1 50 27 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/43aa8245cab1ba3e7b9609982eb15ad8.pdf 9afe46899f1c9238bd781c7546a5be5c PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 193 CURRENT ISSUES Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress Representatives of Slovak organizations throughout the free world as well as individuals of Slovak origin in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, South Africa, Argentina, Spain and Germany assembled in Toronto in order to promote the creation of a world organization of Slovaks hereby declare that: The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, :s uch efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to .dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. The Congress will continue to adhere to the democratic principles in the civil and international relations and considers tolerance in ideological, political and religious matters an expression of maturity for democracy and strongly opposes any tyranny whether it comes from the left, or, from the right. It has been obvious during the past two decades that the Slovaks living in Slovakia have been unable to determine their own destiny. A number of recent facts attest to this unfortunate reality namely the following: The basic freedom of Slovaks, as well as of other Captive �194 SLOVAKIA Nations under communism, are still quite limited-travel to Western countries, and press and assembly freedoms have recently been set back to almost the 1948 levels. The federalization of Czecho-Slovakia into two equal sectors-the Czech and the Slovak, introduced by the Constitutional Act of October 1948, has been severely circumscribed in recent past and is slowly being replaced by a new centralism; Religious freedom continues to be restricted to Roman Catholics, Uniates, Lutherans, Jews and to other denominations; and The present Czecho-Slovak Federal Government has taken no initiative nor has it responded to initiatives suggested by the Holy See in the Vatican to establish a Catholic Province in Slovakia, even though such provinces exist in Bohemia as well as in Moravia. We contend that the issue of the continued existence and recognition of a Slovak nation be duly accepted by all nations, including the records of the United Nations. The question of the suppressed freedoms of all nations now living under communism must soon be given full airing and remedies instituted. This has been and should not cease to be an issue of interest to all civilized nations. Slovaks call upon them to help in this cause. We take a positive attitude towards the economic integration in Europe and urge that the Slovak nation be included in this and other unifying processes benefiting their degree of economic and other freedoms. Viewing the future political situation in Eastern Europe with hope and cautious optimism, we look toward to the day when obstacles which presently prevent cultural and educational exchang* between Slovaks at home and abroad will be removed. To support the objectives mentioned above, we have established a permanent organization under the name of: Slovak World Congress, which shall embody the spirit of brotherhood and mutual respect. Religious affiliations or political views, insofar as they are not contrary to the spirit of democracy and the objectives mentioned above, will not bar anyone from membership or active participation in our organization. We consider it essential that our goals and methods as well as our activities follow democratic principles. �SLOVAKIA 195 We shall endeavor to have the Slovak World Congress represent its members at international scientific, cultural, religious or political forums in the interest of the Slovak nation as expressed in the Constitution and the by-laws of the organization. We urge that the Slovak World Congress devote itself to promoting the spirit of unity among its members and to co-ordinate all its efforts through constant contact with member organizations maintained through central secretariats, regional secretariats, committees and information bureaus in various countries around the world. We ask the blessing of Almighty God in this undertaking in the firm hope that with the help and co-operation of all those who wish well for the Slovaks we may successfully fulfill our role. Members of the Committee: Stephen B. Roman, LL.D., President; Rev. Dusan Toth, Secretary General; Dr. J. A. Mikus, Dr. J. Stasko, Dr. J. M . Kirschbaum,· Dr. J. Pauco, and Prof. E. Urban. Toronto, Ont., June 20, 1971. Unity Is Necessary Edward J. Behun c i k (The following are excerpts from the address of Edward J . Behuncik, First Vice President of the Slovak World Congress, President of the Slovak League of America, and President of the American Fund for Slovak Refugees given at the closing banquet of the Slovak World Congress held at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, June 19. 1971.) It is a rare and high privilege to appear before such a historic and distinguished gathering of representatives of all walks of Slovak life and to break bread with our fellow Slovaks from all parts of the free world as we share this memorable Congress in spirit, in hope and in love with our brethren in beautiful Slovakia. The honor you do me in asking that I speak in company with the distinguished Chief Executive of the great Province of Ontario, with two colleagues from the great Senate of the United States of America, as well as the spiritual, civic and cultural leaders who grace the head table-this honor cannot but move me. I thank you most sincerely for asking me here. Hopefully 1 will leave at least �196 SLOVAKIA one or two important thoughts with you-important to the permanent success of our fledgeling Slovak World Congress, and that is, our need for unity- and for ''Svornost a laska".In Joel, we read·'Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."Today, we combine the hopes which both dreams and visions embody. Dreams are generally of things past, visions are of the future. Dreams are truly for older men who have a past, while visions are for the younger looking forward to the future. Experience alone is the look backward, the dream of yesteryear, but it is only useful as it clarifies the vision of tomorrow. Here in Toronto, we put the finishing touches--not upon a new structure - rather upon the permanent foundation . Because in fact, at New York City, the Congress \\'as already perfect in the sense that its objects were fully perceived, its necessary organs present, its powers conferred, and its extent already, if only dimly, seen to be world wide. In addition, its final purpose, which alone can justify its existence, was perfectly clear and that was to become the r epresentative body of Slovaks scattered as they are throughout the free world. Here during the past several days, we have added to the New York beginnings. We've used our year old experience to improve, amend, delete and otherwise add to the permanent basis of a vital organ for disseminating the cause of the Slovak nation. To bring about the final liberation of the Slovak nation and its equality among all nations, the Slovak World Congress presents us with a golden opportunity. If we complete its hopeful aspirations, if we create a permanent edifice on the foundation built here and in New York, we will thereby sooner bring to fruition the age old Slovak vision of liberty and freedom with justice. But unity is necessary - that unity which has so often eluded the efforts of our forebears . Can we come together for the future ? Can we remain together? I think we can; I know we must! ! ! We will and must let bygones be bygones, let past differences as nothing be, and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugu rate the good and old central ideas of a free and independent Slovakia, where our presently subjugated brethren can someday in God's good time freely choose their own destiny. We have our quarrels, as all happy families have. We have di sagreed as all friend s have. But when the great human cause of Slovakia comes before us, in the natural fitness of things, we have looked into our hearts, and hidden away in their innermost recesses, we have discovered a very shy but a very faithful friendship for each other, no matter from what region of Slovakia we originated. That is why we are here this evening. �SLOVAKIA So 1 say-we are united-but more important - we must stay united. We can do it ! ! ! The human heart and human aspirations are with us. God is with us--Our Lady of Sorrows is with us. We shall-we must-succeed. God forbid, if the Congress shall dissipate instead of growing and developing as it should-it will be another eleven hundred years before the vision of a unified, free and independent Slovakia can again be dreamed of. I know none of us wish to have ~he horror of such a c a ta s t r o p h e on our consciences. So, we must not fall-and we won't if we do our duty-but the time has passed when we can remain silent regarding the great fundamentals of free government and permit the enemies of the Slovak social order to occupy the center of the stage. The time has come and that time is now when we must take issue with those, who infatuated with ch a o t i c dreams, are seeking to undermine the Slovak ideals and aspirations, dreams and visions. We now have the modus operandi-the vehicle. We have the Slovak World Congress. We, the participants in and supporters of the Congress, have it in our own hands whether it shall be nothing more than the brilliant after glow of a gorgeous renaissance, or whether it shall be the dawn of a newer and brighter day in the struggle of the Slovaks to fulfill their age old vision of liberty and freedom with justice. Already, as we well know, on several occasions, for several 197 brief moments, behind the far spread iron curtain in Eastern Europe. the rays of the setting sun of materialistic communism have mingled with the rays of the rising sun of democracy. May that sun grow in light and warmth and may it be undimmed by the clouds of our own internal dissension. I am profoundly concerned. I am deeply interested. I build the greatest hopes upon this World Congress. 1 am old enough to have the experience to be able to dream-but, I am young enough to have the vision of a great institution - one from which, for example, some day-God grant-will emerge a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize - or the Literature Prize. And so, in bidding a foud adieu to our fellow Slovaks returning to their havens scattered throughout the free world, I urge them and all of you to hope- to hope as the love of truth and obedience to it shall grow and as with firmer footing thereon, we look afar and think clearly on what we see. We shall see our Slovak World Congress advancing to the high position that awaits every organization and every nation which honors the facts, which looks afar and which thinks clearly and positively. And as we aspire to greater and more illustrious achievements in the glorious history of our beloved Slovakia, we can well ponder the prayer of Sir Francis Drake: "Oh, Lord God, when Thou givest to Thy servants to endeavor any great matter, grant us also, to know, that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it is thoroughly finished, which yieldcth the true glory." �198 SLOVAKIA AS OTHERS SEE In these times, when many of us seem to reflect on the place of our origin, it was indeed interesting to see how the Americans, Canadians, and citizens of other free countries, all of Slovak origin, demonstrated their dedication to the cause of peace with freedom in our age. Their dedication was for freedom for their kinfolk in Slovakia, now part of the Communist satellite of Czechoslovakia, who cannot themselves demonstrate their longing for the liberties denied them for 23 years. The Slovaks are a hardy people who have been seeking the ideals we in our own country so freely enjoy-the right to their own self. determination. And like other nations, captives under Communist domination, the Slovaks know that one day they will join ranks with the civilized world with other free nations. Until then the work of the Slovak World Congress is indeed both most worthy and very necessary and I hope I applaud it. - U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. The Slovak World Congress stands for freedom and seeks to preserve the language, culture and national heritage. You are to be commended for your strong antiCommunist stand. - Strom Thurmond., U.S. Senator Please know that your concern for freedom throughout the world and particularly in Slovakia is shared by all of us. No more dire threat exists today than that posed by the Soviet Union and I stand with you against their expansionary policies. Keep up with your good work. - John Tower, U.S. Senator I wish to congratulate the Slovak people of our nation for the out- IT standing fight they have been waging over the years in exposing Communist tyranny which is the most powerful threat to human freedom in the history of the world. If all groups of the free world would have the same spirit of opposition and expose the criminality of Communist enslavement methods and Communist living conditions there would be no doubt that this Communistic threat to the world would collapse in a very short time. - Ray J. Madden, U.S. Member of Congress The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, such efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. Claiborne Pell, U.S. Senator Even within the Communist world there is an absolute intoler-- �SLOVAKIA ance for those faithful party members who would put a "human face" on the dictatorship in order to make it more palatable. I speak of course, of Alexander Dubcek who sought to purify, and reform, but not replace or destroy, communism in Czechoslovakia. Yes even after the true nature of the dictator reared its ugly head and Dubcek's reforms were sacrificed, we still hear the drone of those who would have us believe that the communist dictator has changed. Let no one be fooled - Communism is the Number One enemy not only of the Western World, but of humanity itself. It is a tribute to all of you who have felt the iron hand of the communist dictator that you have brought to the Western Hemisphere an appreciation and understanding of the dangers of communism which is, unfortunately, shared by too few Americans. - Robert C. Mardian It is a privilege to address men and women who stand for the forefront of civilization's never-ending struggle for freedom. For more than eleven centuries the Slovak people have been developing, extending and seeking to preserve a rich and fertile cultural heritage. More than that, you have sought endlessly to maintain that priceless ingredient of true spiritual fulfillment-the right of the individual citizen to be his own person, to think his own thoughts, to speak his own words, to contribute directly to the formation and performance of his own government and to worship as he chooses. In so doing you have contributed your full share, and perhaps more, to the development of the Slavic peoples as a whole and to the cultural family of peoples around the world. 199 Ontario and all of Canada has been enriched by the spirit and integrity of Slovaks, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and all of the others who claim the honor of membership in the world Slavic community which numbers more than 200 million persons. - William C. Davis, Prime Minister of Ontario Vienna, AtLstria - Communist Czecho-Slovakia's closed-door policy against religious literature mailed from abroad has provoked a steady stream of protests within its own borders, according to reports reaching here. Demands for an explanation are being sent to postal authorities by Czecho-Slovak citizens who learn that religious books such as the Bible have been mailed to them from abroad but returned to the sender by government authorities. The regime's reply to that publications contrary to Czecho-Slovakia's laws are refused entry. But no particulars are given to explain how the Bible or devotional books are in opposition to the country's laws. "Foreign reviews and books may be sent into Czecho-Slovakia without limitation of any sort," said a standard explanation from the central office for incoming foreign parcels in Prague. Post Office 120. "However, reviews and books which by their content are contrary to our legislative norms are refused local delivery, according to the prevailing international standards." The letter of explana,tion concluded: "Peace to the world!" It seems that books arriving from certain senders or destined for certain addresses are returned automatically without examination. Recently one man received back from Czecho..Slovakia an unopened �200 SLOVAKIA package he had sent his brother containing a book on photography. Official documents mailed by Vatican offices to various bishops in Czecho-Slovakia have been returned marked "refused." In June, the secretariat for church affairs of the Slovakia region's government notified bishops, pastors and Religious superiors that religious publications from abroad were prohibited where "in conflict with the interest of our socialist state." The of.ficial notice continued: "The provision also concerns the propagation and publication of information and instructions of various kinds from abroad, whether through internal ecclesiastical channels, in official documents or in any form whatsoever." It warned that the distribution of prohibited literature is punishable under Czecho-Slovakia's penal code. Czecho-Slovakia's hard-line communist rulers, brought to power by the Soviet invasion of August 1968, have been steadily tightening the screws on the Catholic Church for the past two years. In January 1970 the Slovakia ministry of culture decreed that every act of official worship, including private Masses, must have state approval. A similar decree was issued by the ministry of culture in the Czech region of Bohemia. In July of that same year the Slovakia government asserted the right to blackball newly chosen superiors of congregations of nuns. In November, 1970 the Bohemia ministry of culture forbade the Church to give courses preparing couples for marriage. In July 1971 the ministry of culture decreed severe limitations upon the teaching of religion. Its Slovakia counterpart did likewise. Decrees approving newly resurrected pro-government associations of peace priests were issued simultaneously in August 1971 by the Bohemian and Slovakian governments. But the regime 's restrictions on Church activity and growth have not been confined to legislation and decrees. Through administrative acts the regime has kept more than half the applicants out of the country's seminaries and has dismissed from convents all Sisters who entered them when the country's liberalized regime of early 1968 reopened the convent to novices. The present, neo-Stalinist regime has attempted to manipulate the Church by installing its own candidates in key positions, such as vicar general of Brno and of Roziiava, and the executive committees of the Bohemian and Slovakian Catholic charitable agencies. Meanwhile, the controlled press has been keeping up a steady fire on religion in general and the churches in particular. Christians in Bohemia are bracing themselves for still heavier assaults upon them and their churches now that the head of the region's religious affairs office, Karel Hruza, has returned from a Moscow meeting with · his counterparts from other Communist states. Czecho-Slovakia's present program of religious repression was launched shortly after his return from a similar meeting in Moscow in October 1969. - NC New s Service Vienna. - The situation of the Church and of human rights and freedoms. in communist-ruled Czecho-Slovakia is growing worse, not better. Experts agree that the situation �SLOVAKIA 201 after the short bright 1968 methods to promote atheist edu "humanizing" period before the cation. Dubcek regime was overthrown by Party officials said repeatedly at Soviet-led invaders - is similar recent meetings that religion "has now to that of the hated Stalinist a negative influence on the for. times. mation of Socialist conscience." The Church has become the The Bratislava communist newstarget of concentrated attacks from paper, Pravda, demanded that relitwo directions - through adminis- gious ceremonies - christenings, trati ve measures and ideological weddings and funerals - be rearguments. placed by Socialist ceremonies, The communist regime is at- because " the Church has misused tempting to strangle religious the most important stages of activities slowly but effectively by human life for its own purposes." administrative action. Karel Hruza, head of the gove rnMore than half of all parishes in ment state office, has described Bohemia lack priests and there is the regime's plans. "After rightists no chance to overcome the short- and counter-revolutionaries are reage. At the moment only 12 stu- moved from the party and governdents study for the priesthood in ment, we must concentrate in the entire Archdiocese of Olomouc. working a platform to cope with As a result of government the reactionary policy of the chicanery, the number of children Church. - Gerd Kriwanek, Reliattending religious instruction in gious News Service, January 28, school is sharply declining. 1972. th At the same time, e regime Ladislav Bezak loaded his wife has endorsed increased ideological and four children in a two-place attacks on the Church. Jozef Le- · light plane December 9 1971 and nart, firs_t secretary of the Slovak left for what he desc;ibed as a Communist Party, charged the "pleasure trip. " Church with having misused the The flight originated in Prague, situation in 1968 " to create a politand his destination was Nuernberg, ical basis for clericalism and West Germany. He did not file Catholicism. " a flight plan. Lenart alleged that religious Bezak is an experienced pilot sentiments were misused to pro- perhaps one of the best in the mote "anti-Sovietism and anti- world. At the first World Aerosocialism." batic Contest in 1960 at Bratislava, The regime has increased its Slovakia, he was a gold medal atheist propaganda. Thus the mag- winner in aerobatic competition. azine for teachers Ucitel'ske American pilots describe him as Noviny - urged the abolition of a quiet engineer who always wore any "liberal attitude towards re- a suit and tie rather than the casual ligion and the Church in our clothes worn by most competitive society." The journal also pledged pilots. increased atheist education of Shortly after he and his famil y young people by the party, the left Prague, a Czech MIG jet mass media, the schools and major fighter began a chase, and although organizations. Bezak waggled his wings and It also suggested that the Acade- waved to convince the fighter pilot my of Science devise the best they were on a pleasure flight , the �202 SLOVAKIA MIG began to fire on the light plane. Aerobatic maneuvers require precise skill. They are difficult enough in a special airplane, with perfect weight and balance distribution under ideal conditions. With six peop'le in a small plane, they would have to be considered impossible category. In addition, being fired on by a military jet could tend to disturb the concentration. The little plane - loaded over gross, and perhaps a third as fast as the fighter - apparently didn't have a chance. But the pilot was Bezak! According to the Aerobatic Club of America, Bezak flew the book at the military pilot. Flying many of the patterns which had earned him world championship 10 years before, he was able to elude the jet and continue on to the border. Before he reached it, the small plane was fired on from the ground. Bezak dived into a cloud bank, and with the children in tears and his wife in prayer, broke out across the border at 300 feet. The escape was a success. Ladislav Bezak, like most good aerobatic pilots, flies for prizes. During this trip he won the biggest prize of them all - freedom for himself and his family. - Lew Inquirer, Philadelphia Hodges, February 6, 1972. Lehigh is searching for a graduate student of Slovak ancestry to prepare a history of Slovak people in Bethlehem. Money for this project was left to the University from an even more unusual source: a Southside Bethlehem bachelor druggist who died in 1968 at age 67 and left Lehigh $67,500 in an unsigned will. The druggist, John Weldy Wasco, worked and apparently lived at 843 E. 4th Street. Relatives contested his will all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which upheld two lower court decisions in favor of Lehigh. Wasco stipuleted that $10,000 of the $67,500 was to go toward compiling and printing a history of Slovaks in Bethlehem, and that the project must be carried out by a Slovak student. Wasco's wish appeared in local newspapers without the criteria he set for the historian, and a number of Lehigh faculty expressed interest before learning they did not qualify. Wasco also specified that his personal papers be edited, and left $5,000 for the University to arrange that. University officials could not explain what motivated Wasco's generosity. He wrote a will in 1967 making Lehigh his sole beneficiary, and later changed it to add the provision about the Slovak history. - Lehigh University Publication Ondrej Nepela, the skating wonder from Slovakia, won the 11th Winter Olympic Games' gold medal as Russia's Sergei Chetveroukin edged into second place for the silver and Patrick Pera of France won the bronze. Two Americans, Ken Shelley of Downey, Calif., and John Mischa Petkevitch of Great Falls, Montana, moved into fourth and fifth places, passing East Germany's young Jan Hoffman, who had been fourth after the compulsory figures. Nepela, the world champion, fell early in his program while attempting a triple-toe-loop. Fall do not necessarily ruins a skater's marks since he is judged on the difficulty of his routine. Nepela was smooth and graceful but his program was neither as imaginative nor a dynamic as that of some of his rivals, including the two Americans. Despite his fall, the Slovak rated �SLOVAKIA scores no lower than 5.9s in technical merit and he had two 5. 7s with the rest 5.8 in artistic impressions. His total points were 2739.1, well ahead of the rest of the field. In the official ordinal rankings, Nepela had a perfect 9.0, meaning he was rated No. 1 by all nine judges. The Russian had 20.0 in ordinals and Pera 28.0. - Associated Press, February 12, 1972. Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime president of the Slovak Republic, is no more. Tried and convicted as a "war criminal" by a ~called People's Court, he was executed last week American press dispatches - both secular and religious were concise and negligently brief. No fanfare or publicity. Merely that the priest-president was sentenced and the sentence carried out. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal"? The very fact of news silence here betrays a kind of embarrassed admission that things were not just fine in "Glocca Morra." The trials of Draga Mihailovitch and Archbishop Stepinac given due publicity aroused resentment in the United States, an attitude, which, while it accomplished nothing actual for the persons involved, nevertheless illustrated the rightprincipled conscience of the thinking public. But Dr. Tiso's case was denied even the type of consolation, because the facts and circumstances of the Tiso case are quite unknown to the American people. Whose the fault, whose the blame for this? The Hon. Robert Jackson, presiding over the trials in Nuremberg wrote "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal 203 guilt . . . If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for a trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." Tiso's trial was a travesty of justice. Actually, the issue was a political one primarily. Tried by the "People's Court" Tiso was denied representation by the attorney engaged by his friends. American papers had nothing to say about the fact that Alois Loyek, the attorney, was abused by the security officials, told he could not represent Tiso, and all defense material confiscated. The presiding judge and six political associates was Igor Daxner who himself was once tried by a regular court during Tiso's regime for planning with the Benes government-in-exile to turn Slovakia over to Russia, and sent to jail. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal" ? The answer necessitates a thorough perusal of the events which led to his election as Premier of Slovakia before the war started· - under a valid act of the Prague Parliament, events little known here, events in the evolution of democracy in the republic of Czecho-Slovakia without a knowledge of which the case of Tiso cannot be justly viewed. If these facts were made public, perhaps public opinion, such as it is. might be swayed to the right even though a little too late." The Catholic L i ght, Scranton, Pa. 4-25-47. Dr. Tiso's public life was political, though this fact is not to be held in any way against him. In many parts of Europe ecclesiastics find themselves pushed into politics because the cause of their Catholic people needs to be protected, and there are not a sufficient number of laymen educated to the job. Happily, this state of affairs is passing away, for it is not in itself �204 SLOVAKIA very desirable. However excellent the motives of the cleric concerned, he risks his spiritual office being contaminated, at least in public esteem, by the relatively low standards of political life, and the higher he rises in the political world, the harder it may become to distinguish the priest from the politics. Dr. Tiso, so far as we are aware always remained an exemplary priest, but he came to find himself responsible for the fate of his fellow Slovakians in terrible times. Through these times he did his duty to his people as he saw it. In a way not dissimilar from that of an Irish leader in relation to the British, he strove to protect the religion, culture and national autonomy of Slovakia as against the Czechs whose public outlook was dominated by very different rnlues. Such is the path of treason in the eyes of one side and of heroic patriotism in the eyes of the other. And few who tread this hard road can look back on their lives and deny having made mistakes. In the long run history will al- ways vindicate the sincere patriot as against the utilitarian judgment of those who condemn him on a legalistic interpretation of treason. In each case the career of such a man is a challenge to those called UPon to judge him. Are they big enough to look with the eyes of history and to seek reconciliation and understanding by the great gesture? Or are they small men who cannot see beyond the legalisms and their wounded vanity? In the face of this test, Dr. Benes and the rulers of Czecho-Slovakia have dismally failed. They have had to judge a good man, a priest, a great and courageous patriot, and all they have been able to do is to raise a martyr for Slovakia. This small-minded folly is only too typical of the men whom the fortunes of war have favoured . Instead of trying to realize unity on the basis of victory, these little men are as busy as they can be indulging their feelings by carving even deeper the channels which devide man from man and nation from nation. - Catholic Herald . London, 4-25-47. SLOVAKIA is µublishecl annually by the Slovak League of .America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. One of the purpo··es of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciat1on of the Sl<OVak nation and its long struggle foT freedom and i ndependeuce. Subscription to Slovwkia $3.00 pel' year in the L1.S.A. - $4.00 el-sewhere. Send 1mhscription to: SLOV AKI.A 313 Ridge A venue Middletown, Pa. 17057 �SLOVAKIA 205 BOOK REVIEWS BOOKS ON SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Reviewed by J. M. KIRSCH BA UM Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy ethymology, terminology, orthoand lexicography which are the preferred fields of Slovak linguists; the survey of published articles, studies and books between 1961-1965 shows that Slovak linguists made great progress in the following disciplines; history of the language, dialectology, morphology, syntax, onomastics, stylistic aspects of language, problems of translation, the structure and acoustics of language and language culture. This development become more than apparent if we compare the present work with the Biblio- 1961-1965 (Bibliography of Slo- graphy, vak Linguistics 1961-1965), by Ladislav Dvonc; Matica slovenska (Martin, 1970), pages 804, multi-lingual, English summary. For Western Slavists the Bibliography of Slovak Linguistics is not wLthout interest. This voluminous publication shows that Slovak linguistics has developed considerably during the latter years of the Stalinist regime. It also indicates that the attempts of some philologists, supported by the policy of the regime in the 1950's, to infiltrate the Slovak language with Czech vocabulary and to bring its structure as close to the Czech language as possible in order to create a "CzechoS'lovak language" back-fired. Slovak linguists, with the exception of one or two philologists trained in Prague ( S. Peciar, especi'ally), repudiated these attempts and began not only to clear the Slovak language from foreign infiltrations but in a number of studies brought Slovak linguistics quantitatively as well as qualitatively to the level of other Slavic nations within the Soviet orbit. With its 2111 entries pertaining to the Slovak language, the Bibliography is, however, not simply a numerical expression of the development of li.nguistic studies on the Slovak language. Of great importance is the number of disciplines studied by Slovak linguists. It is not any more only grammar, graphy of Slovak Linguistics for 1957-1960 by the same author. The new Bibliography contains: 1) all linguistic articles, studies and books published in Slovakia; 2) contributions in non-Slovak periodicals ( one from Canada), studies and articles by non-Slovak authors on the Slovak language or on linguistics published in Slovakia. As a result, the entries in this Bibliography are not only more numerous, but also multi-lingual. The publication shows that many Slovak linguists themselves ,published their studies in foreign languages, mainly in Russian. A strong Russian influence in Slovak linguistics is even more evident in the number of articles, studies and books dealing with the Russian language. Bibliographical data about the Russian language cover more than 100 pages, while other Slavic languages follow in this order: Czech 25 pages, Ukrainian 9 pages, Polish 3 pages, Slovenian �206 SLOVAKIA 3/4 of a page, Byelorussian and Bulgarian ¼ of a page each. For a short time the methods of the Russian linguistic school, or as some linguists say, "the Marxists and Stalinists principles and methods," were also imposed on Slovak philology and linguistics and prevailed in some works (see my essay " Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology," Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. IV, 34, University of Montreal, 1960). Around 1960 Slovak linguists turned, however, against the russification as well as against the Czech infiltration of the Slovak language and Slovak linguistics. Studies, articles and books pertaining to the Slovak language have been published, according to this Bibiiography, predominantly in Slovak, but over 300 entries were published in Western languages, including English, in other Slavic languages and in Hungarian. It was mainly the works of the older generation of Slovak linguists (J . Stanislav, E. Pauliny) which appeared in international symposia in English, French or Russian. The younger generation on the other hand has broadened the field of Slovak linguists to include many disciplines and their studies have maintained a high academic level. They continue to be grouped around the periodicals Slovenska rec (Slovak Language), Jazykovedr ny casopis (Linguistic Journal) and Jazykovedne studie (Linguistic Studies) and have published the Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. Komenskeho - Philologica (Sym- posium of the F1aculty of Arts of the Comenius University) and Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. P. J. Safcirika (Symposium of the University of P. J . Safarik). Editors gether with V. Blanar, L. Dvonc, G. Horak, J. Horecky and R. Krajcovic wrote the major part of the Slovak linguistic studies contained in the Bibliography. Even though the works of foreign philologists (R. Auty, R. Jakobson) from Western countries are included in this Bibliography it does not contain articles, studies or books published by Slovak intellectuals abroad except for one French essay by this reviewer which appeared in Etudes Slaves et est-europeennes (Montreal, 1963). Valuable studies by H. Bartek who was the founder of the periodical Slovenska rec or books, articles, dictionaries and surveys by S. Bue, F. Hrobak, J . J . Konus, J . Rekem and others were apparently not allowed by the regime to be recorded. The "normalization" which followed the brief period of relative freedom in 1968, has again separated the Slovaks in Slovakia from Slovak intellectuals in the West even in the field of linguistics and the population of Slovakia is not allowed to know about the cultural activities among some two million Slovaks abroad. The usefulness of Dvonc's Bibliography for Slavists cannot be doubted. It is a thoroughly prepared standard work. An index of names and a subject index enhance the practical value of this voluminous book. SLOVENSKA BIBLIOGRAFIA V ZAHRANitf 1945-1965 (Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965) : Compiled by Prof. M. Lacko S.J .. published by The Slovak Institute (Cleveland-Rome), 1967, 366 pp., multi-lingual, instruction in Slovak and English. The long expected Slovak Biblioof these periodicals have been E. graphy Abroad, which had to reJona , J. Ruzicka, Prof. E . Pauliny, cord the cultural activities of L. f>urovic and S. Dobos who to- Slovak intellectuals in the West, �SLOVAKIA has finally been published and we cannot but welcome it. Slovak Bibliography Abroad 19451965 records the literary production of Slovak authors in Western countries in the fields of history, political science, religion, philology, folklore, literary history and cdticism, music, theology, literature and natural science. A special chapter deals with general works on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad, includtng Slovaks in Canada. In addition, the Bibliography records the works of non-Slovak authors in the above-mentioned fields if they were translated into the Slovak language and deal explicitly with Slovakia or Czecho-Slovakia as a whole. Absent from this Bibliography are works and studies on Slovak subjects., published in the countries of the Soviet block since it was impossible for the compilers to carry out the necessary research. As a result, the publication contains literary and scientific writings of Slovaks living in some 15 Westem countries and published in all major Western languages. Considering the difficulties which wr:ilters, scholars and scientists face in exile, the Bibliography with its 2,438 entries gives an impressive picture of Slovak cultural life abroad after the Second W . W. One can understand this properly only if he is familiar with some basic facts about the Slovak intellectual community in Western countries. At the end of the Second World War, 50me 5,000 educated Slovak5 left their native country; in 1948 they were followed by a new wave of immigrants after the Communist coup d'etat. In the first wave of exiles were some of the be5t Slovak writers, poets and scores of young intellectuals from all fields of cultural endeavor who either completed their studies at univer- 207 sities in Western countries or continued their intellectual work even if they had to take menial jobs in the countdes in which they found refuge. Many of the younger generation attained positions at universities (22 in Canada) or institutions of higher education. Others became editors of newpapers and many poets and writers continued to write valuable works besides their employment in clerical jobs or other professions. Besides the chapter on literature which records writings of .some 25 poets and 15 prose writers, the largest number of entries is in the chapter on history ( 437), philology and literary history ( 224) , and political science (160). However, the natural sciences and economy are also among the best represented with 275 entries. Writings on history and political science, philology and literary history are predominantly in foreign languages. Some authors (Mikus, Kirschbaum, Rekem, Vnuk) published their studies in 3 or 4 Western languages. In literature, the Bibliography lists works by several of the best Slovak poets and novelists who in exile created works considered among the best in contemporary Slovak literature (Hronsky, Dilong, Sprinc, Strmen, Zvonicky, etc.) . The Bibliography also indicates that there are several Slovak cultural centers in the Western countries. From Canada the Bibliography has listed books, studies and articles 'b y some 20 Slovak authors. Ten of them have been active either tn Slavic studies or in philology, sociology, theology and science, the remaining 15 in literature. Actually Canada and the United States seem to have produced the most prolific Slovak authors, not only in literature but also in other fields. Also the major �208 SLOVAKIA centers of Slovak publishing activities have been in the United States, but Italy, Argentina and West Germany have equally active groups in publishing books, periodicals and newspapers. The BibHography further shows that some Slovak scholars and writers published their writings, including poetry, in several languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish) and in certain cases the originals were written in foreign languages and not translated from the Slovak. This is a new feature in Slovak literature and scholarly writing. Because of adverse political circumstances Slovaks had very limited opportunities to study abroad not only before the Second World War, but also after 1945. The exiled writers and scholars made apparently a great effort to fill this lacuna. No doubt the compiler of the Bibliography, Prof. Michael Lacko, accomplished a task which is usually done by many researchers over several years. By his own admission, he does not cover all published studies and articles by Slovaks abroad ; actually in some cases valuable studies were left out either in foreign language or in Slovak. Additions and extensions to the Bibliography have, therefore, been promised by the compiler, as well as by the publishers. However, even in its present form, the Bibliography is a valuable contribution to Slavic studies and a very useful publication, not only for Slovak scholars and researchers , but also for Slavists who read English, the Bibliography being bi-lingual. The value of the Bibliography is also enhanced by listing bibliographies on Slovak matters as well as periodicals and newspapers, annuals, and symposia, published in some 15 countries. Julius Noge : An Outl.ine of Slovakian L i terature (The Tatrapress Agency, Bratislava), 1968, 120 pp. This is the first book in English on Slovak literature which was published in Slovakia since the Communist takeover in 1948. The fact that it was published in 1968 would indicate that Dubcek's liberalization has to be credited for ,t his slender booklet on 200 years of literary activities in the Slovak language. The restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 cut off Slovakia from the rest of the world, especially from the West, and Slovak literature, art, science and culture in genera-I were to remain unknown to the Western world. Julius Noge, one of the literary critics who followed the directives of the Communist Party and was, therefore, favored by the Communist regime, divided his "succint" outline of Slovak literature into 7 chapters: From Old Church Slavonic learning (sic) to pre-Romanticism; Romanticism ( 1843-1870 ) ; Realism (1870-1905); Slovakian Literary Modernism ; Slovakian Literature between the wars (1918 1945); Contemporary Literature ( 1945-); Conclusion and Completion. Some of these chapters are very short, superficial and the whole publication is unbelievably biased towards writers and poets whose works expressed ideas opposed to Communism as, for instance, the poets and writers of Catholic modernism and all Slovak writers and poets in exile, except for J . C. Hronsky. Faithful to the directives of the Party, Noge considers as the greatest poets and writers such second class poets as Novomesky or Valek, and such mediocre writers as Vamos and Jilemnicky. "The poems by Laco Novomesky - assording to Noge - are most expressive, from the �SLOVAKIA 209 artistic and human point of view that those years were the "dark most mature fruit of modern Slo- age" of Slovak literature. The lie vakfan poetry. His works are fre- has, however, short legs, as a Sloquently the key opening the way vak saying goes. A glance at the to ,t he sense and the problems of Slovak literary production between Slovakian literature between the 1939 and 1945 included in his book, wars and after them." shows that even the leading ComValek, who plays today the role munists published freely: Novoof the Minister of Culture in Slo- mesky published his book in 1939; vakia which after 1945 had been Hecko in 1942; Tafarka in 1942; played by Novomesky is, according Kostra in 1939, 1940, and two books to Noge, even of greater import- in 1942; Ponican in 1940 and 1941 ; ance for Slovak literature. "Valek's Horov in 1940 , l942 and 1944; complex work - writes Noge - . .Zary in 1941 and two books so rich in meaning and expression, in 1942; Ondrejov in 1940, and so inaugurated a new stage in the on. In fact, all Slovak writers and evolution of Slovakian poetry, re- poets created and published during presenting hitherto in some respect th e years of the Slovak Republic its peak." Horibile dictu! The Eng- more th an at any time before, lish reader could not help looking regardless of the fact whether they with contempt on Slovak literature supported the regime or not. Comif these minor poets were its great- munist literary historians should est authors and their poetry re- not underestimate the intelligence presented the peak of Slovak liter- of Wes tern readers. From the readature. ing of Noge's booklet, anyone can find out that, with the exception Noge seems to be objective in of G. Va.mos, who was not in Slohis write-up on individual Slovak vakia and Jilemnicky who was a poets and writers only in his evalu- Czech settled in Slovakia, every ation of the literary works pro- Slovak writer, poet, literary hisduce<l in the 1950's. He admits that torian or critic ,p ublished his works, "authoritarian methods of regle- and the younger ones their debuts mentation in the field of literature during that period. Since it is the first survey of reached ,t heir peak in 1951." He also writes that the literature and Slovak literature in the English poetry of that time was "just the language, we cannot but regret poetic drafting of political and that it is not better either in form journalistic phrases" and that in or content. This publication will prose writing the topics "were hardly convince English, American, treated in the manner of agitating Canadian, or Australian readers propaganda." However, this should that Slovak literature is worthbe understood in the context of while to be studied, taught and the events of 1968 when Noge's read. In addition to its shortbooklet was published. Criticism of comings mentioned above, the pubthe 1950's was not only fashionable lication also suffers from a very in 1968 but also a prerequisite for bad translation and too many printpublishing. ing errors. It would seem that One of the most .biased state- emigre Slovak intellectuals must ments in Noge's book is his asser- publish an English survey of Slotion that during the Slovak Repub- vak literature to present it to the lie some writers and poets "ceased civilized world in an objective light to write belles-lettres," intimating and proper form . �210 SLOVAKIA Letopis Pamatnika Slovenskej Lite- lenced not only Stur but also many ratu:ry 1970. Compiled and Edited of his followers and it was mainly by Juraj Chovan (Matica slovenska, Martin 1970), pp. 250, Russian and German Summary, Index. Slovak literary history receives in this publication some new insights and correct interpretation of the work of three prominent men of letters: Jan Holly, Andrej Radlinsky and Martin Hamuljak. Not only during the inter-war period when Slovak literary history was adjusted to the political aims of "Czechoslovakism", but also since 1945, Catholic writers and their role in Slovak national development was minimized or completely neglected . For a short time after the Second World War, Holly was rediscovered and some valuable publications of his life and work appeared in Slovakia or were prepared for the printers. For the ce11tennary of Holly, literary historians and critics such as Jozef Ambrus, Jozef Felix and others prepared nine volumes of Holly's poetry with comments and evaluation. However, the re.g ime did not allow distribution of Holly's work and it appeared only after 20 years in second-hand bookshops. The reason for such undeserved treatment of Holly's work was apparently the fact that it was published by Spolok sv. Vojtecha. The present publication gives justice to Holly and, at the same time, it presents Radlinsky and Hamuljak and their activities in a true light. Not only in the political history but also in literary history, the period between 1848 and 1918 was interpreted in such a way as if Slovak Catholics had not played any role in Slovak national life. The facts are, of course, quite different. The disillusionment of the year 1848 si- the Catholic intelligentsia who kept the flame of national consciousness alive and were active in cultural and literary life. From Radlinsky through Moyses to Oswald, a score of Slovak Catholics organized cultural and literary activi.ties and fought for the national rights of the Slovak people. Contributions to the present publications by Augustin Mat'ovcik, Zemka Cejkova, Konstantin Palkovie and Juraj Chovan, bring to light some interesting details on this period mainly in connection with Radlinsky's activities. The present Letopis is the fourth publication of this kind by Matica slovenska. All of them have been dealing with research into Slovak literature and contained results of studies by qualified literary historians. The greater part of the present publication is composed of papers presented at two conferences in April 1969. The first confere nce was organized on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the death of J. Holly in Trnava and the second one on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the death of A. Radlinsky. In addition of these papers, there is an interesting essay on Slovak studies Slovakica - at foreign universities by J . Kuzmik. The essay deals so far with Slovak studies in Slavic countries. But the title of the essay indicates that it will deal with Slova k studies in all foreign universities and institutions. We hope that Kuzmik will treat the subject with scholarly objectivity when he writes on Slovak studies at American and Canadian universities. A short survey published by him sometime ago indicated that he was not free of the usual bias common to all literary and cultural historians in today's Slovakia. He left out im- �SLOVAKIA portant contributions to Slovak studies at Western universities just because of political considerations and inflated the importance of others who professed political ideologies accepted rby the present regime in Czecho-Slovakia. The publication also contains documents and information on various cultural topics, as well as book reviews. Slovaks abroad learned with satisfaction that Matica slovenska in Prievidza organized an exhibition of the literary work of J. C. Hronsky. The exhibition lasted two weeks and met with great interest by the public. The objectivity of this publication is enhanced by including an account on this exhibition in which it has been admitted that Hronsky was "one of the most important, but also systematically under-estimat:ed Slovak writer." Unfortunately, the publication contains only a short Russian and German summary and will, therefore, be useful only for Slavists who can read Slovak. Nevertheless, we welcome this valuable contribution to better and more objective evalu ation of the Slovak literary past. W ith Christ in His Passion. By Rudolph Dilong. '!1ranslated from the original Slovak by Sister M. Martina Tibor, SS.C.M., Villa of the Sacred .Heart, Danville, Pa., 1971, pp. 75, $2.50. The greatest poetic genius of our century, the French poet, Paul Claude!, used to say (in several variations) about the poet and poetry. "The object of poetry is not, as they say very frequently, dreams, illusions or ideas_ It is the holy reality, given once for all times, in the center of which we are situated. It is the universe of in- 211 visible things. It is all that we look at and all that looks back at us. All this is God's work; it renders matter inexhaustible for all the greatest poet says and sings as well as the smallest bird. Since there is a phiiosophia perennis that does not invent ... abstract beings that no one has ever seen except thei r authors, .. . so there is also a poesis perennis that does not invent its themes, but it eternally recaptures those which Creation furnishes to it ... The purpose of poetry is not, as Baudelaire says, 'to plunge into the bottom of the Infinite to find something new,' but to plunge into the bottom of the definite in order to find there the inexhaustible ... Nor is he a poet who invents, but he who, approaching things, assembles and permits us to understand them." Justly we can apply these concepts especially to the religious poetry of Rudolf Dilong, the most prolific and meritorious contemporary Slovak poet living in exile (Pittsburgh, Pa.) So he took a plunge into the sacred reality of the Pascha'l Mystery and with a luminous creative poetic imagry tried the humanly impossible: to capture the uncapturable mystery found in Christ's redemptive mystery of suffering and victory. He listens in these depths and assembles the rays of his poetic vision in powerful and eloquent words. These are his immortal merits. How about the (frequently overlooked) merits of the translator, Sister Martina Tibor? Well, if poetry is art par excellence, so is its translation. To translate poetry well requires above all the perfect mastery of two languages. But this is not enough. The translator must be also a virtual pbet (in potentia), to save in his translation as much �SLOVAKIA 212 of the sublime poetic beauty as it is possible. And this process must be a new creation: a scrupulous penetration into the fine shades of meanings and the recapturing in another language this almost imperceptible shimmering of condensed poetic experience and expression. Even so, something will always be lost from the genuine beauty of the original. AU in all, we gladly say that Sister Martina did a splendid job in translating into English the most difficult, exuberant and most sublime religious poetry of the poet1>riest Rudolf Dilong. It is a valuable cultural service to the poetic Slovak genius. Nichoias Sp r in c, Borromeo Seminary College of Ohio ··DIE SLOWAKEI IN DER NACHDER KRIEGSENTWICKLUNG (The TSCHECHO-SLOWAKEI" Role of Slovakia in the Political Evolution of Czecho--Slovakia After the Second World War); by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, Schriftenreihe des Matus Cernak Instituts, Koln, Nr. 3, 1971, pp. 32, Bibi. Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum enriched again our political literature by a consice study about Slovakia after lhe Second World War. The publication is destined predominantly to scholars and historians but it will be welcome by anybody interested in political development in Czecho-Slovakia from 1945 to 1968. This period of Slovak history was presented in the West by fore ign historians as well as by Czech exiles in the most distorted light. Prof J. M. Kirschbaum, on the basis of sources in several languages, gives a clear picture of the role of Slovakia in the upheavals through which Czecho-Slov>akia, restored by the Soviet armies, had to undergo after the Second World War. The publication is an enlarged version of an English contribution to Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. X, 4, 1968, which was dedicated by Canadian Slavists to the events in Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. The English version discusses the events until the invasion of Czecho• Slovakia by the Soviet and other Warsaw Pact troops. In the German version there is also a chapter on the federalization of Czecho-Slovakia , and the footnotes were completed by references to works in German, while in the English text, Prof. Kirschbaum referred mostly to books published on the American Continent and in France. The study is divided into four chapters dealing with the Communist coup d'etat in 1948, the ,period of the "cult of personality" in Slovakia, the process of de--Stalinization and the struggle for liberalization and federalization. In each chapter the author traces the special role which Slovakia played in the crucial years of the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into the most faithful satellite of the Soviet Union. To avoid being accused of "parti pris," Prof. J .M. Kirschbaum heavily relies on quotations from American and Canadian political scientists dealing with Eastern Europe. Among others he often quotes the work by the former Secretary to President Benes, E. Taborsky, who now teaches at American universities, but the most interesting quotation comes from a Czech professor at the University of British Columbia, Stanley Z. Pech, who wrote the following remarkable statement about Western historians writing on Eastern Europe: "Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to �SLOVAKIA I 213 make the West familiar with the Since Prof. F . Hrusovsky published entire panorama of the polyglot his concise booklet This is Slovakia. region, they have in practice often I some 20 years ago, we did not been selective in the favors they have in English any publication to bestoved on each nation. They have give either to foreigners or to incorporated in their work, in Slovaks educated at American, Camodified form, the outlook and nadian or Australian universities, the prejudices of the nations which the basic facts of Slovak history they "adopted." To give the most and cultural life. For this reason, conspicuous examples, they viewed the Slovak World Congress deSlovak history through Czech eyes. serves credit for publishing an In so doing, they have in fact up-to-date account on Slovakia. The publication is composed of created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the two essays by Prof. J . A. Mikus. Slovaks in the West has usually and six essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschbeen presented from the point of baum. Prof. Mikus deals with the view of "Czechoslovakism" and has individuality of Slovakia, namely, appeared as hardly more than a with geographical and demographical facts and with the personality postscript to Czech history. " of the Slovak nation. Both essays We understand that the first are written in a scholarly way but English book by Prof. J. M. Kirsch- understandable to any reader. baum Slovakia - Nati 01i at the Drawing on personal knowledge Crossroads of Central Europe is and long years of studies of Slovak no more avail.able even though it history, Prof. Mikus displayed ahad three printings. It would be gain by his essays that he belongs a service to the Slovak cause if among the best Slovak authors he revised his book and completed abroad in the field of history and it by the present study in order political science. that students of Slovak history, as The essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschwell as politicians and American baum deal with the historical back and Canadian Slovaks of the second ground of Slovakia, the ethnic and third generations, could have origin and language, cultural, poan objective history on Slovakia. litical, religious and economic The Matus cernak Institute de- background. The essays give a serves credit for publishing this complete and unbiased picture of well documented study. The Slovak 1100 years of Slovak history, as World Congress would render a well as of political and cultural service to the Slovak cause if it evolution of the Slovak people and took care of pl.acing this concise of the economic potential of Sloand expertly written account of vakia. Perhaps intentionally short, modern Slovak history into univer- the essays refer to many books sity libraries in Europe as well as either in Slovak or in foreign languages, which will be welcome by on this Continent. who want to enhance their students J . Pau c o knowledge of Slovakia. SLOVAKIA : Historical and Cu lturThe reader will notice that Prof. al Background, by Prof. J. A. J . M. Kirschbaum made great efMikus and Prof. J. M. Kirsch- forts to present the political and baum, Published by Slovak World religious background of Slovaks Congress (Toronto, Canada, June without any bias. This is in accoro 1971) , pp. 63, ill. bibl. ance with the concept of the Slovak I �SLOVAKIA 214 World Congress which published this valuable addition to books on Slovakia. The Congress is guided by national as well as by religious ecumenical spirit. As in his other works on Slovakia, Prof. Kirsch• baum makes a distinction between the history of Slovakia and the history of the Slovak people which is not history of dynasties or expansive wars, but a struggle for survival. Such an approach will probably be most understandable for Slovaks as well as foreigners and may prove to be correct in the last analysis. The publication is enhanced by a map of Europe and several pictures from the history of Slovakia, as well as by a bibliography of English books on Slovakia by Slovak authors. The Editor, Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum added this im· pressive survey of books in English by Slovak authors for Slovaks educated outside Slovakia, and he did the right thing. Published by the Slovak World Congress, this valuable publication was distributed freely to the participants at the meeting in Toronto, and is apparently no more avail• able. It would be a service to the Slovak cause if a second edition be prepared for general use. J. Pa u co ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA I: Uni· versitas Comeniana Bratislavensis, Facultas Philosophica, Bratislava 1970, p. 226, Multi-Lingual. The liberalization period in Slovakia brought about a favorable change not only in the political climate but also in cultural and scientific activities. Many projects which for years were only debated, materialized in 1968 or 1969. As a result, several symposia from a nllltlber of Conferences dealing with inter-Slavic relations in pre- vious years were published and institutes or chairs of studies were founded and organized. The Institute of Ethnology wa one of them and the present volume ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA is the first publication of this Institute which has been founded "for the purpose of establishing an institution for ethnological research concerned with the Slavic nations," as the editors say in their multi• lingual introduction. According to the editors, Slovak scholars also planned the establishment of Ethnological Archives and a Society of Slavic Ethnologists but " the well-known events of 1968 (in other words, the Soviet invasion) heavily intefered with the realization of the original program." Only the Institute of Ethnology came into being and this first volume of ETHNOLOGIA SLA VICA is the result of the research of its members and foreign ethnologists. The volume was published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Comenius University (1919). The Managing Editor of the publication, Jan Podolak, says in his Preface that the University has been founded "to enable Slovaks to acquire erudition (sic) of university-degree in the national language." However, it is well-known that the students of the Comenius University had to organize demonstrations for the use of the Slovak language as late as 1937-1938 because the mission of the University was to help the assimilation of Slovaks. The situation changed only during the Slovak Republic when education as well as administration, was carried on in the Slovak language which the present day scholars are not allowed to mention. The publication ETHNOLOGIA �SLOVAKIA SLA VICA is a valuable addition to Slavic studies and is a long time overdue, if we take into consideration the fact that one of the main founders of Slavic ethnology, P . J. Safarik, come from Slovakia. The volume contains contributions by Slovak as well as foreign scholars, and the essays have been published in English, French and German, with a Slovak resume in some cases, which will make the book accessible also to ethnologists in the West. Of 12 contributions, 3 have been written by Slovaks. Jan Michalek evaluated P . J. Safarik's contribution to Slavic ethnography; Jan Podolak wrote an interesting essay on the pastoral culture of the Carpathians as a subject of ethnological study, and Anton Habovstiak contributed the study "La colonisation pastorale dans les Karpates et les patois slovaques" (The Pastoral Colonization of the Carpathians and Slovak Dialects). Among foreign contributors are Milovan Gavazzi (from Zagreb), Sergei A. Tokarev (from Moscow), Christo Vakarelski (from Sofia), Zoltan Ujvary (from Debrecen), Oldrich Sirovatka (from Brno), Slobodan 2ecevic (from Beograd) , and two contributions have been written by Lusatian-Serbians, Isolde Gardos and Siegmund Musiat. This mosaic of contributors as well as the variety of subjects treated by them gives the book an intemational and inter-Slavic image. This should be velcome in view of the fact that the results of academic activities by Slovak scholars were rarely published in Western languages. The essays are not of equal value but they are all on the level of similar studies in the Soviet orbit. The volume is oriented particularly to Russian but also to Croatian, Bulgarian and Lusatian-Serbian ethnology, but the editors are 215 promising to deal also with Polish, Ukrainian and Yugoslavian ethnology in the following volumes. As an addendum the publication contains reviews in English and in German of the activities and the writings by Czech, Polish, Soviet, Ukrainian and Bulgarian ethnographers and their institutes or periodicals. Since every book in foreign language dealing with Slovak culture is of great importance for acquainting the world with Slovakia, we sincerely welcome this volume and hope that further volumes will follow as the editors promised and that the present generation of Slovak ethnologists will follow in the footsteps of P . J. Safarik who left a rich legacy to Slovak ethnology. * J. M . K i r s c h b au m * On P . J. Safarik, see Kirschbaum , P . J . Safcirik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies (Slavistica No. 43, Cleveland-Winnipeg, 1962) . DUBCEK'S Blu e Print for Fre edom: His Documentation on Czechoslovakia leading to the Soviet invasion, with a Profile by Hugh Lunghi and Commentary by Paul Ello (William Kimber, London, 1968), pp. 352, Index. Among the scores of books which were published on Dubcek and the events in Czecho--Slovakia in 1968* , this book will remain as one of the most useful for scholars and laymen alike. The editors included in the book the most important documents such as Dubcek's speech on April 1, 1968, at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Czecho,Slovak Communist Party; the Action Programme of the Party; Dubcek's report to the meeting of. the Central Committee on May 29-June 1, 1968, and the warning given by the Presidium �216 SLOVAKIA of the Central Committee in answer to the letters of five Communist and Workers' Parties. Finally, in the Appendix, the book includes Dubcek's speech of December 1, 1968. These contents are expertly introduced and commented upon by Hugh Lunghi, a former member of the British Embassy in Moscow, and Paul Ello from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington. While Lunghi, who has been one of the best informed analysts on the staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation, gives in his Introduction an analysis of the events which led to the Soviet invasion, Paul Ello wrote a concise but well balanced commentary. The Summary is not signcd, and may be the work of either of the writers. The book will have a lasting value for inte11preting the attempts at changing •Stalinism in one o.f the most advanced, culturally and industrially, satellites of Moscow and at giving socialism a "human face. " Both Lunghi and Ello are factual in their analysis and Lunghi did not fail to point out the role of Slovakia and Slovak Communist leaders in the upheavals which many other authors, writing about the "Prague Spring", failed to do. In accordance with the facts, Lunghi writes that "one of the first of Novotny's fatal errors was his mishandling of the Slovaks," and that it was Dubcek's reaction to Novotny's policy towards Slovakia which began the snowball roUing. During the Central Committee meetings at the end of 1967, according to Lunghi the "three issues at stake were, firstly, the implementation of the economic reforms; secondly, freedom of expression and, finally, effective autonomy for SJovakia." (p. 17) . This conclusion has been accept- ed in the meantime as correct also by other authors who had access to documents, especially by Paul Tigrid in his book: La Chute Irresistible d'Alexander Dubcek, (Calmann-Levy, Paris, 1969) which was likewise reviewed in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, p. 206. Lunghi apparently followed the events in Slovakia very closely and without the usual bias which we can find among some Western specialists in East European problems. This appears not only in his assessment of the role of Husak after the invasion but also in his reference to Peter Colotka, Deputy Premier in Prague's government, who made some courageous declarations which resulted in his removal from his post. Lunghi's analysis of the situation in Slovakia was also correctly grasped in his statement that "the federation of the country, longed for by the Slovaks, had, at last been achieved in the face of the Russians who wanted to keep the two nations divided and at logger-heads. During the invasion the Russians had put about the totally false rumors that some Slovak provinces wanted to become Soviet republics. Symbolically, the legislation creating the federal state was enacted to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration on October 28th." Unfortunately, the law of the federation was enacted but it became ineffective to a great degree because of Czech reluctance, what Lunghi could not, of course, foresee in 1968. Western analysts mentioned various reasons for the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia by the Warsaw Pact military forces in the books so far published on the invasion. Lunghi brings to light a new possible element which finally pushed the Soviet leadership to invade Czecho-Slovakia. During the spring �SLOVAKIA and summer of 1968 there was a strong reaction against the secret police which apparently was not only organized on the model of the Soviet secret police but also directed and infiltrated by Soviet agents to whom the Prague Ministry of Interior had to submit interrogation material before bringing them to the ministers themselves. According to Lunghi, the announced purge of the secret police apparatus threatened a vital Soviet interest by the revelations published in the newpapers in Bratislava and in Prague. Moscow's objective was, therefore, "to hold these dangerous processes and to restore a leadership in Prague which would control the population through a Soviet style Communist Party using the proper level of power - a persuasive and omnipotent secret police with no nonsense about 'demonstration of the socio-political 217 system'." (page 25). No doubt this could have been one of the serious reasons for the infamous decision to destroy an interesting effort by Slovaks and Czechs to give socialism a "human face." Paul Ello's commentary, short as it is, is clear and factual, and belongs among the best written ones shortly after the invasion, where there was a lot of confusion in Western countries among the specialists in East Europe. The book undoubtedly deserves to be read and preserved on the shelves for further study of a crucial moment in the history of Eastern Europe and probably in the history of Western civilization. J. M. Ki r s c h b au m • On a number of books on this subject, see my book reviews in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, 1971, No. 44, pp. 205-210. Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor Rudolph Petrak, 54, of 32 Halsey, Dr., Old Greenwich, Conn., a leading tenor with the City Opera Company from 1948 to 1956, died March 4, 1972, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Stamford, Conn. He was born in Sucany, Slovakia had sung at major opera houses in Europe and South America, and as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and other noted ensembles. He sang under the batons of such famous conductors as Leopold Stokowski, Ormandy, Leinsdorf and Krips. Mr. Petrak began his career with the Bratislava Opera and made his American debut in 1948 at the New York City Center as Rudolfo in "La Boheme." Congressman Albert P. Morano of Greenwich noted in the Congressional Record of the United States. "I have become acquainted with many artists who have immigrated to America, but know of none more possessed of deep love for his adopted country than Rudolph Petrak." "The New York Times" in an obituary on Monday, March 6, 1972 published his picture as he sang Radames in "Aida" about 1949. The New York Times also wrote: "In 1960 when Mr. Petrak sang at the Philadelphia Orchestra's presentation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" in Carnegie Hall, Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times music critic noted: "Everything sounded effortless and clear, even the high D that Mr. Petrak took in falsetto".-J.C.S. �SLOVAKIA 218 Our Contributor s Karol Kuzmany, Slovak leader in 19th century. Msgr. George A. Galik, J.C.D., author, Hibbing, Minn. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph.D., historian, author, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E . L. Delaney, author, journalist, Glendale, Cal. Fran!;ois d'Orcival, French political writer, Paris. Paul Kotva, pen name of Karol Sidor, former Premier of Slovakia. Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M., teacher, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Joseph C. Krajsa, Editor of Jednota, lecturer, Middletown, Pa. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L., J.D., historian, author, Washington, D. C. Francis Vnuk, M.A., political analyst, professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia. Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., journalist, author, Middletown, Pa. K. culen, historian, journalist. Rev. A. V. Pier, O.S.B., journalist, author, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Steven I. Miller, assistant professor, Loyola University of Chicago, Ill. Daniel F. Tanzone, B.A., fraternalist, Yonkers, N. Y. Helena T. Gaydos, cultural worker, Philadelphia, Pa. George A. Podhajsky, pen name of a Slovak refugee professor. Rudolph J. Vecoli, professor of history and director of the Center of Immigration Studies at the University of Minnesota. Agnes Bocan, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Edward J. Behuncik, attorney-at-law, Stratford, Connecticut. Rev. Nicholas Sprinc, professor, poet, Wickliffe, Ohio. Picture on the front cover: Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic. �SLOVAKIA 219 Contents Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People - 3 Paean to Integrity - Karol Kuzmany-George A. Galik - 4 Dr. Joseph Tiso-the Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People - J.M. Kirschbaum - 5 I Met President Tiso - E. L. Delaney - 21 Msgr. Joseph Tiso - Fran(;ois d'Orcival - 26 Murder in Slovakia - Hon. Alvin E. O'Konsld - 36 Speech of Hon. Ray J. Madden - 37 Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso - N.C.W.C. News Service - 40 Who Killed Dr. Tiso? - Paul Kotva - 43 Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero - 48 Dr. Jozef Tiso-His Political Creed - Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M. - 50 Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks - Joseph C. Krajsa - 57 Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-In Memoriam - J.M. Kirschbaum - 60 Michael Novak on White Ethnics - Prof. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L. , J .D. - 62 Slovak Martyrs - 64 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 1939 - F. Vnuk - 65 Th e Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) - Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - 92 The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks in U.S.A . and Canada - K. Culen - 98 America's Discovery of Ethnic Values - A. V. Pier, O.S.B. - 114 Historical and Empi rical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group - Dr. Steven I. Miller - 116 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America - Daniel F. Tanzone -125 Slovakia, the Land of B eauty - Helena T. Gaydos - 136 Tourist Trade of Slovakia - George A. Podhajsky - 140 Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off - Rudolph J. Vecoli - 146 An Introduction to Slovak Costume - Agnes Bocaii - 153 Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedlik, O.S.B. - A. V. Pier - 158 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 - Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress - 193 Unity Is Necessary - Edward J . Behuncik - 195 As Others See It - 198 Book Reviews - 205 Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor - J.C.S. - 217 161 ��PRI NTI D IN U.S. A. JIDN OTA PlllN TER Y, MID DLli TOW N, PA. � SLOVAKIA 193 CURRENT ISSUES Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress Representatives of Slovak organizations throughout the free world as well as individuals of Slovak origin in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, South Africa, Argentina, Spain and Germany assembled in Toronto in order to promote the creation of a world organization of Slovaks hereby declare that: The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, :s uch efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to .dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. The Congress will continue to adhere to the democratic principles in the civil and international relations and considers tolerance in ideological, political and religious matters an expression of maturity for democracy and strongly opposes any tyranny whether it comes from the left, or, from the right. It has been obvious during the past two decades that the Slovaks living in Slovakia have been unable to determine their own destiny. A number of recent facts attest to this unfortunate reality namely the following: The basic freedom of Slovaks, as well as of other Captive �194 SLOVAKIA Nations under communism, are still quite limited-travel to Western countries, and press and assembly freedoms have recently been set back to almost the 1948 levels. The federalization of Czecho-Slovakia into two equal sectors-the Czech and the Slovak, introduced by the Constitutional Act of October 1948, has been severely circumscribed in recent past and is slowly being replaced by a new centralism; Religious freedom continues to be restricted to Roman Catholics, Uniates, Lutherans, Jews and to other denominations; and The present Czecho-Slovak Federal Government has taken no initiative nor has it responded to initiatives suggested by the Holy See in the Vatican to establish a Catholic Province in Slovakia, even though such provinces exist in Bohemia as well as in Moravia. We contend that the issue of the continued existence and recognition of a Slovak nation be duly accepted by all nations, including the records of the United Nations. The question of the suppressed freedoms of all nations now living under communism must soon be given full airing and remedies instituted. This has been and should not cease to be an issue of interest to all civilized nations. Slovaks call upon them to help in this cause. We take a positive attitude towards the economic integration in Europe and urge that the Slovak nation be included in this and other unifying processes benefiting their degree of economic and other freedoms. Viewing the future political situation in Eastern Europe with hope and cautious optimism, we look toward to the day when obstacles which presently prevent cultural and educational exchang* between Slovaks at home and abroad will be removed. To support the objectives mentioned above, we have established a permanent organization under the name of: Slovak World Congress, which shall embody the spirit of brotherhood and mutual respect. Religious affiliations or political views, insofar as they are not contrary to the spirit of democracy and the objectives mentioned above, will not bar anyone from membership or active participation in our organization. We consider it essential that our goals and methods as well as our activities follow democratic principles. �SLOVAKIA 195 We shall endeavor to have the Slovak World Congress represent its members at international scientific, cultural, religious or political forums in the interest of the Slovak nation as expressed in the Constitution and the by-laws of the organization. We urge that the Slovak World Congress devote itself to promoting the spirit of unity among its members and to co-ordinate all its efforts through constant contact with member organizations maintained through central secretariats, regional secretariats, committees and information bureaus in various countries around the world. We ask the blessing of Almighty God in this undertaking in the firm hope that with the help and co-operation of all those who wish well for the Slovaks we may successfully fulfill our role. Members of the Committee: Stephen B. Roman, LL.D., President; Rev. Dusan Toth, Secretary General; Dr. J. A. Mikus, Dr. J. Stasko, Dr. J. M . Kirschbaum,· Dr. J. Pauco, and Prof. E. Urban. Toronto, Ont., June 20, 1971. Unity Is Necessary Edward J. Behun c i k (The following are excerpts from the address of Edward J . Behuncik, First Vice President of the Slovak World Congress, President of the Slovak League of America, and President of the American Fund for Slovak Refugees given at the closing banquet of the Slovak World Congress held at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, June 19. 1971.) It is a rare and high privilege to appear before such a historic and distinguished gathering of representatives of all walks of Slovak life and to break bread with our fellow Slovaks from all parts of the free world as we share this memorable Congress in spirit, in hope and in love with our brethren in beautiful Slovakia. The honor you do me in asking that I speak in company with the distinguished Chief Executive of the great Province of Ontario, with two colleagues from the great Senate of the United States of America, as well as the spiritual, civic and cultural leaders who grace the head table-this honor cannot but move me. I thank you most sincerely for asking me here. Hopefully 1 will leave at least �196 SLOVAKIA one or two important thoughts with you-important to the permanent success of our fledgeling Slovak World Congress, and that is, our need for unity- and for ''Svornost a laska".In Joel, we read·'Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."Today, we combine the hopes which both dreams and visions embody. Dreams are generally of things past, visions are of the future. Dreams are truly for older men who have a past, while visions are for the younger looking forward to the future. Experience alone is the look backward, the dream of yesteryear, but it is only useful as it clarifies the vision of tomorrow. Here in Toronto, we put the finishing touches--not upon a new structure - rather upon the permanent foundation . Because in fact, at New York City, the Congress \\'as already perfect in the sense that its objects were fully perceived, its necessary organs present, its powers conferred, and its extent already, if only dimly, seen to be world wide. In addition, its final purpose, which alone can justify its existence, was perfectly clear and that was to become the r epresentative body of Slovaks scattered as they are throughout the free world. Here during the past several days, we have added to the New York beginnings. We've used our year old experience to improve, amend, delete and otherwise add to the permanent basis of a vital organ for disseminating the cause of the Slovak nation. To bring about the final liberation of the Slovak nation and its equality among all nations, the Slovak World Congress presents us with a golden opportunity. If we complete its hopeful aspirations, if we create a permanent edifice on the foundation built here and in New York, we will thereby sooner bring to fruition the age old Slovak vision of liberty and freedom with justice. But unity is necessary - that unity which has so often eluded the efforts of our forebears . Can we come together for the future ? Can we remain together? I think we can; I know we must! ! ! We will and must let bygones be bygones, let past differences as nothing be, and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugu rate the good and old central ideas of a free and independent Slovakia, where our presently subjugated brethren can someday in God's good time freely choose their own destiny. We have our quarrels, as all happy families have. We have di sagreed as all friend s have. But when the great human cause of Slovakia comes before us, in the natural fitness of things, we have looked into our hearts, and hidden away in their innermost recesses, we have discovered a very shy but a very faithful friendship for each other, no matter from what region of Slovakia we originated. That is why we are here this evening. �SLOVAKIA So 1 say-we are united-but more important - we must stay united. We can do it ! ! ! The human heart and human aspirations are with us. God is with us--Our Lady of Sorrows is with us. We shall-we must-succeed. God forbid, if the Congress shall dissipate instead of growing and developing as it should-it will be another eleven hundred years before the vision of a unified, free and independent Slovakia can again be dreamed of. I know none of us wish to have ~he horror of such a c a ta s t r o p h e on our consciences. So, we must not fall-and we won't if we do our duty-but the time has passed when we can remain silent regarding the great fundamentals of free government and permit the enemies of the Slovak social order to occupy the center of the stage. The time has come and that time is now when we must take issue with those, who infatuated with ch a o t i c dreams, are seeking to undermine the Slovak ideals and aspirations, dreams and visions. We now have the modus operandi-the vehicle. We have the Slovak World Congress. We, the participants in and supporters of the Congress, have it in our own hands whether it shall be nothing more than the brilliant after glow of a gorgeous renaissance, or whether it shall be the dawn of a newer and brighter day in the struggle of the Slovaks to fulfill their age old vision of liberty and freedom with justice. Already, as we well know, on several occasions, for several 197 brief moments, behind the far spread iron curtain in Eastern Europe. the rays of the setting sun of materialistic communism have mingled with the rays of the rising sun of democracy. May that sun grow in light and warmth and may it be undimmed by the clouds of our own internal dissension. I am profoundly concerned. I am deeply interested. I build the greatest hopes upon this World Congress. 1 am old enough to have the experience to be able to dream-but, I am young enough to have the vision of a great institution - one from which, for example, some day-God grant-will emerge a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize - or the Literature Prize. And so, in bidding a foud adieu to our fellow Slovaks returning to their havens scattered throughout the free world, I urge them and all of you to hope- to hope as the love of truth and obedience to it shall grow and as with firmer footing thereon, we look afar and think clearly on what we see. We shall see our Slovak World Congress advancing to the high position that awaits every organization and every nation which honors the facts, which looks afar and which thinks clearly and positively. And as we aspire to greater and more illustrious achievements in the glorious history of our beloved Slovakia, we can well ponder the prayer of Sir Francis Drake: "Oh, Lord God, when Thou givest to Thy servants to endeavor any great matter, grant us also, to know, that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it is thoroughly finished, which yieldcth the true glory." �198 SLOVAKIA AS OTHERS SEE In these times, when many of us seem to reflect on the place of our origin, it was indeed interesting to see how the Americans, Canadians, and citizens of other free countries, all of Slovak origin, demonstrated their dedication to the cause of peace with freedom in our age. Their dedication was for freedom for their kinfolk in Slovakia, now part of the Communist satellite of Czechoslovakia, who cannot themselves demonstrate their longing for the liberties denied them for 23 years. The Slovaks are a hardy people who have been seeking the ideals we in our own country so freely enjoy-the right to their own self. determination. And like other nations, captives under Communist domination, the Slovaks know that one day they will join ranks with the civilized world with other free nations. Until then the work of the Slovak World Congress is indeed both most worthy and very necessary and I hope I applaud it. - U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. The Slovak World Congress stands for freedom and seeks to preserve the language, culture and national heritage. You are to be commended for your strong antiCommunist stand. - Strom Thurmond., U.S. Senator Please know that your concern for freedom throughout the world and particularly in Slovakia is shared by all of us. No more dire threat exists today than that posed by the Soviet Union and I stand with you against their expansionary policies. Keep up with your good work. - John Tower, U.S. Senator I wish to congratulate the Slovak people of our nation for the out- IT standing fight they have been waging over the years in exposing Communist tyranny which is the most powerful threat to human freedom in the history of the world. If all groups of the free world would have the same spirit of opposition and expose the criminality of Communist enslavement methods and Communist living conditions there would be no doubt that this Communistic threat to the world would collapse in a very short time. - Ray J. Madden, U.S. Member of Congress The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, such efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. Claiborne Pell, U.S. Senator Even within the Communist world there is an absolute intoler-- �SLOVAKIA ance for those faithful party members who would put a "human face" on the dictatorship in order to make it more palatable. I speak of course, of Alexander Dubcek who sought to purify, and reform, but not replace or destroy, communism in Czechoslovakia. Yes even after the true nature of the dictator reared its ugly head and Dubcek's reforms were sacrificed, we still hear the drone of those who would have us believe that the communist dictator has changed. Let no one be fooled - Communism is the Number One enemy not only of the Western World, but of humanity itself. It is a tribute to all of you who have felt the iron hand of the communist dictator that you have brought to the Western Hemisphere an appreciation and understanding of the dangers of communism which is, unfortunately, shared by too few Americans. - Robert C. Mardian It is a privilege to address men and women who stand for the forefront of civilization's never-ending struggle for freedom. For more than eleven centuries the Slovak people have been developing, extending and seeking to preserve a rich and fertile cultural heritage. More than that, you have sought endlessly to maintain that priceless ingredient of true spiritual fulfillment-the right of the individual citizen to be his own person, to think his own thoughts, to speak his own words, to contribute directly to the formation and performance of his own government and to worship as he chooses. In so doing you have contributed your full share, and perhaps more, to the development of the Slavic peoples as a whole and to the cultural family of peoples around the world. 199 Ontario and all of Canada has been enriched by the spirit and integrity of Slovaks, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and all of the others who claim the honor of membership in the world Slavic community which numbers more than 200 million persons. - William C. Davis, Prime Minister of Ontario Vienna, AtLstria - Communist Czecho-Slovakia's closed-door policy against religious literature mailed from abroad has provoked a steady stream of protests within its own borders, according to reports reaching here. Demands for an explanation are being sent to postal authorities by Czecho-Slovak citizens who learn that religious books such as the Bible have been mailed to them from abroad but returned to the sender by government authorities. The regime's reply to that publications contrary to Czecho-Slovakia's laws are refused entry. But no particulars are given to explain how the Bible or devotional books are in opposition to the country's laws. "Foreign reviews and books may be sent into Czecho-Slovakia without limitation of any sort," said a standard explanation from the central office for incoming foreign parcels in Prague. Post Office 120. "However, reviews and books which by their content are contrary to our legislative norms are refused local delivery, according to the prevailing international standards." The letter of explana,tion concluded: "Peace to the world!" It seems that books arriving from certain senders or destined for certain addresses are returned automatically without examination. Recently one man received back from Czecho..Slovakia an unopened �200 SLOVAKIA package he had sent his brother containing a book on photography. Official documents mailed by Vatican offices to various bishops in Czecho-Slovakia have been returned marked "refused." In June, the secretariat for church affairs of the Slovakia region's government notified bishops, pastors and Religious superiors that religious publications from abroad were prohibited where "in conflict with the interest of our socialist state." The of.ficial notice continued: "The provision also concerns the propagation and publication of information and instructions of various kinds from abroad, whether through internal ecclesiastical channels, in official documents or in any form whatsoever." It warned that the distribution of prohibited literature is punishable under Czecho-Slovakia's penal code. Czecho-Slovakia's hard-line communist rulers, brought to power by the Soviet invasion of August 1968, have been steadily tightening the screws on the Catholic Church for the past two years. In January 1970 the Slovakia ministry of culture decreed that every act of official worship, including private Masses, must have state approval. A similar decree was issued by the ministry of culture in the Czech region of Bohemia. In July of that same year the Slovakia government asserted the right to blackball newly chosen superiors of congregations of nuns. In November, 1970 the Bohemia ministry of culture forbade the Church to give courses preparing couples for marriage. In July 1971 the ministry of culture decreed severe limitations upon the teaching of religion. Its Slovakia counterpart did likewise. Decrees approving newly resurrected pro-government associations of peace priests were issued simultaneously in August 1971 by the Bohemian and Slovakian governments. But the regime 's restrictions on Church activity and growth have not been confined to legislation and decrees. Through administrative acts the regime has kept more than half the applicants out of the country's seminaries and has dismissed from convents all Sisters who entered them when the country's liberalized regime of early 1968 reopened the convent to novices. The present, neo-Stalinist regime has attempted to manipulate the Church by installing its own candidates in key positions, such as vicar general of Brno and of Roziiava, and the executive committees of the Bohemian and Slovakian Catholic charitable agencies. Meanwhile, the controlled press has been keeping up a steady fire on religion in general and the churches in particular. Christians in Bohemia are bracing themselves for still heavier assaults upon them and their churches now that the head of the region's religious affairs office, Karel Hruza, has returned from a Moscow meeting with · his counterparts from other Communist states. Czecho-Slovakia's present program of religious repression was launched shortly after his return from a similar meeting in Moscow in October 1969. - NC New s Service Vienna. - The situation of the Church and of human rights and freedoms. in communist-ruled Czecho-Slovakia is growing worse, not better. Experts agree that the situation �SLOVAKIA 201 after the short bright 1968 methods to promote atheist edu "humanizing" period before the cation. Dubcek regime was overthrown by Party officials said repeatedly at Soviet-led invaders - is similar recent meetings that religion "has now to that of the hated Stalinist a negative influence on the for. times. mation of Socialist conscience." The Church has become the The Bratislava communist newstarget of concentrated attacks from paper, Pravda, demanded that relitwo directions - through adminis- gious ceremonies - christenings, trati ve measures and ideological weddings and funerals - be rearguments. placed by Socialist ceremonies, The communist regime is at- because " the Church has misused tempting to strangle religious the most important stages of activities slowly but effectively by human life for its own purposes." administrative action. Karel Hruza, head of the gove rnMore than half of all parishes in ment state office, has described Bohemia lack priests and there is the regime's plans. "After rightists no chance to overcome the short- and counter-revolutionaries are reage. At the moment only 12 stu- moved from the party and governdents study for the priesthood in ment, we must concentrate in the entire Archdiocese of Olomouc. working a platform to cope with As a result of government the reactionary policy of the chicanery, the number of children Church. - Gerd Kriwanek, Reliattending religious instruction in gious News Service, January 28, school is sharply declining. 1972. th At the same time, e regime Ladislav Bezak loaded his wife has endorsed increased ideological and four children in a two-place attacks on the Church. Jozef Le- · light plane December 9 1971 and nart, firs_t secretary of the Slovak left for what he desc;ibed as a Communist Party, charged the "pleasure trip. " Church with having misused the The flight originated in Prague, situation in 1968 " to create a politand his destination was Nuernberg, ical basis for clericalism and West Germany. He did not file Catholicism. " a flight plan. Lenart alleged that religious Bezak is an experienced pilot sentiments were misused to pro- perhaps one of the best in the mote "anti-Sovietism and anti- world. At the first World Aerosocialism." batic Contest in 1960 at Bratislava, The regime has increased its Slovakia, he was a gold medal atheist propaganda. Thus the mag- winner in aerobatic competition. azine for teachers Ucitel'ske American pilots describe him as Noviny - urged the abolition of a quiet engineer who always wore any "liberal attitude towards re- a suit and tie rather than the casual ligion and the Church in our clothes worn by most competitive society." The journal also pledged pilots. increased atheist education of Shortly after he and his famil y young people by the party, the left Prague, a Czech MIG jet mass media, the schools and major fighter began a chase, and although organizations. Bezak waggled his wings and It also suggested that the Acade- waved to convince the fighter pilot my of Science devise the best they were on a pleasure flight , the �202 SLOVAKIA MIG began to fire on the light plane. Aerobatic maneuvers require precise skill. They are difficult enough in a special airplane, with perfect weight and balance distribution under ideal conditions. With six peop'le in a small plane, they would have to be considered impossible category. In addition, being fired on by a military jet could tend to disturb the concentration. The little plane - loaded over gross, and perhaps a third as fast as the fighter - apparently didn't have a chance. But the pilot was Bezak! According to the Aerobatic Club of America, Bezak flew the book at the military pilot. Flying many of the patterns which had earned him world championship 10 years before, he was able to elude the jet and continue on to the border. Before he reached it, the small plane was fired on from the ground. Bezak dived into a cloud bank, and with the children in tears and his wife in prayer, broke out across the border at 300 feet. The escape was a success. Ladislav Bezak, like most good aerobatic pilots, flies for prizes. During this trip he won the biggest prize of them all - freedom for himself and his family. - Lew Inquirer, Philadelphia Hodges, February 6, 1972. Lehigh is searching for a graduate student of Slovak ancestry to prepare a history of Slovak people in Bethlehem. Money for this project was left to the University from an even more unusual source: a Southside Bethlehem bachelor druggist who died in 1968 at age 67 and left Lehigh $67,500 in an unsigned will. The druggist, John Weldy Wasco, worked and apparently lived at 843 E. 4th Street. Relatives contested his will all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which upheld two lower court decisions in favor of Lehigh. Wasco stipuleted that $10,000 of the $67,500 was to go toward compiling and printing a history of Slovaks in Bethlehem, and that the project must be carried out by a Slovak student. Wasco's wish appeared in local newspapers without the criteria he set for the historian, and a number of Lehigh faculty expressed interest before learning they did not qualify. Wasco also specified that his personal papers be edited, and left $5,000 for the University to arrange that. University officials could not explain what motivated Wasco's generosity. He wrote a will in 1967 making Lehigh his sole beneficiary, and later changed it to add the provision about the Slovak history. - Lehigh University Publication Ondrej Nepela, the skating wonder from Slovakia, won the 11th Winter Olympic Games' gold medal as Russia's Sergei Chetveroukin edged into second place for the silver and Patrick Pera of France won the bronze. Two Americans, Ken Shelley of Downey, Calif., and John Mischa Petkevitch of Great Falls, Montana, moved into fourth and fifth places, passing East Germany's young Jan Hoffman, who had been fourth after the compulsory figures. Nepela, the world champion, fell early in his program while attempting a triple-toe-loop. Fall do not necessarily ruins a skater's marks since he is judged on the difficulty of his routine. Nepela was smooth and graceful but his program was neither as imaginative nor a dynamic as that of some of his rivals, including the two Americans. Despite his fall, the Slovak rated �SLOVAKIA scores no lower than 5.9s in technical merit and he had two 5. 7s with the rest 5.8 in artistic impressions. His total points were 2739.1, well ahead of the rest of the field. In the official ordinal rankings, Nepela had a perfect 9.0, meaning he was rated No. 1 by all nine judges. The Russian had 20.0 in ordinals and Pera 28.0. - Associated Press, February 12, 1972. Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime president of the Slovak Republic, is no more. Tried and convicted as a "war criminal" by a ~called People's Court, he was executed last week American press dispatches - both secular and religious were concise and negligently brief. No fanfare or publicity. Merely that the priest-president was sentenced and the sentence carried out. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal"? The very fact of news silence here betrays a kind of embarrassed admission that things were not just fine in "Glocca Morra." The trials of Draga Mihailovitch and Archbishop Stepinac given due publicity aroused resentment in the United States, an attitude, which, while it accomplished nothing actual for the persons involved, nevertheless illustrated the rightprincipled conscience of the thinking public. But Dr. Tiso's case was denied even the type of consolation, because the facts and circumstances of the Tiso case are quite unknown to the American people. Whose the fault, whose the blame for this? The Hon. Robert Jackson, presiding over the trials in Nuremberg wrote "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal 203 guilt . . . If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for a trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." Tiso's trial was a travesty of justice. Actually, the issue was a political one primarily. Tried by the "People's Court" Tiso was denied representation by the attorney engaged by his friends. American papers had nothing to say about the fact that Alois Loyek, the attorney, was abused by the security officials, told he could not represent Tiso, and all defense material confiscated. The presiding judge and six political associates was Igor Daxner who himself was once tried by a regular court during Tiso's regime for planning with the Benes government-in-exile to turn Slovakia over to Russia, and sent to jail. