the Slovak nation ·c omp lete autonomy and freedom of self-determination both in the field of politi'cs as well as in the cultural and' economic !fields. 1 In completing the reading of Slovakia and its People the reader chances thes•e what won-der.s dreams h-aive of !fulfillment now that all unli.berated peoples are on the march. Will they be forgotten, over-slhadowed by the dark man's world,, or will the ,plea for selfdetermination be strengthend, now that other voi•c es have strengthened, now that other voices have joon-ed the chorus? - Frances McPoyne. The Origin of the Name "Slav," by J. B. Riudnyc:ky,j, Winnipeg; Ukrainian Free Acad'emy of S'Ciences (Box 3•597 S,tn. B, Winnipeg 4, Man .) (Onoonastica Series No. 21) Second revised edition, '1961, 24 pages 50c. 'Ilh.e origin of the namie "Slav" is a controversial swbject as this b~ief survey shows. In the eight pages devoted to the topic there are over a dozen possilble etymological d•erivations of "Slav" summarized. Pro.f. Rudnycky,j , head of the University of Manito1b a Slavic Dep:i,r tmen t, originally d,elivered this survey as a presidential address at an Annual Meeting of the American Name Society. It was firs t �80 SLOVAKIA printed in the June 11960 issue o,f the journal Names andr is pro'baliYl!Y the <first such syino,ptic survey in the 'Englislh language. All -the most important etyimological d'erivations are summarized. The first suggested is from trhe root of slava (,glory), lin which cas•e the Slavs -are •t he "glorious" people. The second possi!ble exipJ..anation de·r ives it fu-OIIll slovo (rword) in which case the Slavs were ,t hose people who spoke an understandable language. The tlhird explanation is the topographic or t01Ponyimic (geographic place-name) origin. Sug,gestions fur this source are from an anrcier..t Slavic capital Slauna, from a root meaning "hiill, mounliain," or another meaning "lowlands." Another interesting suggestion is that the common ending "-slav" in names such as Yarosiav, IMstislav and, My<roslav exipanded into the nlllIIle of the people. This is also sugg.ested as the origin of t,he Englislh word "s1'ave." The Slavic captives lby repeating their n.ames may 'hav,e clearly impressed the common 1atter part orf their captors. 'Ptrofessor iRudnyrckyj concludes that there is no unanimous agreement on the etymology of the word "SfaN" although the topographic ex;planation seems to be the most convincing. Howeiver, th,e derivation from slovo (rword) is sti-Il :possiible. It may be mentioned tha K. Mos7JYnski lin Original Extension of the Pre-Slavic !Language (Wroclaw: IPolrish Arcademy of S'Cienc.es, 1'957) S'llg,g ests yet another view not touched on in this survey. iHe derives a .torpogr,aiphic view from the name given by ,northerners "to the drwellers of 'orpen fields' " (page 145), implying "dear' 'or 'clean" 'from the sunny open steppe of Uikraine. He gives this etymology: from the "Lart in cluo ([ clean.), Greeik kluzo (I wash, purge) kludon (striking orf waves), Old !High German hl11t• tar (clean, clear), Old iNordiic hler (lake, sea.), Litlhuanfan slavu, sluoti (to rweep (originally to clean, compare the Slav wo,rd cistiti, which in Uikrainian, Bulgarian and Serbo..Croat asswmed a secondary meaning 'to sweep')" (from page 13·9.) In the English language the word "Slav" has been used i nm-any forms•. llt has finaUy distilled down to three interchangeaible forms : Slaiv, Sla'Vlic, and Slavonic. The (Proressor's consistent use of "Slavic" in ,t he text indicates his preference "Slavonic" is used 1Inostly in En,gl'and. A useful featUTe of Pro!essor Rudnyrckiyj's monograph is the extensive list of lbi!bliogrruphical footnotes. This will guide the situdent to a wealth o'f sourees on the s-wbject. Mso includ•e d in this Onoma-stica issue is an ar,ti:cle, "Ten Years of Onomastaica {100lel961i)'' by M. H. Scargill. It is a history of this toip'O and anthrorponyimic series edited, ·tiwice a ye•ar 1b y J. B. Rudn,yckyj . Although brief, this survey is a real contrilbution !bercause it makes avaiilaible to the !English read'er the !basic tlheories on the origin of the word "S1av." otherwise they would lbe inaccess1ble to him. -It is an important step in eliminating ,part of the prevailing ignoranrce, in -the western world, o,f the !Slavs. Andrew Gregorovich, IM!ClMiaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. ,(iEditor's Note: See rDr. Henrich Bartelk's "The Origin of 'Slovan' and 'Slovak'" in SWI\I\AlKlliA, June '1958.) �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presicent3 Michael Msgr. F . J. Dubosh, P.A. Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Peter P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd ., Box 48 Warrensville, III. George Kantor President Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presidents Joseph Bendik John P. 0. Box 230 Uniontown, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Julia Krajcovic Helen Kocan 1648 \V. 18th Street Chicago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 2264 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Stephen J. Tkach Paul C. Kazim er 1122 Sy! van Avenue Homestead, Pa. :-.'atinnal President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat :-.'alional Presiden: Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko Andrew Hudak 15701 Bennett Rd. :-So. Royalton 33, Ohio National President Slovak Catholic Cadet Union SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slov;ik League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSK.A. JEDNOTA Middletown. Pa. Sr-ranton. Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO Wilkes-Ilarre. Pa. SLOVENSKE NOVINY ClevPland. Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL Pa,.salc. N . J . SVORNOST OSADNE. HLASY Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. ZORNICKA �SLOVAKIA: The Castle of Brunovce ( 17th Century) � 74 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Joseph G. Cincik, Anglo-Saxon and because the present book is a nd Slovak-Avar Paf!;erns of Cuth- written with the same sicholarly berth Gospels, Editions Slovak 'Ln- method and knowledge, his am.alystitute, Cleveland, Ohio, Rome, Italy, 1958, p. 1 24, XW pl. The kn01wn illuminated ma<nu• script called the Gospel of Cuthbert ha'S been, Jior a long time a favoriite olbject of scholarly research and analysis by several owtstanding hlstorians of medfoval art, such as (T. D. Kendrick, J. Zykan, J. Strzgowski, H. J. Hermann, G. Slwarzenski, and E. H. Zimmerman. The Gospel or Codex is preserved in the State Ubrary of Vienna', Austria,, and was originally included iin the rare illuminated Codices categorized by arthistories under the general title ''The Insular Book Illuminiations" wrich are believed to be of insular Anglo-Saxcm onigin. Some modern analysts (T. D. Kendrii'Ck, J. Zyikan) noted that non- Anglo,Sax:on ornaments in the Cuthbert Gospel predomina,te over other Codices iin quantity and they stressed that in case of the vegetal or,n aments the irufluence of AlpineDanubian ornamentation was more than casuaL They did not, however, undertake a more detailed analysis and did not arrive at any new conclusions as to the origin of the non~nglo.;saxon artistic in;fluen~s. Prof. Cinctk's w@k, his third book (See: S lovak Ru le r's Sword, Scranton, Pa., 1947, and Anc ient 1 Slovak Fibu las and Pseudo,Fibu • las, Chicago, 1,957), pulblished on the subject of medieval art in the Oarpathian and Danubian area w,ithin the last few years, sheds new Hght on all three prolblems: the origin, the date, and the nonAnglo,Saxon influences. Since both previous woriks by Professor Cincik were farvoraibly received by European as well as American critics sis and conclusions undou,btedly desel'Ve to be considered. A,s Cincilk states in the foreword to his work, he became interested in the similarity of the SlovakAivar omamental pa1tterns to those in the Cuthlbert Gospel duriin,g h1is studies of the Meroving,i,an and Oarolingian epoch at Vienna in 19351,936. During the turibulent years of the Second World War he interrwpted his work, but in exile, during his stay in Bavaria and Rome, between the years 194511947, he once again took up the work "on the complicated prolblem of solvJng the origin of the ornamental elements, the circumstances, and the time of the illuminations of Cuthbert's Gospel." The resuLts of the author's many years of study ba,sed on historicalgenetic, geograiphical, ethnic, and stylo-crJtical analyiSis, are now contained in his book, artistiicalily illustrated either by plates or original drawings made by the author •h imself. The book undoubtedly presents highly 'i nteresting scholarly readiin,g and like his previous works on medi'eval art of the Danulbian and Carpathian basin, it sheds new lig ht not only on the illuminations of the Go's pel in question aind their origin, but also on many rella ted artistic and ethnic probelms and histori'cal events. Cin'Cik's approach throughout the book is that of a highly qualified historian of medieval art with rare artistic intuition and solid knowledge of archeology, political history and literature on, the sulbj,ect in half a dozen a,nrcient and modern languages. To be assured of the accuracy of his conclusions, Cincik compared his a,nalysi:s and synthesis with work's amd docu1 �81.-0VAKIA 75 ments of numerous libra.ries air.,d of th-is illuiminated manuscript" museums suich as the Pontif.ica· (P. 10). Oriental Institute, the Va1tican 12. Piace of the Origin of the AJpostolit Library, and the Am,eri can Alcademy in Rome, the Insti' Gospel: tute of Medieval Studies of HarHavi,r.,g set the date, Prof. Cincik vard University, the Ubrary o.f the presents in his analysis a ne•w Cleve!:and Art Museum, the Art theory atbout the place. "The ornaMuseum Ln Chilca,go, the State Li- menta,t ions point to the ye,a rs of bracy and Museums in Vienna, Pa- the final destruction of the Avar ris, Lond·on, etc. supreml!K!y - says the author Wha,t are the new elements and over Slovak and Sliovenian tri/bes conclusions of Prof. Cincitk's re- in the A!Jpine a,n<l Danubian researeh and anaiysis? gion. " There ar,e in ,the Gospel, says '1. Date of Origin: Several scho • 1Cinicik, contri,bu,ti,ons from the Jars have dated the Go'spel, on the Slo,vak-Avaric patterns, and the basis of paleogra.phic evid-em:e, inspirational historical event for the hand-like and interlaced oma- the Slovak1Avar elements, found ments and the composiltional in the onniamental parts of the mascheme of illuminations as a pro- nuscript "can be traiced to the duct emanating from th•e South- grandiose loot of aTtistic ornamenEng,lish monastic scriptoria relat- tal creations hauled out from the ed to the Merr,cian-NorthJUmlbri'an Canpathian Basin aJfter the defea t scribaJ pr,a ctice, as being "circa of the Aivars by the armies of 770 A.D.". Cinlcik analysing in de- Chadamagne under his son Pepin taH the illuminations a,nd the or- and Dutke Erich of Friaulfa.." Acnamerntal elements of the Gospel cording to the judgment of the has advainiced its date of origin author, the artist 'lwas influenced "into more devieloped art-forms of during the illumi•n ation work on the pre•Carolingia,n and early Ca- the Codex by the artistic form-Ian rolingian art as circa 800 A.D." guage of the above J.oot" and "thus "Since the paleographical cha,r- from the cohalbit-a tion of the Sloacter of "lettering" in the Codex vaks a-nd Avars in Trans-Danulbia i.; unique for the date of its ori- we find ,i,r:, the Go,s,pel many ornagin, its iLlumi'nations - especially mentations which prove the Sarthe artistic elements a,n<l style ap- 1ma tian,Slavic arfo:tic continuity. 'Pear indicative of a later period •Pro.£. Cincik condudes that "Cuthsays Prof. Cin!cik. It postdates the 1bert's Gospel stands before us on Gospel into the last dooade o;f the the threshold of early medieval ar t eighth century, i,f not slightly pas , in Trans,Da.nubia as a miss,ionary ·heritage of the Ghristianiza.tio,r:. of 800 A.D." 'I1he author sta-tes that the pUlb the Slovaks and Avars during and lished works a,nd studies albout a±tter the rule of Charlamagne." Cuthlbert's Gospel initiated by G. He even suggests tha,t the autho r Swarzenski, H. J. Herman an E of the illumina:tions could als·o b e H. Zimmerman, together with si- a .r..ative of the Danulbfan and Carmilar findings in the books of E pathi,an region, and holds to the Herzfeld a,n d Smirnov, and finally view that "this rare Cod·ex played the keen insight of J. Zy,kan con- am, important role in the beginvinced him "albout the accura cy of ning of the Ohristiaruization of the his views concerning the historical Slova~s, A,l pine and Pannonic Sloand evoluti'onary appraisal aJbout ivenes and Avars in the period of the place and time of the mission the strong Omaiad and .A!bba.said 1 �76 SLOVAKIA inf.luem,ces in fine ar.t in the Danubian basin" (IP. 13). 3. Non-Anglo-Saxon Elements: While other scholars who analyzed the Gospel merely noted non-Anglo-Saxon elements and ornamental pa,tterns, Pro.f. Ci-ncik states emphatically that "the Alpine-Danubian character of the ilI,umination's with predominain1t Slovak and Av,aric ornamental elements or with sU'ch ornamentac local and animal figures in relationship to the contemporary New Persian Art of the Omaiad and first Albbaside Ca1ip-hs is indisputalble" ('P. 28). In his view the Cuthlbert Gospel "thus adorned predominantly with Slovak and Avaric elements, had a direct, distinct and psychological ef.fect on the acti,vity of the priest - missionaries coming from Sal:dburg region to the inhabita,n,ts whose ornamentation was used by the illuminator in the book illustrations of the Gospel." (p. 64'). Cincik builds this conclusion, which at first glance could seem nationalisti'c, on a thorough study of ornamenta~ elements which illustrate the book, as well as on, the histor,really proven presence of Irish missi:onaries among the Slovaks a,n d Slovenes during the reign of Ohadamagne. These missionaries must have been familiar not only with the local dialects o·f the Slovaks, Slovenes, Moravians, and Avars, but they also understood the local morphology of the pagian symlbolism. "Thus," ac• cording to Prof. Cincik, "the .illumin,ating p.'