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal" ? The answer necessitates a thorough perusal of the events which led to his election as Premier of Slovakia before the war started· - under a valid act of the Prague Parliament, events little known here, events in the evolution of democracy in the republic of Czecho-Slovakia without a knowledge of which the case of Tiso cannot be justly viewed. If these facts were made public, perhaps public opinion, such as it is. might be swayed to the right even though a little too late." The Catholic L i ght, Scranton, Pa. 4-25-47. Dr. Tiso's public life was political, though this fact is not to be held in any way against him. In many parts of Europe ecclesiastics find themselves pushed into politics because the cause of their Catholic people needs to be protected, and there are not a sufficient number of laymen educated to the job. Happily, this state of affairs is passing away, for it is not in itself �204 SLOVAKIA very desirable. However excellent the motives of the cleric concerned, he risks his spiritual office being contaminated, at least in public esteem, by the relatively low standards of political life, and the higher he rises in the political world, the harder it may become to distinguish the priest from the politics. Dr. Tiso, so far as we are aware always remained an exemplary priest, but he came to find himself responsible for the fate of his fellow Slovakians in terrible times. Through these times he did his duty to his people as he saw it. In a way not dissimilar from that of an Irish leader in relation to the British, he strove to protect the religion, culture and national autonomy of Slovakia as against the Czechs whose public outlook was dominated by very different rnlues. Such is the path of treason in the eyes of one side and of heroic patriotism in the eyes of the other. And few who tread this hard road can look back on their lives and deny having made mistakes. In the long run history will al- ways vindicate the sincere patriot as against the utilitarian judgment of those who condemn him on a legalistic interpretation of treason. In each case the career of such a man is a challenge to those called UPon to judge him. Are they big enough to look with the eyes of history and to seek reconciliation and understanding by the great gesture? Or are they small men who cannot see beyond the legalisms and their wounded vanity? In the face of this test, Dr. Benes and the rulers of Czecho-Slovakia have dismally failed. They have had to judge a good man, a priest, a great and courageous patriot, and all they have been able to do is to raise a martyr for Slovakia. This small-minded folly is only too typical of the men whom the fortunes of war have favoured . Instead of trying to realize unity on the basis of victory, these little men are as busy as they can be indulging their feelings by carving even deeper the channels which devide man from man and nation from nation. - Catholic Herald . London, 4-25-47. SLOVAKIA is µublishecl annually by the Slovak League of .America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. One of the purpo··es of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciat1on of the Sl<OVak nation and its long struggle foT freedom and i ndependeuce. Subscription to Slovwkia $3.00 pel' year in the L1.S.A. - $4.00 el-sewhere. Send 1mhscription to: SLOV AKI.A 313 Ridge A venue Middletown, Pa. 17057 �SLOVAKIA 205 BOOK REVIEWS BOOKS ON SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Reviewed by J. M. KIRSCH BA UM Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy ethymology, terminology, orthoand lexicography which are the preferred fields of Slovak linguists; the survey of published articles, studies and books between 1961-1965 shows that Slovak linguists made great progress in the following disciplines; history of the language, dialectology, morphology, syntax, onomastics, stylistic aspects of language, problems of translation, the structure and acoustics of language and language culture. This development become more than apparent if we compare the present work with the Biblio- 1961-1965 (Bibliography of Slo- graphy, vak Linguistics 1961-1965), by Ladislav Dvonc; Matica slovenska (Martin, 1970), pages 804, multi-lingual, English summary. For Western Slavists the Bibliography of Slovak Linguistics is not wLthout interest. This voluminous publication shows that Slovak linguistics has developed considerably during the latter years of the Stalinist regime. It also indicates that the attempts of some philologists, supported by the policy of the regime in the 1950's, to infiltrate the Slovak language with Czech vocabulary and to bring its structure as close to the Czech language as possible in order to create a "CzechoS'lovak language" back-fired. Slovak linguists, with the exception of one or two philologists trained in Prague ( S. Peciar, especi'ally), repudiated these attempts and began not only to clear the Slovak language from foreign infiltrations but in a number of studies brought Slovak linguistics quantitatively as well as qualitatively to the level of other Slavic nations within the Soviet orbit. With its 2111 entries pertaining to the Slovak language, the Bibliography is, however, not simply a numerical expression of the development of li.nguistic studies on the Slovak language. Of great importance is the number of disciplines studied by Slovak linguists. It is not any more only grammar, graphy of Slovak Linguistics for 1957-1960 by the same author. The new Bibliography contains: 1) all linguistic articles, studies and books published in Slovakia; 2) contributions in non-Slovak periodicals ( one from Canada), studies and articles by non-Slovak authors on the Slovak language or on linguistics published in Slovakia. As a result, the entries in this Bibliography are not only more numerous, but also multi-lingual. The publication shows that many Slovak linguists themselves ,published their studies in foreign languages, mainly in Russian. A strong Russian influence in Slovak linguistics is even more evident in the number of articles, studies and books dealing with the Russian language. Bibliographical data about the Russian language cover more than 100 pages, while other Slavic languages follow in this order: Czech 25 pages, Ukrainian 9 pages, Polish 3 pages, Slovenian �206 SLOVAKIA 3/4 of a page, Byelorussian and Bulgarian ¼ of a page each. For a short time the methods of the Russian linguistic school, or as some linguists say, "the Marxists and Stalinists principles and methods," were also imposed on Slovak philology and linguistics and prevailed in some works (see my essay " Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology," Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. IV, 34, University of Montreal, 1960). Around 1960 Slovak linguists turned, however, against the russification as well as against the Czech infiltration of the Slovak language and Slovak linguistics. Studies, articles and books pertaining to the Slovak language have been published, according to this Bibiiography, predominantly in Slovak, but over 300 entries were published in Western languages, including English, in other Slavic languages and in Hungarian. It was mainly the works of the older generation of Slovak linguists (J . Stanislav, E. Pauliny) which appeared in international symposia in English, French or Russian. The younger generation on the other hand has broadened the field of Slovak linguists to include many disciplines and their studies have maintained a high academic level. They continue to be grouped around the periodicals Slovenska rec (Slovak Language), Jazykovedr ny casopis (Linguistic Journal) and Jazykovedne studie (Linguistic Studies) and have published the Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. Komenskeho - Philologica (Sym- posium of the F1aculty of Arts of the Comenius University) and Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. P. J. Safcirika (Symposium of the University of P. J . Safarik). Editors gether with V. Blanar, L. Dvonc, G. Horak, J. Horecky and R. Krajcovic wrote the major part of the Slovak linguistic studies contained in the Bibliography. Even though the works of foreign philologists (R. Auty, R. Jakobson) from Western countries are included in this Bibliography it does not contain articles, studies or books published by Slovak intellectuals abroad except for one French essay by this reviewer which appeared in Etudes Slaves et est-europeennes (Montreal, 1963). Valuable studies by H. Bartek who was the founder of the periodical Slovenska rec or books, articles, dictionaries and surveys by S. Bue, F. Hrobak, J . J . Konus, J . Rekem and others were apparently not allowed by the regime to be recorded. The "normalization" which followed the brief period of relative freedom in 1968, has again separated the Slovaks in Slovakia from Slovak intellectuals in the West even in the field of linguistics and the population of Slovakia is not allowed to know about the cultural activities among some two million Slovaks abroad. The usefulness of Dvonc's Bibliography for Slavists cannot be doubted. It is a thoroughly prepared standard work. An index of names and a subject index enhance the practical value of this voluminous book. SLOVENSKA BIBLIOGRAFIA V ZAHRANitf 1945-1965 (Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965) : Compiled by Prof. M. Lacko S.J .. published by The Slovak Institute (Cleveland-Rome), 1967, 366 pp., multi-lingual, instruction in Slovak and English. The long expected Slovak Biblioof these periodicals have been E. graphy Abroad, which had to reJona , J. Ruzicka, Prof. E . Pauliny, cord the cultural activities of L. f>urovic and S. Dobos who to- Slovak intellectuals in the West, �SLOVAKIA has finally been published and we cannot but welcome it. Slovak Bibliography Abroad 19451965 records the literary production of Slovak authors in Western countries in the fields of history, political science, religion, philology, folklore, literary history and cdticism, music, theology, literature and natural science. A special chapter deals with general works on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad, includtng Slovaks in Canada. In addition, the Bibliography records the works of non-Slovak authors in the above-mentioned fields if they were translated into the Slovak language and deal explicitly with Slovakia or Czecho-Slovakia as a whole. Absent from this Bibliography are works and studies on Slovak subjects., published in the countries of the Soviet block since it was impossible for the compilers to carry out the necessary research. As a result, the publication contains literary and scientific writings of Slovaks living in some 15 Westem countries and published in all major Western languages. Considering the difficulties which wr:ilters, scholars and scientists face in exile, the Bibliography with its 2,438 entries gives an impressive picture of Slovak cultural life abroad after the Second W . W. One can understand this properly only if he is familiar with some basic facts about the Slovak intellectual community in Western countries. At the end of the Second World War, 50me 5,000 educated Slovak5 left their native country; in 1948 they were followed by a new wave of immigrants after the Communist coup d'etat. In the first wave of exiles were some of the be5t Slovak writers, poets and scores of young intellectuals from all fields of cultural endeavor who either completed their studies at univer- 207 sities in Western countries or continued their intellectual work even if they had to take menial jobs in the countdes in which they found refuge. Many of the younger generation attained positions at universities (22 in Canada) or institutions of higher education. Others became editors of newpapers and many poets and writers continued to write valuable works besides their employment in clerical jobs or other professions. Besides the chapter on literature which records writings of .some 25 poets and 15 prose writers, the largest number of entries is in the chapter on history ( 437), philology and literary history ( 224) , and political science (160). However, the natural sciences and economy are also among the best represented with 275 entries. Writings on history and political science, philology and literary history are predominantly in foreign languages. Some authors (Mikus, Kirschbaum, Rekem, Vnuk) published their studies in 3 or 4 Western languages. In literature, the Bibliography lists works by several of the best Slovak poets and novelists who in exile created works considered among the best in contemporary Slovak literature (Hronsky, Dilong, Sprinc, Strmen, Zvonicky, etc.) . The Bibliography also indicates that there are several Slovak cultural centers in the Western countries. From Canada the Bibliography has listed books, studies and articles 'b y some 20 Slovak authors. Ten of them have been active either tn Slavic studies or in philology, sociology, theology and science, the remaining 15 in literature. Actually Canada and the United States seem to have produced the most prolific Slovak authors, not only in literature but also in other fields. Also the major �208 SLOVAKIA centers of Slovak publishing activities have been in the United States, but Italy, Argentina and West Germany have equally active groups in publishing books, periodicals and newspapers. The BibHography further shows that some Slovak scholars and writers published their writings, including poetry, in several languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish) and in certain cases the originals were written in foreign languages and not translated from the Slovak. This is a new feature in Slovak literature and scholarly writing. Because of adverse political circumstances Slovaks had very limited opportunities to study abroad not only before the Second World War, but also after 1945. The exiled writers and scholars made apparently a great effort to fill this lacuna. No doubt the compiler of the Bibliography, Prof. Michael Lacko, accomplished a task which is usually done by many researchers over several years. By his own admission, he does not cover all published studies and articles by Slovaks abroad ; actually in some cases valuable studies were left out either in foreign language or in Slovak. Additions and extensions to the Bibliography have, therefore, been promised by the compiler, as well as by the publishers. However, even in its present form, the Bibliography is a valuable contribution to Slavic studies and a very useful publication, not only for Slovak scholars and researchers , but also for Slavists who read English, the Bibliography being bi-lingual. The value of the Bibliography is also enhanced by listing bibliographies on Slovak matters as well as periodicals and newspapers, annuals, and symposia, published in some 15 countries. Julius Noge : An Outl.ine of Slovakian L i terature (The Tatrapress Agency, Bratislava), 1968, 120 pp. This is the first book in English on Slovak literature which was published in Slovakia since the Communist takeover in 1948. The fact that it was published in 1968 would indicate that Dubcek's liberalization has to be credited for ,t his slender booklet on 200 years of literary activities in the Slovak language. The restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 cut off Slovakia from the rest of the world, especially from the West, and Slovak literature, art, science and culture in genera-I were to remain unknown to the Western world. Julius Noge, one of the literary critics who followed the directives of the Communist Party and was, therefore, favored by the Communist regime, divided his "succint" outline of Slovak literature into 7 chapters: From Old Church Slavonic learning (sic) to pre-Romanticism; Romanticism ( 1843-1870 ) ; Realism (1870-1905); Slovakian Literary Modernism ; Slovakian Literature between the wars (1918 1945); Contemporary Literature ( 1945-); Conclusion and Completion. Some of these chapters are very short, superficial and the whole publication is unbelievably biased towards writers and poets whose works expressed ideas opposed to Communism as, for instance, the poets and writers of Catholic modernism and all Slovak writers and poets in exile, except for J . C. Hronsky. Faithful to the directives of the Party, Noge considers as the greatest poets and writers such second class poets as Novomesky or Valek, and such mediocre writers as Vamos and Jilemnicky. "The poems by Laco Novomesky - assording to Noge - are most expressive, from the �SLOVAKIA 209 artistic and human point of view that those years were the "dark most mature fruit of modern Slo- age" of Slovak literature. The lie vakfan poetry. His works are fre- has, however, short legs, as a Sloquently the key opening the way vak saying goes. A glance at the to ,t he sense and the problems of Slovak literary production between Slovakian literature between the 1939 and 1945 included in his book, wars and after them." shows that even the leading ComValek, who plays today the role munists published freely: Novoof the Minister of Culture in Slo- mesky published his book in 1939; vakia which after 1945 had been Hecko in 1942; Tafarka in 1942; played by Novomesky is, according Kostra in 1939, 1940, and two books to Noge, even of greater import- in 1942; Ponican in 1940 and 1941 ; ance for Slovak literature. "Valek's Horov in 1940 , l942 and 1944; complex work - writes Noge - . .Zary in 1941 and two books so rich in meaning and expression, in 1942; Ondrejov in 1940, and so inaugurated a new stage in the on. In fact, all Slovak writers and evolution of Slovakian poetry, re- poets created and published during presenting hitherto in some respect th e years of the Slovak Republic its peak." Horibile dictu! The Eng- more th an at any time before, lish reader could not help looking regardless of the fact whether they with contempt on Slovak literature supported the regime or not. Comif these minor poets were its great- munist literary historians should est authors and their poetry re- not underestimate the intelligence presented the peak of Slovak liter- of Wes tern readers. From the readature. ing of Noge's booklet, anyone can find out that, with the exception Noge seems to be objective in of G. Va.mos, who was not in Slohis write-up on individual Slovak vakia and Jilemnicky who was a poets and writers only in his evalu- Czech settled in Slovakia, every ation of the literary works pro- Slovak writer, poet, literary hisduce<l in the 1950's. He admits that torian or critic ,p ublished his works, "authoritarian methods of regle- and the younger ones their debuts mentation in the field of literature during that period. Since it is the first survey of reached ,t heir peak in 1951." He also writes that the literature and Slovak literature in the English poetry of that time was "just the language, we cannot but regret poetic drafting of political and that it is not better either in form journalistic phrases" and that in or content. This publication will prose writing the topics "were hardly convince English, American, treated in the manner of agitating Canadian, or Australian readers propaganda." However, this should that Slovak literature is worthbe understood in the context of while to be studied, taught and the events of 1968 when Noge's read. In addition to its shortbooklet was published. Criticism of comings mentioned above, the pubthe 1950's was not only fashionable lication also suffers from a very in 1968 but also a prerequisite for bad translation and too many printpublishing. ing errors. It would seem that One of the most .biased state- emigre Slovak intellectuals must ments in Noge's book is his asser- publish an English survey of Slotion that during the Slovak Repub- vak literature to present it to the lie some writers and poets "ceased civilized world in an objective light to write belles-lettres," intimating and proper form . �210 SLOVAKIA Letopis Pamatnika Slovenskej Lite- lenced not only Stur but also many ratu:ry 1970. Compiled and Edited of his followers and it was mainly by Juraj Chovan (Matica slovenska, Martin 1970), pp. 250, Russian and German Summary, Index. Slovak literary history receives in this publication some new insights and correct interpretation of the work of three prominent men of letters: Jan Holly, Andrej Radlinsky and Martin Hamuljak. Not only during the inter-war period when Slovak literary history was adjusted to the political aims of "Czechoslovakism", but also since 1945, Catholic writers and their role in Slovak national development was minimized or completely neglected . For a short time after the Second World War, Holly was rediscovered and some valuable publications of his life and work appeared in Slovakia or were prepared for the printers. For the ce11tennary of Holly, literary historians and critics such as Jozef Ambrus, Jozef Felix and others prepared nine volumes of Holly's poetry with comments and evaluation. However, the re.g ime did not allow distribution of Holly's work and it appeared only after 20 years in second-hand bookshops. The reason for such undeserved treatment of Holly's work was apparently the fact that it was published by Spolok sv. Vojtecha. The present publication gives justice to Holly and, at the same time, it presents Radlinsky and Hamuljak and their activities in a true light. Not only in the political history but also in literary history, the period between 1848 and 1918 was interpreted in such a way as if Slovak Catholics had not played any role in Slovak national life. The facts are, of course, quite different. The disillusionment of the year 1848 si- the Catholic intelligentsia who kept the flame of national consciousness alive and were active in cultural and literary life. From Radlinsky through Moyses to Oswald, a score of Slovak Catholics organized cultural and literary activi.ties and fought for the national rights of the Slovak people. Contributions to the present publications by Augustin Mat'ovcik, Zemka Cejkova, Konstantin Palkovie and Juraj Chovan, bring to light some interesting details on this period mainly in connection with Radlinsky's activities. The present Letopis is the fourth publication of this kind by Matica slovenska. All of them have been dealing with research into Slovak literature and contained results of studies by qualified literary historians. The greater part of the present publication is composed of papers presented at two conferences in April 1969. The first confere nce was organized on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the death of J. Holly in Trnava and the second one on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the death of A. Radlinsky. In addition of these papers, there is an interesting essay on Slovak studies Slovakica - at foreign universities by J . Kuzmik. The essay deals so far with Slovak studies in Slavic countries. But the title of the essay indicates that it will deal with Slova k studies in all foreign universities and institutions. We hope that Kuzmik will treat the subject with scholarly objectivity when he writes on Slovak studies at American and Canadian universities. A short survey published by him sometime ago indicated that he was not free of the usual bias common to all literary and cultural historians in today's Slovakia. He left out im- �SLOVAKIA portant contributions to Slovak studies at Western universities just because of political considerations and inflated the importance of others who professed political ideologies accepted rby the present regime in Czecho-Slovakia. The publication also contains documents and information on various cultural topics, as well as book reviews. Slovaks abroad learned with satisfaction that Matica slovenska in Prievidza organized an exhibition of the literary work of J. C. Hronsky. The exhibition lasted two weeks and met with great interest by the public. The objectivity of this publication is enhanced by including an account on this exhibition in which it has been admitted that Hronsky was "one of the most important, but also systematically under-estimat:ed Slovak writer." Unfortunately, the publication contains only a short Russian and German summary and will, therefore, be useful only for Slavists who can read Slovak. Nevertheless, we welcome this valuable contribution to better and more objective evalu ation of the Slovak literary past. W ith Christ in His Passion. By Rudolph Dilong. '!1ranslated from the original Slovak by Sister M. Martina Tibor, SS.C.M., Villa of the Sacred .Heart, Danville, Pa., 1971, pp. 75, $2.50. The greatest poetic genius of our century, the French poet, Paul Claude!, used to say (in several variations) about the poet and poetry. "The object of poetry is not, as they say very frequently, dreams, illusions or ideas_ It is the holy reality, given once for all times, in the center of which we are situated. It is the universe of in- 211 visible things. It is all that we look at and all that looks back at us. All this is God's work; it renders matter inexhaustible for all the greatest poet says and sings as well as the smallest bird. Since there is a phiiosophia perennis that does not invent ... abstract beings that no one has ever seen except thei r authors, .. . so there is also a poesis perennis that does not invent its themes, but it eternally recaptures those which Creation furnishes to it ... The purpose of poetry is not, as Baudelaire says, 'to plunge into the bottom of the Infinite to find something new,' but to plunge into the bottom of the definite in order to find there the inexhaustible ... Nor is he a poet who invents, but he who, approaching things, assembles and permits us to understand them." Justly we can apply these concepts especially to the religious poetry of Rudolf Dilong, the most prolific and meritorious contemporary Slovak poet living in exile (Pittsburgh, Pa.) So he took a plunge into the sacred reality of the Pascha'l Mystery and with a luminous creative poetic imagry tried the humanly impossible: to capture the uncapturable mystery found in Christ's redemptive mystery of suffering and victory. He listens in these depths and assembles the rays of his poetic vision in powerful and eloquent words. These are his immortal merits. How about the (frequently overlooked) merits of the translator, Sister Martina Tibor? Well, if poetry is art par excellence, so is its translation. To translate poetry well requires above all the perfect mastery of two languages. But this is not enough. The translator must be also a virtual pbet (in potentia), to save in his translation as much �SLOVAKIA 212 of the sublime poetic beauty as it is possible. And this process must be a new creation: a scrupulous penetration into the fine shades of meanings and the recapturing in another language this almost imperceptible shimmering of condensed poetic experience and expression. Even so, something will always be lost from the genuine beauty of the original. AU in all, we gladly say that Sister Martina did a splendid job in translating into English the most difficult, exuberant and most sublime religious poetry of the poet1>riest Rudolf Dilong. It is a valuable cultural service to the poetic Slovak genius. Nichoias Sp r in c, Borromeo Seminary College of Ohio ··DIE SLOWAKEI IN DER NACHDER KRIEGSENTWICKLUNG (The TSCHECHO-SLOWAKEI" Role of Slovakia in the Political Evolution of Czecho--Slovakia After the Second World War); by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, Schriftenreihe des Matus Cernak Instituts, Koln, Nr. 3, 1971, pp. 32, Bibi. Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum enriched again our political literature by a consice study about Slovakia after lhe Second World War. The publication is destined predominantly to scholars and historians but it will be welcome by anybody interested in political development in Czecho-Slovakia from 1945 to 1968. This period of Slovak history was presented in the West by fore ign historians as well as by Czech exiles in the most distorted light. Prof J. M. Kirschbaum, on the basis of sources in several languages, gives a clear picture of the role of Slovakia in the upheavals through which Czecho-Slov>akia, restored by the Soviet armies, had to undergo after the Second World War. The publication is an enlarged version of an English contribution to Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. X, 4, 1968, which was dedicated by Canadian Slavists to the events in Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. The English version discusses the events until the invasion of Czecho• Slovakia by the Soviet and other Warsaw Pact troops. In the German version there is also a chapter on the federalization of Czecho-Slovakia , and the footnotes were completed by references to works in German, while in the English text, Prof. Kirschbaum referred mostly to books published on the American Continent and in France. The study is divided into four chapters dealing with the Communist coup d'etat in 1948, the ,period of the "cult of personality" in Slovakia, the process of de--Stalinization and the struggle for liberalization and federalization. In each chapter the author traces the special role which Slovakia played in the crucial years of the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into the most faithful satellite of the Soviet Union. To avoid being accused of "parti pris," Prof. J .M. Kirschbaum heavily relies on quotations from American and Canadian political scientists dealing with Eastern Europe. Among others he often quotes the work by the former Secretary to President Benes, E. Taborsky, who now teaches at American universities, but the most interesting quotation comes from a Czech professor at the University of British Columbia, Stanley Z. Pech, who wrote the following remarkable statement about Western historians writing on Eastern Europe: "Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to �SLOVAKIA I 213 make the West familiar with the Since Prof. F . Hrusovsky published entire panorama of the polyglot his concise booklet This is Slovakia. region, they have in practice often I some 20 years ago, we did not been selective in the favors they have in English any publication to bestoved on each nation. They have give either to foreigners or to incorporated in their work, in Slovaks educated at American, Camodified form, the outlook and nadian or Australian universities, the prejudices of the nations which the basic facts of Slovak history they "adopted." To give the most and cultural life. For this reason, conspicuous examples, they viewed the Slovak World Congress deSlovak history through Czech eyes. serves credit for publishing an In so doing, they have in fact up-to-date account on Slovakia. The publication is composed of created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the two essays by Prof. J . A. Mikus. Slovaks in the West has usually and six essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschbeen presented from the point of baum. Prof. Mikus deals with the view of "Czechoslovakism" and has individuality of Slovakia, namely, appeared as hardly more than a with geographical and demographical facts and with the personality postscript to Czech history. " of the Slovak nation. Both essays We understand that the first are written in a scholarly way but English book by Prof. J. M. Kirsch- understandable to any reader. baum Slovakia - Nati 01i at the Drawing on personal knowledge Crossroads of Central Europe is and long years of studies of Slovak no more avail.able even though it history, Prof. Mikus displayed ahad three printings. It would be gain by his essays that he belongs a service to the Slovak cause if among the best Slovak authors he revised his book and completed abroad in the field of history and it by the present study in order political science. that students of Slovak history, as The essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschwell as politicians and American baum deal with the historical back and Canadian Slovaks of the second ground of Slovakia, the ethnic and third generations, could have origin and language, cultural, poan objective history on Slovakia. litical, religious and economic The Matus cernak Institute de- background. The essays give a serves credit for publishing this complete and unbiased picture of well documented study. The Slovak 1100 years of Slovak history, as World Congress would render a well as of political and cultural service to the Slovak cause if it evolution of the Slovak people and took care of pl.acing this concise of the economic potential of Sloand expertly written account of vakia. Perhaps intentionally short, modern Slovak history into univer- the essays refer to many books sity libraries in Europe as well as either in Slovak or in foreign languages, which will be welcome by on this Continent. who want to enhance their students J . Pau c o knowledge of Slovakia. SLOVAKIA : Historical and Cu lturThe reader will notice that Prof. al Background, by Prof. J. A. J . M. Kirschbaum made great efMikus and Prof. J. M. Kirsch- forts to present the political and baum, Published by Slovak World religious background of Slovaks Congress (Toronto, Canada, June without any bias. This is in accoro 1971) , pp. 63, ill. bibl. ance with the concept of the Slovak I �SLOVAKIA 214 World Congress which published this valuable addition to books on Slovakia. The Congress is guided by national as well as by religious ecumenical spirit. As in his other works on Slovakia, Prof. Kirsch• baum makes a distinction between the history of Slovakia and the history of the Slovak people which is not history of dynasties or expansive wars, but a struggle for survival. Such an approach will probably be most understandable for Slovaks as well as foreigners and may prove to be correct in the last analysis. The publication is enhanced by a map of Europe and several pictures from the history of Slovakia, as well as by a bibliography of English books on Slovakia by Slovak authors. The Editor, Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum added this im· pressive survey of books in English by Slovak authors for Slovaks educated outside Slovakia, and he did the right thing. Published by the Slovak World Congress, this valuable publication was distributed freely to the participants at the meeting in Toronto, and is apparently no more avail• able. It would be a service to the Slovak cause if a second edition be prepared for general use. J. Pa u co ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA I: Uni· versitas Comeniana Bratislavensis, Facultas Philosophica, Bratislava 1970, p. 226, Multi-Lingual. The liberalization period in Slovakia brought about a favorable change not only in the political climate but also in cultural and scientific activities. Many projects which for years were only debated, materialized in 1968 or 1969. As a result, several symposia from a nllltlber of Conferences dealing with inter-Slavic relations in pre- vious years were published and institutes or chairs of studies were founded and organized. The Institute of Ethnology wa one of them and the present volume ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA is the first publication of this Institute which has been founded "for the purpose of establishing an institution for ethnological research concerned with the Slavic nations," as the editors say in their multi• lingual introduction. According to the editors, Slovak scholars also planned the establishment of Ethnological Archives and a Society of Slavic Ethnologists but " the well-known events of 1968 (in other words, the Soviet invasion) heavily intefered with the realization of the original program." Only the Institute of Ethnology came into being and this first volume of ETHNOLOGIA SLA VICA is the result of the research of its members and foreign ethnologists. The volume was published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Comenius University (1919). The Managing Editor of the publication, Jan Podolak, says in his Preface that the University has been founded "to enable Slovaks to acquire erudition (sic) of university-degree in the national language." However, it is well-known that the students of the Comenius University had to organize demonstrations for the use of the Slovak language as late as 1937-1938 because the mission of the University was to help the assimilation of Slovaks. The situation changed only during the Slovak Republic when education as well as administration, was carried on in the Slovak language which the present day scholars are not allowed to mention. The publication ETHNOLOGIA �SLOVAKIA SLA VICA is a valuable addition to Slavic studies and is a long time overdue, if we take into consideration the fact that one of the main founders of Slavic ethnology, P . J. Safarik, come from Slovakia. The volume contains contributions by Slovak as well as foreign scholars, and the essays have been published in English, French and German, with a Slovak resume in some cases, which will make the book accessible also to ethnologists in the West. Of 12 contributions, 3 have been written by Slovaks. Jan Michalek evaluated P . J. Safarik's contribution to Slavic ethnography; Jan Podolak wrote an interesting essay on the pastoral culture of the Carpathians as a subject of ethnological study, and Anton Habovstiak contributed the study "La colonisation pastorale dans les Karpates et les patois slovaques" (The Pastoral Colonization of the Carpathians and Slovak Dialects). Among foreign contributors are Milovan Gavazzi (from Zagreb), Sergei A. Tokarev (from Moscow), Christo Vakarelski (from Sofia), Zoltan Ujvary (from Debrecen), Oldrich Sirovatka (from Brno), Slobodan 2ecevic (from Beograd) , and two contributions have been written by Lusatian-Serbians, Isolde Gardos and Siegmund Musiat. This mosaic of contributors as well as the variety of subjects treated by them gives the book an intemational and inter-Slavic image. This should be velcome in view of the fact that the results of academic activities by Slovak scholars were rarely published in Western languages. The essays are not of equal value but they are all on the level of similar studies in the Soviet orbit. The volume is oriented particularly to Russian but also to Croatian, Bulgarian and Lusatian-Serbian ethnology, but the editors are 215 promising to deal also with Polish, Ukrainian and Yugoslavian ethnology in the following volumes. As an addendum the publication contains reviews in English and in German of the activities and the writings by Czech, Polish, Soviet, Ukrainian and Bulgarian ethnographers and their institutes or periodicals. Since every book in foreign language dealing with Slovak culture is of great importance for acquainting the world with Slovakia, we sincerely welcome this volume and hope that further volumes will follow as the editors promised and that the present generation of Slovak ethnologists will follow in the footsteps of P . J. Safarik who left a rich legacy to Slovak ethnology. * J. M . K i r s c h b au m * On P . J. Safarik, see Kirschbaum , P . J . Safcirik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies (Slavistica No. 43, Cleveland-Winnipeg, 1962) . DUBCEK'S Blu e Print for Fre edom: His Documentation on Czechoslovakia leading to the Soviet invasion, with a Profile by Hugh Lunghi and Commentary by Paul Ello (William Kimber, London, 1968), pp. 352, Index. Among the scores of books which were published on Dubcek and the events in Czecho--Slovakia in 1968* , this book will remain as one of the most useful for scholars and laymen alike. The editors included in the book the most important documents such as Dubcek's speech on April 1, 1968, at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Czecho,Slovak Communist Party; the Action Programme of the Party; Dubcek's report to the meeting of. the Central Committee on May 29-June 1, 1968, and the warning given by the Presidium �216 SLOVAKIA of the Central Committee in answer to the letters of five Communist and Workers' Parties. Finally, in the Appendix, the book includes Dubcek's speech of December 1, 1968. These contents are expertly introduced and commented upon by Hugh Lunghi, a former member of the British Embassy in Moscow, and Paul Ello from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington. While Lunghi, who has been one of the best informed analysts on the staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation, gives in his Introduction an analysis of the events which led to the Soviet invasion, Paul Ello wrote a concise but well balanced commentary. The Summary is not signcd, and may be the work of either of the writers. The book will have a lasting value for inte11preting the attempts at changing •Stalinism in one o.f the most advanced, culturally and industrially, satellites of Moscow and at giving socialism a "human face. " Both Lunghi and Ello are factual in their analysis and Lunghi did not fail to point out the role of Slovakia and Slovak Communist leaders in the upheavals which many other authors, writing about the "Prague Spring", failed to do. In accordance with the facts, Lunghi writes that "one of the first of Novotny's fatal errors was his mishandling of the Slovaks," and that it was Dubcek's reaction to Novotny's policy towards Slovakia which began the snowball roUing. During the Central Committee meetings at the end of 1967, according to Lunghi the "three issues at stake were, firstly, the implementation of the economic reforms; secondly, freedom of expression and, finally, effective autonomy for SJovakia." (p. 17) . This conclusion has been accept- ed in the meantime as correct also by other authors who had access to documents, especially by Paul Tigrid in his book: La Chute Irresistible d'Alexander Dubcek, (Calmann-Levy, Paris, 1969) which was likewise reviewed in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, p. 206. Lunghi apparently followed the events in Slovakia very closely and without the usual bias which we can find among some Western specialists in East European problems. This appears not only in his assessment of the role of Husak after the invasion but also in his reference to Peter Colotka, Deputy Premier in Prague's government, who made some courageous declarations which resulted in his removal from his post. Lunghi's analysis of the situation in Slovakia was also correctly grasped in his statement that "the federation of the country, longed for by the Slovaks, had, at last been achieved in the face of the Russians who wanted to keep the two nations divided and at logger-heads. During the invasion the Russians had put about the totally false rumors that some Slovak provinces wanted to become Soviet republics. Symbolically, the legislation creating the federal state was enacted to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration on October 28th." Unfortunately, the law of the federation was enacted but it became ineffective to a great degree because of Czech reluctance, what Lunghi could not, of course, foresee in 1968. Western analysts mentioned various reasons for the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia by the Warsaw Pact military forces in the books so far published on the invasion. Lunghi brings to light a new possible element which finally pushed the Soviet leadership to invade Czecho-Slovakia. During the spring �SLOVAKIA and summer of 1968 there was a strong reaction against the secret police which apparently was not only organized on the model of the Soviet secret police but also directed and infiltrated by Soviet agents to whom the Prague Ministry of Interior had to submit interrogation material before bringing them to the ministers themselves. According to Lunghi, the announced purge of the secret police apparatus threatened a vital Soviet interest by the revelations published in the newpapers in Bratislava and in Prague. Moscow's objective was, therefore, "to hold these dangerous processes and to restore a leadership in Prague which would control the population through a Soviet style Communist Party using the proper level of power - a persuasive and omnipotent secret police with no nonsense about 'demonstration of the socio-political 217 system'." (page 25). No doubt this could have been one of the serious reasons for the infamous decision to destroy an interesting effort by Slovaks and Czechs to give socialism a "human face." Paul Ello's commentary, short as it is, is clear and factual, and belongs among the best written ones shortly after the invasion, where there was a lot of confusion in Western countries among the specialists in East Europe. The book undoubtedly deserves to be read and preserved on the shelves for further study of a crucial moment in the history of Eastern Europe and probably in the history of Western civilization. J. M. Ki r s c h b au m • On a number of books on this subject, see my book reviews in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, 1971, No. 44, pp. 205-210. Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor Rudolph Petrak, 54, of 32 Halsey, Dr., Old Greenwich, Conn., a leading tenor with the City Opera Company from 1948 to 1956, died March 4, 1972, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Stamford, Conn. He was born in Sucany, Slovakia had sung at major opera houses in Europe and South America, and as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and other noted ensembles. He sang under the batons of such famous conductors as Leopold Stokowski, Ormandy, Leinsdorf and Krips. Mr. Petrak began his career with the Bratislava Opera and made his American debut in 1948 at the New York City Center as Rudolfo in "La Boheme." Congressman Albert P. Morano of Greenwich noted in the Congressional Record of the United States. "I have become acquainted with many artists who have immigrated to America, but know of none more possessed of deep love for his adopted country than Rudolph Petrak." "The New York Times" in an obituary on Monday, March 6, 1972 published his picture as he sang Radames in "Aida" about 1949. The New York Times also wrote: "In 1960 when Mr. Petrak sang at the Philadelphia Orchestra's presentation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" in Carnegie Hall, Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times music critic noted: "Everything sounded effortless and clear, even the high D that Mr. Petrak took in falsetto".-J.C.S. �SLOVAKIA 218 Our Contributor s Karol Kuzmany, Slovak leader in 19th century. Msgr. George A. Galik, J.C.D., author, Hibbing, Minn. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph.D., historian, author, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E . L. Delaney, author, journalist, Glendale, Cal. Fran!;ois d'Orcival, French political writer, Paris. Paul Kotva, pen name of Karol Sidor, former Premier of Slovakia. Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M., teacher, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Joseph C. Krajsa, Editor of Jednota, lecturer, Middletown, Pa. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L., J.D., historian, author, Washington, D. C. Francis Vnuk, M.A., political analyst, professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia. Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., journalist, author, Middletown, Pa. K. culen, historian, journalist. Rev. A. V. Pier, O.S.B., journalist, author, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Steven I. Miller, assistant professor, Loyola University of Chicago, Ill. Daniel F. Tanzone, B.A., fraternalist, Yonkers, N. Y. Helena T. Gaydos, cultural worker, Philadelphia, Pa. George A. Podhajsky, pen name of a Slovak refugee professor. Rudolph J. Vecoli, professor of history and director of the Center of Immigration Studies at the University of Minnesota. Agnes Bocan, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Edward J. Behuncik, attorney-at-law, Stratford, Connecticut. Rev. Nicholas Sprinc, professor, poet, Wickliffe, Ohio. Picture on the front cover: Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic. �SLOVAKIA 219 Contents Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People - 3 Paean to Integrity - Karol Kuzmany-George A. Galik - 4 Dr. Joseph Tiso-the Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People - J.M. Kirschbaum - 5 I Met President Tiso - E. L. Delaney - 21 Msgr. Joseph Tiso - Fran(;ois d'Orcival - 26 Murder in Slovakia - Hon. Alvin E. O'Konsld - 36 Speech of Hon. Ray J. Madden - 37 Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso - N.C.W.C. News Service - 40 Who Killed Dr. Tiso? - Paul Kotva - 43 Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero - 48 Dr. Jozef Tiso-His Political Creed - Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M. - 50 Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks - Joseph C. Krajsa - 57 Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-In Memoriam - J.M. Kirschbaum - 60 Michael Novak on White Ethnics - Prof. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L. , J .D. - 62 Slovak Martyrs - 64 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 1939 - F. Vnuk - 65 Th e Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) - Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - 92 The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks in U.S.A . and Canada - K. Culen - 98 America's Discovery of Ethnic Values - A. V. Pier, O.S.B. - 114 Historical and Empi rical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group - Dr. Steven I. Miller - 116 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America - Daniel F. Tanzone -125 Slovakia, the Land of B eauty - Helena T. Gaydos - 136 Tourist Trade of Slovakia - George A. Podhajsky - 140 Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off - Rudolph J. Vecoli - 146 An Introduction to Slovak Costume - Agnes Bocaii - 153 Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedlik, O.S.B. - A. V. Pier - 158 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 - Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress - 193 Unity Is Necessary - Edward J . Behuncik - 195 As Others See It - 198 Book Reviews - 205 Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor - J.C.S. - 217 161 ��PRI NTI D IN U.S. A. JIDN OTA PlllN TER Y, MID DLli TOW N, 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 193 CURRENT ISSUES Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress Representatives of Slovak organizations throughout the free world as well as individuals of Slovak origin in the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, South Africa, Argentina, Spain and Germany assembled in Toronto in order to promote the creation of a world organization of Slovaks hereby declare that: The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, :s uch efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to .dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. The Congress will continue to adhere to the democratic principles in the civil and international relations and considers tolerance in ideological, political and religious matters an expression of maturity for democracy and strongly opposes any tyranny whether it comes from the left, or, from the right. It has been obvious during the past two decades that the Slovaks living in Slovakia have been unable to determine their own destiny. A number of recent facts attest to this unfortunate reality namely the following: The basic freedom of Slovaks, as well as of other Captive 194 SLOVAKIA Nations under communism, are still quite limited-travel to Western countries, and press and assembly freedoms have recently been set back to almost the 1948 levels. The federalization of Czecho-Slovakia into two equal sectors-the Czech and the Slovak, introduced by the Constitutional Act of October 1948, has been severely circumscribed in recent past and is slowly being replaced by a new centralism; Religious freedom continues to be restricted to Roman Catholics, Uniates, Lutherans, Jews and to other denominations; and The present Czecho-Slovak Federal Government has taken no initiative nor has it responded to initiatives suggested by the Holy See in the Vatican to establish a Catholic Province in Slovakia, even though such provinces exist in Bohemia as well as in Moravia. We contend that the issue of the continued existence and recognition of a Slovak nation be duly accepted by all nations, including the records of the United Nations. The question of the suppressed freedoms of all nations now living under communism must soon be given full airing and remedies instituted. This has been and should not cease to be an issue of interest to all civilized nations. Slovaks call upon them to help in this cause. We take a positive attitude towards the economic integration in Europe and urge that the Slovak nation be included in this and other unifying processes benefiting their degree of economic and other freedoms. Viewing the future political situation in Eastern Europe with hope and cautious optimism, we look toward to the day when obstacles which presently prevent cultural and educational exchang* between Slovaks at home and abroad will be removed. To support the objectives mentioned above, we have established a permanent organization under the name of: Slovak World Congress, which shall embody the spirit of brotherhood and mutual respect. Religious affiliations or political views, insofar as they are not contrary to the spirit of democracy and the objectives mentioned above, will not bar anyone from membership or active participation in our organization. We consider it essential that our goals and methods as well as our activities follow democratic principles. SLOVAKIA 195 We shall endeavor to have the Slovak World Congress represent its members at international scientific, cultural, religious or political forums in the interest of the Slovak nation as expressed in the Constitution and the by-laws of the organization. We urge that the Slovak World Congress devote itself to promoting the spirit of unity among its members and to co-ordinate all its efforts through constant contact with member organizations maintained through central secretariats, regional secretariats, committees and information bureaus in various countries around the world. We ask the blessing of Almighty God in this undertaking in the firm hope that with the help and co-operation of all those who wish well for the Slovaks we may successfully fulfill our role. Members of the Committee: Stephen B. Roman, LL.D., President; Rev. Dusan Toth, Secretary General; Dr. J. A. Mikus, Dr. J. Stasko, Dr. J. M . Kirschbaum,· Dr. J. Pauco, and Prof. E. Urban. Toronto, Ont., June 20, 1971. Unity Is Necessary Edward J. Behun c i k (The following are excerpts from the address of Edward J . Behuncik, First Vice President of the Slovak World Congress, President of the Slovak League of America, and President of the American Fund for Slovak Refugees given at the closing banquet of the Slovak World Congress held at the Royal York Hotel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, June 19. 1971.) It is a rare and high privilege to appear before such a historic and distinguished gathering of representatives of all walks of Slovak life and to break bread with our fellow Slovaks from all parts of the free world as we share this memorable Congress in spirit, in hope and in love with our brethren in beautiful Slovakia. The honor you do me in asking that I speak in company with the distinguished Chief Executive of the great Province of Ontario, with two colleagues from the great Senate of the United States of America, as well as the spiritual, civic and cultural leaders who grace the head table-this honor cannot but move me. I thank you most sincerely for asking me here. Hopefully 1 will leave at least 196 SLOVAKIA one or two important thoughts with you-important to the permanent success of our fledgeling Slovak World Congress, and that is, our need for unity- and for ''Svornost a laska".In Joel, we read·'Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions."Today, we combine the hopes which both dreams and visions embody. Dreams are generally of things past, visions are of the future. Dreams are truly for older men who have a past, while visions are for the younger looking forward to the future. Experience alone is the look backward, the dream of yesteryear, but it is only useful as it clarifies the vision of tomorrow. Here in Toronto, we put the finishing touches--not upon a new structure - rather upon the permanent foundation . Because in fact, at New York City, the Congress \\'as already perfect in the sense that its objects were fully perceived, its necessary organs present, its powers conferred, and its extent already, if only dimly, seen to be world wide. In addition, its final purpose, which alone can justify its existence, was perfectly clear and that was to become the r epresentative body of Slovaks scattered as they are throughout the free world. Here during the past several days, we have added to the New York beginnings. We've used our year old experience to improve, amend, delete and otherwise add to the permanent basis of a vital organ for disseminating the cause of the Slovak nation. To bring about the final liberation of the Slovak nation and its equality among all nations, the Slovak World Congress presents us with a golden opportunity. If we complete its hopeful aspirations, if we create a permanent edifice on the foundation built here and in New York, we will thereby sooner bring to fruition the age old Slovak vision of liberty and freedom with justice. But unity is necessary - that unity which has so often eluded the efforts of our forebears . Can we come together for the future ? Can we remain together? I think we can; I know we must! ! ! We will and must let bygones be bygones, let past differences as nothing be, and with steady eye on the real issue, let us reinaugu rate the good and old central ideas of a free and independent Slovakia, where our presently subjugated brethren can someday in God's good time freely choose their own destiny. We have our quarrels, as all happy families have. We have di sagreed as all friend s have. But when the great human cause of Slovakia comes before us, in the natural fitness of things, we have looked into our hearts, and hidden away in their innermost recesses, we have discovered a very shy but a very faithful friendship for each other, no matter from what region of Slovakia we originated. That is why we are here this evening. SLOVAKIA So 1 say-we are united-but more important - we must stay united. We can do it ! ! ! The human heart and human aspirations are with us. God is with us--Our Lady of Sorrows is with us. We shall-we must-succeed. God forbid, if the Congress shall dissipate instead of growing and developing as it should-it will be another eleven hundred years before the vision of a unified, free and independent Slovakia can again be dreamed of. I know none of us wish to have ~he horror of such a c a ta s t r o p h e on our consciences. So, we must not fall-and we won't if we do our duty-but the time has passed when we can remain silent regarding the great fundamentals of free government and permit the enemies of the Slovak social order to occupy the center of the stage. The time has come and that time is now when we must take issue with those, who infatuated with ch a o t i c dreams, are seeking to undermine the Slovak ideals and aspirations, dreams and visions. We now have the modus operandi-the vehicle. We have the Slovak World Congress. We, the participants in and supporters of the Congress, have it in our own hands whether it shall be nothing more than the brilliant after glow of a gorgeous renaissance, or whether it shall be the dawn of a newer and brighter day in the struggle of the Slovaks to fulfill their age old vision of liberty and freedom with justice. Already, as we well know, on several occasions, for several 197 brief moments, behind the far spread iron curtain in Eastern Europe. the rays of the setting sun of materialistic communism have mingled with the rays of the rising sun of democracy. May that sun grow in light and warmth and may it be undimmed by the clouds of our own internal dissension. I am profoundly concerned. I am deeply interested. I build the greatest hopes upon this World Congress. 1 am old enough to have the experience to be able to dream-but, I am young enough to have the vision of a great institution - one from which, for example, some day-God grant-will emerge a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize - or the Literature Prize. And so, in bidding a foud adieu to our fellow Slovaks returning to their havens scattered throughout the free world, I urge them and all of you to hope- to hope as the love of truth and obedience to it shall grow and as with firmer footing thereon, we look afar and think clearly on what we see. We shall see our Slovak World Congress advancing to the high position that awaits every organization and every nation which honors the facts, which looks afar and which thinks clearly and positively. And as we aspire to greater and more illustrious achievements in the glorious history of our beloved Slovakia, we can well ponder the prayer of Sir Francis Drake: "Oh, Lord God, when Thou givest to Thy servants to endeavor any great matter, grant us also, to know, that it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same, until it is thoroughly finished, which yieldcth the true glory." 198 SLOVAKIA AS OTHERS SEE In these times, when many of us seem to reflect on the place of our origin, it was indeed interesting to see how the Americans, Canadians, and citizens of other free countries, all of Slovak origin, demonstrated their dedication to the cause of peace with freedom in our age. Their dedication was for freedom for their kinfolk in Slovakia, now part of the Communist satellite of Czechoslovakia, who cannot themselves demonstrate their longing for the liberties denied them for 23 years. The Slovaks are a hardy people who have been seeking the ideals we in our own country so freely enjoy-the right to their own self. determination. And like other nations, captives under Communist domination, the Slovaks know that one day they will join ranks with the civilized world with other free nations. Until then the work of the Slovak World Congress is indeed both most worthy and very necessary and I hope I applaud it. - U.S. Senator Robert Taft, Jr. The Slovak World Congress stands for freedom and seeks to preserve the language, culture and national heritage. You are to be commended for your strong antiCommunist stand. - Strom Thurmond., U.S. Senator Please know that your concern for freedom throughout the world and particularly in Slovakia is shared by all of us. No more dire threat exists today than that posed by the Soviet Union and I stand with you against their expansionary policies. Keep up with your good work. - John Tower, U.S. Senator I wish to congratulate the Slovak people of our nation for the out- IT standing fight they have been waging over the years in exposing Communist tyranny which is the most powerful threat to human freedom in the history of the world. If all groups of the free world would have the same spirit of opposition and expose the criminality of Communist enslavement methods and Communist living conditions there would be no doubt that this Communistic threat to the world would collapse in a very short time. - Ray J. Madden, U.S. Member of Congress The struggle for freedom and self-fulfillment has been a continuing process throughout Slovak history. Attainment of this objective in the past has not been without obstacles, or dedicated work and sacrifices of many individuals and groups. Now, when the Slovak nation is unable to determine its own destiny, because it is under a foreign military domination, such efforts, dedication and sacrifices must be increased to help them achieve their freedom once again. Those of Slovak origin now living throughout the free world, are urged to dedicate themselves to this task. Our obligation will be to present to the free world a true picture of the life under which our brethren are compelled to live, and to seek a change of their plight. The concepts by which we will be guided in this work will be the traditional values promoted throughout Slovak history which have given vitality to the nation in its growth and acceptance among nations of the western world. Claiborne Pell, U.S. Senator Even within the Communist world there is an absolute intoler-- SLOVAKIA ance for those faithful party members who would put a "human face" on the dictatorship in order to make it more palatable. I speak of course, of Alexander Dubcek who sought to purify, and reform, but not replace or destroy, communism in Czechoslovakia. Yes even after the true nature of the dictator reared its ugly head and Dubcek's reforms were sacrificed, we still hear the drone of those who would have us believe that the communist dictator has changed. Let no one be fooled - Communism is the Number One enemy not only of the Western World, but of humanity itself. It is a tribute to all of you who have felt the iron hand of the communist dictator that you have brought to the Western Hemisphere an appreciation and understanding of the dangers of communism which is, unfortunately, shared by too few Americans. - Robert C. Mardian It is a privilege to address men and women who stand for the forefront of civilization's never-ending struggle for freedom. For more than eleven centuries the Slovak people have been developing, extending and seeking to preserve a rich and fertile cultural heritage. More than that, you have sought endlessly to maintain that priceless ingredient of true spiritual fulfillment-the right of the individual citizen to be his own person, to think his own thoughts, to speak his own words, to contribute directly to the formation and performance of his own government and to worship as he chooses. In so doing you have contributed your full share, and perhaps more, to the development of the Slavic peoples as a whole and to the cultural family of peoples around the world. 199 Ontario and all of Canada has been enriched by the spirit and integrity of Slovaks, Ukrainians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and all of the others who claim the honor of membership in the world Slavic community which numbers more than 200 million persons. - William C. Davis, Prime Minister of Ontario Vienna, AtLstria - Communist Czecho-Slovakia's closed-door policy against religious literature mailed from abroad has provoked a steady stream of protests within its own borders, according to reports reaching here. Demands for an explanation are being sent to postal authorities by Czecho-Slovak citizens who learn that religious books such as the Bible have been mailed to them from abroad but returned to the sender by government authorities. The regime's reply to that publications contrary to Czecho-Slovakia's laws are refused entry. But no particulars are given to explain how the Bible or devotional books are in opposition to the country's laws. "Foreign reviews and books may be sent into Czecho-Slovakia without limitation of any sort," said a standard explanation from the central office for incoming foreign parcels in Prague. Post Office 120. "However, reviews and books which by their content are contrary to our legislative norms are refused local delivery, according to the prevailing international standards." The letter of explana,tion concluded: "Peace to the world!" It seems that books arriving from certain senders or destined for certain addresses are returned automatically without examination. Recently one man received back from Czecho..Slovakia an unopened 200 SLOVAKIA package he had sent his brother containing a book on photography. Official documents mailed by Vatican offices to various bishops in Czecho-Slovakia have been returned marked "refused." In June, the secretariat for church affairs of the Slovakia region's government notified bishops, pastors and Religious superiors that religious publications from abroad were prohibited where "in conflict with the interest of our socialist state." The of.ficial notice continued: "The provision also concerns the propagation and publication of information and instructions of various kinds from abroad, whether through internal ecclesiastical channels, in official documents or in any form whatsoever." It warned that the distribution of prohibited literature is punishable under Czecho-Slovakia's penal code. Czecho-Slovakia's hard-line communist rulers, brought to power by the Soviet invasion of August 1968, have been steadily tightening the screws on the Catholic Church for the past two years. In January 1970 the Slovakia ministry of culture decreed that every act of official worship, including private Masses, must have state approval. A similar decree was issued by the ministry of culture in the Czech region of Bohemia. In July of that same year the Slovakia government asserted the right to blackball newly chosen superiors of congregations of nuns. In November, 1970 the Bohemia ministry of culture forbade the Church to give courses preparing couples for marriage. In July 1971 the ministry of culture decreed severe limitations upon the teaching of religion. Its Slovakia counterpart did likewise. Decrees approving newly resurrected pro-government associations of peace priests were issued simultaneously in August 1971 by the Bohemian and Slovakian governments. But the regime 's restrictions on Church activity and growth have not been confined to legislation and decrees. Through administrative acts the regime has kept more than half the applicants out of the country's seminaries and has dismissed from convents all Sisters who entered them when the country's liberalized regime of early 1968 reopened the convent to novices. The present, neo-Stalinist regime has attempted to manipulate the Church by installing its own candidates in key positions, such as vicar general of Brno and of Roziiava, and the executive committees of the Bohemian and Slovakian Catholic charitable agencies. Meanwhile, the controlled press has been keeping up a steady fire on religion in general and the churches in particular. Christians in Bohemia are bracing themselves for still heavier assaults upon them and their churches now that the head of the region's religious affairs office, Karel Hruza, has returned from a Moscow meeting with · his counterparts from other Communist states. Czecho-Slovakia's present program of religious repression was launched shortly after his return from a similar meeting in Moscow in October 1969. - NC New s Service Vienna. - The situation of the Church and of human rights and freedoms. in communist-ruled Czecho-Slovakia is growing worse, not better. Experts agree that the situation SLOVAKIA 201 after the short bright 1968 methods to promote atheist edu "humanizing" period before the cation. Dubcek regime was overthrown by Party officials said repeatedly at Soviet-led invaders - is similar recent meetings that religion "has now to that of the hated Stalinist a negative influence on the for. times. mation of Socialist conscience." The Church has become the The Bratislava communist newstarget of concentrated attacks from paper, Pravda, demanded that relitwo directions - through adminis- gious ceremonies - christenings, trati ve measures and ideological weddings and funerals - be rearguments. placed by Socialist ceremonies, The communist regime is at- because " the Church has misused tempting to strangle religious the most important stages of activities slowly but effectively by human life for its own purposes." administrative action. Karel Hruza, head of the gove rnMore than half of all parishes in ment state office, has described Bohemia lack priests and there is the regime's plans. "After rightists no chance to overcome the short- and counter-revolutionaries are reage. At the moment only 12 stu- moved from the party and governdents study for the priesthood in ment, we must concentrate in the entire Archdiocese of Olomouc. working a platform to cope with As a result of government the reactionary policy of the chicanery, the number of children Church. - Gerd Kriwanek, Reliattending religious instruction in gious News Service, January 28, school is sharply declining. 1972. th At the same time, e regime Ladislav Bezak loaded his wife has endorsed increased ideological and four children in a two-place attacks on the Church. Jozef Le- · light plane December 9 1971 and nart, firs_t secretary of the Slovak left for what he desc;ibed as a Communist Party, charged the "pleasure trip. " Church with having misused the The flight originated in Prague, situation in 1968 " to create a politand his destination was Nuernberg, ical basis for clericalism and West Germany. He did not file Catholicism. " a flight plan. Lenart alleged that religious Bezak is an experienced pilot sentiments were misused to pro- perhaps one of the best in the mote "anti-Sovietism and anti- world. At the first World Aerosocialism." batic Contest in 1960 at Bratislava, The regime has increased its Slovakia, he was a gold medal atheist propaganda. Thus the mag- winner in aerobatic competition. azine for teachers Ucitel'ske American pilots describe him as Noviny - urged the abolition of a quiet engineer who always wore any "liberal attitude towards re- a suit and tie rather than the casual ligion and the Church in our clothes worn by most competitive society." The journal also pledged pilots. increased atheist education of Shortly after he and his famil y young people by the party, the left Prague, a Czech MIG jet mass media, the schools and major fighter began a chase, and although organizations. Bezak waggled his wings and It also suggested that the Acade- waved to convince the fighter pilot my of Science devise the best they were on a pleasure flight , the 202 SLOVAKIA MIG began to fire on the light plane. Aerobatic maneuvers require precise skill. They are difficult enough in a special airplane, with perfect weight and balance distribution under ideal conditions. With six peop'le in a small plane, they would have to be considered impossible category. In addition, being fired on by a military jet could tend to disturb the concentration. The little plane - loaded over gross, and perhaps a third as fast as the fighter - apparently didn't have a chance. But the pilot was Bezak! According to the Aerobatic Club of America, Bezak flew the book at the military pilot. Flying many of the patterns which had earned him world championship 10 years before, he was able to elude the jet and continue on to the border. Before he reached it, the small plane was fired on from the ground. Bezak dived into a cloud bank, and with the children in tears and his wife in prayer, broke out across the border at 300 feet. The escape was a success. Ladislav Bezak, like most good aerobatic pilots, flies for prizes. During this trip he won the biggest prize of them all - freedom for himself and his family. - Lew Inquirer, Philadelphia Hodges, February 6, 1972. Lehigh is searching for a graduate student of Slovak ancestry to prepare a history of Slovak people in Bethlehem. Money for this project was left to the University from an even more unusual source: a Southside Bethlehem bachelor druggist who died in 1968 at age 67 and left Lehigh $67,500 in an unsigned will. The druggist, John Weldy Wasco, worked and apparently lived at 843 E. 4th Street. Relatives contested his will all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which upheld two lower court decisions in favor of Lehigh. Wasco stipuleted that $10,000 of the $67,500 was to go toward compiling and printing a history of Slovaks in Bethlehem, and that the project must be carried out by a Slovak student. Wasco's wish appeared in local newspapers without the criteria he set for the historian, and a number of Lehigh faculty expressed interest before learning they did not qualify. Wasco also specified that his personal papers be edited, and left $5,000 for the University to arrange that. University officials could not explain what motivated Wasco's generosity. He wrote a will in 1967 making Lehigh his sole beneficiary, and later changed it to add the provision about the Slovak history. - Lehigh University Publication Ondrej Nepela, the skating wonder from Slovakia, won the 11th Winter Olympic Games' gold medal as Russia's Sergei Chetveroukin edged into second place for the silver and Patrick Pera of France won the bronze. Two Americans, Ken Shelley of Downey, Calif., and John Mischa Petkevitch of Great Falls, Montana, moved into fourth and fifth places, passing East Germany's young Jan Hoffman, who had been fourth after the compulsory figures. Nepela, the world champion, fell early in his program while attempting a triple-toe-loop. Fall do not necessarily ruins a skater's marks since he is judged on the difficulty of his routine. Nepela was smooth and graceful but his program was neither as imaginative nor a dynamic as that of some of his rivals, including the two Americans. Despite his fall, the Slovak rated SLOVAKIA scores no lower than 5.9s in technical merit and he had two 5. 7s with the rest 5.8 in artistic impressions. His total points were 2739.1, well ahead of the rest of the field. In the official ordinal rankings, Nepela had a perfect 9.0, meaning he was rated No. 1 by all nine judges. The Russian had 20.0 in ordinals and Pera 28.0. - Associated Press, February 12, 1972. Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime president of the Slovak Republic, is no more. Tried and convicted as a "war criminal" by a ~called People's Court, he was executed last week American press dispatches - both secular and religious were concise and negligently brief. No fanfare or publicity. Merely that the priest-president was sentenced and the sentence carried out. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal"? The very fact of news silence here betrays a kind of embarrassed admission that things were not just fine in "Glocca Morra." The trials of Draga Mihailovitch and Archbishop Stepinac given due publicity aroused resentment in the United States, an attitude, which, while it accomplished nothing actual for the persons involved, nevertheless illustrated the rightprincipled conscience of the thinking public. But Dr. Tiso's case was denied even the type of consolation, because the facts and circumstances of the Tiso case are quite unknown to the American people. Whose the fault, whose the blame for this? The Hon. Robert Jackson, presiding over the trials in Nuremberg wrote "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal 203 guilt . . . If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for a trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." Tiso's trial was a travesty of justice. Actually, the issue was a political one primarily. Tried by the "People's Court" Tiso was denied representation by the attorney engaged by his friends. American papers had nothing to say about the fact that Alois Loyek, the attorney, was abused by the security officials, told he could not represent Tiso, and all defense material confiscated. The presiding judge and six political associates was Igor Daxner who himself was once tried by a regular court during Tiso's regime for planning with the Benes government-in-exile to turn Slovakia over to Russia, and sent to jail. Was Dr. Tiso a "war criminal" ? The answer necessitates a thorough perusal of the events which led to his election as Premier of Slovakia before the war started· - under a valid act of the Prague Parliament, events little known here, events in the evolution of democracy in the republic of Czecho-Slovakia without a knowledge of which the case of Tiso cannot be justly viewed. If these facts were made public, perhaps public opinion, such as it is. might be swayed to the right even though a little too late." The Catholic L i ght, Scranton, Pa. 4-25-47. Dr. Tiso's public life was political, though this fact is not to be held in any way against him. In many parts of Europe ecclesiastics find themselves pushed into politics because the cause of their Catholic people needs to be protected, and there are not a sufficient number of laymen educated to the job. Happily, this state of affairs is passing away, for it is not in itself 204 SLOVAKIA very desirable. However excellent the motives of the cleric concerned, he risks his spiritual office being contaminated, at least in public esteem, by the relatively low standards of political life, and the higher he rises in the political world, the harder it may become to distinguish the priest from the politics. Dr. Tiso, so far as we are aware always remained an exemplary priest, but he came to find himself responsible for the fate of his fellow Slovakians in terrible times. Through these times he did his duty to his people as he saw it. In a way not dissimilar from that of an Irish leader in relation to the British, he strove to protect the religion, culture and national autonomy of Slovakia as against the Czechs whose public outlook was dominated by very different rnlues. Such is the path of treason in the eyes of one side and of heroic patriotism in the eyes of the other. And few who tread this hard road can look back on their lives and deny having made mistakes. In the long run history will al- ways vindicate the sincere patriot as against the utilitarian judgment of those who condemn him on a legalistic interpretation of treason. In each case the career of such a man is a challenge to those called UPon to judge him. Are they big enough to look with the eyes of history and to seek reconciliation and understanding by the great gesture? Or are they small men who cannot see beyond the legalisms and their wounded vanity? In the face of this test, Dr. Benes and the rulers of Czecho-Slovakia have dismally failed. They have had to judge a good man, a priest, a great and courageous patriot, and all they have been able to do is to raise a martyr for Slovakia. This small-minded folly is only too typical of the men whom the fortunes of war have favoured . Instead of trying to realize unity on the basis of victory, these little men are as busy as they can be indulging their feelings by carving even deeper the channels which devide man from man and nation from nation. - Catholic Herald . London, 4-25-47. SLOVAKIA is µublishecl annually by the Slovak League of .America, a cultural and civic federation of Americans of Slovak descent. One of the purpo··es of SLOVAKIA is to promote a better understanding and appreciat1on of the Sl<OVak nation and its long struggle foT freedom and i ndependeuce. Subscription to Slovwkia $3.00 pel' year in the L1.S.A. - $4.00 el-sewhere. Send 1mhscription to: SLOV AKI.A 313 Ridge A venue Middletown, Pa. 17057 SLOVAKIA 205 BOOK REVIEWS BOOKS ON SLOVAK LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Reviewed by J. M. KIRSCH BA UM Bibliografia slovenskej jazykovedy ethymology, terminology, orthoand lexicography which are the preferred fields of Slovak linguists; the survey of published articles, studies and books between 1961-1965 shows that Slovak linguists made great progress in the following disciplines; history of the language, dialectology, morphology, syntax, onomastics, stylistic aspects of language, problems of translation, the structure and acoustics of language and language culture. This development become more than apparent if we compare the present work with the Biblio- 1961-1965 (Bibliography of Slo- graphy, vak Linguistics 1961-1965), by Ladislav Dvonc; Matica slovenska (Martin, 1970), pages 804, multi-lingual, English summary. For Western Slavists the Bibliography of Slovak Linguistics is not wLthout interest. This voluminous publication shows that Slovak linguistics has developed considerably during the latter years of the Stalinist regime. It also indicates that the attempts of some philologists, supported by the policy of the regime in the 1950's, to infiltrate the Slovak language with Czech vocabulary and to bring its structure as close to the Czech language as possible in order to create a "CzechoS'lovak language" back-fired. Slovak linguists, with the exception of one or two philologists trained in Prague ( S. Peciar, especi'ally), repudiated these attempts and began not only to clear the Slovak language from foreign infiltrations but in a number of studies brought Slovak linguistics quantitatively as well as qualitatively to the level of other Slavic nations within the Soviet orbit. With its 2111 entries pertaining to the Slovak language, the Bibliography is, however, not simply a numerical expression of the development of li.nguistic studies on the Slovak language. Of great importance is the number of disciplines studied by Slovak linguists. It is not any more only grammar, graphy of Slovak Linguistics for 1957-1960 by the same author. The new Bibliography contains: 1) all linguistic articles, studies and books published in Slovakia; 2) contributions in non-Slovak periodicals ( one from Canada), studies and articles by non-Slovak authors on the Slovak language or on linguistics published in Slovakia. As a result, the entries in this Bibliography are not only more numerous, but also multi-lingual. The publication shows that many Slovak linguists themselves ,published their studies in foreign languages, mainly in Russian. A strong Russian influence in Slovak linguistics is even more evident in the number of articles, studies and books dealing with the Russian language. Bibliographical data about the Russian language cover more than 100 pages, while other Slavic languages follow in this order: Czech 25 pages, Ukrainian 9 pages, Polish 3 pages, Slovenian 206 SLOVAKIA 3/4 of a page, Byelorussian and Bulgarian ¼ of a page each. For a short time the methods of the Russian linguistic school, or as some linguists say, "the Marxists and Stalinists principles and methods," were also imposed on Slovak philology and linguistics and prevailed in some works (see my essay " Contemporary Tendencies in Slovak Philology," Slavic and East European Studies, Vol. IV, 34, University of Montreal, 1960). Around 1960 Slovak linguists turned, however, against the russification as well as against the Czech infiltration of the Slovak language and Slovak linguistics. Studies, articles and books pertaining to the Slovak language have been published, according to this Bibiiography, predominantly in Slovak, but over 300 entries were published in Western languages, including English, in other Slavic languages and in Hungarian. It was mainly the works of the older generation of Slovak linguists (J . Stanislav, E. Pauliny) which appeared in international symposia in English, French or Russian. The younger generation on the other hand has broadened the field of Slovak linguists to include many disciplines and their studies have maintained a high academic level. They continue to be grouped around the periodicals Slovenska rec (Slovak Language), Jazykovedr ny casopis (Linguistic Journal) and Jazykovedne studie (Linguistic Studies) and have published the Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. Komenskeho - Philologica (Sym- posium of the F1aculty of Arts of the Comenius University) and Zbornik Filozofickej Fakulty Univ. P. J. Safcirika (Symposium of the University of P. J . Safarik). Editors gether with V. Blanar, L. Dvonc, G. Horak, J. Horecky and R. Krajcovic wrote the major part of the Slovak linguistic studies contained in the Bibliography. Even though the works of foreign philologists (R. Auty, R. Jakobson) from Western countries are included in this Bibliography it does not contain articles, studies or books published by Slovak intellectuals abroad except for one French essay by this reviewer which appeared in Etudes Slaves et est-europeennes (Montreal, 1963). Valuable studies by H. Bartek who was the founder of the periodical Slovenska rec or books, articles, dictionaries and surveys by S. Bue, F. Hrobak, J . J . Konus, J . Rekem and others were apparently not allowed by the regime to be recorded. The "normalization" which followed the brief period of relative freedom in 1968, has again separated the Slovaks in Slovakia from Slovak intellectuals in the West even in the field of linguistics and the population of Slovakia is not allowed to know about the cultural activities among some two million Slovaks abroad. The usefulness of Dvonc's Bibliography for Slavists cannot be doubted. It is a thoroughly prepared standard work. An index of names and a subject index enhance the practical value of this voluminous book. SLOVENSKA BIBLIOGRAFIA V ZAHRANitf 1945-1965 (Slovak Bibliography Abroad 1945-1965) : Compiled by Prof. M. Lacko S.J .. published by The Slovak Institute (Cleveland-Rome), 1967, 366 pp., multi-lingual, instruction in Slovak and English. The long expected Slovak Biblioof these periodicals have been E. graphy Abroad, which had to reJona , J. Ruzicka, Prof. E . Pauliny, cord the cultural activities of L. f>urovic and S. Dobos who to- Slovak intellectuals in the West, SLOVAKIA has finally been published and we cannot but welcome it. Slovak Bibliography Abroad 19451965 records the literary production of Slovak authors in Western countries in the fields of history, political science, religion, philology, folklore, literary history and cdticism, music, theology, literature and natural science. A special chapter deals with general works on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad, includtng Slovaks in Canada. In addition, the Bibliography records the works of non-Slovak authors in the above-mentioned fields if they were translated into the Slovak language and deal explicitly with Slovakia or Czecho-Slovakia as a whole. Absent from this Bibliography are works and studies on Slovak subjects., published in the countries of the Soviet block since it was impossible for the compilers to carry out the necessary research. As a result, the publication contains literary and scientific writings of Slovaks living in some 15 Westem countries and published in all major Western languages. Considering the difficulties which wr:ilters, scholars and scientists face in exile, the Bibliography with its 2,438 entries gives an impressive picture of Slovak cultural life abroad after the Second W . W. One can understand this properly only if he is familiar with some basic facts about the Slovak intellectual community in Western countries. At the end of the Second World War, 50me 5,000 educated Slovak5 left their native country; in 1948 they were followed by a new wave of immigrants after the Communist coup d'etat. In the first wave of exiles were some of the be5t Slovak writers, poets and scores of young intellectuals from all fields of cultural endeavor who either completed their studies at univer- 207 sities in Western countries or continued their intellectual work even if they had to take menial jobs in the countdes in which they found refuge. Many of the younger generation attained positions at universities (22 in Canada) or institutions of higher education. Others became editors of newpapers and many poets and writers continued to write valuable works besides their employment in clerical jobs or other professions. Besides the chapter on literature which records writings of .some 25 poets and 15 prose writers, the largest number of entries is in the chapter on history ( 437), philology and literary history ( 224) , and political science (160). However, the natural sciences and economy are also among the best represented with 275 entries. Writings on history and political science, philology and literary history are predominantly in foreign languages. Some authors (Mikus, Kirschbaum, Rekem, Vnuk) published their studies in 3 or 4 Western languages. In literature, the Bibliography lists works by several of the best Slovak poets and novelists who in exile created works considered among the best in contemporary Slovak literature (Hronsky, Dilong, Sprinc, Strmen, Zvonicky, etc.) . The Bibliography also indicates that there are several Slovak cultural centers in the Western countries. From Canada the Bibliography has listed books, studies and articles 'b y some 20 Slovak authors. Ten of them have been active either tn Slavic studies or in philology, sociology, theology and science, the remaining 15 in literature. Actually Canada and the United States seem to have produced the most prolific Slovak authors, not only in literature but also in other fields. Also the major 208 SLOVAKIA centers of Slovak publishing activities have been in the United States, but Italy, Argentina and West Germany have equally active groups in publishing books, periodicals and newspapers. The BibHography further shows that some Slovak scholars and writers published their writings, including poetry, in several languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish) and in certain cases the originals were written in foreign languages and not translated from the Slovak. This is a new feature in Slovak literature and scholarly writing. Because of adverse political circumstances Slovaks had very limited opportunities to study abroad not only before the Second World War, but also after 1945. The exiled writers and scholars made apparently a great effort to fill this lacuna. No doubt the compiler of the Bibliography, Prof. Michael Lacko, accomplished a task which is usually done by many researchers over several years. By his own admission, he does not cover all published studies and articles by Slovaks abroad ; actually in some cases valuable studies were left out either in foreign language or in Slovak. Additions and extensions to the Bibliography have, therefore, been promised by the compiler, as well as by the publishers. However, even in its present form, the Bibliography is a valuable contribution to Slavic studies and a very useful publication, not only for Slovak scholars and researchers , but also for Slavists who read English, the Bibliography being bi-lingual. The value of the Bibliography is also enhanced by listing bibliographies on Slovak matters as well as periodicals and newspapers, annuals, and symposia, published in some 15 countries. Julius Noge : An Outl.ine of Slovakian L i terature (The Tatrapress Agency, Bratislava), 1968, 120 pp. This is the first book in English on Slovak literature which was published in Slovakia since the Communist takeover in 1948. The fact that it was published in 1968 would indicate that Dubcek's liberalization has to be credited for ,t his slender booklet on 200 years of literary activities in the Slovak language. The restoration of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 cut off Slovakia from the rest of the world, especially from the West, and Slovak literature, art, science and culture in genera-I were to remain unknown to the Western world. Julius Noge, one of the literary critics who followed the directives of the Communist Party and was, therefore, favored by the Communist regime, divided his "succint" outline of Slovak literature into 7 chapters: From Old Church Slavonic learning (sic) to pre-Romanticism; Romanticism ( 1843-1870 ) ; Realism (1870-1905); Slovakian Literary Modernism ; Slovakian Literature between the wars (1918 1945); Contemporary Literature ( 1945-); Conclusion and Completion. Some of these chapters are very short, superficial and the whole publication is unbelievably biased towards writers and poets whose works expressed ideas opposed to Communism as, for instance, the poets and writers of Catholic modernism and all Slovak writers and poets in exile, except for J . C. Hronsky. Faithful to the directives of the Party, Noge considers as the greatest poets and writers such second class poets as Novomesky or Valek, and such mediocre writers as Vamos and Jilemnicky. "The poems by Laco Novomesky - assording to Noge - are most expressive, from the SLOVAKIA 209 artistic and human point of view that those years were the "dark most mature fruit of modern Slo- age" of Slovak literature. The lie vakfan poetry. His works are fre- has, however, short legs, as a Sloquently the key opening the way vak saying goes. A glance at the to ,t he sense and the problems of Slovak literary production between Slovakian literature between the 1939 and 1945 included in his book, wars and after them." shows that even the leading ComValek, who plays today the role munists published freely: Novoof the Minister of Culture in Slo- mesky published his book in 1939; vakia which after 1945 had been Hecko in 1942; Tafarka in 1942; played by Novomesky is, according Kostra in 1939, 1940, and two books to Noge, even of greater import- in 1942; Ponican in 1940 and 1941 ; ance for Slovak literature. "Valek's Horov in 1940 , l942 and 1944; complex work - writes Noge - . .Zary in 1941 and two books so rich in meaning and expression, in 1942; Ondrejov in 1940, and so inaugurated a new stage in the on. In fact, all Slovak writers and evolution of Slovakian poetry, re- poets created and published during presenting hitherto in some respect th e years of the Slovak Republic its peak." Horibile dictu! The Eng- more th an at any time before, lish reader could not help looking regardless of the fact whether they with contempt on Slovak literature supported the regime or not. Comif these minor poets were its great- munist literary historians should est authors and their poetry re- not underestimate the intelligence presented the peak of Slovak liter- of Wes tern readers. From the readature. ing of Noge's booklet, anyone can find out that, with the exception Noge seems to be objective in of G. Va.mos, who was not in Slohis write-up on individual Slovak vakia and Jilemnicky who was a poets and writers only in his evalu- Czech settled in Slovakia, every ation of the literary works pro- Slovak writer, poet, literary hisduce<l in the 1950's. He admits that torian or critic ,p ublished his works, "authoritarian methods of regle- and the younger ones their debuts mentation in the field of literature during that period. Since it is the first survey of reached ,t heir peak in 1951." He also writes that the literature and Slovak literature in the English poetry of that time was "just the language, we cannot but regret poetic drafting of political and that it is not better either in form journalistic phrases" and that in or content. This publication will prose writing the topics "were hardly convince English, American, treated in the manner of agitating Canadian, or Australian readers propaganda." However, this should that Slovak literature is worthbe understood in the context of while to be studied, taught and the events of 1968 when Noge's read. In addition to its shortbooklet was published. Criticism of comings mentioned above, the pubthe 1950's was not only fashionable lication also suffers from a very in 1968 but also a prerequisite for bad translation and too many printpublishing. ing errors. It would seem that One of the most .biased state- emigre Slovak intellectuals must ments in Noge's book is his asser- publish an English survey of Slotion that during the Slovak Repub- vak literature to present it to the lie some writers and poets "ceased civilized world in an objective light to write belles-lettres," intimating and proper form . 210 SLOVAKIA Letopis Pamatnika Slovenskej Lite- lenced not only Stur but also many ratu:ry 1970. Compiled and Edited of his followers and it was mainly by Juraj Chovan (Matica slovenska, Martin 1970), pp. 250, Russian and German Summary, Index. Slovak literary history receives in this publication some new insights and correct interpretation of the work of three prominent men of letters: Jan Holly, Andrej Radlinsky and Martin Hamuljak. Not only during the inter-war period when Slovak literary history was adjusted to the political aims of "Czechoslovakism", but also since 1945, Catholic writers and their role in Slovak national development was minimized or completely neglected . For a short time after the Second World War, Holly was rediscovered and some valuable publications of his life and work appeared in Slovakia or were prepared for the printers. For the ce11tennary of Holly, literary historians and critics such as Jozef Ambrus, Jozef Felix and others prepared nine volumes of Holly's poetry with comments and evaluation. However, the re.g ime did not allow distribution of Holly's work and it appeared only after 20 years in second-hand bookshops. The reason for such undeserved treatment of Holly's work was apparently the fact that it was published by Spolok sv. Vojtecha. The present publication gives justice to Holly and, at the same time, it presents Radlinsky and Hamuljak and their activities in a true light. Not only in the political history but also in literary history, the period between 1848 and 1918 was interpreted in such a way as if Slovak Catholics had not played any role in Slovak national life. The facts are, of course, quite different. The disillusionment of the year 1848 si- the Catholic intelligentsia who kept the flame of national consciousness alive and were active in cultural and literary life. From Radlinsky through Moyses to Oswald, a score of Slovak Catholics organized cultural and literary activi.ties and fought for the national rights of the Slovak people. Contributions to the present publications by Augustin Mat'ovcik, Zemka Cejkova, Konstantin Palkovie and Juraj Chovan, bring to light some interesting details on this period mainly in connection with Radlinsky's activities. The present Letopis is the fourth publication of this kind by Matica slovenska. All of them have been dealing with research into Slovak literature and contained results of studies by qualified literary historians. The greater part of the present publication is composed of papers presented at two conferences in April 1969. The first confere nce was organized on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of the death of J. Holly in Trnava and the second one on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the death of A. Radlinsky. In addition of these papers, there is an interesting essay on Slovak studies Slovakica - at foreign universities by J . Kuzmik. The essay deals so far with Slovak studies in Slavic countries. But the title of the essay indicates that it will deal with Slova k studies in all foreign universities and institutions. We hope that Kuzmik will treat the subject with scholarly objectivity when he writes on Slovak studies at American and Canadian universities. A short survey published by him sometime ago indicated that he was not free of the usual bias common to all literary and cultural historians in today's Slovakia. He left out im- SLOVAKIA portant contributions to Slovak studies at Western universities just because of political considerations and inflated the importance of others who professed political ideologies accepted rby the present regime in Czecho-Slovakia. The publication also contains documents and information on various cultural topics, as well as book reviews. Slovaks abroad learned with satisfaction that Matica slovenska in Prievidza organized an exhibition of the literary work of J. C. Hronsky. The exhibition lasted two weeks and met with great interest by the public. The objectivity of this publication is enhanced by including an account on this exhibition in which it has been admitted that Hronsky was "one of the most important, but also systematically under-estimat:ed Slovak writer." Unfortunately, the publication contains only a short Russian and German summary and will, therefore, be useful only for Slavists who can read Slovak. Nevertheless, we welcome this valuable contribution to better and more objective evalu ation of the Slovak literary past. W ith Christ in His Passion. By Rudolph Dilong. '!1ranslated from the original Slovak by Sister M. Martina Tibor, SS.C.M., Villa of the Sacred .Heart, Danville, Pa., 1971, pp. 75, $2.50. The greatest poetic genius of our century, the French poet, Paul Claude!, used to say (in several variations) about the poet and poetry. "The object of poetry is not, as they say very frequently, dreams, illusions or ideas_ It is the holy reality, given once for all times, in the center of which we are situated. It is the universe of in- 211 visible things. It is all that we look at and all that looks back at us. All this is God's work; it renders matter inexhaustible for all the greatest poet says and sings as well as the smallest bird. Since there is a phiiosophia perennis that does not invent ... abstract beings that no one has ever seen except thei r authors, .. . so there is also a poesis perennis that does not invent its themes, but it eternally recaptures those which Creation furnishes to it ... The purpose of poetry is not, as Baudelaire says, 'to plunge into the bottom of the Infinite to find something new,' but to plunge into the bottom of the definite in order to find there the inexhaustible ... Nor is he a poet who invents, but he who, approaching things, assembles and permits us to understand them." Justly we can apply these concepts especially to the religious poetry of Rudolf Dilong, the most prolific and meritorious contemporary Slovak poet living in exile (Pittsburgh, Pa.) So he took a plunge into the sacred reality of the Pascha'l Mystery and with a luminous creative poetic imagry tried the humanly impossible: to capture the uncapturable mystery found in Christ's redemptive mystery of suffering and victory. He listens in these depths and assembles the rays of his poetic vision in powerful and eloquent words. These are his immortal merits. How about the (frequently overlooked) merits of the translator, Sister Martina Tibor? Well, if poetry is art par excellence, so is its translation. To translate poetry well requires above all the perfect mastery of two languages. But this is not enough. The translator must be also a virtual pbet (in potentia), to save in his translation as much SLOVAKIA 212 of the sublime poetic beauty as it is possible. And this process must be a new creation: a scrupulous penetration into the fine shades of meanings and the recapturing in another language this almost imperceptible shimmering of condensed poetic experience and expression. Even so, something will always be lost from the genuine beauty of the original. AU in all, we gladly say that Sister Martina did a splendid job in translating into English the most difficult, exuberant and most sublime religious poetry of the poet1>riest Rudolf Dilong. It is a valuable cultural service to the poetic Slovak genius. Nichoias Sp r in c, Borromeo Seminary College of Ohio ··DIE SLOWAKEI IN DER NACHDER KRIEGSENTWICKLUNG (The TSCHECHO-SLOWAKEI" Role of Slovakia in the Political Evolution of Czecho--Slovakia After the Second World War); by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, Schriftenreihe des Matus Cernak Instituts, Koln, Nr. 3, 1971, pp. 32, Bibi. Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum enriched again our political literature by a consice study about Slovakia after lhe Second World War. The publication is destined predominantly to scholars and historians but it will be welcome by anybody interested in political development in Czecho-Slovakia from 1945 to 1968. This period of Slovak history was presented in the West by fore ign historians as well as by Czech exiles in the most distorted light. Prof J. M. Kirschbaum, on the basis of sources in several languages, gives a clear picture of the role of Slovakia in the upheavals through which Czecho-Slov>akia, restored by the Soviet armies, had to undergo after the Second World War. The publication is an enlarged version of an English contribution to Canadian Slavonic Papers, Vol. X, 4, 1968, which was dedicated by Canadian Slavists to the events in Czecho-Slovakia in 1968. The English version discusses the events until the invasion of Czecho• Slovakia by the Soviet and other Warsaw Pact troops. In the German version there is also a chapter on the federalization of Czecho-Slovakia , and the footnotes were completed by references to works in German, while in the English text, Prof. Kirschbaum referred mostly to books published on the American Continent and in France. The study is divided into four chapters dealing with the Communist coup d'etat in 1948, the ,period of the "cult of personality" in Slovakia, the process of de--Stalinization and the struggle for liberalization and federalization. In each chapter the author traces the special role which Slovakia played in the crucial years of the transformation of Czecho-Slovakia into the most faithful satellite of the Soviet Union. To avoid being accused of "parti pris," Prof. J .M. Kirschbaum heavily relies on quotations from American and Canadian political scientists dealing with Eastern Europe. Among others he often quotes the work by the former Secretary to President Benes, E. Taborsky, who now teaches at American universities, but the most interesting quotation comes from a Czech professor at the University of British Columbia, Stanley Z. Pech, who wrote the following remarkable statement about Western historians writing on Eastern Europe: "Although Western specialists in Eastern European history have usually regarded it as their task to SLOVAKIA I 213 make the West familiar with the Since Prof. F . Hrusovsky published entire panorama of the polyglot his concise booklet This is Slovakia. region, they have in practice often I some 20 years ago, we did not been selective in the favors they have in English any publication to bestoved on each nation. They have give either to foreigners or to incorporated in their work, in Slovaks educated at American, Camodified form, the outlook and nadian or Australian universities, the prejudices of the nations which the basic facts of Slovak history they "adopted." To give the most and cultural life. For this reason, conspicuous examples, they viewed the Slovak World Congress deSlovak history through Czech eyes. serves credit for publishing an In so doing, they have in fact up-to-date account on Slovakia. The publication is composed of created a second-class status for certain nations. The history of the two essays by Prof. J . A. Mikus. Slovaks in the West has usually and six essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschbeen presented from the point of baum. Prof. Mikus deals with the view of "Czechoslovakism" and has individuality of Slovakia, namely, appeared as hardly more than a with geographical and demographical facts and with the personality postscript to Czech history. " of the Slovak nation. Both essays We understand that the first are written in a scholarly way but English book by Prof. J. M. Kirsch- understandable to any reader. baum Slovakia - Nati 01i at the Drawing on personal knowledge Crossroads of Central Europe is and long years of studies of Slovak no more avail.able even though it history, Prof. Mikus displayed ahad three printings. It would be gain by his essays that he belongs a service to the Slovak cause if among the best Slovak authors he revised his book and completed abroad in the field of history and it by the present study in order political science. that students of Slovak history, as The essays by Prof. J . M. Kirschwell as politicians and American baum deal with the historical back and Canadian Slovaks of the second ground of Slovakia, the ethnic and third generations, could have origin and language, cultural, poan objective history on Slovakia. litical, religious and economic The Matus cernak Institute de- background. The essays give a serves credit for publishing this complete and unbiased picture of well documented study. The Slovak 1100 years of Slovak history, as World Congress would render a well as of political and cultural service to the Slovak cause if it evolution of the Slovak people and took care of pl.acing this concise of the economic potential of Sloand expertly written account of vakia. Perhaps intentionally short, modern Slovak history into univer- the essays refer to many books sity libraries in Europe as well as either in Slovak or in foreign languages, which will be welcome by on this Continent. who want to enhance their students J . Pau c o knowledge of Slovakia. SLOVAKIA : Historical and Cu lturThe reader will notice that Prof. al Background, by Prof. J. A. J . M. Kirschbaum made great efMikus and Prof. J. M. Kirsch- forts to present the political and baum, Published by Slovak World religious background of Slovaks Congress (Toronto, Canada, June without any bias. This is in accoro 1971) , pp. 63, ill. bibl. ance with the concept of the Slovak I SLOVAKIA 214 World Congress which published this valuable addition to books on Slovakia. The Congress is guided by national as well as by religious ecumenical spirit. As in his other works on Slovakia, Prof. Kirsch• baum makes a distinction between the history of Slovakia and the history of the Slovak people which is not history of dynasties or expansive wars, but a struggle for survival. Such an approach will probably be most understandable for Slovaks as well as foreigners and may prove to be correct in the last analysis. The publication is enhanced by a map of Europe and several pictures from the history of Slovakia, as well as by a bibliography of English books on Slovakia by Slovak authors. The Editor, Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum added this im· pressive survey of books in English by Slovak authors for Slovaks educated outside Slovakia, and he did the right thing. Published by the Slovak World Congress, this valuable publication was distributed freely to the participants at the meeting in Toronto, and is apparently no more avail• able. It would be a service to the Slovak cause if a second edition be prepared for general use. J. Pa u co ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA I: Uni· versitas Comeniana Bratislavensis, Facultas Philosophica, Bratislava 1970, p. 226, Multi-Lingual. The liberalization period in Slovakia brought about a favorable change not only in the political climate but also in cultural and scientific activities. Many projects which for years were only debated, materialized in 1968 or 1969. As a result, several symposia from a nllltlber of Conferences dealing with inter-Slavic relations in pre- vious years were published and institutes or chairs of studies were founded and organized. The Institute of Ethnology wa one of them and the present volume ETHNOLOGIA SLAVICA is the first publication of this Institute which has been founded "for the purpose of establishing an institution for ethnological research concerned with the Slavic nations," as the editors say in their multi• lingual introduction. According to the editors, Slovak scholars also planned the establishment of Ethnological Archives and a Society of Slavic Ethnologists but " the well-known events of 1968 (in other words, the Soviet invasion) heavily intefered with the realization of the original program." Only the Institute of Ethnology came into being and this first volume of ETHNOLOGIA SLA VICA is the result of the research of its members and foreign ethnologists. The volume was published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the Comenius University (1919). The Managing Editor of the publication, Jan Podolak, says in his Preface that the University has been founded "to enable Slovaks to acquire erudition (sic) of university-degree in the national language." However, it is well-known that the students of the Comenius University had to organize demonstrations for the use of the Slovak language as late as 1937-1938 because the mission of the University was to help the assimilation of Slovaks. The situation changed only during the Slovak Republic when education as well as administration, was carried on in the Slovak language which the present day scholars are not allowed to mention. The publication ETHNOLOGIA SLOVAKIA SLA VICA is a valuable addition to Slavic studies and is a long time overdue, if we take into consideration the fact that one of the main founders of Slavic ethnology, P . J. Safarik, come from Slovakia. The volume contains contributions by Slovak as well as foreign scholars, and the essays have been published in English, French and German, with a Slovak resume in some cases, which will make the book accessible also to ethnologists in the West. Of 12 contributions, 3 have been written by Slovaks. Jan Michalek evaluated P . J. Safarik's contribution to Slavic ethnography; Jan Podolak wrote an interesting essay on the pastoral culture of the Carpathians as a subject of ethnological study, and Anton Habovstiak contributed the study "La colonisation pastorale dans les Karpates et les patois slovaques" (The Pastoral Colonization of the Carpathians and Slovak Dialects). Among foreign contributors are Milovan Gavazzi (from Zagreb), Sergei A. Tokarev (from Moscow), Christo Vakarelski (from Sofia), Zoltan Ujvary (from Debrecen), Oldrich Sirovatka (from Brno), Slobodan 2ecevic (from Beograd) , and two contributions have been written by Lusatian-Serbians, Isolde Gardos and Siegmund Musiat. This mosaic of contributors as well as the variety of subjects treated by them gives the book an intemational and inter-Slavic image. This should be velcome in view of the fact that the results of academic activities by Slovak scholars were rarely published in Western languages. The essays are not of equal value but they are all on the level of similar studies in the Soviet orbit. The volume is oriented particularly to Russian but also to Croatian, Bulgarian and Lusatian-Serbian ethnology, but the editors are 215 promising to deal also with Polish, Ukrainian and Yugoslavian ethnology in the following volumes. As an addendum the publication contains reviews in English and in German of the activities and the writings by Czech, Polish, Soviet, Ukrainian and Bulgarian ethnographers and their institutes or periodicals. Since every book in foreign language dealing with Slovak culture is of great importance for acquainting the world with Slovakia, we sincerely welcome this volume and hope that further volumes will follow as the editors promised and that the present generation of Slovak ethnologists will follow in the footsteps of P . J. Safarik who left a rich legacy to Slovak ethnology. * J. M . K i r s c h b au m * On P . J. Safarik, see Kirschbaum , P . J . Safcirik and His Contribution to Slavic Studies (Slavistica No. 43, Cleveland-Winnipeg, 1962) . DUBCEK'S Blu e Print for Fre edom: His Documentation on Czechoslovakia leading to the Soviet invasion, with a Profile by Hugh Lunghi and Commentary by Paul Ello (William Kimber, London, 1968), pp. 352, Index. Among the scores of books which were published on Dubcek and the events in Czecho--Slovakia in 1968* , this book will remain as one of the most useful for scholars and laymen alike. The editors included in the book the most important documents such as Dubcek's speech on April 1, 1968, at the plenary session of the Central Committee of the Czecho,Slovak Communist Party; the Action Programme of the Party; Dubcek's report to the meeting of. the Central Committee on May 29-June 1, 1968, and the warning given by the Presidium 216 SLOVAKIA of the Central Committee in answer to the letters of five Communist and Workers' Parties. Finally, in the Appendix, the book includes Dubcek's speech of December 1, 1968. These contents are expertly introduced and commented upon by Hugh Lunghi, a former member of the British Embassy in Moscow, and Paul Ello from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington. While Lunghi, who has been one of the best informed analysts on the staff of the British Broadcasting Corporation, gives in his Introduction an analysis of the events which led to the Soviet invasion, Paul Ello wrote a concise but well balanced commentary. The Summary is not signcd, and may be the work of either of the writers. The book will have a lasting value for inte11preting the attempts at changing •Stalinism in one o.f the most advanced, culturally and industrially, satellites of Moscow and at giving socialism a "human face. " Both Lunghi and Ello are factual in their analysis and Lunghi did not fail to point out the role of Slovakia and Slovak Communist leaders in the upheavals which many other authors, writing about the "Prague Spring", failed to do. In accordance with the facts, Lunghi writes that "one of the first of Novotny's fatal errors was his mishandling of the Slovaks," and that it was Dubcek's reaction to Novotny's policy towards Slovakia which began the snowball roUing. During the Central Committee meetings at the end of 1967, according to Lunghi the "three issues at stake were, firstly, the implementation of the economic reforms; secondly, freedom of expression and, finally, effective autonomy for SJovakia." (p. 17) . This conclusion has been accept- ed in the meantime as correct also by other authors who had access to documents, especially by Paul Tigrid in his book: La Chute Irresistible d'Alexander Dubcek, (Calmann-Levy, Paris, 1969) which was likewise reviewed in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, p. 206. Lunghi apparently followed the events in Slovakia very closely and without the usual bias which we can find among some Western specialists in East European problems. This appears not only in his assessment of the role of Husak after the invasion but also in his reference to Peter Colotka, Deputy Premier in Prague's government, who made some courageous declarations which resulted in his removal from his post. Lunghi's analysis of the situation in Slovakia was also correctly grasped in his statement that "the federation of the country, longed for by the Slovaks, had, at last been achieved in the face of the Russians who wanted to keep the two nations divided and at logger-heads. During the invasion the Russians had put about the totally false rumors that some Slovak provinces wanted to become Soviet republics. Symbolically, the legislation creating the federal state was enacted to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration on October 28th." Unfortunately, the law of the federation was enacted but it became ineffective to a great degree because of Czech reluctance, what Lunghi could not, of course, foresee in 1968. Western analysts mentioned various reasons for the occupation of Czecho-Slovakia by the Warsaw Pact military forces in the books so far published on the invasion. Lunghi brings to light a new possible element which finally pushed the Soviet leadership to invade Czecho-Slovakia. During the spring SLOVAKIA and summer of 1968 there was a strong reaction against the secret police which apparently was not only organized on the model of the Soviet secret police but also directed and infiltrated by Soviet agents to whom the Prague Ministry of Interior had to submit interrogation material before bringing them to the ministers themselves. According to Lunghi, the announced purge of the secret police apparatus threatened a vital Soviet interest by the revelations published in the newpapers in Bratislava and in Prague. Moscow's objective was, therefore, "to hold these dangerous processes and to restore a leadership in Prague which would control the population through a Soviet style Communist Party using the proper level of power - a persuasive and omnipotent secret police with no nonsense about 'demonstration of the socio-political 217 system'." (page 25). No doubt this could have been one of the serious reasons for the infamous decision to destroy an interesting effort by Slovaks and Czechs to give socialism a "human face." Paul Ello's commentary, short as it is, is clear and factual, and belongs among the best written ones shortly after the invasion, where there was a lot of confusion in Western countries among the specialists in East Europe. The book undoubtedly deserves to be read and preserved on the shelves for further study of a crucial moment in the history of Eastern Europe and probably in the history of Western civilization. J. M. Ki r s c h b au m • On a number of books on this subject, see my book reviews in "Slovakia", Vol. 21, 1971, No. 44, pp. 205-210. Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor Rudolph Petrak, 54, of 32 Halsey, Dr., Old Greenwich, Conn., a leading tenor with the City Opera Company from 1948 to 1956, died March 4, 1972, at Saint Joseph Hospital in Stamford, Conn. He was born in Sucany, Slovakia had sung at major opera houses in Europe and South America, and as a soloist with the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra and other noted ensembles. He sang under the batons of such famous conductors as Leopold Stokowski, Ormandy, Leinsdorf and Krips. Mr. Petrak began his career with the Bratislava Opera and made his American debut in 1948 at the New York City Center as Rudolfo in "La Boheme." Congressman Albert P. Morano of Greenwich noted in the Congressional Record of the United States. "I have become acquainted with many artists who have immigrated to America, but know of none more possessed of deep love for his adopted country than Rudolph Petrak." "The New York Times" in an obituary on Monday, March 6, 1972 published his picture as he sang Radames in "Aida" about 1949. The New York Times also wrote: "In 1960 when Mr. Petrak sang at the Philadelphia Orchestra's presentation of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" in Carnegie Hall, Harold C. Schonberg, The New York Times music critic noted: "Everything sounded effortless and clear, even the high D that Mr. Petrak took in falsetto".-J.C.S. SLOVAKIA 218 Our Contributor s Karol Kuzmany, Slovak leader in 19th century. Msgr. George A. Galik, J.C.D., author, Hibbing, Minn. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL. D., Ph.D., historian, author, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. E . L. Delaney, author, journalist, Glendale, Cal. Fran!;ois d'Orcival, French political writer, Paris. Paul Kotva, pen name of Karol Sidor, former Premier of Slovakia. Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M., teacher, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Joseph C. Krajsa, Editor of Jednota, lecturer, Middletown, Pa. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L., J.D., historian, author, Washington, D. C. Francis Vnuk, M.A., political analyst, professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia. Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., journalist, author, Middletown, Pa. K. culen, historian, journalist. Rev. A. V. Pier, O.S.B., journalist, author, Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Steven I. Miller, assistant professor, Loyola University of Chicago, Ill. Daniel F. Tanzone, B.A., fraternalist, Yonkers, N. Y. Helena T. Gaydos, cultural worker, Philadelphia, Pa. George A. Podhajsky, pen name of a Slovak refugee professor. Rudolph J. Vecoli, professor of history and director of the Center of Immigration Studies at the University of Minnesota. Agnes Bocan, St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Edward J. Behuncik, attorney-at-law, Stratford, Connecticut. Rev. Nicholas Sprinc, professor, poet, Wickliffe, Ohio. Picture on the front cover: Dr. Joseph Tiso, President of the Slovak Republic. SLOVAKIA 219 Contents Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People - 3 Paean to Integrity - Karol Kuzmany-George A. Galik - 4 Dr. Joseph Tiso-the Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People - J.M. Kirschbaum - 5 I Met President Tiso - E. L. Delaney - 21 Msgr. Joseph Tiso - Fran(;ois d'Orcival - 26 Murder in Slovakia - Hon. Alvin E. O'Konsld - 36 Speech of Hon. Ray J. Madden - 37 Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso - N.C.W.C. News Service - 40 Who Killed Dr. Tiso? - Paul Kotva - 43 Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero - 48 Dr. Jozef Tiso-His Political Creed - Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M. - 50 Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks - Joseph C. Krajsa - 57 Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-In Memoriam - J.M. Kirschbaum - 60 Michael Novak on White Ethnics - Prof. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L. , J .D. - 62 Slovak Martyrs - 64 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 1939 - F. Vnuk - 65 Th e Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) - Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - 92 The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks in U.S.A . and Canada - K. Culen - 98 America's Discovery of Ethnic Values - A. V. Pier, O.S.B. - 114 Historical and Empi rical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group - Dr. Steven I. Miller - 116 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America - Daniel F. Tanzone -125 Slovakia, the Land of B eauty - Helena T. Gaydos - 136 Tourist Trade of Slovakia - George A. Podhajsky - 140 Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off - Rudolph J. Vecoli - 146 An Introduction to Slovak Costume - Agnes Bocaii - 153 Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedlik, O.S.B. - A. V. Pier - 158 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 - Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Declaration Adopted by Slovak World Congress - 193 Unity Is Necessary - Edward J . Behuncik - 195 As Others See It - 198 Book Reviews - 205 Rudolph Petrak, Slovak Tenor - J.C.S. - 217 161 PRI NTI D IN U.S. A. JIDN OTA PlllN TER Y, MID DLli TOW N, 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 Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45) Description An account of the resource includes Current Issues; As Others See It; Book Reviews; Obituary; Contributors Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/772859d41df01ca562f5584835e85c55.pdf 4fe0ec0875bb7915b4b223683798da43 PDF Text Text SLOVAKlA 161 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 SLOVAK-AMERICAN PRIEST, LEADER, EDUCATOR Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. An observance commemorating the life and accomplishments of Father Matthew Jankola in this centennial year of his birth has the advantages of distance and historic perspective. It provides a very timely opportunity for appraising this leader and his life's contribution with fair and realistic appreciation, with a degree of objective regard for his innate qualities and his unique achievements. Father Jankola's life span encompassed only forty-three years and his biographical data can be summarized very compactly. BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE The parents of Matthew Jankola were Matthew and Rosalie Medvecky Jankola. They lived very ·simply but happily in Trstena, a picturesque town in the economically disadvantaged Orava district of Slovakia, and their son Matthew spent much of his early life there. But Trstena was not Father Jankola's birthplace, for he was born away from home on July 2, 1872, while his parents were at seasonal work in the Stary Budin sector of Budapest, Hungary. After his elementary education in Trstena, the boy Matthew continued his schooling at gymnazia in Bardejov and Beckov. Later, on the recommendation and under the sponsorship of his maternal uncle, the Francisean Father Emerich Medvecky, he advanced to seminary studies with the Franciscans in Hlohovec and in Kremnica. At the same time, the school of life steadily trained him too. With ardor and utmost good will he gave his all in order to prepare for the priesthood with a religious order but the evils of oppression did not spare him even in the seminaries of Slovakia. In fact, they left their mark upon him by undermining his health though no degree of im- �162 SLOVAKIA posed suffering could shake his spirit. This apparently all-pervasive atmosphere of oppression was one of the determining factors that led him to seek a better way of life in the new world. It happened, then, that because of many types of extreme pressures in his homeland-political, economic, cultural-and because America had become a haven of refuge and security to many of his countrymen, he too ventured upon the long voyage across the Atlantic and arrived in the harbor of Baltimore on December 19, 1893. He was not in prime physical condition at this time, for strain and exhaustion had drained his reserves but his heart was filled with a determination that was always characteristic of him and with a buoyant hope that here honest work would bring honest returns, that repression did not came with him on his long and arduous trip. In his soul he cherished the vision that he could become a force for good in this new world while he would also be a support and help for his dear ones in Slovakia. And so he began a new chapter in the young manhood of his life. He had come to America as a talented and achieving student in his fourth year of theology. He was not encumbered with misgivings or uncertainties about his life's work or objectives. Without unnecessary delay he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore but after an interval of illness had interrupted his seminary program, he transferred to St . Bonaventure Seminary in Allegheny, New York, where Latin was the language of instruction. His proficiency in Latin made him feel very much at home here and in two semesters he was able to complete the courses that he needed for the final rounding out of his training for the priesthood. January 13, 1895 was the date Father Jankola's ordination. He was twenty-two and had lived half of his life. From this date on, he felt in his soul that he owed filial gratitude to three persons whom he regarded in the role of father: his natural father who was very dear to him; his u ncle Father Emerich Medvecky whose Franciscan charity and solicitude saw to his education and the nurturing of his priestly vocation; and Bishop William O'Hara of Scranton who received him in America and ordained him p riest. �SLOVAKIA 163 Shortly after his ordination he received his first priestly assignment: the pastorate of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston, Pennsylvania. And from this center he extended pastoral care to seven other towns where Slovak Catholic immigrants were settling. He was subsequently pastor of St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and of SS. Cyril and Methodius parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he died on May 5, 1916. This brief and superficially simple biographical sketch does not even suggest any of the fullness of his lifetime. It is rather the bare diagram of plotting points, each of which opened upon an individual richness of life . BACKGROUNDS The pivotal key in Father Jankola's life was his total commitment to the priesthood. The fruition of all his living was in the twenty years that followed upon his ordination. The social milieu in which he had decided upon a career of service as a priest of God rightfully had conditioned him into viewing dedication to the altar as no mere token position to be satisfied by perfunctorily discharged liturgical devotions and ceremonies-significant and beautiful as they may be. To him the office of priest meant a distinctive way of life binding the priest to serve wholeheartedly as mediator, leader, educator, philanthropist and sanctifier of his people in and for Christ. Much in the mind of Vatican II, he developed his formation and his philosophy of life in the ideal that the priest is above all for Christ and for the people. In all his subsequent endeavors this wa:s his guiding principle, his constant. Even as a growing boy and as an aware adolescent, he had lived with the realization that among his people the priest was the one individual who stood for leadership, uprightness and learning as well as for spiritual ministry, moral guidance and ethical inspiration. He was oriented to his regard for the priesthood because the ruling powers that had shackled Slovakia in many ways had also-except by rare exception- denied academic opportunities for Slovak boys and girls who aspired to professional or scientific careers. On this score, the authorities relented only to permit seminary training for the sake of the priest- �164 SLOVAKIA hood, and normal school courses in a limited way, in order to prepare some teachers for schools. The priest, then, had to be more than shepherd of souls in Slovakia. He had to be the leading light of his people in temporalities as well as in spirituality. He had to be .not only teacher and guide in virtue and goodness but also a perceptive and courageous defender of justice and the basic rights of man. This is the main reason why Slovak priests sometimes found themselves consciencebound to take a hard look even at the political atmosphere in which they and their people had to live. And seeing the realities of inequity, discrimination, cultural deprivation, oppression and spiritual bondage, they had the moral fortitude even publicly to attack these evils and defend their people and their country; they had the conviction that as the educated leaders of their people, they had to have the stamina to enter the forum of public affairs and there champion the cause of the wronged, the oppressed and the helpless whenever circumstances demanded their presence in the public arena. Various modes of oppression, overt as well as patent, often discouraged or demoralized the average citizen who was usually much preoccupied with the daily need to provide at least a living for his family. The God-given beauty of his natural surroundings often put a bit of poetry into a peasant's hard life; the lilt and loveliness of folk song and folk music warmed his heart, and the ar tistry of hand crafted work brought him some gratuitous satisfaction through creative expression but he needed the wholesomeness of opportunities to cultivate his intellectual talents and his inborn creative gifts freely and even as a lifetime career, as a professional; he needed assured liberty and justice, openness and a sense of security so that he could rise above sheer drudgery and allow his spirit to grow expansive. He needed to nourish his life of the spirit as well as the life of his body . He needed to satisfy his intellectual hunger in order to develope spiritually and to structure a sense of dignity in his life. All this the Slovak priest recognized in his parish, in his town or village, in his country. More was asked of him than is generally asked of the average priest, and he had t o be a man greater dimension that the average man. He �SLOVAKIA 165 had to be capable of tactful leadership, of sound capacities for guidance and direction, of clear vission and foresight ; resourceful as well as prayerful, peace-loving yet fearless in the face of defending God-given rights, forgiving yet relentless in fighting injustice. In him converged all the likeness of Christlike being and behavior and all the paradoxes of virtue flourishing in a sin-beset world. This is the kind of life that Matthew Jankola chose with mature and deliberate will. Most importantly, this is the kind of life that he lived. Fire and ardor were of his very nature; integrity, initiative and unclouded vision were his basic assets; God, nation and fellowmen-in that order-were his top priorities; and the grit to endure was the price that he was asked to pay in the discharge of his vocation. Living here as he did under pioneering conditions among immigrants who were truly strangers in a strange land, he was imbued with characteristic missionary concern for both the material and the spiritual welfare of those around him and of those for whom he had made himself responsible. He was aware that the socio-economic circumstances which bore upon the immigrant Slovak laborer could affect him very adversely and for that reason he did not spare himself in awakening and revitalizing deep self-respect and dignity in the man who was burdened with inhuman hours and labors and even humiliation in the dank pits of coal mines, at the raging forges of steel mills, at railroad building and multiplicity of menial jobs of every description. Work itself is reasonably recognized as honorable but sometimes the conditions under which a man is compelled to work can conspire to brutalize him. And man must not spend all his working hours in just expending the strength of his muscles or he may become gross. FIRST PASTORATE It is worth noting that Bishop O'Hara appointecl. Father Jankola pastor of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston very shortly after his ordination. He knew how urgent the need was for this parish to have a pastor and he recognized in the newly ordained Father Jankola gifts of mind and spirit that recommended him, young as h e was, for a responsible office even without seasoned ap- �166 SLOVAKIA prenticeship in parish work. Pioneering often calls for practically instant response to duty. Father Jankola never hesitated in meeting the demands of duty and Bishop O'Hara had every reason to be convinced that his trust in this pastor was well placed. With complete dedication, an unusual capacity for work and keen administrative talent, the new priest assumed the new tasks committed to him. With apostolic zeal he made it a point of his prime priestly service to reach out among the scattered Slovak Catholics of wide regions. He did not circumscribe his labors and his interests to that one Pittston parish only. He felt, rather, that all the Slovaks displaced in America were his immediate concern, and his specific responsibility to the Pittston parish of St. John the Baptist included the Slovak Catholics of seven adjoining communities commonly referred to as "places" or "plejzy." They included Sturmerville, West Pittston, Wyoming, Port Griffith, Smithville, Duryea and Pittston Junction. At this time he also traveled to the Binghamton, New York, area to serve the spiritual needs of Slovaks settling there. From the very beginning these, so to say, transplanted and still rootless people who were largely engaged in railroad building and in the shoe industry, were content to use the church facilities that were very kindly offered them by St. Patrick's parish but in 1902 Father Jankola helped them to organize their own parish under the patronal title of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Important as this was, it was enough. He next did his utmost in order to find a reasonable priest to take charge of this parish or at least to offer temporary ministry to the Binghamton Slovak community. On countless occasions when no one else was available, he himself came to provide them with Sunday services, to administer the sacraments, to advise and guide them and to inspire and encourage them to cultivate their spiritual life, much like a missionary compelled to ride h is circuit in order to bring God to man and man to God. During this pastorship in Pittston, Father Jankola also ministered to the Slovaks of Wilkes-Barre and Swoyeville ( which was called Maltby in his day) and with his sound direction and practical acumen, he helped them to build their churches. There were over eight thousand Slovaks in Wyoming Valley region around Wilkes-Barre at this time �SLOVAKIA 167 and there was a steady flow of increase into this hard coal region as ship after ship brought more Slovak immigrants to American shores. From his parish base in Pittston Father Jankola indefatigably toiled among them, deeply concerned that the burdens and troubles of providing for material needs and livelihood should not crowd out of their labor-preoccupied lives the eternal truths that God bore them all in his love and that as they spent themselves on behalf of material well-being, they keep in mind and also provide for the life of the spirit and for undying values. In the early history of Slovak Catholics in the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where there was a large concentration of Slovak immigrants, we find the record of these ten Slovak parishes which were established in the late nineteenth century: 1883 St. Joseph's in Hazleton 1886 St. Stephen's in Plymouth 1888 St. Joseph's in Nanticoke 1889 Holy Ghost in Olyphant 1893 St. John Nepomucene in Freeland 1894 St. John the Baptist in Pittston 1895 Holy Trinity in Maltby (later called Swoyerville ) 1895 Sacred Heart in Wilkes-Barre 1895 Holy Family in Scranton 1896 St. Michael's in Jessup Ten Roman Catholic parishes like ten significant reasons to make the heart rejoice! But then the stark realization that there were only eight Roman Catholic priests available for these parishes at this time. Two self-sacrificing priests in this area were obviously called upon to do the work of four. One of these was Fr. Jankola who looked after the parishes in Pittston and in Maltby; the other one was his friend Father Stas who took care of Olyphant and Jessup. PIONEERING PROBLEMS Overextended as these priests were, they realized that it was actually impossible to reach out to all the Slovak immigrants because they lived in such widely scattered places-some here and there in typically settled areas, others in sparse settlements and still others even in very �168 SLOVAKIA remote and unlikely pockets. And they did need the solicitous care of conscientious priets. Many newcomers mistakenly assumed a new "liberty" in America-the liberty to drink too freely, to look upon church-going as a practice better suited to the old country than to the new, to neglect the sacraments with easy abandon and live a loose life. In defense of such attitudes, they all too readily ralied on such specious observations as: "America is different." "I have a parish church at home in Europe; I'll receive the sacraments there." "I work hard all week; Sunday is my day of rest. No one should take my rest from me and tell me to go to Mass ." "Now i want to live. Later when I'm dying I'll send for a priest." Persisting in such attitudes, they would have succumbed to a generally unprincipled or amoral life. Surely they did need someone to bring them effective spiritual guidance and the conviction that freedom in America is not license to abandon religious and moral obligations. Father Jankola looked to the root of these problems. He understood that greater earnings and ready cash in America spelled greater self-reliance which sometimes tended to generate that degree of involvement with material goods that became detrimental to sound spiritually. Easier living here often brought with it a distaste for self-discipline and a laxity about receiving the sacraments. Above all, however, he saw that not a few men deliberately stayed away from church if they did not understand the word of God preached to them in a language that they did not know. This neglect of religious duty was only aggravated by an easy forgetfulness of home training and ready abandonment of many good practices learned at home and advocated in one's parish church in a distant native village or town. Unless measures were taken to offset these unfavorable trends, many otherwise well-meaning but unguided immigrants could stray far from the really good life and from devotion to God. Consequently, Father Jankola did his utmost in the discharge of his ministry and he accomplished very much good but the more he did, the more he saw still waiting to be done. On all sides he faced the need for more priests. Repeatedly he had to hear requests for priestly service, direction and help, and sorrowfully he �SLOVAKIA 169 realized that he was not able to satisfy many of them. Again we have the reality that this was a missionary situation and there were not enough missionaries to serve Christ's cause among the Slovaks in it. In his efforts to resolve this problem, Father Jankola made appeals of his own. On very many occasions he wrote to his homeland, urging Slovak priests and seminarians to offer their help in America. He ·s aw that priests, who could not serve effectively abroad because of hampering factors there, would find here far more suitable conditions and climate as well as an extensive field for their zeal and dedication. Very likely, too, he was prompted to encourage other priests and seminarians to come to America from their Slovak lands because he himself had been similarly invited and encouraged by Father Furdek. Now he felt persuaded that as Father Furdek had to some degree influenced the shaping of his own decision to come to America, he too should try to draw others to serve Christ and his Church here where priests were so sorely needed. Both he and Father Furdek often described the situation and made their appeal not only in personal correspondence but also in various publications abroad to which they contributed. On his visits to relatives in Slovakia, Father Jankola never missed the opportunity of making personal contacts on behalf of interesting likely prospects to bring their priestly talents to apostolic work in America. Naturally, some of this effort went fruitless but some of it did yield returns. It is known that he was instrumental in encouraging these eight priests to come to SlovakAmerican parishes: Rev. Joseph Murgas, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Francis Skutil, Rev. Anthony Berhely, Rev. Joseph Martincek, Rev. Emerich Gottschall, Rev. Ferdinand Prikazky and Rev. Anthony Filkorn. Four clerical students likewise took to heart his urging and on completing their theological courses devoted their efforts to Slovak parishes in America. They were Rev. Andrew Jurica, Rev. John Sobota, Rev. John Porubsky and Rev. John Gaspercik. By his personal effort Father Jankola provided pastors for ten Slovak parishes; viz., in Torrington, Connecticut, Pana, Illinois, and these eight in Pennsylvania: Edwardsville, Tarentum, Mt. Carmel, Monessen, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre, Barnesboro, Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh) . �170 SLOVAKIA MISSION TO ROME After visiting Slovakia in 1901 and witnessing the unrelieved plight of Slovak Catholics there, Father Jankola went to Rome. The leading priests of his homeland had authorized him to act as their representative before the Holy Father and in reality he was qualified to speak on behalf of the Slovak Catholics of two continents. He brought to Rome, for presentation to the Holy Father, a three-volume collection of writings produced by outstanding Slovak scholars and a Latin brief or memorandum with which to acquaint Pope Leo XIII with the deeply regrettable plight of Slovak Catholics living under Hungarian rule and unable to make their own appeal for redress and relief. The most grievous wrong was that the Slovak language was totally proscribed among Slovak people. This restriction affected not only their everyday lives in social and business interaction but it also encroached upon their religious way of life. Even in church they were subjected to Magyar services only, even to hearing the reading of the Scriptures and the preaching of homilies and sermons in Magyar only although they did not know that language. Church schools, catechetical classes and all courses of Christian Doctrine and religious instruction, along with all other form of schooling, were ordered to use only Magyar as the language of instruction. This ruling which the Slovak populace first encountered with a sense of unbelief gradually made them more and more restive. In time, a people who had traditionally conducted themselves with exemplary respect and ideal regard for the priesthood were becoming not only resistance-prone toward their pastors who were under government control but even hostile and openly rebellious against Magyar and pro-Magyar pastors and against the Magyar hierarchy. They resented the government's interference in their worship of God and in a domain where government has no rightful authority. Since it was useless or impossible to try to negotiate this state of affairs with public officials, Rome seemed to offer the only tribunal of appeal. The document which Father Jankola brought on his visit to the Eternal City made an honest, open and respectful representation of these facts for the Holy Father's consideration. It was �SLOVAKIA 171 signed by Slovak priests who had witnessed and endured what the Slovak people suffered even in their conscience and it expressed some of their fears for the future of the Church under such circumstances. On coming to Rome Father Jankola spent some time with a young Slovak cleric, the brilliant John Porubsky, who was then studying there and who also served in the apothecary of Pope Leo XIII. John Porubsky was well acquainted with a number of Church officials in diplomatic positions and with matters of protocol and effective procedures in official circles. After he had discussed the main objective of Father Jankola in Rome, he consulted with Cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa who was then Assistant Secretary of State and who later became Pope Benedict XV. Cardinal della Chiesa reviewed the memorandum carefully and decided that it warranted further referral. He took it to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Rampolla, who was much affected by the serious nature and the further implications of the reported situation. After a personal interview with Father Jankola who confirmed the facts of the memorandum from his personal witness in his homeland, he arranged for both Father Jankola and John Porubsky to see the Holy Father in a private audience. Father Jankola's meeting with Pope Leo XIII lasted two hours. Both of the Slovak representatives spoke with the Holy Father in fluent Latin and the Holy Father was so deeply moved by their report and their citing of specifics that tears of sympathy showed the intensity of his response and his concern for his suffering children. Some measures of alleviation were the outcome of this appeal to Rome, for the hierachy of Austria-Hungary was instructed to introduce reforms allowing the Slovak minority to pray and sing in Slovak and to use their native language in church and at all liturgical and worship services. There was a second spring of spiritual fervor when the meadowlands and mountainsides as well as the churches again resounded with Slovak hymns and Slovak prayers at Mass, at pilgrimages and at popular devotions. It is generally agreed that this occasion on which Father Jankola called attention to the repression which the Slovaks endured even in spiritual matters put before the thinking of ecclesiastical officials the desirability of �172 SLOVAKIA providing Slovak bishops for the Slovak people, of establishing a Slovak hierarchy that would be subject to no local authority but directly to Rome. Such a decision did not reach immediate fruition but the climate was finally favorable for this step after the First Czecho-Slova k Republic was founded in 1918. It was late in 1920 that Rome formally established a Slovak hierarchy by appointing Bishop John Vojtassak to the see of Spis Bishop Marian Blaha to the see of Banska Bystrica Bishop Charles Kmetko to the see of Nitra. They were consecrated by the Papal Nuncio on February 13, 1921. FURTHER APOSTOLIC EFFORT From Rome Father Jankola returned to his missionary and parish work. With renewer ardor he took up his labors among those to whom he fondly referred as "transplanted linden trees." With an eye to the present, he satisfied first needs first, exhorting the faithful to a truly Christian life, promoting faith and prayerfulness , reprimanding lapses, instructing the young and the not-so-young, preaching with the spoken word and the written word, and living the life that he preached. With an eye to the future, he encouraged worthy lay leadership, adjustment to the American way of life and vocations to the priesthood and religious life . Father Jankola was a realist as well as an idealist. As he toiled to build the kingdom of God spiritually in the hearts of many, he also looked after material building for this kingdom. This is attested by the fact that his zeal led him to build a total of five churches, two schools and a rectory: a church in Pittston, Wilkes-Barre and Maltby; a church and a school in Hazleton; a church a school and a rectory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is astounding that in the twenty years of his priesthood he could accomplish so much both for the Church and for his nation. In his ardor to work for lasting values, Father Jankola not only promoted sound spirituality and provisions for fruitful parish life, he also encouraged vocations to the pri~sthood and religious life, spent him.self in the cause of church-orient ed schools, envisioned and realized a congregation of Sisters to teach and care for the children of immigrants and perform works of mercy in the Church, �SLOVAKIA 173 contributed many articles to Slovak newspapers and periodicals, sponsored and aided the publication of Slovak texts for religious instruction and language arts, and greatheartedly proposed the naming of a Slovak bishop in the United States. He felt that Father Furdek deserved the rank of bishop and that in his elevation all Slovak Catholics in this country would benefit inasmuch as they would have an official leader whose first concern would be for all levels of Church organization among American Slovaks as well as for the needs of the young, the training of seminarians, Catholic schools and schooling under the direction of qualified Slovak or Slovak-American Sisters. PARISH SCHOOLS The subject of a Catholic school system among Slovak immigrants was one of the major preoccupations of Father Jankola's life. In his second pastoral assignment he came to St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, one of the two earliest American Slovak parishes, established in 1885. (The other is St. Stephen's parish in Streator, Illinois, founded in the same year.) He was the fourth pastor of St. Joseph's which already had a combination church-school building as well as a rectory and a parish cemetery. Since these physical arrangements were cared for, he turned his energy mainly to the spiritual and cultural advancement of his parishioners. With deft organizational gifts he established confraternities, spiritual societies and sodalities, providing opportunities for all age levels in the parish to participate in at last one Catholic Action group. A program of catechetical instruction was already functioning in the parish but Father Jankola felt that the time was right for introducing a fully expanded elementary curriculum in at least the earliest grades of the parish school. Miss Catherine O'Donnell was engaged as a full-time teacher for the subjects that were to be taught in English and Mr. Andrew Ondek, the parish organist, who had been conducting catechetical classes, was retained as teacher-incharge of the school and instructor in religion, Slovak and singing. Father Jankola spent much time in the school, observing, supervising, noting the progress of the pupils and the methods of instruction. Very often he himself conducted a class. This innovation of Father Jankola stirred up some �174 SLOVAK'iA feeling against him. Until this time is was the prerogative of the organist--and solely his-to be in charge of all the instruction of children in a parish school. By hiring a teacher in his experimental full-scale school, Father Jankola seemed to be jeopardizing the teacher-status of the organist. On this score misunderstandings developed all too readily, and factions formed to support one opinion and oppose the other, depending on points of view taken and loyalties involved. This matter was a painful issue for quite some time but Father Jankola steadily and gently tried to disprove the unfounded fears that had arisen and in spite of these apprehensions, he became increasingly aware of the necessity to provide for the adequate education of youth and the training of children under Christian auspices. Because of this indefatigable labors on behalf of Catholic schools, Father Jankola has often been looked upon as the apostle of the parish school among Slovaks in America. Both his admirers and his critics knew very truly that the matter of parish schools was his dearest concern-the apple of his eye, so to say. One of his favorite observations was : "Religious conviction takes first place and patriotism second; the church comes firs t and right after it, the school." He did his unwavering best to win pastors to the cause of opening and maintaining parochial schools, of convincing the faithful of the vital need for Catholic schools for their children and most importantly , he dedicated himself to the task of providing competent teachers and encouraging promising candidates to enter the teaching profession. Father Jankola rightly saw this whole area of education for the young as the fundamental need of the day. As often as he tried to deal with it, he realized that the problem only bore upon his conscience and his professional thinking with mounting insistence. For over twelve years he wrote on this subject, presenting it to his reading public in various aspects and doing his best to find a practical way to put it into operation. Even as early as 1899, when he was a young priest just four years ordained, he spoke of it very earnestly with some of the priests who were closest to him in the Scranton diocese; viz., Rev. Andrew Pavco, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska and Rev. Joseph Murgas. �SLOVAKIA 175 Basically, there was no difficulty in gaining a general appreciation for the Catholic school system, but the whole concept of operating Slovak Catholic schools in America had to be framed within the American way of maintaining church schools. In their homeland, the Slovaks had grown accustomed to living in a parish wholly subsidized by a patron. This meant that under patronal sponsorship all operating expenses were met by the individual, the family or the civic body that was legally titled as the patron. In America all church operations, including the pastor's salary, would have to be borne by the members of the parish. Given a school situation, besides, the struggling newcomers to America would have to assume responsibility for all its costs, including salaries for teachers. The prospect of such obligation seemed quite impossible. Yet to Father Jankola this obligation itself was not the first and foremost duty of leaders and parents; the first duty really was to provide adequate education for the young with the understanding that the adults would have to learn how to support the school as well as the church according to American practice. Definitely there was much educating of various kinds to be done, formally and informally, but Father Jankola did not shrink in the face of it all. The genius of leadership in him dictated the work to be done and the good to be accomplished. Along with these thoughts, Father Jankola could not help comparing the cultural deprivation of immigrant parents with the opportunities that America could make available to their children. He was not blind to the fact that given an education, Slovak children could better themselves in this land of opportunity on which he looked as a cultural El Dorado, a spiritual New Canaan. Above all, however, he was convinced that Slovaks in America would have to begin thinking of themselves as Americans of Slovak origin and meet all their responsibilities as such. His constant reminder to his parishioners and to all where it would apply was: "If we are to live in America, we must live the American way of life. We must learn to adjust." And he made it abundantly clear that the blessings which America held for all were not exclusively material blessings; he greatly extolled the democratic principles and the gift of true liberty which are the hallmarks of true Americanism. �176 SLOVAKIA ADULT EDUCATION In this connection of adopting concepts of true Americanism, Father Jankola also tried to provide some compensations for adult immigrants, some of whom had had only two or three winters of schooling in their childhood, some of whom had had even less. Under his iniciative, adult education classes were introduced, concentrating on basics first of all-reading and writing. It was an exhilarating experience for an unschooled laborer earnestly applying himself to an unfamiliar task suddenly to pluck his neighbor's sleeve and to shout with the heady joy of achievement: "Look! I wrote my name! I can really write my name now! This is my name! Now I won't have to make a cross instead of my name anymore!" This was a first step but it was not enough. After basics followed classes in American history and in civil government with a view toward applying for citizenship and becoming naturalized. Citizenship would mean suffrage and a real sense of belonging, a participation in the community and the country of their adoption. EDUCATION AL SURVEY After his 1899 conference with priests closest to him in the Scranton diocese, Father Jankola was convinced that it was no longer possible to defer steps for the establishment of Slovak parish schools on the elementary level. For this reason he devoted much time to a close study of the American system of education which he frankly admired. He felt that he needed this kind of information in order to guide him in developing his own thinking. He felt, too, that he needed substantial statistical data as groundwork and for this p-µrpose he undertook a comprehensive survey of existing parish facilities for the education of Slovak Catholic children. In 1900 he published a report of his findings in the Jednota Kalend<ir, revealing that a) there were very few standard parish schools which he could classify as "first class schools" b) several parishes had provided for special classes on Saturdays in order to supplement the children's public school courses with instruction in religion and language arts �SLOVAKIA 177 c) the commendable though inadequate efforts of many parish organists were generally handicapped by overcrowding in classrooms as well as by merging a very broad range of mental and chronological ages into one composite group sometimes numbering up to two hundred pupils This survey concluded with an earnest exhortation that pastors spare no effort in order to establish schools comparable to the best that the American school system offers and that sound measures be taken to provide certified teachers. He knew, of course, that not all parishes were in a position to undertake a full school program but he trusted that a steady and well-reasoned campaign on behalf of parish schools would eventually be fruitful. But the building of schools would not of itself solve the problem of education in a parish school. Once the schools were built, they would have to be stuffed and he knew that there would be great difficulty in procuring desirable teachers. His survey indicated that in the schools rated as "first class," such as that in Wilkes-Barre (the only one of its kind in the Scranton diocese), as well as those in Johnstown, Shamokin, St. Ladislaus and St. Martin in Cleveland, and in Streator, Illinois were all conducted with the help of religious teachers-Sisters. He commended the Irish and German immigrants for their well-functioning schools, all directed by Sisters, and he very distinctly pointed out the fact that the Slovak people in America needed Slovak Sisters to teach in their parish schools. Man of clear vision that he was, he saw beyond that statement. His very words are: "Consequently, we need Sisters. Let us bring up our own Slovak Sisters! It is they who will preserve our faith and our nation. Reverend Fathers, and you Slovak parents, you who have in your parishes young ladies who are diligent, zealous, devout and suitable for the religious life, do feel responsible for making it possible for them to achieve this state of life. This will be a gift of the utmost value both to God and the nation; this will be a most noble offering. It is Slovak Sisters, teaching Sisters, who alone can alleviate this present educational crisis among us; �178 SLOVAKIA it is they who can save us from religious and national ruin. If we wish to live in America, we must live as Americans. This same principle was valid even in Rome. There is no other way of survival. I repeat: my brothers, Slovaks, let us establish parish schools, let us bring up our own Slovak teaching-Sisters, and God's help will support us!" As he urged priests and parents to encourage likely candidates to enter the religious life at this time, he did not mention any specific community, for he had none in mind. His survey did report that Ursulines and Sisters of St. Joseph were teaching in the Slovak schools of Cleveland, that Streator had Franciscan Sisters, and that there was " an English Sister" in the Olyphant school (Very likely a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or a Sister of Mercy). At this point, however, the core of the problem was simply to promote vocations. It was much as if he were saying that God will not be outdone in generosity ; that if only enough vocations could be cultivated, God could be trusted to provide the agents and the agencies for the work of Christian education among Slovak immigrants. He did not know that his own faith would be put to sore testing. He did not know the ultimate design of Providence but he trusted with an unshaken confidence and he worked on with unmitigated zeal . EXPLORING TEACHER RESOURCES At the same time that Father Jankola ardently promoted the cause of Slovak Catholic parish schools, he began to make serious inquiries at various American motherhouses and provincial houses, hoping to find a community whose membership might include at least some Sisters of Slovak or Slavic origin for staffing prospective Slovak schools in America and introducing into them American principles of education along with a wholesome Christian philosophy of life. Once he would know where Sisters were available, a sound program for Christian education could be launched with full vigor and the Slovak people would adjust to the American way of supporting their own schools. He did not foresee at all how difficult it would be to procure Sisters. At least four major superiors of religious communities answered his inquiries with the revealing �SLOVAKIA 179 news that even at that time it was extremely difficult for them to provide enough teachers for the schools already under their care. There was a normal increase in the population rate and as immigration figures rose, so did school enrollments increase and create a demand for expanded teaching forces. As a result of this situation, religious superiors felt that they would not be able to accept any new schools in the foreseeable future. This was a totally unwelcome but obviously prudent decision which they had to make. Disappointed beyond all expectation but still undaunted, Father Jankola next turned his appeal to European institutes. In all good faith he hoped that the old world would be able to compensate for the insufficiencies of the new. With prayerful anticipation he wrote to the Holy Cross Sisters in Moravia. He did not present to them any intimidating proposal. Very modestly he explored the possibility of obtaining a small number of Sisters, even three or four, to come to America, establish a foundation and train Slovak girls here for the religious life. He was assured that in time there would be enough applications for a flourishing self-sufficient community to develop on American soil, supported by the Slovak-American clergy and laity. Apparently there was much correspondence on this matter but promising as the outlook was at the outset, its prospects eventually dimmed and finally the issue was closed without satisfactory results. With great distress Father Jankola wrote in the Jednota Kalenddr of 1902, "For three years I have been trying to obtain Sisters from Europe, but my efforts have been in vain. Everything seems to be against us." These lines are an expression of that recurring disappointment that was to be his cross in this project, the testing of his spirit, and the price of an ideal which demanded sacrifice and suffering. Frustrated in his efforts to secure help from an already established community of Sisters, yet sufficiently disciplined not to surrender readily in the face of difficulty and repeateq disappointment, Father Jankola continued to pray, to confer with others and to plan. Since existing communities could spare him no members for the parish schools that he was promoting, the only avenue open to �180 SLOVAKIA him seemed to be to find prospective condidates of his own and to present them for training in an American sisterhood. He hoped that after their numbers increased and they had prepared themselves adequately, they might be allowed to branch off into an independent province within a mother congregation and continue their apostolate in Slovak parish schools. This suggested a very long range program but the eventual benefits would surely justify the patient waiting. All delays and price aside, one purpose of Father Jankola's efforts was to provide Sisters for the much needed task of teaching in Slovak parish schools. This was the crucial issue and the demanding challenge was where to procure them . COURAGE SUPPORTS HOPE In the spring of 1903, Father Jankola invited Slovak priests who were interested in the parish school project to meet for consultation at the Vendig Hotel in Philadelphia. He took this occasion to lay before them all his experiences in working for Slovak parish schools to this time: his hopes and disappointments, his renewed efforts and his present plan which would call for candidates from local parishes. The assembled pastors listened with evident interest. They were aware of the need to work with the young and they admired the American Catholic school system. Some endorsed the proposal and were willing to cooperate with Father Jankola. Unfortunately, there were others too who looked upon this new suggestion of his as too idealistic and extreme a venture, perhaps something out of a quixotic world and not suited to the times, not amenable to a practical approach. They did not hesitate to indicate emphatically that he could not count on them for support in such a project and they had nothing else to offer. This adverse reaction from leaders of people who lived with the realities of life in America was a blow to Father Jankola's expectations. But it did not destroy his vision or diminish that dogged persistence about him which would not let the matter rest untried. At least he knew now on whom he could count for advice and support and he had learned where it would be vain to look for help and understanding. He shored up his shattered elan and renewed his faith in the work before him. Resolved to test this plan and to have events prove �SLOVAKlA 181 the validity of this approach and anxious to test whether or not such an effort was of God, Father Jankola presented his proposal to several religious oommunities in his immediate area. It is likely that he now founded his hopes on either the Mallinckrodt Sisters of Charity or on the Sisters of Mercy. He had had opportunities to observe the work of both communities on a local level because they taught in parishes near his own. He admired their spirit and evidence of dedication and he ardently hoped that he might see their influence diffused among the Slovak people, but from both communities he received an unfavorable reply. It meant just so much more disappointment and so much more need for fresh courage. EARLY PROMISE Again and again Father Jankola renewed his search for a mother community that would accept his candidates (in due time) and train them for Slovak parish schools. He even decided to appeal to the charity of a rather distant order in America, the Czech Benedictine Sisters in Chicago, Illinos. When the mail brought him a reply, it was with utmost gratitude that he read that these Sisters would b e willing to be of assistance to him. With profound relief he trusted that at last this was going to mean the realization of his prospects. With this good news to report, Father Jankola held another conference with the priests who supported his plan. At these deliberations practical measures were proposed and four specific steps were agreed upon. The first of these was the decision to accept the offer of the Benedictine Sisters and to send three aspirants to Chicago. The others were in the nature of active endorsement of Father Jankola's plan, involving the promise or agreement a ) to announce Father Jankola's plans and prospects from their pulpits b ) to preach on the subject of vocations c ) to solicit offerings to support the undertaking This last provision was embodied in a fund called St. Anthony's Treasury. The patronage of St. Anthony was chosen because this Franciscan saint beautifully exemplifies that Christian charity that provides for the needs of the poor. Now at last, although no one could foresee what the �182 SLOVAKIA future held, there seemed to be some glimmer of success at last. On the following Sunday Father Jankola preached an inspiring sermon on vocations and after the parochial mass he found an applicant in his office. Before long there were two more candidates from St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton as well as two from Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre. Now at last, hope was moving toward reality. In the fall of 1903 the first three aspirants from Hazleton were sent to the Benedictines in Chicago and the soul of Father Jankola rejoiced that the great work was launched at last while his spirit trusted that it would thrive . HOPE DEFERRED Unfortunately this joy was short-lived and this hope soon wilted. After a few short weeks Father Jankola was notified that the Superiors felt it was advisable to withdraw his candidates because they found it difficult to adjust to religious life with them. The blow fell at the very moment when two additional aspirants sat in the Wilkes-Barre railroad station holding tickets for Chicago as they waited to board the next train. Just before the train pulled into the station, their plans were abruptly changed and they returned to their homes. This was a crushing report that reached Father Jankola from Chicago. He could hardly bring himself to accept it. His first reaction was to blame the young girls for want of endurance. His own training in austerity made it difficult for him to condone their failure and apparent weakness in the face of hardship where he would have expected an almost stoic courage and strength. Gradually he was brought to realize, however, that they did not lack generosity and good will, but they were wholly unprepared for trials severe even for seasoned religious; moreover, they were still very young. Home-loving and cared-for as they had been, they were subjected to an almost traumatic and total separation from home and an absolute change from their family environment. Chicago then seemed half a world away from Hazleton. Even normal adjustment would have been necessarily gradual, but they were at once challenged with the untempered rigors of Benedictine monasticism in a community where poverty was so extreme in those �SLOVAKIA 183 pioneering days that only a tried and proven spirit would have been able to endure it without difficulty. When the unhappy candidates returned from Chicago, they were not sent back to their homes or subjected to reproach and embarrassment. Instead, they were befriended and confided to the care of Father Pavco in Pittston until further development could be planned and arranged. Father Pavco then visited Father Jankola to confer with him about the situation. He found him shaken and extremely tried by this new disappointment. NEW HOPE In his sympathetic efforts to comfort his friend, Father Pavco called Father Jankola's attention to the "Blue Sisters" of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who conducted St. John the Evangelist School in Pittston just across the street from his own church and rectory. As he spoke, Father Pavco became more and more enthusiastic about the spirit and attitudes of these Sisters, and finally he suggested that Father Jankola consult with their Reverend Mother at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. As a glowing climax he remarked, "I understand that her name is Mother Mary Cyril. Our common patron may help here; let us try in the name of God." Discouraged though he was by the latest setback to his hopes and beset by numerous other problems besides. Father Jankola agreed with Father Pavco that it would be advisable to try again; but he approached the new possibility with a measure of caution added to his natural reserve. On his first visit to Mother Cyril he conferred with her only on the prospect of enrolling the daughter of one of his parishioners at her boarding school. He did not mention the real burden that lay on his heart like a cross . Before long, however, Father Jankola made another appointment with Mother Cyril. On his initial visit he had found her so gracious that he was encouraged to present his key problem to her on this second visit. Again he found her ideally understanding. This does not mean that she at once gave him any definite assurance but she received him with such Christlike sympathy and such evidence of maternal regard for the needs of young girls that he con- �184 SLOVAKIA sidered the consultation worthwhile, to say the least, and returned home with great admiration for her, confidence in her judgment and renewed hope for the all-but-lost undertaking. Providence ordained that Mother Cyril should be the answer to Father Jankola's prayers. With the consent of her Council she accepted his candidates and trained them with unexampled care and solicitude within the shelter of her own religious family. In fact, they were so close to her own Sisters that for some time it was not even clear whether they would eventually become an independent community or whether they were to be an element added to hers. TOWARD FRUITION When she first received the young girls at Mount St. Mary's in 1903, Mother Cyril did not immediately place them under monastic novitiate discipline but rather kept them in the boarding academy as students who were to be formed into candidates for the religious life by gradual measures. They were permitted to spend the school vacation at home and on such occasions they often became an inspiration to others and attracted new vocations. These students were maintained at Mount St. Mary's through funds from St. Anthony's Treasury which was supported by the mites of hard-working and generous people and the offerings for votive candles in Slovak churches. From November 21, 1903, when they first came to the Mount, their status was that of students. On January 6, 1906, three of them became postulants. In March of the same year Mother Cyril informed Father Jankola that his group would not be identified with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This implied that they were to form their own community. Father Jankola accepted this decision and suggested the name "Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius" as a possible designation for the prospective Slovak community. On July 26, 1906, the first members were clothed in a distinctive black habit, Bishop Hoban presiding at the reception ceremony. The fruit of arduous work and confident prayer was beginning to mature but its maturing exacted a further price. Father Jankola paid the greater part of it by bearing not only the normal burden of concern but also painful �SLOVAKIA 185 misunderstandings and unreasonable demands from parish sources. He even withdrew somewhat from the project after it was safely launched, willing to deny himself the satisfaction that should have been the reward of a work brought to successful fruition after many bitter and disillusioning trials. Much of his sorrow on this score was caused by more or less well-meaning individuals who hounded him and persecuted him severely because they saw in the promise of a teaching community only the ousting of organists from teaching posts in the parish schools. They believed that this would inevitably follow upon the success of Father Jankola's project. Blinded in their narrow reasoning, they would not face facts reasonably or accept the reality which indicated only too clearly that their parish schools in America were fast outgrowing the capacities of their organists reserve and that they had no other teachers with or without adequate training to conduct schools according to American standards. The Sisters were expected to relieve an existing need, not to create a new difficulty. Organists would not necessarily have to give up all their classes. It was one of those struggles which often arise when the old order of life must yield to the newer way and cannot do so gracefully. Added to this, however, there was also a painfully critical attitude making itself within clerical ranks. Several priests still doubted the timeliness and the wisdom of Father Jankola's efforts. At first they merely refused to cooperate, later they voiced objections and even spoke of other plans of their own. In spite of his stoic exterior and his disciplined habits of conduct, Father Jankola~s soul and sensibilities were deeply refined and sensitive. It hurt him inexpressibly to be ranked as a visionary when with all his soul he bent his energies to practical matters and used very realistic means to attain vitally urgent results. He suffered keenly because of all the conflicts brewing in his Hazleton parish and when there seemed to be no other solution, he decided to leave the scene of so much bitterness and open hostility, at least until the storm should spend itself. This parish had grown very dear to him. When its original wooden church burned to the ground in 1905, he worked indefatigably to raise funds for a new structure �186 SLOVAK.IA of natural stone. Within two years he collected twelve thousand dollars, a lordly sum in a day of low wages and small incomes in the midst of a struggling community of miners and common laborers. He had the largeness of vision and the natural capacity to plan a church of unique beauty and to execute his plans in spacious proportions, artistic in design and as inspiring as a prayer. St. Joseph's in Hazleton is a worthy memorial to his priestly service there and to the spirit of Slovak pioneers in the area. TRANSFER TO BRIDGEPORT In the fall of 1907 Father Jankola took a leave of absence from the Scranton diocese and was received with joy by the people of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who were then organizing the parish of SS. Cyril and Methodius. He wrote to Mother Cyril, "I thought I would make a solitary living here, like a hermit, after much trouble, trial and injustice. But my work is not yet done . . . I have to continue to take care of the future religious institution that I have started with God's help and St. Anthony's intercession." He would not be a derelict to duty no matter what it cost him in personal pain. He would stand by his ideals and convictions. Alth0ugh Father Jankola expected eventually to return to Hazleton his missionary zeal so engrossed him in the organization of parishes in the New England region that he finally transferred to the Hartford diocese. Besides his pastoral work in St. Cyril's, he also undertook the spiritual care of Slovaks in Webster, Massachusett s, and made missionary trips to Stamford, Torrington, New Britain and surrounding settlements in Connecticut. He was untiring pastor and missionary in new surroundings again. He kept in touch with Mother Cyril through correspondence. With her he assigned the Sisters to their firs t teaching mission at Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre while disclosing to her the demands being made on him. "We have only three Slovak Sisters-how can we send them to four parishes?" he wrote her in 1908. Yet in his concern for the cherished project, he maintained an unselfishness that commands administratio n as always leaning toward the common good. When the first Sisters were to be sent on a teaching mission, he made the disinterested recommenda tion to assign them either to Wilkes- �SLOVAKIA 187 Barre or to Lansford although he would have been justified in directing them to either of the equally large parishes of his own endeavors-Hazleton or Bridgeport. FIRST AMERICAN-SLOVAK SISTERS In August 1909, Bishop Hoban brought from Rome the Holy See's decree of approval for the new community. On September 1, 1909, the first Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius made public profession of vows and the community emerged as a new family in the Church. Before the close of Mother Cyril's term of office, they were ready to open a motherhouse of their own. For ten years their formation had been under the immediate guidance of Mother Cyril at Mount St. Mary's. At last the tender seed which had been long hidden in the darkness of Father Jankola's secret hopes and prayers, long prepared through seasons of doubt and storm and the intermittent sunshine of hope and promise, often exposed to tears and blessings, now sprang in good soil and, tended with paternal care and maternal understanding, was ready to yield glory to God through a harvest of service among the Slovak people. As some of the Sisters undertook teaching in the parish schools, additional recruits were being prepared as novices and postulants in the novitiate or as students at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. After twelve years from the time of their entry into Mount St. Mary's the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius became a wholly independent community. This status was attained in 1915 after their first General Chapter elected a Mother General and a Council for internal government. Father Jankola was happy indeed to see the Sisters making progress. He continued to be interested in their welfare but denied himself the satisfaction of overseeing or directing their development. From all sides he was harassed by demands for teachers but once the stability of the Community was established, he allowed it to mature on its own and to learn to shoulder responsibility independently. PASTORSHIP IN BRIDGEPORT In Bridgeport Father Jankola continued his work, which demanded tireless energy, prudent planning and great fortitude. He was equal to the challenge. His parishione11s found him serious and purposeful, dilligent and �188 SLOVAK.IA circumspect, devout and fatherly. With him first things inexorably came first. Religion and spiritual interests held priority over all other considerations but close in second place were patriotism as well as the arts and social graces, and finally a balanced concern for temporalities. Under hls direction the parish was firmly established and within a year it had six active societies as well as an excellent choir, a dramatic club and an evening school for adult education. These evening classes became very popular and profitable. They lasted from eight to ten o'clock and in time they offered mathematics and English taught by Mr. Michael Senko on Monday; Slovak by Father Jankola on Tuesday; community singing by Mr. George Lukac on Thursday, and dramatics by Mr. Joseph Michalek on Sunday. Additional subjects were included later to enable parishioners to prepare for naturalization. For the children there were daily catechetical classes which Father Jankola himself conducted after the pupils were dismissed from public school. Within five years Father Jankola managed to have the parish clear a debt of over sixteen thousand dollars. The church which he then built for seventy thousand dollars is a magnificent cruciform structure of white brick with a seating capacity of one thousand. It was the fifth church which he planned and erected, and with its inspiring splendor it is the crown of his building effort. A severely simple frame rectory was all that he permitted for his own needs. To make provisions for a school he built a plain four-room structure planned to double for a parish hall . It, too, was severely simple and those who loved it did not mind sometimes referring to it as "Noah's Ark." His Sisters came to take charge of this school in 1910 and it must have been with intense yet complex emotion that he at last saw the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius at work teaching in his own school. Within the parish itself Father Jankola fanned a great flame of spiritual activity. The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary was canonically established and it flourished amid these people who exulted, "We have brought Kosice to America," for the rosary was a traditional family devotion among them, awakening for them fond memories of pilgrimages to the beloved Marian shrine in the Slovak city of Kosice. A deeper spirituality was cultivated among those �SLOVA.K:IA 189 who joined the Third Order of St. Francis and the Altar Society. A canonically founded Sodality and the Holy Name Society held Christian ideals before the eyes of the young. It is remarkable that Father Jankola invariably attended the meetings of all these societies and each time left some lesson or ponderable thought with the members to inspire or to enlighten them. Through the choir and the dramatic guild he aimed to make art the handmaid of religion. Church music, folk singing, and classic compositions all had their place and were rendered with feeling and skill under the direction of Mr. George Lukac. Father Jankola had recognized musical talent in him when he was yet a schoolboy and sent him to St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois, to develop his talent. Then he offered him the position of organist at St. Cyril's. Born of mutual regard, a strong bond of devotion developed between the two. Drama under Father Jankola's guidance included a wide variety of presentations from monologues and skits through interludes and plays to grand productions like " St. Elizabeth," "St. Genevieve," and "Fabiola." Each one was staged before a packed house usually in a spacious hall rented for the occasion and it lent the entire community the aspects of festivity and a parish holiday. For major plays Father Jankola took the trouble to rent costumes and hire a make-up crew from the theatrical centers of New York City, and he saw to it that the staging was a satisfying piece of dramatic art. It is no wonder that his parishioners idolized him. On all occasions he was an inspiration and edification to them. He may have appeared forbiddingly stern and exacting, but they knew that his heart was warm and fatherly. The priest in him was always at their service, hearing confessions every day of the week even on Sundays, answering every call as soon as it came though he was without benefit of an assistant, ready to advise, admonish, comfort, help or serve in whatever the need might be. It was generally recognized and appreciated that he did the work of three priests. Despite all the demands made on him, his parish was in enviable order and he managed a tremendous amount of work for the general public. Scholarly and cultural interests were his hobby. It is interesting that �190 SLOVAKIA shortly before his death he began the study of Hebrew under a private tutor. THE WRITER One stands in admiration of the consuming energy with which he must have worked, for apart from all these accomplishments there is the steady stream of articles, stories, reports and instructions that came from his pen. He was a recognized leader in Slovak national life also, for only six years after coming to this country, he was elected supreme president of the Jednota organization (1900) . (The First Catholic Slovak Union-a benevolent society with nationwide membership.) From 1904 to 1908 he was a member of the Jednota judiciary council. In 1910 he was editor of the "Jednota" weekly as well as of its annual or almanac . In 1908 and again after Furdek's death, he was chosen spiritual director of the Jednota. He likewise promoted the interests of the "Katolicky Sokol," contributed many articles to its news organ and served one term as spiritual director of this athletic and fraternal organization. He warmly endorsed the children's paper "Priatel' Dietok," which was sponsored by the Sokol. He encouraged pastors, parents, and teachers to support it, and highly complimented the pupils of his school when their contributions appeared on its pages. THE LEADER Among the Slovak priests, especially in the eastern part of the country, Father Jankola always enjoyed a degree of prestige. He was generally esteemed their leader. It was he who first banded them together in 1903 for the purpose of discussing common problems like education and the training of future priests and Sisters. It was he who promoted an organization of priests in the eastern states just a year before his death. He was identified with many national drives and movements; he signed the Code of American Slovak Journalists in 1897; he initiated the National Fund (also in 1897) to promote national interests and to sponsor worthy projects. He undertook the founding of a men's Slovak Benedictine priorate and a men's Slovak Franciscan province in the United States. By 1910 he urged that steps be taken to recommend �SLOVAKIA 191 the appointment of a Slovak bishop in this country and suggested that Father Furdek be named the candidate since he was "the first, the most learned, the most respected, and the best loved Slovak priest in America." In 1916 he initiated a Peter's Pence drive among the Slovaks in America. These are some of the major achievements he accumulated before death closed the door of life upon him at the age of forty-three. And he aspired to more. He even dared hope to transplant his Sisters to Europe, "First opening a house in Velehrad, Moravia, where St. Methodius is buried," as he visualized his dream. In his greatness of vision he had hoped that they might "be the instrument in God's hand for the conversion of Slav schismatics to Rome, where St. Cyril died." These are some of the hopes of which he once wrote to Mother Cyril. UNTIMELY DEATH But death stilled his ardent hopes and healed his wounds. Added to all the trials borne so courageously there descended upon him yet the cruelty of a most painful hoax. Spent as he was with unstinted labor and exertion, it took the agony of something like this to crush his very last energies. Manfully he tried to bury the hurt but it worked its havoc and undermined his strength. On Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916, he was stricken as he preached at High Mass and he died quietly on May 5, mourned by thousands and appreciated even more in death than he was in life. After the funeral services at the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Father Jankola was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut. In connection with their Golden Jubilee observances in 1959, however, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius arranged to have their founder's remains transferred to Danville where they are interred in the Community cemetery at Villa Sacred Heart. CONCLUSION It has been said with truth that Father Jankola was to the spiritual life what Father Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak people in America. To the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius he is the gardener to whom God entrusted the seed of their congregation, charging him to plant it, to water it with his �192 SLOVAKlA tears and sufferings, to warm it with his undying love. At the moment the seed sprouted and its first promising shoots appeared, at that moment in a Profession Ceremony, he said joyfully and humbly, "You are my joy, you are my crown, you are my glory." BIBLIOGRAPHY Archival materials at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and in Jankola Library, Danville, Pennsylvania. These include: a) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola b) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola's sisters, Louisa and Inna c) documents d) several books of rare parish records entrusted to the Sisters Furdek, Stefan, "Z Ameriky." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo. I. Rufomberok, Osvald, 1893. Gregorovic, Sister M. Consuela, SS.C.M., Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Modification of thesis submitted to the Catho.Jic University of America, 1944. DanviLle, Pennsylvania, Golden Jubilee Publication of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1958-1959. Hrusovsky, Frantisek, Slovenske rehole v Amerike. Cleveland, Slovensky ustav, 1955. Slovenske dejiny. 4th ed. Turciansky Svaty Martin, Matica Slovenska, 1940. Jankola, Matus, "crty z katolickej slovenskej farnosti v Pittston, Pa." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo, III. Ruzomberok, Osvald , 1900. Jednota (Weekly newspaper) . Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 19011916 passim. Jednota Kalendar. (annual ). Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota. 19001931 passim. Medvecky, Karol A., Cirkevne pomery katolickych Slovakov v niekdajsom Uhorsku, Ruzomberok, Nakl. vlast., 1920. Pauco, Jozef, Matus Jan.kola, knaz a narodovec. Danville, Pennsylvania, Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Slovenska rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda. Slovensky spolok sv. Anny vo Wyoming V.alley, Pa. 1957. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty. Cleveland, Ohio, I.K.S.J. , 1965. Slovenski priekopnici. Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 1972. Petra~ek, Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., Brief History of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Danville, Pennsylvania , Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Scotus Viator (Seton Watson), Racial Problems in Hungary, London , Archibald Constable, 1908. Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Katolicke Slovensko. Trnava, SSV, 1933. Spirko, Jozef, Cirkevne dejiny s osobitnym zretel'om na vyvin cirkevnych dejin Slovenska. 2 vol. Turc. Sv. Martin, Neografia, 1943. � SLOVAKlA 161 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 SLOVAK-AMERICAN PRIEST, LEADER, EDUCATOR Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. An observance commemorating the life and accomplishments of Father Matthew Jankola in this centennial year of his birth has the advantages of distance and historic perspective. It provides a very timely opportunity for appraising this leader and his life's contribution with fair and realistic appreciation, with a degree of objective regard for his innate qualities and his unique achievements. Father Jankola's life span encompassed only forty-three years and his biographical data can be summarized very compactly. BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE The parents of Matthew Jankola were Matthew and Rosalie Medvecky Jankola. They lived very ·simply but happily in Trstena, a picturesque town in the economically disadvantaged Orava district of Slovakia, and their son Matthew spent much of his early life there. But Trstena was not Father Jankola's birthplace, for he was born away from home on July 2, 1872, while his parents were at seasonal work in the Stary Budin sector of Budapest, Hungary. After his elementary education in Trstena, the boy Matthew continued his schooling at gymnazia in Bardejov and Beckov. Later, on the recommendation and under the sponsorship of his maternal uncle, the Francisean Father Emerich Medvecky, he advanced to seminary studies with the Franciscans in Hlohovec and in Kremnica. At the same time, the school of life steadily trained him too. With ardor and utmost good will he gave his all in order to prepare for the priesthood with a religious order but the evils of oppression did not spare him even in the seminaries of Slovakia. In fact, they left their mark upon him by undermining his health though no degree of im- �162 SLOVAKIA posed suffering could shake his spirit. This apparently all-pervasive atmosphere of oppression was one of the determining factors that led him to seek a better way of life in the new world. It happened, then, that because of many types of extreme pressures in his homeland-political, economic, cultural-and because America had become a haven of refuge and security to many of his countrymen, he too ventured upon the long voyage across the Atlantic and arrived in the harbor of Baltimore on December 19, 1893. He was not in prime physical condition at this time, for strain and exhaustion had drained his reserves but his heart was filled with a determination that was always characteristic of him and with a buoyant hope that here honest work would bring honest returns, that repression did not came with him on his long and arduous trip. In his soul he cherished the vision that he could become a force for good in this new world while he would also be a support and help for his dear ones in Slovakia. And so he began a new chapter in the young manhood of his life. He had come to America as a talented and achieving student in his fourth year of theology. He was not encumbered with misgivings or uncertainties about his life's work or objectives. Without unnecessary delay he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore but after an interval of illness had interrupted his seminary program, he transferred to St . Bonaventure Seminary in Allegheny, New York, where Latin was the language of instruction. His proficiency in Latin made him feel very much at home here and in two semesters he was able to complete the courses that he needed for the final rounding out of his training for the priesthood. January 13, 1895 was the date Father Jankola's ordination. He was twenty-two and had lived half of his life. From this date on, he felt in his soul that he owed filial gratitude to three persons whom he regarded in the role of father: his natural father who was very dear to him; his u ncle Father Emerich Medvecky whose Franciscan charity and solicitude saw to his education and the nurturing of his priestly vocation; and Bishop William O'Hara of Scranton who received him in America and ordained him p riest. �SLOVAKIA 163 Shortly after his ordination he received his first priestly assignment: the pastorate of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston, Pennsylvania. And from this center he extended pastoral care to seven other towns where Slovak Catholic immigrants were settling. He was subsequently pastor of St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and of SS. Cyril and Methodius parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he died on May 5, 1916. This brief and superficially simple biographical sketch does not even suggest any of the fullness of his lifetime. It is rather the bare diagram of plotting points, each of which opened upon an individual richness of life . BACKGROUNDS The pivotal key in Father Jankola's life was his total commitment to the priesthood. The fruition of all his living was in the twenty years that followed upon his ordination. The social milieu in which he had decided upon a career of service as a priest of God rightfully had conditioned him into viewing dedication to the altar as no mere token position to be satisfied by perfunctorily discharged liturgical devotions and ceremonies-significant and beautiful as they may be. To him the office of priest meant a distinctive way of life binding the priest to serve wholeheartedly as mediator, leader, educator, philanthropist and sanctifier of his people in and for Christ. Much in the mind of Vatican II, he developed his formation and his philosophy of life in the ideal that the priest is above all for Christ and for the people. In all his subsequent endeavors this wa:s his guiding principle, his constant. Even as a growing boy and as an aware adolescent, he had lived with the realization that among his people the priest was the one individual who stood for leadership, uprightness and learning as well as for spiritual ministry, moral guidance and ethical inspiration. He was oriented to his regard for the priesthood because the ruling powers that had shackled Slovakia in many ways had also-except by rare exception- denied academic opportunities for Slovak boys and girls who aspired to professional or scientific careers. On this score, the authorities relented only to permit seminary training for the sake of the priest- �164 SLOVAKIA hood, and normal school courses in a limited way, in order to prepare some teachers for schools. The priest, then, had to be more than shepherd of souls in Slovakia. He had to be the leading light of his people in temporalities as well as in spirituality. He had to be .not only teacher and guide in virtue and goodness but also a perceptive and courageous defender of justice and the basic rights of man. This is the main reason why Slovak priests sometimes found themselves consciencebound to take a hard look even at the political atmosphere in which they and their people had to live. And seeing the realities of inequity, discrimination, cultural deprivation, oppression and spiritual bondage, they had the moral fortitude even publicly to attack these evils and defend their people and their country; they had the conviction that as the educated leaders of their people, they had to have the stamina to enter the forum of public affairs and there champion the cause of the wronged, the oppressed and the helpless whenever circumstances demanded their presence in the public arena. Various modes of oppression, overt as well as patent, often discouraged or demoralized the average citizen who was usually much preoccupied with the daily need to provide at least a living for his family. The God-given beauty of his natural surroundings often put a bit of poetry into a peasant's hard life; the lilt and loveliness of folk song and folk music warmed his heart, and the ar tistry of hand crafted work brought him some gratuitous satisfaction through creative expression but he needed the wholesomeness of opportunities to cultivate his intellectual talents and his inborn creative gifts freely and even as a lifetime career, as a professional; he needed assured liberty and justice, openness and a sense of security so that he could rise above sheer drudgery and allow his spirit to grow expansive. He needed to nourish his life of the spirit as well as the life of his body . He needed to satisfy his intellectual hunger in order to develope spiritually and to structure a sense of dignity in his life. All this the Slovak priest recognized in his parish, in his town or village, in his country. More was asked of him than is generally asked of the average priest, and he had t o be a man greater dimension that the average man. He �SLOVAKIA 165 had to be capable of tactful leadership, of sound capacities for guidance and direction, of clear vission and foresight ; resourceful as well as prayerful, peace-loving yet fearless in the face of defending God-given rights, forgiving yet relentless in fighting injustice. In him converged all the likeness of Christlike being and behavior and all the paradoxes of virtue flourishing in a sin-beset world. This is the kind of life that Matthew Jankola chose with mature and deliberate will. Most importantly, this is the kind of life that he lived. Fire and ardor were of his very nature; integrity, initiative and unclouded vision were his basic assets; God, nation and fellowmen-in that order-were his top priorities; and the grit to endure was the price that he was asked to pay in the discharge of his vocation. Living here as he did under pioneering conditions among immigrants who were truly strangers in a strange land, he was imbued with characteristic missionary concern for both the material and the spiritual welfare of those around him and of those for whom he had made himself responsible. He was aware that the socio-economic circumstances which bore upon the immigrant Slovak laborer could affect him very adversely and for that reason he did not spare himself in awakening and revitalizing deep self-respect and dignity in the man who was burdened with inhuman hours and labors and even humiliation in the dank pits of coal mines, at the raging forges of steel mills, at railroad building and multiplicity of menial jobs of every description. Work itself is reasonably recognized as honorable but sometimes the conditions under which a man is compelled to work can conspire to brutalize him. And man must not spend all his working hours in just expending the strength of his muscles or he may become gross. FIRST PASTORATE It is worth noting that Bishop O'Hara appointecl. Father Jankola pastor of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston very shortly after his ordination. He knew how urgent the need was for this parish to have a pastor and he recognized in the newly ordained Father Jankola gifts of mind and spirit that recommended him, young as h e was, for a responsible office even without seasoned ap- �166 SLOVAKIA prenticeship in parish work. Pioneering often calls for practically instant response to duty. Father Jankola never hesitated in meeting the demands of duty and Bishop O'Hara had every reason to be convinced that his trust in this pastor was well placed. With complete dedication, an unusual capacity for work and keen administrative talent, the new priest assumed the new tasks committed to him. With apostolic zeal he made it a point of his prime priestly service to reach out among the scattered Slovak Catholics of wide regions. He did not circumscribe his labors and his interests to that one Pittston parish only. He felt, rather, that all the Slovaks displaced in America were his immediate concern, and his specific responsibility to the Pittston parish of St. John the Baptist included the Slovak Catholics of seven adjoining communities commonly referred to as "places" or "plejzy." They included Sturmerville, West Pittston, Wyoming, Port Griffith, Smithville, Duryea and Pittston Junction. At this time he also traveled to the Binghamton, New York, area to serve the spiritual needs of Slovaks settling there. From the very beginning these, so to say, transplanted and still rootless people who were largely engaged in railroad building and in the shoe industry, were content to use the church facilities that were very kindly offered them by St. Patrick's parish but in 1902 Father Jankola helped them to organize their own parish under the patronal title of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Important as this was, it was enough. He next did his utmost in order to find a reasonable priest to take charge of this parish or at least to offer temporary ministry to the Binghamton Slovak community. On countless occasions when no one else was available, he himself came to provide them with Sunday services, to administer the sacraments, to advise and guide them and to inspire and encourage them to cultivate their spiritual life, much like a missionary compelled to ride h is circuit in order to bring God to man and man to God. During this pastorship in Pittston, Father Jankola also ministered to the Slovaks of Wilkes-Barre and Swoyeville ( which was called Maltby in his day) and with his sound direction and practical acumen, he helped them to build their churches. There were over eight thousand Slovaks in Wyoming Valley region around Wilkes-Barre at this time �SLOVAKIA 167 and there was a steady flow of increase into this hard coal region as ship after ship brought more Slovak immigrants to American shores. From his parish base in Pittston Father Jankola indefatigably toiled among them, deeply concerned that the burdens and troubles of providing for material needs and livelihood should not crowd out of their labor-preoccupied lives the eternal truths that God bore them all in his love and that as they spent themselves on behalf of material well-being, they keep in mind and also provide for the life of the spirit and for undying values. In the early history of Slovak Catholics in the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where there was a large concentration of Slovak immigrants, we find the record of these ten Slovak parishes which were established in the late nineteenth century: 1883 St. Joseph's in Hazleton 1886 St. Stephen's in Plymouth 1888 St. Joseph's in Nanticoke 1889 Holy Ghost in Olyphant 1893 St. John Nepomucene in Freeland 1894 St. John the Baptist in Pittston 1895 Holy Trinity in Maltby (later called Swoyerville ) 1895 Sacred Heart in Wilkes-Barre 1895 Holy Family in Scranton 1896 St. Michael's in Jessup Ten Roman Catholic parishes like ten significant reasons to make the heart rejoice! But then the stark realization that there were only eight Roman Catholic priests available for these parishes at this time. Two self-sacrificing priests in this area were obviously called upon to do the work of four. One of these was Fr. Jankola who looked after the parishes in Pittston and in Maltby; the other one was his friend Father Stas who took care of Olyphant and Jessup. PIONEERING PROBLEMS Overextended as these priests were, they realized that it was actually impossible to reach out to all the Slovak immigrants because they lived in such widely scattered places-some here and there in typically settled areas, others in sparse settlements and still others even in very �168 SLOVAKIA remote and unlikely pockets. And they did need the solicitous care of conscientious priets. Many newcomers mistakenly assumed a new "liberty" in America-the liberty to drink too freely, to look upon church-going as a practice better suited to the old country than to the new, to neglect the sacraments with easy abandon and live a loose life. In defense of such attitudes, they all too readily ralied on such specious observations as: "America is different." "I have a parish church at home in Europe; I'll receive the sacraments there." "I work hard all week; Sunday is my day of rest. No one should take my rest from me and tell me to go to Mass ." "Now i want to live. Later when I'm dying I'll send for a priest." Persisting in such attitudes, they would have succumbed to a generally unprincipled or amoral life. Surely they did need someone to bring them effective spiritual guidance and the conviction that freedom in America is not license to abandon religious and moral obligations. Father Jankola looked to the root of these problems. He understood that greater earnings and ready cash in America spelled greater self-reliance which sometimes tended to generate that degree of involvement with material goods that became detrimental to sound spiritually. Easier living here often brought with it a distaste for self-discipline and a laxity about receiving the sacraments. Above all, however, he saw that not a few men deliberately stayed away from church if they did not understand the word of God preached to them in a language that they did not know. This neglect of religious duty was only aggravated by an easy forgetfulness of home training and ready abandonment of many good practices learned at home and advocated in one's parish church in a distant native village or town. Unless measures were taken to offset these unfavorable trends, many otherwise well-meaning but unguided immigrants could stray far from the really good life and from devotion to God. Consequently, Father Jankola did his utmost in the discharge of his ministry and he accomplished very much good but the more he did, the more he saw still waiting to be done. On all sides he faced the need for more priests. Repeatedly he had to hear requests for priestly service, direction and help, and sorrowfully he �SLOVAKIA 169 realized that he was not able to satisfy many of them. Again we have the reality that this was a missionary situation and there were not enough missionaries to serve Christ's cause among the Slovaks in it. In his efforts to resolve this problem, Father Jankola made appeals of his own. On very many occasions he wrote to his homeland, urging Slovak priests and seminarians to offer their help in America. He ·s aw that priests, who