.llbterns brou•g ht to the Sal21burg area from the 'South EngLish Schools' even though insular, served as a sample to the illumina-tor of Outhlbert's GospeJ., OJ!, the basis of the relationship between VirgibA.l.cuin-iArno (the latter was arch/bishop of the area). Likewise, elements of the local artistic form and the symlbolic language of S'lovak and Avaric art were at his disposal after the defeat of the Avars." (ip. 86). Besides ornamental element's and patterns, the color schemes aJso are, aocording to 01nlcik's ana-lysis, "completel,y different." "The lively, fiery coioring,' 'says Cincik, "nowhere f.ades in the iUuminations of the Gospel and it thus testifies to the permanent and basic temper o;f the illuminator. It verifiles also that it was neither of Angl~axon nor perhaips e,v en Thankish or Italian origin. A continuous effort to mafotai'n a wide sca'1e of v,iviid colors sponta.neousJ.y points to the taste and· sen'se of priJIDa,r y colors used at that time by !:he local population" (p. 89). 'IH)a,v ing considered these facts," Prof. Oincik writes on, the last page o;f h<is work, "together with the Anglo,Saxon ornamental influence and the prevalent elemental trace's and colorisan, we condude that the art of Cuth!bel't's Gospel •is purposely that of the ancient Slovak and Arv.ari'c or,niamenrtal art sty,lization." "With many characteristics of Caroling-ian and local art style in the Middle~,anuJbia,n region, Cuthbert's Gospel sta.nds out as Romianesque Slovak art at the daJWn of the early medieval period. As such, i't is not only an imipol'tant histor,ical and cultural heritage of the Anglo.Saxon missions d-uring the time of Charlemagne in the Ela-stern Alps, but al,so a famous and outs~ding artisti•c relic testifying to the decorative art style develop•ed in the Slovak Christian pr,irncipalities, the ca,p itals of whi~h we r e Nitm and the !Bannoniain, Blatnohrad after the year 800 A.D. M: is an art remruant developed by signiifa:ant hii:s.torical events at the begi.nning o.f the filrst half of the ninth century which witnessed a gradual Christianrizaition of Slovakian pr,incipa,Mies in Slovakd:a pro- �SLOVAKIA per, Morarvia, and the Slavs in _general around the Carpa,t hian Ba.sin, a;nd terminated later in a Great Moravian Empire and in the .apostolic activity of SS. Cyril and Method1us ... " Pmf. Cincilk corrOlborates his conclusions and ·suggestions w~th 23 pages of illustraitions. He also refer,s to many works of outstandr ing EurQPean aind American scholars in the fileld oif the history of art, ar-cheology, paleography, and cu1tural history. Some scholars at Central European universities ha'Ve en<thusi>astilcaJ:ly accepted• Oincilk's study and its coniclusions. If generally accepted by exper,ts in mediev-al art history, Cincik's work will meain. for Slarvic studies a new important and: valualble contriibution. :Some of the conclusions are unnecessarily repeated in the book and the awthor is inconsistent when using the ,n;a,me Olf the Gospel (Curt!hlberts or Cuthlbert?) as well as the term Arvar or Avaric. Seveml chapters of the book do not directly refer to the Gospel but make the text and the author'o conclusions easi'er to understand and to aocept. The teX!t would indicate that i>t is a translation from Slovak or other European language and sometimes quite far from perfect English. An ilmpressive bibliogr,aiphy and a great number of references in footnotes prove that Prof. Oincik took his task seriously. J. M. Kirschbaum, Uni:Versilty oif Mlo-ntreaJ. Rev. B. S. Bue, OJF.IM., Ph.ID.: Slovak Nationalism; published by the Slovak League oif America, M1dd<letawn, Pa., 1960; pp. 67. This book is the aurthor's thesis for his Mlasber Degree in Political Science a,t the Uni'ver,s ity of Pittsburgh. The a~eptance of a thesfa by a University Falculty ilmplies that the swbm'itted work is 77 serious, well documented, and written in a solid way. '!1his work of the Rev. Bue has all these qualities. The author first discusses the history oif Slovak nationalism a,s it had developed under the influence of Enlightenmen1t and Roonanticism in the Aiustro-iHungarian Monarchy, until, in the middle -Orf the pa,s t century, it ac,q uired definite political fol"ms. In the old Monarchy the Slo,vak-s struggled f •o r nati'on,a,1 self.,presewa-tion a,g ain'st the offilcial trend of magy,arizati-on. J!l'om 19.1.8, when the FJrst Czecho-Slovak Republic was estalblished, until 1009 they had to defend their distinct national character against the so-called 'ICzecho-Slovruc i'dea," the offiicial trend of the Prague governmemrt to assimilate the Slov,aiks into the Czech ethnic growp. The proclamarti-on of the Slovak Rerpu'blic in M<arch, 19319, is considered· by the awthor as a logical conclusion of Slov-a!k national aspirati1ons. Rev. Bue defends Slovak nation.al aspiraUons ag,a inst the all•e· gations oif anti,Slcwak political enemies who claim that the Slovaks with their na1tionalism have been a des-trucfone elemenrt in the Danwbian Basin. He proves that the Slova'ks defended their un.al~ena1ble rights for their own nartional life wi'thiin the poli:tical entity in which they Hved, filr-s t in A'll'!>tro-,Hung,ary, and then in Czecho,Slovakia. OnJy when these political en• tities were destroyed in coniflicts of the great power block,s, the Slova!ks took the opportunity to improve their nartional position in a new un~t, namely in Czecho-Slovakia (19118), and then, ◊1939) in thefr indeipendent Slovak Repulblic. •I n the develQpment of Slovak national consciousness and in the struggle for th·e improV'e'IDem.t of the Sliovak politilcal position, a prominent role wa,s played by �SLOVAKIA 78 Slovak emigrants, particularly by those in the U. S. A. American Slovaks, toget her with American Czechs, took an active part in fighting against the Hapsburg Monarchy. To saifeguard Slovak .r.iational rights in the commoniwealt:i oi Czechs arnd Slovaks which was to come into ex.istence under the name of Czecho-Sl.ovakfa, Slovak political leaders concluded an agreement with Czech represem,tat,ives in P.ittsiburgh, May 30, MHS. By this agreement S1ovakia wa•s to dbtain an autonomous posit-ion in the Czecho-Slovalk Republic. La ter the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and EdJWard Benes denownced this agreement as void and tried to assimilate the Slovak ethnic group in to the so-called "Czech-oslovak" nation. The Pilttsburg.h Agreement, howe~r, became the poJ.itical credo of the Slovak autonomists under the leadershiip orf iMsgr. Am,dr e<w Hlinka. Slovak emigrant s of the period after World War ]I are almost withoult a-n exception for complete independenc·e of Slovakia and work intensely for tha t goal. Very interesting is the last chapter of Rev. Buc's book which describes commu,n-islt tactics in re· lation to Slovak naitona1is,m. During the First Czecho-Slovak Rlepublic the Slovak communist s, though few in number, were more separatist than the Father IDinka (Catho lie) P>eople's Party or Rev. Razus' (Lu,theran) Nationa l P.arty. The Slovak communists propounded the idea of coonpl•e te separat ion of Slovakia from Czecho-Slova'kfa, while the other two Slovak parties had for their aim the autonomy of Slovakia wJthiin, the CzechO-Slo-vak Republic. During the Second World War the Slovak communisits, apparently with the approval of Moscow, continued to work their or,i ginal line. Bult when the idea of a reborn Czecho--SlCl'Vakia 1 preva,iJed in Moscow. the Slovak communists had to be satisfied with only a guarantee of autonomy for Slovakia, gramited under commuruist pressure by President Dr. Edlward Benes in the Slovak city of Kosice. Nevertheless, following the communis:t coup d'etat of 1948, the Ozech communists gradually liquidated Slovak nationalist commun~·sts branding them as national bourgeois deviationists aind rescinding all Slovak autonomous pr,erogatives . After 1'948, cenitralism, stricter than that of the First Czecho--Slovak Repulblic, was re-established. The book of Rev. Bue not only pro,j ects objective light over Slovak nationalism in its historical structure, but also gives a pr.aspec t for a sound solution of the Slovak question. This solution, in the conclusions of Rev. Bue, is no-thin,g less tha1n full independence for the Slovaks within their ethnographic Boundaries. - T. Z. Gj~bert L. Oddo: Slovakia and People, :Robert Speller and Sons, New York, 1960,. 370 pp. , $6.00. The eyes and ears of the world are focused as .never before on the African and! Asiat ic peoples in their frenzied attempt to !break encrusted •colonial political patterns and1 asser,t their right of pol i tic al self-determinatio n. That right is not som•et hing newly conceived iby the no,n .mhite world; the non -w-hite peoples, however, have newly disc01Vered it. The right of self-determinatio n of peoples was popularized for European peoples at the peace po,w-wows of 19r118-19. [n approaching [)r. Oddo's minute history of the Slovak nation, one should recall that the Slovaks, like their neighbors in Cen,t ral Eurape, ,t he Sudeter:: Germans, were among the "little" Il'atio·ns Wils·on had in mind when he ipropounded its �SLOVAKIA his aims of self-determinatoin, a worthy cause that was frustrated by C'hauv,i nis,t exploitation, later tossed' into the political waste-masket. iHere we find a long-needed presentation of 11:J.istoric 1b ac~ground events requisite to the underst1and ing of the formation ·a nd growth of Slovakia into a politically conscious ethnic group seeking independence from foreign overlords, even to the present dlay. Dr. Oddo shows the emergence of Great Miorarvia, starting with the d,3wn of history and moving into the Christian- era; he tells of the warring elements that, made tlhe Slovak country little more than a battleground for centuries, highlights t he age of !Maria Theresia, then o.f her son Jioseph I[ and the influence ·of the Slovak life of his reforms. One by one Oddo peels off the coats of legendary myt'h that have olbscured the true telling of the Slova,k story for de cades. Boldly the author daubs his canvas with vivid colors of historical truth, producing a series of coherent scenes that show a people tenacious, conscious of pur:pose, idealistic and proud, slowly bu t surely emerging from oppression ar.d imposed servitude into a cohesive political and ehhnic entity. The talblea ux take the reader on through tJhe 'Europeon revolution of '1848 jnto the era of the Dual Monal"chy, continuing• into the "tro1.11blous days o.f the '1~20's . . . and t,he more cha'Otic years of the 30's. We see Slovakia's saga as a never-ending, torment•ed striving for ethnic self-eX,pression an,d, poliWhat a tical se1f-determination. tragic coin:ciden'Ce that inde-p endence, however short-liv,ed , had to come -a t a time when National Socialism was to :form its political back-dro,p, casting unwarranted as- 79 persions on- the aims and methods of SlO'Vak statesmen. A£ter the short brea,tJhing s,pell of rnberty we see the light o.f truth and freedom quenched again, this time from the !East. The con'Cluding chapter on Slovak emigration deals prilJ'Ilarily with the Slovaks who emigrated to the USA and tells what they harve been a!ble to achieve from their new home on belhalf of their captive fellowcountrymen: "We ask for the Slovak nation ·c omp lete autonomy and freedom of self-determination both in the field of politi'cs as well as in the cultural and' economic !fields. 1 In completing the reading of Slovakia and its People the reader chances thes•e what won-der.s dreams h-aive of !fulfillment now that all unli.berated peoples are on the march. Will they be forgotten, over-slhadowed by the dark man's world,, or will the ,plea for selfdetermination be strengthend, now that other voi•c es have strengthened, now that other voices have joon-ed the chorus? - Frances McPoyne. The Origin of the Name "Slav," by J. B. Riudnyc:ky,j, Winnipeg; Ukrainian Free Acad'emy of S'Ciences (Box 3•597 S,tn. B, Winnipeg 4, Man .) (Onoonastica Series No. 21) Second revised edition, '1961, 24 pages 50c. 'Ilh.e origin of the namie "Slav" is a controversial swbject as this b~ief survey shows. In the eight pages devoted to the topic there are over a dozen possilble etymological d•erivations of "Slav" summarized. Pro.f. Rudnycky,j , head of the University of Manito1b a Slavic Dep:i,r tmen t, originally d,elivered this survey as a presidential address at an Annual Meeting of the American Name Society. It was firs t �80 SLOVAKIA printed in the June 11960 issue o,f the journal Names andr is pro'baliYl!Y the <first such syino,ptic survey in the 'Englislh language. All -the most important etyimological d'erivations are summarized. The first suggested is from trhe root of slava (,glory), lin which cas•e the Slavs -are •t he "glorious" people. The second possi!ble exipJ..anation de·r ives it fu-OIIll slovo (rword) in which case the Slavs were ,t hose people who spoke an understandable language. The tlhird explanation is the topographic or t01Ponyimic (geographic place-name) origin. Sug,gestions fur this source are from an anrcier..t Slavic capital Slauna, from a root meaning "hiill, mounliain," or another meaning "lowlands." Another interesting suggestion is that the common ending "-slav" in names such as Yarosiav, IMstislav and, My<roslav exipanded into the nlllIIle of the people. This is also sugg.ested as the origin of t,he Englislh word "s1'ave." The Slavic captives lby repeating their n.ames may 'hav,e clearly impressed the common 1atter part orf their captors. 'Ptrofessor iRudnyrckyj concludes that there is no unanimous agreement on the etymology of the word "SfaN" although the topographic ex;planation seems to be the most convincing. Howeiver, th,e derivation from slovo (rword) is sti-Il :possiible. It may be mentioned tha K. Mos7JYnski lin Original Extension of the Pre-Slavic !Language (Wroclaw: IPolrish Arcademy of S'Cienc.es, 1'957) S'llg,g ests yet another view not touched on in this survey. iHe derives a .torpogr,aiphic view from the name given by ,northerners "to the drwellers of 'orpen fields' " (page 145), implying "dear' 'or 'clean" 'from the sunny open steppe of Uikraine. He gives this etymology: from the "Lart in cluo ([ clean.), Greeik kluzo (I wash, purge) kludon (striking orf waves), Old !High German hl11t• tar (clean, clear), Old iNordiic hler (lake, sea.), Litlhuanfan slavu, sluoti (to rweep (originally to clean, compare the Slav wo,rd cistiti, which in Uikrainian, Bulgarian and Serbo..Croat asswmed a secondary meaning 'to sweep')" (from page 13·9.) In the English language the word "Slav" has been used i nm-any forms•. llt has finaUy distilled down to three interchangeaible forms : Slaiv, Sla'Vlic, and Slavonic. The (Proressor's consistent use of "Slavic" in ,t he text indicates his preference "Slavonic" is used 1Inostly in En,gl'and. A useful featUTe of Pro!essor Rudnyrckiyj's monograph is the extensive list of lbi!bliogrruphical footnotes. This will guide the situdent to a wealth o'f sourees on the s-wbject. Mso includ•e d in this Onoma-stica issue is an ar,ti:cle, "Ten Years of Onomastaica {100lel961i)'' by M. H. Scargill. It is a history of this toip'O and anthrorponyimic series edited, ·tiwice a ye•ar 1b y J. B. Rudn,yckyj . Although brief, this survey is a real contrilbution !bercause it makes avaiilaible to the !English read'er the !basic tlheories on the origin of the word "S1av." otherwise they would lbe inaccess1ble to him. -It is an important step in eliminating ,part of the prevailing ignoranrce, in -the western world, o,f the !Slavs. Andrew Gregorovich, IM!ClMiaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. ,(iEditor's Note: See rDr. Henrich Bartelk's "The Origin of 'Slovan' and 'Slovak'" in SWI\I\AlKlliA, June '1958.) �Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presicent3 Michael Msgr. F . J. Dubosh, P.A. Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Peter P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd ., Box 48 Warrensville, III. George Kantor President Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presidents Joseph Bendik John P. 0. Box 230 Uniontown, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Julia Krajcovic Helen Kocan 1648 \V. 18th Street Chicago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 2264 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Stephen J. Tkach Paul C. Kazim er 1122 Sy! van Avenue Homestead, Pa. :-.'atinnal President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat :-.'alional Presiden: Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko Andrew Hudak 15701 Bennett Rd. :-So. Royalton 33, Ohio National President Slovak Catholic Cadet Union SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slov;ik League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSK.A. JEDNOTA Middletown. Pa. Sr-ranton. Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO Wilkes-Ilarre. Pa. SLOVENSKE NOVINY ClevPland. Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL Pa,.salc. N . J . SVORNOST OSADNE. HLASY Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. ZORNICKA �SLOVAKIA: The Castle of Brunovce ( 17th Century) � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 74 SLOVAKIA BOOK REVIEWS Joseph G. Cincik, Anglo-Saxon and because the present book is a nd Slovak-Avar Paf!;erns of Cuth- written with the same sicholarly berth Gospels, Editions Slovak 'Ln- method and knowledge, his am.alystitute, Cleveland, Ohio, Rome, Italy, 1958, p. 1 24, XW pl. The kn01wn illuminated ma<nu• script called the Gospel of Cuthbert ha'S been, Jior a long time a favoriite olbject of scholarly research and analysis by several owtstanding hlstorians of medfoval art, such as (T. D. Kendrick, J. Zykan, J. Strzgowski, H. J. Hermann, G. Slwarzenski, and E. H. Zimmerman. The Gospel or Codex is preserved in the State Ubrary of Vienna', Austria,, and was originally included iin the rare illuminated Codices categorized by arthistories under the general title ''The Insular Book Illuminiations" wrich are believed to be of insular Anglo-Saxcm onigin. Some modern analysts (T. D. Kendrii'Ck, J. Zyikan) noted that non- Anglo,Sax:on ornaments in the Cuthbert Gospel predomina,te over other Codices iin quantity and they stressed that in case of the vegetal or,n aments the irufluence of AlpineDanubian ornamentation was more than casuaL They did not, however, undertake a more detailed analysis and did not arrive at any new conclusions as to the origin of the non~nglo.;saxon artistic in;fluen~s. Prof. Cinctk's w@k, his third book (See: S lovak Ru le r's Sword, Scranton, Pa., 1947, and Anc ient 1 Slovak Fibu las and Pseudo,Fibu • las, Chicago, 1,957), pulblished on the subject of medieval art in the Oarpathian and Danubian area w,ithin the last few years, sheds new Hght on all three prolblems: the origin, the date, and the nonAnglo,Saxon influences. Since both previous woriks by Professor Cincik were farvoraibly received by European as well as American critics sis and conclusions undou,btedly desel'Ve to be considered. A,s Cincilk states in the foreword to his work, he became interested in the similarity of the SlovakAivar omamental pa1tterns to those in the Cuthlbert Gospel duriin,g h1is studies of the Meroving,i,an and Oarolingian epoch at Vienna in 19351,936. During the turibulent years of the Second World War he interrwpted his work, but in exile, during his stay in Bavaria and Rome, between the years 194511947, he once again took up the work "on the complicated prolblem of solvJng the origin of the ornamental elements, the circumstances, and the time of the illuminations of Cuthbert's Gospel." The resuLts of the author's many years of study ba,sed on historicalgenetic, geograiphical, ethnic, and stylo-crJtical analyiSis, are now contained in his book, artistiicalily illustrated either by plates or original drawings made by the author •h imself. The book undoubtedly presents highly 'i nteresting scholarly readiin,g and like his previous works on medi'eval art of the Danulbian and Carpathian basin, it sheds new lig ht not only on the illuminations of the Go's pel in question aind their origin, but also on many rella ted artistic and ethnic probelms and histori'cal events. Cin'Cik's approach throughout the book is that of a highly qualified historian of medieval art with rare artistic intuition and solid knowledge of archeology, political history and literature on, the sulbj,ect in half a dozen a,nrcient and modern languages. To be assured of the accuracy of his conclusions, Cincik compared his a,nalysi:s and synthesis with work's amd docu1 81.-0VAKIA 75 ments of numerous libra.ries air.,d of th-is illuiminated manuscript" museums suich as the Pontif.ica· (P. 10). Oriental Institute, the Va1tican 12. Piace of the Origin of the AJpostolit Library, and the Am,eri can Alcademy in Rome, the Insti' Gospel: tute of Medieval Studies of HarHavi,r.,g set the date, Prof. Cincik vard University, the Ubrary o.f the presents in his analysis a ne•w Cleve!:and Art Museum, the Art theory atbout the place. "The ornaMuseum Ln Chilca,go, the State Li- menta,t ions point to the ye,a rs of bracy and Museums in Vienna, Pa- the final destruction of the Avar ris, Lond·on, etc. supreml!K!y - says the author Wha,t are the new elements and over Slovak and Sliovenian tri/bes conclusions of Prof. Cincitk's re- in the A!Jpine a,n<l Danubian researeh and anaiysis? gion. " There ar,e in ,the Gospel, says '1. Date of Origin: Several scho • 1Cinicik, contri,bu,ti,ons from the Jars have dated the Go'spel, on the Slo,vak-Avaric patterns, and the basis of paleogra.phic evid-em:e, inspirational historical event for the hand-like and interlaced oma- the Slovak1Avar elements, found ments and the composiltional in the onniamental parts of the mascheme of illuminations as a pro- nuscript "can be traiced to the duct emanating from th•e South- grandiose loot of aTtistic ornamenEng,lish monastic scriptoria relat- tal creations hauled out from the ed to the Merr,cian-NorthJUmlbri'an Canpathian Basin aJfter the defea t scribaJ pr,a ctice, as being "circa of the Aivars by the armies of 770 A.D.". Cinlcik analysing in de- Chadamagne under his son Pepin taH the illuminations a,nd the or- and Dutke Erich of Friaulfa.." Acnamerntal elements of the Gospel cording to the judgment of the has advainiced its date of origin author, the artist 'lwas influenced "into more devieloped art-forms of during the illumi•n ation work on the pre•Carolingia,n and early Ca- the Codex by the artistic form-Ian rolingian art as circa 800 A.D." guage of the above J.oot" and "thus "Since the paleographical cha,r- from the cohalbit-a tion of the Sloacter of "lettering" in the Codex vaks a-nd Avars in Trans-Danulbia i.; unique for the date of its ori- we find ,i,r:, the Go,s,pel many ornagin, its iLlumi'nations - especially mentations which prove the Sarthe artistic elements a,n<l style ap- 1ma tian,Slavic arfo:tic continuity. 'Pear indicative of a later period •Pro.£. Cincik condudes that "Cuthsays Prof. Cin!cik. It postdates the 1bert's Gospel stands before us on Gospel into the last dooade o;f the the threshold of early medieval ar t eighth century, i,f not slightly pas , in Trans,Da.nubia as a miss,ionary ·heritage of the Ghristianiza.tio,r:. of 800 A.D." 'I1he author sta-tes that the pUlb the Slovaks and Avars during and lished works a,nd studies albout a±tter the rule of Charlamagne." Cuthlbert's Gospel initiated by G. He even suggests tha,t the autho r Swarzenski, H. J. Herman an E of the illumina:tions could als·o b e H. Zimmerman, together with si- a .r..ative of the Danulbfan and Carmilar findings in the books of E pathi,an region, and holds to the Herzfeld a,n d Smirnov, and finally view that "this rare Cod·ex played the keen insight of J. Zy,kan con- am, important role in the beginvinced him "albout the accura cy of ning of the Ohristiaruization of the his views concerning the historical Slova~s, A,l pine and Pannonic Sloand evoluti'onary appraisal aJbout ivenes and Avars in the period of the place and time of the mission the strong Omaiad and .A!bba.said 1 76 SLOVAKIA inf.luem,ces in fine ar.t in the Danubian basin" (IP. 13). 3. Non-Anglo-Saxon Elements: While other scholars who analyzed the Gospel merely noted non-Anglo-Saxon elements and ornamental pa,tterns, Pro.f. Ci-ncik states emphatically that "the Alpine-Danubian character of the ilI,umination's with predominain1t Slovak and Av,aric ornamental elements or with sU'ch ornamentac local and animal figures in relationship to the contemporary New Persian Art of the Omaiad and first Albbaside Ca1ip-hs is indisputalble" ('P. 28). In his view the Cuthlbert Gospel "thus adorned predominantly with Slovak and Avaric elements, had a direct, distinct and psychological ef.fect on the acti,vity of the priest - missionaries coming from Sal:dburg region to the inhabita,n,ts whose ornamentation was used by the illuminator in the book illustrations of the Gospel." (p. 64'). Cincik builds this conclusion, which at first glance could seem nationalisti'c, on a thorough study of ornamenta~ elements which illustrate the book, as well as on, the histor,really proven presence of Irish missi:onaries among the Slovaks a,n d Slovenes during the reign of Ohadamagne. These missionaries must have been familiar not only with the local dialects o·f the Slovaks, Slovenes, Moravians, and Avars, but they also understood the local morphology of the pagian symlbolism. "Thus," ac• cording to Prof. Cincik, "the .illumin,ating p.'.llbterns brou•g ht to the Sal21burg area from the 'South EngLish Schools' even though insular, served as a sample to the illumina-tor of Outhlbert's GospeJ., OJ!, the basis of the relationship between VirgibA.l.cuin-iArno (the latter was arch/bishop of the area). Likewise, elements of the local artistic form and the symlbolic language of S'lovak and Avaric art were at his disposal after the defeat of the Avars." (ip. 86). Besides ornamental element's and patterns, the color schemes aJso are, aocording to 01nlcik's ana-lysis, "completel,y different." "The lively, fiery coioring,' 'says Cincik, "nowhere f.ades in the iUuminations of the Gospel and it thus testifies to the permanent and basic temper o;f the illuminator. It verifiles also that it was neither of Angl~axon nor perhaips e,v en Thankish or Italian origin. A continuous effort to mafotai'n a wide sca'1e of v,iviid colors sponta.neousJ.y points to the taste and· sen'se of priJIDa,r y colors used at that time by !:he local population" (p. 89). 'IH)a,v ing considered these facts," Prof. Oincik writes on, the last page o;f h<is work, "together with the Anglo,Saxon ornamental influence and the prevalent elemental trace's and colorisan, we condude that the art of Cuth!bel't's Gospel •is purposely that of the ancient Slovak and Arv.ari'c or,niamenrtal art sty,lization." "With many characteristics of Caroling-ian and local art style in the Middle~,anuJbia,n region, Cuthbert's Gospel sta.nds out as Romianesque Slovak art at the daJWn of the early medieval period. As such, i't is not only an imipol'tant histor,ical and cultural heritage of the Anglo.Saxon missions d-uring the time of Charlemagne in the Ela-stern Alps, but al,so a famous and outs~ding artisti•c relic testifying to the decorative art style develop•ed in the Slovak Christian pr,irncipalities, the ca,p itals of whi~h we r e Nitm and the !Bannoniain, Blatnohrad after the year 800 A.D. M: is an art remruant developed by signiifa:ant hii:s.torical events at the begi.nning o.f the filrst half of the ninth century which witnessed a gradual Christianrizaition of Slovakian pr,incipa,Mies in Slovakd:a pro- SLOVAKIA per, Morarvia, and the Slavs in _general around the Carpa,t hian Ba.sin, a;nd terminated later in a Great Moravian Empire and in the .apostolic activity of SS. Cyril and Method1us ... " Pmf. Cincilk corrOlborates his conclusions and ·suggestions w~th 23 pages of illustraitions. He also refer,s to many works of outstandr ing EurQPean aind American scholars in the fileld oif the history of art, ar-cheology, paleography, and cu1tural history. Some scholars at Central European universities ha'Ve en<thusi>astilcaJ:ly accepted• Oincilk's study and its coniclusions. If generally accepted by exper,ts in mediev-al art history, Cincik's work will meain. for Slarvic studies a new important and: valualble contriibution. :Some of the conclusions are unnecessarily repeated in the book and the awthor is inconsistent when using the ,n;a,me Olf the Gospel (Curt!hlberts or Cuthlbert?) as well as the term Arvar or Avaric. Seveml chapters of the book do not directly refer to the Gospel but make the text and the author'o conclusions easi'er to understand and to aocept. The teX!t would indicate that i>t is a translation from Slovak or other European language and sometimes quite far from perfect English. An ilmpressive bibliogr,aiphy and a great number of references in footnotes prove that Prof. Oincik took his task seriously. J. M. Kirschbaum, Uni:Versilty oif Mlo-ntreaJ. Rev. B. S. Bue, OJF.IM., Ph.ID.: Slovak Nationalism; published by the Slovak League oif America, M1dd<letawn, Pa., 1960; pp. 67. This book is the aurthor's thesis for his Mlasber Degree in Political Science a,t the Uni'ver,s ity of Pittsburgh. The a~eptance of a thesfa by a University Falculty ilmplies that the swbm'itted work is 77 serious, well documented, and written in a solid way. '!1his work of the Rev. Bue has all these qualities. The author first discusses the history oif Slovak nationalism a,s it had developed under the influence of Enlightenmen1t and Roonanticism in the Aiustro-iHungarian Monarchy, until, in the middle -Orf the pa,s t century, it ac,q uired definite political fol"ms. In the old Monarchy the Slo,vak-s struggled f •o r nati'on,a,1 self.,presewa-tion a,g ain'st the offilcial trend of magy,arizati-on. J!l'om 19.1.8, when the FJrst Czecho-Slovak Republic was estalblished, until 1009 they had to defend their distinct national character against the so-called 'ICzecho-Slovruc i'dea," the offiicial trend of the Prague governmemrt to assimilate the Slov,aiks into the Czech ethnic growp. The proclamarti-on of the Slovak Rerpu'blic in M<arch, 19319, is considered· by the awthor as a logical conclusion of Slov-a!k national aspirati1ons. Rev. Bue defends Slovak nation.al aspiraUons ag,a inst the all•e· gations oif anti,Slcwak political enemies who claim that the Slovaks with their na1tionalism have been a des-trucfone elemenrt in the Danwbian Basin. He proves that the Slova'ks defended their un.al~ena1ble rights for their own nartional life wi'thiin the poli:tical entity in which they Hved, filr-s t in A'll'!