could not serve effectively abroad because of hampering factors there, would find here far more suitable conditions and climate as well as an extensive field for their zeal and dedication. Very likely, too, he was prompted to encourage other priests and seminarians to come to America from their Slovak lands because he himself had been similarly invited and encouraged by Father Furdek. Now he felt persuaded that as Father Furdek had to some degree influenced the shaping of his own decision to come to America, he too should try to draw others to serve Christ and his Church here where priests were so sorely needed. Both he and Father Furdek often described the situation and made their appeal not only in personal correspondence but also in various publications abroad to which they contributed. On his visits to relatives in Slovakia, Father Jankola never missed the opportunity of making personal contacts on behalf of interesting likely prospects to bring their priestly talents to apostolic work in America. Naturally, some of this effort went fruitless but some of it did yield returns. It is known that he was instrumental in encouraging these eight priests to come to SlovakAmerican parishes: Rev. Joseph Murgas, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Francis Skutil, Rev. Anthony Berhely, Rev. Joseph Martincek, Rev. Emerich Gottschall, Rev. Ferdinand Prikazky and Rev. Anthony Filkorn. Four clerical students likewise took to heart his urging and on completing their theological courses devoted their efforts to Slovak parishes in America. They were Rev. Andrew Jurica, Rev. John Sobota, Rev. John Porubsky and Rev. John Gaspercik. By his personal effort Father Jankola provided pastors for ten Slovak parishes; viz., in Torrington, Connecticut, Pana, Illinois, and these eight in Pennsylvania: Edwardsville, Tarentum, Mt. Carmel, Monessen, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre, Barnesboro, Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh) . �170 SLOVAKIA MISSION TO ROME After visiting Slovakia in 1901 and witnessing the unrelieved plight of Slovak Catholics there, Father Jankola went to Rome. The leading priests of his homeland had authorized him to act as their representative before the Holy Father and in reality he was qualified to speak on behalf of the Slovak Catholics of two continents. He brought to Rome, for presentation to the Holy Father, a three-volume collection of writings produced by outstanding Slovak scholars and a Latin brief or memorandum with which to acquaint Pope Leo XIII with the deeply regrettable plight of Slovak Catholics living under Hungarian rule and unable to make their own appeal for redress and relief. The most grievous wrong was that the Slovak language was totally proscribed among Slovak people. This restriction affected not only their everyday lives in social and business interaction but it also encroached upon their religious way of life. Even in church they were subjected to Magyar services only, even to hearing the reading of the Scriptures and the preaching of homilies and sermons in Magyar only although they did not know that language. Church schools, catechetical classes and all courses of Christian Doctrine and religious instruction, along with all other form of schooling, were ordered to use only Magyar as the language of instruction. This ruling which the Slovak populace first encountered with a sense of unbelief gradually made them more and more restive. In time, a people who had traditionally conducted themselves with exemplary respect and ideal regard for the priesthood were becoming not only resistance-prone toward their pastors who were under government control but even hostile and openly rebellious against Magyar and pro-Magyar pastors and against the Magyar hierarchy. They resented the government's interference in their worship of God and in a domain where government has no rightful authority. Since it was useless or impossible to try to negotiate this state of affairs with public officials, Rome seemed to offer the only tribunal of appeal. The document which Father Jankola brought on his visit to the Eternal City made an honest, open and respectful representation of these facts for the Holy Father's consideration. It was �SLOVAKIA 171 signed by Slovak priests who had witnessed and endured what the Slovak people suffered even in their conscience and it expressed some of their fears for the future of the Church under such circumstances. On coming to Rome Father Jankola spent some time with a young Slovak cleric, the brilliant John Porubsky, who was then studying there and who also served in the apothecary of Pope Leo XIII. John Porubsky was well acquainted with a number of Church officials in diplomatic positions and with matters of protocol and effective procedures in official circles. After he had discussed the main objective of Father Jankola in Rome, he consulted with Cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa who was then Assistant Secretary of State and who later became Pope Benedict XV. Cardinal della Chiesa reviewed the memorandum carefully and decided that it warranted further referral. He took it to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Rampolla, who was much affected by the serious nature and the further implications of the reported situation. After a personal interview with Father Jankola who confirmed the facts of the memorandum from his personal witness in his homeland, he arranged for both Father Jankola and John Porubsky to see the Holy Father in a private audience. Father Jankola's meeting with Pope Leo XIII lasted two hours. Both of the Slovak representatives spoke with the Holy Father in fluent Latin and the Holy Father was so deeply moved by their report and their citing of specifics that tears of sympathy showed the intensity of his response and his concern for his suffering children. Some measures of alleviation were the outcome of this appeal to Rome, for the hierachy of Austria-Hungary was instructed to introduce reforms allowing the Slovak minority to pray and sing in Slovak and to use their native language in church and at all liturgical and worship services. There was a second spring of spiritual fervor when the meadowlands and mountainsides as well as the churches again resounded with Slovak hymns and Slovak prayers at Mass, at pilgrimages and at popular devotions. It is generally agreed that this occasion on which Father Jankola called attention to the repression which the Slovaks endured even in spiritual matters put before the thinking of ecclesiastical officials the desirability of �172 SLOVAKIA providing Slovak bishops for the Slovak people, of establishing a Slovak hierarchy that would be subject to no local authority but directly to Rome. Such a decision did not reach immediate fruition but the climate was finally favorable for this step after the First Czecho-Slova k Republic was founded in 1918. It was late in 1920 that Rome formally established a Slovak hierarchy by appointing Bishop John Vojtassak to the see of Spis Bishop Marian Blaha to the see of Banska Bystrica Bishop Charles Kmetko to the see of Nitra. They were consecrated by the Papal Nuncio on February 13, 1921. FURTHER APOSTOLIC EFFORT From Rome Father Jankola returned to his missionary and parish work. With renewer ardor he took up his labors among those to whom he fondly referred as "transplanted linden trees." With an eye to the present, he satisfied first needs first, exhorting the faithful to a truly Christian life, promoting faith and prayerfulness , reprimanding lapses, instructing the young and the not-so-young, preaching with the spoken word and the written word, and living the life that he preached. With an eye to the future, he encouraged worthy lay leadership, adjustment to the American way of life and vocations to the priesthood and religious life . Father Jankola was a realist as well as an idealist. As he toiled to build the kingdom of God spiritually in the hearts of many, he also looked after material building for this kingdom. This is attested by the fact that his zeal led him to build a total of five churches, two schools and a rectory: a church in Pittston, Wilkes-Barre and Maltby; a church and a school in Hazleton; a church a school and a rectory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is astounding that in the twenty years of his priesthood he could accomplish so much both for the Church and for his nation. In his ardor to work for lasting values, Father Jankola not only promoted sound spirituality and provisions for fruitful parish life, he also encouraged vocations to the pri~sthood and religious life, spent him.self in the cause of church-orient ed schools, envisioned and realized a congregation of Sisters to teach and care for the children of immigrants and perform works of mercy in the Church, �SLOVAKIA 173 contributed many articles to Slovak newspapers and periodicals, sponsored and aided the publication of Slovak texts for religious instruction and language arts, and greatheartedly proposed the naming of a Slovak bishop in the United States. He felt that Father Furdek deserved the rank of bishop and that in his elevation all Slovak Catholics in this country would benefit inasmuch as they would have an official leader whose first concern would be for all levels of Church organization among American Slovaks as well as for the needs of the young, the training of seminarians, Catholic schools and schooling under the direction of qualified Slovak or Slovak-American Sisters. PARISH SCHOOLS The subject of a Catholic school system among Slovak immigrants was one of the major preoccupations of Father Jankola's life. In his second pastoral assignment he came to St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, one of the two earliest American Slovak parishes, established in 1885. (The other is St. Stephen's parish in Streator, Illinois, founded in the same year.) He was the fourth pastor of St. Joseph's which already had a combination church-school building as well as a rectory and a parish cemetery. Since these physical arrangements were cared for, he turned his energy mainly to the spiritual and cultural advancement of his parishioners. With deft organizational gifts he established confraternities, spiritual societies and sodalities, providing opportunities for all age levels in the parish to participate in at last one Catholic Action group. A program of catechetical instruction was already functioning in the parish but Father Jankola felt that the time was right for introducing a fully expanded elementary curriculum in at least the earliest grades of the parish school. Miss Catherine O'Donnell was engaged as a full-time teacher for the subjects that were to be taught in English and Mr. Andrew Ondek, the parish organist, who had been conducting catechetical classes, was retained as teacher-incharge of the school and instructor in religion, Slovak and singing. Father Jankola spent much time in the school, observing, supervising, noting the progress of the pupils and the methods of instruction. Very often he himself conducted a class. This innovation of Father Jankola stirred up some �174 SLOVAK'iA feeling against him. Until this time is was the prerogative of the organist--and solely his-to be in charge of all the instruction of children in a parish school. By hiring a teacher in his experimental full-scale school, Father Jankola seemed to be jeopardizing the teacher-status of the organist. On this score misunderstandings developed all too readily, and factions formed to support one opinion and oppose the other, depending on points of view taken and loyalties involved. This matter was a painful issue for quite some time but Father Jankola steadily and gently tried to disprove the unfounded fears that had arisen and in spite of these apprehensions, he became increasingly aware of the necessity to provide for the adequate education of youth and the training of children under Christian auspices. Because of this indefatigable labors on behalf of Catholic schools, Father Jankola has often been looked upon as the apostle of the parish school among Slovaks in America. Both his admirers and his critics knew very truly that the matter of parish schools was his dearest concern-the apple of his eye, so to say. One of his favorite observations was : "Religious conviction takes first place and patriotism second; the church comes firs t and right after it, the school." He did his unwavering best to win pastors to the cause of opening and maintaining parochial schools, of convincing the faithful of the vital need for Catholic schools for their children and most importantly , he dedicated himself to the task of providing competent teachers and encouraging promising candidates to enter the teaching profession. Father Jankola rightly saw this whole area of education for the young as the fundamental need of the day. As often as he tried to deal with it, he realized that the problem only bore upon his conscience and his professional thinking with mounting insistence. For over twelve years he wrote on this subject, presenting it to his reading public in various aspects and doing his best to find a practical way to put it into operation. Even as early as 1899, when he was a young priest just four years ordained, he spoke of it very earnestly with some of the priests who were closest to him in the Scranton diocese; viz., Rev. Andrew Pavco, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska and Rev. Joseph Murgas. �SLOVAKIA 175 Basically, there was no difficulty in gaining a general appreciation for the Catholic school system, but the whole concept of operating Slovak Catholic schools in America had to be framed within the American way of maintaining church schools. In their homeland, the Slovaks had grown accustomed to living in a parish wholly subsidized by a patron. This meant that under patronal sponsorship all operating expenses were met by the individual, the family or the civic body that was legally titled as the patron. In America all church operations, including the pastor's salary, would have to be borne by the members of the parish. Given a school situation, besides, the struggling newcomers to America would have to assume responsibility for all its costs, including salaries for teachers. The prospect of such obligation seemed quite impossible. Yet to Father Jankola this obligation itself was not the first and foremost duty of leaders and parents; the first duty really was to provide adequate education for the young with the understanding that the adults would have to learn how to support the school as well as the church according to American practice. Definitely there was much educating of various kinds to be done, formally and informally, but Father Jankola did not shrink in the face of it all. The genius of leadership in him dictated the work to be done and the good to be accomplished. Along with these thoughts, Father Jankola could not help comparing the cultural deprivation of immigrant parents with the opportunities that America could make available to their children. He was not blind to the fact that given an education, Slovak children could better themselves in this land of opportunity on which he looked as a cultural El Dorado, a spiritual New Canaan. Above all, however, he was convinced that Slovaks in America would have to begin thinking of themselves as Americans of Slovak origin and meet all their responsibilities as such. His constant reminder to his parishioners and to all where it would apply was: "If we are to live in America, we must live the American way of life. We must learn to adjust." And he made it abundantly clear that the blessings which America held for all were not exclusively material blessings; he greatly extolled the democratic principles and the gift of true liberty which are the hallmarks of true Americanism. �176 SLOVAKIA ADULT EDUCATION In this connection of adopting concepts of true Americanism, Father Jankola also tried to provide some compensations for adult immigrants, some of whom had had only two or three winters of schooling in their childhood, some of whom had had even less. Under his iniciative, adult education classes were introduced, concentrating on basics first of all-reading and writing. It was an exhilarating experience for an unschooled laborer earnestly applying himself to an unfamiliar task suddenly to pluck his neighbor's sleeve and to shout with the heady joy of achievement: "Look! I wrote my name! I can really write my name now! This is my name! Now I won't have to make a cross instead of my name anymore!" This was a first step but it was not enough. After basics followed classes in American history and in civil government with a view toward applying for citizenship and becoming naturalized. Citizenship would mean suffrage and a real sense of belonging, a participation in the community and the country of their adoption. EDUCATION AL SURVEY After his 1899 conference with priests closest to him in the Scranton diocese, Father Jankola was convinced that it was no longer possible to defer steps for the establishment of Slovak parish schools on the elementary level. For this reason he devoted much time to a close study of the American system of education which he frankly admired. He felt that he needed this kind of information in order to guide him in developing his own thinking. He felt, too, that he needed substantial statistical data as groundwork and for this p-µrpose he undertook a comprehensive survey of existing parish facilities for the education of Slovak Catholic children. In 1900 he published a report of his findings in the Jednota Kalend<ir, revealing that a) there were very few standard parish schools which he could classify as "first class schools" b) several parishes had provided for special classes on Saturdays in order to supplement the children's public school courses with instruction in religion and language arts �SLOVAKIA 177 c) the commendable though inadequate efforts of many parish organists were generally handicapped by overcrowding in classrooms as well as by merging a very broad range of mental and chronological ages into one composite group sometimes numbering up to two hundred pupils This survey concluded with an earnest exhortation that pastors spare no effort in order to establish schools comparable to the best that the American school system offers and that sound measures be taken to provide certified teachers. He knew, of course, that not all parishes were in a position to undertake a full school program but he trusted that a steady and well-reasoned campaign on behalf of parish schools would eventually be fruitful. But the building of schools would not of itself solve the problem of education in a parish school. Once the schools were built, they would have to be stuffed and he knew that there would be great difficulty in procuring desirable teachers. His survey indicated that in the schools rated as "first class," such as that in Wilkes-Barre (the only one of its kind in the Scranton diocese), as well as those in Johnstown, Shamokin, St. Ladislaus and St. Martin in Cleveland, and in Streator, Illinois were all conducted with the help of religious teachers-Sisters. He commended the Irish and German immigrants for their well-functioning schools, all directed by Sisters, and he very distinctly pointed out the fact that the Slovak people in America needed Slovak Sisters to teach in their parish schools. Man of clear vision that he was, he saw beyond that statement. His very words are: "Consequently, we need Sisters. Let us bring up our own Slovak Sisters! It is they who will preserve our faith and our nation. Reverend Fathers, and you Slovak parents, you who have in your parishes young ladies who are diligent, zealous, devout and suitable for the religious life, do feel responsible for making it possible for them to achieve this state of life. This will be a gift of the utmost value both to God and the nation; this will be a most noble offering. It is Slovak Sisters, teaching Sisters, who alone can alleviate this present educational crisis among us; �178 SLOVAKIA it is they who can save us from religious and national ruin. If we wish to live in America, we must live as Americans. This same principle was valid even in Rome. There is no other way of survival. I repeat: my brothers, Slovaks, let us establish parish schools, let us bring up our own Slovak teaching-Sisters, and God's help will support us!" As he urged priests and parents to encourage likely candidates to enter the religious life at this time, he did not mention any specific community, for he had none in mind. His survey did report that Ursulines and Sisters of St. Joseph were teaching in the Slovak schools of Cleveland, that Streator had Franciscan Sisters, and that there was " an English Sister" in the Olyphant school (Very likely a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or a Sister of Mercy). At this point, however, the core of the problem was simply to promote vocations. It was much as if he were saying that God will not be outdone in generosity ; that if only enough vocations could be cultivated, God could be trusted to provide the agents and the agencies for the work of Christian education among Slovak immigrants. He did not know that his own faith would be put to sore testing. He did not know the ultimate design of Providence but he trusted with an unshaken confidence and he worked on with unmitigated zeal . EXPLORING TEACHER RESOURCES At the same time that Father Jankola ardently promoted the cause of Slovak Catholic parish schools, he began to make serious inquiries at various American motherhouses and provincial houses, hoping to find a community whose membership might include at least some Sisters of Slovak or Slavic origin for staffing prospective Slovak schools in America and introducing into them American principles of education along with a wholesome Christian philosophy of life. Once he would know where Sisters were available, a sound program for Christian education could be launched with full vigor and the Slovak people would adjust to the American way of supporting their own schools. He did not foresee at all how difficult it would be to procure Sisters. At least four major superiors of religious communities answered his inquiries with the revealing �SLOVAKIA 179 news that even at that time it was extremely difficult for them to provide enough teachers for the schools already under their care. There was a normal increase in the population rate and as immigration figures rose, so did school enrollments increase and create a demand for expanded teaching forces. As a result of this situation, religious superiors felt that they would not be able to accept any new schools in the foreseeable future. This was a totally unwelcome but obviously prudent decision which they had to make. Disappointed beyond all expectation but still undaunted, Father Jankola next turned his appeal to European institutes. In all good faith he hoped that the old world would be able to compensate for the insufficiencies of the new. With prayerful anticipation he wrote to the Holy Cross Sisters in Moravia. He did not present to them any intimidating proposal. Very modestly he explored the possibility of obtaining a small number of Sisters, even three or four, to come to America, establish a foundation and train Slovak girls here for the religious life. He was assured that in time there would be enough applications for a flourishing self-sufficient community to develop on American soil, supported by the Slovak-American clergy and laity. Apparently there was much correspondence on this matter but promising as the outlook was at the outset, its prospects eventually dimmed and finally the issue was closed without satisfactory results. With great distress Father Jankola wrote in the Jednota Kalenddr of 1902, "For three years I have been trying to obtain Sisters from Europe, but my efforts have been in vain. Everything seems to be against us." These lines are an expression of that recurring disappointment that was to be his cross in this project, the testing of his spirit, and the price of an ideal which demanded sacrifice and suffering. Frustrated in his efforts to secure help from an already established community of Sisters, yet sufficiently disciplined not to surrender readily in the face of difficulty and repeateq disappointment, Father Jankola continued to pray, to confer with others and to plan. Since existing communities could spare him no members for the parish schools that he was promoting, the only avenue open to �180 SLOVAKIA him seemed to be to find prospective condidates of his own and to present them for training in an American sisterhood. He hoped that after their numbers increased and they had prepared themselves adequately, they might be allowed to branch off into an independent province within a mother congregation and continue their apostolate in Slovak parish schools. This suggested a very long range program but the eventual benefits would surely justify the patient waiting. All delays and price aside, one purpose of Father Jankola's efforts was to provide Sisters for the much needed task of teaching in Slovak parish schools. This was the crucial issue and the demanding challenge was where to procure them . COURAGE SUPPORTS HOPE In the spring of 1903, Father Jankola invited Slovak priests who were interested in the parish school project to meet for consultation at the Vendig Hotel in Philadelphia. He took this occasion to lay before them all his experiences in working for Slovak parish schools to this time: his hopes and disappointments, his renewed efforts and his present plan which would call for candidates from local parishes. The assembled pastors listened with evident interest. They were aware of the need to work with the young and they admired the American Catholic school system. Some endorsed the proposal and were willing to cooperate with Father Jankola. Unfortunately, there were others too who looked upon this new suggestion of his as too idealistic and extreme a venture, perhaps something out of a quixotic world and not suited to the times, not amenable to a practical approach. They did not hesitate to indicate emphatically that he could not count on them for support in such a project and they had nothing else to offer. This adverse reaction from leaders of people who lived with the realities of life in America was a blow to Father Jankola's expectations. But it did not destroy his vision or diminish that dogged persistence about him which would not let the matter rest untried. At least he knew now on whom he could count for advice and support and he had learned where it would be vain to look for help and understanding. He shored up his shattered elan and renewed his faith in the work before him. Resolved to test this plan and to have events prove �SLOVAKlA 181 the validity of this approach and anxious to test whether or not such an effort was of God, Father Jankola presented his proposal to several religious oommunities in his immediate area. It is likely that he now founded his hopes on either the Mallinckrodt Sisters of Charity or on the Sisters of Mercy. He had had opportunities to observe the work of both communities on a local level because they taught in parishes near his own. He admired their spirit and evidence of dedication and he ardently hoped that he might see their influence diffused among the Slovak people, but from both communities he received an unfavorable reply. It meant just so much more disappointment and so much more need for fresh courage. EARLY PROMISE Again and again Father Jankola renewed his search for a mother community that would accept his candidates (in due time) and train them for Slovak parish schools. He even decided to appeal to the charity of a rather distant order in America, the Czech Benedictine Sisters in Chicago, Illinos. When the mail brought him a reply, it was with utmost gratitude that he read that these Sisters would b e willing to be of assistance to him. With profound relief he trusted that at last this was going to mean the realization of his prospects. With this good news to report, Father Jankola held another conference with the priests who supported his plan. At these deliberations practical measures were proposed and four specific steps were agreed upon. The first of these was the decision to accept the offer of the Benedictine Sisters and to send three aspirants to Chicago. The others were in the nature of active endorsement of Father Jankola's plan, involving the promise or agreement a ) to announce Father Jankola's plans and prospects from their pulpits b ) to preach on the subject of vocations c ) to solicit offerings to support the undertaking This last provision was embodied in a fund called St. Anthony's Treasury. The patronage of St. Anthony was chosen because this Franciscan saint beautifully exemplifies that Christian charity that provides for the needs of the poor. Now at last, although no one could foresee what the �182 SLOVAKIA future held, there seemed to be some glimmer of success at last. On the following Sunday Father Jankola preached an inspiring sermon on vocations and after the parochial mass he found an applicant in his office. Before long there were two more candidates from St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton as well as two from Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre. Now at last, hope was moving toward reality. In the fall of 1903 the first three aspirants from Hazleton were sent to the Benedictines in Chicago and the soul of Father Jankola rejoiced that the great work was launched at last while his spirit trusted that it would thrive . HOPE DEFERRED Unfortunately this joy was short-lived and this hope soon wilted. After a few short weeks Father Jankola was notified that the Superiors felt it was advisable to withdraw his candidates because they found it difficult to adjust to religious life with them. The blow fell at the very moment when two additional aspirants sat in the Wilkes-Barre railroad station holding tickets for Chicago as they waited to board the next train. Just before the train pulled into the station, their plans were abruptly changed and they returned to their homes. This was a crushing report that reached Father Jankola from Chicago. He could hardly bring himself to accept it. His first reaction was to blame the young girls for want of endurance. His own training in austerity made it difficult for him to condone their failure and apparent weakness in the face of hardship where he would have expected an almost stoic courage and strength. Gradually he was brought to realize, however, that they did not lack generosity and good will, but they were wholly unprepared for trials severe even for seasoned religious; moreover, they were still very young. Home-loving and cared-for as they had been, they were subjected to an almost traumatic and total separation from home and an absolute change from their family environment. Chicago then seemed half a world away from Hazleton. Even normal adjustment would have been necessarily gradual, but they were at once challenged with the untempered rigors of Benedictine monasticism in a community where poverty was so extreme in those �SLOVAKIA 183 pioneering days that only a tried and proven spirit would have been able to endure it without difficulty. When the unhappy candidates returned from Chicago, they were not sent back to their homes or subjected to reproach and embarrassment. Instead, they were befriended and confided to the care of Father Pavco in Pittston until further development could be planned and arranged. Father Pavco then visited Father Jankola to confer with him about the situation. He found him shaken and extremely tried by this new disappointment. NEW HOPE In his sympathetic efforts to comfort his friend, Father Pavco called Father Jankola's attention to the "Blue Sisters" of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who conducted St. John the Evangelist School in Pittston just across the street from his own church and rectory. As he spoke, Father Pavco became more and more enthusiastic about the spirit and attitudes of these Sisters, and finally he suggested that Father Jankola consult with their Reverend Mother at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. As a glowing climax he remarked, "I understand that her name is Mother Mary Cyril. Our common patron may help here; let us try in the name of God." Discouraged though he was by the latest setback to his hopes and beset by numerous other problems besides. Father Jankola agreed with Father Pavco that it would be advisable to try again; but he approached the new possibility with a measure of caution added to his natural reserve. On his first visit to Mother Cyril he conferred with her only on the prospect of enrolling the daughter of one of his parishioners at her boarding school. He did not mention the real burden that lay on his heart like a cross . Before long, however, Father Jankola made another appointment with Mother Cyril. On his initial visit he had found her so gracious that he was encouraged to present his key problem to her on this second visit. Again he found her ideally understanding. This does not mean that she at once gave him any definite assurance but she received him with such Christlike sympathy and such evidence of maternal regard for the needs of young girls that he con- �184 SLOVAKIA sidered the consultation worthwhile, to say the least, and returned home with great admiration for her, confidence in her judgment and renewed hope for the all-but-lost undertaking. Providence ordained that Mother Cyril should be the answer to Father Jankola's prayers. With the consent of her Council she accepted his candidates and trained them with unexampled care and solicitude within the shelter of her own religious family. In fact, they were so close to her own Sisters that for some time it was not even clear whether they would eventually become an independent community or whether they were to be an element added to hers. TOWARD FRUITION When she first received the young girls at Mount St. Mary's in 1903, Mother Cyril did not immediately place them under monastic novitiate discipline but rather kept them in the boarding academy as students who were to be formed into candidates for the religious life by gradual measures. They were permitted to spend the school vacation at home and on such occasions they often became an inspiration to others and attracted new vocations. These students were maintained at Mount St. Mary's through funds from St. Anthony's Treasury which was supported by the mites of hard-working and generous people and the offerings for votive candles in Slovak churches. From November 21, 1903, when they first came to the Mount, their status was that of students. On January 6, 1906, three of them became postulants. In March of the same year Mother Cyril informed Father Jankola that his group would not be identified with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This implied that they were to form their own community. Father Jankola accepted this decision and suggested the name "Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius" as a possible designation for the prospective Slovak community. On July 26, 1906, the first members were clothed in a distinctive black habit, Bishop Hoban presiding at the reception ceremony. The fruit of arduous work and confident prayer was beginning to mature but its maturing exacted a further price. Father Jankola paid the greater part of it by bearing not only the normal burden of concern but also painful �SLOVAKIA 185 misunderstandings and unreasonable demands from parish sources. He even withdrew somewhat from the project after it was safely launched, willing to deny himself the satisfaction that should have been the reward of a work brought to successful fruition after many bitter and disillusioning trials. Much of his sorrow on this score was caused by more or less well-meaning individuals who hounded him and persecuted him severely because they saw in the promise of a teaching community only the ousting of organists from teaching posts in the parish schools. They believed that this would inevitably follow upon the success of Father Jankola's project. Blinded in their narrow reasoning, they would not face facts reasonably or accept the reality which indicated only too clearly that their parish schools in America were fast outgrowing the capacities of their organists reserve and that they had no other teachers with or without adequate training to conduct schools according to American standards. The Sisters were expected to relieve an existing need, not to create a new difficulty. Organists would not necessarily have to give up all their classes. It was one of those struggles which often arise when the old order of life must yield to the newer way and cannot do so gracefully. Added to this, however, there was also a painfully critical attitude making itself within clerical ranks. Several priests still doubted the timeliness and the wisdom of Father Jankola's efforts. At first they merely refused to cooperate, later they voiced objections and even spoke of other plans of their own. In spite of his stoic exterior and his disciplined habits of conduct, Father Jankola~s soul and sensibilities were deeply refined and sensitive. It hurt him inexpressibly to be ranked as a visionary when with all his soul he bent his energies to practical matters and used very realistic means to attain vitally urgent results. He suffered keenly because of all the conflicts brewing in his Hazleton parish and when there seemed to be no other solution, he decided to leave the scene of so much bitterness and open hostility, at least until the storm should spend itself. This parish had grown very dear to him. When its original wooden church burned to the ground in 1905, he worked indefatigably to raise funds for a new structure �186 SLOVAK.IA of natural stone. Within two years he collected twelve thousand dollars, a lordly sum in a day of low wages and small incomes in the midst of a struggling community of miners and common laborers. He had the largeness of vision and the natural capacity to plan a church of unique beauty and to execute his plans in spacious proportions, artistic in design and as inspiring as a prayer. St. Joseph's in Hazleton is a worthy memorial to his priestly service there and to the spirit of Slovak pioneers in the area. TRANSFER TO BRIDGEPORT In the fall of 1907 Father Jankola took a leave of absence from the Scranton diocese and was received with joy by the people of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who were then organizing the parish of SS. Cyril and Methodius. He wrote to Mother Cyril, "I thought I would make a solitary living here, like a hermit, after much trouble, trial and injustice. But my work is not yet done . . . I have to continue to take care of the future religious institution that I have started with God's help and St. Anthony's intercession." He would not be a derelict to duty no matter what it cost him in personal pain. He would stand by his ideals and convictions. Alth0ugh Father Jankola expected eventually to return to Hazleton his missionary zeal so engrossed him in the organization of parishes in the New England region that he finally transferred to the Hartford diocese. Besides his pastoral work in St. Cyril's, he also undertook the spiritual care of Slovaks in Webster, Massachusett s, and made missionary trips to Stamford, Torrington, New Britain and surrounding settlements in Connecticut. He was untiring pastor and missionary in new surroundings again. He kept in touch with Mother Cyril through correspondence. With her he assigned the Sisters to their firs t teaching mission at Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre while disclosing to her the demands being made on him. "We have only three Slovak Sisters-how can we send them to four parishes?" he wrote her in 1908. Yet in his concern for the cherished project, he maintained an unselfishness that commands administratio n as always leaning toward the common good. When the first Sisters were to be sent on a teaching mission, he made the disinterested recommenda tion to assign them either to Wilkes- �SLOVAKIA 187 Barre or to Lansford although he would have been justified in directing them to either of the equally large parishes of his own endeavors-Hazleton or Bridgeport. FIRST AMERICAN-SLOVAK SISTERS In August 1909, Bishop Hoban brought from Rome the Holy See's decree of approval for the new community. On September 1, 1909, the first Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius made public profession of vows and the community emerged as a new family in the Church. Before the close of Mother Cyril's term of office, they were ready to open a motherhouse of their own. For ten years their formation had been under the immediate guidance of Mother Cyril at Mount St. Mary's. At last the tender seed which had been long hidden in the darkness of Father Jankola's secret hopes and prayers, long prepared through seasons of doubt and storm and the intermittent sunshine of hope and promise, often exposed to tears and blessings, now sprang in good soil and, tended with paternal care and maternal understanding, was ready to yield glory to God through a harvest of service among the Slovak people. As some of the Sisters undertook teaching in the parish schools, additional recruits were being prepared as novices and postulants in the novitiate or as students at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. After twelve years from the time of their entry into Mount St. Mary's the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius became a wholly independent community. This status was attained in 1915 after their first General Chapter elected a Mother General and a Council for internal government. Father Jankola was happy indeed to see the Sisters making progress. He continued to be interested in their welfare but denied himself the satisfaction of overseeing or directing their development. From all sides he was harassed by demands for teachers but once the stability of the Community was established, he allowed it to mature on its own and to learn to shoulder responsibility independently. PASTORSHIP IN BRIDGEPORT In Bridgeport Father Jankola continued his work, which demanded tireless energy, prudent planning and great fortitude. He was equal to the challenge. His parishione11s found him serious and purposeful, dilligent and �188 SLOVAK.IA circumspect, devout and fatherly. With him first things inexorably came first. Religion and spiritual interests held priority over all other considerations but close in second place were patriotism as well as the arts and social graces, and finally a balanced concern for temporalities. Under hls direction the parish was firmly established and within a year it had six active societies as well as an excellent choir, a dramatic club and an evening school for adult education. These evening classes became very popular and profitable. They lasted from eight to ten o'clock and in time they offered mathematics and English taught by Mr. Michael Senko on Monday; Slovak by Father Jankola on Tuesday; community singing by Mr. George Lukac on Thursday, and dramatics by Mr. Joseph Michalek on Sunday. Additional subjects were included later to enable parishioners to prepare for naturalization. For the children there were daily catechetical classes which Father Jankola himself conducted after the pupils were dismissed from public school. Within five years Father Jankola managed to have the parish clear a debt of over sixteen thousand dollars. The church which he then built for seventy thousand dollars is a magnificent cruciform structure of white brick with a seating capacity of one thousand. It was the fifth church which he planned and erected, and with its inspiring splendor it is the crown of his building effort. A severely simple frame rectory was all that he permitted for his own needs. To make provisions for a school he built a plain four-room structure planned to double for a parish hall . It, too, was severely simple and those who loved it did not mind sometimes referring to it as "Noah's Ark." His Sisters came to take charge of this school in 1910 and it must have been with intense yet complex emotion that he at last saw the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius at work teaching in his own school. Within the parish itself Father Jankola fanned a great flame of spiritual activity. The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary was canonically established and it flourished amid these people who exulted, "We have brought Kosice to America," for the rosary was a traditional family devotion among them, awakening for them fond memories of pilgrimages to the beloved Marian shrine in the Slovak city of Kosice. A deeper spirituality was cultivated among those �SLOVA.K:IA 189 who joined the Third Order of St. Francis and the Altar Society. A canonically founded Sodality and the Holy Name Society held Christian ideals before the eyes of the young. It is remarkable that Father Jankola invariably attended the meetings of all these societies and each time left some lesson or ponderable thought with the members to inspire or to enlighten them. Through the choir and the dramatic guild he aimed to make art the handmaid of religion. Church music, folk singing, and classic compositions all had their place and were rendered with feeling and skill under the direction of Mr. George Lukac. Father Jankola had recognized musical talent in him when he was yet a schoolboy and sent him to St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois, to develop his talent. Then he offered him the position of organist at St. Cyril's. Born of mutual regard, a strong bond of devotion developed between the two. Drama under Father Jankola's guidance included a wide variety of presentations from monologues and skits through interludes and plays to grand productions like " St. Elizabeth," "St. Genevieve," and "Fabiola." Each one was staged before a packed house usually in a spacious hall rented for the occasion and it lent the entire community the aspects of festivity and a parish holiday. For major plays Father Jankola took the trouble to rent costumes and hire a make-up crew from the theatrical centers of New York City, and he saw to it that the staging was a satisfying piece of dramatic art. It is no wonder that his parishioners idolized him. On all occasions he was an inspiration and edification to them. He may have appeared forbiddingly stern and exacting, but they knew that his heart was warm and fatherly. The priest in him was always at their service, hearing confessions every day of the week even on Sundays, answering every call as soon as it came though he was without benefit of an assistant, ready to advise, admonish, comfort, help or serve in whatever the need might be. It was generally recognized and appreciated that he did the work of three priests. Despite all the demands made on him, his parish was in enviable order and he managed a tremendous amount of work for the general public. Scholarly and cultural interests were his hobby. It is interesting that �190 SLOVAKIA shortly before his death he began the study of Hebrew under a private tutor. THE WRITER One stands in admiration of the consuming energy with which he must have worked, for apart from all these accomplishments there is the steady stream of articles, stories, reports and instructions that came from his pen. He was a recognized leader in Slovak national life also, for only six years after coming to this country, he was elected supreme president of the Jednota organization (1900) . (The First Catholic Slovak Union-a benevolent society with nationwide membership.) From 1904 to 1908 he was a member of the Jednota judiciary council. In 1910 he was editor of the "Jednota" weekly as well as of its annual or almanac . In 1908 and again after Furdek's death, he was chosen spiritual director of the Jednota. He likewise promoted the interests of the "Katolicky Sokol," contributed many articles to its news organ and served one term as spiritual director of this athletic and fraternal organization. He warmly endorsed the children's paper "Priatel' Dietok," which was sponsored by the Sokol. He encouraged pastors, parents, and teachers to support it, and highly complimented the pupils of his school when their contributions appeared on its pages. THE LEADER Among the Slovak priests, especially in the eastern part of the country, Father Jankola always enjoyed a degree of prestige. He was generally esteemed their leader. It was he who first banded them together in 1903 for the purpose of discussing common problems like education and the training of future priests and Sisters. It was he who promoted an organization of priests in the eastern states just a year before his death. He was identified with many national drives and movements; he signed the Code of American Slovak Journalists in 1897; he initiated the National Fund (also in 1897) to promote national interests and to sponsor worthy projects. He undertook the founding of a men's Slovak Benedictine priorate and a men's Slovak Franciscan province in the United States. By 1910 he urged that steps be taken to recommend �SLOVAKIA 191 the appointment of a Slovak bishop in this country and suggested that Father Furdek be named the candidate since he was "the first, the most learned, the most respected, and the best loved Slovak priest in America." In 1916 he initiated a Peter's Pence drive among the Slovaks in America. These are some of the major achievements he accumulated before death closed the door of life upon him at the age of forty-three. And he aspired to more. He even dared hope to transplant his Sisters to Europe, "First opening a house in Velehrad, Moravia, where St. Methodius is buried," as he visualized his dream. In his greatness of vision he had hoped that they might "be the instrument in God's hand for the conversion of Slav schismatics to Rome, where St. Cyril died." These are some of the hopes of which he once wrote to Mother Cyril. UNTIMELY DEATH But death stilled his ardent hopes and healed his wounds. Added to all the trials borne so courageously there descended upon him yet the cruelty of a most painful hoax. Spent as he was with unstinted labor and exertion, it took the agony of something like this to crush his very last energies. Manfully he tried to bury the hurt but it worked its havoc and undermined his strength. On Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916, he was stricken as he preached at High Mass and he died quietly on May 5, mourned by thousands and appreciated even more in death than he was in life. After the funeral services at the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Father Jankola was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut. In connection with their Golden Jubilee observances in 1959, however, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius arranged to have their founder's remains transferred to Danville where they are interred in the Community cemetery at Villa Sacred Heart. CONCLUSION It has been said with truth that Father Jankola was to the spiritual life what Father Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak people in America. To the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius he is the gardener to whom God entrusted the seed of their congregation, charging him to plant it, to water it with his �192 SLOVAKlA tears and sufferings, to warm it with his undying love. At the moment the seed sprouted and its first promising shoots appeared, at that moment in a Profession Ceremony, he said joyfully and humbly, "You are my joy, you are my crown, you are my glory." BIBLIOGRAPHY Archival materials at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and in Jankola Library, Danville, Pennsylvania. These include: a) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola b) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola's sisters, Louisa and Inna c) documents d) several books of rare parish records entrusted to the Sisters Furdek, Stefan, "Z Ameriky." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo. I. Rufomberok, Osvald, 1893. Gregorovic, Sister M. Consuela, SS.C.M., Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Modification of thesis submitted to the Catho.Jic University of America, 1944. DanviLle, Pennsylvania, Golden Jubilee Publication of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1958-1959. Hrusovsky, Frantisek, Slovenske rehole v Amerike. Cleveland, Slovensky ustav, 1955. Slovenske dejiny. 4th ed. Turciansky Svaty Martin, Matica Slovenska, 1940. Jankola, Matus, "crty z katolickej slovenskej farnosti v Pittston, Pa." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo, III. Ruzomberok, Osvald , 1900. Jednota (Weekly newspaper) . Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 19011916 passim. Jednota Kalendar. (annual ). Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota. 19001931 passim. Medvecky, Karol A., Cirkevne pomery katolickych Slovakov v niekdajsom Uhorsku, Ruzomberok, Nakl. vlast., 1920. Pauco, Jozef, Matus Jan.kola, knaz a narodovec. Danville, Pennsylvania, Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Slovenska rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda. Slovensky spolok sv. Anny vo Wyoming V.alley, Pa. 1957. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty. Cleveland, Ohio, I.K.S.J. , 1965. Slovenski priekopnici. Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 1972. Petra~ek, Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., Brief History of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Danville, Pennsylvania , Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Scotus Viator (Seton Watson), Racial Problems in Hungary, London , Archibald Constable, 1908. Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Katolicke Slovensko. Trnava, SSV, 1933. Spirko, Jozef, Cirkevne dejiny s osobitnym zretel'om na vyvin cirkevnych dejin Slovenska. 2 vol. Turc. Sv. Martin, Neografia, 1943. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 SLOVAKlA 161 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 SLOVAK-AMERICAN PRIEST, LEADER, EDUCATOR Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. An observance commemorating the life and accomplishments of Father Matthew Jankola in this centennial year of his birth has the advantages of distance and historic perspective. It provides a very timely opportunity for appraising this leader and his life's contribution with fair and realistic appreciation, with a degree of objective regard for his innate qualities and his unique achievements. Father Jankola's life span encompassed only forty-three years and his biographical data can be summarized very compactly. BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE The parents of Matthew Jankola were Matthew and Rosalie Medvecky Jankola. They lived very ·simply but happily in Trstena, a picturesque town in the economically disadvantaged Orava district of Slovakia, and their son Matthew spent much of his early life there. But Trstena was not Father Jankola's birthplace, for he was born away from home on July 2, 1872, while his parents were at seasonal work in the Stary Budin sector of Budapest, Hungary. After his elementary education in Trstena, the boy Matthew continued his schooling at gymnazia in Bardejov and Beckov. Later, on the recommendation and under the sponsorship of his maternal uncle, the Francisean Father Emerich Medvecky, he advanced to seminary studies with the Franciscans in Hlohovec and in Kremnica. At the same time, the school of life steadily trained him too. With ardor and utmost good will he gave his all in order to prepare for the priesthood with a religious order but the evils of oppression did not spare him even in the seminaries of Slovakia. In fact, they left their mark upon him by undermining his health though no degree of im- 162 SLOVAKIA posed suffering could shake his spirit. This apparently all-pervasive atmosphere of oppression was one of the determining factors that led him to seek a better way of life in the new world. It happened, then, that because of many types of extreme pressures in his homeland-political, economic, cultural-and because America had become a haven of refuge and security to many of his countrymen, he too ventured upon the long voyage across the Atlantic and arrived in the harbor of Baltimore on December 19, 1893. He was not in prime physical condition at this time, for strain and exhaustion had drained his reserves but his heart was filled with a determination that was always characteristic of him and with a buoyant hope that here honest work would bring honest returns, that repression did not came with him on his long and arduous trip. In his soul he cherished the vision that he could become a force for good in this new world while he would also be a support and help for his dear ones in Slovakia. And so he began a new chapter in the young manhood of his life. He had come to America as a talented and achieving student in his fourth year of theology. He was not encumbered with misgivings or uncertainties about his life's work or objectives. Without unnecessary delay he enrolled in St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore but after an interval of illness had interrupted his seminary program, he transferred to St . Bonaventure Seminary in Allegheny, New York, where Latin was the language of instruction. His proficiency in Latin made him feel very much at home here and in two semesters he was able to complete the courses that he needed for the final rounding out of his training for the priesthood. January 13, 1895 was the date Father Jankola's ordination. He was twenty-two and had lived half of his life. From this date on, he felt in his soul that he owed filial gratitude to three persons whom he regarded in the role of father: his natural father who was very dear to him; his u ncle Father Emerich Medvecky whose Franciscan charity and solicitude saw to his education and the nurturing of his priestly vocation; and Bishop William O'Hara of Scranton who received him in America and ordained him p riest. SLOVAKIA 163 Shortly after his ordination he received his first priestly assignment: the pastorate of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston, Pennsylvania. And from this center he extended pastoral care to seven other towns where Slovak Catholic immigrants were settling. He was subsequently pastor of St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and of SS. Cyril and Methodius parish in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he died on May 5, 1916. This brief and superficially simple biographical sketch does not even suggest any of the fullness of his lifetime. It is rather the bare diagram of plotting points, each of which opened upon an individual richness of life . BACKGROUNDS The pivotal key in Father Jankola's life was his total commitment to the priesthood. The fruition of all his living was in the twenty years that followed upon his ordination. The social milieu in which he had decided upon a career of service as a priest of God rightfully had conditioned him into viewing dedication to the altar as no mere token position to be satisfied by perfunctorily discharged liturgical devotions and ceremonies-significant and beautiful as they may be. To him the office of priest meant a distinctive way of life binding the priest to serve wholeheartedly as mediator, leader, educator, philanthropist and sanctifier of his people in and for Christ. Much in the mind of Vatican II, he developed his formation and his philosophy of life in the ideal that the priest is above all for Christ and for the people. In all his subsequent endeavors this wa:s his guiding principle, his constant. Even as a growing boy and as an aware adolescent, he had lived with the realization that among his people the priest was the one individual who stood for leadership, uprightness and learning as well as for spiritual ministry, moral guidance and ethical inspiration. He was oriented to his regard for the priesthood because the ruling powers that had shackled Slovakia in many ways had also-except by rare exception- denied academic opportunities for Slovak boys and girls who aspired to professional or scientific careers. On this score, the authorities relented only to permit seminary training for the sake of the priest- 164 SLOVAKIA hood, and normal school courses in a limited way, in order to prepare some teachers for schools. The priest, then, had to be more than shepherd of souls in Slovakia. He had to be the leading light of his people in temporalities as well as in spirituality. He had to be .not only teacher and guide in virtue and goodness but also a perceptive and courageous defender of justice and the basic rights of man. This is the main reason why Slovak priests sometimes found themselves consciencebound to take a hard look even at the political atmosphere in which they and their people had to live. And seeing the realities of inequity, discrimination, cultural deprivation, oppression and spiritual bondage, they had the moral fortitude even publicly to attack these evils and defend their people and their country; they had the conviction that as the educated leaders of their people, they had to have the stamina to enter the forum of public affairs and there champion the cause of the wronged, the oppressed and the helpless whenever circumstances demanded their presence in the public arena. Various modes of oppression, overt as well as patent, often discouraged or demoralized the average citizen who was usually much preoccupied with the daily need to provide at least a living for his family. The God-given beauty of his natural surroundings often put a bit of poetry into a peasant's hard life; the lilt and loveliness of folk song and folk music warmed his heart, and the ar tistry of hand crafted work brought him some gratuitous satisfaction through creative expression but he needed the wholesomeness of opportunities to cultivate his intellectual talents and his inborn creative gifts freely and even as a lifetime career, as a professional; he needed assured liberty and justice, openness and a sense of security so that he could rise above sheer drudgery and allow his spirit to grow expansive. He needed to nourish his life of the spirit as well as the life of his body . He needed to satisfy his intellectual hunger in order to develope spiritually and to structure a sense of dignity in his life. All this the Slovak priest recognized in his parish, in his town or village, in his country. More was asked of him than is generally asked of the average priest, and he had t o be a man greater dimension that the average man. He SLOVAKIA 165 had to be capable of tactful leadership, of sound capacities for guidance and direction, of clear vission and foresight ; resourceful as well as prayerful, peace-loving yet fearless in the face of defending God-given rights, forgiving yet relentless in fighting injustice. In him converged all the likeness of Christlike being and behavior and all the paradoxes of virtue flourishing in a sin-beset world. This is the kind of life that Matthew Jankola chose with mature and deliberate will. Most importantly, this is the kind of life that he lived. Fire and ardor were of his very nature; integrity, initiative and unclouded vision were his basic assets; God, nation and fellowmen-in that order-were his top priorities; and the grit to endure was the price that he was asked to pay in the discharge of his vocation. Living here as he did under pioneering conditions among immigrants who were truly strangers in a strange land, he was imbued with characteristic missionary concern for both the material and the spiritual welfare of those around him and of those for whom he had made himself responsible. He was aware that the socio-economic circumstances which bore upon the immigrant Slovak laborer could affect him very adversely and for that reason he did not spare himself in awakening and revitalizing deep self-respect and dignity in the man who was burdened with inhuman hours and labors and even humiliation in the dank pits of coal mines, at the raging forges of steel mills, at railroad building and multiplicity of menial jobs of every description. Work itself is reasonably recognized as honorable but sometimes the conditions under which a man is compelled to work can conspire to brutalize him. And man must not spend all his working hours in just expending the strength of his muscles or he may become gross. FIRST PASTORATE It is worth noting that Bishop O'Hara appointecl. Father Jankola pastor of St. John the Baptist parish in Pittston very shortly after his ordination. He knew how urgent the need was for this parish to have a pastor and he recognized in the newly ordained Father Jankola gifts of mind and spirit that recommended him, young as h e was, for a responsible office even without seasoned ap- 166 SLOVAKIA prenticeship in parish work. Pioneering often calls for practically instant response to duty. Father Jankola never hesitated in meeting the demands of duty and Bishop O'Hara had every reason to be convinced that his trust in this pastor was well placed. With complete dedication, an unusual capacity for work and keen administrative talent, the new priest assumed the new tasks committed to him. With apostolic zeal he made it a point of his prime priestly service to reach out among the scattered Slovak Catholics of wide regions. He did not circumscribe his labors and his interests to that one Pittston parish only. He felt, rather, that all the Slovaks displaced in America were his immediate concern, and his specific responsibility to the Pittston parish of St. John the Baptist included the Slovak Catholics of seven adjoining communities commonly referred to as "places" or "plejzy." They included Sturmerville, West Pittston, Wyoming, Port Griffith, Smithville, Duryea and Pittston Junction. At this time he also traveled to the Binghamton, New York, area to serve the spiritual needs of Slovaks settling there. From the very beginning these, so to say, transplanted and still rootless people who were largely engaged in railroad building and in the shoe industry, were content to use the church facilities that were very kindly offered them by St. Patrick's parish but in 1902 Father Jankola helped them to organize their own parish under the patronal title of Saints Cyril and Methodius. Important as this was, it was enough. He next did his utmost in order to find a reasonable priest to take charge of this parish or at least to offer temporary ministry to the Binghamton Slovak community. On countless occasions when no one else was available, he himself came to provide them with Sunday services, to administer the sacraments, to advise and guide them and to inspire and encourage them to cultivate their spiritual life, much like a missionary compelled to ride h is circuit in order to bring God to man and man to God. During this pastorship in Pittston, Father Jankola also ministered to the Slovaks of Wilkes-Barre and Swoyeville ( which was called Maltby in his day) and with his sound direction and practical acumen, he helped them to build their churches. There were over eight thousand Slovaks in Wyoming Valley region around Wilkes-Barre at this time SLOVAKIA 167 and there was a steady flow of increase into this hard coal region as ship after ship brought more Slovak immigrants to American shores. From his parish base in Pittston Father Jankola indefatigably toiled among them, deeply concerned that the burdens and troubles of providing for material needs and livelihood should not crowd out of their labor-preoccupied lives the eternal truths that God bore them all in his love and that as they spent themselves on behalf of material well-being, they keep in mind and also provide for the life of the spirit and for undying values. In the early history of Slovak Catholics in the diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania, where there was a large concentration of Slovak immigrants, we find the record of these ten Slovak parishes which were established in the late nineteenth century: 1883 St. Joseph's in Hazleton 1886 St. Stephen's in Plymouth 1888 St. Joseph's in Nanticoke 1889 Holy Ghost in Olyphant 1893 St. John Nepomucene in Freeland 1894 St. John the Baptist in Pittston 1895 Holy Trinity in Maltby (later called Swoyerville ) 1895 Sacred Heart in Wilkes-Barre 1895 Holy Family in Scranton 1896 St. Michael's in Jessup Ten Roman Catholic parishes like ten significant reasons to make the heart rejoice! But then the stark realization that there were only eight Roman Catholic priests available for these parishes at this time. Two self-sacrificing priests in this area were obviously called upon to do the work of four. One of these was Fr. Jankola who looked after the parishes in Pittston and in Maltby; the other one was his friend Father Stas who took care of Olyphant and Jessup. PIONEERING PROBLEMS Overextended as these priests were, they realized that it was actually impossible to reach out to all the Slovak immigrants because they lived in such widely scattered places-some here and there in typically settled areas, others in sparse settlements and still others even in very 168 SLOVAKIA remote and unlikely pockets. And they did need the solicitous care of conscientious priets. Many newcomers mistakenly assumed a new "liberty" in America-the liberty to drink too freely, to look upon church-going as a practice better suited to the old country than to the new, to neglect the sacraments with easy abandon and live a loose life. In defense of such attitudes, they all too readily ralied on such specious observations as: "America is different." "I have a parish church at home in Europe; I'll receive the sacraments there." "I work hard all week; Sunday is my day of rest. No one should take my rest from me and tell me to go to Mass ." "Now i want to live. Later when I'm dying I'll send for a priest." Persisting in such attitudes, they would have succumbed to a generally unprincipled or amoral life. Surely they did need someone to bring them effective spiritual guidance and the conviction that freedom in America is not license to abandon religious and moral obligations. Father Jankola looked to the root of these problems. He understood that greater earnings and ready cash in America spelled greater self-reliance which sometimes tended to generate that degree of involvement with material goods that became detrimental to sound spiritually. Easier living here often brought with it a distaste for self-discipline and a laxity about receiving the sacraments. Above all, however, he saw that not a few men deliberately stayed away from church if they did not understand the word of God preached to them in a language that they did not know. This neglect of religious duty was only aggravated by an easy forgetfulness of home training and ready abandonment of many good practices learned at home and advocated in one's parish church in a distant native village or town. Unless measures were taken to offset these unfavorable trends, many otherwise well-meaning but unguided immigrants could stray far from the really good life and from devotion to God. Consequently, Father Jankola did his utmost in the discharge of his ministry and he accomplished very much good but the more he did, the more he saw still waiting to be done. On all sides he faced the need for more priests. Repeatedly he had to hear requests for priestly service, direction and help, and sorrowfully he SLOVAKIA 169 realized that he was not able to satisfy many of them. Again we have the reality that this was a missionary situation and there were not enough missionaries to serve Christ's cause among the Slovaks in it. In his efforts to resolve this problem, Father Jankola made appeals of his own. On very many occasions he wrote to his homeland, urging Slovak priests and seminarians to offer their help in America. He ·s aw that priests, who could not serve effectively abroad because of hampering factors there, would find here far more suitable conditions and climate as well as an extensive field for their zeal and dedication. Very likely, too, he was prompted to encourage other priests and seminarians to come to America from their Slovak lands because he himself had been similarly invited and encouraged by Father Furdek. Now he felt persuaded that as Father Furdek had to some degree influenced the shaping of his own decision to come to America, he too should try to draw others to serve Christ and his Church here where priests were so sorely needed. Both he and Father Furdek often described the situation and made their appeal not only in personal correspondence but also in various publications abroad to which they contributed. On his visits to relatives in Slovakia, Father Jankola never missed the opportunity of making personal contacts on behalf of interesting likely prospects to bring their priestly talents to apostolic work in America. Naturally, some of this effort went fruitless but some of it did yield returns. It is known that he was instrumental in encouraging these eight priests to come to SlovakAmerican parishes: Rev. Joseph Murgas, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska, Rev. Francis Skutil, Rev. Anthony Berhely, Rev. Joseph Martincek, Rev. Emerich Gottschall, Rev. Ferdinand Prikazky and Rev. Anthony Filkorn. Four clerical students likewise took to heart his urging and on completing their theological courses devoted their efforts to Slovak parishes in America. They were Rev. Andrew Jurica, Rev. John Sobota, Rev. John Porubsky and Rev. John Gaspercik. By his personal effort Father Jankola provided pastors for ten Slovak parishes; viz., in Torrington, Connecticut, Pana, Illinois, and these eight in Pennsylvania: Edwardsville, Tarentum, Mt. Carmel, Monessen, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre, Barnesboro, Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh) . 170 SLOVAKIA MISSION TO ROME After visiting Slovakia in 1901 and witnessing the unrelieved plight of Slovak Catholics there, Father Jankola went to Rome. The leading priests of his homeland had authorized him to act as their representative before the Holy Father and in reality he was qualified to speak on behalf of the Slovak Catholics of two continents. He brought to Rome, for presentation to the Holy Father, a three-volume collection of writings produced by outstanding Slovak scholars and a Latin brief or memorandum with which to acquaint Pope Leo XIII with the deeply regrettable plight of Slovak Catholics living under Hungarian rule and unable to make their own appeal for redress and relief. The most grievous wrong was that the Slovak language was totally proscribed among Slovak people. This restriction affected not only their everyday lives in social and business interaction but it also encroached upon their religious way of life. Even in church they were subjected to Magyar services only, even to hearing the reading of the Scriptures and the preaching of homilies and sermons in Magyar only although they did not know that language. Church schools, catechetical classes and all courses of Christian Doctrine and religious instruction, along with all other form of schooling, were ordered to use only Magyar as the language of instruction. This ruling which the Slovak populace first encountered with a sense of unbelief gradually made them more and more restive. In time, a people who had traditionally conducted themselves with exemplary respect and ideal regard for the priesthood were becoming not only resistance-prone toward their pastors who were under government control but even hostile and openly rebellious against Magyar and pro-Magyar pastors and against the Magyar hierarchy. They resented the government's interference in their worship of God and in a domain where government has no rightful authority. Since it was useless or impossible to try to negotiate this state of affairs with public officials, Rome seemed to offer the only tribunal of appeal. The document which Father Jankola brought on his visit to the Eternal City made an honest, open and respectful representation of these facts for the Holy Father's consideration. It was SLOVAKIA 171 signed by Slovak priests who had witnessed and endured what the Slovak people suffered even in their conscience and it expressed some of their fears for the future of the Church under such circumstances. On coming to Rome Father Jankola spent some time with a young Slovak cleric, the brilliant John Porubsky, who was then studying there and who also served in the apothecary of Pope Leo XIII. John Porubsky was well acquainted with a number of Church officials in diplomatic positions and with matters of protocol and effective procedures in official circles. After he had discussed the main objective of Father Jankola in Rome, he consulted with Cardinal Giacomo della Chiesa who was then Assistant Secretary of State and who later became Pope Benedict XV. Cardinal della Chiesa reviewed the memorandum carefully and decided that it warranted further referral. He took it to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Rampolla, who was much affected by the serious nature and the further implications of the reported situation. After a personal interview with Father Jankola who confirmed the facts of the memorandum from his personal witness in his homeland, he arranged for both Father Jankola and John Porubsky to see the Holy Father in a private audience. Father Jankola's meeting with Pope Leo XIII lasted two hours. Both of the Slovak representatives spoke with the Holy Father in fluent Latin and the Holy Father was so deeply moved by their report and their citing of specifics that tears of sympathy showed the intensity of his response and his concern for his suffering children. Some measures of alleviation were the outcome of this appeal to Rome, for the hierachy of Austria-Hungary was instructed to introduce reforms allowing the Slovak minority to pray and sing in Slovak and to use their native language in church and at all liturgical and worship services. There was a second spring of spiritual fervor when the meadowlands and mountainsides as well as the churches again resounded with Slovak hymns and Slovak prayers at Mass, at pilgrimages and at popular devotions. It is generally agreed that this occasion on which Father Jankola called attention to the repression which the Slovaks endured even in spiritual matters put before the thinking of ecclesiastical officials the desirability of 172 SLOVAKIA providing Slovak bishops for the Slovak people, of establishing a Slovak hierarchy that would be subject to no local authority but directly to Rome. Such a decision did not reach immediate fruition but the climate was finally favorable for this step after the First Czecho-Slova k Republic was founded in 1918. It was late in 1920 that Rome formally established a Slovak hierarchy by appointing Bishop John Vojtassak to the see of Spis Bishop Marian Blaha to the see of Banska Bystrica Bishop Charles Kmetko to the see of Nitra. They were consecrated by the Papal Nuncio on February 13, 1921. FURTHER APOSTOLIC EFFORT From Rome Father Jankola returned to his missionary and parish work. With renewer ardor he took up his labors among those to whom he fondly referred as "transplanted linden trees." With an eye to the present, he satisfied first needs first, exhorting the faithful to a truly Christian life, promoting faith and prayerfulness , reprimanding lapses, instructing the young and the not-so-young, preaching with the spoken word and the written word, and living the life that he preached. With an eye to the future, he encouraged worthy lay leadership, adjustment to the American way of life and vocations to the priesthood and religious life . Father Jankola was a realist as well as an idealist. As he toiled to build the kingdom of God spiritually in the hearts of many, he also looked after material building for this kingdom. This is attested by the fact that his zeal led him to build a total of five churches, two schools and a rectory: a church in Pittston, Wilkes-Barre and Maltby; a church and a school in Hazleton; a church a school and a rectory in Bridgeport, Connecticut. It is astounding that in the twenty years of his priesthood he could accomplish so much both for the Church and for his nation. In his ardor to work for lasting values, Father Jankola not only promoted sound spirituality and provisions for fruitful parish life, he also encouraged vocations to the pri~sthood and religious life, spent him.self in the cause of church-orient ed schools, envisioned and realized a congregation of Sisters to teach and care for the children of immigrants and perform works of mercy in the Church, SLOVAKIA 173 contributed many articles to Slovak newspapers and periodicals, sponsored and aided the publication of Slovak texts for religious instruction and language arts, and greatheartedly proposed the naming of a Slovak bishop in the United States. He felt that Father Furdek deserved the rank of bishop and that in his elevation all Slovak Catholics in this country would benefit inasmuch as they would have an official leader whose first concern would be for all levels of Church organization among American Slovaks as well as for the needs of the young, the training of seminarians, Catholic schools and schooling under the direction of qualified Slovak or Slovak-American Sisters. PARISH SCHOOLS The subject of a Catholic school system among Slovak immigrants was one of the major preoccupations of Father Jankola's life. In his second pastoral assignment he came to St. Joseph's in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, one of the two earliest American Slovak parishes, established in 1885. (The other is St. Stephen's parish in Streator, Illinois, founded in the same year.) He was the fourth pastor of St. Joseph's which already had a combination church-school building as well as a rectory and a parish cemetery. Since these physical arrangements were cared for, he turned his energy mainly to the spiritual and cultural advancement of his parishioners. With deft organizational gifts he established confraternities, spiritual societies and sodalities, providing opportunities for all age levels in the parish to participate in at last one Catholic Action group. A program of catechetical instruction was already functioning in the parish but Father Jankola felt that the time was right for introducing a fully expanded elementary curriculum in at least the earliest grades of the parish school. Miss Catherine O'Donnell was engaged as a full-time teacher for the subjects that were to be taught in English and Mr. Andrew Ondek, the parish organist, who had been conducting catechetical classes, was retained as teacher-incharge of the school and instructor in religion, Slovak and singing. Father Jankola spent much time in the school, observing, supervising, noting the progress of the pupils and the methods of instruction. Very often he himself conducted a class. This innovation of Father Jankola stirred up some 174 SLOVAK'iA feeling against him. Until this time is was the prerogative of the organist--and solely his-to be in charge of all the instruction of children in a parish school. By hiring a teacher in his experimental full-scale school, Father Jankola seemed to be jeopardizing the teacher-status of the organist. On this score misunderstandings developed all too readily, and factions formed to support one opinion and oppose the other, depending on points of view taken and loyalties involved. This matter was a painful issue for quite some time but Father Jankola steadily and gently tried to disprove the unfounded fears that had arisen and in spite of these apprehensions, he became increasingly aware of the necessity to provide for the adequate education of youth and the training of children under Christian auspices. Because of this indefatigable labors on behalf of Catholic schools, Father Jankola has often been looked upon as the apostle of the parish school among Slovaks in America. Both his admirers and his critics knew very truly that the matter of parish schools was his dearest concern-the apple of his eye, so to say. One of his favorite observations was : "Religious conviction takes first place and patriotism second; the church comes firs t and right after it, the school." He did his unwavering best to win pastors to the cause of opening and maintaining parochial schools, of convincing the faithful of the vital need for Catholic schools for their children and most importantly , he dedicated himself to the task of providing competent teachers and encouraging promising candidates to enter the teaching profession. Father Jankola rightly saw this whole area of education for the young as the fundamental need of the day. As often as he tried to deal with it, he realized that the problem only bore upon his conscience and his professional thinking with mounting insistence. For over twelve years he wrote on this subject, presenting it to his reading public in various aspects and doing his best to find a practical way to put it into operation. Even as early as 1899, when he was a young priest just four years ordained, he spoke of it very earnestly with some of the priests who were closest to him in the Scranton diocese; viz., Rev. Andrew Pavco, Rev. Dr. Alexander Dianiska and Rev. Joseph Murgas. SLOVAKIA 175 Basically, there was no difficulty in gaining a general appreciation for the Catholic school system, but the whole concept of operating Slovak Catholic schools in America had to be framed within the American way of maintaining church schools. In their homeland, the Slovaks had grown accustomed to living in a parish wholly subsidized by a patron. This meant that under patronal sponsorship all operating expenses were met by the individual, the family or the civic body that was legally titled as the patron. In America all church operations, including the pastor's salary, would have to be borne by the members of the parish. Given a school situation, besides, the struggling newcomers to America would have to assume responsibility for all its costs, including salaries for teachers. The prospect of such obligation seemed quite impossible. Yet to Father Jankola this obligation itself was not the first and foremost duty of leaders and parents; the first duty really was to provide adequate education for the young with the understanding that the adults would have to learn how to support the school as well as the church according to American practice. Definitely there was much educating of various kinds to be done, formally and informally, but Father Jankola did not shrink in the face of it all. The genius of leadership in him dictated the work to be done and the good to be accomplished. Along with these thoughts, Father Jankola could not help comparing the cultural deprivation of immigrant parents with the opportunities that America could make available to their children. He was not blind to the fact that given an education, Slovak children could better themselves in this land of opportunity on which he looked as a cultural El Dorado, a spiritual New Canaan. Above all, however, he was convinced that Slovaks in America would have to begin thinking of themselves as Americans of Slovak origin and meet all their responsibilities as such. His constant reminder to his parishioners and to all where it would apply was: "If we are to live in America, we must live the American way of life. We must learn to adjust." And he made it abundantly clear that the blessings which America held for all were not exclusively material blessings; he greatly extolled the democratic principles and the gift of true liberty which are the hallmarks of true Americanism. 176 SLOVAKIA ADULT EDUCATION In this connection of adopting concepts of true Americanism, Father Jankola also tried to provide some compensations for adult immigrants, some of whom had had only two or three winters of schooling in their childhood, some of whom had had even less. Under his iniciative, adult education classes were introduced, concentrating on basics first of all-reading and writing. It was an exhilarating experience for an unschooled laborer earnestly applying himself to an unfamiliar task suddenly to pluck his neighbor's sleeve and to shout with the heady joy of achievement: "Look! I wrote my name! I can really write my name now! This is my name! Now I won't have to make a cross instead of my name anymore!" This was a first step but it was not enough. After basics followed classes in American history and in civil government with a view toward applying for citizenship and becoming naturalized. Citizenship would mean suffrage and a real sense of belonging, a participation in the community and the country of their adoption. EDUCATION AL SURVEY After his 1899 conference with priests closest to him in the Scranton diocese, Father Jankola was convinced that it was no longer possible to defer steps for the establishment of Slovak parish schools on the elementary level. For this reason he devoted much time to a close study of the American system of education which he frankly admired. He felt that he needed this kind of information in order to guide him in developing his own thinking. He felt, too, that he needed substantial statistical data as groundwork and for this p-µrpose he undertook a comprehensive survey of existing parish facilities for the education of Slovak Catholic children. In 1900 he published a report of his findings in the Jednota Kalend<ir, revealing that a) there were very few standard parish schools which he could classify as "first class schools" b) several parishes had provided for special classes on Saturdays in order to supplement the children's public school courses with instruction in religion and language arts SLOVAKIA 177 c) the commendable though inadequate efforts of many parish organists were generally handicapped by overcrowding in classrooms as well as by merging a very broad range of mental and chronological ages into one composite group sometimes numbering up to two hundred pupils This survey concluded with an earnest exhortation that pastors spare no effort in order to establish schools comparable to the best that the American school system offers and that sound measures be taken to provide certified teachers. He knew, of course, that not all parishes were in a position to undertake a full school program but he trusted that a steady and well-reasoned campaign on behalf of parish schools would eventually be fruitful. But the building of schools would not of itself solve the problem of education in a parish school. Once the schools were built, they would have to be stuffed and he knew that there would be great difficulty in procuring desirable teachers. His survey indicated that in the schools rated as "first class," such as that in Wilkes-Barre (the only one of its kind in the Scranton diocese), as well as those in Johnstown, Shamokin, St. Ladislaus and St. Martin in Cleveland, and in Streator, Illinois were all conducted with the help of religious teachers-Sisters. He commended the Irish and German immigrants for their well-functioning schools, all directed by Sisters, and he very distinctly pointed out the fact that the Slovak people in America needed Slovak Sisters to teach in their parish schools. Man of clear vision that he was, he saw beyond that statement. His very words are: "Consequently, we need Sisters. Let us bring up our own Slovak Sisters! It is they who will preserve our faith and our nation. Reverend Fathers, and you Slovak parents, you who have in your parishes young ladies who are diligent, zealous, devout and suitable for the religious life, do feel responsible for making it possible for them to achieve this state of life. This will be a gift of the utmost value both to God and the nation; this will be a most noble offering. It is Slovak Sisters, teaching Sisters, who alone can alleviate this present educational crisis among us; 178 SLOVAKIA it is they who can save us from religious and national ruin. If we wish to live in America, we must live as Americans. This same principle was valid even in Rome. There is no other way of survival. I repeat: my brothers, Slovaks, let us establish parish schools, let us bring up our own Slovak teaching-Sisters, and God's help will support us!" As he urged priests and parents to encourage likely candidates to enter the religious life at this time, he did not mention any specific community, for he had none in mind. His survey did report that Ursulines and Sisters of St. Joseph were teaching in the Slovak schools of Cleveland, that Streator had Franciscan Sisters, and that there was " an English Sister" in the Olyphant school (Very likely a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary or a Sister of Mercy). At this point, however, the core of the problem was simply to promote vocations. It was much as if he were saying that God will not be outdone in generosity ; that if only enough vocations could be cultivated, God could be trusted to provide the agents and the agencies for the work of Christian education among Slovak immigrants. He did not know that his own faith would be put to sore testing. He did not know the ultimate design of Providence but he trusted with an unshaken confidence and he worked on with unmitigated zeal . EXPLORING TEACHER RESOURCES At the same time that Father Jankola ardently promoted the cause of Slovak Catholic parish schools, he began to make serious inquiries at various American motherhouses and provincial houses, hoping to find a community whose membership might include at least some Sisters of Slovak or Slavic origin for staffing prospective Slovak schools in America and introducing into them American principles of education along with a wholesome Christian philosophy of life. Once he would know where Sisters were available, a sound program for Christian education could be launched with full vigor and the Slovak people would adjust to the American way of supporting their own schools. He did not foresee at all how difficult it would be to procure Sisters. At least four major superiors of religious communities answered his inquiries with the revealing SLOVAKIA 179 news that even at that time it was extremely difficult for them to provide enough teachers for the schools already under their care. There was a normal increase in the population rate and as immigration figures rose, so did school enrollments increase and create a demand for expanded teaching forces. As a result of this situation, religious superiors felt that they would not be able to accept any new schools in the foreseeable future. This was a totally unwelcome but obviously prudent decision which they had to make. Disappointed beyond all expectation but still undaunted, Father Jankola next turned his appeal to European institutes. In all good faith he hoped that the old world would be able to compensate for the insufficiencies of the new. With prayerful anticipation he wrote to the Holy Cross Sisters in Moravia. He did not present to them any intimidating proposal. Very modestly he explored the possibility of obtaining a small number of Sisters, even three or four, to come to America, establish a foundation and train Slovak girls here for the religious life. He was assured that in time there would be enough applications for a flourishing self-sufficient community to develop on American soil, supported by the Slovak-American clergy and laity. Apparently there was much correspondence on this matter but promising as the outlook was at the outset, its prospects eventually dimmed and finally the issue was closed without satisfactory results. With great distress Father Jankola wrote in the Jednota Kalenddr of 1902, "For three years I have been trying to obtain Sisters from Europe, but my efforts have been in vain. Everything seems to be against us." These lines are an expression of that recurring disappointment that was to be his cross in this project, the testing of his spirit, and the price of an ideal which demanded sacrifice and suffering. Frustrated in his efforts to secure help from an already established community of Sisters, yet sufficiently disciplined not to surrender readily in the face of difficulty and repeateq disappointment, Father Jankola continued to pray, to confer with others and to plan. Since existing communities could spare him no members for the parish schools that he was promoting, the only avenue open to 180 SLOVAKIA him seemed to be to find prospective condidates of his own and to present them for training in an American sisterhood. He hoped that after their numbers increased and they had prepared themselves adequately, they might be allowed to branch off into an independent province within a mother congregation and continue their apostolate in Slovak parish schools. This suggested a very long range program but the eventual benefits would surely justify the patient waiting. All delays and price aside, one purpose of Father Jankola's efforts was to provide Sisters for the much needed task of teaching in Slovak parish schools. This was the crucial issue and the demanding challenge was where to procure them . COURAGE SUPPORTS HOPE In the spring of 1903, Father Jankola invited Slovak priests who were interested in the parish school project to meet for consultation at the Vendig Hotel in Philadelphia. He took this occasion to lay before them all his experiences in working for Slovak parish schools to this time: his hopes and disappointments, his renewed efforts and his present plan which would call for candidates from local parishes. The assembled pastors listened with evident interest. They were aware of the need to work with the young and they admired the American Catholic school system. Some endorsed the proposal and were willing to cooperate with Father Jankola. Unfortunately, there were others too who looked upon this new suggestion of his as too idealistic and extreme a venture, perhaps something out of a quixotic world and not suited to the times, not amenable to a practical approach. They did not hesitate to indicate emphatically that he could not count on them for support in such a project and they had nothing else to offer. This adverse reaction from leaders of people who lived with the realities of life in America was a blow to Father Jankola's expectations. But it did not destroy his vision or diminish that dogged persistence about him which would not let the matter rest untried. At least he knew now on whom he could count for advice and support and he had learned where it would be vain to look for help and understanding. He shored up his shattered elan and renewed his faith in the work before him. Resolved to test this plan and to have events prove SLOVAKlA 181 the validity of this approach and anxious to test whether or not such an effort was of God, Father Jankola presented his proposal to several religious oommunities in his immediate area. It is likely that he now founded his hopes on either the Mallinckrodt Sisters of Charity or on the Sisters of Mercy. He had had opportunities to observe the work of both communities on a local level because they taught in parishes near his own. He admired their spirit and evidence of dedication and he ardently hoped that he might see their influence diffused among the Slovak people, but from both communities he received an unfavorable reply. It meant just so much more disappointment and so much more need for fresh courage. EARLY PROMISE Again and again Father Jankola renewed his search for a mother community that would accept his candidates (in due time) and train them for Slovak parish schools. He even decided to appeal to the charity of a rather distant order in America, the Czech Benedictine Sisters in Chicago, Illinos. When the mail brought him a reply, it was with utmost gratitude that he read that these Sisters would b e willing to be of assistance to him. With profound relief he trusted that at last this was going to mean the realization of his prospects. With this good news to report, Father Jankola held another conference with the priests who supported his plan. At these deliberations practical measures were proposed and four specific steps were agreed upon. The first of these was the decision to accept the offer of the Benedictine Sisters and to send three aspirants to Chicago. The others were in the nature of active endorsement of Father Jankola's plan, involving the promise or agreement a ) to announce Father Jankola's plans and prospects from their pulpits b ) to preach on the subject of vocations c ) to solicit offerings to support the undertaking This last provision was embodied in a fund called St. Anthony's Treasury. The patronage of St. Anthony was chosen because this Franciscan saint beautifully exemplifies that Christian charity that provides for the needs of the poor. Now at last, although no one could foresee what the 182 SLOVAKIA future held, there seemed to be some glimmer of success at last. On the following Sunday Father Jankola preached an inspiring sermon on vocations and after the parochial mass he found an applicant in his office. Before long there were two more candidates from St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton as well as two from Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre. Now at last, hope was moving toward reality. In the fall of 1903 the first three aspirants from Hazleton were sent to the Benedictines in Chicago and the soul of Father Jankola rejoiced that the great work was launched at last while his spirit trusted that it would thrive . HOPE DEFERRED Unfortunately this joy was short-lived and this hope soon wilted. After a few short weeks Father Jankola was notified that the Superiors felt it was advisable to withdraw his candidates because they found it difficult to adjust to religious life with them. The blow fell at the very moment when two additional aspirants sat in the Wilkes-Barre railroad station holding tickets for Chicago as they waited to board the next train. Just before the train pulled into the station, their plans were abruptly changed and they returned to their homes. This was a crushing report that reached Father Jankola from Chicago. He could hardly bring himself to accept it. His first reaction was to blame the young girls for want of endurance. His own training in austerity made it difficult for him to condone their failure and apparent weakness in the face of hardship where he would have expected an almost stoic courage and strength. Gradually he was brought to realize, however, that they did not lack generosity and good will, but they were wholly unprepared for trials severe even for seasoned religious; moreover, they were still very young. Home-loving and cared-for as they had been, they were subjected to an almost traumatic and total separation from home and an absolute change from their family environment. Chicago then seemed half a world away from Hazleton. Even normal adjustment would have been necessarily gradual, but they were at once challenged with the untempered rigors of Benedictine monasticism in a community where poverty was so extreme in those SLOVAKIA 183 pioneering days that only a tried and proven spirit would have been able to endure it without difficulty. When the unhappy candidates returned from Chicago, they were not sent back to their homes or subjected to reproach and embarrassment. Instead, they were befriended and confided to the care of Father Pavco in Pittston until further development could be planned and arranged. Father Pavco then visited Father Jankola to confer with him about the situation. He found him shaken and extremely tried by this new disappointment. NEW HOPE In his sympathetic efforts to comfort his friend, Father Pavco called Father Jankola's attention to the "Blue Sisters" of the Immaculate Heart of Mary who conducted St. John the Evangelist School in Pittston just across the street from his own church and rectory. As he spoke, Father Pavco became more and more enthusiastic about the spirit and attitudes of these Sisters, and finally he suggested that Father Jankola consult with their Reverend Mother at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. As a glowing climax he remarked, "I understand that her name is Mother Mary Cyril. Our common patron may help here; let us try in the name of God." Discouraged though he was by the latest setback to his hopes and beset by numerous other problems besides. Father Jankola agreed with Father Pavco that it would be advisable to try again; but he approached the new possibility with a measure of caution added to his natural reserve. On his first visit to Mother Cyril he conferred with her only on the prospect of enrolling the daughter of one of his parishioners at her boarding school. He did not mention the real burden that lay on his heart like a cross . Before long, however, Father Jankola made another appointment with Mother Cyril. On his initial visit he had found her so gracious that he was encouraged to present his key problem to her on this second visit. Again he found her ideally understanding. This does not mean that she at once gave him any definite assurance but she received him with such Christlike sympathy and such evidence of maternal regard for the needs of young girls that he con- 184 SLOVAKIA sidered the consultation worthwhile, to say the least, and returned home with great admiration for her, confidence in her judgment and renewed hope for the all-but-lost undertaking. Providence ordained that Mother Cyril should be the answer to Father Jankola's prayers. With the consent of her Council she accepted his candidates and trained them with unexampled care and solicitude within the shelter of her own religious family. In fact, they were so close to her own Sisters that for some time it was not even clear whether they would eventually become an independent community or whether they were to be an element added to hers. TOWARD FRUITION When she first received the young girls at Mount St. Mary's in 1903, Mother Cyril did not immediately place them under monastic novitiate discipline but rather kept them in the boarding academy as students who were to be formed into candidates for the religious life by gradual measures. They were permitted to spend the school vacation at home and on such occasions they often became an inspiration to others and attracted new vocations. These students were maintained at Mount St. Mary's through funds from St. Anthony's Treasury which was supported by the mites of hard-working and generous people and the offerings for votive candles in Slovak churches. From November 21, 1903, when they first came to the Mount, their status was that of students. On January 6, 1906, three of them became postulants. In March of the same year Mother Cyril informed Father Jankola that his group would not be identified with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This implied that they were to form their own community. Father Jankola accepted this decision and suggested the name "Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius" as a possible designation for the prospective Slovak community. On July 26, 1906, the first members were clothed in a distinctive black habit, Bishop Hoban presiding at the reception ceremony. The fruit of arduous work and confident prayer was beginning to mature but its maturing exacted a further price. Father Jankola paid the greater part of it by bearing not only the normal burden of concern but also painful SLOVAKIA 185 misunderstandings and unreasonable demands from parish sources. He even withdrew somewhat from the project after it was safely launched, willing to deny himself the satisfaction that should have been the reward of a work brought to successful fruition after many bitter and disillusioning trials. Much of his sorrow on this score was caused by more or less well-meaning individuals who hounded him and persecuted him severely because they saw in the promise of a teaching community only the ousting of organists from teaching posts in the parish schools. They believed that this would inevitably follow upon the success of Father Jankola's project. Blinded in their narrow reasoning, they would not face facts reasonably or accept the reality which indicated only too clearly that their parish schools in America were fast outgrowing the capacities of their organists reserve and that they had no other teachers with or without adequate training to conduct schools according to American standards. The Sisters were expected to relieve an existing need, not to create a new difficulty. Organists would not necessarily have to give up all their classes. It was one of those struggles which often arise when the old order of life must yield to the newer way and cannot do so gracefully. Added to this, however, there was also a painfully critical attitude making itself within clerical ranks. Several priests still doubted the timeliness and the wisdom of Father Jankola's efforts. At first they merely refused to cooperate, later they voiced objections and even spoke of other plans of their own. In spite of his stoic exterior and his disciplined habits of conduct, Father Jankola~s soul and sensibilities were deeply refined and sensitive. It hurt him inexpressibly to be ranked as a visionary when with all his soul he bent his energies to practical matters and used very realistic means to attain vitally urgent results. He suffered keenly because of all the conflicts brewing in his Hazleton parish and when there seemed to be no other solution, he decided to leave the scene of so much bitterness and open hostility, at least until the storm should spend itself. This parish had grown very dear to him. When its original wooden church burned to the ground in 1905, he worked indefatigably to raise funds for a new structure 186 SLOVAK.IA of natural stone. Within two years he collected twelve thousand dollars, a lordly sum in a day of low wages and small incomes in the midst of a struggling community of miners and common laborers. He had the largeness of vision and the natural capacity to plan a church of unique beauty and to execute his plans in spacious proportions, artistic in design and as inspiring as a prayer. St. Joseph's in Hazleton is a worthy memorial to his priestly service there and to the spirit of Slovak pioneers in the area. TRANSFER TO BRIDGEPORT In the fall of 1907 Father Jankola took a leave of absence from the Scranton diocese and was received with joy by the people of Bridgeport, Connecticut, who were then organizing the parish of SS. Cyril and Methodius. He wrote to Mother Cyril, "I thought I would make a solitary living here, like a hermit, after much trouble, trial and injustice. But my work is not yet done . . . I have to continue to take care of the future religious institution that I have started with God's help and St. Anthony's intercession." He would not be a derelict to duty no matter what it cost him in personal pain. He would stand by his ideals and convictions. Alth0ugh Father Jankola expected eventually to return to Hazleton his missionary zeal so engrossed him in the organization of parishes in the New England region that he finally transferred to the Hartford diocese. Besides his pastoral work in St. Cyril's, he also undertook the spiritual care of Slovaks in Webster, Massachusett s, and made missionary trips to Stamford, Torrington, New Britain and surrounding settlements in Connecticut. He was untiring pastor and missionary in new surroundings again. He kept in touch with Mother Cyril through correspondence. With her he assigned the Sisters to their firs t teaching mission at Sacred Heart parish in Wilkes-Barre while disclosing to her the demands being made on him. "We have only three Slovak Sisters-how can we send them to four parishes?" he wrote her in 1908. Yet in his concern for the cherished project, he maintained an unselfishness that commands administratio n as always leaning toward the common good. When the first Sisters were to be sent on a teaching mission, he made the disinterested recommenda tion to assign them either to Wilkes- SLOVAKIA 187 Barre or to Lansford although he would have been justified in directing them to either of the equally large parishes of his own endeavors-Hazleton or Bridgeport. FIRST AMERICAN-SLOVAK SISTERS In August 1909, Bishop Hoban brought from Rome the Holy See's decree of approval for the new community. On September 1, 1909, the first Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius made public profession of vows and the community emerged as a new family in the Church. Before the close of Mother Cyril's term of office, they were ready to open a motherhouse of their own. For ten years their formation had been under the immediate guidance of Mother Cyril at Mount St. Mary's. At last the tender seed which had been long hidden in the darkness of Father Jankola's secret hopes and prayers, long prepared through seasons of doubt and storm and the intermittent sunshine of hope and promise, often exposed to tears and blessings, now sprang in good soil and, tended with paternal care and maternal understanding, was ready to yield glory to God through a harvest of service among the Slovak people. As some of the Sisters undertook teaching in the parish schools, additional recruits were being prepared as novices and postulants in the novitiate or as students at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton. After twelve years from the time of their entry into Mount St. Mary's the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius became a wholly independent community. This status was attained in 1915 after their first General Chapter elected a Mother General and a Council for internal government. Father Jankola was happy indeed to see the Sisters making progress. He continued to be interested in their welfare but denied himself the satisfaction of overseeing or directing their development. From all sides he was harassed by demands for teachers but once the stability of the Community was established, he allowed it to mature on its own and to learn to shoulder responsibility independently. PASTORSHIP IN BRIDGEPORT In Bridgeport Father Jankola continued his work, which demanded tireless energy, prudent planning and great fortitude. He was equal to the challenge. His parishione11s found him serious and purposeful, dilligent and 188 SLOVAK.IA circumspect, devout and fatherly. With him first things inexorably came first. Religion and spiritual interests held priority over all other considerations but close in second place were patriotism as well as the arts and social graces, and finally a balanced concern for temporalities. Under hls direction the parish was firmly established and within a year it had six active societies as well as an excellent choir, a dramatic club and an evening school for adult education. These evening classes became very popular and profitable. They lasted from eight to ten o'clock and in time they offered mathematics and English taught by Mr. Michael Senko on Monday; Slovak by Father Jankola on Tuesday; community singing by Mr. George Lukac on Thursday, and dramatics by Mr. Joseph Michalek on Sunday. Additional subjects were included later to enable parishioners to prepare for naturalization. For the children there were daily catechetical classes which Father Jankola himself conducted after the pupils were dismissed from public school. Within five years Father Jankola managed to have the parish clear a debt of over sixteen thousand dollars. The church which he then built for seventy thousand dollars is a magnificent cruciform structure of white brick with a seating capacity of one thousand. It was the fifth church which he planned and erected, and with its inspiring splendor it is the crown of his building effort. A severely simple frame rectory was all that he permitted for his own needs. To make provisions for a school he built a plain four-room structure planned to double for a parish hall . It, too, was severely simple and those who loved it did not mind sometimes referring to it as "Noah's Ark." His Sisters came to take charge of this school in 1910 and it must have been with intense yet complex emotion that he at last saw the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius at work teaching in his own school. Within the parish itself Father Jankola fanned a great flame of spiritual activity. The Confraternity of the Holy Rosary was canonically established and it flourished amid these people who exulted, "We have brought Kosice to America," for the rosary was a traditional family devotion among them, awakening for them fond memories of pilgrimages to the beloved Marian shrine in the Slovak city of Kosice. A deeper spirituality was cultivated among those SLOVA.K:IA 189 who joined the Third Order of St. Francis and the Altar Society. A canonically founded Sodality and the Holy Name Society held Christian ideals before the eyes of the young. It is remarkable that Father Jankola invariably attended the meetings of all these societies and each time left some lesson or ponderable thought with the members to inspire or to enlighten them. Through the choir and the dramatic guild he aimed to make art the handmaid of religion. Church music, folk singing, and classic compositions all had their place and were rendered with feeling and skill under the direction of Mr. George Lukac. Father Jankola had recognized musical talent in him when he was yet a schoolboy and sent him to St. Procopius College in Lisle, Illinois, to develop his talent. Then he offered him the position of organist at St. Cyril's. Born of mutual regard, a strong bond of devotion developed between the two. Drama under Father Jankola's guidance included a wide variety of presentations from monologues and skits through interludes and plays to grand productions like " St. Elizabeth," "St. Genevieve," and "Fabiola." Each one was staged before a packed house usually in a spacious hall rented for the occasion and it lent the entire community the aspects of festivity and a parish holiday. For major plays Father Jankola took the trouble to rent costumes and hire a make-up crew from the theatrical centers of New York City, and he saw to it that the staging was a satisfying piece of dramatic art. It is no wonder that his parishioners idolized him. On all occasions he was an inspiration and edification to them. He may have appeared forbiddingly stern and exacting, but they knew that his heart was warm and fatherly. The priest in him was always at their service, hearing confessions every day of the week even on Sundays, answering every call as soon as it came though he was without benefit of an assistant, ready to advise, admonish, comfort, help or serve in whatever the need might be. It was generally recognized and appreciated that he did the work of three priests. Despite all the demands made on him, his parish was in enviable order and he managed a tremendous amount of work for the general public. Scholarly and cultural interests were his hobby. It is interesting that 190 SLOVAKIA shortly before his death he began the study of Hebrew under a private tutor. THE WRITER One stands in admiration of the consuming energy with which he must have worked, for apart from all these accomplishments there is the steady stream of articles, stories, reports and instructions that came from his pen. He was a recognized leader in Slovak national life also, for only six years after coming to this country, he was elected supreme president of the Jednota organization (1900) . (The First Catholic Slovak Union-a benevolent society with nationwide membership.) From 1904 to 1908 he was a member of the Jednota judiciary council. In 1910 he was editor of the "Jednota" weekly as well as of its annual or almanac . In 1908 and again after Furdek's death, he was chosen spiritual director of the Jednota. He likewise promoted the interests of the "Katolicky Sokol," contributed many articles to its news organ and served one term as spiritual director of this athletic and fraternal organization. He warmly endorsed the children's paper "Priatel' Dietok," which was sponsored by the Sokol. He encouraged pastors, parents, and teachers to support it, and highly complimented the pupils of his school when their contributions appeared on its pages. THE LEADER Among the Slovak priests, especially in the eastern part of the country, Father Jankola always enjoyed a degree of prestige. He was generally esteemed their leader. It was he who first banded them together in 1903 for the purpose of discussing common problems like education and the training of future priests and Sisters. It was he who promoted an organization of priests in the eastern states just a year before his death. He was identified with many national drives and movements; he signed the Code of American Slovak Journalists in 1897; he initiated the National Fund (also in 1897) to promote national interests and to sponsor worthy projects. He undertook the founding of a men's Slovak Benedictine priorate and a men's Slovak Franciscan province in the United States. By 1910 he urged that steps be taken to recommend SLOVAKIA 191 the appointment of a Slovak bishop in this country and suggested that Father Furdek be named the candidate since he was "the first, the most learned, the most respected, and the best loved Slovak priest in America." In 1916 he initiated a Peter's Pence drive among the Slovaks in America. These are some of the major achievements he accumulated before death closed the door of life upon him at the age of forty-three. And he aspired to more. He even dared hope to transplant his Sisters to Europe, "First opening a house in Velehrad, Moravia, where St. Methodius is buried," as he visualized his dream. In his greatness of vision he had hoped that they might "be the instrument in God's hand for the conversion of Slav schismatics to Rome, where St. Cyril died." These are some of the hopes of which he once wrote to Mother Cyril. UNTIMELY DEATH But death stilled his ardent hopes and healed his wounds. Added to all the trials borne so courageously there descended upon him yet the cruelty of a most painful hoax. Spent as he was with unstinted labor and exertion, it took the agony of something like this to crush his very last energies. Manfully he tried to bury the hurt but it worked its havoc and undermined his strength. On Easter Sunday, April 23, 1916, he was stricken as he preached at High Mass and he died quietly on May 5, mourned by thousands and appreciated even more in death than he was in life. After the funeral services at the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Father Jankola was buried in St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport, Connecticut. In connection with their Golden Jubilee observances in 1959, however, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius arranged to have their founder's remains transferred to Danville where they are interred in the Community cemetery at Villa Sacred Heart. CONCLUSION It has been said with truth that Father Jankola was to the spiritual life what Father Furdek was to the national life of the Slovak people in America. To the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius he is the gardener to whom God entrusted the seed of their congregation, charging him to plant it, to water it with his 192 SLOVAKlA tears and sufferings, to warm it with his undying love. At the moment the seed sprouted and its first promising shoots appeared, at that moment in a Profession Ceremony, he said joyfully and humbly, "You are my joy, you are my crown, you are my glory." BIBLIOGRAPHY Archival materials at the Motherhouse of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and in Jankola Library, Danville, Pennsylvania. These include: a) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola b) personal correspondence of and with Father Jankola's sisters, Louisa and Inna c) documents d) several books of rare parish records entrusted to the Sisters Furdek, Stefan, "Z Ameriky." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo. I. Rufomberok, Osvald, 1893. Gregorovic, Sister M. Consuela, SS.C.M., Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States. Modification of thesis submitted to the Catho.Jic University of America, 1944. DanviLle, Pennsylvania, Golden Jubilee Publication of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1958-1959. Hrusovsky, Frantisek, Slovenske rehole v Amerike. Cleveland, Slovensky ustav, 1955. Slovenske dejiny. 4th ed. Turciansky Svaty Martin, Matica Slovenska, 1940. Jankola, Matus, "crty z katolickej slovenskej farnosti v Pittston, Pa." Osvald, Fr. Richard, Tovarysstvo, III. Ruzomberok, Osvald , 1900. Jednota (Weekly newspaper) . Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 19011916 passim. Jednota Kalendar. (annual ). Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota. 19001931 passim. Medvecky, Karol A., Cirkevne pomery katolickych Slovakov v niekdajsom Uhorsku, Ruzomberok, Nakl. vlast., 1920. Pauco, Jozef, Matus Jan.kola, knaz a narodovec. Danville, Pennsylvania, Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Slovenska rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda. Slovensky spolok sv. Anny vo Wyoming V.alley, Pa. 1957. 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty. Cleveland, Ohio, I.K.S.J. , 1965. Slovenski priekopnici. Middletown, Pennsylvania, Jednota, 1972. Petra~ek, Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M., Brief History of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Danville, Pennsylvania , Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, 1959. Scotus Viator (Seton Watson), Racial Problems in Hungary, London , Archibald Constable, 1908. Spolok sv. Vojtecha, Katolicke Slovensko. Trnava, SSV, 1933. Spirko, Jozef, Cirkevne dejiny s osobitnym zretel'om na vyvin cirkevnych dejin Slovenska. 2 vol. Turc. Sv. Martin, Neografia, 1943.  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 Matthew Jankola 1872-1916 Description An account of the resource Sister M. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 161-192 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tybor, Sister M. Martina, SS.C.M. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/348c9e368340f6a63da731e0014e654c.pdf c537df93b1f349f71cf242f6784c9fe6 PDF Text Text 158 SLOVAKIA Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedhk, O.S.B. (JANUARY 11, 1800 - DECEMBER 12, 1895 ) Slovakia's noted physicist, Stefan A. Jedlik, Order of Saint Benedict, almost spanned the nineteenth century in his lifetime. A native of Zemne, Nove Zamky district in southern Slovakia, the Benedictine scientist patented a total of seventy-eight ( 78) inventions, the most notable being an electro-rotary machine, an electro-motor, a dynamo and a lightning-rod. The talented youth studied at Trnava, Bratislava and Budapest. He excelled not only in Philosophy and Theology but also in Mathematics and History. At the age of 22 he earned his doctorate in Physics and began his long and distinguished career in teaching and scientific experimentation as a member of the Benedictines. After teaching six years at the Benedictine Junior College in the town of Rab, he was assigned to the Royal Academy in Bratislava to teach mathematics, Physics and natural science until 1840 when he was sent to the University of Budapest to be a professor in the Physics department. Here he remained for more than a half century until his death close to the end of the century whose dawning he missed by some ten days, and whose closing he missed by 5 years. At the University of Budapest the renowned teacher of Physics met his life-long friend and associate, Dr. Jozef Pecval, a fellow Slovak professor of Physics who was destined to make notable contributions to photography. The two Slovak scientists collaborated in several projects and succeeded in developing a microscope for industrial tLSe and perfected a process and machine for the manufacture of high grade optical instruments. As a matter of historical record, Jedlik produced a dynamo and secured patent rights in 1861 , fully a half dozen years before Werner Siemens, for some mysterious reason was credited with the discovery of the dynamo in the year 1867. This strange event, incidentally, was the forerunner of what happened in the case of Father Murgas �SLOVAKIA 159 of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Slovak priest-pioneer in wireless telegraphy successfully transmitted a message from WilkesBarre to Scranton, Pa. (a distance of ten miles) in 1905 and secured patent rights to his invention in Washington, D. C. Nevertheless, he lost out to Marconi who perfected the device several years later and has been considered as the sole inventor of the Radio. Such is the irony of human history that somehow the scientific world is reluctant to acknowledge more than one individual in the final choice of a candidate for fame and immortality. Objective research, however, leaves no doubt of the real facts in either case. In our books both Jedlik and Murgas are indelibly registered forever as co-inventors of the dynamo and radio respectively in the 19th and 20th century. So far , we Slovaks claim the following immortals in science : 1 ) stefan A. Jedlik, 2) Jozef M. Pecval, 3) I van B. Zoch, another famous physicist, 4) Jozef Murgas, 5) General Milan R. Stefanik, renowned astronomer, 6) Aurelius Stodola, turbine expert in Switzerland, 7) Stefan Bani<\ inventor of the parachute in Greenville, Pa. in 1914. As a supplement we might add that Jedlik foresaw the splitting of the atom a hundred years ahead of his time, for in his writings he declares that by use of electrical power and pressure the atom could be smashed and become a source of tremendous energy. When the job was finally done during World War II, it opened the door for the production of the first atomic bomb. Jedlik's experiments were performed in his small · apartment because the university authorities would not permit him to conduct experiments in the school's laboratories along the lines he wished and according to his standards. Some saw in the ban a clear-cut case of Magyar chauvinism, others were prompted to discourage his widescale experimentation because of potential danger of an explosion of great magnitude, if his "wild" theories would succeed. If it was the fear of possible consequences, we cannot blame his superiors. Yet, in view of the ultimate outcome of atomic development along the same lines, who knows but that the genial Slovak Benedictine monastic genius might have been the first to split the atom, and harnessed unbelievable power for peaceful and not warlike uses. �160 SLOVAKIA Our claims for Slovak scientists are not arbitrary. They rest solidly on facts, and hence we feel that future historians must re-adjust these facts and harmonize them with the proper identities. Otherwise, history, too often dismissed as prejudicial will continue to repeat a chapter of fiction and pass it off as fact when the true record of two of our foremost Slovak scientists remains obscure, and if not altogether unknown, at least unpublicized and unknown by the general public. In the interest of truth the proper labels must at last be attached and inscribed posthumously to honor our fellow Slovak countrymen in a genuine hall of fame. A. V. Pier, 0. S. B . SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA - supports freedom and independence of Slovakia; promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, and desires ; makes America better known to Slovakia and Slovakia better known to America in the interest of world peace, freedom and security; has a scholarship program for college and university students ; promotes cooperation among all American-Slovak organizations and publications for the promulgations of Slovak ethnic heritage. is a charter member of the Slovak World Congress. Life membership: $100.00 For further information, write to: Slovak League of America 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057 � 158 SLOVAKIA Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedhk, O.S.B. (JANUARY 11, 1800 - DECEMBER 12, 1895 ) Slovakia's noted physicist, Stefan A. Jedlik, Order of Saint Benedict, almost spanned the nineteenth century in his lifetime. A native of Zemne, Nove Zamky district in southern Slovakia, the Benedictine scientist patented a total of seventy-eight ( 78) inventions, the most notable being an electro-rotary machine, an electro-motor, a dynamo and a lightning-rod. The talented youth studied at Trnava, Bratislava and Budapest. He excelled not only in Philosophy and Theology but also in Mathematics and History. At the age of 22 he earned his doctorate in Physics and began his long and distinguished career in teaching and scientific experimentation as a member of the Benedictines. After teaching six years at the Benedictine Junior College in the town of Rab, he was assigned to the Royal Academy in Bratislava to teach mathematics, Physics and natural science until 1840 when he was sent to the University of Budapest to be a professor in the Physics department. Here he remained for more than a half century until his death close to the end of the century whose dawning he missed by some ten days, and whose closing he missed by 5 years. At the University of Budapest the renowned teacher of Physics met his life-long friend and associate, Dr. Jozef Pecval, a fellow Slovak professor of Physics who was destined to make notable contributions to photography. The two Slovak scientists collaborated in several projects and succeeded in developing a microscope for industrial tLSe and perfected a process and machine for the manufacture of high grade optical instruments. As a matter of historical record, Jedlik produced a dynamo and secured patent rights in 1861 , fully a half dozen years before Werner Siemens, for some mysterious reason was credited with the discovery of the dynamo in the year 1867. This strange event, incidentally, was the forerunner of what happened in the case of Father Murgas �SLOVAKIA 159 of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Slovak priest-pioneer in wireless telegraphy successfully transmitted a message from WilkesBarre to Scranton, Pa. (a distance of ten miles) in 1905 and secured patent rights to his invention in Washington, D. C. Nevertheless, he lost out to Marconi who perfected the device several years later and has been considered as the sole inventor of the Radio. Such is the irony of human history that somehow the scientific world is reluctant to acknowledge more than one individual in the final choice of a candidate for fame and immortality. Objective research, however, leaves no doubt of the real facts in either case. In our books both Jedlik and Murgas are indelibly registered forever as co-inventors of the dynamo and radio respectively in the 19th and 20th century. So far , we Slovaks claim the following immortals in science : 1 ) stefan A. Jedlik, 2) Jozef M. Pecval, 3) I van B. Zoch, another famous physicist, 4) Jozef Murgas, 5) General Milan R. Stefanik, renowned astronomer, 6) Aurelius Stodola, turbine expert in Switzerland, 7) Stefan Bani<\ inventor of the parachute in Greenville, Pa. in 1914. As a supplement we might add that Jedlik foresaw the splitting of the atom a hundred years ahead of his time, for in his writings he declares that by use of electrical power and pressure the atom could be smashed and become a source of tremendous energy. When the job was finally done during World War II, it opened the door for the production of the first atomic bomb. Jedlik's experiments were performed in his small · apartment because the university authorities would not permit him to conduct experiments in the school's laboratories along the lines he wished and according to his standards. Some saw in the ban a clear-cut case of Magyar chauvinism, others were prompted to discourage his widescale experimentation because of potential danger of an explosion of great magnitude, if his "wild" theories would succeed. If it was the fear of possible consequences, we cannot blame his superiors. Yet, in view of the ultimate outcome of atomic development along the same lines, who knows but that the genial Slovak Benedictine monastic genius might have been the first to split the atom, and harnessed unbelievable power for peaceful and not warlike uses. �160 SLOVAKIA Our claims for Slovak scientists are not arbitrary. They rest solidly on facts, and hence we feel that future historians must re-adjust these facts and harmonize them with the proper identities. Otherwise, history, too often dismissed as prejudicial will continue to repeat a chapter of fiction and pass it off as fact when the true record of two of our foremost Slovak scientists remains obscure, and if not altogether unknown, at least unpublicized and unknown by the general public. In the interest of truth the proper labels must at last be attached and inscribed posthumously to honor our fellow Slovak countrymen in a genuine hall of fame. A. V. Pier, 0. S. B . SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA - supports freedom and independence of Slovakia; promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, and desires ; makes America better known to Slovakia and Slovakia better known to America in the interest of world peace, freedom and security; has a scholarship program for college and university students ; promotes cooperation among all American-Slovak organizations and publications for the promulgations of Slovak ethnic heritage. is a charter member of the Slovak World Congress. Life membership: $100.00 For further information, write to: Slovak League of America 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057 � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 158 SLOVAKIA Slovak Scientist Stefan A. Jedhk, O.S.B. (JANUARY 11, 1800 - DECEMBER 12, 1895 ) Slovakia's noted physicist, Stefan A. Jedlik, Order of Saint Benedict, almost spanned the nineteenth century in his lifetime. A native of Zemne, Nove Zamky district in southern Slovakia, the Benedictine scientist patented a total of seventy-eight ( 78) inventions, the most notable being an electro-rotary machine, an electro-motor, a dynamo and a lightning-rod. The talented youth studied at Trnava, Bratislava and Budapest. He excelled not only in Philosophy and Theology but also in Mathematics and History. At the age of 22 he earned his doctorate in Physics and began his long and distinguished career in teaching and scientific experimentation as a member of the Benedictines. After teaching six years at the Benedictine Junior College in the town of Rab, he was assigned to the Royal Academy in Bratislava to teach mathematics, Physics and natural science until 1840 when he was sent to the University of Budapest to be a professor in the Physics department. Here he remained for more than a half century until his death close to the end of the century whose dawning he missed by some ten days, and whose closing he missed by 5 years. At the University of Budapest the renowned teacher of Physics met his life-long friend and associate, Dr. Jozef Pecval, a fellow Slovak professor of Physics who was destined to make notable contributions to photography. The two Slovak scientists collaborated in several projects and succeeded in developing a microscope for industrial tLSe and perfected a process and machine for the manufacture of high grade optical instruments. As a matter of historical record, Jedlik produced a dynamo and secured patent rights in 1861 , fully a half dozen years before Werner Siemens, for some mysterious reason was credited with the discovery of the dynamo in the year 1867. This strange event, incidentally, was the forerunner of what happened in the case of Father Murgas SLOVAKIA 159 of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. The Slovak priest-pioneer in wireless telegraphy successfully transmitted a message from WilkesBarre to Scranton, Pa. (a distance of ten miles) in 1905 and secured patent rights to his invention in Washington, D. C. Nevertheless, he lost out to Marconi who perfected the device several years later and has been considered as the sole inventor of the Radio. Such is the irony of human history that somehow the scientific world is reluctant to acknowledge more than one individual in the final choice of a candidate for fame and immortality. Objective research, however, leaves no doubt of the real facts in either case. In our books both Jedlik and Murgas are indelibly registered forever as co-inventors of the dynamo and radio respectively in the 19th and 20th century. So far , we Slovaks claim the following immortals in science : 1 ) stefan A. Jedlik, 2) Jozef M. Pecval, 3) I van B. Zoch, another famous physicist, 4) Jozef Murgas, 5) General Milan R. Stefanik, renowned astronomer, 6) Aurelius Stodola, turbine expert in Switzerland, 7) Stefan Bani<\ inventor of the parachute in Greenville, Pa. in 1914. As a supplement we might add that Jedlik foresaw the splitting of the atom a hundred years ahead of his time, for in his writings he declares that by use of electrical power and pressure the atom could be smashed and become a source of tremendous energy. When the job was finally done during World War II, it opened the door for the production of the first atomic bomb. Jedlik's experiments were performed in his small · apartment because the university authorities would not permit him to conduct experiments in the school's laboratories along the lines he wished and according to his standards. Some saw in the ban a clear-cut case of Magyar chauvinism, others were prompted to discourage his widescale experimentation because of potential danger of an explosion of great magnitude, if his "wild" theories would succeed. If it was the fear of possible consequences, we cannot blame his superiors. Yet, in view of the ultimate outcome of atomic development along the same lines, who knows but that the genial Slovak Benedictine monastic genius might have been the first to split the atom, and harnessed unbelievable power for peaceful and not warlike uses. 160 SLOVAKIA Our claims for Slovak scientists are not arbitrary. They rest solidly on facts, and hence we feel that future historians must re-adjust these facts and harmonize them with the proper identities. Otherwise, history, too often dismissed as prejudicial will continue to repeat a chapter of fiction and pass it off as fact when the true record of two of our foremost Slovak scientists remains obscure, and if not altogether unknown, at least unpublicized and unknown by the general public. In the interest of truth the proper labels must at last be attached and inscribed posthumously to honor our fellow Slovak countrymen in a genuine hall of fame. A. V. Pier, 0. S. B . SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA - supports freedom and independence of Slovakia; promotes a better understanding and appreciation of the Slovak nation, its history, culture, traditions, and desires ; makes America better known to Slovakia and Slovakia better known to America in the interest of world peace, freedom and security; has a scholarship program for college and university students ; promotes cooperation among all American-Slovak organizations and publications for the promulgations of Slovak ethnic heritage. is a charter member of the Slovak World Congress. Life membership: $100.00 For further information, write to: Slovak League of America 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057  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 Slovak Scientist Štefan A. Jedlík, O.S.B. Description An account of the resource A. V. Pier Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 158-160 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pier, Andrew W., 1910-2003 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/08d5dfb27099da59c654353436eae865.pdf f1cfa1368435b9771e0131c6c16f56a1 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 153 An Introduction to Slovak Costume We are guite familiar with the old French proverb, "The habit does not make the monk." This popular adage implies that a man's clothes can be misleading with regard to his personality. When individual cases are concerned, this maxim may be true but taken collectively, national costumes frequently run parallel with the history of a people. This fact can be observed quite readily in the study of Slovak peasant costume. Such research reveals the characteristics of a people deprived of their national freedom and who sought compensation under oppression by dauntlessly expressing their cultural force. When all other means of national self-expression was denied them, the Slovak People relied on the handicrafts of the peasant people to perpetuate the national thought of the race and in this category embroidery and needle work played an important part.I Artistic expression among the Slovaks was not limited to the art academies and cultural institutions. It was developed to a remarkable extent in the home. The pottery, wood-carving and ceramics found there bore the hallmark of distinction. Volumes could be written dealing with the artistic productions of the Slovak people but let it suffice to say that today a great deal of Slovak art is being exhibited in museums throughout Europe and being the work of an oppressed people, there is no indication of their true origin. A study of Slovak costume design can prove to be quite interesting due to its distinctive character, bright colors, variety and uniqueness. A love of color and a sensitivity to its use are part of the Slovak heritage. To the uninitiated, the costumes may appear as a conglomeration of colored fabrics, ribbons, floral patterns and lace but to those who are familiar with Slovak culture, all of these elements are but an outward expression of the inner soul of the people. Basically, in relation to costume design, the Slovaks can be classified into two distinct groups. The Slovaks �154 SLOVAKIA of the mountain districts and the Slovaks of the more prosperous South. It was among the Slovaks of the mountains that the earliest and most characteristic examples of Slovak peasant garb are found. They were patterned in simple straight lines and were decorated with geometrical designs while the natural white color of the material was retained. The Slovaks of the South were distinguished by their use of bright colors. During the course of time their styles were modified by foreign influences but remined effective owing to harmonious color blends. The difference in dress emphasizes the contrast between the fiery temperament of the southern Slovak and the soft, pensive and melancholy character of the mountaineer. The national dress of the peasant originated in the home and each member of the family cooperated in its execution. The women worked on the embroidery and lace during the long winter months when their fingers resumed their dexterity after a busy summer spent in the fields . It was a common sight to see several women of a village combining their talents to produce the bridal attire of a young girl. Every garment was a heirloom passed on to succeeding generations and each contributed its little quota of embellishment or modified whatever was unsuited for the occasion. In Slovak embroidery may be traced the whole technique of artistic needle-work design and one continually comes across articles of clothing, especially baby linens and churching-cloths, which, we are amazed to find , must have taken a life time to prepare.2 In its earliest form, the ordinary costume consisted of an undercloth of hemp, a wooly "halena" and a divided kilt. As time passed this original form was ornamented so that its simple character was shown to the best advantage and it attained its highest aesthetic value . Accompanying the gradual improvements in style and color was the tendency of each village to fashion a costume peculiar to itself. It has been noted by some historians that at one period in history there had been over thirty-five distinct national Slovak costumes. In Slovakia everyone became aware of an approaching holiday. Preparations began weeks in advance and the women vied with each other in exhibiting their holiday �SLOVAKIA Costume from town of Detva 155 �156 SLOVAKIA attire. The underskirts of the women were considered quite fashionable and they were proudly displayed. They were well gathered and often trimmed with lace or seasonal bands of color. To add a touch of variety, the front of the skirt was usually made of printed materials. Over the skirt a kind of dress was worn called a "kabat". The week-day dress was made of dark colors; in holiday outfits brighter colors predominated. The linen waist or bodice was unique. Its white puffed sleeves were trimmed with lace and embroidery from the shoulder to the elbow. The embroidery was so exquisite that the underside was almost as perfect as the upper. In some districts the women pleated their attire in sharp folds while the material was damp and left it to dry crisp in the sun. This fashion is now considered quite archaic and likened to the folds in the clothes of the ancient Greeks. During the penitential seasons of the Church, th~ women modified their costume by wearing subdued colors, drawing their sleeves tightly around the arms and trimmed underskirt in purple or somber colors. It has been remarked that the villagers were prompted by a strong sense of local solidarity and sought distinction in local costume. This distinction became apparent in the headdress worn by the women of each district. Women of the Chod district, for example, were recognized by the black kerchief which they wore tied at the neck with one embroidered and thrown proudly over the left shoulder. Others wore a white turbanlike headdress with complicated binding which is reminiscent of Renaissance fashions. Some others fancied lovely lace caps with scarfs tied loosely under the chin. On more festive occasions, floral wreaths were worn interwoven with gay colored ribbons which hung gracefully over the shoulders. The week day attire of the men was simple. They wore tight fitting trousers made from coarse white linen or wool with little or no decoration. A broad belt was worn around the waist to accommodate such masculine commodities as knives, shears, tobacco-pouch etc. Some of the men wore black felt hats a low crown and an up-turned brim from twelve to eighteen inches wide. The coats or jackets were principally sheep skin and thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free. �157 SLOVAKIA On Sundays and holidays, however, the men added a note of interest to the festive display. In certain districts their white linen shirtwaists were colorfully embroidered. The young men with their long white linen trousers, colorful fringed sashes and white blouses with long, loose embroidered sleeves, presented a handsome picture. Woolen wests trimmed with intricate geometrical designs were worn with pride. Occasionally loose-fitting white coat of a home-made wool fabric was worn. Frequently the "cakan" or walking stick with an axe-head was carried by the men and rem.i nds us that these are the descendants of a people who formerly guarded frontiers and mountain passes. This report offers a brief glimpse into the distinctive character of Slovak peasant costume. The style presented was of a general type and the reader must bear in mind various regional adaptations. The styles we have considered have been traditional and collected bit by bit during the course of time. How many of us have not gathered souvenirs during the course of our travels? On our return we find our baggage bursting with miscellaneous objects. It is much the same with regard to national costume. With the passing of time, nations not only surround themselves with but wear on their persons a collection of objects the significance of which we are unable to explain at present. It is our fervent prayer that a new dawn of freedom will soon break through the dismal night of oppression and that an oppressed but hopeful people will take the fragments of a broken culture and piece together for our benefit their artistic traditions. Agnes Bo can Danville, Pa. FOOTNO T ES Steph en J . Palickar, Slovakian Culture in t he Light of History ( Cambridge, Mass.: 1' he Hampshire Press, Inc., 1954), p. 202. 2) Scotus Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary (Archib ald Constable and Co., L.T.D., 1908 ) , p. 356. 1) THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies Awdliary, the " VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vc'!ielky" in every large Slovak community. � SLOVAKIA 153 An Introduction to Slovak Costume We are guite familiar with the old French proverb, "The habit does not make the monk." This popular adage implies that a man's clothes can be misleading with regard to his personality. When individual cases are concerned, this maxim may be true but taken collectively, national costumes frequently run parallel with the history of a people. This fact can be observed quite readily in the study of Slovak peasant costume. Such research reveals the characteristics of a people deprived of their national freedom and who sought compensation under oppression by dauntlessly expressing their cultural force. When all other means of national self-expression was denied them, the Slovak People relied on the handicrafts of the peasant people to perpetuate the national thought of the race and in this category embroidery and needle work played an important part.I Artistic expression among the Slovaks was not limited to the art academies and cultural institutions. It was developed to a remarkable extent in the home. The pottery, wood-carving and ceramics found there bore the hallmark of distinction. Volumes could be written dealing with the artistic productions of the Slovak people but let it suffice to say that today a great deal of Slovak art is being exhibited in museums throughout Europe and being the work of an oppressed people, there is no indication of their true origin. A study of Slovak costume design can prove to be quite interesting due to its distinctive character, bright colors, variety and uniqueness. A love of color and a sensitivity to its use are part of the Slovak heritage. To the uninitiated, the costumes may appear as a conglomeration of colored fabrics, ribbons, floral patterns and lace but to those who are familiar with Slovak culture, all of these elements are but an outward expression of the inner soul of the people. Basically, in relation to costume design, the Slovaks can be classified into two distinct groups. The Slovaks �154 SLOVAKIA of the mountain districts and the Slovaks of the more prosperous South. It was among the Slovaks of the mountains that the earliest and most characteristic examples of Slovak peasant garb are found. They were patterned in simple straight lines and were decorated with geometrical designs while the natural white color of the material was retained. The Slovaks of the South were distinguished by their use of bright colors. During the course of time their styles were modified by foreign influences but remined effective owing to harmonious color blends. The difference in dress emphasizes the contrast between the fiery temperament of the southern Slovak and the soft, pensive and melancholy character of the mountaineer. The national dress of the peasant originated in the home and each member of the family cooperated in its execution. The women worked on the embroidery and lace during the long winter months when their fingers resumed their dexterity after a busy summer spent in the fields . It was a common sight to see several women of a village combining their talents to produce the bridal attire of a young girl. Every garment was a heirloom passed on to succeeding generations and each contributed its little quota of embellishment or modified whatever was unsuited for the occasion. In Slovak embroidery may be traced the whole technique of artistic needle-work design and one continually comes across articles of clothing, especially baby linens and churching-cloths, which, we are amazed to find , must have taken a life time to prepare.2 In its earliest form, the ordinary costume consisted of an undercloth of hemp, a wooly "halena" and a divided kilt. As time passed this original form was ornamented so that its simple character was shown to the best advantage and it attained its highest aesthetic value . Accompanying the gradual improvements in style and color was the tendency of each village to fashion a costume peculiar to itself. It has been noted by some historians that at one period in history there had been over thirty-five distinct national Slovak costumes. In Slovakia everyone became aware of an approaching holiday. Preparations began weeks in advance and the women vied with each other in exhibiting their holiday �SLOVAKIA Costume from town of Detva 155 �156 SLOVAKIA attire. The underskirts of the women were considered quite fashionable and they were proudly displayed. They were well gathered and often trimmed with lace or seasonal bands of color. To add a touch of variety, the front of the skirt was usually made of printed materials. Over the skirt a kind of dress was worn called a "kabat". The week-day dress was made of dark colors; in holiday outfits brighter colors predominated. The linen waist or bodice was unique. Its white puffed sleeves were trimmed with lace and embroidery from the shoulder to the elbow. The embroidery was so exquisite that the underside was almost as perfect as the upper. In some districts the women pleated their attire in sharp folds while the material was damp and left it to dry crisp in the sun. This fashion is now considered quite archaic and likened to the folds in the clothes of the ancient Greeks. During the penitential seasons of the Church, th~ women modified their costume by wearing subdued colors, drawing their sleeves tightly around the arms and trimmed underskirt in purple or somber colors. It has been remarked that the villagers were prompted by a strong sense of local solidarity and sought distinction in local costume. This distinction became apparent in the headdress worn by the women of each district. Women of the Chod district, for example, were recognized by the black kerchief which they wore tied at the neck with one embroidered and thrown proudly over the left shoulder. Others wore a white turbanlike headdress with complicated binding which is reminiscent of Renaissance fashions. Some others fancied lovely lace caps with scarfs tied loosely under the chin. On more festive occasions, floral wreaths were worn interwoven with gay colored ribbons which hung gracefully over the shoulders. The week day attire of the men was simple. They wore tight fitting trousers made from coarse white linen or wool with little or no decoration. A broad belt was worn around the waist to accommodate such masculine commodities as knives, shears, tobacco-pouch etc. Some of the men wore black felt hats a low crown and an up-turned brim from twelve to eighteen inches wide. The coats or jackets were principally sheep skin and thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free. �157 SLOVAKIA On Sundays and holidays, however, the men added a note of interest to the festive display. In certain districts their white linen shirtwaists were colorfully embroidered. The young men with their long white linen trousers, colorful fringed sashes and white blouses with long, loose embroidered sleeves, presented a handsome picture. Woolen wests trimmed with intricate geometrical designs were worn with pride. Occasionally loose-fitting white coat of a home-made wool fabric was worn. Frequently the "cakan" or walking stick with an axe-head was carried by the men and rem.i nds us that these are the descendants of a people who formerly guarded frontiers and mountain passes. This report offers a brief glimpse into the distinctive character of Slovak peasant costume. The style presented was of a general type and the reader must bear in mind various regional adaptations. The styles we have considered have been traditional and collected bit by bit during the course of time. How many of us have not gathered souvenirs during the course of our travels? On our return we find our baggage bursting with miscellaneous objects. It is much the same with regard to national costume. With the passing of time, nations not only surround themselves with but wear on their persons a collection of objects the significance of which we are unable to explain at present. It is our fervent prayer that a new dawn of freedom will soon break through the dismal night of oppression and that an oppressed but hopeful people will take the fragments of a broken culture and piece together for our benefit their artistic traditions. Agnes Bo can Danville, Pa. FOOTNO T ES Steph en J . Palickar, Slovakian Culture in t he Light of History ( Cambridge, Mass.: 1' he Hampshire Press, Inc., 1954), p. 202. 2) Scotus Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary (Archib ald Constable and Co., L.T.D., 1908 ) , p. 356. 1) THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies Awdliary, the " VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vc'!ielky" in every large Slovak community. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 153 An Introduction to Slovak Costume We are guite familiar with the old French proverb, "The habit does not make the monk." This popular adage implies that a man's clothes can be misleading with regard to his personality. When individual cases are concerned, this maxim may be true but taken collectively, national costumes frequently run parallel with the history of a people. This fact can be observed quite readily in the study of Slovak peasant costume. Such research reveals the characteristics of a people deprived of their national freedom and who sought compensation under oppression by dauntlessly expressing their cultural force. When all other means of national self-expression was denied them, the Slovak People relied on the handicrafts of the peasant people to perpetuate the national thought of the race and in this category embroidery and needle work played an important part.I Artistic expression among the Slovaks was not limited to the art academies and cultural institutions. It was developed to a remarkable extent in the home. The pottery, wood-carving and ceramics found there bore the hallmark of distinction. Volumes could be written dealing with the artistic productions of the Slovak people but let it suffice to say that today a great deal of Slovak art is being exhibited in museums throughout Europe and being the work of an oppressed people, there is no indication of their true origin. A study of Slovak costume design can prove to be quite interesting due to its distinctive character, bright colors, variety and uniqueness. A love of color and a sensitivity to its use are part of the Slovak heritage. To the uninitiated, the costumes may appear as a conglomeration of colored fabrics, ribbons, floral patterns and lace but to those who are familiar with Slovak culture, all of these elements are but an outward expression of the inner soul of the people. Basically, in relation to costume design, the Slovaks can be classified into two distinct groups. The Slovaks 154 SLOVAKIA of the mountain districts and the Slovaks of the more prosperous South. It was among the Slovaks of the mountains that the earliest and most characteristic examples of Slovak peasant garb are found. They were patterned in simple straight lines and were decorated with geometrical designs while the natural white color of the material was retained. The Slovaks of the South were distinguished by their use of bright colors. During the course of time their styles were modified by foreign influences but remined effective owing to harmonious color blends. The difference in dress emphasizes the contrast between the fiery temperament of the southern Slovak and the soft, pensive and melancholy character of the mountaineer. The national dress of the peasant originated in the home and each member of the family cooperated in its execution. The women worked on the embroidery and lace during the long winter months when their fingers resumed their dexterity after a busy summer spent in the fields . It was a common sight to see several women of a village combining their talents to produce the bridal attire of a young girl. Every garment was a heirloom passed on to succeeding generations and each contributed its little quota of embellishment or modified whatever was unsuited for the occasion. In Slovak embroidery may be traced the whole technique of artistic needle-work design and one continually comes across articles of clothing, especially baby linens and churching-cloths, which, we are amazed to find , must have taken a life time to prepare.2 In its earliest form, the ordinary costume consisted of an undercloth of hemp, a wooly "halena" and a divided kilt. As time passed this original form was ornamented so that its simple character was shown to the best advantage and it attained its highest aesthetic value . Accompanying the gradual improvements in style and color was the tendency of each village to fashion a costume peculiar to itself. It has been noted by some historians that at one period in history there had been over thirty-five distinct national Slovak costumes. In Slovakia everyone became aware of an approaching holiday. Preparations began weeks in advance and the women vied with each other in exhibiting their holiday SLOVAKIA Costume from town of Detva 155 156 SLOVAKIA attire. The underskirts of the women were considered quite fashionable and they were proudly displayed. They were well gathered and often trimmed with lace or seasonal bands of color. To add a touch of variety, the front of the skirt was usually made of printed materials. Over the skirt a kind of dress was worn called a "kabat". The week-day dress was made of dark colors; in holiday outfits brighter colors predominated. The linen waist or bodice was unique. Its white puffed sleeves were trimmed with lace and embroidery from the shoulder to the elbow. The embroidery was so exquisite that the underside was almost as perfect as the upper. In some districts the women pleated their attire in sharp folds while the material was damp and left it to dry crisp in the sun. This fashion is now considered quite archaic and likened to the folds in the clothes of the ancient Greeks. During the penitential seasons of the Church, th~ women modified their costume by wearing subdued colors, drawing their sleeves tightly around the arms and trimmed underskirt in purple or somber colors. It has been remarked that the villagers were prompted by a strong sense of local solidarity and sought distinction in local costume. This distinction became apparent in the headdress worn by the women of each district. Women of the Chod district, for example, were recognized by the black kerchief which they wore tied at the neck with one embroidered and thrown proudly over the left shoulder. Others wore a white turbanlike headdress with complicated binding which is reminiscent of Renaissance fashions. Some others fancied lovely lace caps with scarfs tied loosely under the chin. On more festive occasions, floral wreaths were worn interwoven with gay colored ribbons which hung gracefully over the shoulders. The week day attire of the men was simple. They wore tight fitting trousers made from coarse white linen or wool with little or no decoration. A broad belt was worn around the waist to accommodate such masculine commodities as knives, shears, tobacco-pouch etc. Some of the men wore black felt hats a low crown and an up-turned brim from twelve to eighteen inches wide. The coats or jackets were principally sheep skin and thrown over the left shoulder, leaving the right arm free. 157 SLOVAKIA On Sundays and holidays, however, the men added a note of interest to the festive display. In certain districts their white linen shirtwaists were colorfully embroidered. The young men with their long white linen trousers, colorful fringed sashes and white blouses with long, loose embroidered sleeves, presented a handsome picture. Woolen wests trimmed with intricate geometrical designs were worn with pride. Occasionally loose-fitting white coat of a home-made wool fabric was worn. Frequently the "cakan" or walking stick with an axe-head was carried by the men and rem.i nds us that these are the descendants of a people who formerly guarded frontiers and mountain passes. This report offers a brief glimpse into the distinctive character of Slovak peasant costume. The style presented was of a general type and the reader must bear in mind various regional adaptations. The styles we have considered have been traditional and collected bit by bit during the course of time. How many of us have not gathered souvenirs during the course of our travels? On our return we find our baggage bursting with miscellaneous objects. It is much the same with regard to national costume. With the passing of time, nations not only surround themselves with but wear on their persons a collection of objects the significance of which we are unable to explain at present. It is our fervent prayer that a new dawn of freedom will soon break through the dismal night of oppression and that an oppressed but hopeful people will take the fragments of a broken culture and piece together for our benefit their artistic traditions. Agnes Bo can Danville, Pa. FOOTNO T ES Steph en J . Palickar, Slovakian Culture in t he Light of History ( Cambridge, Mass.: 1' he Hampshire Press, Inc., 1954), p. 202. 2) Scotus Viator, Racial Problems in Hungary (Archib ald Constable and Co., L.T.D., 1908 ) , p. 356. 1) THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA through its Ladies Awdliary, the " VCIELKY" (Bees), sponsors Slovak cultttrai displays. concerts, lectures, art exhibits, folk festivals, social evenings, etc. Our aim is to have a "Hive" of our "Vc'!ielky" in every large Slovak community.  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 An Introduction to Slovak Costume Description An account of the resource Agnes Bocaň Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 153-157 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bocaň, Agnes Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4dd10926a6ce50c231f5404ea182979f.pdf 93b506172dcb7b0a52c73b83924d8be1 PDF Text Text 146 SLOVAKIA Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off Rudolph J. V e c o l i A policeman called me the other day about a "missing person" case. It turned out that he was the missing person. He was trying to find out where his ancestors came from . He had a Slavic name and knew that his grandparents had emigrated from Austria-Hungary, but there he lost the trail. "I want to know who I am, and to be able to tell my two sons who they are," my caller explained. Luckily we were able to locate the policeman's grandfather in the records of a Slovak church in Minneapolis. This told us the village in Slovakia from which his family had come. Our policeman was overjoyed; now he knew who he was and he was going to try to locate relatives in Slovakia. This search for grandparents was not an isolated case. "Who am I?" has become an urgent question for many Americans, for the middle-aged as well as the young. We appear to be going through a collective identity crisis. One manifestation of the crisis has been the widespread affirmation of group identities. Young people, especially children of the middle class, have created the "counter-culture" with its distinctive lifestyle, dress, and language. Women's liberation provides a new positive sense of collective identity for many of what was once known as the "gentle sex." But, for most Americans, race, religion, and national origin continue to provide the basis for group identity today-as they have historically. Not only are Black Americans, Indians, and Chicanos asserting a new-found pride in their heritage, but Croatian Americans, Finnish Americans, and Slovak Americans, among others, are declaring that they are beautiful as well. An editorial in Christian Century, pointing out that even old-stock white Americans had particularistic identities, declared: "We are all ethnics now." �SLOVAKIA 147 It seems that everyone needs an ethnic label these days. At a recent conference on cross-cultural education there was a workshop on "The Problem of the Non-Ethnic"! Presumably these are individuals of such mixed ancestry that they do not fit neatly into an ethnic category. But as anthropologist Margaret Mead said, this is nonsense, since everyone has grandparents and a heritage, even if it cannot be precisely labeled. The extraordinary resurgence of ethnic consciousness is not easily explained. Clearly the traumatic events of the sixties shattered the illusion of an American consensus. The civil rights movement, black nationalism, the Vietnam War, the student movement-all demonstrated that Americans were not of one mind about basic principles and values. Watts, Cicero, My Lai, Kent State, Chicago, elicited very different responses among different segments of the American people. We became polarized over the basic issues of racial justice, war and peace, lifestyles, the very meaning of democracy; polarized along lines of race, age, and social class. Perhaps it was the loss of a shared sense of the national purpose which caused persons to seek psychological and social security with "their own kind." In the face of this fragmentation, the myth of the "melting pot" was revealed to be transparent fiction. The mysterious process whereby peoples of diverse racial and cultural origins were to be assimilated into an "all-American" middle-class society obviously had not worked its magic. Blacks, by their words and actions, most aggressively challenged the "melting pot" ideal. Not only had they not been melted, but they made it clear they did not wish to be melted into some nondescript American type. Confronted with "black identity," other Americans were compelled to define their own particularistic identities. Not only Indians, Chicanos, and Orientals, but white ethnic groups reacted with a heightened group consciousness. "Black power" was echoed by the slogans of "Polish power" and "Italian power." It surprised many that these white ethnics who were supposed to have been assimilated long ago remained selfconscious elements in the body politic. But the census of 1960 had reported over 34 million as "foreign-stock," i. e., foreign-born or with at least one parent foreign-born. These �148 SLOVAKIA immigrants and their children constituted almost 20 percent of the American population. In addition, many of the third generation and beyond retained some degree of ethnic identity. However, their presence had been ignored by the mass media, the schools and other institutions. Because of pressures to Americanize, these descendants of European immigrants had publicly suppressed their ethnicity, though many continued to cultivate their cultural heritages in the privacy of their families, churches and organizations. Now the lid is off; the stigma of shame of being a "hyphenate," is being rejected. A new pride is being asserted in one's identity as a Ukrainian-American or a Greek-American, to give just two examples. Labeled the "forgotten American," the "middle Americans," or the "silent majority," white ethnics have come in for a good deal of attention of late. For the most part they have been portrayed as backlashing racists, potential recruits for the politics of reaction. In the mass media they have been stereotyped as Joe, the homicidal psychotic, or as Archie, the "lovable bigot." This has intensified their anger and resentment. As Barbara Mikulski, a Polish-American leader, protested: "The ethnic American is sick of being stereotyped as a racist and dullard by phony white liberals, pseudo black militants, and patronizing bureaucrats." Recently, writers such as Andrew M. Greeley and Murray Friedman have been providing us with more sympathetic analyses of lower middle-class ethnic Americans. As bluecollar workers, the bulk of them are either poor (two of every three poor people in this country are white) or "near-poor." Hard-pressed by inflation, heavy taxes, and job insecurity, they do not feel a part of the "Affluent Society." Their sons, like those of black and brown Americans, have fought and died in Vietnam, because many fewer of them go to college. Another stereotype of the ethnic American is that he is a hawk; actually many of them are strongly opposed to the war, but they do pride themselves on being patriotic Americans. They bitterly resent the class and ethnic snobbery which puts them down because of their immigrant and working-class backgrounds. In part this explains their �SLOVAKIA 149 hostility toward the educated elite and the universities . No wonder they cheer Spiro Agnew when he attacks intellectuals as "effete snobs." Like the blacks, the white ethnics are oppressed by a sense of powerlessness and exploitation; like them, they suffer from poor or inadequate schools and municipal services; like them, they are cynical about politics and politicians. As the bulk of the white population of the northern cities, the ethnics endure many of the same urban problems as do the blacks. Frustrated and insecure, they have projected their fears and anger against the blacks, Puerto Ricans, and other groups whom they regard as threats to their own marginal status. They are convicted that it is their jobs, their neighborhoods, their schools, that these newcomers are after. From the ethnics' point of view the blacks have received preferential treatment in federal programs, while their needs have been neglected. As Msgr. Geno C. Baroni, director of the Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs, put it: "Little attention has been given to the anguish of the socially and politically alienated middle American." To indulge in accusations of "white racism" is a futile exercise of moral indignation. A more positive response, as Irving Levine, director of the National Project on Ethnic America has argued, is "to identify the real problems of lower middle-class ethnic groups and speak creatively to their deepest needs." The "New Pluralism" is thus not simply a psychological aberration that can be treated by exhortations to brotherhood and tolerance. Rather it is rooted in the very social and economic structure of this society. It reflects the injustices and inequities which that structure inflicts upon large numbers of Americans because of their social class and ethnic-racial character. What has happened is that many groups heretofore inarticulate have found their voices. They are demanding often in angry tones full and equal participation in all areas of American life. Pluralism is a two-edged sword. If our institutions are unresponsive to the legitimate needs and aspirations of all groups, this can lead to increasing group conflict and further polarization. However, if those institutions are responsive, the thrust of the "New Pluralism" can carry �150 SLOVAK.IA us far toward the realization of a more democratic society. This applies to the private sector as well as the public, to business, corporations as well as governmental agencies, to the churches as well as to the schools. Decision-makers at all levels must become more sensitive to group differences, aultural as well as racial. Politicians by the nature of their trade have been most responsive to ethnic pressures, though too often they have manipulated them to serve political ends. But professionals and bureaucrats in the "mainstream" institutions have usually subscribed to a universalistic model of the "typical American." They have typically displayed an insensitivity and ignorance, even arrogance, toward the cultural and social differences among their students, patients, employees, and clients. The sphere of education exemplifies this lack of sensitivity in classic fashion. It is needed a paradox that the educational system of a multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual society such as ours has been dominated by an Anglo-American model, both in curriculum and format. This can only be understood in terms of the grip of an assimilationist ideology upon administrators and teachers alike. Historically the schools were designed to serve as agencies of the " Melting Pot." It was to be their function to transform the children of the immigrants (including internal migrants ) into "good, little, middle-class Americans. '' As one educator stated it: "Our task is to assimilate or amalgamate these people as part of the American race, and to implant in their children, so far as can be done, the Anglo-Saxon conception of righteousness, law, order, and popular government." Although this statement was made over a half century ago, it continued to serve as an accurate description of educational policy until recent times. Rather than building upon the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the students, the schools sought to purify them of their "foreign" traits. The results often were, as sociologist Milton Gordon has observed, "ethnic self-hatred, family disorganization, and juvenile delinquency." Again it was the "black revolution" that initially challenged the monocultural model of American education. �SLOVAKIA 151 In most cases, efforts to adapt schools to special needs of black children have been only partially successful. However, this small beginning has called into question the basic assumptions upon which American educational philosophy and practice has rested for many decades. More and more, educators and parents are seeking a pluralistic way of teaching children which will mirror the pluralistic society in which they live. The principle that formal education should respect and reinforce the cultural and ethnic identity of the child rather than seeking to eradicate it is gaining ground. "Ethnic studies" have emerged as a major response to this need. Because American history as taught in the past was "white history," Afro-American studies was incorporated into the curriculum at the demand of the black community. But blacks have not been the only "invisible men" in American history, Indians, Hispanos, and immigrants have also been ignored or treated disparagingly in most textbooks. Hence the need to revise the course content so that the role of all the many different ethnic elements in American society may be appropriately represented. This is a large task, and resources have been inadequate. Many were encouraged by the introduction of a bill in the Congress that would have provided federal funds in support of "Ethnic Heritage Studies." While the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, it was rejected in the House of Representatives. There is still hope that it may be revived in the current session. Ethnic studies may, of course, degenerate into tokenism, the placing of a few pictures on the wall and the adding of a few pages to a textbook. To be successful they must permeate the curriculum, not only of history, but language, literature and the social studies. Of crucial importance will be the attitudes of teachers. First, they must be convinced of the value of all cultures as equally valid expressions of the human spirit. This is the most difficult task, to overcome our own ethnocentricity. For the child, ethnic studies should serve two functions . They must foster within him a sense of his worth and dignity based on his identification with his own ancestors. Second, they must provide him with a capacity for an appreciation and acceptance of the cultural differences of �152 SLOVAKIA others. Free of a sense of either superiority or inferiority, he would be well equipped to live in a pluralistic society. We need to experiment with the format for teaching ethnic studies. Just as ecology may best be studied in a natural environment, so the ethnic communities with their rich cultural resources may be the most appropriate setting for learning about ethnic heritages. The "New Pluralism" is not limited to the East, nor to the troubled cities of New York and Chicago; it is a phenomenon that more or less pervades all of America. Bemused by the legend of Scandinavian predominance, we sometimes lose sight of the ethnic complexity of Minnesota. Certainly the racial groups of this state, blacks, chicanes, Indians, and orientals, are a smaller proportion of the total population than in many other states. But their militancy in recent years has made them conspicuous. Less visible have been the white ethnic groups, although the discerning observer might perceive their stirrings as well. Yet in 1960, more than 25 percent of the state of Minnesota population was of foreign stock, which meant that probably more than half of all Minnesotans had grandfathers born in another country. Although Norwegians, Germans, and Swedes were by far the largest groups, there were also significant numbers of British, Canadians, Czechs, Croatians, East European Jews, Finns, Italians, Irish, Poles, Slovaks, and Slovenes, as well as a scattering of other groups. Nor is pluralism in Minnesota only an urban phenomenon. Small towns on he Iron Range and in rural counties have a complex mixture of ethnic groups. To explore ethnicity in Minnesota, to initiate an inquiry into the state of the "New Pluralism" here, a conference was held recently at the International Institute in St. Paul. The Minnesota Project on Ethnic America, with the assistance of the National Project on Ethnic America of the American Jewish Committee and with the cosponsorship of various organizations and institutions, sponsored the sessions. The conference provided a forum in which perceptions, feelings, and judgments regarding social issues were offered from a variety of ethnic perspectives. Discovery of common ground may provide the means for moving Minnesota toward a "New Pluralism" based upon mutual respect and shared goals . - ( Minneapolis Tribune.) � 146 SLOVAKIA Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off Rudolph J. V e c o l i A policeman called me the other day about a "missing person" case. It turned out that he was the missing person. He was trying to find out where his ancestors came from . He had a Slavic name and knew that his grandparents had emigrated from Austria-Hungary, but there he lost the trail. "I want to know who I am, and to be able to tell my two sons who they are," my caller explained. Luckily we were able to locate the policeman's grandfather in the records of a Slovak church in Minneapolis. This told us the village in Slovakia from which his family had come. Our policeman was overjoyed; now he knew who he was and he was going to try to locate relatives in Slovakia. This search for grandparents was not an isolated case. "Who am I?" has become an urgent question for many Americans, for the middle-aged as well as the young. We appear to be going through a collective identity crisis. One manifestation of the crisis has been the widespread affirmation of group identities. Young people, especially children of the middle class, have created the "counter-culture" with its distinctive lifestyle, dress, and language. Women's liberation provides a new positive sense of collective identity for many of what was once known as the "gentle sex." But, for most Americans, race, religion, and national origin continue to provide the basis for group identity today-as they have historically. Not only are Black Americans, Indians, and Chicanos asserting a new-found pride in their heritage, but Croatian Americans, Finnish Americans, and Slovak Americans, among others, are declaring that they are beautiful as well. An editorial in Christian Century, pointing out that even old-stock white Americans had particularistic identities, declared: "We are all ethnics now." �SLOVAKIA 147 It seems that everyone needs an ethnic label these days. At a recent conference on cross-cultural education there was a workshop on "The Problem of the Non-Ethnic"! Presumably these are individuals of such mixed ancestry that they do not fit neatly into an ethnic category. But as anthropologist Margaret Mead said, this is nonsense, since everyone has grandparents and a heritage, even if it cannot be precisely labeled. The extraordinary resurgence of ethnic consciousness is not easily explained. Clearly the traumatic events of the sixties shattered the illusion of an American consensus. The civil rights movement, black nationalism, the Vietnam War, the student movement-all demonstrated that Americans were not of one mind about basic principles and values. Watts, Cicero, My Lai, Kent State, Chicago, elicited very different responses among different segments of the American people. We became polarized over the basic issues of racial justice, war and peace, lifestyles, the very meaning of democracy; polarized along lines of race, age, and social class. Perhaps it was the loss of a shared sense of the national purpose which caused persons to seek psychological and social security with "their own kind." In the face of this fragmentation, the myth of the "melting pot" was revealed to be transparent fiction. The mysterious process whereby peoples of diverse racial and cultural origins were to be assimilated into an "all-American" middle-class society obviously had not worked its magic. Blacks, by their words and actions, most aggressively challenged the "melting pot" ideal. Not only had they not been melted, but they made it clear they did not wish to be melted into some nondescript American type. Confronted with "black identity," other Americans were compelled to define their own particularistic identities. Not only Indians, Chicanos, and Orientals, but white ethnic groups reacted with a heightened group consciousness. "Black power" was echoed by the slogans of "Polish power" and "Italian power." It surprised many that these white ethnics who were supposed to have been assimilated long ago remained selfconscious elements in the body politic. But the census of 1960 had reported over 34 million as "foreign-stock," i. e., foreign-born or with at least one parent foreign-born. These �148 SLOVAKIA immigrants and their children constituted almost 20 percent of the American population. In addition, many of the third generation and beyond retained some degree of ethnic identity. However, their presence had been ignored by the mass media, the schools and other institutions. Because of pressures to Americanize, these descendants of European immigrants had publicly suppressed their ethnicity, though many continued to cultivate their cultural heritages in the privacy of their families, churches and organizations. Now the lid is off; the stigma of shame of being a "hyphenate," is being rejected. A new pride is being asserted in one's identity as a Ukrainian-American or a Greek-American, to give just two examples. Labeled the "forgotten American," the "middle Americans," or the "silent majority," white ethnics have come in for a good deal of attention of late. For the most part they have been portrayed as backlashing racists, potential recruits for the politics of reaction. In the mass media they have been stereotyped as Joe, the homicidal psychotic, or as Archie, the "lovable bigot." This has intensified their anger and resentment. As Barbara Mikulski, a Polish-American leader, protested: "The ethnic American is sick of being stereotyped as a racist and dullard by phony white liberals, pseudo black militants, and patronizing bureaucrats." Recently, writers such as Andrew M. Greeley and Murray Friedman have been providing us with more sympathetic analyses of lower middle-class ethnic Americans. As bluecollar workers, the bulk of them are either poor (two of every three poor people in this country are white) or "near-poor." Hard-pressed by inflation, heavy taxes, and job insecurity, they do not feel a part of the "Affluent Society." Their sons, like those of black and brown Americans, have fought and died in Vietnam, because many fewer of them go to college. Another stereotype of the ethnic American is that he is a hawk; actually many of them are strongly opposed to the war, but they do pride themselves on being patriotic Americans. They bitterly resent the class and ethnic snobbery which puts them down because of their immigrant and working-class backgrounds. In part this explains their �SLOVAKIA 149 hostility toward the educated elite and the universities . No wonder they cheer Spiro Agnew when he attacks intellectuals as "effete snobs." Like the blacks, the white ethnics are oppressed by a sense of powerlessness and exploitation; like them, they suffer from poor or inadequate schools and municipal services; like them, they are cynical about politics and politicians. As the bulk of the white population of the northern cities, the ethnics endure many of the same urban problems as do the blacks. Frustrated and insecure, they have projected their fears and anger against the blacks, Puerto Ricans, and other groups whom they regard as threats to their own marginal status. They are convicted that it is their jobs, their neighborhoods, their schools, that these newcomers are after. From the ethnics' point of view the blacks have received preferential treatment in federal programs, while their needs have been neglected. As Msgr. Geno C. Baroni, director of the Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs, put it: "Little attention has been given to the anguish of the socially and politically alienated middle American." To indulge in accusations of "white racism" is a futile exercise of moral indignation. A more positive response, as Irving Levine, director of the National Project on Ethnic America has argued, is "to identify the real problems of lower middle-class ethnic groups and speak creatively to their deepest needs." The "New Pluralism" is thus not simply a psychological aberration that can be treated by exhortations to brotherhood and tolerance. Rather it is rooted in the very social and economic structure of this society. It reflects the injustices and inequities which that structure inflicts upon large numbers of Americans because of their social class and ethnic-racial character. What has happened is that many groups heretofore inarticulate have found their voices. They are demanding often in angry tones full and equal participation in all areas of American life. Pluralism is a two-edged sword. If our institutions are unresponsive to the legitimate needs and aspirations of all groups, this can lead to increasing group conflict and further polarization. However, if those institutions are responsive, the thrust of the "New Pluralism" can carry �150 SLOVAK.IA us far toward the realization of a more democratic society. This applies to the private sector as well as the public, to business, corporations as well as governmental agencies, to the churches as well as to the schools. Decision-makers at all levels must become more sensitive to group differences, aultural as well as racial. Politicians by the nature of their trade have been most responsive to ethnic pressures, though too often they have manipulated them to serve political ends. But professionals and bureaucrats in the "mainstream" institutions have usually subscribed to a universalistic model of the "typical American." They have typically displayed an insensitivity and ignorance, even arrogance, toward the cultural and social differences among their students, patients, employees, and clients. The sphere of education exemplifies this lack of sensitivity in classic fashion. It is needed a paradox that the educational system of a multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual society such as ours has been dominated by an Anglo-American model, both in curriculum and format. This can only be understood in terms of the grip of an assimilationist ideology upon administrators and teachers alike. Historically the schools were designed to serve as agencies of the " Melting Pot." It was to be their function to transform the children of the immigrants (including internal migrants ) into "good, little, middle-class Americans. '' As one educator stated it: "Our task is to assimilate or amalgamate these people as part of the American race, and to implant in their children, so far as can be done, the Anglo-Saxon conception of righteousness, law, order, and popular government." Although this statement was made over a half century ago, it continued to serve as an accurate description of educational policy until recent times. Rather than building upon the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the students, the schools sought to purify them of their "foreign" traits. The results often were, as sociologist Milton Gordon has observed, "ethnic self-hatred, family disorganization, and juvenile delinquency." Again it was the "black revolution" that initially challenged the monocultural model of American education. �SLOVAKIA 151 In most cases, efforts to adapt schools to special needs of black children have been only partially successful. However, this small beginning has called into question the basic assumptions upon which American educational philosophy and practice has rested for many decades. More and more, educators and parents are seeking a pluralistic way of teaching children which will mirror the pluralistic society in which they live. The principle that formal education should respect and reinforce the cultural and ethnic identity of the child rather than seeking to eradicate it is gaining ground. "Ethnic studies" have emerged as a major response to this need. Because American history as taught in the past was "white history," Afro-American studies was incorporated into the curriculum at the demand of the black community. But blacks have not been the only "invisible men" in American history, Indians, Hispanos, and immigrants have also been ignored or treated disparagingly in most textbooks. Hence the need to revise the course content so that the role of all the many different ethnic elements in American society may be appropriately represented. This is a large task, and resources have been inadequate. Many were encouraged by the introduction of a bill in the Congress that would have provided federal funds in support of "Ethnic Heritage Studies." While the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, it was rejected in the House of Representatives. There is still hope that it may be revived in the current session. Ethnic studies may, of course, degenerate into tokenism, the placing of a few pictures on the wall and the adding of a few pages to a textbook. To be successful they must permeate the curriculum, not only of history, but language, literature and the social studies. Of crucial importance will be the attitudes of teachers. First, they must be convinced of the value of all cultures as equally valid expressions of the human spirit. This is the most difficult task, to overcome our own ethnocentricity. For the child, ethnic studies should serve two functions . They must foster within him a sense of his worth and dignity based on his identification with his own ancestors. Second, they must provide him with a capacity for an appreciation and acceptance of the cultural differences of �152 SLOVAKIA others. Free of a sense of either superiority or inferiority, he would be well equipped to live in a pluralistic society. We need to experiment with the format for teaching ethnic studies. Just as ecology may best be studied in a natural environment, so the ethnic communities with their rich cultural resources may be the most appropriate setting for learning about ethnic heritages. The "New Pluralism" is not limited to the East, nor to the troubled cities of New York and Chicago; it is a phenomenon that more or less pervades all of America. Bemused by the legend of Scandinavian predominance, we sometimes lose sight of the ethnic complexity of Minnesota. Certainly the racial groups of this state, blacks, chicanes, Indians, and orientals, are a smaller proportion of the total population than in many other states. But their militancy in recent years has made them conspicuous. Less visible have been the white ethnic groups, although the discerning observer might perceive their stirrings as well. Yet in 1960, more than 25 percent of the state of Minnesota population was of foreign stock, which meant that probably more than half of all Minnesotans had grandfathers born in another country. Although Norwegians, Germans, and Swedes were by far the largest groups, there were also significant numbers of British, Canadians, Czechs, Croatians, East European Jews, Finns, Italians, Irish, Poles, Slovaks, and Slovenes, as well as a scattering of other groups. Nor is pluralism in Minnesota only an urban phenomenon. Small towns on he Iron Range and in rural counties have a complex mixture of ethnic groups. To explore ethnicity in Minnesota, to initiate an inquiry into the state of the "New Pluralism" here, a conference was held recently at the International Institute in St. Paul. The Minnesota Project on Ethnic America, with the assistance of the National Project on Ethnic America of the American Jewish Committee and with the cosponsorship of various organizations and institutions, sponsored the sessions. The conference provided a forum in which perceptions, feelings, and judgments regarding social issues were offered from a variety of ethnic perspectives. Discovery of common ground may provide the means for moving Minnesota toward a "New Pluralism" based upon mutual respect and shared goals . - ( Minneapolis Tribune.) � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 146 SLOVAKIA Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off Rudolph J. V e c o l i A policeman called me the other day about a "missing person" case. It turned out that he was the missing person. He was trying to find out where his ancestors came from . He had a Slavic name and knew that his grandparents had emigrated from Austria-Hungary, but there he lost the trail. "I want to know who I am, and to be able to tell my two sons who they are," my caller explained. Luckily we were able to locate the policeman's grandfather in the records of a Slovak church in Minneapolis. This told us the village in Slovakia from which his family had come. Our policeman was overjoyed; now he knew who he was and he was going to try to locate relatives in Slovakia. This search for grandparents was not an isolated case. "Who am I?" has become an urgent question for many Americans, for the middle-aged as well as the young. We appear to be going through a collective identity crisis. One manifestation of the crisis has been the widespread affirmation of group identities. Young people, especially children of the middle class, have created the "counter-culture" with its distinctive lifestyle, dress, and language. Women's liberation provides a new positive sense of collective identity for many of what was once known as the "gentle sex." But, for most Americans, race, religion, and national origin continue to provide the basis for group identity today-as they have historically. Not only are Black Americans, Indians, and Chicanos asserting a new-found pride in their heritage, but Croatian Americans, Finnish Americans, and Slovak Americans, among others, are declaring that they are beautiful as well. An editorial in Christian Century, pointing out that even old-stock white Americans had particularistic identities, declared: "We are all ethnics now." SLOVAKIA 147 It seems that everyone needs an ethnic label these days. At a recent conference on cross-cultural education there was a workshop on "The Problem of the Non-Ethnic"! Presumably these are individuals of such mixed ancestry that they do not fit neatly into an ethnic category. But as anthropologist Margaret Mead said, this is nonsense, since everyone has grandparents and a heritage, even if it cannot be precisely labeled. The extraordinary resurgence of ethnic consciousness is not easily explained. Clearly the traumatic events of the sixties shattered the illusion of an American consensus. The civil rights movement, black nationalism, the Vietnam War, the student movement-all demonstrated that Americans were not of one mind about basic principles and values. Watts, Cicero, My Lai, Kent State, Chicago, elicited very different responses among different segments of the American people. We became polarized over the basic issues of racial justice, war and peace, lifestyles, the very meaning of democracy; polarized along lines of race, age, and social class. Perhaps it was the loss of a shared sense of the national purpose which caused persons to seek psychological and social security with "their own kind." In the face of this fragmentation, the myth of the "melting pot" was revealed to be transparent fiction. The mysterious process whereby peoples of diverse racial and cultural origins were to be assimilated into an "all-American" middle-class society obviously had not worked its magic. Blacks, by their words and actions, most aggressively challenged the "melting pot" ideal. Not only had they not been melted, but they made it clear they did not wish to be melted into some nondescript American type. Confronted with "black identity," other Americans were compelled to define their own particularistic identities. Not only Indians, Chicanos, and Orientals, but white ethnic groups reacted with a heightened group consciousness. "Black power" was echoed by the slogans of "Polish power" and "Italian power." It surprised many that these white ethnics who were supposed to have been assimilated long ago remained selfconscious elements in the body politic. But the census of 1960 had reported over 34 million as "foreign-stock," i. e., foreign-born or with at least one parent foreign-born. These 148 SLOVAKIA immigrants and their children constituted almost 20 percent of the American population. In addition, many of the third generation and beyond retained some degree of ethnic identity. However, their presence had been ignored by the mass media, the schools and other institutions. Because of pressures to Americanize, these descendants of European immigrants had publicly suppressed their ethnicity, though many continued to cultivate their cultural heritages in the privacy of their families, churches and organizations. Now the lid is off; the stigma of shame of being a "hyphenate," is being rejected. A new pride is being asserted in one's identity as a Ukrainian-American or a Greek-American, to give just two examples. Labeled the "forgotten American," the "middle Americans," or the "silent majority," white ethnics have come in for a good deal of attention of late. For the most part they have been portrayed as backlashing racists, potential recruits for the politics of reaction. In the mass media they have been stereotyped as Joe, the homicidal psychotic, or as Archie, the "lovable bigot." This has intensified their anger and resentment. As Barbara Mikulski, a Polish-American leader, protested: "The ethnic American is sick of being stereotyped as a racist and dullard by phony white liberals, pseudo black militants, and patronizing bureaucrats." Recently, writers such as Andrew M. Greeley and Murray Friedman have been providing us with more sympathetic analyses of lower middle-class ethnic Americans. As bluecollar workers, the bulk of them are either poor (two of every three poor people in this country are white) or "near-poor." Hard-pressed by inflation, heavy taxes, and job insecurity, they do not feel a part of the "Affluent Society." Their sons, like those of black and brown Americans, have fought and died in Vietnam, because many fewer of them go to college. Another stereotype of the ethnic American is that he is a hawk; actually many of them are strongly opposed to the war, but they do pride themselves on being patriotic Americans. They bitterly resent the class and ethnic snobbery which puts them down because of their immigrant and working-class backgrounds. In part this explains their SLOVAKIA 149 hostility toward the educated elite and the universities . No wonder they cheer Spiro Agnew when he attacks intellectuals as "effete snobs." Like the blacks, the white ethnics are oppressed by a sense of powerlessness and exploitation; like them, they suffer from poor or inadequate schools and municipal services; like them, they are cynical about politics and politicians. As the bulk of the white population of the northern cities, the ethnics endure many of the same urban problems as do the blacks. Frustrated and insecure, they have projected their fears and anger against the blacks, Puerto Ricans, and other groups whom they regard as threats to their own marginal status. They are convicted that it is their jobs, their neighborhoods, their schools, that these newcomers are after. From the ethnics' point of view the blacks have received preferential treatment in federal programs, while their needs have been neglected. As Msgr. Geno C. Baroni, director of the Center for Urban Ethnic Affairs, put it: "Little attention has been given to the anguish of the socially and politically alienated middle American." To indulge in accusations of "white racism" is a futile exercise of moral indignation. A more positive response, as Irving Levine, director of the National Project on Ethnic America has argued, is "to identify the real problems of lower middle-class ethnic groups and speak creatively to their deepest needs." The "New Pluralism" is thus not simply a psychological aberration that can be treated by exhortations to brotherhood and tolerance. Rather it is rooted in the very social and economic structure of this society. It reflects the injustices and inequities which that structure inflicts upon large numbers of Americans because of their social class and ethnic-racial character. What has happened is that many groups heretofore inarticulate have found their voices. They are demanding often in angry tones full and equal participation in all areas of American life. Pluralism is a two-edged sword. If our institutions are unresponsive to the legitimate needs and aspirations of all groups, this can lead to increasing group conflict and further polarization. However, if those institutions are responsive, the thrust of the "New Pluralism" can carry 150 SLOVAK.IA us far toward the realization of a more democratic society. This applies to the private sector as well as the public, to business, corporations as well as governmental agencies, to the churches as well as to the schools. Decision-makers at all levels must become more sensitive to group differences, aultural as well as racial. Politicians by the nature of their trade have been most responsive to ethnic pressures, though too often they have manipulated them to serve political ends. But professionals and bureaucrats in the "mainstream" institutions have usually subscribed to a universalistic model of the "typical American." They have typically displayed an insensitivity and ignorance, even arrogance, toward the cultural and social differences among their students, patients, employees, and clients. The sphere of education exemplifies this lack of sensitivity in classic fashion. It is needed a paradox that the educational system of a multicultural, multiracial, and multilingual society such as ours has been dominated by an Anglo-American model, both in curriculum and format. This can only be understood in terms of the grip of an assimilationist ideology upon administrators and teachers alike. Historically the schools were designed to serve as agencies of the " Melting Pot." It was to be their function to transform the children of the immigrants (including internal migrants ) into "good, little, middle-class Americans. '' As one educator stated it: "Our task is to assimilate or amalgamate these people as part of the American race, and to implant in their children, so far as can be done, the Anglo-Saxon conception of righteousness, law, order, and popular government." Although this statement was made over a half century ago, it continued to serve as an accurate description of educational policy until recent times. Rather than building upon the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the students, the schools sought to purify them of their "foreign" traits. The results often were, as sociologist Milton Gordon has observed, "ethnic self-hatred, family disorganization, and juvenile delinquency." Again it was the "black revolution" that initially challenged the monocultural model of American education. SLOVAKIA 151 In most cases, efforts to adapt schools to special needs of black children have been only partially successful. However, this small beginning has called into question the basic assumptions upon which American educational philosophy and practice has rested for many decades. More and more, educators and parents are seeking a pluralistic way of teaching children which will mirror the pluralistic society in which they live. The principle that formal education should respect and reinforce the cultural and ethnic identity of the child rather than seeking to eradicate it is gaining ground. "Ethnic studies" have emerged as a major response to this need. Because American history as taught in the past was "white history," Afro-American studies was incorporated into the curriculum at the demand of the black community. But blacks have not been the only "invisible men" in American history, Indians, Hispanos, and immigrants have also been ignored or treated disparagingly in most textbooks. Hence the need to revise the course content so that the role of all the many different ethnic elements in American society may be appropriately represented. This is a large task, and resources have been inadequate. Many were encouraged by the introduction of a bill in the Congress that would have provided federal funds in support of "Ethnic Heritage Studies." While the bill was passed unanimously by the Senate, it was rejected in the House of Representatives. There is still hope that it may be revived in the current session. Ethnic studies may, of course, degenerate into tokenism, the placing of a few pictures on the wall and the adding of a few pages to a textbook. To be successful they must permeate the curriculum, not only of history, but language, literature and the social studies. Of crucial importance will be the attitudes of teachers. First, they must be convinced of the value of all cultures as equally valid expressions of the human spirit. This is the most difficult task, to overcome our own ethnocentricity. For the child, ethnic studies should serve two functions . They must foster within him a sense of his worth and dignity based on his identification with his own ancestors. Second, they must provide him with a capacity for an appreciation and acceptance of the cultural differences of 152 SLOVAKIA others. Free of a sense of either superiority or inferiority, he would be well equipped to live in a pluralistic society. We need to experiment with the format for teaching ethnic studies. Just as ecology may best be studied in a natural environment, so the ethnic communities with their rich cultural resources may be the most appropriate setting for learning about ethnic heritages. The "New Pluralism" is not limited to the East, nor to the troubled cities of New York and Chicago; it is a phenomenon that more or less pervades all of America. Bemused by the legend of Scandinavian predominance, we sometimes lose sight of the ethnic complexity of Minnesota. Certainly the racial groups of this state, blacks, chicanes, Indians, and orientals, are a smaller proportion of the total population than in many other states. But their militancy in recent years has made them conspicuous. Less visible have been the white ethnic groups, although the discerning observer might perceive their stirrings as well. Yet in 1960, more than 25 percent of the state of Minnesota population was of foreign stock, which meant that probably more than half of all Minnesotans had grandfathers born in another country. Although Norwegians, Germans, and Swedes were by far the largest groups, there were also significant numbers of British, Canadians, Czechs, Croatians, East European Jews, Finns, Italians, Irish, Poles, Slovaks, and Slovenes, as well as a scattering of other groups. Nor is pluralism in Minnesota only an urban phenomenon. Small towns on he Iron Range and in rural counties have a complex mixture of ethnic groups. To explore ethnicity in Minnesota, to initiate an inquiry into the state of the "New Pluralism" here, a conference was held recently at the International Institute in St. Paul. The Minnesota Project on Ethnic America, with the assistance of the National Project on Ethnic America of the American Jewish Committee and with the cosponsorship of various organizations and institutions, sponsored the sessions. The conference provided a forum in which perceptions, feelings, and judgments regarding social issues were offered from a variety of ethnic perspectives. Discovery of common ground may provide the means for moving Minnesota toward a "New Pluralism" based upon mutual respect and shared goals . - ( Minneapolis Tribune.)  