>tro-,Hung,ary, and then in Czecho,Slovakia. OnJy when these political en• tities were destroyed in coniflicts of the great power block,s, the Slova!ks took the opportunity to improve their nartional position in a new un~t, namely in Czecho-Slovakia (19118), and then, ◊1939) in thefr indeipendent Slovak Repulblic. •I n the develQpment of Slovak national consciousness and in the struggle for th·e improV'e'IDem.t of the Sliovak politilcal position, a prominent role wa,s played by SLOVAKIA 78 Slovak emigrants, particularly by those in the U. S. A. American Slovaks, toget her with American Czechs, took an active part in fighting against the Hapsburg Monarchy. To saifeguard Slovak .r.iational rights in the commoniwealt:i oi Czechs arnd Slovaks which was to come into ex.istence under the name of Czecho-Sl.ovakfa, Slovak political leaders concluded an agreement with Czech represem,tat,ives in P.ittsiburgh, May 30, MHS. By this agreement S1ovakia wa•s to dbtain an autonomous posit-ion in the Czecho-Slovalk Republic. La ter the Czechs under T. G. Masaryk and EdJWard Benes denownced this agreement as void and tried to assimilate the Slovak ethnic group in to the so-called "Czech-oslovak" nation. The Pilttsburg.h Agreement, howe~r, became the poJ.itical credo of the Slovak autonomists under the leadershiip orf iMsgr. Am,dr e<w Hlinka. Slovak emigrant s of the period after World War ]I are almost withoult a-n exception for complete independenc·e of Slovakia and work intensely for tha t goal. Very interesting is the last chapter of Rev. Buc's book which describes commu,n-islt tactics in re· lation to Slovak naitona1is,m. During the First Czecho-Slovak Rlepublic the Slovak communist s, though few in number, were more separatist than the Father IDinka (Catho lie) P>eople's Party or Rev. Razus' (Lu,theran) Nationa l P.arty. The Slovak communists propounded the idea of coonpl•e te separat ion of Slovakia from Czecho-Slova'kfa, while the other two Slovak parties had for their aim the autonomy of Slovakia wJthiin, the CzechO-Slo-vak Republic. During the Second World War the Slovak communisits, apparently with the approval of Moscow, continued to work their or,i ginal line. Bult when the idea of a reborn Czecho--SlCl'Vakia 1 preva,iJed in Moscow. the Slovak communists had to be satisfied with only a guarantee of autonomy for Slovakia, gramited under commuruist pressure by President Dr. Edlward Benes in the Slovak city of Kosice. Nevertheless, following the communis:t coup d'etat of 1948, the Ozech communists gradually liquidated Slovak nationalist commun~·sts branding them as national bourgeois deviationists aind rescinding all Slovak autonomous pr,erogatives . After 1'948, cenitralism, stricter than that of the First Czecho--Slovak Repulblic, was re-established. The book of Rev. Bue not only pro,j ects objective light over Slovak nationalism in its historical structure, but also gives a pr.aspec t for a sound solution of the Slovak question. This solution, in the conclusions of Rev. Bue, is no-thin,g less tha1n full independence for the Slovaks within their ethnographic Boundaries. - T. Z. Gj~bert L. Oddo: Slovakia and People, :Robert Speller and Sons, New York, 1960,. 370 pp. , $6.00. The eyes and ears of the world are focused as .never before on the African and! Asiat ic peoples in their frenzied attempt to !break encrusted •colonial political patterns and1 asser,t their right of pol i tic al self-determinatio n. That right is not som•et hing newly conceived iby the no,n .mhite world; the non -w-hite peoples, however, have newly disc01Vered it. The right of self-determinatio n of peoples was popularized for European peoples at the peace po,w-wows of 19r118-19. [n approaching [)r. Oddo's minute history of the Slovak nation, one should recall that the Slovaks, like their neighbors in Cen,t ral Eurape, ,t he Sudeter:: Germans, were among the "little" Il'atio·ns Wils·on had in mind when he ipropounded its SLOVAKIA his aims of self-determinatoin, a worthy cause that was frustrated by C'hauv,i nis,t exploitation, later tossed' into the political waste-masket. iHere we find a long-needed presentation of 11:J.istoric 1b ac~ground events requisite to the underst1and ing of the formation ·a nd growth of Slovakia into a politically conscious ethnic group seeking independence from foreign overlords, even to the present dlay. Dr. Oddo shows the emergence of Great Miorarvia, starting with the d,3wn of history and moving into the Christian- era; he tells of the warring elements that, made tlhe Slovak country little more than a battleground for centuries, highlights t he age of !Maria Theresia, then o.f her son Jioseph I[ and the influence ·of the Slovak life of his reforms. One by one Oddo peels off the coats of legendary myt'h that have olbscured the true telling of the Slova,k story for de cades. Boldly the author daubs his canvas with vivid colors of historical truth, producing a series of coherent scenes that show a people tenacious, conscious of pur:pose, idealistic and proud, slowly bu t surely emerging from oppression ar.d imposed servitude into a cohesive political and ehhnic entity. The talblea ux take the reader on through tJhe 'Europeon revolution of '1848 jnto the era of the Dual Monal"chy, continuing• into the "tro1.11blous days o.f the '1~20's . . . and t,he more cha'Otic years of the 30's. We see Slovakia's saga as a never-ending, torment•ed striving for ethnic self-eX,pression an,d, poliWhat a tical se1f-determination. tragic coin:ciden'Ce that inde-p endence, however short-liv,ed , had to come -a t a time when National Socialism was to :form its political back-dro,p, casting unwarranted as- 79 persions on- the aims and methods of SlO'Vak statesmen. A£ter the short brea,tJhing s,pell of rnberty we see the light o.f truth and freedom quenched again, this time from the !East. The con'Cluding chapter on Slovak emigration deals prilJ'Ilarily with the Slovaks who emigrated to the USA and tells what they harve been a!ble to achieve from their new home on belhalf of their captive fellowcountrymen: "We ask for the Slovak nation ·c omp lete autonomy and freedom of self-determination both in the field of politi'cs as well as in the cultural and' economic !fields. 1 In completing the reading of Slovakia and its People the reader chances thes•e what won-der.s dreams h-aive of !fulfillment now that all unli.berated peoples are on the march. Will they be forgotten, over-slhadowed by the dark man's world,, or will the ,plea for selfdetermination be strengthend, now that other voi•c es have strengthened, now that other voices have joon-ed the chorus? - Frances McPoyne. The Origin of the Name "Slav," by J. B. Riudnyc:ky,j, Winnipeg; Ukrainian Free Acad'emy of S'Ciences (Box 3•597 S,tn. B, Winnipeg 4, Man .) (Onoonastica Series No. 21) Second revised edition, '1961, 24 pages 50c. 'Ilh.e origin of the namie "Slav" is a controversial swbject as this b~ief survey shows. In the eight pages devoted to the topic there are over a dozen possilble etymological d•erivations of "Slav" summarized. Pro.f. Rudnycky,j , head of the University of Manito1b a Slavic Dep:i,r tmen t, originally d,elivered this survey as a presidential address at an Annual Meeting of the American Name Society. It was firs t 80 SLOVAKIA printed in the June 11960 issue o,f the journal Names andr is pro'baliYl!Y the <first such syino,ptic survey in the 'Englislh language. All -the most important etyimological d'erivations are summarized. The first suggested is from trhe root of slava (,glory), lin which cas•e the Slavs -are •t he "glorious" people. The second possi!ble exipJ..anation de·r ives it fu-OIIll slovo (rword) in which case the Slavs were ,t hose people who spoke an understandable language. The tlhird explanation is the topographic or t01Ponyimic (geographic place-name) origin. Sug,gestions fur this source are from an anrcier..t Slavic capital Slauna, from a root meaning "hiill, mounliain," or another meaning "lowlands." Another interesting suggestion is that the common ending "-slav" in names such as Yarosiav, IMstislav and, My<roslav exipanded into the nlllIIle of the people. This is also sugg.ested as the origin of t,he Englislh word "s1'ave." The Slavic captives lby repeating their n.ames may 'hav,e clearly impressed the common 1atter part orf their captors. 'Ptrofessor iRudnyrckyj concludes that there is no unanimous agreement on the etymology of the word "SfaN" although the topographic ex;planation seems to be the most convincing. Howeiver, th,e derivation from slovo (rword) is sti-Il :possiible. It may be mentioned tha K. Mos7JYnski lin Original Extension of the Pre-Slavic !Language (Wroclaw: IPolrish Arcademy of S'Cienc.es, 1'957) S'llg,g ests yet another view not touched on in this survey. iHe derives a .torpogr,aiphic view from the name given by ,northerners "to the drwellers of 'orpen fields' " (page 145), implying "dear' 'or 'clean" 'from the sunny open steppe of Uikraine. He gives this etymology: from the "Lart in cluo ([ clean.), Greeik kluzo (I wash, purge) kludon (striking orf waves), Old !High German hl11t• tar (clean, clear), Old iNordiic hler (lake, sea.), Litlhuanfan slavu, sluoti (to rweep (originally to clean, compare the Slav wo,rd cistiti, which in Uikrainian, Bulgarian and Serbo..Croat asswmed a secondary meaning 'to sweep')" (from page 13·9.) In the English language the word "Slav" has been used i nm-any forms•. llt has finaUy distilled down to three interchangeaible forms : Slaiv, Sla'Vlic, and Slavonic. The (Proressor's consistent use of "Slavic" in ,t he text indicates his preference "Slavonic" is used 1Inostly in En,gl'and. A useful featUTe of Pro!essor Rudnyrckiyj's monograph is the extensive list of lbi!bliogrruphical footnotes. This will guide the situdent to a wealth o'f sourees on the s-wbject. Mso includ•e d in this Onoma-stica issue is an ar,ti:cle, "Ten Years of Onomastaica {100lel961i)'' by M. H. Scargill. It is a history of this toip'O and anthrorponyimic series edited, ·tiwice a ye•ar 1b y J. B. Rudn,yckyj . Although brief, this survey is a real contrilbution !bercause it makes avaiilaible to the !English read'er the !basic tlheories on the origin of the word "S1av." otherwise they would lbe inaccess1ble to him. -It is an important step in eliminating ,part of the prevailing ignoranrce, in -the western world, o,f the !Slavs. Andrew Gregorovich, IM!ClMiaster University, Hamilton, Ontario. ,(iEditor's Note: See rDr. Henrich Bartelk's "The Origin of 'Slovan' and 'Slovak'" in SWI\I\AlKlliA, June '1958.) Officers of the Slovak League of America (Organized May 26, 1907, Cleveland, Ohio) Honorary Presicent3 Michael Msgr. F . J. Dubosh, P.A. Sas 3803 Cresson Street Philadelphia 27, Pa. 12608 Madison Avenue Lakewood 7, hio Joseph Dr. Peter P. H letko Klucar 1617 Alameda Avenue Lakewood 7, Ohio Batavia Rd ., Box 48 Warrensville, III. George Kantor President Philip A. Hrobak 281 Hollywood Ave. New York 61, N. Y. P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. ADVISORY COUNCIL Vice-Presidents Joseph Bendik John P. 0. Box 230 Uniontown, Pa. A. Sabol National President First Catholic Slovak Union Julia Krajcovic Helen Kocan 1648 \V. 18th Street Chicago 8. Ill. National President First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union Recording Secretary John Horecky Paul 2264 Walton Ave. New York 53, N. Y. Secretary-Treasurer Stephen J. Tkach Paul C. Kazim er 1122 Sy! van Avenue Homestead, Pa. :-.'atinnal President Pa. Catholic Slovak Union EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Paul Fallat :-.'alional Presiden: Slovak Catholic Sokol Anna Sotak National President Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union P. Jamriska 536 Marie Ave. Pittsburgh 2, Pa. Emrich Valko Andrew Hudak 15701 Bennett Rd. :-So. Royalton 33, Ohio National President Slovak Catholic Cadet Union SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slov;ik League of America) JEDNOTA SLOVENSKA OBRANA ZENSK.A. JEDNOTA Middletown. Pa. Sr-ranton. Pa. Cleveland, Ohio BRATSTVO Wilkes-Ilarre. Pa. SLOVENSKE NOVINY ClevPland. Ohio Scranton, Pa. KATOLiCKY SOKOL Pa,.salc. N . J . SVORNOST OSADNE. HLASY Whitaker. Pa. Chicago, Ill. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. ZORNICKA SLOVAKIA: The Castle of Brunovce ( 17th Century)  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33) Description An account of the resource includes book reviews, pp. 74-80, and photo of Castle of Brunovce, back cover Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/d0717493be238a53b22dc7f7aadb9f1e.pdf 3cfaf5353813059bf95df6f02af62153 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 43 COMMUNIST ILLUSION AND DEMOCRATIC REALITY By J. Edgar Hoover, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (tAd•a pted from article preipared for memibers of the National Strategy S•eminar) A five-year study of the conduct of American prisoners of war during the Korean conflict was made by the United States Army. This study disclosed that there was, in the morale of American prisoners of war, a breakdown which reached disturbing proportions. Almost one out of every three American prisoners of war collaborated to some degree with the communists. This colla'boration included broadcasting anti-American propaganda, writing articles praising life under communism, "con.fessing" to the use of germ warfare, an\d signing peace appeals and other communist petitions. Our soldiers informed on one andther and fraternized with the enemy. The death of some American prisoners could have been prevented if they had not been completely neglected by their fellow captives. Not one American prisoner of war succeeded in escaping. Some even chose to remain in Communist China rather than return to the United States. That American military personnel collaborated alt aH is difficult to understand. Even more disturbing are the extent of the collaboration and the casual attitude of those who were guilty. As a result of the study, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in August, 1955, promulgalteld for members of the Armed Forces a Code of Conduct specifying the duties and obligations of our fighting men. The report of the special committee which had recommended the adoption of tih!s .code pointedly noted: "The uninformed P.0.W.'s were up against it. They couldn't answer arguments in favor of communism with arguments in favor of Americanism because they knew very little a<bout their America ... " The report concluded that our Armed Forces had not adequately prepared their men for the rigors of commu • nist indoctrination. It lookeld behind this failure, however, and stressed that our homes, schools, churches, and pa- �44 SLOVAKIA triotic organizations must also assume greater responsibility in educating Americans in the principles which un, derlie our way of life. The importance of such an affirr;.a.tive long-range educational program is borne out by the special committee's finding that, in many cases, our fighting men were at a disadvantage because they knew less about the ideals and traditions of their own country, than did their communist interrogators. The behavior of these prisoners of war was less an individual failure than it was an indictment of our entire society which had not prepared them adequately for their head-on collision with communist indoctrination. All Americans must share some responsibility for the conduct of these prisoners of war. More important, we must not ignore this forceful example of the impact of communist psychological pressures. Our continued survival may well depend upon the action we take now to insure that all citizens, not only military personnel, are fortified against the continuous communist ideological assault. We can defeat communist ideology and - at the same time - reinforce the structure of our own form of government by the combined process of exposure and education. The illusions of communism cannot withstand the penetrating light of truth. For a number of years, congressional and state investigations of communism, essential for the consideration of legislation, have focused the pitiless glare of publicity on many phases of communis t activity. The reports of these investigative bodies are readily availaJble and include detailed information regarding the activities of the Communist Party, USA, throughout the country . The Committee on Un-American Activi·ties United States House of Representatives, has issued a conveniern~ "Guide to Sulbversive Organizations and Publications." This is a listing of the various organizations cited by the Attorney General of the United Sta:tes, as well as other organiza:tions and publications found by congressional or state investigative committees to be communist dominated. The introduction to this publication consists of a brief historical review of communist front group activity, an ex- �SLOVAKIA 45 1Planation of the methods by which communist front groups are established, and a set of cniteria to assist in detecting them. Some measures of the effectiveness of these investigative committees in exposing the aims, principles, and methods of communism is indicated by the bitterness and the intensity of communist attacks upon them, as well as by the continuous communist campaigns to abolish them. Former communisbs are a:lso victims of communist vituperation because of the important role they play in exposing the true nature of communism. Many of these persons, after renouncing communism, have testified before courts, administrativ e hearings, and investigative committees. Through books, articles, and lectures based on their firsthand knowledge, they have helped to alert the public. In addition, their testimony has provided valuable evidence which has enabled the Government to prosecute communists who violate our laws. By these actions, many former communists have not only rehabilitated themselves but have, in the process, made a substantial contribution to the security of all Americans. Every exposure of communism's false premises, inherent contradictions , deceitful tactics, and empty promises he'lps to shatter its ideologiical appeal and to fortify aga:inst its psychological pressures. But, in this struggle for men's minds, exposure alone is not enough. Exposure must be complemented by a long-range educational program with a dual purpose. This program must encompass, not only a penetrating study of communism, but also a thorough grounding in ,the basic prindples of our individual freedom under law. This educational program must be designed to train people to think and to distinguish between truth and error. Each year, more colleges are offering courses which present a critical ana:lysis of tJhe theory and practice of communism. In at least one college, a course of this type is compulsory. Books contrasting communism with our form of government are now being published for our use in our high schools. This academic instruction can be supplemented by individual study of the wealth of anti-com- �46 SLOVAKIA munist material available as well as by participation in group discussions and public forums. This program of education in communism must not, of course, constitute or be confused with the advocacy of communist doctrine. It can and should be limited to a critical study of communist strategy and tactics and the materialistic philosophy underlying them. Knowing what communism really is and how it operates will also help us to avoid tJhe danger of confusing ;Communism with legitimate dissent on controversial issues. Communism feeds on social ferment. On both the local and national levels, the Communist Parity, USA, is continually -e ~ploiting social, economic, and political grievances for its own tadical purposes. For this reason, the "Party line" will frequently coincide with the views of many non-communists on speci£ic issues. We must not, therefore, indiscriminately la:bel as communists those whose opinions on a particular question may, on occasion, parallel the official Party position. We must also guard against the tendency to characterize as communists those who merely disagree with us or who advocate unorthodox or unpopular beliefs. When anyone is erroneously branded a communist, it not only constitutes an injustice to the individual, but also helps communism by diffusing the strength of anti-communist forces. In combatting communism, we must be aware of vigilante action. The responsibilities of citizens are to be certain of the facts and to report these facts to the proper authorities. Knowledge of communism is only the first phase of the battle. This knowledge must be augmented by a continuous revitalization of our own inherently superior strength through the prac tical, daily exercise and development of our American principles. Too frequently, emphasis is placed on acquiring an understanding only of the me~haniical functions of our Government, such as elections, the enactment of legislation, or judicial review. ':Dhis knowledge, important as it is, becomes a mere collection of sterile •facts without a deep appreciation and a continuing awareness of the reason for the very existence of our form of Government - the freedom of the individual under law. �47 SLOVAKIA ------------- - - Without the realization of this f.undamental phJlosophy of freedom, such basic individual rights as freedom of s,peech, the press, anld religion are taken for granted. Forgoitten is man's bitter fight through the centuries to wrest these freedoms from tyranny. The exel'cise of these individual freedoms, which we often take for granted, is largely responsi'ble for our Nation's reputation for getting things done. Many of us have seen, or have even participated in, programs for community improvement promoted by private organizations and civic groups. Recognizing a specific problem which required cooperative action, and sparkled by individual initiative, whole communities have organized, for example, to attract new industry, to eradicate blighted slum areas, to eliminate racial tensions, or to improve educational opportunities. Public officials, religious leaders, and representatives of business, labor, and the professions, realizing a common interest, have fused their energies and in many cases, have literally transformed their commuruties. Signif,i cantly, however, while many of tJhe problems these communities faced were similar, there was no set pattern in the solutions which were devised. Just as specific local problems and resources have determined the nature of the response, so too any organized program to immunize a community against communist penetration must be tailored to prevailing local conditions. All that is required is imagination, resourcefulness, and some personal sacrifice coupled with the wi'll to inspire positive action to combat communism and to strengthen democracy at the community level. In the State of Florida, for example, the Bar Association developed a lecture program on the theme of the advantages of our system over communism. These lectures are ,g iven to high school students throug,hout the state by specially trained practicing attorneys. The speakers explain how our Government operates, what must be done to keep it functioning effectively, and why it is superior to the Soviet system. All of the lectures given under this program stress the duty of each citizen to interest himself actively in publi-c affairs. The American Bar Association, 1 �48 SLOVAKIA in cooperation with the American Heritage Foundation, annually observes Law Day with ceremonies which contrast the Rule of Law in our country with the rule of fear in communist nations. To offset the Communist Party's celebration of May Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsor an annual Loyalty Day parade in New York City. At its Indianapolis headquarters, The American Legion maintains an Americanism Commission, which provides information about communism to the public. Individual religious faiths have held training classes for members of trade-unions who are actively opposing communist attempts to infiltrate the labor movement. The interdenominational Foundation for Religious Action in the Social and Civil Order, of Washington, D. C., has been organized to stress the importance of religious truth in the preservation and development of our way of life. Its goal is to unite all who believe in God in the struggle against atheistic communism. 'Dhe Assembly of Captive European Nations prepaired a large photographic exhibit featuring scenes of communist domestic terror and Soviet imperialism. Sponsored by various organizations, this dramatic exhibition was sown in a number of our large cities, as well as in cities abroad. The Freedom Train, which toured the United States with such documents as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, gave many of our citizens, who would not ordinarily have had the opportunity, a chance to view these hallowed symbo'1s of American freedom. As a public service, many individuals and private organizations prepare, or reprint, and distribute anti-communist literature. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Public Instruction had the Library of Congress prepare a selected annotated bibliography on communism for use by teachers and students. Local activity can have far-reaching effects. A group and undergraduate students decided to capigraduate of communist-inspired Seventh World You!th the on talize in Vienna in 1959. For a year prior to held be to Festival college campuses searching for visited they festival, the �SLOVAKIA 49 students who could effectively represent the United States and who were wining to atJtend. They di,s tri'buted pamphlets outlining the communist background of this and previous festivals, as weH as booklets of facts and figures on issues which communist propaganda has been exploiting. ·This group also conducted briefing sessions for the anticommunists who planned to attend. News accounts of the festival highlighted how the anti-communist American delegates stole the communists' thunder as a result of their ability to correct the misconceptions and distortions of American society which have always characterized these festivals. Americans, both military and civilian, who are working in or visiting foreign na,tions can play a,n important role in the struggle against communism. Every citizen abroad is, in a very real sense, a full-time "ambassador" not only of our Nation but also of t:he American way of life. An understanding of and a respect for the rights of others are fundamental to our concept of individual freedom. This also applies in our dealings with citirens of other nations regardless of their educational attainments, social status, or economic level. By exercising his individual freedom in a responsible manner without violating ,the rights of others, every American traveling abroad can serve as a forceful example of how our system of government works. The American aJbroad, by his conduct, can sow positive and constructive ideas which one day may help to produce a harvest on which the Free World can grow stronger. Individual initiative and originality, geared to local action, are the wellsprings by which our system of government is continuously nourished. These examples illustrate how the moral strength of our Nation is constantly replenished. Programs such as these, infused with a renewed sense of dedication, should be expanded, coordinated, and continued on a long-range basis. The importance of local communiities cannot be overemphasized. It is there that social understanding and growth take root. It is there that education, business, labor, and reHgion take on form and substance to influence, nourish, vitalize, and give direction to our national life. Lt �50 SLOVAKIA is in our local communities that cogent, penetrative thinking should be done now to re-evaluate the position of this Nation in the present worM crisis. From this constructive effort can come a decisive contribution to formulating and carrying out a coordinated, comprehensive, affirmative global strategy which will insure the supremacy of freedom over a'll types of totalitarianism. Communism has hurled us a moral challenge. Our response, and the response of free men everywhere, will de-· .termine whether or not freedom itself survives. It is no longer suf.ficient for us to adopt the negative approach of merely reacting defensively to every shift in communist tactics. We must place greater emphasis on the positive role which our American way of life can perform in this struggle. A CREMATORY is being planned in Braitislava, SloV'akia, according to the d'aily PRAOA. ]t should be ready by the end of 1,963; the cost: 9 million Crowns; and location: near Vhe present Bratislava cemetery. 11he Reds are happy that finally consideraition has beer: given "to this modern and scienitific way of burying tihe dead ." e • • urgent assignments of the oow FiveYear Pla.n 01961,1005) of the Czec'h Communist Party's Cenitral Committee is t!he coimpletion of the huge ]r.ornworks in Kosice, Slovakia. Blueprints for this "second steel heart" as it is termed by Praue Reds - was drawn up in the USSR It will be the largest four.,dry in all Europe and one ·of the ten, largesit works of tts kind in the world. Et will cost an estimated 10.5 billions Crown,s. Soviet experts are in charge of construction and operation. ONIE OF THIE MOST RECOMMENDED BOOKS: "CZECHOSWVAKISM VERSUS AMERICANISM" an expose of the pro-Soviet "National Fronters" in the socalled Council af Free Czechoslovakia - is a 48 page booklet published by the Slovaik League of America, which should be read by every one seeking the answer to the question of how "Czecho-Slovak democracy" converted to a "people's democracy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SLOVAKIA for your copy today. � SLOVAKIA 43 COMMUNIST ILLUSION AND DEMOCRATIC REALITY By J. Edgar Hoover, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (tAd•a pted from article preipared for memibers of the National Strategy S•eminar) A five-year study of the conduct of American prisoners of war during the Korean conflict was made by the United States Army. This study disclosed that there was, in the morale of American prisoners of war, a breakdown which reached disturbing proportions. Almost one out of every three American prisoners of war collaborated to some degree with the communists. This colla'boration included broadcasting anti-American propaganda, writing articles praising life under communism, "con.fessing" to the use of germ warfare, an\d signing peace appeals and other communist petitions. Our soldiers informed on one andther and fraternized with the enemy. The death of some American prisoners could have been prevented if they had not been completely neglected by their fellow captives. Not one American prisoner of war succeeded in escaping. Some even chose to remain in Communist China rather than return to the United States. That American military personnel collaborated alt aH is difficult to understand. Even more disturbing are the extent of the collaboration and the casual attitude of those who were guilty. As a result of the study, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in August, 1955, promulgalteld for members of the Armed Forces a Code of Conduct specifying the duties and obligations of our fighting men. The report of the special committee which had recommended the adoption of tih!s .code pointedly noted: "The uninformed P.0.W.'s were up against it. They couldn't answer arguments in favor of communism with arguments in favor of Americanism because they knew very little a<bout their America ... " The report concluded that our Armed Forces had not adequately prepared their men for the rigors of commu • nist indoctrination. It lookeld behind this failure, however, and stressed that our homes, schools, churches, and pa- �44 SLOVAKIA triotic organizations must also assume greater responsibility in educating Americans in the principles which un, derlie our way of life. The importance of such an affirr;.a.tive long-range educational program is borne out by the special committee's finding that, in many cases, our fighting men were at a disadvantage because they knew less about the ideals and traditions of their own country, than did their communist interrogators. The behavior of these prisoners of war was less an individual failure than it was an indictment of our entire society which had not prepared them adequately for their head-on collision with communist indoctrination. All Americans must share some responsibility for the conduct of these prisoners of war. More important, we must not ignore this forceful example of the impact of communist psychological pressures. Our continued survival may well depend upon the action we take now to insure that all citizens, not only military personnel, are fortified against the continuous communist ideological assault. We can defeat communist ideology and - at the same time - reinforce the structure of our own form of government by the combined process of exposure and education. The illusions of communism cannot withstand the penetrating light of truth. For a number of years, congressional and state investigations of communism, essential for the consideration of legislation, have focused the pitiless glare of publicity on many phases of communis t activity. The reports of these investigative bodies are readily availaJble and include detailed information regarding the activities of the Communist Party, USA, throughout the country . The Committee on Un-American Activi·ties United States House of Representatives, has issued a conveniern~ "Guide to Sulbversive Organizations and Publications." This is a listing of the various organizations cited by the Attorney General of the United Sta:tes, as well as other organiza:tions and publications found by congressional or state investigative committees to be communist dominated. The introduction to this publication consists of a brief historical review of communist front group activity, an ex- �SLOVAKIA 45 1Planation of the methods by which communist front groups are established, and a set of cniteria to assist in detecting them. Some measures of the effectiveness of these investigative committees in exposing the aims, principles, and methods of communism is indicated by the bitterness and the intensity of communist attacks upon them, as well as by the continuous communist campaigns to abolish them. Former communisbs are a:lso victims of communist vituperation because of the important role they play in exposing the true nature of communism. Many of these persons, after renouncing communism, have testified before courts, administrativ e hearings, and investigative committees. Through books, articles, and lectures based on their firsthand knowledge, they have helped to alert the public. In addition, their testimony has provided valuable evidence which has enabled the Government to prosecute communists who violate our laws. By these actions, many former communists have not only rehabilitated themselves but have, in the process, made a substantial contribution to the security of all Americans. Every exposure of communism's false premises, inherent contradictions , deceitful tactics, and empty promises he'lps to shatter its ideologiical appeal and to fortify aga:inst its psychological pressures. But, in this struggle for men's minds, exposure alone is not enough. Exposure must be complemented by a long-range educational program with a dual purpose. This program must encompass, not only a penetrating study of communism, but also a thorough grounding in ,the basic prindples of our individual freedom under law. This educational program must be designed to train people to think and to distinguish between truth and error. Each year, more colleges are offering courses which present a critical ana:lysis of tJhe theory and practice of communism. In at least one college, a course of this type is compulsory. Books contrasting communism with our form of government are now being published for our use in our high schools. This academic instruction can be supplemented by individual study of the wealth of anti-com- �46 SLOVAKIA munist material available as well as by participation in group discussions and public forums. This program of education in communism must not, of course, constitute or be confused with the advocacy of communist doctrine. It can and should be limited to a critical study of communist strategy and tactics and the materialistic philosophy underlying them. Knowing what communism really is and how it operates will also help us to avoid tJhe danger of confusing ;Communism with legitimate dissent on controversial issues. Communism feeds on social ferment. On both the local and national levels, the Communist Parity, USA, is continually -e ~ploiting social, economic, and political grievances for its own tadical purposes. For this reason, the "Party line" will frequently coincide with the views of many non-communists on speci£ic issues. We must not, therefore, indiscriminately la:bel as communists those whose opinions on a particular question may, on occasion, parallel the official Party position. We must also guard against the tendency to characterize as communists those who merely disagree with us or who advocate unorthodox or unpopular beliefs. When anyone is erroneously branded a communist, it not only constitutes an injustice to the individual, but also helps communism by diffusing the strength of anti-communist forces. In combatting communism, we must be aware of vigilante action. The responsibilities of citizens are to be certain of the facts and to report these facts to the proper authorities. Knowledge of communism is only the first phase of the battle. This knowledge must be augmented by a continuous revitalization of our own inherently superior strength through the prac tical, daily exercise and development of our American principles. Too frequently, emphasis is placed on acquiring an understanding only of the me~haniical functions of our Government, such as elections, the enactment of legislation, or judicial review. ':Dhis knowledge, important as it is, becomes a mere collection of sterile •facts without a deep appreciation and a continuing awareness of the reason for the very existence of our form of Government - the freedom of the individual under law. �47 SLOVAKIA ------------- - - Without the realization of this f.undamental phJlosophy of freedom, such basic individual rights as freedom of s,peech, the press, anld religion are taken for granted. Forgoitten is man's bitter fight through the centuries to wrest these freedoms from tyranny. The exel'cise of these individual freedoms, which we often take for granted, is largely responsi'ble for our Nation's reputation for getting things done. Many of us have seen, or have even participated in, programs for community improvement promoted by private organizations and civic groups. Recognizing a specific problem which required cooperative action, and sparkled by individual initiative, whole communities have organized, for example, to attract new industry, to eradicate blighted slum areas, to eliminate racial tensions, or to improve educational opportunities. Public officials, religious leaders, and representatives of business, labor, and the professions, realizing a common interest, have fused their energies and in many cases, have literally transformed their commuruties. Signif,i cantly, however, while many of tJhe problems these communities faced were similar, there was no set pattern in the solutions which were devised. Just as specific local problems and resources have determined the nature of the response, so too any organized program to immunize a community against communist penetration must be tailored to prevailing local conditions. All that is required is imagination, resourcefulness, and some personal sacrifice coupled with the wi'll to inspire positive action to combat communism and to strengthen democracy at the community level. In the State of Florida, for example, the Bar Association developed a lecture program on the theme of the advantages of our system over communism. These lectures are ,g iven to high school students throug,hout the state by specially trained practicing attorneys. The speakers explain how our Government operates, what must be done to keep it functioning effectively, and why it is superior to the Soviet system. All of the lectures given under this program stress the duty of each citizen to interest himself actively in publi-c affairs. The American Bar Association, 1 �48 SLOVAKIA in cooperation with the American Heritage Foundation, annually observes Law Day with ceremonies which contrast the Rule of Law in our country with the rule of fear in communist nations. To offset the Communist Party's celebration of May Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsor an annual Loyalty Day parade in New York City. At its Indianapolis headquarters, The American Legion maintains an Americanism Commission, which provides information about communism to the public. Individual religious faiths have held training classes for members of trade-unions who are actively opposing communist attempts to infiltrate the labor movement. The interdenominational Foundation for Religious Action in the Social and Civil Order, of Washington, D. C., has been organized to stress the importance of religious truth in the preservation and development of our way of life. Its goal is to unite all who believe in God in the struggle against atheistic communism. 'Dhe Assembly of Captive European Nations prepaired a large photographic exhibit featuring scenes of communist domestic terror and Soviet imperialism. Sponsored by various organizations, this dramatic exhibition was sown in a number of our large cities, as well as in cities abroad. The Freedom Train, which toured the United States with such documents as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, gave many of our citizens, who would not ordinarily have had the opportunity, a chance to view these hallowed symbo'1s of American freedom. As a public service, many individuals and private organizations prepare, or reprint, and distribute anti-communist literature. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Public Instruction had the Library of Congress prepare a selected annotated bibliography on communism for use by teachers and students. Local activity can have far-reaching effects. A group and undergraduate students decided to capigraduate of communist-inspired Seventh World You!th the on talize in Vienna in 1959. For a year prior to held be to Festival college campuses searching for visited they festival, the �SLOVAKIA 49 students who could effectively represent the United States and who were wining to atJtend. They di,s tri'buted pamphlets outlining the communist background of this and previous festivals, as weH as booklets of facts and figures on issues which communist propaganda has been exploiting. ·This group also conducted briefing sessions for the anticommunists who planned to attend. News accounts of the festival highlighted how the anti-communist American delegates stole the communists' thunder as a result of their ability to correct the misconceptions and distortions of American society which have always characterized these festivals. Americans, both military and civilian, who are working in or visiting foreign na,tions can play a,n important role in the struggle against communism. Every citizen abroad is, in a very real sense, a full-time "ambassador" not only of our Nation but also of t:he American way of life. An understanding of and a respect for the rights of others are fundamental to our concept of individual freedom. This also applies in our dealings with citirens of other nations regardless of their educational attainments, social status, or economic level. By exercising his individual freedom in a responsible manner without violating ,the rights of others, every American traveling abroad can serve as a forceful example of how our system of government works. The American aJbroad, by his conduct, can sow positive and constructive ideas which one day may help to produce a harvest on which the Free World can grow stronger. Individual initiative and originality, geared to local action, are the wellsprings by which our system of government is continuously nourished. These examples illustrate how the moral strength of our Nation is constantly replenished. Programs such as these, infused with a renewed sense of dedication, should be expanded, coordinated, and continued on a long-range basis. The importance of local communiities cannot be overemphasized. It is there that social understanding and growth take root. It is there that education, business, labor, and reHgion take on form and substance to influence, nourish, vitalize, and give direction to our national life. Lt �50 SLOVAKIA is in our local communities that cogent, penetrative thinking should be done now to re-evaluate the position of this Nation in the present worM crisis. From this constructive effort can come a decisive contribution to formulating and carrying out a coordinated, comprehensive, affirmative global strategy which will insure the supremacy of freedom over a'll types of totalitarianism. Communism has hurled us a moral challenge. Our response, and the response of free men everywhere, will de-· .termine whether or not freedom itself survives. It is no longer suf.ficient for us to adopt the negative approach of merely reacting defensively to every shift in communist tactics. We must place greater emphasis on the positive role which our American way of life can perform in this struggle. A CREMATORY is being planned in Braitislava, SloV'akia, according to the d'aily PRAOA. ]t should be ready by the end of 1,963; the cost: 9 million Crowns; and location: near Vhe present Bratislava cemetery. 11he Reds are happy that finally consideraition has beer: given "to this modern and scienitific way of burying tihe dead ." e • • urgent assignments of the oow FiveYear Pla.n 01961,1005) of the Czec'h Communist Party's Cenitral Committee is t!he coimpletion of the huge ]r.ornworks in Kosice, Slovakia. Blueprints for this "second steel heart" as it is termed by Praue Reds - was drawn up in the USSR It will be the largest four.,dry in all Europe and one ·of the ten, largesit works of tts kind in the world. Et will cost an estimated 10.5 billions Crown,s. Soviet experts are in charge of construction and operation. ONIE OF THIE MOST RECOMMENDED BOOKS: "CZECHOSWVAKISM VERSUS AMERICANISM" an expose of the pro-Soviet "National Fronters" in the socalled Council af Free Czechoslovakia - is a 48 page booklet published by the Slovaik League of America, which should be read by every one seeking the answer to the question of how "Czecho-Slovak democracy" converted to a "people's democracy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SLOVAKIA for your copy today. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 43 COMMUNIST ILLUSION AND DEMOCRATIC REALITY By J. Edgar Hoover, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (tAd•a pted from article preipared for memibers of the National Strategy S•eminar) A five-year study of the conduct of American prisoners of war during the Korean conflict was made by the United States Army. This study disclosed that there was, in the morale of American prisoners of war, a breakdown which reached disturbing proportions. Almost one out of every three American prisoners of war collaborated to some degree with the communists. This colla'boration included broadcasting anti-American propaganda, writing articles praising life under communism, "con.fessing" to the use of germ warfare, an\d signing peace appeals and other communist petitions. Our soldiers informed on one andther and fraternized with the enemy. The death of some American prisoners could have been prevented if they had not been completely neglected by their fellow captives. Not one American prisoner of war succeeded in escaping. Some even chose to remain in Communist China rather than return to the United States. That American military personnel collaborated alt aH is difficult to understand. Even more disturbing are the extent of the collaboration and the casual attitude of those who were guilty. As a result of the study, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in August, 1955, promulgalteld for members of the Armed Forces a Code of Conduct specifying the duties and obligations of our fighting men. The report of the special committee which had recommended the adoption of tih!s .code pointedly noted: "The uninformed P.0.W.'s were up against it. They couldn't answer arguments in favor of communism with arguments in favor of Americanism because they knew very little a<bout their America ... " The report concluded that our Armed Forces had not adequately prepared their men for the rigors of commu • nist indoctrination. It lookeld behind this failure, however, and stressed that our homes, schools, churches, and pa- 44 SLOVAKIA triotic organizations must also assume greater responsibility in educating Americans in the principles which un, derlie our way of life. The importance of such an affirr;.a.tive long-range educational program is borne out by the special committee's finding that, in many cases, our fighting men were at a disadvantage because they knew less about the ideals and traditions of their own country, than did their communist interrogators. The behavior of these prisoners of war was less an individual failure than it was an indictment of our entire society which had not prepared them adequately for their head-on collision with communist indoctrination. All Americans must share some responsibility for the conduct of these prisoners of war. More important, we must not ignore this forceful example of the impact of communist psychological pressures. Our continued survival may well depend upon the action we take now to insure that all citizens, not only military personnel, are fortified against the continuous communist ideological assault. We can defeat communist ideology and - at the same time - reinforce the structure of our own form of government by the combined process of exposure and education. The illusions of communism cannot withstand the penetrating light of truth. For a number of years, congressional and state investigations of communism, essential for the consideration of legislation, have focused the pitiless glare of publicity on many phases of communis t activity. The reports of these investigative bodies are readily availaJble and include detailed information regarding the activities of the Communist Party, USA, throughout the country . The Committee on Un-American Activi·ties United States House of Representatives, has issued a conveniern~ "Guide to Sulbversive Organizations and Publications." This is a listing of the various organizations cited by the Attorney General of the United Sta:tes, as well as other organiza:tions and publications found by congressional or state investigative committees to be communist dominated. The introduction to this publication consists of a brief historical review of communist front group activity, an ex- SLOVAKIA 45 1Planation of the methods by which communist front groups are established, and a set of cniteria to assist in detecting them. Some measures of the effectiveness of these investigative committees in exposing the aims, principles, and methods of communism is indicated by the bitterness and the intensity of communist attacks upon them, as well as by the continuous communist campaigns to abolish them. Former communisbs are a:lso victims of communist vituperation because of the important role they play in exposing the true nature of communism. Many of these persons, after renouncing communism, have testified before courts, administrativ e hearings, and investigative committees. Through books, articles, and lectures based on their firsthand knowledge, they have helped to alert the public. In addition, their testimony has provided valuable evidence which has enabled the Government to prosecute communists who violate our laws. By these actions, many former communists have not only rehabilitated themselves but have, in the process, made a substantial contribution to the security of all Americans. Every exposure of communism's false premises, inherent contradictions , deceitful tactics, and empty promises he'lps to shatter its ideologiical appeal and to fortify aga:inst its psychological pressures. But, in this struggle for men's minds, exposure alone is not enough. Exposure must be complemented by a long-range educational program with a dual purpose. This program must encompass, not only a penetrating study of communism, but also a thorough grounding in ,the basic prindples of our individual freedom under law. This educational program must be designed to train people to think and to distinguish between truth and error. Each year, more colleges are offering courses which present a critical ana:lysis of tJhe theory and practice of communism. In at least one college, a course of this type is compulsory. Books contrasting communism with our form of government are now being published for our use in our high schools. This academic instruction can be supplemented by individual study of the wealth of anti-com- 46 SLOVAKIA munist material available as well as by participation in group discussions and public forums. This program of education in communism must not, of course, constitute or be confused with the advocacy of communist doctrine. It can and should be limited to a critical study of communist strategy and tactics and the materialistic philosophy underlying them. Knowing what communism really is and how it operates will also help us to avoid tJhe danger of confusing ;Communism with legitimate dissent on controversial issues. Communism feeds on social ferment. On both the local and national levels, the Communist Parity, USA, is continually -e ~ploiting social, economic, and political grievances for its own tadical purposes. For this reason, the "Party line" will frequently coincide with the views of many non-communists on speci£ic issues. We must not, therefore, indiscriminately la:bel as communists those whose opinions on a particular question may, on occasion, parallel the official Party position. We must also guard against the tendency to characterize as communists those who merely disagree with us or who advocate unorthodox or unpopular beliefs. When anyone is erroneously branded a communist, it not only constitutes an injustice to the individual, but also helps communism by diffusing the strength of anti-communist forces. In combatting communism, we must be aware of vigilante action. The responsibilities of citizens are to be certain of the facts and to report these facts to the proper authorities. Knowledge of communism is only the first phase of the battle. This knowledge