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 Why Our Melting Pot Cooled Off Description An account of the resource Rudolph J. Vecoli Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 146-152 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vecoli, Rudolph J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5b07e17d4fa04511d00a112ba3599b8b.pdf 6ca9b798de2435a9585f1b1ea60c2e69 PDF Text Text 140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 1 �SLOVAKIA 141 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 From Abroad (in Mill.) 1.3 1.6 1.7 1.8 3.7 To Foreign Countries .5 .6 .7 .7 2.0 From the above table one can see that the foreign tourists by far exceeded the number of people from CzechoSlovakia visiting foreign countries. From the breakdown of the above figures, one can also see that most of the foreign tourist trade was stemming mostly from the Sociallist block countries. However, there was some tourist trade stemming from Western countries like the United States, France, Austria, and West Germany. The figures show that there were more tourists from these countries going to Czecho-Slovakia rather than the other way around. Of course, there was an unprecedented upsurge in the inflow of Western tourists in 1968, when the gates opened for the foreigners. The facilities available for the tourists in CzechoSlovakia were not always adequate, especially during the period of 1955-1963, when the number of guests far outweighed the number of available beds. 1963 is the first year showing an excess of beds over the number of guests. The following diagram shows this picture quite clearly. 2 THE NUMBER OF GUESTS AND BEDS AVAILABLE Guests in Millions Beds in Thousands 4f - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - --,/3f _ _ _ _ guests - - - - - - - beds "7 I I I I I I ___ ,, ,,. ," ,, ,, , ,,,,.1 'fo 7S' �142 SLOVAKIA This diagram shows the varying degree of the ratio between the number of guests and available beds. Although, from the diagram, it cannot be ascertained what ratio would be considered as optimal, other sources3 show that there was a shortage of not only beds but also other facilities to adequately care for the ever-increasing tourist t rade. II. From the above information, it is evident that the tourist trade to Czecho-Slovakia underwent some fluctuation but also an overall growth in the number of guests and available facilities . The figures are for Czecho-Slovakia, but we can safely assume that at least half of this trade belonged to Slovakia which seemed to concentrate in tourist trade in the past having been endowed with more potential than Bohemia and Moravia. At this point it would be good to see if there is enough potential and incentive in Slovakia to develop tourist trade to its optimal size. The 1970 winter Olympics in the Tatra mountains prepared on short notice by the leaders of Slovakia has proven beyond any doubt that Slovaks can produce adequate facilities for such an important event as winter Olympics. Most of the facilities created are of lasting value as they may be used and reused by further similar sport activities though not necessarily on an international level. The organizers have shown not only the ability and the know-how but also good taste in creating efficient facilities. The good taste has also been demonstrated in the building of several tourist hotels at various geographical points in Slovakia. Almost without exception, hotel buildings have at last one masterpiece of art by a known artist in the foyer or elsewhere for the inspection of an appreciative customer. Such hotels usually are built with the most modern approach, and the service in such hotels is supposed to match the style. However, there is ample evidence4 that the service of high consumer satisfaction is not always present. In this respect, the potential of the Slovak trade is hampered by other services that go hand in hand with the tourist trade and which were more or less adequately solved by the Swiss or the Austrians. Bus service, cool drink and snack service at various points of movements �SLOVAKIA 143 of tourists are just a few among to be mentioned. However, this may be solved comperatively easily if the tourist planners are given enough scope and competence to develop them. There is, of course, a more important problem which the Slovak tourist planners will have to face. This is the problem of seasonal fluctuations in the tourist trade. A breakdown of the 1963 figures, for example, shows that the winter and fall quarters were very low in tourist activity in comparison to the other two quarters. This poses a problem of optimum capacity of facilities for tourist trade. This capacity will have to be determined by the spring and summer demand for them. From the point of view of the rate of return on investment, those facilities should get the priority of development which can be operated all year. Thus, the spas, sanatoriums and other hospitals are examples in question. Since tourist trade in Slovakia has shown in the past centuries an excellent tradition in this field, this development could prove very profitable indeed. Piest'any, where Beethoven composed his 7th Symphony, is an example of such tradition. This portion of the tourist trade activity taking shape of its past reputation can become the backbone of the total activity in this field. Having stressed this kind of activity, the rest of tourist trade may be taken in stride inspite of the seasonal fluctuations. However, even in this direction, a lot can be done by a good planner or economist by envisaging such tourist activity which can take place all year around. This kind of seasonal fluctuation may be at least partially curtailed by using the same facilities during the summer and winter. Since the structure of the Slovak tourist scenery in such that it can be enjoyed for skiing in winter and other activities in summer, it may be possible to create year-around tourist activity in such areas. However, in the respect a lot of planning and research should be done, as many areas have not been explored for safety reasons. All in all, a careful analysis may show that the seasonal fluctuations may turn out to appear more smoothed out than at first sight. In that case one may expect a full and optimal development of the Slovak tourist trade which would possibly make it one of the most important components of the Slovak Gross National Product. �144 SLOVAKIA The demand for Slovak facilities could prove quite high. In fact, for many years to come the Slovak tourist trade could prove an important and favorable competitor to the Swiss tourist trade, and only Austria could challenge this position of Slovakia. It is the prices of various services that are expected to be much lower than the Swiss and somewhat lower than the Austrian. In such situations, Slovakia could prove a seeked for tourist attraction filling the capacity available, provided that the services match the Swiss standards. Since this is very hard to achieve because of high Swiss standards, one may allow for some discrepancy in this respect. At the same time, one may point out that given the scope of development and authority into the hands of the tourist trade planners, they may show that they can achieve the Swiss standards. In that case, with lower prices, Slovaks are in an excellent competitive position with the Swiss. In the past, the Swiss journalists themselves have uttered such thoughts. Other non-monetary aspects of this trade are also very important. For example, the rustic setting untouched by the most modern civilization may have a point in question. The availability of concerts and other activities which are not scheduled withing the tourist trade may be another. Good and reasonable shopping activities for handicraft products may prove an excellent attraction. This of course may give an impetus to further development of other industries. The above mentioned goals in terms of foreign tourist trade may be achieved effectively in a given period of time only if other noneconomic factors are developed to give the economic development a necessary background and environment. Thus, in the respect, political measures must allow the development of tourist trade activity. The managers of smaller summer resorts must have enough opportunity to be able to decide quickly on their policy changes concerning tourist trade activities if such changes are brought about without further notice. In order to avoid unnecessary waste, such decentralized decision-making process must be inherent in the system of planning and production of the tourist trade. Since the cultural background is closely related to this one, a combination of the two may prove a stimulating factor in the development of the Slovak tourist trade. Given these conditions, there �SLOVAKIA 145 are enough qualified people in Slovakia to do it, and others can easily be trained. In order to achieve some significant result in terms of Slovak foreign trade, one will have to reorganize all present facilities, improve them and then build new ones . In this respect the Slovak economy is quite negligent as the informed sources maintain.5 Most deficiencies are in the organization itself; 6 in terms of service, 7 in public relations especially advertising,8 etc. On the other hand, there has been quite a bit done to attract the hunters into Slovakia for various kinds of activities9 and other services. These kinds of details may have to be ironed out before tourist trade can achieve the desired results. The best possible approach in this respect would be to develop the various kinds of services to such an extent that the internal tourist trade demand may be satisfied. Having achieved these standards, one may proceed to expand for foreign consumption. This is quite possible as the Slovaks proved in the past as informed tourists, demanding a high standard of service. This kind of supply-demand interaction may create the necessary base for development for foreign oriented tourist trade. Since the potential for developing the Slovak tourist trade does exist, it will depend mostly on the wisdom of those people who are in decision-making positions. They seemed sympathetic to such development in the past. NOTES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Statisticka rocenka Ibid, p. 405. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Ibid. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, c SSR 1965, Prague 1965, p. 4-04. March 14, 1969, p. 5. March 26, 1969, p. 5. February April 25, February February 19, 1969, p. 2. 1969, p. 1. 6, 1970, p. 2. 14, 1969, p. 2. * THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects. � 140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 1 �SLOVAKIA 141 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 From Abroad (in Mill.) 1.3 1.6 1.7 1.8 3.7 To Foreign Countries .5 .6 .7 .7 2.0 From the above table one can see that the foreign tourists by far exceeded the number of people from CzechoSlovakia visiting foreign countries. From the breakdown of the above figures, one can also see that most of the foreign tourist trade was stemming mostly from the Sociallist block countries. However, there was some tourist trade stemming from Western countries like the United States, France, Austria, and West Germany. The figures show that there were more tourists from these countries going to Czecho-Slovakia rather than the other way around. Of course, there was an unprecedented upsurge in the inflow of Western tourists in 1968, when the gates opened for the foreigners. The facilities available for the tourists in CzechoSlovakia were not always adequate, especially during the period of 1955-1963, when the number of guests far outweighed the number of available beds. 1963 is the first year showing an excess of beds over the number of guests. The following diagram shows this picture quite clearly. 2 THE NUMBER OF GUESTS AND BEDS AVAILABLE Guests in Millions Beds in Thousands 4f - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - --,/3f _ _ _ _ guests - - - - - - - beds "7 I I I I I I ___ ,, ,,. ," ,, ,, , ,,,,.1 'fo 7S' �142 SLOVAKIA This diagram shows the varying degree of the ratio between the number of guests and available beds. Although, from the diagram, it cannot be ascertained what ratio would be considered as optimal, other sources3 show that there was a shortage of not only beds but also other facilities to adequately care for the ever-increasing tourist t rade. II. From the above information, it is evident that the tourist trade to Czecho-Slovakia underwent some fluctuation but also an overall growth in the number of guests and available facilities . The figures are for Czecho-Slovakia, but we can safely assume that at least half of this trade belonged to Slovakia which seemed to concentrate in tourist trade in the past having been endowed with more potential than Bohemia and Moravia. At this point it would be good to see if there is enough potential and incentive in Slovakia to develop tourist trade to its optimal size. The 1970 winter Olympics in the Tatra mountains prepared on short notice by the leaders of Slovakia has proven beyond any doubt that Slovaks can produce adequate facilities for such an important event as winter Olympics. Most of the facilities created are of lasting value as they may be used and reused by further similar sport activities though not necessarily on an international level. The organizers have shown not only the ability and the know-how but also good taste in creating efficient facilities. The good taste has also been demonstrated in the building of several tourist hotels at various geographical points in Slovakia. Almost without exception, hotel buildings have at last one masterpiece of art by a known artist in the foyer or elsewhere for the inspection of an appreciative customer. Such hotels usually are built with the most modern approach, and the service in such hotels is supposed to match the style. However, there is ample evidence4 that the service of high consumer satisfaction is not always present. In this respect, the potential of the Slovak trade is hampered by other services that go hand in hand with the tourist trade and which were more or less adequately solved by the Swiss or the Austrians. Bus service, cool drink and snack service at various points of movements �SLOVAKIA 143 of tourists are just a few among to be mentioned. However, this may be solved comperatively easily if the tourist planners are given enough scope and competence to develop them. There is, of course, a more important problem which the Slovak tourist planners will have to face. This is the problem of seasonal fluctuations in the tourist trade. A breakdown of the 1963 figures, for example, shows that the winter and fall quarters were very low in tourist activity in comparison to the other two quarters. This poses a problem of optimum capacity of facilities for tourist trade. This capacity will have to be determined by the spring and summer demand for them. From the point of view of the rate of return on investment, those facilities should get the priority of development which can be operated all year. Thus, the spas, sanatoriums and other hospitals are examples in question. Since tourist trade in Slovakia has shown in the past centuries an excellent tradition in this field, this development could prove very profitable indeed. Piest'any, where Beethoven composed his 7th Symphony, is an example of such tradition. This portion of the tourist trade activity taking shape of its past reputation can become the backbone of the total activity in this field. Having stressed this kind of activity, the rest of tourist trade may be taken in stride inspite of the seasonal fluctuations. However, even in this direction, a lot can be done by a good planner or economist by envisaging such tourist activity which can take place all year around. This kind of seasonal fluctuation may be at least partially curtailed by using the same facilities during the summer and winter. Since the structure of the Slovak tourist scenery in such that it can be enjoyed for skiing in winter and other activities in summer, it may be possible to create year-around tourist activity in such areas. However, in the respect a lot of planning and research should be done, as many areas have not been explored for safety reasons. All in all, a careful analysis may show that the seasonal fluctuations may turn out to appear more smoothed out than at first sight. In that case one may expect a full and optimal development of the Slovak tourist trade which would possibly make it one of the most important components of the Slovak Gross National Product. �144 SLOVAKIA The demand for Slovak facilities could prove quite high. In fact, for many years to come the Slovak tourist trade could prove an important and favorable competitor to the Swiss tourist trade, and only Austria could challenge this position of Slovakia. It is the prices of various services that are expected to be much lower than the Swiss and somewhat lower than the Austrian. In such situations, Slovakia could prove a seeked for tourist attraction filling the capacity available, provided that the services match the Swiss standards. Since this is very hard to achieve because of high Swiss standards, one may allow for some discrepancy in this respect. At the same time, one may point out that given the scope of development and authority into the hands of the tourist trade planners, they may show that they can achieve the Swiss standards. In that case, with lower prices, Slovaks are in an excellent competitive position with the Swiss. In the past, the Swiss journalists themselves have uttered such thoughts. Other non-monetary aspects of this trade are also very important. For example, the rustic setting untouched by the most modern civilization may have a point in question. The availability of concerts and other activities which are not scheduled withing the tourist trade may be another. Good and reasonable shopping activities for handicraft products may prove an excellent attraction. This of course may give an impetus to further development of other industries. The above mentioned goals in terms of foreign tourist trade may be achieved effectively in a given period of time only if other noneconomic factors are developed to give the economic development a necessary background and environment. Thus, in the respect, political measures must allow the development of tourist trade activity. The managers of smaller summer resorts must have enough opportunity to be able to decide quickly on their policy changes concerning tourist trade activities if such changes are brought about without further notice. In order to avoid unnecessary waste, such decentralized decision-making process must be inherent in the system of planning and production of the tourist trade. Since the cultural background is closely related to this one, a combination of the two may prove a stimulating factor in the development of the Slovak tourist trade. Given these conditions, there �SLOVAKIA 145 are enough qualified people in Slovakia to do it, and others can easily be trained. In order to achieve some significant result in terms of Slovak foreign trade, one will have to reorganize all present facilities, improve them and then build new ones . In this respect the Slovak economy is quite negligent as the informed sources maintain.5 Most deficiencies are in the organization itself; 6 in terms of service, 7 in public relations especially advertising,8 etc. On the other hand, there has been quite a bit done to attract the hunters into Slovakia for various kinds of activities9 and other services. These kinds of details may have to be ironed out before tourist trade can achieve the desired results. The best possible approach in this respect would be to develop the various kinds of services to such an extent that the internal tourist trade demand may be satisfied. Having achieved these standards, one may proceed to expand for foreign consumption. This is quite possible as the Slovaks proved in the past as informed tourists, demanding a high standard of service. This kind of supply-demand interaction may create the necessary base for development for foreign oriented tourist trade. Since the potential for developing the Slovak tourist trade does exist, it will depend mostly on the wisdom of those people who are in decision-making positions. They seemed sympathetic to such development in the past. NOTES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Statisticka rocenka Ibid, p. 405. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Ibid. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, c SSR 1965, Prague 1965, p. 4-04. March 14, 1969, p. 5. March 26, 1969, p. 5. February April 25, February February 19, 1969, p. 2. 1969, p. 1. 6, 1970, p. 2. 14, 1969, p. 2. * THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 1 SLOVAKIA 141 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 From Abroad (in Mill.) 1.3 1.6 1.7 1.8 3.7 To Foreign Countries .5 .6 .7 .7 2.0 From the above table one can see that the foreign tourists by far exceeded the number of people from CzechoSlovakia visiting foreign countries. From the breakdown of the above figures, one can also see that most of the foreign tourist trade was stemming mostly from the Sociallist block countries. However, there was some tourist trade stemming from Western countries like the United States, France, Austria, and West Germany. The figures show that there were more tourists from these countries going to Czecho-Slovakia rather than the other way around. Of course, there was an unprecedented upsurge in the inflow of Western tourists in 1968, when the gates opened for the foreigners. The facilities available for the tourists in CzechoSlovakia were not always adequate, especially during the period of 1955-1963, when the number of guests far outweighed the number of available beds. 1963 is the first year showing an excess of beds over the number of guests. The following diagram shows this picture quite clearly. 2 THE NUMBER OF GUESTS AND BEDS AVAILABLE Guests in Millions Beds in Thousands 4f - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - --,/3f _ _ _ _ guests - - - - - - - beds "7 I I I I I I ___ ,, ,,. ," ,, ,, , ,,,,.1 'fo 7S' 142 SLOVAKIA This diagram shows the varying degree of the ratio between the number of guests and available beds. Although, from the diagram, it cannot be ascertained what ratio would be considered as optimal, other sources3 show that there was a shortage of not only beds but also other facilities to adequately care for the ever-increasing tourist t rade. II. From the above information, it is evident that the tourist trade to Czecho-Slovakia underwent some fluctuation but also an overall growth in the number of guests and available facilities . The figures are for Czecho-Slovakia, but we can safely assume that at least half of this trade belonged to Slovakia which seemed to concentrate in tourist trade in the past having been endowed with more potential than Bohemia and Moravia. At this point it would be good to see if there is enough potential and incentive in Slovakia to develop tourist trade to its optimal size. The 1970 winter Olympics in the Tatra mountains prepared on short notice by the leaders of Slovakia has proven beyond any doubt that Slovaks can produce adequate facilities for such an important event as winter Olympics. Most of the facilities created are of lasting value as they may be used and reused by further similar sport activities though not necessarily on an international level. The organizers have shown not only the ability and the know-how but also good taste in creating efficient facilities. The good taste has also been demonstrated in the building of several tourist hotels at various geographical points in Slovakia. Almost without exception, hotel buildings have at last one masterpiece of art by a known artist in the foyer or elsewhere for the inspection of an appreciative customer. Such hotels usually are built with the most modern approach, and the service in such hotels is supposed to match the style. However, there is ample evidence4 that the service of high consumer satisfaction is not always present. In this respect, the potential of the Slovak trade is hampered by other services that go hand in hand with the tourist trade and which were more or less adequately solved by the Swiss or the Austrians. Bus service, cool drink and snack service at various points of movements SLOVAKIA 143 of tourists are just a few among to be mentioned. However, this may be solved comperatively easily if the tourist planners are given enough scope and competence to develop them. There is, of course, a more important problem which the Slovak tourist planners will have to face. This is the problem of seasonal fluctuations in the tourist trade. A breakdown of the 1963 figures, for example, shows that the winter and fall quarters were very low in tourist activity in comparison to the other two quarters. This poses a problem of optimum capacity of facilities for tourist trade. This capacity will have to be determined by the spring and summer demand for them. From the point of view of the rate of return on investment, those facilities should get the priority of development which can be operated all year. Thus, the spas, sanatoriums and other hospitals are examples in question. Since tourist trade in Slovakia has shown in the past centuries an excellent tradition in this field, this development could prove very profitable indeed. Piest'any, where Beethoven composed his 7th Symphony, is an example of such tradition. This portion of the tourist trade activity taking shape of its past reputation can become the backbone of the total activity in this field. Having stressed this kind of activity, the rest of tourist trade may be taken in stride inspite of the seasonal fluctuations. However, even in this direction, a lot can be done by a good planner or economist by envisaging such tourist activity which can take place all year around. This kind of seasonal fluctuation may be at least partially curtailed by using the same facilities during the summer and winter. Since the structure of the Slovak tourist scenery in such that it can be enjoyed for skiing in winter and other activities in summer, it may be possible to create year-around tourist activity in such areas. However, in the respect a lot of planning and research should be done, as many areas have not been explored for safety reasons. All in all, a careful analysis may show that the seasonal fluctuations may turn out to appear more smoothed out than at first sight. In that case one may expect a full and optimal development of the Slovak tourist trade which would possibly make it one of the most important components of the Slovak Gross National Product. 144 SLOVAKIA The demand for Slovak facilities could prove quite high. In fact, for many years to come the Slovak tourist trade could prove an important and favorable competitor to the Swiss tourist trade, and only Austria could challenge this position of Slovakia. It is the prices of various services that are expected to be much lower than the Swiss and somewhat lower than the Austrian. In such situations, Slovakia could prove a seeked for tourist attraction filling the capacity available, provided that the services match the Swiss standards. Since this is very hard to achieve because of high Swiss standards, one may allow for some discrepancy in this respect. At the same time, one may point out that given the scope of development and authority into the hands of the tourist trade planners, they may show that they can achieve the Swiss standards. In that case, with lower prices, Slovaks are in an excellent competitive position with the Swiss. In the past, the Swiss journalists themselves have uttered such thoughts. Other non-monetary aspects of this trade are also very important. For example, the rustic setting untouched by the most modern civilization may have a point in question. The availability of concerts and other activities which are not scheduled withing the tourist trade may be another. Good and reasonable shopping activities for handicraft products may prove an excellent attraction. This of course may give an impetus to further development of other industries. The above mentioned goals in terms of foreign tourist trade may be achieved effectively in a given period of time only if other noneconomic factors are developed to give the economic development a necessary background and environment. Thus, in the respect, political measures must allow the development of tourist trade activity. The managers of smaller summer resorts must have enough opportunity to be able to decide quickly on their policy changes concerning tourist trade activities if such changes are brought about without further notice. In order to avoid unnecessary waste, such decentralized decision-making process must be inherent in the system of planning and production of the tourist trade. Since the cultural background is closely related to this one, a combination of the two may prove a stimulating factor in the development of the Slovak tourist trade. Given these conditions, there SLOVAKIA 145 are enough qualified people in Slovakia to do it, and others can easily be trained. In order to achieve some significant result in terms of Slovak foreign trade, one will have to reorganize all present facilities, improve them and then build new ones . In this respect the Slovak economy is quite negligent as the informed sources maintain.5 Most deficiencies are in the organization itself; 6 in terms of service, 7 in public relations especially advertising,8 etc. On the other hand, there has been quite a bit done to attract the hunters into Slovakia for various kinds of activities9 and other services. These kinds of details may have to be ironed out before tourist trade can achieve the desired results. The best possible approach in this respect would be to develop the various kinds of services to such an extent that the internal tourist trade demand may be satisfied. Having achieved these standards, one may proceed to expand for foreign consumption. This is quite possible as the Slovaks proved in the past as informed tourists, demanding a high standard of service. This kind of supply-demand interaction may create the necessary base for development for foreign oriented tourist trade. Since the potential for developing the Slovak tourist trade does exist, it will depend mostly on the wisdom of those people who are in decision-making positions. They seemed sympathetic to such development in the past. NOTES 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) Statisticka rocenka Ibid, p. 405. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Ibid. Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, Pravda, Bratislava, c SSR 1965, Prague 1965, p. 4-04. March 14, 1969, p. 5. March 26, 1969, p. 5. February April 25, February February 19, 1969, p. 2. 1969, p. 1. 6, 1970, p. 2. 14, 1969, p. 2. * THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to works of charity, materially and morally aids Slovaks, here and abroad, who may be in need of such aid; it supports the American Red Cross, United Fund Campaigns and other American charitable projects.  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 Tourist Trade of Slovakia Description An account of the resource George A. Podhájsky Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 140-145 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Podhájsky, George A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2a4b581b83da8681797032244a9d905a.pdf f600a8bd1e0dd9816cacfb5228783e47 PDF Text Text 136 SLOVAKIA Slovakia, the Land of Beauty Helena T. Gaydos Slovakia is surrounded by the Danube River on the South, the Carpathian Mountains on the North and West as natural frontiel'ls. The eastern frontier is marked by the north bank of the Tisa River, which becomes the Laborec. In the east, Slovakia borders upon the Soviet Union, in the south upon Hungary, in the north upon Poland, and in the Southwestern corner upon Austria. The area of Slovakia amounts to something around 19,000 square miles. There are approximately four and one half million people living in Slovakia. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL Slovakia is situated in the temperate zone. Because of its Central European position, maritime and continental climate mixes in the country. Owing to the great differences in altitudes above sea level, the average annual temperatures range from 25 to 50 degrees, and the average annual percipitation is from 2 to 8 inches. It rains primarily in spring and summer which is advantageous for agriculture. RIVERS AND LAKES Slovakia is a landlocked country and its rivers are important because they offer outlets to the Black and Baltic Seas. The western rivers, the Vah which is Slovakia's most important river, the Hron and the Nitra empty into the Danube, and thus indirectly flow into Black Sea. The eastern lowlands are drained by the Homad, Ondava and Laborec Rivers which empty into the Tisa and are indirect tributaries of the Black Sea. Slovakia is a country with a sufficient quantity of waterways, lakes and artificial water reservoirs; it excells, however, with its extremely numerous therapeutic mineral waters. �SLOVAKIA 137 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION Along the river valleys, between the mountain ridges run the main ways of communication of the country: the railway lines and the roads. In ancient days, the course of these streams determined the course of the road along which people migrated and commerce and culture £,lowed. Today we still find Slovakia at the junction of these roads which cross the Carpathian Mountains from the North and the South. Historically, two roads have been especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia, one along the Danube connecting the countries of western Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate <this road crossed a second important highway, which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current at the Morava River, and went as far north as the Baltic Coast.* AGRICULTURE The uplands, pastures and meadows support sheep grazing and cattle breeding. Wool, meat, and cheese are the major products. The fertile soils and mild climate of the lowlands produce wheat, barley, sugar beets, corn, clover, tobacco, green vegetables, paprika, melons, sunflowers, peckling herbs, vineyards and orchards including almond trees. The main industries are connected with agriculture, food processing, wine making, and agricultural machinery. FORESTS AND WCX)DWORK INDUSTRIES Forests cover 34 % of Slovakia, making it one of the most forested countries in Europe. The Upper Vah is noted for lumbering (spruce, pine, and birch), and woodwork industries are found at Ruzomberok, Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. MINERALS AND RESOURCES The Rudohorie (Slovak Ore Mountains), located in the south-central Slovakia, play an important part in economy of the country. The Rudohorie are a source of high-grade iron ore, antimony ore, mercury, copper, magnesite, limestone, semi-precious stones-agates, amethysts and milky opals. Offshoots have gold, silver, and lead. Legnite deposits are worked at Handlova. * Ghlbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., Slovakia and Its People (New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960), p. 2. �138 SLOVAKIA CITIES Bratislava, with population of 290,000, the capital of Slovakia, is the natural trading center where railway and river traffic meet. It is also a manufacturing center which includes cable production, petroleum refining, chemicals, machinery, cloth, and leather goods. Bratislava has a colorful history. It was once the capital of Hungary and is famous for being the scene of the Treaty of Pressburg (1805) between Napoleon and Emperor Francis II of Austria. Kosice, with a population of 106,000, is the steel center of eastern Slovakia and its largest city. The city of ziar is important with its immense aluminum plant. Other important cities are Banska Bystrica, a mining town, Nitra, Trnava, and Trencin. Komarno is the second port on the Danube. TRADE AND ECONOMY Throughout the country the factories are turning out everything from television sets and textiles, from refrigererators and lumber to electric motors and pharmaceuticals. Foreign trade has been chiefly with the communist states; agriculture is completely collectivized; and the economy is socialized with practically no private enterprise. In its plans for the future economy, the greatest asset Slovakia has is the beauty of the country. Slovakia is a country of mountains and forests which makes it a natural tourist attraction. Edward J. Linehan in the National Geographic writes about travelling "to primeval Slovakian mountains of breathtaking beauty," which statement reinforces my view of Slovakia as a Garden of Eden. In the summer and fall the mountains excell in beauty and color. Slovakia is often referred to as an "Oasis of Silence." SKIING The High Tatras referred to as "Alps in miniature" are capped by the 8,711-foot Gerlach Peak is a skier's paradise. The 1970 world cross-country and jumping ski championships were held here. The Low Tatras and the Fatra Mountains also offer excellent ski resorts. The Little Carpathians are famous for its wines, the most famous, of course, is Malokarpatske Zlato (Little �SLOVAKIA 139 Carpathian Gold), Slivovica, which is a fiery, colorless plum brandy, is probably the most popular drink in Slovakia. HUNTING AND FISHING To satisfy the hunter, the principal game in Slovakia are : stag, deer, fallow deer, moufflon, chomois, boar, fox, wolf, lynx, bear, hare, pheasant, partridge, grouse, blackcock, quail, wild-goose, wild-duck, bustard. For the fisherman the rivers offer trout, pike, bass, carp, eel, and salmon. CAVES The caves of Slovakia are among the country's greatest attractions. Each one is different in its underground magic . The important ones are: the Cave of Liberty, a drippingstone cave; the Ice Cave of Dobsina is one of the greatest and most beautiful ice caves in the world; the Belanska, the Harmanec, the Jasov, and the Driny are stalactite caves. The one that interests me the most is the Domica cave which was inhabited by Neolithic man and its special attraction is underground boating on the Styx river . SPAS AND MINERAL WATERS Slovakia is a country with an extraordinary richness in the most different thermal spas, climatic-health resorts, and natural mineral waters. It is the general practice of the spas to indicate its specialty as to the type of malady treated. For example: The Trencianske Teplice will cure motoric apparatus; the Sliac is for circulatory problems; the Bojnice and Dudince claim cures for motoric and nervous apparatus; and the Bardejov and Korytnica will take care of problems with the digestive canal. CUISINE Among the cuisine pirohy (potato dumplings) filled with sauerkraut are served with pork and bacon. The sweet dumplings are filled with lekvar (plum butter) or cottage cheese with melted butter or sour cream poured over them. Another specialty is Slovak paprikas made from pork, mutton, beef or veal, pig's heart, paprika and tomatoes. Smoked sausages are a favorite, and crusty dark rye bread is a standard with every meal. Throughout its long history of domination the Slovaks have managed to maintain their . own language, their �140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 1 � 136 SLOVAKIA Slovakia, the Land of Beauty Helena T. Gaydos Slovakia is surrounded by the Danube River on the South, the Carpathian Mountains on the North and West as natural frontiel'ls. The eastern frontier is marked by the north bank of the Tisa River, which becomes the Laborec. In the east, Slovakia borders upon the Soviet Union, in the south upon Hungary, in the north upon Poland, and in the Southwestern corner upon Austria. The area of Slovakia amounts to something around 19,000 square miles. There are approximately four and one half million people living in Slovakia. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL Slovakia is situated in the temperate zone. Because of its Central European position, maritime and continental climate mixes in the country. Owing to the great differences in altitudes above sea level, the average annual temperatures range from 25 to 50 degrees, and the average annual percipitation is from 2 to 8 inches. It rains primarily in spring and summer which is advantageous for agriculture. RIVERS AND LAKES Slovakia is a landlocked country and its rivers are important because they offer outlets to the Black and Baltic Seas. The western rivers, the Vah which is Slovakia's most important river, the Hron and the Nitra empty into the Danube, and thus indirectly flow into Black Sea. The eastern lowlands are drained by the Homad, Ondava and Laborec Rivers which empty into the Tisa and are indirect tributaries of the Black Sea. Slovakia is a country with a sufficient quantity of waterways, lakes and artificial water reservoirs; it excells, however, with its extremely numerous therapeutic mineral waters. �SLOVAKIA 137 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION Along the river valleys, between the mountain ridges run the main ways of communication of the country: the railway lines and the roads. In ancient days, the course of these streams determined the course of the road along which people migrated and commerce and culture £,lowed. Today we still find Slovakia at the junction of these roads which cross the Carpathian Mountains from the North and the South. Historically, two roads have been especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia, one along the Danube connecting the countries of western Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate <this road crossed a second important highway, which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current at the Morava River, and went as far north as the Baltic Coast.* AGRICULTURE The uplands, pastures and meadows support sheep grazing and cattle breeding. Wool, meat, and cheese are the major products. The fertile soils and mild climate of the lowlands produce wheat, barley, sugar beets, corn, clover, tobacco, green vegetables, paprika, melons, sunflowers, peckling herbs, vineyards and orchards including almond trees. The main industries are connected with agriculture, food processing, wine making, and agricultural machinery. FORESTS AND WCX)DWORK INDUSTRIES Forests cover 34 % of Slovakia, making it one of the most forested countries in Europe. The Upper Vah is noted for lumbering (spruce, pine, and birch), and woodwork industries are found at Ruzomberok, Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. MINERALS AND RESOURCES The Rudohorie (Slovak Ore Mountains), located in the south-central Slovakia, play an important part in economy of the country. The Rudohorie are a source of high-grade iron ore, antimony ore, mercury, copper, magnesite, limestone, semi-precious stones-agates, amethysts and milky opals. Offshoots have gold, silver, and lead. Legnite deposits are worked at Handlova. * Ghlbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., Slovakia and Its People (New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960), p. 2. �138 SLOVAKIA CITIES Bratislava, with population of 290,000, the capital of Slovakia, is the natural trading center where railway and river traffic meet. It is also a manufacturing center which includes cable production, petroleum refining, chemicals, machinery, cloth, and leather goods. Bratislava has a colorful history. It was once the capital of Hungary and is famous for being the scene of the Treaty of Pressburg (1805) between Napoleon and Emperor Francis II of Austria. Kosice, with a population of 106,000, is the steel center of eastern Slovakia and its largest city. The city of ziar is important with its immense aluminum plant. Other important cities are Banska Bystrica, a mining town, Nitra, Trnava, and Trencin. Komarno is the second port on the Danube. TRADE AND ECONOMY Throughout the country the factories are turning out everything from television sets and textiles, from refrigererators and lumber to electric motors and pharmaceuticals. Foreign trade has been chiefly with the communist states; agriculture is completely collectivized; and the economy is socialized with practically no private enterprise. In its plans for the future economy, the greatest asset Slovakia has is the beauty of the country. Slovakia is a country of mountains and forests which makes it a natural tourist attraction. Edward J. Linehan in the National Geographic writes about travelling "to primeval Slovakian mountains of breathtaking beauty," which statement reinforces my view of Slovakia as a Garden of Eden. In the summer and fall the mountains excell in beauty and color. Slovakia is often referred to as an "Oasis of Silence." SKIING The High Tatras referred to as "Alps in miniature" are capped by the 8,711-foot Gerlach Peak is a skier's paradise. The 1970 world cross-country and jumping ski championships were held here. The Low Tatras and the Fatra Mountains also offer excellent ski resorts. The Little Carpathians are famous for its wines, the most famous, of course, is Malokarpatske Zlato (Little �SLOVAKIA 139 Carpathian Gold), Slivovica, which is a fiery, colorless plum brandy, is probably the most popular drink in Slovakia. HUNTING AND FISHING To satisfy the hunter, the principal game in Slovakia are : stag, deer, fallow deer, moufflon, chomois, boar, fox, wolf, lynx, bear, hare, pheasant, partridge, grouse, blackcock, quail, wild-goose, wild-duck, bustard. For the fisherman the rivers offer trout, pike, bass, carp, eel, and salmon. CAVES The caves of Slovakia are among the country's greatest attractions. Each one is different in its underground magic . The important ones are: the Cave of Liberty, a drippingstone cave; the Ice Cave of Dobsina is one of the greatest and most beautiful ice caves in the world; the Belanska, the Harmanec, the Jasov, and the Driny are stalactite caves. The one that interests me the most is the Domica cave which was inhabited by Neolithic man and its special attraction is underground boating on the Styx river . SPAS AND MINERAL WATERS Slovakia is a country with an extraordinary richness in the most different thermal spas, climatic-health resorts, and natural mineral waters. It is the general practice of the spas to indicate its specialty as to the type of malady treated. For example: The Trencianske Teplice will cure motoric apparatus; the Sliac is for circulatory problems; the Bojnice and Dudince claim cures for motoric and nervous apparatus; and the Bardejov and Korytnica will take care of problems with the digestive canal. CUISINE Among the cuisine pirohy (potato dumplings) filled with sauerkraut are served with pork and bacon. The sweet dumplings are filled with lekvar (plum butter) or cottage cheese with melted butter or sour cream poured over them. Another specialty is Slovak paprikas made from pork, mutton, beef or veal, pig's heart, paprika and tomatoes. Smoked sausages are a favorite, and crusty dark rye bread is a standard with every meal. Throughout its long history of domination the Slovaks have managed to maintain their . own language, their �140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 136 SLOVAKIA Slovakia, the Land of Beauty Helena T. Gaydos Slovakia is surrounded by the Danube River on the South, the Carpathian Mountains on the North and West as natural frontiel'ls. The eastern frontier is marked by the north bank of the Tisa River, which becomes the Laborec. In the east, Slovakia borders upon the Soviet Union, in the south upon Hungary, in the north upon Poland, and in the Southwestern corner upon Austria. The area of Slovakia amounts to something around 19,000 square miles. There are approximately four and one half million people living in Slovakia. CLIMATE AND RAINFALL Slovakia is situated in the temperate zone. Because of its Central European position, maritime and continental climate mixes in the country. Owing to the great differences in altitudes above sea level, the average annual temperatures range from 25 to 50 degrees, and the average annual percipitation is from 2 to 8 inches. It rains primarily in spring and summer which is advantageous for agriculture. RIVERS AND LAKES Slovakia is a landlocked country and its rivers are important because they offer outlets to the Black and Baltic Seas. The western rivers, the Vah which is Slovakia's most important river, the Hron and the Nitra empty into the Danube, and thus indirectly flow into Black Sea. The eastern lowlands are drained by the Homad, Ondava and Laborec Rivers which empty into the Tisa and are indirect tributaries of the Black Sea. Slovakia is a country with a sufficient quantity of waterways, lakes and artificial water reservoirs; it excells, however, with its extremely numerous therapeutic mineral waters. SLOVAKIA 137 TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATION Along the river valleys, between the mountain ridges run the main ways of communication of the country: the railway lines and the roads. In ancient days, the course of these streams determined the course of the road along which people migrated and commerce and culture £,lowed. Today we still find Slovakia at the junction of these roads which cross the Carpathian Mountains from the North and the South. Historically, two roads have been especially significant in deciding the fate of Slovakia, one along the Danube connecting the countries of western Europe with the eastern world. Near the Carpatho-Alpian gate <this road crossed a second important highway, which started from the coast of the Adriatic Sea, crossed the Danube, proceeded to the north against the current at the Morava River, and went as far north as the Baltic Coast.* AGRICULTURE The uplands, pastures and meadows support sheep grazing and cattle breeding. Wool, meat, and cheese are the major products. The fertile soils and mild climate of the lowlands produce wheat, barley, sugar beets, corn, clover, tobacco, green vegetables, paprika, melons, sunflowers, peckling herbs, vineyards and orchards including almond trees. The main industries are connected with agriculture, food processing, wine making, and agricultural machinery. FORESTS AND WCX)DWORK INDUSTRIES Forests cover 34 % of Slovakia, making it one of the most forested countries in Europe. The Upper Vah is noted for lumbering (spruce, pine, and birch), and woodwork industries are found at Ruzomberok, Liptovsky Svaty Mikulas. MINERALS AND RESOURCES The Rudohorie (Slovak Ore Mountains), located in the south-central Slovakia, play an important part in economy of the country. The Rudohorie are a source of high-grade iron ore, antimony ore, mercury, copper, magnesite, limestone, semi-precious stones-agates, amethysts and milky opals. Offshoots have gold, silver, and lead. Legnite deposits are worked at Handlova. * Ghlbert L. Oddo, Ph.D., Slovakia and Its People (New York : Robert Speller & Sons, 1960), p. 2. 138 SLOVAKIA CITIES Bratislava, with population of 290,000, the capital of Slovakia, is the natural trading center where railway and river traffic meet. It is also a manufacturing center which includes cable production, petroleum refining, chemicals, machinery, cloth, and leather goods. Bratislava has a colorful history. It was once the capital of Hungary and is famous for being the scene of the Treaty of Pressburg (1805) between Napoleon and Emperor Francis II of Austria. Kosice, with a population of 106,000, is the steel center of eastern Slovakia and its largest city. The city of ziar is important with its immense aluminum plant. Other important cities are Banska Bystrica, a mining town, Nitra, Trnava, and Trencin. Komarno is the second port on the Danube. TRADE AND ECONOMY Throughout the country the factories are turning out everything from television sets and textiles, from refrigererators and lumber to electric motors and pharmaceuticals. Foreign trade has been chiefly with the communist states; agriculture is completely collectivized; and the economy is socialized with practically no private enterprise. In its plans for the future economy, the greatest asset Slovakia has is the beauty of the country. Slovakia is a country of mountains and forests which makes it a natural tourist attraction. Edward J. Linehan in the National Geographic writes about travelling "to primeval Slovakian mountains of breathtaking beauty," which statement reinforces my view of Slovakia as a Garden of Eden. In the summer and fall the mountains excell in beauty and color. Slovakia is often referred to as an "Oasis of Silence." SKIING The High Tatras referred to as "Alps in miniature" are capped by the 8,711-foot Gerlach Peak is a skier's paradise. The 1970 world cross-country and jumping ski championships were held here. The Low Tatras and the Fatra Mountains also offer excellent ski resorts. The Little Carpathians are famous for its wines, the most famous, of course, is Malokarpatske Zlato (Little SLOVAKIA 139 Carpathian Gold), Slivovica, which is a fiery, colorless plum brandy, is probably the most popular drink in Slovakia. HUNTING AND FISHING To satisfy the hunter, the principal game in Slovakia are : stag, deer, fallow deer, moufflon, chomois, boar, fox, wolf, lynx, bear, hare, pheasant, partridge, grouse, blackcock, quail, wild-goose, wild-duck, bustard. For the fisherman the rivers offer trout, pike, bass, carp, eel, and salmon. CAVES The caves of Slovakia are among the country's greatest attractions. Each one is different in its underground magic . The important ones are: the Cave of Liberty, a drippingstone cave; the Ice Cave of Dobsina is one of the greatest and most beautiful ice caves in the world; the Belanska, the Harmanec, the Jasov, and the Driny are stalactite caves. The one that interests me the most is the Domica cave which was inhabited by Neolithic man and its special attraction is underground boating on the Styx river . SPAS AND MINERAL WATERS Slovakia is a country with an extraordinary richness in the most different thermal spas, climatic-health resorts, and natural mineral waters. It is the general practice of the spas to indicate its specialty as to the type of malady treated. For example: The Trencianske Teplice will cure motoric apparatus; the Sliac is for circulatory problems; the Bojnice and Dudince claim cures for motoric and nervous apparatus; and the Bardejov and Korytnica will take care of problems with the digestive canal. CUISINE Among the cuisine pirohy (potato dumplings) filled with sauerkraut are served with pork and bacon. The sweet dumplings are filled with lekvar (plum butter) or cottage cheese with melted butter or sour cream poured over them. Another specialty is Slovak paprikas made from pork, mutton, beef or veal, pig's heart, paprika and tomatoes. Smoked sausages are a favorite, and crusty dark rye bread is a standard with every meal. Throughout its long history of domination the Slovaks have managed to maintain their . own language, their 140 SLOVAKIA religion, and their national identification. Perhaps it is only in this ability to maintain their distinctive characteristics that the Slovaks will ever realize their independence. Even more than geographical position, and greedy neighbors, these distinctive Slovak characteristics-described as easy-going, honest, idealistic, deeply religious, imaginative, open-hearted, soft-hearted, emotional, and music-loving-will equip them for the task of building a strong and independent nation in the midst of hard and cruel world. Tourist Trade of Slovakia George A. P o d h d j s k y Countries like Switzerland and Austria, which are endowed with exquisite beauty in their natural setting, devote considerable attention in terms of economic activity to the development of a high level of tourist trade. A significant proportion of their Gross National Product comes from the tourist trade, internal and especially foreign. For that purpose these two countries have steered their economic activity in such a way as to support an unprecedented development of their respective tourist trade industries. Of the Communist countries, Yugoslavia was particularly successful in developing a very attractive program for tourist trade, especially from foreign countries. A similar·potential for developing tourist trade also exists in the Slovak economy. The natural beauty of Slovak Tatra Mountains and the adjacent valleys which spread over most of the country, doubled with the proverbial hospitality of the Slovak people, are a good basis for the development of tourist trade in this country. Apart from this, there is an old tradition of internal and foreign tourism developed through the centuries. It is the purpose of this paper to assess the present situation of the Slovak tourist trade and its potential for future development. I. The following figures may sum up the state of tourist trade of Czecho-Slovakia for the years 1960-1964. 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 Slovakia, the Land of Beauty Description An account of the resource Helena T. Gaydos Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 136-140 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gaydos, Helena T. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/66d81964b502ba436e5de58154d80835.pdf 4269718fa2c19a98316fa99893d32db3 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 125 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America Daniel F. Tanzone It shall be my design in this paper to look objectively at the problems and other pertinent sociological data regarding the history, growth and development of the Slovak immigrant in contemporary America. It shall be a study from the point of an American who is of Slovak ancestry, although this might tend to make the paper onesided and bias, I shall endeavor to present an objective view of the situation and problems in present day America. I shall consider the Slovaks to be one of America's minorities. The Slovaks can be considered minorities. For my purpose the definition will prove suggestive. Minorities are subgroups within a culture which are distinguishable from the dominant group by reason of difference in physiognomy, language, customs or culture-patterns (including any combination of these factors). I shall also consider the Slovaks as one of the many immigrant groups who "have made it" in America. Their development and eventual climb to success was brought about by overcoming great difficulties. The role played by one of the institutions of society, notably the Church, proved to be the most important single factor and in some ways one of the greatest problems for the Slovaks' emancipation from the ghettos of narrow-minded Little Slovakias in countless numbers of American cities. Victims of oppression have always looked upon migration to a new land with a promise of freedom and equal opportunity as their mecca. And in the late years of the last century in order to be free of social injustice, economic serfdom, or the threat of national liquidation, the oppressed peoples of central, southern and eastern Europe have constantly looked toward the United States as a haven. The Slovak of the nineteenth and early twentieth century was no exception. Harrassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought �126 SLOVAKIA to deprive them of their national character and identity literally thousands of thousands of Slovak families sought refuge in the new world. Slovaks began to emigrate in great numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. "From the year 1880 until the outbreak of World War I, Slovakia lost more than 550,000 people through emigration to America, over 22 per cent of her total population." 1 "Numerically in the twelve years ending June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eighth among the nations providing immigrant material. The rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; this was double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews 08.3), Croatians-Slovenians (13.1), and South Italians (11.9). The rate was the highest of any group." 2 Having arrived in the United States, the Slovak immigrants began to look for a place to live and to work. The first areas to draw them were the coal mine centers; only in the second instance did the Slovaks settle in the factory cities. One focus of settlement was the hard-coal of north-eastern Pennsylvania where the center was Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Before World War I the mines in the district employed 75,000 to 100,000 men; of this group 12 ';,were Slovaks. 3 Besides northeastern Pennsylvania Slovaks crowded scores of cities in the eastern industrial portions of the United States. Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, New York, Yonkers, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark became the centers of the new Slovak life. There was scarcely a mine, factory or mill in America's new industry where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. And everywhere they went, two opposing drives moved them. One toward Americanization and with it the social acceptance all new immigrants sought from their immigrant predecessors. The other, to preserve the culture and, above all, the faith of the Slovak past. That the two meshed instead of irreconcilably clashing can be attributed largely to the labors of a score or so of Slovak pioneers, in this the new land. Since the Slovaks knew little identity within the framework of Austria-Hungary and •since their very existence was denyed, a sense of Slovak nationalism and identity developed here in the United States. The early aim of �SLOVAKIA 127 these immigrant Slovaks was to preserve the Slovak language, Slovak customs and indeed a distinct Slovak identity. This nationalism, if we might call it, eventually was brought to bear fruit when the republic of CzechoSlovakia was established in 1918. The plans and agreements were reached not only in Europe but their foundations were laid in America. It was the work of the SlovakAmerican organizations in America under the banner of the Slovak League of America that guaranteed the rights of the Slovaks within the republic of Czecho-Slovakia. This early Slovak Nationalism developed with the establishment of a workable Slovak press here in America. The first Slovak newspaper was called the Bulletin which was hectographed by Julius Wolf and John Slovensky in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1885. The printed word was very important to the Slovak immigrant because in Hungary "to take a Slovak newspaper or, if an educated man, to speak the Slovak tongue, is to brand oneself in Magyar eyes as a political traitor and to insure very possible obstacle in one's path." 4 Slovak was forbidden in the schools, courts and even in the pulpits of churches. It was only natural that the Slovak who now lived in a free land would tend to encourage the use of the Slovak language in every possible instance of daily life. From its very beginnings the Slovak press has always been extremely strong and influential. The Slovak press was used as a means at voicing opposition to the programs and directives of the Austro-Hungarian government. It constantly attacked the Hungarians and their view of the Slovaks which they equated with ignorance, dullness and poverty. From the outset the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage. Their first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in 1882 and their first Evangelical (Lutheran ) church in Streator, Ill., two years later. The main problems were twofold: priests were needed who could speak the language and fund were needed for parish churches and schools; both were met but only after a long, hard pull.5 The true flowering of the Slovak identity come with the establishment of the great Slovak fraternal societies. This organizational life among the Slovaks began in the �128 SLOVAKIA lodg·es and societies so common in America after the Civil War. "By 1914 in the United States principal organizations had 15,600,000 members." 6 Economic and social need led the Slovaks to form lodges. Mine disasters often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family not only destitute, but even without the money for a funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits a large number of societies grew up in industrial and mining towns. These societies proved the greatest blessing to identity-starved Slovak. He now could boast a purely Slovak, not Hungarian or Austro-Hungarian society. These mutual benefit societies were organized in hundreds of cities from Maine to California. They were organized along two distant lines one purely Slovak with no regard to religion or political beliefs, and the other along strictly religious lines . The later proved to attract the majority of Slovak immigrants. The leader of the first group with a purely nationalistic view, was Peter P. Rovnianek, known as the stormy petrel, who did so much to make cause of the Slovaks known to Americans. He organized the National Slovak Society in Pittsburgh, Pa., on February 15, 1890. The second group was led by the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a Slovak immigrant priest of the Cleveland, Ohio Diocese met with representatives of seven Slovak Catholic Societies in Cleveland on September 5, 1890 and organized the First Catholic Slovak Union commonly known as Jednota. This organization attracted many other Catholic societies and became the most important Slovak organization in America. The local lodges of this organization organized Slovak Catholics and formed parishes throughout the Unites States and even in Canada. This organization helped to organize some 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes in America. This organization proved to be the most important single achievement of the Slovak in America. It not only protected the member's life but also served as a cultural, religious and economic means of expressing the Slovaks' distinct identity. Not even in Austria-Hungary was there a Slovak organization which had its own press, its own orphanage and a large educational complex in Middletown, Pennsylvania. This organization helped to organize a teaching order of Sisters to staff the Slovak schools which were being built in practically every Slovak parish. This organ- �SLOVAKIA 129 ization provided the first Mother house for the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a Slovak-American community founded by the Rev. Matthew Jankola of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Other such Slovak fraternals appeared in the ensuing years. 7 The problem of the second generation was that life at home was unpleasant; whereas in the schoolroom they were too foreign, at home they were too American. The Slovak immigrant fathers who compromised most villingly in adjusting their outside affairs to the realities of the workaday world were different persons in their homes. Within the family circle, the Slovak language, religion, customs and parental authority were not to be modified simply because the home had been transplanted to the United States. The problem of the second generation Slovak American how to inhabit two worlds at the same time, was solved by escape as soon as sons were free economically, even before they reached their legal maturity. The second generation also came to know the contempt in which artistic activities were held by nineteenth and twentieth century Americans. They hastened to prove that they knew little or cared even less about art, music, th8ater or literature. "Nothing was more Yankee than a Yankeeized person of foreign descent." 8 In his opinion, that is the second generation Slovak-American it is he who is to undergo the entire transformation; the true member of the American nationality is not called upon to change in the least. The traits of foreign nationality which the Slovak brings with him are not to be mixed or interwoven. They are to be abandoned. The standard to which he must conform has been already fixed by forces quite outside himself, quite outside any individual, native or foreign, fixed by all the factors, topographical, climatic, racial, historical, fortuitous, which have worked together to make the American nationality what it is. A harsh situation, indeed. But a situation the harshness of which is determined not by the inclination or wish of any person or group of persons, but by the inherent qualities of human nature and social organization. 9 For the Eastern European immigrant and in particular the Slovak the third generation return was not so much �130 SLOVAKIA to cultural entities per se, but to a vague nostalgia and an undefined ideology. This ideology has no organic relation to the third-generation descendant's individual past, but is rather primarily a reaction to the conditions of life in the twentieth-century United States: 1) a "native" population alerted to the alleged stereotypic characteristics of immigrant groups; 2) the threat posed by numbers of incoming immigrants reinforcing a pre-existing population base of their compatriots; 3) the difficulty of maintaining ethnic anonymity; and 4) a somewhat retarded rate of growth in the country leading to a stronger emphasis upon a man's origin. 10 Essentially the group of immigrant origins-whether it be homogenous or heterogenous in character-return s in a context filtered by the American experience. Thus a general question to be put forth, the following is posed: Who returns to what with whom under which conditions of the possible forms and contents of these returns? Individual behavior is meant as well as the process of returning evidenced by the Slovaks who are a religio-ethnic group. Some reasons might be: 1) a generalized interest which may remain diffused or may become crystallized around specific segments of an ethnic folk heritage, a Slovak heritage-languag e, holiday celebrations, foods, etc. 2) the institutional religious framework-the existence of 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes, plus prayer and certain holiday observances within the Church. 4) Literary, ideological-cultur al-the writing of immigrant history, and since the Slovaks had a greater sense of freedom in the short period of time since they first arrived in America, the field was very ripe. The sensitive position that Slovak Americans of the third generation have toward the Slovakia of the period 1939-1945. It posed an interesting history of political science. An ethnic Slovak press which was the second largest foreign Slav press in the free world, and a press which was larger than anything that had existed in old Austria-Hungary. All this added to the socially patterned rationalizations and apologetics affirming the Slovak group's identity. 5) An interest in the dress, manner, and speech cadence, employment, political affiliation etc. The renewed interest in things Slovak can be manifested by the present Slovak-American community in the �SLOVAKIA 131 revival of Slovak customs in parishes, homes, schools and organizations throughout the United States. A major factor of this present day resurgence of the Slovak-American ethnic was the development and encouragement of the Black Power movement. This new awareness of blackness, and with it the new social and economic acceptances which world threaten all white Americans the ethnic groups all had a certain renascence. Centers for ethnic studies are proposed for many major cities in the United States so as to encourage and enbody the cultures and heritages that go into the American heritage. Due to this new interest in things Slovak some Universities have established Slovak chairs, notably at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, Columbia, the University of Chicago and also Marquette University. 11 Some contemporary problems which face the SlovakAmerican organizations, churches, religious orders, press and communities are such things as narrow minded mentalities toward other minority groups, and in general polarization. Narrowmindedness persists in many Slovak parishes where although the Slovak parish in within a ghetto community which is no longer Slovak these parishes do nothing to serve the needs of the residents of the ghetto. Most Slovak parishes are no longer needed in the sense that they were needed three-quarters of a century ago. It is true however that certain large cities, points of settlement of newly arrived waves of immigrants, should be maintained. It seems quite ludicrous in many small towns to maintain five or six parishes, when five are national and one or two would adequately serve the needs of the Catholic community. One major factor for the persistence of many national parishes is the fact that their members feel that, although they no longer speak the language of their immigrant parents or grandparents, they nevertheless feel a certain protection from the majority group. The completely unbalanced ethnic background of the American hierarchy is one major reason why Americans born of Slovak descent or, for that matter, any ethnic group other than the Irish feel that their mentality and ideas are not understood by the Irish hierarchy. A more pluralistic hierarchy in America would tend to serve the needs and best wishes of all American Catholics. These �132 SLOVAKIA national parishes pose many juridical problems for the American church today. The problem of the national church, and there still exist in the United States at least 2,855 parishes serving the various ethnic groups, will be a problem which will have to dealt with much compassion and respect. To simply say that this, and that parish will close and all catholics must attend one church, will not settle the problem. It has been estimated that over ten million American Catholics belong to national parishes. 12 Many Slovak parishes in the United States not only serve the Slovak Catholics but serve other groups in inner cities. In most instances these parishes are without debt and are usually quite wealthy due to the fact that Slovak Catholics in America are known for their generosity. These parishes are able to finance large schools admitting many minority groups. An example is the parish of the Most Holy Trinity in Gary, Indiana, where the then Msgr. Andrew G. Grutka was pastor, now the bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Msgr. Grutka opened the parish school to the local Negroes of his parish. His parish school had two-thirds of its populations Black. He not only provided the Blacks with an education but he also gave them free lunches, free clothing and helped their families establish themselves as outstanding citizens of the community. This is an instance where the work, started by the Slovak immigrants, is continuing its service to all who come in contact with the parish. This is an outstanding example of a national parish which is providing not only services to its Slovak American people but, to serve in a true spirit of Christ, it is using its power to help who seek its aid. 13 The problem of polarization in America today is one of Black against White and the Slovaks must be open enough to see that polarization whether Black or White or ethnic is not a healthy attitude for America. Slovak ethnicity can go just so far until it becomes unhealthy and actually un-American. The days of the Slovaks and their sons and grandsons who feel that they are a subgroup and are inherently different and "not belonging" to the dominant American group are over and it is with this spirit of optimism that the Slovak-Americans will continue t o forge ahead to become outstanding American citizens. It is interesting to note that the Slovak organizations �SLOVAKIA 133 in the United States and Canada are stronger than they have ever been in their history. Their membership stands at over one half million and their assets are over $150,000,000.00. These organizations have great potential to become leaders in the realm of Catholic Action works in America. One of these organizations, the largest and the most influential, the First Catholic Slovak Union with its 104,000 members is in the forefront of major reform with its new anticipated multi-million dollar educational. cultural and civic center which will be built on its vast acreage in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The complex will provide 1,800 units of senior citizen housing for the members and any person in need, also a college for 1,000 students. The facilities will be open to all regardless of race, color or creed.14 The Slovak press still has a circulation of over 250,000 in America, althougt Slovak has been replaced with English in many instances. Two members of the American hierarchy are of Slovak descent: the Most Rev. Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop of Nashville, and the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Gary. This number should be much higher when one considers that there are over 1,200 priest of Slovak descent in America. There are three religious communities for men and nine motherhouses of Sisters among the American Slovaks, their membership is better than 3,000. Among the most outstanding laymen of Slovak descent are Dr. Walter Tkach, who is the personal physician of President Richard Nixon; astronaut Eugene V. Cernan; the uranium king of Canada Stephen B. Roman, whose empire is valued at $250,000 ,000.00 , Michael Novak, noted lay Catholic theologian; Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan, Protestant theologian, and many other notables. 15 Since the land of their ancestors is now ruled by the Communists it has been the necessity of American Slovaks to help Slovakia in many areas, particularly regarding the position of the Church. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, the representative organization of American Catholics of Slovak descent, American Catholics of Slovak origin raised over one million dollars for the establishment of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, Italy to train future priests for work in Slovakia. With �134 SLOVAKIA all Slovak dioceses vacant and all but one seminary opened the Church in Slovakia would have died had it not been for the generosity and interest of the American Slovaks . Today after nine years of existence this Institute has become the spiritual center of Slovaks throughout the world. Since the invasion of Czecho-Slovakia in 1968 tens of thousands have come to Rome and have been settled in Western Countries. Necessity calls for the Slovak Catholic Federation of America to remain a potent voice for the suffering church in Slovakia. The Slovak Catholic Federation along with the Slovak League of America, its counterpart in the socio-political sphere, have had to fight for the rights of the Slovak nation, at home and abroad, time and time again. These two dynamic ethnic organizations, whose philosophy is totally American, possess a fire for the rights of the Slovak nation whose story and traditions are among the most glorious in history yet whose plight in history has been among the most misunderstood. For some nativist Americans these organizations and philosophies are excessively chauvinistic, yet the role which has been played by American Slovaks is monumental in the development of the Slovak nation as a whole. Ethnic pride must never build walls but must always build bridges in these troubled times. Ethnic enclaves must give way to cultural identity whose philosophy can enrich the whole of society. It is quite evident in today's society that homogenization is certainly not possible in America. The pluralistic society which is a reality in America knows no single language, no single culture, no single ethnic stock and no single race. The America which we all know and love is a diverse enriching experience which has no equal in the history of the world. With an enriched diversity each one's potentials can be used to build a better America, an America immanent with the identity the individual possesses. Unless each person can experience what it really means to be an individual he can never be a part of a society. We have to use our Slovak identity to enrich our lives within the framework of the whole human experience. We must use our identity not as a barries but rather as a bridge. Unless we can come to know our roots we can never really know our history. �SLOVAKIA 135 FOOTNOTES 1) Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960), p. 330. 2) Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginning of the Slovaks in America ," Slovakia, (Middletown, Pa., 1965, p. 16. 3) Ibid. 4) Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, (New York, 1910, p . 110. 5) Oddo, op. cit. 6) Zatko, op. cit. 7) Pauco, Joseph, 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), (Middletown , 1965), p. 35. 8) "The Problems of the Immigrants", Phylon, 1968, Volume 29, No. 4. Winter p. 362. 9) Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, (Boston, 1946) , p. 154. 10) Ibid. 11) Krajsa, Joseph C., "Slovaks Have Arrived!" , Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), p. 64. 12) Barron, Milton , L., American Minorities, (New York, 1957), pp. 418--19. 13) Pauco, op. cit. p. 468. 14) Krajsa, Joseph, C., "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), pp. 64-5. 15) Stolarik, Imrich, Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), (Passaic, N.J., 1967), pp. 167-8. BIB LI O G RA PHY Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York, William F. Fell Company, 1910. Barron, Milton, L., American Minorities, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1957. Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1946. Krajsa, Joseph, C., " Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 64-68. Oddo, Gilberit, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Joseph,75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty, (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), Middletown, Jednota Press, 1965. Stolarik, lmrich , Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna, (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), Passaic, N.J., Slovak Catholic Sokol Press, 1967. Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", Slovakia XV , Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 1-38. � SLOVAKIA 125 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America Daniel F. Tanzone It shall be my design in this paper to look objectively at the problems and other pertinent sociological data regarding the history, growth and development of the Slovak immigrant in contemporary America. It shall be a study from the point of an American who is of Slovak ancestry, although this might tend to make the paper onesided and bias, I shall endeavor to present an objective view of the situation and problems in present day America. I shall consider the Slovaks to be one of America's minorities. The Slovaks can be considered minorities. For my purpose the definition will prove suggestive. Minorities are subgroups within a culture which are distinguishable from the dominant group by reason of difference in physiognomy, language, customs or culture-patterns (including any combination of these factors). I shall also consider the Slovaks as one of the many immigrant groups who "have made it" in America. Their development and eventual climb to success was brought about by overcoming great difficulties. The role played by one of the institutions of society, notably the Church, proved to be the most important single factor and in some ways one of the greatest problems for the Slovaks' emancipation from the ghettos of narrow-minded Little Slovakias in countless numbers of American cities. Victims of oppression have always looked upon migration to a new land with a promise of freedom and equal opportunity as their mecca. And in the late years of the last century in order to be free of social injustice, economic serfdom, or the threat of national liquidation, the oppressed peoples of central, southern and eastern Europe have constantly looked toward the United States as a haven. The Slovak of the nineteenth and early twentieth century was no exception. Harrassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought �126 SLOVAKIA to deprive them of their national character and identity literally thousands of thousands of Slovak families sought refuge in the new world. Slovaks began to emigrate in great numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. "From the year 1880 until the outbreak of World War I, Slovakia lost more than 550,000 people through emigration to America, over 22 per cent of her total population." 1 "Numerically in the twelve years ending June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eighth among the nations providing immigrant material. The rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; this was double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews 08.3), Croatians-Slovenians (13.1), and South Italians (11.9). The rate was the highest of any group." 2 Having arrived in the United States, the Slovak immigrants began to look for a place to live and to work. The first areas to draw them were the coal mine centers; only in the second instance did the Slovaks settle in the factory cities. One focus of settlement was the hard-coal of north-eastern Pennsylvania where the center was Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Before World War I the mines in the district employed 75,000 to 100,000 men; of this group 12 ';,were Slovaks. 3 Besides northeastern Pennsylvania Slovaks crowded scores of cities in the eastern industrial portions of the United States. Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, New York, Yonkers, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark became the centers of the new Slovak life. There was scarcely a mine, factory or mill in America's new industry where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. And everywhere they went, two opposing drives moved them. One toward Americanization and with it the social acceptance all new immigrants sought from their immigrant predecessors. The other, to preserve the culture and, above all, the faith of the Slovak past. That the two meshed instead of irreconcilably clashing can be attributed largely to the labors of a score or so of Slovak pioneers, in this the new land. Since the Slovaks knew little identity within the framework of Austria-Hungary and •since their very existence was denyed, a sense of Slovak nationalism and identity developed here in the United States. The early aim of �SLOVAKIA 127 these immigrant Slovaks was to preserve the Slovak language, Slovak customs and indeed a distinct Slovak identity. This nationalism, if we might call it, eventually was brought to bear fruit when the republic of CzechoSlovakia was established in 1918. The plans and agreements were reached not only in Europe but their foundations were laid in America. It was the work of the SlovakAmerican organizations in America under the banner of the Slovak League of America that guaranteed the rights of the Slovaks within the republic of Czecho-Slovakia. This early Slovak Nationalism developed with the establishment of a workable Slovak press here in America. The first Slovak newspaper was called the Bulletin which was hectographed by Julius Wolf and John Slovensky in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1885. The printed word was very important to the Slovak immigrant because in Hungary "to take a Slovak newspaper or, if an educated man, to speak the Slovak tongue, is to brand oneself in Magyar eyes as a political traitor and to insure very possible obstacle in one's path." 4 Slovak was forbidden in the schools, courts and even in the pulpits of churches. It was only natural that the Slovak who now lived in a free land would tend to encourage the use of the Slovak language in every possible instance of daily life. From its very beginnings the Slovak press has always been extremely strong and influential. The Slovak press was used as a means at voicing opposition to the programs and directives of the Austro-Hungarian government. It constantly attacked the Hungarians and their view of the Slovaks which they equated with ignorance, dullness and poverty. From the outset the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage. Their first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in 1882 and their first Evangelical (Lutheran ) church in Streator, Ill., two years later. The main problems were twofold: priests were needed who could speak the language and fund were needed for parish churches and schools; both were met but only after a long, hard pull.5 The true flowering of the Slovak identity come with the establishment of the great Slovak fraternal societies. This organizational life among the Slovaks began in the �128 SLOVAKIA lodg·es and societies so common in America after the Civil War. "By 1914 in the United States principal organizations had 15,600,000 members." 6 Economic and social need led the Slovaks to form lodges. Mine disasters often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family not only destitute, but even without the money for a funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits a large number of societies grew up in industrial and mining towns. These societies proved the greatest blessing to identity-starved Slovak. He now could boast a purely Slovak, not Hungarian or Austro-Hungarian society. These mutual benefit societies were organized in hundreds of cities from Maine to California. They were organized along two distant lines one purely Slovak with no regard to religion or political beliefs, and the other along strictly religious lines . The later proved to attract the majority of Slovak immigrants. The leader of the first group with a purely nationalistic view, was Peter P. Rovnianek, known as the stormy petrel, who did so much to make cause of the Slovaks known to Americans. He organized the National Slovak Society in Pittsburgh, Pa., on February 15, 1890. The second group was led by the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a Slovak immigrant priest of the Cleveland, Ohio Diocese met with representatives of seven Slovak Catholic Societies in Cleveland on September 5, 1890 and organized the First Catholic Slovak Union commonly known as Jednota. This organization attracted many other Catholic societies and became the most important Slovak organization in America. The local lodges of this organization organized Slovak Catholics and formed parishes throughout the Unites States and even in Canada. This organization helped to organize some 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes in America. This organization proved to be the most important single achievement of the Slovak in America. It not only protected the member's life but also served as a cultural, religious and economic means of expressing the Slovaks' distinct identity. Not even in Austria-Hungary was there a Slovak organization which had its own press, its own orphanage and a large educational complex in Middletown, Pennsylvania. This organization helped to organize a teaching order of Sisters to staff the Slovak schools which were being built in practically every Slovak parish. This organ- �SLOVAKIA 129 ization provided the first Mother house for the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a Slovak-American community founded by the Rev. Matthew Jankola of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Other such Slovak fraternals appeared in the ensuing years. 7 The problem of the second generation was that life at home was unpleasant; whereas in the schoolroom they were too foreign, at home they were too American. The Slovak immigrant fathers who compromised most villingly in adjusting their outside affairs to the realities of the workaday world were different persons in their homes. Within the family circle, the Slovak language, religion, customs and parental authority were not to be modified simply because the home had been transplanted to the United States. The problem of the second generation Slovak American how to inhabit two worlds at the same time, was solved by escape as soon as sons were free economically, even before they reached their legal maturity. The second generation also came to know the contempt in which artistic activities were held by nineteenth and twentieth century Americans. They hastened to prove that they knew little or cared even less about art, music, th8ater or literature. "Nothing was more Yankee than a Yankeeized person of foreign descent." 8 In his opinion, that is the second generation Slovak-American it is he who is to undergo the entire transformation; the true member of the American nationality is not called upon to change in the least. The traits of foreign nationality which the Slovak brings with him are not to be mixed or interwoven. They are to be abandoned. The standard to which he must conform has been already fixed by forces quite outside himself, quite outside any individual, native or foreign, fixed by all the factors, topographical, climatic, racial, historical, fortuitous, which have worked together to make the American nationality what it is. A harsh situation, indeed. But a situation the harshness of which is determined not by the inclination or wish of any person or group of persons, but by the inherent qualities of human nature and social organization. 9 For the Eastern European immigrant and in particular the Slovak the third generation return was not so much �130 SLOVAKIA to cultural entities per se, but to a vague nostalgia and an undefined ideology. This ideology has no organic relation to the third-generation descendant's individual past, but is rather primarily a reaction to the conditions of life in the twentieth-century United States: 1) a "native" population alerted to the alleged stereotypic characteristics of immigrant groups; 2) the threat posed by numbers of incoming immigrants reinforcing a pre-existing population base of their compatriots; 3) the difficulty of maintaining ethnic anonymity; and 4) a somewhat retarded rate of growth in the country leading to a stronger emphasis upon a man's origin. 10 Essentially the group of immigrant origins-whether it be homogenous or heterogenous in character-return s in a context filtered by the American experience. Thus a general question to be put forth, the following is posed: Who returns to what with whom under which conditions of the possible forms and contents of these returns? Individual behavior is meant as well as the process of returning evidenced by the Slovaks who are a religio-ethnic group. Some reasons might be: 1) a generalized interest which may remain diffused or may become crystallized around specific segments of an ethnic folk heritage, a Slovak heritage-languag e, holiday celebrations, foods, etc. 2) the institutional religious framework-the existence of 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes, plus prayer and certain holiday observances within the Church. 4) Literary, ideological-cultur al-the writing of immigrant history, and since the Slovaks had a greater sense of freedom in the short period of time since they first arrived in America, the field was very ripe. The sensitive position that Slovak Americans of the third generation have toward the Slovakia of the period 1939-1945. It posed an interesting history of political science. An ethnic Slovak press which was the second largest foreign Slav press in the free world, and a press which was larger than anything that had existed in old Austria-Hungary. All this added to the socially patterned rationalizations and apologetics affirming the Slovak group's identity. 5) An interest in the dress, manner, and speech cadence, employment, political affiliation etc. The renewed interest in things Slovak can be manifested by the present Slovak-American community in the �SLOVAKIA 131 revival of Slovak customs in parishes, homes, schools and organizations throughout the United States. A major factor of this present day resurgence of the Slovak-American ethnic was the development and encouragement of the Black Power movement. This new awareness of blackness, and with it the new social and economic acceptances which world threaten all white Americans the ethnic groups all had a certain renascence. Centers for ethnic studies are proposed for many major cities in the United States so as to encourage and enbody the cultures and heritages that go into the American heritage. Due to this new interest in things Slovak some Universities have established Slovak chairs, notably at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, Columbia, the University of Chicago and also Marquette University. 11 Some contemporary problems which face the SlovakAmerican organizations, churches, religious orders, press and communities are such things as narrow minded mentalities toward other minority groups, and in general polarization. Narrowmindedness persists in many Slovak parishes where although the Slovak parish in within a ghetto community which is no longer Slovak these parishes do nothing to serve the needs of the residents of the ghetto. Most Slovak parishes are no longer needed in the sense that they were needed three-quarters of a century ago. It is true however that certain large cities, points of settlement of newly arrived waves of immigrants, should be maintained. It seems quite ludicrous in many small towns to maintain five or six parishes, when five are national and one or two would adequately serve the needs of the Catholic community. One major factor for the persistence of many national parishes is the fact that their members feel that, although they no longer speak the language of their immigrant parents or grandparents, they nevertheless feel a certain protection from the majority group. The completely unbalanced ethnic background of the American hierarchy is one major reason why Americans born of Slovak descent or, for that matter, any ethnic group other than the Irish feel that their mentality and ideas are not understood by the Irish hierarchy. A more pluralistic hierarchy in America would tend to serve the needs and best wishes of all American Catholics. These �132 SLOVAKIA national parishes pose many juridical problems for the American church today. The problem of the national church, and there still exist in the United States at least 2,855 parishes serving the various ethnic groups, will be a problem which will have to dealt with much compassion and respect. To simply say that this, and that parish will close and all catholics must attend one church, will not settle the problem. It has been estimated that over ten million American Catholics belong to national parishes. 12 Many Slovak parishes in the United States not only serve the Slovak Catholics but serve other groups in inner cities. In most instances these parishes are without debt and are usually quite wealthy due to the fact that Slovak Catholics in America are known for their generosity. These parishes are able to finance large schools admitting many minority groups. An example is the parish of the Most Holy Trinity in Gary, Indiana, where the then Msgr. Andrew G. Grutka was pastor, now the bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Msgr. Grutka opened the parish school to the local Negroes of his parish. His parish school had two-thirds of its populations Black. He not only provided the Blacks with an education but he also gave them free lunches, free clothing and helped their families establish themselves as outstanding citizens of the community. This is an instance where the work, started by the Slovak immigrants, is continuing its service to all who come in contact with the parish. This is an outstanding example of a national parish which is providing not only services to its Slovak American people but, to serve in a true spirit of Christ, it is using its power to help who seek its aid. 13 The problem of polarization in America today is one of Black against White and the Slovaks must be open enough to see that polarization whether Black or White or ethnic is not a healthy attitude for America. Slovak ethnicity can go just so far until it becomes unhealthy and actually un-American. The days of the Slovaks and their sons and grandsons who feel that they are a subgroup and are inherently different and "not belonging" to the dominant American group are over and it is with this spirit of optimism that the Slovak-Americans will continue t o forge ahead to become outstanding American citizens. It is interesting to note that the Slovak organizations �SLOVAKIA 133 in the United States and Canada are stronger than they have ever been in their history. Their membership stands at over one half million and their assets are over $150,000,000.00. These organizations have great potential to become leaders in the realm of Catholic Action works in America. One of these organizations, the largest and the most influential, the First Catholic Slovak Union with its 104,000 members is in the forefront of major reform with its new anticipated multi-million dollar educational. cultural and civic center which will be built on its vast acreage in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The complex will provide 1,800 units of senior citizen housing for the members and any person in need, also a college for 1,000 students. The facilities will be open to all regardless of race, color or creed.14 The Slovak press still has a circulation of over 250,000 in America, althougt Slovak has been replaced with English in many instances. Two members of the American hierarchy are of Slovak descent: the Most Rev. Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop of Nashville, and the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Gary. This number should be much higher when one considers that there are over 1,200 priest of Slovak descent in America. There are three religious communities for men and nine motherhouses of Sisters among the American Slovaks, their membership is better than 3,000. Among the most outstanding laymen of Slovak descent are Dr. Walter Tkach, who is the personal physician of President Richard Nixon; astronaut Eugene V. Cernan; the uranium king of Canada Stephen B. Roman, whose empire is valued at $250,000 ,000.00 , Michael Novak, noted lay Catholic theologian; Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan, Protestant theologian, and many other notables. 15 Since the land of their ancestors is now ruled by the Communists it has been the necessity of American Slovaks to help Slovakia in many areas, particularly regarding the position of the Church. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, the representative organization of American Catholics of Slovak descent, American Catholics of Slovak origin raised over one million dollars for the establishment of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, Italy to train future priests for work in Slovakia. With �134 SLOVAKIA all Slovak dioceses vacant and all but one seminary opened the Church in Slovakia would have died had it not been for the generosity and interest of the American Slovaks . Today after nine years of existence this Institute has become the spiritual center of Slovaks throughout the world. Since the invasion of Czecho-Slovakia in 1968 tens of thousands have come to Rome and have been settled in Western Countries. Necessity calls for the Slovak Catholic Federation of America to remain a potent voice for the suffering church in Slovakia. The Slovak Catholic Federation along with the Slovak League of America, its counterpart in the socio-political sphere, have had to fight for the rights of the Slovak nation, at home and abroad, time and time again. These two dynamic ethnic organizations, whose philosophy is totally American, possess a fire for the rights of the Slovak nation whose story and traditions are among the most glorious in history yet whose plight in history has been among the most misunderstood. For some nativist Americans these organizations and philosophies are excessively chauvinistic, yet the role which has been played by American Slovaks is monumental in the development of the Slovak nation as a whole. Ethnic pride must never build walls but must always build bridges in these troubled times. Ethnic enclaves must give way to cultural identity whose philosophy can enrich the whole of society. It is quite evident in today's society that homogenization is certainly not possible in America. The pluralistic society which is a reality in America knows no single language, no single culture, no single ethnic stock and no single race. The America which we all know and love is a diverse enriching experience which has no equal in the history of the world. With an enriched diversity each one's potentials can be used to build a better America, an America immanent with the identity the individual possesses. Unless each person can experience what it really means to be an individual he can never be a part of a society. We have to use our Slovak identity to enrich our lives within the framework of the whole human experience. We must use our identity not as a barries but rather as a bridge. Unless we can come to know our roots we can never really know our history. �SLOVAKIA 135 FOOTNOTES 1) Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960), p. 330. 2) Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginning of the Slovaks in America ," Slovakia, (Middletown, Pa., 1965, p. 16. 3) Ibid. 4) Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, (New York, 1910, p . 110. 5) Oddo, op. cit. 6) Zatko, op. cit. 7) Pauco, Joseph, 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), (Middletown , 1965), p. 35. 8) "The Problems of the Immigrants", Phylon, 1968, Volume 29, No. 4. Winter p. 362. 9) Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, (Boston, 1946) , p. 154. 10) Ibid. 11) Krajsa, Joseph C., "Slovaks Have Arrived!" , Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), p. 64. 12) Barron, Milton , L., American Minorities, (New York, 1957), pp. 418--19. 13) Pauco, op. cit. p. 468. 14) Krajsa, Joseph, C., "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), pp. 64-5. 15) Stolarik, Imrich, Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), (Passaic, N.J., 1967), pp. 167-8. BIB LI O G RA PHY Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York, William F. Fell Company, 1910. Barron, Milton, L., American Minorities, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1957. Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1946. Krajsa, Joseph, C., " Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 64-68. Oddo, Gilberit, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Joseph,75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty, (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), Middletown, Jednota Press, 1965. Stolarik, lmrich , Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna, (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), Passaic, N.J., Slovak Catholic Sokol Press, 1967. Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", Slovakia XV , Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 1-38. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 125 The Slovak Experience In Contemporary America Daniel F. Tanzone It shall be my design in this paper to look objectively at the problems and other pertinent sociological data regarding the history, growth and development of the Slovak immigrant in contemporary America. It shall be a study from the point of an American who is of Slovak ancestry, although this might tend to make the paper onesided and bias, I shall endeavor to present an objective view of the situation and problems in present day America. I shall consider the Slovaks to be one of America's minorities. The Slovaks can be considered minorities. For my purpose the definition will prove suggestive. Minorities are subgroups within a culture which are distinguishable from the dominant group by reason of difference in physiognomy, language, customs or culture-patterns (including any combination of these factors). I shall also consider the Slovaks as one of the many immigrant groups who "have made it" in America. Their development and eventual climb to success was brought about by overcoming great difficulties. The role played by one of the institutions of society, notably the Church, proved to be the most important single factor and in some ways one of the greatest problems for the Slovaks' emancipation from the ghettos of narrow-minded Little Slovakias in countless numbers of American cities. Victims of oppression have always looked upon migration to a new land with a promise of freedom and equal opportunity as their mecca. And in the late years of the last century in order to be free of social injustice, economic serfdom, or the threat of national liquidation, the oppressed peoples of central, southern and eastern Europe have constantly looked toward the United States as a haven. The Slovak of the nineteenth and early twentieth century was no exception. Harrassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought 126 SLOVAKIA to deprive them of their national character and identity literally thousands of thousands of Slovak families sought refuge in the new world. Slovaks began to emigrate in great numbers to America in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. "From the year 1880 until the outbreak of World War I, Slovakia lost more than 550,000 people through emigration to America, over 22 per cent of her total population." 