must be augmented by a continuous revitalization of our own inherently superior strength through the prac tical, daily exercise and development of our American principles. Too frequently, emphasis is placed on acquiring an understanding only of the me~haniical functions of our Government, such as elections, the enactment of legislation, or judicial review. ':Dhis knowledge, important as it is, becomes a mere collection of sterile •facts without a deep appreciation and a continuing awareness of the reason for the very existence of our form of Government - the freedom of the individual under law. 47 SLOVAKIA ------------- - - Without the realization of this f.undamental phJlosophy of freedom, such basic individual rights as freedom of s,peech, the press, anld religion are taken for granted. Forgoitten is man's bitter fight through the centuries to wrest these freedoms from tyranny. The exel'cise of these individual freedoms, which we often take for granted, is largely responsi'ble for our Nation's reputation for getting things done. Many of us have seen, or have even participated in, programs for community improvement promoted by private organizations and civic groups. Recognizing a specific problem which required cooperative action, and sparkled by individual initiative, whole communities have organized, for example, to attract new industry, to eradicate blighted slum areas, to eliminate racial tensions, or to improve educational opportunities. Public officials, religious leaders, and representatives of business, labor, and the professions, realizing a common interest, have fused their energies and in many cases, have literally transformed their commuruties. Signif,i cantly, however, while many of tJhe problems these communities faced were similar, there was no set pattern in the solutions which were devised. Just as specific local problems and resources have determined the nature of the response, so too any organized program to immunize a community against communist penetration must be tailored to prevailing local conditions. All that is required is imagination, resourcefulness, and some personal sacrifice coupled with the wi'll to inspire positive action to combat communism and to strengthen democracy at the community level. In the State of Florida, for example, the Bar Association developed a lecture program on the theme of the advantages of our system over communism. These lectures are ,g iven to high school students throug,hout the state by specially trained practicing attorneys. The speakers explain how our Government operates, what must be done to keep it functioning effectively, and why it is superior to the Soviet system. All of the lectures given under this program stress the duty of each citizen to interest himself actively in publi-c affairs. The American Bar Association, 1 48 SLOVAKIA in cooperation with the American Heritage Foundation, annually observes Law Day with ceremonies which contrast the Rule of Law in our country with the rule of fear in communist nations. To offset the Communist Party's celebration of May Day, the Veterans of Foreign Wars sponsor an annual Loyalty Day parade in New York City. At its Indianapolis headquarters, The American Legion maintains an Americanism Commission, which provides information about communism to the public. Individual religious faiths have held training classes for members of trade-unions who are actively opposing communist attempts to infiltrate the labor movement. The interdenominational Foundation for Religious Action in the Social and Civil Order, of Washington, D. C., has been organized to stress the importance of religious truth in the preservation and development of our way of life. Its goal is to unite all who believe in God in the struggle against atheistic communism. 'Dhe Assembly of Captive European Nations prepaired a large photographic exhibit featuring scenes of communist domestic terror and Soviet imperialism. Sponsored by various organizations, this dramatic exhibition was sown in a number of our large cities, as well as in cities abroad. The Freedom Train, which toured the United States with such documents as the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, gave many of our citizens, who would not ordinarily have had the opportunity, a chance to view these hallowed symbo'1s of American freedom. As a public service, many individuals and private organizations prepare, or reprint, and distribute anti-communist literature. In Pennsylvania, the Department of Public Instruction had the Library of Congress prepare a selected annotated bibliography on communism for use by teachers and students. Local activity can have far-reaching effects. A group and undergraduate students decided to capigraduate of communist-inspired Seventh World You!th the on talize in Vienna in 1959. For a year prior to held be to Festival college campuses searching for visited they festival, the SLOVAKIA 49 students who could effectively represent the United States and who were wining to atJtend. They di,s tri'buted pamphlets outlining the communist background of this and previous festivals, as weH as booklets of facts and figures on issues which communist propaganda has been exploiting. ·This group also conducted briefing sessions for the anticommunists who planned to attend. News accounts of the festival highlighted how the anti-communist American delegates stole the communists' thunder as a result of their ability to correct the misconceptions and distortions of American society which have always characterized these festivals. Americans, both military and civilian, who are working in or visiting foreign na,tions can play a,n important role in the struggle against communism. Every citizen abroad is, in a very real sense, a full-time "ambassador" not only of our Nation but also of t:he American way of life. An understanding of and a respect for the rights of others are fundamental to our concept of individual freedom. This also applies in our dealings with citirens of other nations regardless of their educational attainments, social status, or economic level. By exercising his individual freedom in a responsible manner without violating ,the rights of others, every American traveling abroad can serve as a forceful example of how our system of government works. The American aJbroad, by his conduct, can sow positive and constructive ideas which one day may help to produce a harvest on which the Free World can grow stronger. Individual initiative and originality, geared to local action, are the wellsprings by which our system of government is continuously nourished. These examples illustrate how the moral strength of our Nation is constantly replenished. Programs such as these, infused with a renewed sense of dedication, should be expanded, coordinated, and continued on a long-range basis. The importance of local communiities cannot be overemphasized. It is there that social understanding and growth take root. It is there that education, business, labor, and reHgion take on form and substance to influence, nourish, vitalize, and give direction to our national life. Lt 50 SLOVAKIA is in our local communities that cogent, penetrative thinking should be done now to re-evaluate the position of this Nation in the present worM crisis. From this constructive effort can come a decisive contribution to formulating and carrying out a coordinated, comprehensive, affirmative global strategy which will insure the supremacy of freedom over a'll types of totalitarianism. Communism has hurled us a moral challenge. Our response, and the response of free men everywhere, will de-· .termine whether or not freedom itself survives. It is no longer suf.ficient for us to adopt the negative approach of merely reacting defensively to every shift in communist tactics. We must place greater emphasis on the positive role which our American way of life can perform in this struggle. A CREMATORY is being planned in Braitislava, SloV'akia, according to the d'aily PRAOA. ]t should be ready by the end of 1,963; the cost: 9 million Crowns; and location: near Vhe present Bratislava cemetery. 11he Reds are happy that finally consideraition has beer: given "to this modern and scienitific way of burying tihe dead ." e • • urgent assignments of the oow FiveYear Pla.n 01961,1005) of the Czec'h Communist Party's Cenitral Committee is t!he coimpletion of the huge ]r.ornworks in Kosice, Slovakia. Blueprints for this "second steel heart" as it is termed by Praue Reds - was drawn up in the USSR It will be the largest four.,dry in all Europe and one ·of the ten, largesit works of tts kind in the world. Et will cost an estimated 10.5 billions Crown,s. Soviet experts are in charge of construction and operation. ONIE OF THIE MOST RECOMMENDED BOOKS: "CZECHOSWVAKISM VERSUS AMERICANISM" an expose of the pro-Soviet "National Fronters" in the socalled Council af Free Czechoslovakia - is a 48 page booklet published by the Slovaik League of America, which should be read by every one seeking the answer to the question of how "Czecho-Slovak democracy" converted to a "people's democracy." Send 25 cents (coin or stamps) to the SLOVAKIA for your copy today.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Communist Illusion and Democratic Reality Description An account of the resource J. Edgar Hoover Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33), March-June 1961 pp. 43-50 Adapted from article prepared for members of the National Strategy Seminar Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/666209bbbd04fcb300b59526ef1a4c71.pdf 86c23180fa7426083e3e79db147a35fe PDF Text Text MARCH-JUNE, 1961 VOL. XI NO . 1 (33 ) IN THIS ISSUE: P.RAGUE: RED ES-Pl'ONAGE CIDNffER SLOV,AKIA UNDER CO,YIM U NI-S-M MISCONClDPTIONS OF AMERI CA.:>! SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK Ll'TER,A T U,RE CO.M1MUN-LST ILLUSION AND DElMOCRATIC REALITY SOVIET RUSSIA~ PUP.PETS 'l' HE I◄'A1ILURE OF OOYIM'UNLST SCHOO,L S A POLI-CY OF GENOC1'DE A STUDY I~ SLAVIC- IRA.:--:IA,N ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIO>,T BOOK REVIEVl·S • • • Edited and compiled by PHIL·IP A. HROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0 . Box 150 Middletown. Pa . • • • Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CENTRAL EUROPE, Kirschb,mm; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE DELIVERANCE OF SISTER CECILIA, $3.75. THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. FALSE FREEDOM, Delaney; $2.00. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA'' - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UiNIOONQUIDRAiBI.JES, Pauco; $2.00 I;UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00 . • • • SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. Sl.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � MARCH-JUNE, 1961 VOL. XI NO . 1 (33 ) IN THIS ISSUE: P.RAGUE: RED ES-Pl'ONAGE CIDNffER SLOV,AKIA UNDER CO,YIM U NI-S-M MISCONClDPTIONS OF AMERI CA.:>! SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK Ll'TER,A T U,RE CO.M1MUN-LST ILLUSION AND DElMOCRATIC REALITY SOVIET RUSSIA~ PUP.PETS 'l' HE I◄'A1ILURE OF OOYIM'UNLST SCHOO,L S A POLI-CY OF GENOC1'DE A STUDY I~ SLAVIC- IRA.:--:IA,N ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIO>,T BOOK REVIEVl·S • • • Edited and compiled by PHIL·IP A. HROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0 . Box 150 Middletown. Pa . • • • Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA �RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CENTRAL EUROPE, Kirschb,mm; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE DELIVERANCE OF SISTER CECILIA, $3.75. THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. FALSE FREEDOM, Delaney; $2.00. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA'' - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UiNIOONQUIDRAiBI.JES, Pauco; $2.00 I;UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00 . • • • SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. Sl.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1961, Vol. 11 Description An account of the resource <ul><li>Issue 1 (No. 33), March-June 1961.</li> <li>Issue 2 (No. 34), September-December June 1961.</li> </ul> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available The Slovak League of America Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1961 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document MARCH-JUNE, 1961 VOL. XI NO . 1 (33 ) IN THIS ISSUE: P.RAGUE: RED ES-Pl'ONAGE CIDNffER SLOV,AKIA UNDER CO,YIM U NI-S-M MISCONClDPTIONS OF AMERI CA.:>! SLAVISTS ABOUT SLOVAK Ll'TER,A T U,RE CO.M1MUN-LST ILLUSION AND DElMOCRATIC REALITY SOVIET RUSSIA~ PUP.PETS 'l' HE I◄'A1ILURE OF OOYIM'UNLST SCHOO,L S A POLI-CY OF GENOC1'DE A STUDY I~ SLAVIC- IRA.:--:IA,N ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIO>,T BOOK REVIEVl·S • • • Edited and compiled by PHIL·IP A. HROBAK SLOVAKIA P. 0 . Box 150 Middletown. Pa . • • • Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA RECOMMENDED BOOKS: SLOVAKIA AND ITS PEOPLE, Oddo; $6.00. SLOVAKIA NATION AT THE CROSSROADS OF CENTRAL EUROPE, Kirschb,mm; $5.00. THIS IS SLOVAKIA, Hrusovsky; $1.00. THE SLOVAKS, Yurchak; paper cover $2.00; cloth $3.00. SKETCHES FROM SLOVAK HISTORY, Skultety; $1.00 (paper); $2.00 (cloth cover). THE DELIVERANCE OF SISTER CECILIA, $3.75. THE CHURCH OF SILENCE IN SLOVAKIA, Zubek; $3.50. FALSE FREEDOM, Delaney; $2.00. SLOVAKIA'S ROAD TO STATEHOOD, Woytko; $1.50. "CZECHOSLOVAKIA'' - History Made to Order, Hrobak; 50c. UiNIOONQUIDRAiBI.JES, Pauco; $2.00 I;UDOViT STUR AND HIS PLACE IN THE SLAVIC WORLD, Prof. J. Kirschbaum; 25c. ANTHOLOGY OF SLOVAK POETRY, Kramoris; $2.00 . • • • SLOVAKIA is published periodically by the Slovak League of America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. The main purpose of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long, hard struggle for freedom and independence. Sl.00 per annum in the U. S. A. - $2.00 elsewhere. SLOVAKIA P. 0. Box 150 Middletown, Pa. Printed in the U. S. A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pa.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Front Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 11, No. 1 (33) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource March-June 1961