1 "Numerically in the twelve years ending June 30, 1910, Slovakia ranked eighth among the nations providing immigrant material. The rate of emigration of Slovaks per 1,000 was 18.6; this was double that of any other race of people, except the Hebrews 08.3), Croatians-Slovenians (13.1), and South Italians (11.9). The rate was the highest of any group." 2 Having arrived in the United States, the Slovak immigrants began to look for a place to live and to work. The first areas to draw them were the coal mine centers; only in the second instance did the Slovaks settle in the factory cities. One focus of settlement was the hard-coal of north-eastern Pennsylvania where the center was Hazleton, Pennsylvania. Before World War I the mines in the district employed 75,000 to 100,000 men; of this group 12 ';,were Slovaks. 3 Besides northeastern Pennsylvania Slovaks crowded scores of cities in the eastern industrial portions of the United States. Cleveland, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, New York, Yonkers, Philadelphia, Detroit, Bridgeport, Newark became the centers of the new Slovak life. There was scarcely a mine, factory or mill in America's new industry where Slovak immigrants and their sons could not be found. And everywhere they went, two opposing drives moved them. One toward Americanization and with it the social acceptance all new immigrants sought from their immigrant predecessors. The other, to preserve the culture and, above all, the faith of the Slovak past. That the two meshed instead of irreconcilably clashing can be attributed largely to the labors of a score or so of Slovak pioneers, in this the new land. Since the Slovaks knew little identity within the framework of Austria-Hungary and •since their very existence was denyed, a sense of Slovak nationalism and identity developed here in the United States. The early aim of SLOVAKIA 127 these immigrant Slovaks was to preserve the Slovak language, Slovak customs and indeed a distinct Slovak identity. This nationalism, if we might call it, eventually was brought to bear fruit when the republic of CzechoSlovakia was established in 1918. The plans and agreements were reached not only in Europe but their foundations were laid in America. It was the work of the SlovakAmerican organizations in America under the banner of the Slovak League of America that guaranteed the rights of the Slovaks within the republic of Czecho-Slovakia. This early Slovak Nationalism developed with the establishment of a workable Slovak press here in America. The first Slovak newspaper was called the Bulletin which was hectographed by Julius Wolf and John Slovensky in Pittsburgh, Pa., in 1885. The printed word was very important to the Slovak immigrant because in Hungary "to take a Slovak newspaper or, if an educated man, to speak the Slovak tongue, is to brand oneself in Magyar eyes as a political traitor and to insure very possible obstacle in one's path." 4 Slovak was forbidden in the schools, courts and even in the pulpits of churches. It was only natural that the Slovak who now lived in a free land would tend to encourage the use of the Slovak language in every possible instance of daily life. From its very beginnings the Slovak press has always been extremely strong and influential. The Slovak press was used as a means at voicing opposition to the programs and directives of the Austro-Hungarian government. It constantly attacked the Hungarians and their view of the Slovaks which they equated with ignorance, dullness and poverty. From the outset the Slovaks set out to preserve their Christian heritage. Their first Catholic parish was founded in Hazleton, Pennsylvania in 1882 and their first Evangelical (Lutheran ) church in Streator, Ill., two years later. The main problems were twofold: priests were needed who could speak the language and fund were needed for parish churches and schools; both were met but only after a long, hard pull.5 The true flowering of the Slovak identity come with the establishment of the great Slovak fraternal societies. This organizational life among the Slovaks began in the 128 SLOVAKIA lodg·es and societies so common in America after the Civil War. "By 1914 in the United States principal organizations had 15,600,000 members." 6 Economic and social need led the Slovaks to form lodges. Mine disasters often took the lives of husbands and fathers, leaving the family not only destitute, but even without the money for a funeral. In answer to the need of sickness and funeral benefits a large number of societies grew up in industrial and mining towns. These societies proved the greatest blessing to identity-starved Slovak. He now could boast a purely Slovak, not Hungarian or Austro-Hungarian society. These mutual benefit societies were organized in hundreds of cities from Maine to California. They were organized along two distant lines one purely Slovak with no regard to religion or political beliefs, and the other along strictly religious lines . The later proved to attract the majority of Slovak immigrants. The leader of the first group with a purely nationalistic view, was Peter P. Rovnianek, known as the stormy petrel, who did so much to make cause of the Slovaks known to Americans. He organized the National Slovak Society in Pittsburgh, Pa., on February 15, 1890. The second group was led by the Rev. Stephen Furdek, a Slovak immigrant priest of the Cleveland, Ohio Diocese met with representatives of seven Slovak Catholic Societies in Cleveland on September 5, 1890 and organized the First Catholic Slovak Union commonly known as Jednota. This organization attracted many other Catholic societies and became the most important Slovak organization in America. The local lodges of this organization organized Slovak Catholics and formed parishes throughout the Unites States and even in Canada. This organization helped to organize some 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes in America. This organization proved to be the most important single achievement of the Slovak in America. It not only protected the member's life but also served as a cultural, religious and economic means of expressing the Slovaks' distinct identity. Not even in Austria-Hungary was there a Slovak organization which had its own press, its own orphanage and a large educational complex in Middletown, Pennsylvania. This organization helped to organize a teaching order of Sisters to staff the Slovak schools which were being built in practically every Slovak parish. This organ- SLOVAKIA 129 ization provided the first Mother house for the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a Slovak-American community founded by the Rev. Matthew Jankola of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Other such Slovak fraternals appeared in the ensuing years. 7 The problem of the second generation was that life at home was unpleasant; whereas in the schoolroom they were too foreign, at home they were too American. The Slovak immigrant fathers who compromised most villingly in adjusting their outside affairs to the realities of the workaday world were different persons in their homes. Within the family circle, the Slovak language, religion, customs and parental authority were not to be modified simply because the home had been transplanted to the United States. The problem of the second generation Slovak American how to inhabit two worlds at the same time, was solved by escape as soon as sons were free economically, even before they reached their legal maturity. The second generation also came to know the contempt in which artistic activities were held by nineteenth and twentieth century Americans. They hastened to prove that they knew little or cared even less about art, music, th8ater or literature. "Nothing was more Yankee than a Yankeeized person of foreign descent." 8 In his opinion, that is the second generation Slovak-American it is he who is to undergo the entire transformation; the true member of the American nationality is not called upon to change in the least. The traits of foreign nationality which the Slovak brings with him are not to be mixed or interwoven. They are to be abandoned. The standard to which he must conform has been already fixed by forces quite outside himself, quite outside any individual, native or foreign, fixed by all the factors, topographical, climatic, racial, historical, fortuitous, which have worked together to make the American nationality what it is. A harsh situation, indeed. But a situation the harshness of which is determined not by the inclination or wish of any person or group of persons, but by the inherent qualities of human nature and social organization. 9 For the Eastern European immigrant and in particular the Slovak the third generation return was not so much 130 SLOVAKIA to cultural entities per se, but to a vague nostalgia and an undefined ideology. This ideology has no organic relation to the third-generation descendant's individual past, but is rather primarily a reaction to the conditions of life in the twentieth-century United States: 1) a "native" population alerted to the alleged stereotypic characteristics of immigrant groups; 2) the threat posed by numbers of incoming immigrants reinforcing a pre-existing population base of their compatriots; 3) the difficulty of maintaining ethnic anonymity; and 4) a somewhat retarded rate of growth in the country leading to a stronger emphasis upon a man's origin. 10 Essentially the group of immigrant origins-whether it be homogenous or heterogenous in character-return s in a context filtered by the American experience. Thus a general question to be put forth, the following is posed: Who returns to what with whom under which conditions of the possible forms and contents of these returns? Individual behavior is meant as well as the process of returning evidenced by the Slovaks who are a religio-ethnic group. Some reasons might be: 1) a generalized interest which may remain diffused or may become crystallized around specific segments of an ethnic folk heritage, a Slovak heritage-languag e, holiday celebrations, foods, etc. 2) the institutional religious framework-the existence of 350 Slovak Roman Catholic parishes, plus prayer and certain holiday observances within the Church. 4) Literary, ideological-cultur al-the writing of immigrant history, and since the Slovaks had a greater sense of freedom in the short period of time since they first arrived in America, the field was very ripe. The sensitive position that Slovak Americans of the third generation have toward the Slovakia of the period 1939-1945. It posed an interesting history of political science. An ethnic Slovak press which was the second largest foreign Slav press in the free world, and a press which was larger than anything that had existed in old Austria-Hungary. All this added to the socially patterned rationalizations and apologetics affirming the Slovak group's identity. 5) An interest in the dress, manner, and speech cadence, employment, political affiliation etc. The renewed interest in things Slovak can be manifested by the present Slovak-American community in the SLOVAKIA 131 revival of Slovak customs in parishes, homes, schools and organizations throughout the United States. A major factor of this present day resurgence of the Slovak-American ethnic was the development and encouragement of the Black Power movement. This new awareness of blackness, and with it the new social and economic acceptances which world threaten all white Americans the ethnic groups all had a certain renascence. Centers for ethnic studies are proposed for many major cities in the United States so as to encourage and enbody the cultures and heritages that go into the American heritage. Due to this new interest in things Slovak some Universities have established Slovak chairs, notably at the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Minnesota, Columbia, the University of Chicago and also Marquette University. 11 Some contemporary problems which face the SlovakAmerican organizations, churches, religious orders, press and communities are such things as narrow minded mentalities toward other minority groups, and in general polarization. Narrowmindedness persists in many Slovak parishes where although the Slovak parish in within a ghetto community which is no longer Slovak these parishes do nothing to serve the needs of the residents of the ghetto. Most Slovak parishes are no longer needed in the sense that they were needed three-quarters of a century ago. It is true however that certain large cities, points of settlement of newly arrived waves of immigrants, should be maintained. It seems quite ludicrous in many small towns to maintain five or six parishes, when five are national and one or two would adequately serve the needs of the Catholic community. One major factor for the persistence of many national parishes is the fact that their members feel that, although they no longer speak the language of their immigrant parents or grandparents, they nevertheless feel a certain protection from the majority group. The completely unbalanced ethnic background of the American hierarchy is one major reason why Americans born of Slovak descent or, for that matter, any ethnic group other than the Irish feel that their mentality and ideas are not understood by the Irish hierarchy. A more pluralistic hierarchy in America would tend to serve the needs and best wishes of all American Catholics. These 132 SLOVAKIA national parishes pose many juridical problems for the American church today. The problem of the national church, and there still exist in the United States at least 2,855 parishes serving the various ethnic groups, will be a problem which will have to dealt with much compassion and respect. To simply say that this, and that parish will close and all catholics must attend one church, will not settle the problem. It has been estimated that over ten million American Catholics belong to national parishes. 12 Many Slovak parishes in the United States not only serve the Slovak Catholics but serve other groups in inner cities. In most instances these parishes are without debt and are usually quite wealthy due to the fact that Slovak Catholics in America are known for their generosity. These parishes are able to finance large schools admitting many minority groups. An example is the parish of the Most Holy Trinity in Gary, Indiana, where the then Msgr. Andrew G. Grutka was pastor, now the bishop of the Diocese of Gary. Msgr. Grutka opened the parish school to the local Negroes of his parish. His parish school had two-thirds of its populations Black. He not only provided the Blacks with an education but he also gave them free lunches, free clothing and helped their families establish themselves as outstanding citizens of the community. This is an instance where the work, started by the Slovak immigrants, is continuing its service to all who come in contact with the parish. This is an outstanding example of a national parish which is providing not only services to its Slovak American people but, to serve in a true spirit of Christ, it is using its power to help who seek its aid. 13 The problem of polarization in America today is one of Black against White and the Slovaks must be open enough to see that polarization whether Black or White or ethnic is not a healthy attitude for America. Slovak ethnicity can go just so far until it becomes unhealthy and actually un-American. The days of the Slovaks and their sons and grandsons who feel that they are a subgroup and are inherently different and "not belonging" to the dominant American group are over and it is with this spirit of optimism that the Slovak-Americans will continue t o forge ahead to become outstanding American citizens. It is interesting to note that the Slovak organizations SLOVAKIA 133 in the United States and Canada are stronger than they have ever been in their history. Their membership stands at over one half million and their assets are over $150,000,000.00. These organizations have great potential to become leaders in the realm of Catholic Action works in America. One of these organizations, the largest and the most influential, the First Catholic Slovak Union with its 104,000 members is in the forefront of major reform with its new anticipated multi-million dollar educational. cultural and civic center which will be built on its vast acreage in Middletown, Pennsylvania. The complex will provide 1,800 units of senior citizen housing for the members and any person in need, also a college for 1,000 students. The facilities will be open to all regardless of race, color or creed.14 The Slovak press still has a circulation of over 250,000 in America, althougt Slovak has been replaced with English in many instances. Two members of the American hierarchy are of Slovak descent: the Most Rev. Joseph A. Durick, D. D., Bishop of Nashville, and the Most Rev. Andrew G. Grutka, D. D., LL. D., Bishop of Gary. This number should be much higher when one considers that there are over 1,200 priest of Slovak descent in America. There are three religious communities for men and nine motherhouses of Sisters among the American Slovaks, their membership is better than 3,000. Among the most outstanding laymen of Slovak descent are Dr. Walter Tkach, who is the personal physician of President Richard Nixon; astronaut Eugene V. Cernan; the uranium king of Canada Stephen B. Roman, whose empire is valued at $250,000 ,000.00 , Michael Novak, noted lay Catholic theologian; Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan, Protestant theologian, and many other notables. 15 Since the land of their ancestors is now ruled by the Communists it has been the necessity of American Slovaks to help Slovakia in many areas, particularly regarding the position of the Church. Under the leadership of Bishop Andrew G. Grutka the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, the representative organization of American Catholics of Slovak descent, American Catholics of Slovak origin raised over one million dollars for the establishment of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, Italy to train future priests for work in Slovakia. With 134 SLOVAKIA all Slovak dioceses vacant and all but one seminary opened the Church in Slovakia would have died had it not been for the generosity and interest of the American Slovaks . Today after nine years of existence this Institute has become the spiritual center of Slovaks throughout the world. Since the invasion of Czecho-Slovakia in 1968 tens of thousands have come to Rome and have been settled in Western Countries. Necessity calls for the Slovak Catholic Federation of America to remain a potent voice for the suffering church in Slovakia. The Slovak Catholic Federation along with the Slovak League of America, its counterpart in the socio-political sphere, have had to fight for the rights of the Slovak nation, at home and abroad, time and time again. These two dynamic ethnic organizations, whose philosophy is totally American, possess a fire for the rights of the Slovak nation whose story and traditions are among the most glorious in history yet whose plight in history has been among the most misunderstood. For some nativist Americans these organizations and philosophies are excessively chauvinistic, yet the role which has been played by American Slovaks is monumental in the development of the Slovak nation as a whole. Ethnic pride must never build walls but must always build bridges in these troubled times. Ethnic enclaves must give way to cultural identity whose philosophy can enrich the whole of society. It is quite evident in today's society that homogenization is certainly not possible in America. The pluralistic society which is a reality in America knows no single language, no single culture, no single ethnic stock and no single race. The America which we all know and love is a diverse enriching experience which has no equal in the history of the world. With an enriched diversity each one's potentials can be used to build a better America, an America immanent with the identity the individual possesses. Unless each person can experience what it really means to be an individual he can never be a part of a society. We have to use our Slovak identity to enrich our lives within the framework of the whole human experience. We must use our identity not as a barries but rather as a bridge. Unless we can come to know our roots we can never really know our history. SLOVAKIA 135 FOOTNOTES 1) Oddo, Gilbert, L., Slovakia and Its People, (New York, 1960), p. 330. 2) Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginning of the Slovaks in America ," Slovakia, (Middletown, Pa., 1965, p. 16. 3) Ibid. 4) Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, (New York, 1910, p . 110. 5) Oddo, op. cit. 6) Zatko, op. cit. 7) Pauco, Joseph, 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), (Middletown , 1965), p. 35. 8) "The Problems of the Immigrants", Phylon, 1968, Volume 29, No. 4. Winter p. 362. 9) Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, (Boston, 1946) , p. 154. 10) Ibid. 11) Krajsa, Joseph C., "Slovaks Have Arrived!" , Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), p. 64. 12) Barron, Milton , L., American Minorities, (New York, 1957), pp. 418--19. 13) Pauco, op. cit. p. 468. 14) Krajsa, Joseph, C., "Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia, (Middletown , 1965), pp. 64-5. 15) Stolarik, Imrich, Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), (Passaic, N.J., 1967), pp. 167-8. BIB LI O G RA PHY Balch, Emily, Greene, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, New York, William F. Fell Company, 1910. Barron, Milton, L., American Minorities, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1957. Fairchild, Henry, Pratt, The Melting-Pot Mistake, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1946. Krajsa, Joseph, C., " Slovaks Have Arrived", Slovakia XV, Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 64-68. Oddo, Gilberit, L., Slovakia and Its People, New York, Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Pauco, Joseph,75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty, (75 Year History of the First Catholic Slovak Union), Middletown, Jednota Press, 1965. Stolarik, lmrich , Kanadska Slovenska Liga 35rocna, (35 Year History of the Canadian Slovak League), Passaic, N.J., Slovak Catholic Sokol Press, 1967. Zatko, James, J., "Early Beginnings of the Slovaks in America", Slovakia XV , Middletown, Pa., Jednota Press, 1965, pp. 1-38.  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 Slovak Experience in Contemporary America Description An account of the resource Daniel F. Tanzone Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 125-135 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tanzone, Daniel F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/45adc31d44d6443594a03d4e370d57f1.pdf c2242299f2efa63f4c444c374ab3e92d PDF Text Text 116 SLOVAKIA Historical and Empirical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group By Dr. Steven I. Miller Any attempt to study a given group of people is a difficult task because it required and presupposes a host of complicated procedures and insights into the workings of that group. That is, the group must be "understood" (to use Max Weber's term) on several levels: historical, linguistic, demographic, familial, political, economic and so on. Unless a composite picture of the social grouping is made available on the variables mentioned above, it is virtually impossible to obtain a mature understanding of that group's values, beliefs and life-styles. How then should this task of understanding a group of people be undertaken? There are several approaches to the problem, and we will attempt to deliniate, in a broad perspective, some of them. My thesis is that Slovaks in America have not been, until very recently, studied in any systematic fashion, and that because of this oversight, the Slovak-American community is not well known to scholars and laymen. I also believe that this paucity of systematic research has caused fragmentation and alienation within the Slovak-American community, and is exemplified in a general lack of interests in things Slovak by second and third generation Slovak-Americans. There has also been, I believe, an over emphasis by certain scholars on the political problems within Slovakia itself, with a subsequent neglect of studying in depth the issues that have concerned Slovak-Americans more recently. Now, I am not arguing that the political-historical issues concerning the Slovaks in Slovakia, past and present, be overlooked or minimized in any way. This perspective is needed and merits further research. But the issue now, I believe, is one of balance or priorities. Second and third �SLOVAKIA 117 generation Slovak-Americans find it increasingly difficult to identify in any meaningful fashion with the historicalpolitical problems of Slovakia since 1918. The issues have become too distant in space and time engender a spirit of concern within this younger group. Thus a dilemma ensues: on the one hand there is the necessity of specifying the historical problems (in terms of political and moral issues ) of Slovaks as a unique national group with the possibility of losing the interest of native born SlovakAmericans; on the other hand is the problem of concentrating too exclusively on the concerns of contemporary Slovak-Americans and de-emphasizing their historical ties with Slovakia. My own feelings are that the second emphasis will in the long run be the most beneficial for all Slovaks. Namely, the in-depth and scholarly attempt to study SlovakAmerican communities in terms of historical origins and contemporary problems. How then can we go about fulfilling this task? The first step is to understand a little more about the nature of historical and empirical research. A NEED FOR DEFINING THE PROBLEM: THE HISTORICAL APPROACH Before a group of people can be studied in any systematic fashion, it is necessary to determine some type of general approach. The approach (or methodology as it is called) that one chooses will in turn permit him to view the situation in a certain way, and to draw certain conclusions from what he observes. These conclusions, if they are based on a sufficient amount of evidence, will then permit the investigator to draw appropriate conclusions or relationships about the group he is studying. Thus the historical approach will specify a problem ( or a hypothesis) that is decided upon as being worthy of further research. For example, one might want to study the history of the first permanent Slovak community in the United States; or, within this framework, look at the role of the priest in relation to newly arrived immigrants. Historical research is vital because as F . Kerlinger states, "it is the critical investigation of events, developments and experiences of the past, the careful weighing of evidence of the validity of sources of information on the past, and �118 SLOVAKIA the interpretation of the weighted evidence." 1 Within this framework, the ethnic historian is particularly concerned with examining written sources in order to determine the quality and quantity of evidence available for the substantiation of his hypothesis. He is basically concerned with primary sources ( original records, minutes of meetings, etc.) and in the methods of internal and external criticism.2 External criticism is concerned with establishing the validity of the sources used, while internal criticism focuses on the content of the documents, themselves. Kerlinger points out the necessity of historiography when he cites the conclusions of the Social Science Research Council.3 Historiography has a necessary relevance to all the soda! sciences, to the humanities, and to the formulation of public and private policies because (1) all the data used in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in the formulation of public and private policies are drawn from records of, experience in, or writing about the past; because (2) all policies respecting human affairs, public or private, and all generalizations of a nonstatistical character in the social sciences and in the humanities involve interpretations of or assumptions about the past; and because (3) all workers in the social sciences and in the humanities are personalities of given times, places, and experience whose tmnking is consequently in some measure conditioned and determined my the historical circumstances of their lives and experiences. Thus, as a starting point in defining the approaches that may be fruitfully used in studying Slovak-Americans, we can see the necessity for beginning the investigation with a solid basis in htstoriography. From this perspective a further methodology can be defined, namely, the social science or empirical approach. 4 SOCIAL SCIENCE APPROACHES TO ETHNIC STUDIES The empirical approach to understanding group behavior utilizes the perspective of history, while at the same time focusing on a more specific problem that is of interest to the researcher. The empirical approach holds that there is an objective world containing "meaning" in the form of patterns of behavior, and that the task of the social scientist is to recognize these behaviors, and interpret them in such a way as to arrive at both their overt and covert meaning. The tactic that is employed in the empirical approach is, basically, what has become known as the scientific method. That is, one formulates a problem that �SLOVAKIA 119 is deemed worthy of study; a hypothesis is put forward that states a certain relationship about the problem under study; the hypothesis is subjected to some type of test (in many cases statistical); and a conclusion, subject to the limits of the quality and quantity of evidence is put forth either substantiating or refuting the hypothesis. What is crucial in this approach is that one must take pains in the beginning of the investigation to formulate the problem as precisely as possible. This is why a hypothesis (or hypotheses) is necessary. A hypothesis is an assumption, a guess, or as Kerlinger says, "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more observed phenomena or variables. 5 Thus, one might wish to investigate the relationship between the Slovaks' commitment to their religious beliefs and the tendency to build parochial schools; or, perhaps, examine the correlation between Slovak attitudes toward education and the intergenerational mobility of their children. What we are suggesting here is that there are many more aspects of Slovak culture that can be identified, studied, made known and preserved, and that empirical investigation is only concerned with the compilation of meaningless statistics, or that it will obscure the unique "flavor" of Slovak culture. This need not be the case. What the empirical method of investigation strives to do is to bring to the surface the complexities of values and beliefs of a group of people and, by implication, their uniqueness. Empirical investigation also has the corollary effect of describing and explaining those characteristics that bind and hold a group together. The famous Polish Sociologist, Florian Znaniecki,6 in trying to explain the nature of the sociological investig·ation that he used in his classic work The Polish Peasant, states: Thus all generalizations constituting the common-sense social theory and based on individual experience are both insignificant and subject to innumerable exceptions. A sociology that accepts them necessarily condemns itself to remain in the same methodological stage, and a practice based upon them must be as insecure and as full of failures as is the activity of every individual. Znaniecki, however, goes on to state that sound empirical investigation has the effect of eventually explaining individual behavior more clearly. He goes on to state,7 �120 SLOVAKIA Whenever, now, this "practical" sociology makes an effort to get above the level of popular generalizations by the study of social reality instead of relying upon individual experience, it still preserves the same method as the individual in his personal reflection; investigation always goes on with an immediate reference to practical aims, and the standards of the desirable and undesirable are the ground upon which theoretic problems are approached. Thus, empirical research is an attempt to identify specific problems of interest, and subject these problems to the scrutiny of the scientific (in a broad sense) method. We have now identified the historical and empirical approaches to the study of group behavior as being two powerful tools that the researcher is able to use in arriving at "meaning" for social phenomena. I believe a further positive step in studying Slovak-Americans would be to incorporate both methodological approaches into a larger perspective. A SYNTHESIS OF HISTORICAL- EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION A perspective that incorporates historiography and a social science empirical approach is needed on two accounts: to broaden the area of investigation for scholars in general, and to insure that a body of well researched and validated knowledge be made available for future generations of people interested in their ethnic heritage. I am positing this approach not as a grand synthesis of two methodological systems to inquiry, but rather to deliniate the thrust of research that is needed to fulfill a large knowledge-gap existing about Slovak-Americans. The historical-social science approach combines the broader inquiry of the historian with the more specialized interest of the social scientist. This type of analysis is supported by a fairly substantial body of research. 8 More specifically, this type of research is now being undertaken by scholars interested in Slovak-American developments. Of particular relevance here is the research being carried on by the University of Minnesota.9 There is, to begin with, a large body of available material on Slovak-Americans that can be ascertained from examining the insurance application files of the First Catholic Slovak Union. The information from these files provides a vast amount of historical information that can give us an accurate profile of the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 121 emigrating to America. From these sources, the researcher is able to gather a composite picture of Slovak-American life. Thus, as Stolarik points out, " we can deduce the relative number of people who emigrated from each county, each village, each city . . . In addition, we can compare the grouping of people in the individual lodges at the parish level." 10 From this data other generalizations can be drawn; the amount of horizontal mobility, life expectancy, group cohesion, marriage patterns, length of residence in America, and so forth. Additional information is available from parish and lodge records. These records provide the researcher with data on parish life, relationship with clergy and the structure of parochial education. Likewise, newspapers such as Slovak v Amerike and Jednota are a further source of important historical materials. Thus, there is an abundance of historical material in which to set a firm basis for the study of SlovakAmericans . Now, within this historical framework, the researcher is also able to concentrate on certain specific aspects of behavior and apply the methods of the social sciences. For example, one of the areas that would be of interest to the sociologist, within the context of Slovak-American communities, would be the nature of social mobility. 11 The idea of mobility is closely related to the notion of stratification. That is, the sociologist is interested in the way societies group their members, and what types of judgements are placed on the people within the various strata. Once he has ascertained how the stratification system is constructed, he can ask whether or not it is possible to "move" from one strata to another, or the amount and type of mobility that occurs. These questions are significant to the researcher because from them he can gain a better understaning to the exact nature of the group he is investigating. For instance, if the researcher is able to identify a number of social classes as being representative of a given society, he can gain a great deal of information as to what different classes value; what their income and educational levels are; what occupations are associated with them; how they raise their children; their mortality rates; associations they belong to; political attitudes they hold; geographical �122 SLOVAKIA areas they occupy, and so forth. With this data, the investigator can determine what the "life-styles" and "lifechances" are for different groups in a society. 12 For our purpose the point is this: To study SlovakAmericans in tenns of mobility (and this is only one dimension) patterns is valuable in that a great deal of useful information can be gotten on changing life-styles and life-chances. This type of data, in turn, will give us answers to such questions as the rate of intergenerational mobility ( differences between father's and son's occupation); the increasing or decreasing educational level of Slovak-Americans ; and, generally, how well they have become assimilated within American society. Many other significant aspects of Slovak-American life can be examined through social science inquiry. One could take, as a point of departure for study, the chances within the structure of the Slovak-American family. A comparison could be made, for instance, between the structure of the family from the time of emigration, to the first five or ten years of living in America. It would be possible then to study such things as the impact of industrialization on the family unit, and the methods used to cope with strain and role conflicts.13 Or one could examine the cohesiveness of Slovak families as a function of their religious identity, language or fraternal organizations. The need for historical background material would, of course, be necessary here also. Inquiry could continue into such areas as achievement levels of Slovak-American children (for any given historical period); the value placed on education by Slovak families; the role of daughters in Slovak families; the role of the mother in the family unit, and so on. The techniques for investigating these types of questions have been worked out within the social sciences, and can be fruitfully employed in providing answers to the above. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail as to the statistical design that would be appropriate in investigating these questions. The methodology is available, however, and a design can be worked out by persons trained in these methods. 14 �SLOVAKIA 123 FUTURE DIRECTIONS What we have been saying is this: Slovaks have made a distinct and unique contribution to American Society. They have done this through much hardship, sacrifice, and the endurance of many types of overt and subtle injustices. As with any ethnic group, the Slovaks have a right to emphasize their special contributions in shaping American society. But in order to know what Slovaks have accomplished here and elsewhere, we must first know more about them in a systematic and objective way. To do this requires a frame of mind that is willing to set aside political controversies that are over a half-century old and that relate exclusively to Slovakia. It also calls for a change in attitude in terms of defining Slovak culture in an overly personal and emotional fashion. That is, equating Slovak culture with poetic attempts to discover the "true" Slovak "character"; or with attempts to mythologize certain Slovak leaders and their alleged contributions to all Slovaks. This change of attitude also implies a reorganization of priorities. It calls for supporting historical and scientific research in studying Slovaks; in taking positions on social issues; and in the realization that if young people do not identify in some meaningful way with their Slovak-American heritage, that heritage will not survive. One way to guarantee the survival of this heritage is, I believe, through the type of research outlined thus far. It is only by a large scale emphasis on sound research that a body of knowledge about Slovak-Americans can be constructed. This in turn will stimulate further scholarly interest the results of which will be incorporated, formally, within the structure of higher education and passed on to others who wish to carry on the investigation. In summary, is should be noted again, that objective research does not undermine the uniqueness of a group's heritage or contributions. Studying Slovak-Americans objectively does not mean that one forgets the struggle for freedom that Slovaks have had to under go, or the religious persecutions they have been subjected to. Research does not mean that personal experiences and insights of people do not count, or that the common-man Slovak is forgotten. What objective research does do is to give the sons and daughters of the "average Slovak" a lasting body of knowledge about �124 SLOVAKIA their heritage and of the sacrifices and contributions of their parents and grandparents. REFERENCES 1) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundation of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 698. 2) Ibid., p . 699. 3) Ibid., p. 700. 4) For an in depth discussion of the scientific method see, May Brodbeck, "Logic And Scientific Method In Research On Teaching," in Handbook Of Research On Teaching , N. L. Gage, (ed), (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1963) , pp. 44-93. 5) Kerlinger, p. 14. 6) Florian Znaniecki, On Humanistic Sociology, Robert Bierstedt (ed. ), (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 58. An excerpt taken from the "Methodological Note" , William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), 1:1-86. 7) Ibid., p. 58. 8) For a compilation of sources using these methods see, Werner J . Cahnman and Alvin Bosko££ (ed.) , Sociology and History (London: Free Press, 1964) . 9) I am especially indebted to Mr. M. Mark Stolarik of the University of Minnesota for permission to use his excellent paper, "The Immigrant Is Not Anonymous" which was delivered before the American Educational Research Association, The History of Edu cation Division on March 5, 1970. Mr. Stolarik has done what, I believe, is pioneering work in the area of Slovak-American ethnic origins. He has set the important groundwork for further scholarly efforts (both historical and empirical) in this whole area. As Mr. Stolarik points out, this type of research is well on its way and will, if pursued by other scholars, give us a well grounded body of knowledge on Slovak-Americans. I am using the general outline of Mr. Stolarik's paper, pp. 1-10, in this part of the discussion. 10) Stolarik, p. 2. 11) Carol Owen, Social Stratification (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), and Melvin M. Tumin, Social Stratification: The Forms And Functions of Inequality (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967), pp. 56-81. 12) Kurt B. Mayer and Walter Buckley, Class And Society (New York: Randon House, 1970) , pp. 86-134. 13) Talcott Parsons and Robert F. Bales, Family, Socialization and Interaction Process ( Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955), pp. 3-9. 14) See, for example, Delbert C. Miller, Handbook of Research And Social Measurement (New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1964) . � 116 SLOVAKIA Historical and Empirical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group By Dr. Steven I. Miller Any attempt to study a given group of people is a difficult task because it required and presupposes a host of complicated procedures and insights into the workings of that group. That is, the group must be "understood" (to use Max Weber's term) on several levels: historical, linguistic, demographic, familial, political, economic and so on. Unless a composite picture of the social grouping is made available on the variables mentioned above, it is virtually impossible to obtain a mature understanding of that group's values, beliefs and life-styles. How then should this task of understanding a group of people be undertaken? There are several approaches to the problem, and we will attempt to deliniate, in a broad perspective, some of them. My thesis is that Slovaks in America have not been, until very recently, studied in any systematic fashion, and that because of this oversight, the Slovak-American community is not well known to scholars and laymen. I also believe that this paucity of systematic research has caused fragmentation and alienation within the Slovak-American community, and is exemplified in a general lack of interests in things Slovak by second and third generation Slovak-Americans. There has also been, I believe, an over emphasis by certain scholars on the political problems within Slovakia itself, with a subsequent neglect of studying in depth the issues that have concerned Slovak-Americans more recently. Now, I am not arguing that the political-historical issues concerning the Slovaks in Slovakia, past and present, be overlooked or minimized in any way. This perspective is needed and merits further research. But the issue now, I believe, is one of balance or priorities. Second and third �SLOVAKIA 117 generation Slovak-Americans find it increasingly difficult to identify in any meaningful fashion with the historicalpolitical problems of Slovakia since 1918. The issues have become too distant in space and time engender a spirit of concern within this younger group. Thus a dilemma ensues: on the one hand there is the necessity of specifying the historical problems (in terms of political and moral issues ) of Slovaks as a unique national group with the possibility of losing the interest of native born SlovakAmericans; on the other hand is the problem of concentrating too exclusively on the concerns of contemporary Slovak-Americans and de-emphasizing their historical ties with Slovakia. My own feelings are that the second emphasis will in the long run be the most beneficial for all Slovaks. Namely, the in-depth and scholarly attempt to study SlovakAmerican communities in terms of historical origins and contemporary problems. How then can we go about fulfilling this task? The first step is to understand a little more about the nature of historical and empirical research. A NEED FOR DEFINING THE PROBLEM: THE HISTORICAL APPROACH Before a group of people can be studied in any systematic fashion, it is necessary to determine some type of general approach. The approach (or methodology as it is called) that one chooses will in turn permit him to view the situation in a certain way, and to draw certain conclusions from what he observes. These conclusions, if they are based on a sufficient amount of evidence, will then permit the investigator to draw appropriate conclusions or relationships about the group he is studying. Thus the historical approach will specify a problem ( or a hypothesis) that is decided upon as being worthy of further research. For example, one might want to study the history of the first permanent Slovak community in the United States; or, within this framework, look at the role of the priest in relation to newly arrived immigrants. Historical research is vital because as F . Kerlinger states, "it is the critical investigation of events, developments and experiences of the past, the careful weighing of evidence of the validity of sources of information on the past, and �118 SLOVAKIA the interpretation of the weighted evidence." 1 Within this framework, the ethnic historian is particularly concerned with examining written sources in order to determine the quality and quantity of evidence available for the substantiation of his hypothesis. He is basically concerned with primary sources ( original records, minutes of meetings, etc.) and in the methods of internal and external criticism.2 External criticism is concerned with establishing the validity of the sources used, while internal criticism focuses on the content of the documents, themselves. Kerlinger points out the necessity of historiography when he cites the conclusions of the Social Science Research Council.3 Historiography has a necessary relevance to all the soda! sciences, to the humanities, and to the formulation of public and private policies because (1) all the data used in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in the formulation of public and private policies are drawn from records of, experience in, or writing about the past; because (2) all policies respecting human affairs, public or private, and all generalizations of a nonstatistical character in the social sciences and in the humanities involve interpretations of or assumptions about the past; and because (3) all workers in the social sciences and in the humanities are personalities of given times, places, and experience whose tmnking is consequently in some measure conditioned and determined my the historical circumstances of their lives and experiences. Thus, as a starting point in defining the approaches that may be fruitfully used in studying Slovak-Americans, we can see the necessity for beginning the investigation with a solid basis in htstoriography. From this perspective a further methodology can be defined, namely, the social science or empirical approach. 4 SOCIAL SCIENCE APPROACHES TO ETHNIC STUDIES The empirical approach to understanding group behavior utilizes the perspective of history, while at the same time focusing on a more specific problem that is of interest to the researcher. The empirical approach holds that there is an objective world containing "meaning" in the form of patterns of behavior, and that the task of the social scientist is to recognize these behaviors, and interpret them in such a way as to arrive at both their overt and covert meaning. The tactic that is employed in the empirical approach is, basically, what has become known as the scientific method. That is, one formulates a problem that �SLOVAKIA 119 is deemed worthy of study; a hypothesis is put forward that states a certain relationship about the problem under study; the hypothesis is subjected to some type of test (in many cases statistical); and a conclusion, subject to the limits of the quality and quantity of evidence is put forth either substantiating or refuting the hypothesis. What is crucial in this approach is that one must take pains in the beginning of the investigation to formulate the problem as precisely as possible. This is why a hypothesis (or hypotheses) is necessary. A hypothesis is an assumption, a guess, or as Kerlinger says, "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more observed phenomena or variables. 5 Thus, one might wish to investigate the relationship between the Slovaks' commitment to their religious beliefs and the tendency to build parochial schools; or, perhaps, examine the correlation between Slovak attitudes toward education and the intergenerational mobility of their children. What we are suggesting here is that there are many more aspects of Slovak culture that can be identified, studied, made known and preserved, and that empirical investigation is only concerned with the compilation of meaningless statistics, or that it will obscure the unique "flavor" of Slovak culture. This need not be the case. What the empirical method of investigation strives to do is to bring to the surface the complexities of values and beliefs of a group of people and, by implication, their uniqueness. Empirical investigation also has the corollary effect of describing and explaining those characteristics that bind and hold a group together. The famous Polish Sociologist, Florian Znaniecki,6 in trying to explain the nature of the sociological investig·ation that he used in his classic work The Polish Peasant, states: Thus all generalizations constituting the common-sense social theory and based on individual experience are both insignificant and subject to innumerable exceptions. A sociology that accepts them necessarily condemns itself to remain in the same methodological stage, and a practice based upon them must be as insecure and as full of failures as is the activity of every individual. Znaniecki, however, goes on to state that sound empirical investigation has the effect of eventually explaining individual behavior more clearly. He goes on to state,7 �120 SLOVAKIA Whenever, now, this "practical" sociology makes an effort to get above the level of popular generalizations by the study of social reality instead of relying upon individual experience, it still preserves the same method as the individual in his personal reflection; investigation always goes on with an immediate reference to practical aims, and the standards of the desirable and undesirable are the ground upon which theoretic problems are approached. Thus, empirical research is an attempt to identify specific problems of interest, and subject these problems to the scrutiny of the scientific (in a broad sense) method. We have now identified the historical and empirical approaches to the study of group behavior as being two powerful tools that the researcher is able to use in arriving at "meaning" for social phenomena. I believe a further positive step in studying Slovak-Americans would be to incorporate both methodological approaches into a larger perspective. A SYNTHESIS OF HISTORICAL- EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION A perspective that incorporates historiography and a social science empirical approach is needed on two accounts: to broaden the area of investigation for scholars in general, and to insure that a body of well researched and validated knowledge be made available for future generations of people interested in their ethnic heritage. I am positing this approach not as a grand synthesis of two methodological systems to inquiry, but rather to deliniate the thrust of research that is needed to fulfill a large knowledge-gap existing about Slovak-Americans. The historical-social science approach combines the broader inquiry of the historian with the more specialized interest of the social scientist. This type of analysis is supported by a fairly substantial body of research. 8 More specifically, this type of research is now being undertaken by scholars interested in Slovak-American developments. Of particular relevance here is the research being carried on by the University of Minnesota.9 There is, to begin with, a large body of available material on Slovak-Americans that can be ascertained from examining the insurance application files of the First Catholic Slovak Union. The information from these files provides a vast amount of historical information that can give us an accurate profile of the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 121 emigrating to America. From these sources, the researcher is able to gather a composite picture of Slovak-American life. Thus, as Stolarik points out, " we can deduce the relative number of people who emigrated from each county, each village, each city . . . In addition, we can compare the grouping of people in the individual lodges at the parish level." 10 From this data other generalizations can be drawn; the amount of horizontal mobility, life expectancy, group cohesion, marriage patterns, length of residence in America, and so forth. Additional information is available from parish and lodge records. These records provide the researcher with data on parish life, relationship with clergy and the structure of parochial education. Likewise, newspapers such as Slovak v Amerike and Jednota are a further source of important historical materials. Thus, there is an abundance of historical material in which to set a firm basis for the study of SlovakAmericans . Now, within this historical framework, the researcher is also able to concentrate on certain specific aspects of behavior and apply the methods of the social sciences. For example, one of the areas that would be of interest to the sociologist, within the context of Slovak-American communities, would be the nature of social mobility. 11 The idea of mobility is closely related to the notion of stratification. That is, the sociologist is interested in the way societies group their members, and what types of judgements are placed on the people within the various strata. Once he has ascertained how the stratification system is constructed, he can ask whether or not it is possible to "move" from one strata to another, or the amount and type of mobility that occurs. These questions are significant to the researcher because from them he can gain a better understaning to the exact nature of the group he is investigating. For instance, if the researcher is able to identify a number of social classes as being representative of a given society, he can gain a great deal of information as to what different classes value; what their income and educational levels are; what occupations are associated with them; how they raise their children; their mortality rates; associations they belong to; political attitudes they hold; geographical �122 SLOVAKIA areas they occupy, and so forth. With this data, the investigator can determine what the "life-styles" and "lifechances" are for different groups in a society. 12 For our purpose the point is this: To study SlovakAmericans in tenns of mobility (and this is only one dimension) patterns is valuable in that a great deal of useful information can be gotten on changing life-styles and life-chances. This type of data, in turn, will give us answers to such questions as the rate of intergenerational mobility ( differences between father's and son's occupation); the increasing or decreasing educational level of Slovak-Americans ; and, generally, how well they have become assimilated within American society. Many other significant aspects of Slovak-American life can be examined through social science inquiry. One could take, as a point of departure for study, the chances within the structure of the Slovak-American family. A comparison could be made, for instance, between the structure of the family from the time of emigration, to the first five or ten years of living in America. It would be possible then to study such things as the impact of industrialization on the family unit, and the methods used to cope with strain and role conflicts.13 Or one could examine the cohesiveness of Slovak families as a function of their religious identity, language or fraternal organizations. The need for historical background material would, of course, be necessary here also. Inquiry could continue into such areas as achievement levels of Slovak-American children (for any given historical period); the value placed on education by Slovak families; the role of daughters in Slovak families; the role of the mother in the family unit, and so on. The techniques for investigating these types of questions have been worked out within the social sciences, and can be fruitfully employed in providing answers to the above. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail as to the statistical design that would be appropriate in investigating these questions. The methodology is available, however, and a design can be worked out by persons trained in these methods. 14 �SLOVAKIA 123 FUTURE DIRECTIONS What we have been saying is this: Slovaks have made a distinct and unique contribution to American Society. They have done this through much hardship, sacrifice, and the endurance of many types of overt and subtle injustices. As with any ethnic group, the Slovaks have a right to emphasize their special contributions in shaping American society. But in order to know what Slovaks have accomplished here and elsewhere, we must first know more about them in a systematic and objective way. To do this requires a frame of mind that is willing to set aside political controversies that are over a half-century old and that relate exclusively to Slovakia. It also calls for a change in attitude in terms of defining Slovak culture in an overly personal and emotional fashion. That is, equating Slovak culture with poetic attempts to discover the "true" Slovak "character"; or with attempts to mythologize certain Slovak leaders and their alleged contributions to all Slovaks. This change of attitude also implies a reorganization of priorities. It calls for supporting historical and scientific research in studying Slovaks; in taking positions on social issues; and in the realization that if young people do not identify in some meaningful way with their Slovak-American heritage, that heritage will not survive. One way to guarantee the survival of this heritage is, I believe, through the type of research outlined thus far. It is only by a large scale emphasis on sound research that a body of knowledge about Slovak-Americans can be constructed. This in turn will stimulate further scholarly interest the results of which will be incorporated, formally, within the structure of higher education and passed on to others who wish to carry on the investigation. In summary, is should be noted again, that objective research does not undermine the uniqueness of a group's heritage or contributions. Studying Slovak-Americans objectively does not mean that one forgets the struggle for freedom that Slovaks have had to under go, or the religious persecutions they have been subjected to. Research does not mean that personal experiences and insights of people do not count, or that the common-man Slovak is forgotten. What objective research does do is to give the sons and daughters of the "average Slovak" a lasting body of knowledge about �124 SLOVAKIA their heritage and of the sacrifices and contributions of their parents and grandparents. REFERENCES 1) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundation of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 698. 2) Ibid., p . 699. 3) Ibid., p. 700. 4) For an in depth discussion of the scientific method see, May Brodbeck, "Logic And Scientific Method In Research On Teaching," in Handbook Of Research On Teaching , N. L. Gage, (ed), (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1963) , pp. 44-93. 5) Kerlinger, p. 14. 6) Florian Znaniecki, On Humanistic Sociology, Robert Bierstedt (ed. ), (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 58. An excerpt taken from the "Methodological Note" , William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), 1:1-86. 7) Ibid., p. 58. 8) For a compilation of sources using these methods see, Werner J . Cahnman and Alvin Bosko££ (ed.) , Sociology and History (London: Free Press, 1964) . 9) I am especially indebted to Mr. M. Mark Stolarik of the University of Minnesota for permission to use his excellent paper, "The Immigrant Is Not Anonymous" which was delivered before the American Educational Research Association, The History of Edu cation Division on March 5, 1970. Mr. Stolarik has done what, I believe, is pioneering work in the area of Slovak-American ethnic origins. He has set the important groundwork for further scholarly efforts (both historical and empirical) in this whole area. As Mr. Stolarik points out, this type of research is well on its way and will, if pursued by other scholars, give us a well grounded body of knowledge on Slovak-Americans. I am using the general outline of Mr. Stolarik's paper, pp. 1-10, in this part of the discussion. 10) Stolarik, p. 2. 11) Carol Owen, Social Stratification (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), and Melvin M. Tumin, Social Stratification: The Forms And Functions of Inequality (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967), pp. 56-81. 12) Kurt B. Mayer and Walter Buckley, Class And Society (New York: Randon House, 1970) , pp. 86-134. 13) Talcott Parsons and Robert F. Bales, Family, Socialization and Interaction Process ( Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955), pp. 3-9. 14) See, for example, Delbert C. Miller, Handbook of Research And Social Measurement (New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1964) . � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 116 SLOVAKIA Historical and Empirical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as A Distinct Ethnic Group By Dr. Steven I. Miller Any attempt to study a given group of people is a difficult task because it required and presupposes a host of complicated procedures and insights into the workings of that group. That is, the group must be "understood" (to use Max Weber's term) on several levels: historical, linguistic, demographic, familial, political, economic and so on. Unless a composite picture of the social grouping is made available on the variables mentioned above, it is virtually impossible to obtain a mature understanding of that group's values, beliefs and life-styles. How then should this task of understanding a group of people be undertaken? There are several approaches to the problem, and we will attempt to deliniate, in a broad perspective, some of them. My thesis is that Slovaks in America have not been, until very recently, studied in any systematic fashion, and that because of this oversight, the Slovak-American community is not well known to scholars and laymen. I also believe that this paucity of systematic research has caused fragmentation and alienation within the Slovak-American community, and is exemplified in a general lack of interests in things Slovak by second and third generation Slovak-Americans. There has also been, I believe, an over emphasis by certain scholars on the political problems within Slovakia itself, with a subsequent neglect of studying in depth the issues that have concerned Slovak-Americans more recently. Now, I am not arguing that the political-historical issues concerning the Slovaks in Slovakia, past and present, be overlooked or minimized in any way. This perspective is needed and merits further research. But the issue now, I believe, is one of balance or priorities. Second and third SLOVAKIA 117 generation Slovak-Americans find it increasingly difficult to identify in any meaningful fashion with the historicalpolitical problems of Slovakia since 1918. The issues have become too distant in space and time engender a spirit of concern within this younger group. Thus a dilemma ensues: on the one hand there is the necessity of specifying the historical problems (in terms of political and moral issues ) of Slovaks as a unique national group with the possibility of losing the interest of native born SlovakAmericans; on the other hand is the problem of concentrating too exclusively on the concerns of contemporary Slovak-Americans and de-emphasizing their historical ties with Slovakia. My own feelings are that the second emphasis will in the long run be the most beneficial for all Slovaks. Namely, the in-depth and scholarly attempt to study SlovakAmerican communities in terms of historical origins and contemporary problems. How then can we go about fulfilling this task? The first step is to understand a little more about the nature of historical and empirical research. A NEED FOR DEFINING THE PROBLEM: THE HISTORICAL APPROACH Before a group of people can be studied in any systematic fashion, it is necessary to determine some type of general approach. The approach (or methodology as it is called) that one chooses will in turn permit him to view the situation in a certain way, and to draw certain conclusions from what he observes. These conclusions, if they are based on a sufficient amount of evidence, will then permit the investigator to draw appropriate conclusions or relationships about the group he is studying. Thus the historical approach will specify a problem ( or a hypothesis) that is decided upon as being worthy of further research. For example, one might want to study the history of the first permanent Slovak community in the United States; or, within this framework, look at the role of the priest in relation to newly arrived immigrants. Historical research is vital because as F . Kerlinger states, "it is the critical investigation of events, developments and experiences of the past, the careful weighing of evidence of the validity of sources of information on the past, and 118 SLOVAKIA the interpretation of the weighted evidence." 1 Within this framework, the ethnic historian is particularly concerned with examining written sources in order to determine the quality and quantity of evidence available for the substantiation of his hypothesis. He is basically concerned with primary sources ( original records, minutes of meetings, etc.) and in the methods of internal and external criticism.2 External criticism is concerned with establishing the validity of the sources used, while internal criticism focuses on the content of the documents, themselves. Kerlinger points out the necessity of historiography when he cites the conclusions of the Social Science Research Council.3 Historiography has a necessary relevance to all the soda! sciences, to the humanities, and to the formulation of public and private policies because (1) all the data used in the social sciences, in the humanities, and in the formulation of public and private policies are drawn from records of, experience in, or writing about the past; because (2) all policies respecting human affairs, public or private, and all generalizations of a nonstatistical character in the social sciences and in the humanities involve interpretations of or assumptions about the past; and because (3) all workers in the social sciences and in the humanities are personalities of given times, places, and experience whose tmnking is consequently in some measure conditioned and determined my the historical circumstances of their lives and experiences. Thus, as a starting point in defining the approaches that may be fruitfully used in studying Slovak-Americans, we can see the necessity for beginning the investigation with a solid basis in htstoriography. From this perspective a further methodology can be defined, namely, the social science or empirical approach. 4 SOCIAL SCIENCE APPROACHES TO ETHNIC STUDIES The empirical approach to understanding group behavior utilizes the perspective of history, while at the same time focusing on a more specific problem that is of interest to the researcher. The empirical approach holds that there is an objective world containing "meaning" in the form of patterns of behavior, and that the task of the social scientist is to recognize these behaviors, and interpret them in such a way as to arrive at both their overt and covert meaning. The tactic that is employed in the empirical approach is, basically, what has become known as the scientific method. That is, one formulates a problem that SLOVAKIA 119 is deemed worthy of study; a hypothesis is put forward that states a certain relationship about the problem under study; the hypothesis is subjected to some type of test (in many cases statistical); and a conclusion, subject to the limits of the quality and quantity of evidence is put forth either substantiating or refuting the hypothesis. What is crucial in this approach is that one must take pains in the beginning of the investigation to formulate the problem as precisely as possible. This is why a hypothesis (or hypotheses) is necessary. A hypothesis is an assumption, a guess, or as Kerlinger says, "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more observed phenomena or variables. 5 Thus, one might wish to investigate the relationship between the Slovaks' commitment to their religious beliefs and the tendency to build parochial schools; or, perhaps, examine the correlation between Slovak attitudes toward education and the intergenerational mobility of their children. What we are suggesting here is that there are many more aspects of Slovak culture that can be identified, studied, made known and preserved, and that empirical investigation is only concerned with the compilation of meaningless statistics, or that it will obscure the unique "flavor" of Slovak culture. This need not be the case. What the empirical method of investigation strives to do is to bring to the surface the complexities of values and beliefs of a group of people and, by implication, their uniqueness. Empirical investigation also has the corollary effect of describing and explaining those characteristics that bind and hold a group together. The famous Polish Sociologist, Florian Znaniecki,6 in trying to explain the nature of the sociological investig·ation that he used in his classic work The Polish Peasant, states: Thus all generalizations constituting the common-sense social theory and based on individual experience are both insignificant and subject to innumerable exceptions. A sociology that accepts them necessarily condemns itself to remain in the same methodological stage, and a practice based upon them must be as insecure and as full of failures as is the activity of every individual. Znaniecki, however, goes on to state that sound empirical investigation has the effect of eventually explaining individual behavior more clearly. He goes on to state,7 120 SLOVAKIA Whenever, now, this "practical" sociology makes an effort to get above the level of popular generalizations by the study of social reality instead of relying upon individual experience, it still preserves the same method as the individual in his personal reflection; investigation always goes on with an immediate reference to practical aims, and the standards of the desirable and undesirable are the ground upon which theoretic problems are approached. Thus, empirical research is an attempt to identify specific problems of interest, and subject these problems to the scrutiny of the scientific (in a broad sense) method. We have now identified the historical and empirical approaches to the study of group behavior as being two powerful tools that the researcher is able to use in arriving at "meaning" for social phenomena. I believe a further positive step in studying Slovak-Americans would be to incorporate both methodological approaches into a larger perspective. A SYNTHESIS OF HISTORICAL- EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION A perspective that incorporates historiography and a social science empirical approach is needed on two accounts: to broaden the area of investigation for scholars in general, and to insure that a body of well researched and validated knowledge be made available for future generations of people interested in their ethnic heritage. I am positing this approach not as a grand synthesis of two methodological systems to inquiry, but rather to deliniate the thrust of research that is needed to fulfill a large knowledge-gap existing about Slovak-Americans. The historical-social science approach combines the broader inquiry of the historian with the more specialized interest of the social scientist. This type of analysis is supported by a fairly substantial body of research. 8 More specifically, this type of research is now being undertaken by scholars interested in Slovak-American developments. Of particular relevance here is the research being carried on by the University of Minnesota.9 There is, to begin with, a large body of available material on Slovak-Americans that can be ascertained from examining the insurance application files of the First Catholic Slovak Union. The information from these files provides a vast amount of historical information that can give us an accurate profile of the Slovak SLOVAKIA 121 emigrating to America. From these sources, the researcher is able to gather a composite picture of Slovak-American life. Thus, as Stolarik points out, " we can deduce the relative number of people who emigrated from each county, each village, each city . . . In addition, we can compare the grouping of people in the individual lodges at the parish level." 10 From this data other generalizations can be drawn; the amount of horizontal mobility, life expectancy, group cohesion, marriage patterns, length of residence in America, and so forth. Additional information is available from parish and lodge records. These records provide the researcher with data on parish life, relationship with clergy and the structure of parochial education. Likewise, newspapers such as Slovak v Amerike and Jednota are a further source of important historical materials. Thus, there is an abundance of historical material in which to set a firm basis for the study of SlovakAmericans . Now, within this historical framework, the researcher is also able to concentrate on certain specific aspects of behavior and apply the methods of the social sciences. For example, one of the areas that would be of interest to the sociologist, within the context of Slovak-American communities, would be the nature of social mobility. 11 The idea of mobility is closely related to the notion of stratification. That is, the sociologist is interested in the way societies group their members, and what types of judgements are placed on the people within the various strata. Once he has ascertained how the stratification system is constructed, he can ask whether or not it is possible to "move" from one strata to another, or the amount and type of mobility that occurs. These questions are significant to the researcher because from them he can gain a better understaning to the exact nature of the group he is investigating. For instance, if the researcher is able to identify a number of social classes as being representative of a given society, he can gain a great deal of information as to what different classes value; what their income and educational levels are; what occupations are associated with them; how they raise their children; their mortality rates; associations they belong to; political attitudes they hold; geographical 122 SLOVAKIA areas they occupy, and so forth. With this data, the investigator can determine what the "life-styles" and "lifechances" are for different groups in a society. 12 For our purpose the point is this: To study SlovakAmericans in tenns of mobility (and this is only one dimension) patterns is valuable in that a great deal of useful information can be gotten on changing life-styles and life-chances. This type of data, in turn, will give us answers to such questions as the rate of intergenerational mobility ( differences between father's and son's occupation); the increasing or decreasing educational level of Slovak-Americans ; and, generally, how well they have become assimilated within American society. Many other significant aspects of Slovak-American life can be examined through social science inquiry. One could take, as a point of departure for study, the chances within the structure of the Slovak-American family. A comparison could be made, for instance, between the structure of the family from the time of emigration, to the first five or ten years of living in America. It would be possible then to study such things as the impact of industrialization on the family unit, and the methods used to cope with strain and role conflicts.13 Or one could examine the cohesiveness of Slovak families as a function of their religious identity, language or fraternal organizations. The need for historical background material would, of course, be necessary here also. Inquiry could continue into such areas as achievement levels of Slovak-American children (for any given historical period); the value placed on education by Slovak families; the role of daughters in Slovak families; the role of the mother in the family unit, and so on. The techniques for investigating these types of questions have been worked out within the social sciences, and can be fruitfully employed in providing answers to the above. It is beyond the scope of this article to go into detail as to the statistical design that would be appropriate in investigating these questions. The methodology is available, however, and a design can be worked out by persons trained in these methods. 14 SLOVAKIA 123 FUTURE DIRECTIONS What we have been saying is this: Slovaks have made a distinct and unique contribution to American Society. They have done this through much hardship, sacrifice, and the endurance of many types of overt and subtle injustices. As with any ethnic group, the Slovaks have a right to emphasize their special contributions in shaping American society. But in order to know what Slovaks have accomplished here and elsewhere, we must first know more about them in a systematic and objective way. To do this requires a frame of mind that is willing to set aside political controversies that are over a half-century old and that relate exclusively to Slovakia. It also calls for a change in attitude in terms of defining Slovak culture in an overly personal and emotional fashion. That is, equating Slovak culture with poetic attempts to discover the "true" Slovak "character"; or with attempts to mythologize certain Slovak leaders and their alleged contributions to all Slovaks. This change of attitude also implies a reorganization of priorities. It calls for supporting historical and scientific research in studying Slovaks; in taking positions on social issues; and in the realization that if young people do not identify in some meaningful way with their Slovak-American heritage, that heritage will not survive. One way to guarantee the survival of this heritage is, I believe, through the type of research outlined thus far. It is only by a large scale emphasis on sound research that a body of knowledge about Slovak-Americans can be constructed. This in turn will stimulate further scholarly interest the results of which will be incorporated, formally, within the structure of higher education and passed on to others who wish to carry on the investigation. In summary, is should be noted again, that objective research does not undermine the uniqueness of a group's heritage or contributions. Studying Slovak-Americans objectively does not mean that one forgets the struggle for freedom that Slovaks have had to under go, or the religious persecutions they have been subjected to. Research does not mean that personal experiences and insights of people do not count, or that the common-man Slovak is forgotten. What objective research does do is to give the sons and daughters of the "average Slovak" a lasting body of knowledge about 124 SLOVAKIA their heritage and of the sacrifices and contributions of their parents and grandparents. REFERENCES 1) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundation of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 698. 2) Ibid., p . 699. 3) Ibid., p. 700. 4) For an in depth discussion of the scientific method see, May Brodbeck, "Logic And Scientific Method In Research On Teaching," in Handbook Of Research On Teaching , N. L. Gage, (ed), (Chicago: Rand McNally and Company, 1963) , pp. 44-93. 5) Kerlinger, p. 14. 6) Florian Znaniecki, On Humanistic Sociology, Robert Bierstedt (ed. ), (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1969), p. 58. An excerpt taken from the "Methodological Note" , William I. Thomas and Florian Znaniecki, The Polish Peasant in Europe and America (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), 1:1-86. 7) Ibid., p. 58. 8) For a compilation of sources using these methods see, Werner J . Cahnman and Alvin Bosko££ (ed.) , Sociology and History (London: Free Press, 1964) . 9) I am especially indebted to Mr. M. Mark Stolarik of the University of Minnesota for permission to use his excellent paper, "The Immigrant Is Not Anonymous" which was delivered before the American Educational Research Association, The History of Edu cation Division on March 5, 1970. Mr. Stolarik has done what, I believe, is pioneering work in the area of Slovak-American ethnic origins. He has set the important groundwork for further scholarly efforts (both historical and empirical) in this whole area. As Mr. Stolarik points out, this type of research is well on its way and will, if pursued by other scholars, give us a well grounded body of knowledge on Slovak-Americans. I am using the general outline of Mr. Stolarik's paper, pp. 1-10, in this part of the discussion. 10) Stolarik, p. 2. 11) Carol Owen, Social Stratification (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1968), and Melvin M. Tumin, Social Stratification: The Forms And Functions of Inequality (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1967), pp. 56-81. 12) Kurt B. Mayer and Walter Buckley, Class And Society (New York: Randon House, 1970) , pp. 86-134. 13) Talcott Parsons and Robert F. Bales, Family, Socialization and Interaction Process ( Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1955), pp. 3-9. 14) See, for example, Delbert C. Miller, Handbook of Research And Social Measurement (New York: David McKay Company, Inc., 1964) .  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 Historical and Empirical Methods of Studying Slovak-Americans as a Distinct Ethnic Group Description An account of the resource Dr. Steven I. Miller Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 116-124 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Miller, Steven I. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/70cf2b0ef30296551c584062bb55308b.pdf b828bfebe5d2865ab9e552aa226177a0 PDF Text Text 114 SLOVAKIA America's Discovery of Ethnic Values A . V . Pi e r, 0. S. B. Strangely enough after almost two hundred years since the founding of this Republic an important and vital discovery has been made by American scholars and educators, namely, that the people of America have been misled into thinking that complete amalgamation is the best and only formula for insuring a strong, united, enlightened and prosperous country. This trend until recently has been pushed officially and unofficially towards the elimination of individual nationality traits, all foreign languages, traditions, etc., according to the erstwhile popular but misguided melting-pot idea. Fortunately, at long last this trend has been radically reversed because the idea that was in vogue for so long a time without seriously questioned has been abandoned because its effects have been detrimental to our society. Its aim was to produce a monolithic entity without historic roots, without a past, without a trace of ethnic origins. The process was supposed to produce a new nation devoid of any links with the past. Such an unrealistic approach was doomed to failure from the start. It is a wonder it took so long to expose the falseness of the whole idea i na society that is known for it practicality and realistic approach to any problem. Exalted expectations of one hundred percent Americanism as the end result of total consolidation through total immersion and submersion in a common melting-pot, so to speak, went askew despite concerted efforts of government and educational agencies to produce by distillation a completely simon pure product or creation, that is, a standarized version of the new American. Cultural values are enduring. They do not, as a general rule, vanish completely from existence. Very often they become adopted to new surroundings and circumstances of time and place. For example, both the Greek and Roman �SLOVAKIA 115 cultures, though pagan, were in a different way adapted to the emerging new Chr:ilstian culture that followed the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Many of the best phases of that Greco-Roman civilization still influence the western world. What are some of the genuinely worthwhile ethnic values that were downgraded almost to the point of extinction in our time? Since they deal largely with many diversified form that require a thorough study of the various languages, literatures a histories of some fifty ethnic groups in our country it would require at least several volumes to analyze and evaluate them properly and adequately. Already serious research is being done in this direction. When this essential work is completed we will have a veritable treasure trove of cultural values whose intrinsic worth will exceed by far anything the world has ever seen. Other nations may boast of their own distinct cultural riches but our collection will contain the finest gifts of fifty cultures from around the globe. Appraisal of our potential wealth will include, we feel certain, the unique cultural qualities of Slovak national culture which the American Slovaks have fostered and cherished since their coming to this country almost a century ago. So far we have not given much attention to the signs of Slovak culture which are actually all around us, particularly in localities where large numbers of immigrants from Slovakia settled. We have our own churches , schools, societies, clubs, newspapers, magazines, radio program, plays, music and literature both prose and poetry. It is only a matter of time until all these will be properly recorded, evaluated and publicized to show how truly great is our Slovak culture not only in Slovakia but here in our very midst in America. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � 114 SLOVAKIA America's Discovery of Ethnic Values A . V . Pi e r, 0. S. B. Strangely enough after almost two hundred years since the founding of this Republic an important and vital discovery has been made by American scholars and educators, namely, that the people of America have been misled into thinking that complete amalgamation is the best and only formula for insuring a strong, united, enlightened and prosperous country. This trend until recently has been pushed officially and unofficially towards the elimination of individual nationality traits, all foreign languages, traditions, etc., according to the erstwhile popular but misguided melting-pot idea. Fortunately, at long last this trend has been radically reversed because the idea that was in vogue for so long a time without seriously questioned has been abandoned because its effects have been detrimental to our society. Its aim was to produce a monolithic entity without historic roots, without a past, without a trace of ethnic origins. The process was supposed to produce a new nation devoid of any links with the past. Such an unrealistic approach was doomed to failure from the start. It is a wonder it took so long to expose the falseness of the whole idea i na society that is known for it practicality and realistic approach to any problem. Exalted expectations of one hundred percent Americanism as the end result of total consolidation through total immersion and submersion in a common melting-pot, so to speak, went askew despite concerted efforts of government and educational agencies to produce by distillation a completely simon pure product or creation, that is, a standarized version of the new American. Cultural values are enduring. They do not, as a general rule, vanish completely from existence. Very often they become adopted to new surroundings and circumstances of time and place. For example, both the Greek and Roman �SLOVAKIA 115 cultures, though pagan, were in a different way adapted to the emerging new Chr:ilstian culture that followed the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Many of the best phases of that Greco-Roman civilization still influence the western world. What are some of the genuinely worthwhile ethnic values that were downgraded almost to the point of extinction in our time? Since they deal largely with many diversified form that require a thorough study of the various languages, literatures a histories of some fifty ethnic groups in our country it would require at least several volumes to analyze and evaluate them properly and adequately. Already serious research is being done in this direction. When this essential work is completed we will have a veritable treasure trove of cultural values whose intrinsic worth will exceed by far anything the world has ever seen. Other nations may boast of their own distinct cultural riches but our collection will contain the finest gifts of fifty cultures from around the globe. Appraisal of our potential wealth will include, we feel certain, the unique cultural qualities of Slovak national culture which the American Slovaks have fostered and cherished since their coming to this country almost a century ago. So far we have not given much attention to the signs of Slovak culture which are actually all around us, particularly in localities where large numbers of immigrants from Slovakia settled. We have our own churches , schools, societies, clubs, newspapers, magazines, radio program, plays, music and literature both prose and poetry. It is only a matter of time until all these will be properly recorded, evaluated and publicized to show how truly great is our Slovak culture not only in Slovakia but here in our very midst in America. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 114 SLOVAKIA America's Discovery of Ethnic Values A . V . Pi e r, 0. S. B. Strangely enough after almost two hundred years since the founding of this Republic an important and vital discovery has been made by American scholars and educators, namely, that the people of America have been misled into thinking that complete amalgamation is the best and only formula for insuring a strong, united, enlightened and prosperous country. This trend until recently has been pushed officially and unofficially towards the elimination of individual nationality traits, all foreign languages, traditions, etc., according to the erstwhile popular but misguided melting-pot idea. Fortunately, at long last this trend has been radically reversed because the idea that was in vogue for so long a time without seriously questioned has been abandoned because its effects have been detrimental to our society. Its aim was to produce a monolithic entity without historic roots, without a past, without a trace of ethnic origins. The process was supposed to produce a new nation devoid of any links with the past. Such an unrealistic approach was doomed to failure from the start. It is a wonder it took so long to expose the falseness of the whole idea i na society that is known for it practicality and realistic approach to any problem. Exalted expectations of one hundred percent Americanism as the end result of total consolidation through total immersion and submersion in a common melting-pot, so to speak, went askew despite concerted efforts of government and educational agencies to produce by distillation a completely simon pure product or creation, that is, a standarized version of the new American. Cultural values are enduring. They do not, as a general rule, vanish completely from existence. Very often they become adopted to new surroundings and circumstances of time and place. For example, both the Greek and Roman SLOVAKIA 115 cultures, though pagan, were in a different way adapted to the emerging new Chr:ilstian culture that followed the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. Many of the best phases of that Greco-Roman civilization still influence the western world. What are some of the genuinely worthwhile ethnic values that were downgraded almost to the point of extinction in our time? Since they deal largely with many diversified form that require a thorough study of the various languages, literatures a histories of some fifty ethnic groups in our country it would require at least several volumes to analyze and evaluate them properly and adequately. Already serious research is being done in this direction. When this essential work is completed we will have a veritable treasure trove of cultural values whose intrinsic worth will exceed by far anything the world has ever seen. Other nations may boast of their own distinct cultural riches but our collection will contain the finest gifts of fifty cultures from around the globe. Appraisal of our potential wealth will include, we feel certain, the unique cultural qualities of Slovak national culture which the American Slovaks have fostered and cherished since their coming to this country almost a century ago. So far we have not given much attention to the signs of Slovak culture which are actually all around us, particularly in localities where large numbers of immigrants from Slovakia settled. We have our own churches , schools, societies, clubs, newspapers, magazines, radio program, plays, music and literature both prose and poetry. It is only a matter of time until all these will be properly recorded, evaluated and publicized to show how truly great is our Slovak culture not only in Slovakia but here in our very midst in America. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA firmly believes in the American principle of self-determination of all nations, the inherent and God-given right of every nation, whether large or small, to freedom and independence, the right of every nation to freely choose its own form of government and freely elect persons of its own choice by whom it shall be governed.  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 America's Discovery of Ethnic Values Description An account of the resource A. V. Pier, O.S.B. Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 114-115 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pier, Andrew W., 1910-2003 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8071ba5523ab887312dd16e8dbc89dbb.pdf 275d0b991ec2daf93713b41d78eda43a PDF Text Text 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . �SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did �100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. �SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the �102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they �SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under �104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 �SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) �106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 �SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious �108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially �SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very �110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants �SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more �112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for �SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union. � 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . �SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did �100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. �SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the �102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they �SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under �104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 �SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) �106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 �SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious �108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially �SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very �110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants �SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more �112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for �SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 98 SLOVAKIA The Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks Ln U.S.A. and Canada* * This essay w as prepare d by t he late Konstan tin culen i n 1962 for a symposium or ganized and edited by Prof. J. M . K i rschbaum for the 11th cent ennary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among t he ancest ors of Slov aks. T he essays co llected and edit ed or translated by J. M. K i r sc h baum appeared in SLOVAK STUDT ES, CYRILLO-METH ODIANA, V ol. 3, (Rome, 1963). Culen's essay was not yet tr anslated and therefore not published. I n view of the valuable information and in order to complet e the history of the CyriUo-Methodia n tradition among Sl ov aks, we are grat efiil to Dr. Kirschbaum for preserving the manuscript and his adaptation for an English piiblication . By K . C u len THE INFLUENCE OF AMERICAN IRISH ON AMERICAN SLOVAKS The migration of Slovaks to the U.S.A. had many traits similar to those of the migration of the Irish. It was the catastrophic potato crop failure which caused the first man emigration of the Irish to the U.S.A. And we come across a similar cause of emigration of the Slovaks. The Slovak statistician Dr. Emil Stodola noted that each poor p otato crop in Slovakia was followed by rising emigration to the U.S .A. There were other similarities between the Irish and the Slovak migrations. The oppression of the Irish dates even further back in history than the Slovak one and is many sided. The political oppression started in Slovakia at the end of the 18th century and culminated befor the First World War. The Irish were oppressed due to their religion and suffered culturally and economically and therefore their resistance was stronger and more passionate than that of the Slovaks. In Ireland the oppression affected all the classes but in Slovakia the intelligentsia suffered most. The difference comes to light when we compare the cult of S t . Patrick to the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius . SLOVAKIA 99 St. Patrick is a national saint and is known and revered by all the Irish. SS. Cyril and Methodius were not known to the same extent amongst Slovaks. The population in general had only a vague knowledge of them. But the Slovak intelligentsia had even a deeper devotion to them than the Irish to St. Patrick. Therefore the cult of the SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S.A. was not a cult brought over by the masses as in the case of St. Patrick, but it was a cult especially nurtured by nationally conscious immigrants, nurtured to an extent that would not have been possible in Slovakia. Generally speaking, the Slovak immigrants became aware, in their new countries, of a need for a national saint and this became evident to them on such days as the feast of St. Patrick, with its festivities attracting not only the Irish but also numerous names of other nationalities. In older Slovak papers we frequently see articles about large groups of Slovaks participating in the festivities of St. Patrick. In one case the writer claimed that Slovaks outnumbered the Irish. No wonder these Slovaks asked"Who would correspond to St. Patrick in our national life? " They frequently raised this question in the Slovak press and of course the only answer they could obtain was-SS . Cyril and Methodius. It was this background which helped to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius between the Slovak names in the U.S .A. It should be noted in this connection, that SS . Cyril and Methodius completed amongst the Slovaks the missionary work which prior to them was already initiated by Bavarian and Irish missionaries, the first Christian missionaries in the Danube area. 1 THE INFLUENCE OF THE CULT OF ST. PATRICK ON THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS In the very early Slovak papers in the U.S.A. appeared dozens of articles, some short and some extensive enough, for serial publication, describing the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst the Slovak ancestors. American Slovaks who were scattered amongst the Irish saw in the SS. Cyril and Methodius their St. Patrick. The Slovak papers exhorted them to venerate them just as the Irish revered St. Patrick. It is interesting to ask the question, how much did 100 SLOVAKIA the American Slovaks know about SS. Cyril and Methodius? Not a great deal. Most often they learned about them them from the excellent and well known prayer book of Rev. Andrej Radlinsky "Nabozne Vylevy." This prayer book contained a color picture of the Saints, their brief history and their prayers. Rev. Radlinsky succeeded in doing this to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Later on when a small prayer book was published in the U.S.A., the bishop of Spis, Parvy, put it on the Index for no reason other than that it contained a prayer to SS. Cyril and Methodius. Thus while Pope Leo XIII issued an encyclical highly extoling the missionary work of these two Saints, a Magyar bishop with his seat in Catholic Slovakia put the prayer book on the Index as he mistrusted these Saints because of their panslavistic learnings. The large groups of Slovak immigrants in the U.S.A. had for the first time an opportunity to learn more about the missionary work of those Apostles, as well as about their cultural and linguistic work. But at the moment when the cult of these Apostles began to spread, a group of Catholic priests rose against it even in the U.S .A. and according to the spirit which was taught to them in the seminaries in the old country prepared the road-blocks to this cult. At the head of the group were Kossalko, Denes and Haitinger. In the papers edited by them they vituperated both Saints in the same manner as did the Magyar Catholic periodical "Katolikus Szemle" (Catholic Review) in the year 1893 in an article "Slavonic Christianity in our territories before their occupation". St. Methodius was denounced here as a panslavistic chauvinist, a forerunner of the schism and a very untrustworthy personality. The author of the article applied the modern Magyar approach and the chauvinistic terminology to the period prior to 900 when the national questions were of very minor importance.2 The pupils of this chauvinistic school working in the U.S .A. could find nothing worthy to say about these Saints and made them subjects of the intrigues of the Hungarian premier Koloman Tisza and of his successors. Their success was, however, small as they were unpopular priests and their arguments were without any force against the well documented work of their opponents. SLOVAKIA 101 THE FIRST CHURCH DEDICATED TO SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS The first church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius in the U.S .A. was a small wooden church built by two Czech Societies: the Society of St. Wenceslas and the Society of St. Ludmila in New York. These two societies were founded in 1874 with the purpose of building the first church for the growing Czech colony in New York, in the block between the 1st and 10th streets and between the Avenues B-D, where the Czechs were intermingled with the Poles. The Plan for the building of the church received a new impetus when Rev. A. V. Vacula came to New York from Baltimore, Md. He was born on the 15th of August 1845, in Osek, near Olomouc, in Moravia. He studied in Kromeriz, at the University of Vienna and at Louvain, Belgium. Here the American bishops established a seminary into which they accepted students from the whole of Europe, to prepare them for work in the ethnic settlements in the U.S.A. Vacula was accepted as the future priest of the Czech settlement in Baltimore, Md. Immediately after his consecration in 1870 he left for the U.S.A. and from the beginning of December he served in the parish of St. Wenceslas, Baltimore, Md. As the Czech Catholics of New York could not make progress with their plan, they invited into this parish Rev. Vacula, who arrived in 1875 and started his work with great enthusiasm. He immediately bought the land and the building, Number 316 E. 4th Street for $12,000.00, then enlarged the building for an outlay of an additional $6,000.00 and on the 1st of December 1875 the Vicar General of New York consecrated the Church in the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius. 3 This was the first church in the U.S.A. to be named after SS. Cyril and Methodius. And it appeared very appropriate that behind this achievement was a priest from Moravia. Out of all Slavic countries, in Moravia the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the deeepest, most widely spread and most popular. In no other Slavic country were the names SS. Cyril and Methodius given so often at baptism as in Moravia. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult spread from the Moravian Velehrad in all directions and the 102 SLOVAKIA Slovaks made frequent pilgrimages there as to a source of spiritual strength. The New York church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methoqius was the first catholic church which was also attended by "the first Slovak immigrants in that city. When later this church was closed, they went to the Irish church of St. Brigitte or to the nearest German or Polish churches until in 1894 they built the first Slovak Catholic church dedicated to St. Elizabeth of Hungary. This church was built in the same street where earlier had been the church of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similarly as amongst the Slovaks, the Cyrillo-Methodian cult was as widely spread amongst the Czechs, especially in those districts where also Moravians were settled. After the first Cyrillo-Methodian church in New York, which soon closed, there were another 15 churches built in the U.S.A., namely in: Bannister, Mich.; Kansas City, Kansas; Chicago, Ill.; Platoma, Texas; Clarkson, Nebraska; Corpus Christi, Tex.; Doman, Texas; Dubina, Texas; East St. Louis, Illinois; Granger, Texas; North Judson, Indiana; Plasi (Prague), Nebraska; Shiner, Texas ; Tanton, Michigan; Vodnary, Dakota. Besides the Slovaks and the Czechs the Cyrillo-Methodian churches were mainly built by Slovenes, Croatians and · Poles. THE UNFULFILLED PLAN OF A NEW CHURCH OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN NEW YORK The next church in New York which was to bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the church originally dedicated to St. John Nepomucene. That this plan did not succeed was due mainly to the bitter struggles between the nationally conscious Slovaks and the Magyarones. The consecration of the first Slovak Catholic Church took place in 1894. This was the church of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. It was around this church that the struggle between the Slovaks and the Magyars and Magyar sympathizers developed. The night before the consecration the "Magyarones" removed from the corner stone the plaque bearing the text written in literary Slovak: "Rim. Kat. Kostal Sv. Alzbety, Vystavany R. 1892". Instead of this they SLOVAKIA 103 placed there plaque with a text in Eastern-Slovak dialect : " Uherszko Szlovenszki Kat. Koscel Szv. Elizabethy Uherszkej, Visztav. R. 1892." This arnmounted to a declaration of war. The Slovaks refused to support a Church with a name written in a distorted Slovak language and in foreign, non-Slovak orthography. This battle lasted for over a year until finally Archbishop Corrigan wrote to Slovakia inquiring which version was correct. When he received the reply he had the plaque changed as he considered that what was orthographically incorrect, was of poor taste and unfitting for a house of God. The Slovaks were jubilant but not for long as the Archbishop was approached by a delegation led by a Magyar lawyer Czukor (Jewish by religion) who persuaded the Archbishop that this struggle was between the Eastern Orthodox Panslavistic Church and between Catholicism. The Magyars were the true catholics, a European nation, but the Slovaks were Panslavs, Russofiles and sympathizers with the Eastern-Orthodoxy. Should this movement gain power it would dominate the Danubian Basin and soon it would undermine even the See. of St. Peter. The Cyrillo-Methodian cult which they spread is an Eastern-Orthodox religion. The archbishop believed these arguments and the following day he ordered to put back the plaque with the text in the Eastern dialect. The local priest, Rev. Polakovic, protested but the Archbishop rebuked him and informed him he had to look for a new parish outside of his diocese. This naturally caused a great disappointment amongst the Slovaks. A delegation of Slovaks informed the Archbishop that they would not attend this church and would not support it but would built a new Slovak Church. The Archbishop approved the plans for the new Church. The Slovaks started to work with enthusiasm and in a few weeks they transformed an old building into a new church which stood only one block away on the same street. It was planned that this church would bear the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius, this had been already announced in the papers and the donations for the building paid and it was accepted under this name.4 But this plan did not materialize. The Archbishop appointed here a Czech priest, Rev. simonik, who under 104 SLOVAKIA the pressure from the Archbishop gave the church the name of St. John Nepomuce ne. This was the first but also the last time that the names of SS. Cyril and Methodius were in the disfavor of an American Bishop. THE OLDEST CATHOLIC CHURCHE S WITH PATRON SAINTS SS. CYRIL AND METHODI US The sudden expansion of the Cyrillo-Me thodian cult on the American continent was described by Rev. Jozef Martincek as follows: "As soon as the Slovak immigrant s settled in the U.S.A. and began to form their parishes and to build their churches, the Cyrillo-Me thodian flame, which appeared for almost extinguishe d, suddenly rekindled in the hearts of our compatriot s. They almost competed with each other in their Cyrillo-Me thodian zeal to build and dedicate churches to them and there is hardly any Slovak church in the U.S.A. where their picture or their statue would not be given a distinguish ed place." 5 The Cyrillo-Me thodian cult spread in the U.S.A. due to the expanding Slovak periodicals and papers, due to the work of the patriotic Slovak priest and to a great extent also as a result of a protest against the Magyar persecutio n at home. The popularity which the cult gained in the U.S.A. was inconceiva ble in Slovakia of that time. The first Slovak Catholic Church dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was built in 1891 in Minneapol is, Minn. The initiative came from the local Society of SS. Cyril and Methodius which was founded in 1888 as the first society on the American soil called after these Saints. In the same year another church bearing the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius was opened in Bethlehem , Pa. The founder of this church was Rev. Heinen, a missionary of German origin. He was originally an officer in the German Army but later on he changed the uniform for a priestly garb and after completing his theological studies he came to the U.S.A. and worked as a missionary mainly amongst the Slavic immigrant s in Pennsylvan ia. His assistant in missionary work ( which he directed from Mau Chung, Pa.) was Rev. Vlossak, a Slovak priest, and it was due to his influence that the church in Bethlehem , Pa., was given the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius .6 SLOVAKIA 105 THE LIST OF THE SLOVAK CHURCHES OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. This example was followed by others and the following list shows chronologically the founding of the churches dedicated to the SS. Cyril and Methodius in different parts of the U.S.A. the brackets show the diocese to which the parish belonged. 7 1891. Minneapolis, Minn. (St. Paul, Minn. ) 1891. Bethlehem, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1893. Reading, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1895. Brookside, Ala. (Mobile, Ala. ) 1898. Haverstraw, N. Y. (New York, N. Y.) 1898. Youngstown, 0. (Youngstown, 0.) 1900. Kingston, Pa. (Scranton, Pa.) 1900. Stockett, Mont. (Great Falls, Mont.) 1900. Joliet, Ill. (Joliet, Ill.) 1900. Stuttgart, Ark. (Little Rock, Ark. ) 1901. Edwardsville, Pa. 1902. Charleroi, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1903. Binghamton, N. Y. (Syracuse, N . Y.) 1903. Lakewood, Ohio (Cleveland, Ohio ) 1904. Winburne, Pa. (Erie, Pa.) 1905. Lebanon, Pa. (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1905. Windber, Pa. (Altoona, Pa.) 1906. Kansas City, Kans. (Kansas City Kans.) 1906. Barberton, Ohio 1906. Boonton, N. J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1907 . Bridgeport, Conn. (Hartford, Conn.) 1911. East St. Louis, Ill. (Belleville, Ill.) 1911. Fairchance, Pa. (Greensburg, Pa.) 1911. Superior, Wis. (Superior, Wis.) 1912. Rock Spring, Wyoming 1913. Clifton, N . J. (Paterson, N. J.) 1913. Sugar Creek, Mo. 1913. Schenectady, N . Y. (Albany, N . Y.) 1914. Chicago, Ill. (Chicago, Ill.) 1916. New Brighton, Pa. (Pittsburgh, Pa. ) 1918. Detroit, Mich. (Detroit, Mich.) 1920. Coaldale, Pa. (Philadelphia, Pa.) 1923. Lisbon Falls, Maine (Portland, Maine ) 1923. Rossford, Ohio (Toledo, Ohio) 1928. Warren, Ohio 1949. Slovak Manor, N. Y. (New York, N . Y .) 106 SLOVAKIA THE GROWTH OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS One of the early articles dealing with the CyrilloMethodian cult appeared in Jednota in 1899. The author, J. Stas, is critical of Slovak immigrants and of their lack of devotions to SS. Cyril and Methodius. He makes the following suggestions about how to pay homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius. 1. Keep their picture in your house and teach your children about their life, their work, their contributions to our faith and our culture. 2. Give their names to your children at baptism. 3. Build and dedicate churches to these Saints and decorate the existing churches with their statues. 4. Put your societies under their patronage. So far less than 10 societies have been named after them. Is this not a disgrace to American Slovaks? 5. The 5th of July should be for the Slovaks a religious and a national holiday and in this we should learn from the Irish who so devotedly revere St. Patrick. This day, or at least the following Sunday, should be devoted to religious services and sermons in reverence to their work. On that day also other national and cultural celebrations should be organized. "I am asking our priests, our editors and all Slovaks to spread the cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius amongst our compatriots, and so preserve their heritage-- our faith and our culture." 8 But in spite of this exhortation the Slovaks in the U.S.A. were unable to organize any mass Cyrillo-Methodian celebrations. Rev. Jozef Martincek, one of the most ardent promoters of the Cyrillo-Methodian cult, wrote in 1913: "Why don't we pay the necessary homage to SS. Cyril and Methodius and why don't we celebrate one day in a year as their holiday as this was already suggested before by our compatriots and our brother in Christ, Michael Bosak. I ask Rev. Furdek and other leading Slovaks to take up this matter seriously and to present to the Slovak public a plan for Cyrillo-Methodian celebration."9 SLOVAKIA 107 REV. F. V. SASINEK AND THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. In the days when the first Slovak papers commenced publication in the U.S.A., the 20-30,000 Slovak immigrants had only two priests and two educated laymen, Wolf and Slovensky, ( both teachers by profession and editors of these papers). It took several years before the number of such laymen together with the priest grew to 25. Naturally, under these circumstances any cultural work was extremely difficult as it fell on the shoulders of a very small group of men who besides their cultural work without monastery remuneration had also to carry on with their regular employment to provide for themselves and their families. Therefore, from the very beginning these men had to look to Slovakia for new help in their cultural and national work. The most enthusiastic and successful of such early workers was Rev. F . V. Sasinek, a catholic priest and a historian. Falling into disgrace of his bishop IpolyiStummer, he left Banska Bystrica and for some years he lived in Kuty as a guest of his friend Rev. Pukancik. He then went to Prague and from there to Maria Zell , a pilgrimage shrine in Austria, where he served as a confessor of the pilgrims and heard confessions in 12 languages. In this voluntary exile be became greatly interested in Slovak immigrants to the U.S.A. and as soon as he made contacts with Rovnianek and Furdek he became the main contributor to Slovak papers in the U.S.A. 10 He played especially a very important part in the cultivating of the Cyrillo-Methodian spirit. We estimate that approximately 85 ¼' of all Slovak publications about SS. Cyril and Methodius in the last century came from the pen of Sasinek. His first literary contribution published in 1852, was a poem: "Piesen o slovanskych blahozvestcoch", "A song about the missionaries of the Slavs".11 THE MAIN ADVOCATES OF THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN THE U.S.A. There were many active supporters of the CyrilloMethodian cult among the Catholic priests. Probably the most active was Rev. Jan Porubsky. He was an ingenious 108 SLOVAKIA writer, with a general, almost encyclopedic knowledge and was especially well acquainted with Slovak history. He began to write from Slovakia for the American Slovak papers and published a great number of articles about the life and the significance of the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Similar topics were covered by him in his books which were published in the U.S.A.12 From among other priests who were in the foreground of the Cyrillo-Methodian movement it is necessary to mention especially Stefan Furdek, then Rev. Stas, Rev. Dianiska, D. D., Rev. Pavco, Rev. Martincek, 13 Rev. Duchon and out of the younger generation, Rev. Stefan Panik, Msgr. Mlynarovic, etc. THE ORDER OF THE SISTERS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS But probably the greatest achievement in this field can be attributed to Rev. Matus Jankola who founded the first Slovak teaching order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Dr. Fr. Hrusovsky in his history of this Order notes the following: "The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius has a special place amongst the Slovak Orders in the U.S.A. because it is a truly Slovak Order. Even more, it is the only truly Slovak Order. Figuratively speaking we may say that The Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius is the only Slovak flower in the large bouquet of Slovak Orders. It was not by coincidence that this Order was not founded in Slovakia where SS. Cyril and Methodius worked many centuries ago and where different Orders, fo many centuries, maintained and developed their heritage. The fact that this Order was founded in the U.S .A. illustrates well how bright was the legacy of these Saints amongst those members of the Slovak nation who had to leave the mother country and how deep was their determination to preserve this legacy." 14 REV. DANIEL ZABOJ LAUcEK AND HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Amongst the Slovak Protestant pastors it is especially SLOVAKIA 109 necessary to mention Rev. Daniel Zaboj Laucek who dedicated his work to the Cyrillo-Methodian ideals when still in Slovakia and continued in this work on his arrival in America. In 1885, in Turciansky Sv. Martin he published the book Sv. Cyril a Metod, apostolovia slovanski, jich vyznam v cirkvi krest'anskej v6bec a v Slovanstve zvlast'. Nakladom vlastnym pri pomoci podporovatel'ov slovenskej spisby. (SS. Cyril and Methodius, Apostles of the Slavs, their place in Christendom and in Slavdom.) Private edition with the help of the supporters of the Slovak Literature. Besides this he published a series of articles : "Po tisic rokoch." "Pamiatke sv. slovanskych apostolov". (After a thousand years. In memory of the Saint Apostles of Slavs.) "Ocenenie jich p6sobenia" (Evaluation of their work) . "Blizsie o p6sobeni a razu sv. slovanskych apostolov" (More about the work and the spirit of the Saint Apostles of the Slavs) . "Pamiatky p6sobenia slovanskych bratov v nasom narode" (The imprints of the work of the Apostles of the Slavs in our nation). The series was published in Ndrodnie Noviny, XVI, 1885, number 1-7 . Rev. Laucek continued in this work in the U.S.A. and he wrote about similar topics in "cas" of which he was an editor for a short time. He also wrote in Slovak Protestant papers especially in Slovensky Hldsnik. Unfortunately a bibliography of the Slovak publications in the U.S.A. has never been put together and many of the works have not been preserved which means a great loss for Slovak literature. THE ASSOCIATIONS BEARING THE NAME OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS It is of great interest that the Cyrillo-Methodian Cult first spread amongst the immigrants from Eastern Slovakia. In 1875 the brothers Jan and Juraj Gogola came to Minneapolis, Minn. and shortly after them Jan Zelenak, Jan Martonik, and Tomas Ovsak. They came across an advertisement of the firm Timm Eliot and as they expected that this was probably a Slovak name, Elias, they answered the advertisement and applied for work with that firm. They were accepted and the firm found in them such good employees that it was willing in future to give preference to Slovaks. The owner of the firm was very 110 SLOVAKLA just and humanitarian and the Slovaks were pleased to work for him. From 1875 on, the number of the Slovaks in this city grew considerably and in 1878 the brothers Juraj and Andrej Olha and Jan Martonik thought of the plan of forming an Association of the Minneapolis Slovaks. They met on November 12th, 1888 and decided to form the Association. There is a notation in the minutes of the first meeting which reads: "As SS. Cyril and Methodius were our Apostles, it will be appropriate that our Association be placed under their patronage." This resolution was carried out. In 1891 the Association formed the first Slovak Catholic parish in the U.S.A. called after the two Apostles. This was the beginning of our active CyrilloMethodian cult amongst the American Slovaks. The men who were first preoccupied with this idea in the U.S.A. came from Bystre in saris county. 15 The first branch of "Narodny Slovensky Spolok" which put itself under the patronage of SS. Cyril and Methodius was the local branch No. 8, in Youngstown, Ohio. Rev. Horvath, and ardent Slovak Catholic priest, was in Youngstown at that time and it is likely that the Branch accepted the name of SS. Cyril and Methodius on his suggestion. 16 It will be of interest to note that one of the cofounders of the branch was John smigovsky, the grandfather of the colonel smigovsky, who for his service to the Slovak Republic was sentenced to death in 1946 by the pro-Communist National Tribunal under the chairmanship of Igor Daxner. Daxner recommended an amnesty, however, the chairman of the Slovak National Council refused to deal with this request on technical grounds and Smigovsky was executed the following day. Colonel smigovsky was born in the U.S.A. but was educated in Slovakia. THE CULT OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS IN CANADA The possition of the Slovak immigrants to Canada was quite different from that of the immigration to the U.S.A. The immigration to Canada reached noticeable proportions only after the First World War when immigration to the U.S.A. became restricted and the quotas allowed were quickly filled. Unable to obtain admission to the U.S.A. many immigrants choose Canada, often with plans to seek admission to the U.S.A. later. The immigrants SLOVAKIA 111 who come to Canada were of a different political background than those who in the previous century went to the U.S.A. They experienced the First World War, the political upheavals which followed, many of them went to Slovak schools and were on a higher cultural level than the generation who before them went to the U.S.A. They were more aware of national and political problems. There were no Magyarones amongst them and regardless of their political affiliations they declared themselves as Slovaks. Only a very small number of them believed that Slovaks ceased to exist as an individual nation and that a new "Czechoslovak" nation emerged. The first Catholic church in Canada dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius was a small church built in 1906 in Bellevue, Alberta. The oldest parish called after SS. Cyril and Methodius is the Montreal parish which was established in 1928. Similar parishes were formed in Toronto in 1934 and in Windsor in 1940. New parishes were founded following a new wave of immigrants after the Second World War. Amongst them are the parishes of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Hamilton, Ontario of 1945 and in Westminster, B. C. of 1960. 17 EPILOG The Cyrillo-Methodian ideology did not find favorable ground in Czecho-Slovakia after 1918 due to a strong anti-Catholic feeling of the ruling Czechs. But the Slovaks, in spite of many difficulties, were able to make progress in every direction. The ranks of the intelligentsia grew, the letters and the sciences advanced even in those fields where there was not one Slovak representative before. And slowly also the Cyrillo-Methodian ideas became better known to the masses. There were many who thought this development was too slow. Thus we read: "It is a pity that while the Slovaks in the U.S.A. have 16 parishes and 200 altars in their churches dedicated to SS. Cyril and Methodius, we at home, in Slovakia, have only 16 such altars in our 2,300 Catholic churches and chapels." 18 The author of course was poorly informed, as the number-of such parishes in the U.S.A. was not 16 but more 112 SLOVAKIA than twice that number. As in many other fields of Slovak affairs only after the formation of the Slovak Republic definite steps were taken to accept SS. Cyril and Methodius as national Saints. Their feast in Slovakia was also a day of commemoration for all Slovaks abroad. Throughout Slovakia there were festivals, meetings, lectures commemorating the Slovaks who had to leave their fatherland. The plans were made to build a cathedral to SS. Cyril and Methodius in Bratislava. Many research projects were under way and a Cyrillo-Methodian archives and library were in preparation. But with the loss of political independence these projects also died and with them also much of the work inspired by bishop Moyses, Fr. Sasinek and Holly. Out of these endeavors only those that grew abroad, in the U.S.A. and in Canada survived. But we believe that, in this age when even small nations and tribes throughout Africa are gaining independence, it will not be possible to beep in chains a nation which already 1,100 years ago belonged to the cultured and Christian nations of Europe and this mainly through the work of SS. Cyril and Methodius.19 FOOTNOTES AMI) LITERATURE 1) See Dr. F . Hrusovsky: frska misia a zaciatky krest'anstva (The Irish Mission and the Beginning of Christianity), pp. 41-65, and also by the same author Slovenski v ladari (Slovak Rulers ), Scranton 1948, p. 263. 2) Ries, Viliam : Frantisek Richard Osvald (Trnava, 1939), pp. 87, 93 . 3) Goulding, S: Catholic Churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present Pastors, (New York, 1878 ), pp. 748. 4) Culen, K.: Dejiny newyorskych Slovcikov (The History of t he Slovaks of New York) . 5) " Oslava cyrilometodejska, 863-1863-1913," Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 129. 6) Fink, Leo, Gregory: Monsignor Heinen, Militant Missionary , The Dolphin Press, (P hiladelphia, Pa. 1937) , p. 75. 7 ) Hrobak, Philip: Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institution in the United States of America, (Middletown, Pa. 1955), pp. 32, 34, 39, 42, 50, 52, 63, 65, 68, 70, 81 , 84, 87, 90, 92, 99, 105, 106, 107, 121, 132, 134, 146, 152, 154, 162. See also Piroch, Mary: "American Slovaks and SS. Cyril and Methodius," Slovakia Vol. XIII, N. 1/36, March 1963, pp. 25-28 ; ~ofranec, Tomas, Rev.: "Sv. Cyril a Metod a m y americki Slovaci" ( SS. Cyril and Methodi us and American Slovaks). Ave Maria, XLVII, No. 4, April 1, 1963, pp.175-176; Slovenske osady v Amerike, (Slovak Parishes in the U.S.A.), Kalendar Jednota for SLOVAKIA 113 1906, pp. 23 , 51, 53-57, 73 , 81, 109, 113, 114; Baska, Louis, O.S.B.: Slovenske katolicke osady v Spojenych Statoch (Slovak Catholic Parishes in the U.S.A.) , Katolicke Slovensko (Trnava) , p. 623 ; Kushner, Jozef, Rev.: Slovaci katolici pittsburghskeho biskupstva ( Slovak Catholics of the Pittsburgh Diocese), Katolicky Sokol (Passaic, 1946) , p. 174. 8 ) J ednota, July 12, 1899. 9) Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, p. 130. 10) The first biography of SS. Cyril and Methodius started publicatio n in Jednota on the 18th January, 1899, and continued in a long series of articles. The author was Rev. Fr. Sasinek. 11) See Katolicke Noviny, 1852, 1st year, No. 35. 12) Porubsky, Jan Rev.: 100 rokov spisovnej slovenciny (One Hundred Years of Literary Slovak), Scranton, Pa.; Slovaci a slovencina (Slovaks and the Slovak language). This was edited anonymously, but it was the work of Rev. Porubsky, Katolicky Sokol, 1929, p . 114. 13 ) Martincek, Jozef, Rev. : "Oslava cyrilometodejska" (The CyrilloMethodian Jubilee) 863-1863-1913 ; Kalendcir Jednota, 1913, pp. 129135. " Oslava sv. Cyrila a Metoda v dobe Moysesa a dnes" (The Cyrillo-Methodian Celebration at the time of Moyses and Today), Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky, 1936, pp. 119-125. 14) Hrusovsky, Franti.sek, Dr. : Slovenske rehole v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in the U. S.A. ), Cleveland, Ohio 1935, p.496. See Chapter: Kongregacia sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, P a. (Congregation of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, Danville, Pa.), pp. 161-232. This Chapter has a detailed bibliography on pages 231-232 ; See also Pauco, Jozef: Matus Jankola, knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola as a priest and a patriot) , Danville, Pa. , p . 173. 15) Pamiitnik Spolku sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Almanac of SS. Cyril and Methodius), No. 3, I.K.S.J. , Minneapolis, Minn. 1888-1938. 16) V. S. Platek: Nase odbory , D ejiny a pamiitnica 60 . vyrocia N. S.S. (Our Associations. The Memoirs of the 60th Anniversary of the National Slovak Society), Pittsburgh, Pa. , pp. 225-392. 17) On the religious organization of Canadian Slovaks, see J . M. Kirschbaum, Slovaks in Canada, (Toronto, 1967) , pp. 227-276. 18) Kalendcir Sviitovojtessky (St. Adalbert's Almanac ), 1936, p. 125. 19) On the Cyrillo-Methodian tradition in Slovakia, see Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum "The Role of the Cyrillo-Methodian Tradition in Slovak Na tional Life," Slovak Studies, Vol. III, (Rome, 1963 ) . • THE SWVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA heartily commends all efforts of our governmental and other organs to ferret out and unmask all Communists and fellow travellers, as well as all persons and organizations who wittingly or unwittingly give aid and comfort to the conspiracy of Communism promoted by the Soviet Union.  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 Cult of SS. Cyril and Methodius Amongst the Slovaks in U.S.A. and Canada Description An account of the resource K. Čulen trans. and adapted by J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 98-113 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Čulen, Konštantín, 1904-1964 Kirschbaum, Jozef M., 1913-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9f038add5ee50b9c7b79791e9bdbd49f.pdf e2c22e9efca9f94f65f2f20df6142e0a PDF Text Text 92 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) By Joseph Pa u co, Ph.D. Cleveland has been the home of the Slovak Benedictines, who came to the city from St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, Illinois, with the blessing of Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, O.S.B. and his community at the invitation of Bishop Joseph Schrembs, D. D., for a full half century. The official day of their coming is February 2, 1922, when Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. offered up the first Mass at St. Andrew's parish church at East 51st Street and Superior Avenue. The Slovak parish had been relinquished to the monks of St. Benedict earlier by Father John Liscinsky at the request of Bishop Schrembs. Father Stanislaus was named prior of the newly-established dependent priory soon afterwards by his Abbot. Father Matthew Jankola was instrumental in sending several Slovak young men to the Czech abbey of Saint Procopius in Lisle, Ill. in 1903. His hope that at least some of them would become Benedictines was realized when John Vaniscak was given the name 'Gregory' upon entering the Order of St. Benedict. Father Gregory was destined to become the founder of the Slovak Benedictine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Clement Hrtanek, president of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, and Rev. Stefan Kocis, the secretary, encouraged Father Vaniscak to establish a Slovak Benedictine foundation. This became a reality in the fall of 1921 when Bishop Schrembs, D. D., a graduate of St. Vincent's College and Abbey Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., extended a formal invitation to the Slovak Benedictines to come to Cleveland. Bishop Schrembs, a friend and benefactor of the Slovaks, could always be counted on to appear at their important functions. Moreover, his greetings, invariably �SLOVAKIA 93 in their native language, were greatly appreciated by Slovak audiences and congregations throughout the country. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B., who had been appointed pastor of St. Michael's Slovak parish in Chicago soon after his ordination in the early summer of 1914, remained as pastor of the large parish until the fall of 1929 when the St. Andrew Svorad dependent priory received independent status from the Holy See. The pioneer community immediately elected him as canonical prior. Father Gregory established his headquarters at the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road. The property was acquired from the Notre Dame Sisters at a cost of $125,000. The entire sum for the 15-acre tract and old building was furnished by the Slovak Educational Foundation headed by Michael Bosak, Sr., outstanding Slovak banker in Scranton, Pa. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1927 Father George Luba, O.S .B. was sent by Abbot Kohlbeck to organize a high school for boys at the priory of St. Andrew's . The versatile young priest as first principal welcomed a total of 27 boys on the opening day of Benedictine High School on September 8, 1927. Two years later when the new property was purchased the school was transfered to the East Side. The old but tenable 4-story structure at 10510 Buckeye Road was divided equally between the priory and the school; the third and fourth floors for the residence of the Religious members while the first and second floors were used for classrooms. During the early summer of 1934 the priory was elevated to abbey status and Father Stanislaus Gmuca was elected as the first abbot of St. Andrew Svorad Benedictine Abbey on August 8, 1934. The blessing of the new Abbot on October 2, 1934, was attended by a dozen abbots and five bishops, several hundred clergy and more than two thousand laity at St. John's Cathedral. As pastor and prior of the dependent priory of St. Andrew's, Father Stanislaus built the unique Spanish-style new Church in 1926. In 1940 as Abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey he directed the construction of the new Benedictine High School building at 2900 East Boulevard. This forward step was destiped to increase the school enrollment from 150 to more than 1,200 in six years. Abbot Theodore Kojis, 0. S. B., who succeeded Abbot �94 SLOVAKIA Gmuca in 1946, completed the north and south wings of the high school, added a machine shop, aeronautical depart-ment, science building, a new cafeteria, auditorium and modem gymnasium, and supervised the building of the new Abbey building during the tenure of twenty years in office. In 1953, the year after the new Abbey was completed, Father Leo Rehak, O.S.B., pastor of St. Benedict's abbey church, saw Archbishop Edward Hoban, D. D. dedicate the beautiful new edifice. One of the highlights of Abbot Kojis' administration was the grant of $50,000 in 1960 to establish a Slovak religious and cultural center in Rome. This donation by the Slovak Benedictine community in Cleveland spurred a nationwide campaign that netted more than a half million dollars (mostly donated by American Slovaks) for the project known as the Slovak SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute which sponsors a seminary, publishes religious books and acts as a center for Slovak tourists from all over the world. Abbot Jerome Koval, O.S.B., successor to Abbot Kojis in the spring of 1966, has guided the Abbey in the spirit of the founder and his pioneer community along the guidelines of the spiritual renewal of Vatican II. Abbot Koval is a member of many Slovak and non-Slovak Catholic organizations and is always in great demand as a homilist and after-dinner speaker everywhere. The abbey, in addition to administering Benedictine High School in which the majority of the faculty members are Religious, also furnishes pastoral aid on weekends the year round to many parishes in the diocese. Outside the diocese of Cleveland, the Abbey Fathers have charge of parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. One of the members has been an army chaplain for ten years and three priest have assignments as chaplains at various institutions and one priest is a seminary professor. Both Abbot Stanislaus and Abbot Theodore are still active doing parish work regularly. The Ave Maria monthly religious publication in the Slovak language has been edited by the Slovak Benedictines for more than forty-two years. Editors in the past were: Father Gregory Vaniscak, Father Paschal Kavulic and Father George Luba, O.S.B. The present editors are Father �SLOVAKIA 95 Andrew Pier, O.S.B. and Dr. Karol Strmen. Brother Alfred Nasticky, O.S.B. is the business manager. Subscribers are listed from all over the world. The only countries which will not admit the magazine are communist-ruled countries, including Slovakia. Precisely twenty years ago this summer the Slovak Institute was founded at the Abbey by Abbot Theodore Kojis, O.S.B . Charter members were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, Rev. Mikulas Sprinc, Dr. Karol Strmen, Dr. Joseph Cincik, and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. The ruling abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey is ex officio the president, and he appoints the director. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky was the first director until his death on September 9, 1956. Konstantin Culen served for two full years as his successor and Rev. Andrew Pier O.S.B. has been director since 1958. The Slovak Institute library contains several thousand volumes on Slovak literature, history, etc. The Most, cultural quarterly edited the past eighteen years by Father Mikulas Sprinc, is a Slovak Institute publication. Cleveland's "Slovenske Noviny-Slovak News" (19491959) spanned a decade under the sponsorship of St. Andrew's Abbey and various Slovak organizations in the city. The Slovak weekly (3 pages in Slovak and 1 page in English) finally ceased publication because of lack of funds despite the fact that the Abbey had furnished both the office and the editorial staff for the entire ten years. The editors were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, 1949-1952, Dr. Karol Strmen, 1952-1959 for the Slovak section and Rev. Bernard Slimak, O.S.B. (1949 ) and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. (19491959) for the English section. At one time several Fathers conducted Slovak Missions in various parts of the country. Novenas and Forty Hour devotions, as well as Triduums and pilgrimages were on their schedule. The following priests shared this apostolate: Father George Luba, Wendelin Kravec, Paschal Kavulic, Theodore Kojis, Benedict Dobrancin, Sylvester Prise, Francis Durkac, Jerome Koval, Florian Hudac and Matthew Bonk, O.S.B . Among distinguished guests at the Abbey through the years were the following: The Matica Slovenska (Slovak Institute) delegation from Turciansky Sv. Martin from Slovakia in 1935. The members were: J . C. Hronsky, �96 SLOVAKIA leading Slovak novelist, Konstantin Culen, foremost Slovak journalist, Dr. Jozef Cincik, artist and architectual consultant, K . Plicka, ace photographer . The Spolok sv. Vojtecha delegation from Trnava, Slovakia, in 1937. The members were: Dr. Jozef Tiso (later President of the Slovak Republic), Msgr. Postenyi, Msgr. Korper, Msgr. Caban and Father Mondok. Both of these delegations donated valuable works on Slovak literature and history to the Abbey library, now in the Slovak Institute library. Abbot Primate Kaelin came from Rome in 1952 to participate in the dedication of the new Abbey building. The General Chapter of the Benedictine Abbots was held at the Abbey in 1953 after the blessing of the new abbey church of St. Benedict. Among famous Slovak authors associated with the Abbey were: Philip A. Hrobak (teacher at Benedictine High School for eight years), author of a Slovak dictionary and Slovak Lessons series. J. J. Konus (spent some time in research at the Abbey library), author of several Slovak dictionaries and a grammar. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar and translation of the Holy Rule into Slovak. Abbot Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar. For the past quarter of a century the Slovak Institute cooperates with the Cleveland Slovak Radio Club in arranging a speaker's program for its Slovak Hour every Sunday. Aside from their spiritual and educational work the Benedictines in Cleveland are widely known for the prowess of the Bengals in scholastic athletic circles. Benedictine High School has produced city football, basketball, baseball, bowling, tennis and golf championship s and won a state football crown in 1957. In the past quarter of a century Benedictine football teams won eleven city titles. two co-titles and lost only 4 times. In baseball the Bengals have won almost a score city titles, two city crowns in basketball, two in golf, two in tennis and two in bowling. The latest sport is hockey and in the past four years the team has won two city titles. The CYO has used the facilities of the Bengal's gym each year at no charge since 1940. �SLOVAKIA 97 At the very beginning the contributions for the foundation of Benedictine education came exclusively from the Slovaks, from individuals and our organizations. The Jednota, First Catholic Slovak Union, has been in the forefront of the Slovak fraternals that have supported the Slovak Benedictines with donations approved by the delegates at various conventions. Others like the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and several others have at various times made contributions to the Abbey. The most consistent supporter to the Slovak Benedictines for their high school has been the Benedictine Dads Club which has contributed more than $500,000 the past twentyseven years. At present the membership is approximately 70 ( 46 priest, 13 Brothers, 3 novices and a growing number of postulants) . The death of 15 priests in the service of God and the community the past 30 years has been a great loss to the Abbey but new vocations are beginning to come in increasing numbers. Perhaps some day St. Andrew's Abbey will send missionary monks to Slovakia to renew Benedictine monastic foundations that once flourished there during the middle ages. The last Benedictine monastery was closed by imperial edict of Joseph II of Austria-Hungary at the end of the eighteenth century. LIT ERA T U R E Frantisek Hrusovsky, Ph.D.: Slovenske re hole v Amerike. Cleveland , Ohio, 1955. Slovenski benediktini. Kalendar J edno ta, Middletown , Pa. 1928; p p. 103-109. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English. � 92 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) By Joseph Pa u co, Ph.D. Cleveland has been the home of the Slovak Benedictines, who came to the city from St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, Illinois, with the blessing of Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, O.S.B. and his community at the invitation of Bishop Joseph Schrembs, D. D., for a full half century. The official day of their coming is February 2, 1922, when Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. offered up the first Mass at St. Andrew's parish church at East 51st Street and Superior Avenue. The Slovak parish had been relinquished to the monks of St. Benedict earlier by Father John Liscinsky at the request of Bishop Schrembs. Father Stanislaus was named prior of the newly-established dependent priory soon afterwards by his Abbot. Father Matthew Jankola was instrumental in sending several Slovak young men to the Czech abbey of Saint Procopius in Lisle, Ill. in 1903. His hope that at least some of them would become Benedictines was realized when John Vaniscak was given the name 'Gregory' upon entering the Order of St. Benedict. Father Gregory was destined to become the founder of the Slovak Benedictine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Clement Hrtanek, president of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, and Rev. Stefan Kocis, the secretary, encouraged Father Vaniscak to establish a Slovak Benedictine foundation. This became a reality in the fall of 1921 when Bishop Schrembs, D. D., a graduate of St. Vincent's College and Abbey Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., extended a formal invitation to the Slovak Benedictines to come to Cleveland. Bishop Schrembs, a friend and benefactor of the Slovaks, could always be counted on to appear at their important functions. Moreover, his greetings, invariably �SLOVAKIA 93 in their native language, were greatly appreciated by Slovak audiences and congregations throughout the country. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B., who had been appointed pastor of St. Michael's Slovak parish in Chicago soon after his ordination in the early summer of 1914, remained as pastor of the large parish until the fall of 1929 when the St. Andrew Svorad dependent priory received independent status from the Holy See. The pioneer community immediately elected him as canonical prior. Father Gregory established his headquarters at the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road. The property was acquired from the Notre Dame Sisters at a cost of $125,000. The entire sum for the 15-acre tract and old building was furnished by the Slovak Educational Foundation headed by Michael Bosak, Sr., outstanding Slovak banker in Scranton, Pa. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1927 Father George Luba, O.S .B. was sent by Abbot Kohlbeck to organize a high school for boys at the priory of St. Andrew's . The versatile young priest as first principal welcomed a total of 27 boys on the opening day of Benedictine High School on September 8, 1927. Two years later when the new property was purchased the school was transfered to the East Side. The old but tenable 4-story structure at 10510 Buckeye Road was divided equally between the priory and the school; the third and fourth floors for the residence of the Religious members while the first and second floors were used for classrooms. During the early summer of 1934 the priory was elevated to abbey status and Father Stanislaus Gmuca was elected as the first abbot of St. Andrew Svorad Benedictine Abbey on August 8, 1934. The blessing of the new Abbot on October 2, 1934, was attended by a dozen abbots and five bishops, several hundred clergy and more than two thousand laity at St. John's Cathedral. As pastor and prior of the dependent priory of St. Andrew's, Father Stanislaus built the unique Spanish-style new Church in 1926. In 1940 as Abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey he directed the construction of the new Benedictine High School building at 2900 East Boulevard. This forward step was destiped to increase the school enrollment from 150 to more than 1,200 in six years. Abbot Theodore Kojis, 0. S. B., who succeeded Abbot �94 SLOVAKIA Gmuca in 1946, completed the north and south wings of the high school, added a machine shop, aeronautical depart-ment, science building, a new cafeteria, auditorium and modem gymnasium, and supervised the building of the new Abbey building during the tenure of twenty years in office. In 1953, the year after the new Abbey was completed, Father Leo Rehak, O.S.B., pastor of St. Benedict's abbey church, saw Archbishop Edward Hoban, D. D. dedicate the beautiful new edifice. One of the highlights of Abbot Kojis' administration was the grant of $50,000 in 1960 to establish a Slovak religious and cultural center in Rome. This donation by the Slovak Benedictine community in Cleveland spurred a nationwide campaign that netted more than a half million dollars (mostly donated by American Slovaks) for the project known as the Slovak SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute which sponsors a seminary, publishes religious books and acts as a center for Slovak tourists from all over the world. Abbot Jerome Koval, O.S.B., successor to Abbot Kojis in the spring of 1966, has guided the Abbey in the spirit of the founder and his pioneer community along the guidelines of the spiritual renewal of Vatican II. Abbot Koval is a member of many Slovak and non-Slovak Catholic organizations and is always in great demand as a homilist and after-dinner speaker everywhere. The abbey, in addition to administering Benedictine High School in which the majority of the faculty members are Religious, also furnishes pastoral aid on weekends the year round to many parishes in the diocese. Outside the diocese of Cleveland, the Abbey Fathers have charge of parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. One of the members has been an army chaplain for ten years and three priest have assignments as chaplains at various institutions and one priest is a seminary professor. Both Abbot Stanislaus and Abbot Theodore are still active doing parish work regularly. The Ave Maria monthly religious publication in the Slovak language has been edited by the Slovak Benedictines for more than forty-two years. Editors in the past were: Father Gregory Vaniscak, Father Paschal Kavulic and Father George Luba, O.S.B. The present editors are Father �SLOVAKIA 95 Andrew Pier, O.S.B. and Dr. Karol Strmen. Brother Alfred Nasticky, O.S.B. is the business manager. Subscribers are listed from all over the world. The only countries which will not admit the magazine are communist-ruled countries, including Slovakia. Precisely twenty years ago this summer the Slovak Institute was founded at the Abbey by Abbot Theodore Kojis, O.S.B . Charter members were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, Rev. Mikulas Sprinc, Dr. Karol Strmen, Dr. Joseph Cincik, and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. The ruling abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey is ex officio the president, and he appoints the director. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky was the first director until his death on September 9, 1956. Konstantin Culen served for two full years as his successor and Rev. Andrew Pier O.S.B. has been director since 1958. The Slovak Institute library contains several thousand volumes on Slovak literature, history, etc. The Most, cultural quarterly edited the past eighteen years by Father Mikulas Sprinc, is a Slovak Institute publication. Cleveland's "Slovenske Noviny-Slovak News" (19491959) spanned a decade under the sponsorship of St. Andrew's Abbey and various Slovak organizations in the city. The Slovak weekly (3 pages in Slovak and 1 page in English) finally ceased publication because of lack of funds despite the fact that the Abbey had furnished both the office and the editorial staff for the entire ten years. The editors were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, 1949-1952, Dr. Karol Strmen, 1952-1959 for the Slovak section and Rev. Bernard Slimak, O.S.B. (1949 ) and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. (19491959) for the English section. At one time several Fathers conducted Slovak Missions in various parts of the country. Novenas and Forty Hour devotions, as well as Triduums and pilgrimages were on their schedule. The following priests shared this apostolate: Father George Luba, Wendelin Kravec, Paschal Kavulic, Theodore Kojis, Benedict Dobrancin, Sylvester Prise, Francis Durkac, Jerome Koval, Florian Hudac and Matthew Bonk, O.S.B . Among distinguished guests at the Abbey through the years were the following: The Matica Slovenska (Slovak Institute) delegation from Turciansky Sv. Martin from Slovakia in 1935. The members were: J . C. Hronsky, �96 SLOVAKIA leading Slovak novelist, Konstantin Culen, foremost Slovak journalist, Dr. Jozef Cincik, artist and architectual consultant, K . Plicka, ace photographer . The Spolok sv. Vojtecha delegation from Trnava, Slovakia, in 1937. The members were: Dr. Jozef Tiso (later President of the Slovak Republic), Msgr. Postenyi, Msgr. Korper, Msgr. Caban and Father Mondok. Both of these delegations donated valuable works on Slovak literature and history to the Abbey library, now in the Slovak Institute library. Abbot Primate Kaelin came from Rome in 1952 to participate in the dedication of the new Abbey building. The General Chapter of the Benedictine Abbots was held at the Abbey in 1953 after the blessing of the new abbey church of St. Benedict. Among famous Slovak authors associated with the Abbey were: Philip A. Hrobak (teacher at Benedictine High School for eight years), author of a Slovak dictionary and Slovak Lessons series. J. J. Konus (spent some time in research at the Abbey library), author of several Slovak dictionaries and a grammar. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar and translation of the Holy Rule into Slovak. Abbot Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar. For the past quarter of a century the Slovak Institute cooperates with the Cleveland Slovak Radio Club in arranging a speaker's program for its Slovak Hour every Sunday. Aside from their spiritual and educational work the Benedictines in Cleveland are widely known for the prowess of the Bengals in scholastic athletic circles. Benedictine High School has produced city football, basketball, baseball, bowling, tennis and golf championship s and won a state football crown in 1957. In the past quarter of a century Benedictine football teams won eleven city titles. two co-titles and lost only 4 times. In baseball the Bengals have won almost a score city titles, two city crowns in basketball, two in golf, two in tennis and two in bowling. The latest sport is hockey and in the past four years the team has won two city titles. The CYO has used the facilities of the Bengal's gym each year at no charge since 1940. �SLOVAKIA 97 At the very beginning the contributions for the foundation of Benedictine education came exclusively from the Slovaks, from individuals and our organizations. The Jednota, First Catholic Slovak Union, has been in the forefront of the Slovak fraternals that have supported the Slovak Benedictines with donations approved by the delegates at various conventions. Others like the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and several others have at various times made contributions to the Abbey. The most consistent supporter to the Slovak Benedictines for their high school has been the Benedictine Dads Club which has contributed more than $500,000 the past twentyseven years. At present the membership is approximately 70 ( 46 priest, 13 Brothers, 3 novices and a growing number of postulants) . The death of 15 priests in the service of God and the community the past 30 years has been a great loss to the Abbey but new vocations are beginning to come in increasing numbers. Perhaps some day St. Andrew's Abbey will send missionary monks to Slovakia to renew Benedictine monastic foundations that once flourished there during the middle ages. The last Benedictine monastery was closed by imperial edict of Joseph II of Austria-Hungary at the end of the eighteenth century. LIT ERA T U R E Frantisek Hrusovsky, Ph.D.: Slovenske re hole v Amerike. Cleveland , Ohio, 1955. Slovenski benediktini. Kalendar J edno ta, Middletown , Pa. 1928; p p. 103-109. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 92 SLOVAKIA The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) By Joseph Pa u co, Ph.D. Cleveland has been the home of the Slovak Benedictines, who came to the city from St. Procopius Abbey, Lisle, Illinois, with the blessing of Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, O.S.B. and his community at the invitation of Bishop Joseph Schrembs, D. D., for a full half century. The official day of their coming is February 2, 1922, when Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. offered up the first Mass at St. Andrew's parish church at East 51st Street and Superior Avenue. The Slovak parish had been relinquished to the monks of St. Benedict earlier by Father John Liscinsky at the request of Bishop Schrembs. Father Stanislaus was named prior of the newly-established dependent priory soon afterwards by his Abbot. Father Matthew Jankola was instrumental in sending several Slovak young men to the Czech abbey of Saint Procopius in Lisle, Ill. in 1903. His hope that at least some of them would become Benedictines was realized when John Vaniscak was given the name 'Gregory' upon entering the Order of St. Benedict. Father Gregory was destined to become the founder of the Slovak Benedictine monastery in Cleveland, Ohio. Rev. Clement Hrtanek, president of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America, and Rev. Stefan Kocis, the secretary, encouraged Father Vaniscak to establish a Slovak Benedictine foundation. This became a reality in the fall of 1921 when Bishop Schrembs, D. D., a graduate of St. Vincent's College and Abbey Seminary in Latrobe, Pa., extended a formal invitation to the Slovak Benedictines to come to Cleveland. Bishop Schrembs, a friend and benefactor of the Slovaks, could always be counted on to appear at their important functions. Moreover, his greetings, invariably SLOVAKIA 93 in their native language, were greatly appreciated by Slovak audiences and congregations throughout the country. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B., who had been appointed pastor of St. Michael's Slovak parish in Chicago soon after his ordination in the early summer of 1914, remained as pastor of the large parish until the fall of 1929 when the St. Andrew Svorad dependent priory received independent status from the Holy See. The pioneer community immediately elected him as canonical prior. Father Gregory established his headquarters at the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road. The property was acquired from the Notre Dame Sisters at a cost of $125,000. The entire sum for the 15-acre tract and old building was furnished by the Slovak Educational Foundation headed by Michael Bosak, Sr., outstanding Slovak banker in Scranton, Pa. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1927 Father George Luba, O.S .B. was sent by Abbot Kohlbeck to organize a high school for boys at the priory of St. Andrew's . The versatile young priest as first principal welcomed a total of 27 boys on the opening day of Benedictine High School on September 8, 1927. Two years later when the new property was purchased the school was transfered to the East Side. The old but tenable 4-story structure at 10510 Buckeye Road was divided equally between the priory and the school; the third and fourth floors for the residence of the Religious members while the first and second floors were used for classrooms. During the early summer of 1934 the priory was elevated to abbey status and Father Stanislaus Gmuca was elected as the first abbot of St. Andrew Svorad Benedictine Abbey on August 8, 1934. The blessing of the new Abbot on October 2, 1934, was attended by a dozen abbots and five bishops, several hundred clergy and more than two thousand laity at St. John's Cathedral. As pastor and prior of the dependent priory of St. Andrew's, Father Stanislaus built the unique Spanish-style new Church in 1926. In 1940 as Abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey he directed the construction of the new Benedictine High School building at 2900 East Boulevard. This forward step was destiped to increase the school enrollment from 150 to more than 1,200 in six years. Abbot Theodore Kojis, 0. S. B., who succeeded Abbot 94 SLOVAKIA Gmuca in 1946, completed the north and south wings of the high school, added a machine shop, aeronautical depart-ment, science building, a new cafeteria, auditorium and modem gymnasium, and supervised the building of the new Abbey building during the tenure of twenty years in office. In 1953, the year after the new Abbey was completed, Father Leo Rehak, O.S.B., pastor of St. Benedict's abbey church, saw Archbishop Edward Hoban, D. D. dedicate the beautiful new edifice. One of the highlights of Abbot Kojis' administration was the grant of $50,000 in 1960 to establish a Slovak religious and cultural center in Rome. This donation by the Slovak Benedictine community in Cleveland spurred a nationwide campaign that netted more than a half million dollars (mostly donated by American Slovaks) for the project known as the Slovak SS. Cyril and Methodius Institute which sponsors a seminary, publishes religious books and acts as a center for Slovak tourists from all over the world. Abbot Jerome Koval, O.S.B., successor to Abbot Kojis in the spring of 1966, has guided the Abbey in the spirit of the founder and his pioneer community along the guidelines of the spiritual renewal of Vatican II. Abbot Koval is a member of many Slovak and non-Slovak Catholic organizations and is always in great demand as a homilist and after-dinner speaker everywhere. The abbey, in addition to administering Benedictine High School in which the majority of the faculty members are Religious, also furnishes pastoral aid on weekends the year round to many parishes in the diocese. Outside the diocese of Cleveland, the Abbey Fathers have charge of parishes in Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. One of the members has been an army chaplain for ten years and three priest have assignments as chaplains at various institutions and one priest is a seminary professor. Both Abbot Stanislaus and Abbot Theodore are still active doing parish work regularly. The Ave Maria monthly religious publication in the Slovak language has been edited by the Slovak Benedictines for more than forty-two years. Editors in the past were: Father Gregory Vaniscak, Father Paschal Kavulic and Father George Luba, O.S.B. The present editors are Father SLOVAKIA 95 Andrew Pier, O.S.B. and Dr. Karol Strmen. Brother Alfred Nasticky, O.S.B. is the business manager. Subscribers are listed from all over the world. The only countries which will not admit the magazine are communist-ruled countries, including Slovakia. Precisely twenty years ago this summer the Slovak Institute was founded at the Abbey by Abbot Theodore Kojis, O.S.B . Charter members were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, Rev. Mikulas Sprinc, Dr. Karol Strmen, Dr. Joseph Cincik, and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. The ruling abbot of St. Andrew's Abbey is ex officio the president, and he appoints the director. Dr. Francis Hrusovsky was the first director until his death on September 9, 1956. Konstantin Culen served for two full years as his successor and Rev. Andrew Pier O.S.B. has been director since 1958. The Slovak Institute library contains several thousand volumes on Slovak literature, history, etc. The Most, cultural quarterly edited the past eighteen years by Father Mikulas Sprinc, is a Slovak Institute publication. Cleveland's "Slovenske Noviny-Slovak News" (19491959) spanned a decade under the sponsorship of St. Andrew's Abbey and various Slovak organizations in the city. The Slovak weekly (3 pages in Slovak and 1 page in English) finally ceased publication because of lack of funds despite the fact that the Abbey had furnished both the office and the editorial staff for the entire ten years. The editors were: Dr. Francis Hrusovsky, 1949-1952, Dr. Karol Strmen, 1952-1959 for the Slovak section and Rev. Bernard Slimak, O.S.B. (1949 ) and Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B. (19491959) for the English section. At one time several Fathers conducted Slovak Missions in various parts of the country. Novenas and Forty Hour devotions, as well as Triduums and pilgrimages were on their schedule. The following priests shared this apostolate: Father George Luba, Wendelin Kravec, Paschal Kavulic, Theodore Kojis, Benedict Dobrancin, Sylvester Prise, Francis Durkac, Jerome Koval, Florian Hudac and Matthew Bonk, O.S.B . Among distinguished guests at the Abbey through the years were the following: The Matica Slovenska (Slovak Institute) delegation from Turciansky Sv. Martin from Slovakia in 1935. The members were: J . C. Hronsky, 96 SLOVAKIA leading Slovak novelist, Konstantin Culen, foremost Slovak journalist, Dr. Jozef Cincik, artist and architectual consultant, K . Plicka, ace photographer . The Spolok sv. Vojtecha delegation from Trnava, Slovakia, in 1937. The members were: Dr. Jozef Tiso (later President of the Slovak Republic), Msgr. Postenyi, Msgr. Korper, Msgr. Caban and Father Mondok. Both of these delegations donated valuable works on Slovak literature and history to the Abbey library, now in the Slovak Institute library. Abbot Primate Kaelin came from Rome in 1952 to participate in the dedication of the new Abbey building. The General Chapter of the Benedictine Abbots was held at the Abbey in 1953 after the blessing of the new abbey church of St. Benedict. Among famous Slovak authors associated with the Abbey were: Philip A. Hrobak (teacher at Benedictine High School for eight years), author of a Slovak dictionary and Slovak Lessons series. J. J. Konus (spent some time in research at the Abbey library), author of several Slovak dictionaries and a grammar. Father Gregory Vaniscak, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar and translation of the Holy Rule into Slovak. Abbot Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was the author of a Slovak grammar. For the past quarter of a century the Slovak Institute cooperates with the Cleveland Slovak Radio Club in arranging a speaker's program for its Slovak Hour every Sunday. Aside from their spiritual and educational work the Benedictines in Cleveland are widely known for the prowess of the Bengals in scholastic athletic circles. Benedictine High School has produced city football, basketball, baseball, bowling, tennis and golf championship s and won a state football crown in 1957. In the past quarter of a century Benedictine football teams won eleven city titles. two co-titles and lost only 4 times. In baseball the Bengals have won almost a score city titles, two city crowns in basketball, two in golf, two in tennis and two in bowling. The latest sport is hockey and in the past four years the team has won two city titles. The CYO has used the facilities of the Bengal's gym each year at no charge since 1940. SLOVAKIA 97 At the very beginning the contributions for the foundation of Benedictine education came exclusively from the Slovaks, from individuals and our organizations. The Jednota, First Catholic Slovak Union, has been in the forefront of the Slovak fraternals that have supported the Slovak Benedictines with donations approved by the delegates at various conventions. Others like the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and several others have at various times made contributions to the Abbey. The most consistent supporter to the Slovak Benedictines for their high school has been the Benedictine Dads Club which has contributed more than $500,000 the past twentyseven years. At present the membership is approximately 70 ( 46 priest, 13 Brothers, 3 novices and a growing number of postulants) . The death of 15 priests in the service of God and the community the past 30 years has been a great loss to the Abbey but new vocations are beginning to come in increasing numbers. Perhaps some day St. Andrew's Abbey will send missionary monks to Slovakia to renew Benedictine monastic foundations that once flourished there during the middle ages. The last Benedictine monastery was closed by imperial edict of Joseph II of Austria-Hungary at the end of the eighteenth century. LIT ERA T U R E Frantisek Hrusovsky, Ph.D.: Slovenske re hole v Amerike. Cleveland , Ohio, 1955. Slovenski benediktini. Kalendar J edno ta, Middletown , Pa. 1928; p p. 103-109. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is dedicated to American Democracy, the American way of life, and encourages Americans of Slovak descent to be loyal and alert citizens of America; it urges and aids Slovak emigrants to become U. S. citizens by publishing appropriate manuals and brochures in Slovak and English.  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 Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio (1922-1972) Description An account of the resource Joseph Paučo, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 92-97 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 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/215285e5c6ce7625141c324686d0b91c.pdf 08d3cb514f45501653b2b41544812895 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 65 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 19 3 9 I. In Munich, in September 1938, the Western Powers abandoned Central and Eastern Europe to Germany (in the same manner as they were to abandon her in Yalta and Potsdam in 1944-5 to Soviet Russia) and the small countries of this region were compelled to do their best to accommodate themselves to this new change in the balance of power. Mr. Churchill (as he was then) stated this fact quite eloquently in his speech to the House of Commons on October 5th, 1939: "It must now be accepted that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will make the best terms they can with the triumphant Nazi power." There is always some good which comes from every catastrophe. The Slovaks - though victims of the territorial aggrandizement of their neighbors (Hungary, Poland and Germany) - succeeded in the post-Munich period in their 20-year struggle for autonomy which was proclaimed on October 6th, 1938. By asserting their national identity through their own government and their own Diet the Slovaks finally overcame the arrogant and dangerous theory of a unitary "Czechoslovak" nation. The centralized pre-Munich Czechoslovakia became the federated state (hyphenated Czecho-Slovakia) of two equal nations. The Czechs had to admit the futility of their misplaced megalomania: they recognized the Slovaks as a separate nation, their language as a separate language. The rest of the world took notice of both the external and the internal changes which befell Czecho-Slovakia. The old myths, fostered and sustained by clever Czech propaganda, were demolished and a more sober political thinking was setting in. It was interesting and quite refreshing to read in the British press (in an article by G. B. Shaw at that) about "the entirely imaginary race called Czechoslovaks'',1 because that's what "Czechoslo- �66 SLOVAKIA vaks" in fact were: a figment of political imagination aimed at the absorption of the Slovak nation into the Czech nation. The subsequent events - which are now judged as the prologue to World War II - were in their day accepted as inevitable facts of life. After Munich Hitler's supremacy over Central Europe was unchallenged, his expansionist moves - even if occasionally condemned and disapproved of - were tacitly and implicitly acquiesced in. Even the disintegration of Czecho-Slovakia and the emergence of an independent Slovak state did not produce that wave of indignation and outrage with which it was to be treated later. The leader article in the "Daily Express" on March 15th , 1939 summed up the general sentiments in the following words : "Why are our heads cooler ( than they were a year ago - F . V.) ? Not because our hearts are hardened. Not because we have no sympathy with the Czechs. No. But we are not shocked by stale news. Munich decided that Germany was the boss in Eastern Europe." 2 In this frame of mind did the British people at large and the British Government view the new situation. II. The British foreign policy approach towards the new territorial and political rearrangement followed two distinct lines. Though reluctant to recognize the German " Protektorat " over Bohemia and Moravia, they saw the position of Slovakia in a different and more acceptable light.3 In a memorandum dated April 17th, 1939 the Foreign Office Central Europe expert, R. M. Makins, summarized the result of long deliberations which led to the following conclusions: "The position of Slovakia is different from that of Bohemia and Moravia and a number of practical questions have rendered it advisable for us to regularise the position of our Consul at Bratislava and to give the new state de facto recognition." 4 Shortly afterwards on May 4th, 1939 the British Consul in Bratislava notified the Slovak Foreign Minister (Dr. F. �SLOVAKIA 67 nurcansky) that the British Government had decided to grant the Slovak state a de facto recognition. The act of recognition was followed by the opening of a Slovak Consulate-General in London with Milan P. Harminc in charge. 5 This happy and promising development was suddenly arrested by the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939. Because of Slovakia's geographical position and treaty relations she had with her protecting power, Germany, Slovakia herself became marginally involved in the German attack on Poland. The situation was further aggravated by the defection of the Slovak Minister in Warsaw, L. Szatmary, and the Slovak Consul in London, M. Harminc. Both issued indignant proclamations - as it happened quite incorrect - alleging that Slovakia was occupied by German troops and deprived of every vestige of national independence.6 At the same time the Czech emigres in the West, led by ex-President Benes, launched their propaganda campaign for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in its pre-Munich form. The Slovak cause in the West was at a great disadvantage. There was no one to defend it and the lies and intrigues of the adversaries of Slovak independence could go on almost unhindered. Yet it must be said in all fairness that the British attitude towards Slovakia was marked by a measure of consideration and understanding of which the Slovaks were only too infrequently the recipients. The British viewed the position of Slovakia with sensitive appreciation for the problems of a small country in the shadow of a great power. The allegations of emigre politicians - both Czechs and Slovaks - were taken with more than the proverbial grain of salt and were frequently checked against the opinions of knowledgeable experts and men-on-the-spot such as former British Consul in Bratislava Mr. P. Pares. In the British Consul the Slovaks had a severe critic but at the same time a sincere, shrewd and sympathetic observer. His deep knowledge of Slovak affairs enabled him to evaluate the moves and actions of the Slovak Government in their overall context. Already in May 1939 he had pointed out the difficult dilemma facing the Slovak leaders and their efforts to find a solution to their prob- �68 SLOVAKIA lems. Having heard rumors about their clandestine approaches to the Slovak emigres in the West (particularly towards Dr. s. Osusky in Paris), he wrote: "The object of these manoeuvres seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of cooperating with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles." 7 III. Two days before Britain entered the Second World War the British Foreign Ministry issued an internal memorandum entitled "Our Attitude towards Czechs and Slovaks in Time of War." With respect to Slovaks (in spite of some unflattering remarks about their leadership ) the memorandum stated: "However true it may be that the final defection of the Slovaks last March was the result of German machination and menace and that the present Slovak Government is acting under force majeure in allowing Slovakia to be used as an assembly ground for the German attack on Poland, nevertheless the fact remains that the union of Czechs and Slovaks was not a success and it would be rash to act on the presumption that the Slovaks are now anxious to restore it ... By proclaiming the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia as a war aim, we should be assuming that the Slovaks had repented of their errors and were eager for the reunion with the Czechs. That may be so, but there are yet insufficient grounds for assurance on the point and we should not take at their face value any statements of Slovak emigres on the subject." 8 With regard to ex-President Benes the memorandum had this to say: "The question then arises what recognition we �SLOVAKIA 69 should give to Dr. Benes, if, as is only too likely, he proclaims himself leader of the Czechoslovaks. The question is not an easy one. In the first place it must be admitted that he is far and away the most outstanding Czech figure in the world. His supporters say that Czechs and Slovaks both at home and abroad are now unanimously behind him. So far as those resident abroad are concerned he might be able to produce some adequate proof, but no proof could possibly be forthcoming from those resident in their own countries. All that can be said is that he was not a popular figure in large circles in Slovakia during his presidency, and that the Czechs who assumed power in the Protectorate after his departure made no secret of their condemnation of him and his policy. It may be that they have now changed their minds, but it is difficult to see what proof can be had of the fact, and it is after all the Czechs in the Protectorate and not the emigres who matter most. A further consideration is that Dr . Benes is personally abhorrent in several other states, particularly in Poland and Hungary. All these considerations suggest that we should be wise to walk warily about any official recognition of Dr. Benes, whether as leader of the Czechs or the Czechoslovaks, though in view of his outstanding position we should presumably have no option but to accept him as their de facto spokesman". 9 As the memorandum anticipated Benes spoke out on the very day Britain entered the armed conflict. On September 3rd he wired the following telegram to the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain: "At this moment in which the British people are obliged to wage a war imposed upon Poland, Great Britain and France by Nazi Germany I wish to express to Your Excellency with the deep and inalterable feeling of sympathy the desire and the decision of the Czechs and Slovaks to join without hesitation your people in this struggle for a free Europe. Our country is invaded and occupied by armed forces of Nazism and the whole nation is suffering under inhuman terror and oppression, its forces, however, both �70 SLOVAKIA moral and physical remain intact. We Czechoslovak citizens consider ourselves as being also in war with the German military forces and we shall march with your people till the final victory and the liberation of our fatherland. Edward Benes, former President of Czechoslovakia." 10 This telegram was carefully studied by its British recipients for hidden claims and pretensions. None was found, but it was noted that Benes spoke on behalf of "the Czechs and the Slovaks" as well as "Czechoslovak citizens". The reply (which was despatched with a six-day delay) carefully avoided any reference to either Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks" and with a studied deliberation indicated to Benes the attitude of the British Government towards him and indirectly toward Slovakia also. It read : " I gratefully acknowledge Your Excellency's generous message of sympathy and support in this grave hour. The sufferings of the Czech nation are not forgotten and we look forwards through the triumph of the principles for which we have taken up arms to the release of the Czech people from foreign domination. Neville Chamberlain." 11 This public exchange of telegrams was to demonstrate urbi et orbi that the British Government did not recognize Benes's claim to speak on behalf of the Slovaks nor were they particularly keen to restore Czecho-Slovakia. This was made explicitly clear in an explanatory letter of September 26th, 1939, sent to the Britiish Minister in Budapest (Mr. 0. St. C. O'Malley) by Sir Orme Sargent who wrote: " ... we are taking care to avoid committing ourselves to anything in the nature of a reconstitution of the old Czecho-Slovak state. In confirmation of this I would draw your attention to the answer, of which I enclose a copy, sel'lt by the Prime Minister on the 9th September to Benes's message of sympathy and support. The Prime Minister was careful to speak only of the future of the Czech people." 12 �SLOVAKIA 71 IV. This public rebuke to Dr. Benes reactivated another emigre politician, Dr. Milan Hodza, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia and a bitter antagonist of Dr. Benes. M. Hodza was a Slovak by birth. In his political outlook he was inconsistent and in his political actions unpredictable. Immediately after 1918 he was an ardent exponent of "Czechoslovak unity" and an active opponent of the Slovak autonomists ( whom he used to mock that they did not know the difference between "autonomy" and "automobile") .13 But gradually he realized the futile emptiness of the Czech centralist policies and advocated some measure of autonomy for Slovakia. In the summer of 1938 his proposals were almost identical with those of Andrej Hlinka. 14 But Benes put a stop to Hodza's autonomist plans and schemes and forbade him any further steps in this direction. At the height of the Munich crisis Benes made Hodza a convenient scapegoat for previous Czech mistakes and omissions and on September 22nd, 1938 forced him and his government to resign. Physically and mentally broken M. Hodza retired to France and then to Switzerland. It seemed that he had left politics for good. Unlike Benes he made no pronouncements issued no proclamations when Hitler dismembered Czecho-Slovakia. In the summer of 1939 he moved to London. Here he very quickly realized that official British circles considered the Czecho-Slovak interwar experiment as a mistake which they would be loath to repeat. The exchange of telegrams between Benes and Chamberlain indicated to him very plainly that the British viewed Slovakia not as a political accident but as a permanent feature of the Central European scene. In 1938-9 the British policy-makers realized that the Versailles settlement imposed on Central Europe in 1919 was not satisfactory and created as many new problems as it was supposed to solve. Consequently they were unwilling to advocate any schemes which took no notice of past mistakes. In effect it meant that the Slovaks were not to be forced into any union with the Czechs against their will. The British official circles did their best to clear up the terminological confusion concerning such expressions as Czechs, Slovaks, Czechoslovaks, Czecho- �72 SLOVAKIA Slovaks, nation, people, etc. It is interesting to note that even Mr. Churchill - a tough and consistent opponent of Munich - carefully chose his nouns and adjectives in his speech of November 12th, 1939, when he spoke of "the Polish, Czech and Slovak people". In his original draft he mentioned "the Polish and Czechoslovak nations", but on the advice of a Foreign Office official he accepted the more correct and less offensive terminology .15 V. At the outbreak of World War II the British considered it important to clarify their attitude towards Slovakia. In a message sent to Budapest on September 14th, 1939 we read: "Notification has been issued that Slovakia is to be regarded as territory in German occupation. Effect of this is that Slovakia will be treated as enemy territory for purpose of trading with the enemy, etc., but state of war does not exist between the United Kingdom and Slovakia and Slovaks are not at present to be regarded as enemy nationals in the United Kingdom." 16 But contrary to what was asserted by the defecting Slovak diplomats, Szatmary and Harminc, and apparently believed by the British, Slovakia was not occupied by German troops. Unfortunately after the recall of the British Consul from Bratislava and the defection of the Slovak Consul in London there were no channels of communication between Britain and Slovakia to find out what really went on. On the other hand the enemies of Slovakia and the emigre pretenders of "the oppressed Slovak people" had their field day. By intrigues, half-truths and outright lies they tried to blacken the Slovak record and discredit the idea of Slovak independence. Initially the British Foreign Office did not accept these emigre confidences at face value but passed them for comment to the British Consul P. Pares. Pares' comments and corrections (from Budapest where he had resided from September 1939) are most remarkable documents because it was not often that the Slovak cause found a judicious and objective commentator in a complete foreigner. �SLOVAKIA 73 The type of material forwarded to Mr. Pares for comment consisted mainly of "Weekly summaries" issued by the Political Intelligence Department. The information was collected mainly by R. H. Bruce Lockhart who was a willing and polite listener to many emigre accounts, stories, etc. 17 As a long-standing friend of Jan Masaryk18 and Dr. Benes Bruce Lockhart did more than anybody else towards the promotion of the Czech (i. e. anti-Slovak) interests and towards the acceptance of Dr. Benes as the spokesman for all the "Czechoslovaks". Bruce Lockhart acted in good faith and with sincere conviction but there is no doubt that his credulity was taken for a ride and his official position exploited. Dr. J . Smutny, Benes's secretary and his closest collaborator in London, wrote quite frankly (in March 1940): "Benes is unwilling to participate in the Czech emigre activities except as some sort of 'President' ... As a practical politician he knows that it is not enough for him alone to be of this opinion, but this opinion must be shared by others too. The British Government in particular must accept this view. For this reason every person who comes from the Protectorate and says that the nation stands behind Benes, is carefully put into contact with British circles to give them authentic confirmation. He (the new arrival) does not know about this game, it is all done very cleverly. Every written or verbal message which states the same (i.e. that the nation stands behind Benes) is passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart." 19 Material "passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart" formed then the bulk of these "Weekly summaries". But apart from Benes and his hard working staff of informants there were also other intelligence harbingers, such as M. Hodza. Milan Hodza tried his utmost to cast himself in the role of the sole and rightful spokesman for the Slovaks. Benes and Hodza did not see eye to eye with each other but they were of one mind when it came to denouncing and condemning everything which had happened in Slovakia since their inglorious exit. The "Summaries" regularly reported about "the grow- �74 SLOVAKIA ing disillusionment of Slovaks with their 'autonomy'". The British Consul (P. Pares) in his comments refutes this allegation. He points out that the informants and their sources represent but a small discontented group and their views are at variance with those of the majority. And then he singles out an important fact: "The use of the term 'disillusionment' is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaration of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if there had been any it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Re-public ( of Slovakia) and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position." 20 The "Summaries" invariably harped upon reduced living standards in Slovakia since March 1939. Mr. Pares again was able to point out that the standard of living of the peasantry had not been reduced, while there were "solid (economic) gains of the majority of the middle class". He also refuted the false claims regarding the remittance of the Slovak workers' savings from Germany. Where the Czech-inspired "Summaries" report "that most members of the (Slovak) Government are looked upon as gangsters", Mr. Pares jumps to their defence: "Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of �SLOVAKIA 75 the government installed by the Czechs on March 9th when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three, two (Fritz and Medricky) occupy minor posts, and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Vienna wireless.21 All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that this unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet." Drawing on his local knowledge of the Slovak scene Mr. Pares makes penetrating observations about the end of the Protestant predominance in Slovak political and public affairs: "The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slovak National Council (i. e. Committee established on November 17th, 1939 in Paris ) has made any progress towards winning over their (i.e. Catholic ) support up to the present." Commenting on the composition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee,22 Mr. Pares expresses his doubts about the credentials of the three Slovak representatives on this body. He writes that the creators of this Committee either neglected to take into account the Catholic majority "or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders." And he continues: "The three Slovak members of the Committee are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any political following. M. Osusky and M. Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad, whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seem doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people." �76 SLOVAKIA VI. Early in November 1939 the British Consul in Slovakia (Mr. P. Pares) was asked to comment on a memorandum submitted earlier by B. H. Bruce Lockhart and referring to discussions Mr. Bruce Lockhart had with Dr. Hodfa. In this conversation Hodfa stated that the Slovak population was almost unanimously behind him. He advocated a federalist solution for Slovakia which would keep the Czechs and Slovaks in one state but would grant the Slovaks that degree of autonomy which was secured by the zilina Agreement of October 6th, 1938.23 Hodfa told Bruce Lockhart that independence was virtually forced on the Slovaks and that there was an overwhelming desire for the return to old Czecho-Slovakia. 24 Mr. Pares disagreed with this view almost completely and gave a remarkably accurate interpretation of what had actually happened in March 1939. He mentions the real fears among Slovak politicians "at the end of February 1939 that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938". "Later these fears proved to be justified - writes Mr. Pares - when the Czech Government carried out its coup d 'e tat in Slovakia on March 9th. The effect of this coup was that, at the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed, the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas: satisfaction at being rid at least of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearance as a nation." 25 The claims that the Slovaks were dissatisfied with their state are contradicted by the British Consul who sees the situation in its real and realistic context: �SLOVAKIA 77 "There are . . . good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not excercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance, the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor ( who was removed at Dr. Durcansky's request). . . The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer ( of 1939) has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc. and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted fourfifths of Slovakia's total export trade was proceeding almost up to the outbreak of war." Mr. Pares also disputes the claims about the German occupation of Slovakia and the allegations of the arrogant behavior of the German soldiers towards native people: "The relations between the Slovak population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August." The British Consul ridicules the suggestions of M. Hodza that "the Slovak Government functions at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" and that "the Slovaks who are not prepared to accept German money have resigned from their posts" . Mr. Pares comments: "This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusations which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents." In one respect, however, Mr. Pares agrees with the emigre informants: concerning the pro-Czech sentiments among the officers of the Slovak army. And here he makes an astute and surprisingly accurate prediction: "These (pro-Czech) sympathies can be discounted �78 SLOVAKIA for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slovaks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance." VII. At the end of 1939 there was already a noticeable shift in the British attitude towards the Slovaks. The earlier signs of a favorable disposition towards Slovakia were gradually corroded away by a conjoint action of three mutually interrelated factors: (i) The continuous stream of vicious anti-Slovak propaganda emanating from the Czech emigre groups around Dr. Benes. (ii) A powerful pro-Czech lobby among British parliamentarians, politicians and influential public figures. (iii) The contagious example of France where on October 2nd, 1939 a military agreement was concluded between the French Government and Minister Dr. E:';. Osusky who signed the agreement "on behalf of the provisional government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic". This act was followed on November 15th, 1939 by the French recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people and in particular to execute the agreement of October 2nd." Invoking the French precedent Dr. Benes was pressing hard for a similar concession from the British. After a prolonged negotiation he obtained on December 20th, 1939 British recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people". At the same time, however, it was made very plain to Dr. Benes and all concerned that "no commitments were made at this stage regarding the future of the former territories of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." 26 The fall of France in summer 1940 considerably strengthened Benes's position in London where his Committee was eventually recognized as "the provisional government" (on July 21st, 1940). From this time on if the British attitude towards the Czechs showed some restraint, it was not for the sake of the Slovaks but primarily out of consideration for the feelings of the Poles and Hungarians who too were against the restoration of the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia and against Dr. Benes personally. In December 1940 Viscount Halifax left the position �SLOVAKIA 79 of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and his place was taken by Mr. Anthony Eden (now Earl of Avon) . Mr. Eden was a close personal friend of Jan Masaryk and Dr. Benes and was known as an outspoken antagonist of the whole appeasement policies of the Chamberlain Government. With him a new spirit-highly favorable to Czech political aspirations and ambitions-moved into the corridors of the Foreign Ministry. As the hatred and abhorrence of Hitler and his Nazism grew, so did the sympathy towards the Czechs, and the Czech emigres were quick and clever to exploit it fully. No one is going to dispute the fact that the Czechs were victims of the Munich decision, but one is taken aback by the agility with which they made themselves into poor innocent victims of Munich which they certainly were not. By branding the Munich Agreement a 'dictate' they were making dictators not only of Germany and Italy but also of France and Britain. By transferring these semantics into practical politics they shifted their blame for Munich and all the subsequent events on others, including the Western allies. The simple truth is that in the autumn of 1938 the Czech accepted the Munich Agreement with nothing more than a verbal protest when they could and should have opposed Hitler with arms. But by 1940-41 they were able to elevate their shameless capitulation into an act of supreme heroism and noble sacrifice, for which the Western powers owed them a living - Czech style. So one-sided and uncritical was the British support of Benes and his policies that they actively assisted him in the elimination of his political opponents (who had equally impressive records of both democratic tradition and anti-Nazi fighting as Benes himself) such as the Slovaks s. Osusky and M. Hodza, Czechs as L. Prchala, Sudeten Germans as W. Jaksch and many more less-known but not less meritorious antiNazis. In July 1943 Benes's secretary, J . Smutny, wrote with an air of victorious satisfaction: "Morally the greatest success of Dr. Benes lies in the fact that he managed to change Munich and our decision not to fight there and then into a victory of Czechoslovak moral strength and foresight; he was able to throw at the heads of our present allies the responsibility for OUR decision . . ." 27 �80 SLOVAKIA In the light of all this it is not difficult to see Dr. Benes succeeded in making Slovak leaders willing accomplices and in convincing the Western powers the Slovak nation desired nothing more than reunion the Czechs and himself as their president. F. V how Nazi that with n u k, Australia FOOTNOTES 1) "Daily Herald", March 3rd, 1939. 2) "Daily Express", March 15th, 1939, p. 12. 3) F. Vnuk, British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939, in "Slovak Studies (Historica)", Vol. VIII, (Rome, in press). 4) The Foreign Office Archives, Political Correspondence (CzechoSlovakia) 1939-40, No. 371 / 22898/Doc. 17. In following references only volume and document numbers will be given (e. g 22896/ 47) . 5) Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum, Postoj Vel' kej Britanie k Slovenskej Republike, in "Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike" (Middletown, Pa., 1960) , pp. 63-71. 6) The proclamation handed by Dr. L. Szatmary to the Polish Foreign Ministry and subsequently released to the press on September 2nd , 1939 reads: "In the name of the Slovak people and its representatives who, under the pressure of the Third Reich, have been reduced to silence and have been reproached for penetrations exclusively in the interest of Germany, I protest as the representative of the State of Slovakia in Poland against the brutal disarmament of the Slovak army, against the arbitrary occupation of Slovakia by the troops of the Third Reich, against the use of Slovakia as a base for warlike action against the brotherly Polish people. "The Slovak people, whether they be at home or abroad, will never submit to the violence of the Third Reich. "It associates itself with armed resistance against the aggressor to regain the freedom in collaboration with the civilized nations of the world, and in order that it may freely decide its own destiny. "I would be very obliged to your Excellency if the Polish Government would please acknowledge my present communication and if it would support by all its resources and those of its Allies the fight of the Slovak people to save its national honour and fatherland as well as to win true independence." Mr. Harminc's proclamation, published in the British press on September 24th, 1939 has the following to say: "The whole of Slovakia is occupied by Nazi armed forces. The voice of the Slovak people has been temporarily silenced by the ruthless abrogation of all treaties and agreements. "In the name of Slovakia I solemnly protest against this shameful betrayal, and declare that the aims and ideals of Great Britain and France are identical with those of my sorely-tried people. Milan Harminc �SLOVAKIA 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 81 22803/ 338-9 22899/ 14-15 22899/ 17-18 "The Times" (London), Sepember 5th, 1939. "The Times" (London), September 11th, 1939. 22899/ 191-3 To which a Slovak journalist and politician, J . Mudroii, provided the following repartee: "Oh yes, they do know, Mr. Hodui. The automobile is a mechanical instrument which enables the Czechs to move into Slovakia, autonomy is a political instrument which will make them move out of Slovakia." ("Slovak", February 22nd , 1920) . Dr. Michal Mudry, Milan Hodza v Amerike, Chicago, Ill. , 1949, p. 58. 22900/ 27 22900/ 273 Mr. R. H. Bruce Lockhart gives an interesting account of his work at the Political Intelligence Department in his book, Comes the Reckoning, (London, 1947). He is the author of a sympathetic biographical sketch, Jan Masaryk: a personal memoir, (London, 1951). 19) "Acta Occiipationis Bohemiae et Moraviae", Vol. I. (Pra ha, 1966 ), p. 92. 20) This and the following quotations are taken from a memorandum 24290/79-84 which is reprinted in full in Appendix III. 21) In this memorandum Mr. Pares mentions only six out of seven ministers who ,c omprised the Slovak Government. The seventh man, who is left out, is General F. Catlos, the Minister of National Defense. 22) This Czecho-Slovak National Committee consisted of eight members : iDr. E. Benes, Dr. J . Sramek, Gen. S. Ingr, Dr. E. Outrata, Dr. H. Ripka, Dr. S. Osusky, Dr. J . Slavik, Gen. R. Viest. The last three members were Slovaks, but they were pitifully unrepresentative of the Slovak nation. Not only were they all Protestants - as Mr. Pares points out - but one of them, J. Slavik, summed up his nationalist sentiments in a self-revealing phrase: 'I am an unhyphenated Czechoslovak. " 23) In the West M. Hodza liked to put himself forward as a great and dedicated federalist. In 1941 he even published in London a book. " Federation in Central Europe." But a sad fact remains that back home, when he was the second most powerful politician in CzechoSlovakia, he did not try hard enough to implement his federalist ideas within the Czecho-Slovak framework. 24) Dr. Hodfa was asked to put his views down in writing. He did so and his memorandum (22900/ 66-70) is reproduced in full in Appendix I. 25) Mr. Pares' commentaries on Hodfa's accounts of the situation in Slovakia can be found in 22900/74-81 and are given in full in Appendix II. This and the following four quotations are taken from Mr. Pares' comments. �SLOVAKIA 82 26 ) 24288/ 60 27 ) Acta occu.pationis Bohemiae et Moraviae, Vol. I., (Praha, 1966), p. 222. Appendix I. MEMORANDUM BY DR. HODZA ON THE SITUATION IN SLOVAKIA In October 1939 Dr. Milan Hod.fa, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia, had a lengthy discussion about the political situation in Slovakia with Mr. Robert H. Bruce Lockhart of the British Foreign Office. The summary of this discussion was passed for comment to the former British Consul in Bratislava (Mr. Peter Pares) while Dr. Hodza was requested to put his view:s on paper in the form of a memorandum. In his written submission, handed to Mr. Bruce Lockhart on November 14th 1939, Dr. Hodza was less outspoken especially in his references to Dr. Benes. Even so his memorandum is an unusual document of some historical interest, particularly in its allegation - hitherto not mentioned anywhere - about the new political balance in Slovakia in the autumn of 1939. Dr. Hodza claims here the allegiance of 30 out of 49 Slovak deputies elected in 1935 (and including K. Sidor and M. Sokol). But one has to be sceptical about his mathematics . Hodza's memorandum was prefaced by a letter of Mr. Bruce Lockhart: My dear Roberts, I send you herewith a memorandum which has been given me by Dr. Hodza. It gives a picture of the alleged political line-up among l!he Slovaks. You will see that, as I predicted, the old gentleman has been careful not to put his anti-Benes and antiCzech sentiments on paper. R. H. Bruce Lockhart Yours sincerely, MEMORANDUM BY DR. HOD2A The position in Slovakia is now becoming clearer. Except for a small opportunist minority, Slovakia has never wished for separation from Bohemia and Moravia, and even the Slovak Parliament, elected in the Nazi fashion in December 1938, refused to adopt a resolution to pronounce complete separation from them. This resolution, which at the same time called upon Germany for protection, was only passed after Dr. Tiso and his four friends, who had the full support of the German S . S. and S. A., had declared that, if i,t were not accepted, Slovakia would be occupied by German troops. Up to last August Germany treated Slovakia very tactfully, not only politically but also commercially, so that even the moderate Federalists agreed that there were many advantages in being an �SLOVAK.IA 83 independent country. It was not until the preparations for war were begun in July that the situation suddenly changed, and it became obvious that Germany regarded the Slovak Government merely as a means for forcing upon Slovakia any measure, no matter how un popular. The declaration of war finally opened Slovak eyes. The present political position in Slovakia is as follows: After the cession of territory to Hungary there remained forty-nine of the sixty-four Slovak seats in the former Parliament. After the last free elections twenty-six of these were held by the parties led by Dr. Hodza ( 15), Dr. Sokol, President of the Slovak Parliament and a leader of the Catholic Federalist Group , (8) , and Dr. Jan Pauliny-Toth, leade r of the Federalist Slovak National Party, (2) . On October 3 Dr. Pauliny came to Paris and offered Dr. Hodza the co-operation of his party and of Dr. Sokol and his Catholic Federalists in the reconstitution of the Czechoslovak Republic on a federal basis. In the present ciTcumstances, of course, the co-operation of these groups must be secret. On October 10 a special envoy arrived in Paris with a similar message from M. Sidor, another Catholic Federalist and a former advocate of co-operation with the Germans. He had to resign from the Slovak Government soon after March 10, when he had opposed the German effort to establish a separate Slovakia instead of a federal Republic. His party consists of four deputies. It is thus clear that out of a total of forty-nine, thirty former Slovak deputies are in favour of a federal Republic. The nineteen remaining deputies are: i) six members of the Catholic Federalist Party who possibly still recognise Dr. Tiso as their leader; ii) five Socialist deputies, who although differing from the majority in preferring the restitution of the former semi-centralized Government to the establishment of federal methods, also support the Republic; iii) seven Slovak Communist deputies, two of whose leaders are now in Paris, and who are also in favour of the federal system : and iv) one Hungarian deputy, whose views are not known. II. At a meeting in Paris on October 12, representatives of the thirty deputies decided that the federal Republic should, from the international point of view, be a single political entity. Thus there would be one Head of the Federal State and a central Parliament and Government, with powers over foreign policy, the army, economic reconstruction, communications, and international trade and finance. Local parliaments and local governments would be in charge of education, public works, social welfare, hygiene, housing, interior administration and the police, and, in fact, of all economic problems not dealt with by the central Government and Parliament (agriculture, industry, trade, etc. ). It is desirable that federalisation should not only be the programme of the Slovak majority, but also of the Czechs abroad. If, however, the latter refuse to adopt it, this need not prevent co-operation between the Czechs and Slovaks abroad. The Slovak majority are convinced that in the restored Republic there will always be a Czecho-Slovak majority �84 SLOVAKIA in favour of a federal structure, as was the case in October 1938. The Slovak majority therefore offers to co-operate with the Czechs. There is no doubt about the importance of this collaboration. Geographically Slovakia is of the g reatest importance to Bohemia and Moravia, since it connects them with Central and Danubian Europe. Without this connection they would always be the helpless victims of the German pincers. This co-operation is equally important to Slovaks, as so-called i ndependence would always be fraught with danger for her. Co-operation between the Czech and Slovak representatives in the action abroad has now a quite special importance, as the Czechoslovak army which is to be formed in France will comprise 55, if not 60 % of Slovak agricultural labourers and industrial workers domiciled in France for years. III. The Slovak political representatives have always been unanimous in their conviction that the Czechoslovak Republic will at all times be obliged to work in very close co-operation with Poland and the neighbouring Danubian countries. The Slovaks visualise the future structure of central Europe as a confederation of sovereign states prepared to sacrifice complete sovereignty sufficiently to guarantee them independe nce and security. The basis of this scheme for federalisation may be found partly in pre vious Home Rule schemes of the Slovak Federalists and partly in a scheme which Dr. Hodza, then Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, put forward in Ma y and June 1938. This scheme, finally adopted by several leaders of the parliamentary majority, aimed at the setting up of a local Pa rliament and Government for Slovakia within the framework of a general reconstruction of the Czechoslovak political system. Up to •the end of August, some of the leading officers in the Slovak Army kept in touch with Dr. Benes and some with Dr. Hodza , through the medium of special envoys. Thus the overwhelming majority of the Slovak arm y maintained their Czechoslovak orientation. Among those abroad the former Inspector of the Slovak Army, General Viest, is a non-political soldier. The former chief of the Slovak Air Force, Major Ambrus, is, together with the vast majority of his brother-officers, in favour of Czeoho-Slovak federalism . The minutes attached to Hodza's memorandum(signed by Mr. Roberts) are of some importance as they show what kind of credibility rating Dr. Hodza enjoyed with the British Foreign Office. Mr. Roberts writes: "Dr. Hodza is not only an emigre but he was never really popular in Slovakia, where he was considered to be too closely associated with the Czech Central Government at Prague. This memorandum also clearly shows that he is still thinking in terms of the old political parties which - as Mr. Lockhart has assured me - are now completely discredited. I therefore think that we should not accept Dr. Hodza's views too readily ... " �SLOVAKIA 85 Appendix 11. Comments by Mr. P. Pares on the Bruce Lockhart account of discussions with Dr. M. Hodza. The comments were written at the British Legation in Budapest, where Mr. Pares stayed after his recall from Bratislava in September 1939. In the covering letter the Briti!sh Minister to Hungary (Mr. O'Malley) wrote to Mr. I. Kirkpatrick in London: Dear Kirkpatrick, With reference to your letter of October 19 C 16390/ 12 I enclose a memorandum by Pares commenting on Lockhart's memorandum . As I have not been much in Slovakia I will not add any remarks of my own except to say that on almost every point of which I have any knowledge I must venture to differ from Lockhart. Another golden age for emigres of all descriptions is I suppose about to dawn. It is a pity. Their political views are rarely sound. MEMORANDUM The conclusions reached in the memorandum seem to be on the whole over-simplified. The line of argument appears to be that because the independence of Slovakia was dictated by Germany and because German control of the country has increased since the Slovak State came into existence, the present Slovak government has become unpopular and the majority of Slovaks now wish for a restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This is perhaps the impression which might be derived from contacts restricted to Slovak emigres, such as General Viest, whose name is mentioned several times in the memorandum. Incidentally General Viest was on the retired list last March and at the time of my arrival in Bratislava during December 1938, the opinion of him in centralist "Czechoslovak" circles there was that he was a mediocrity in spite of the fact that he enjoyed the distinction of being the only Slovak general in the Czechoslovak army. But this interpretation of developments in Slovakia does not place sufficient emphasis on the growing apprehension felt by Dr. Tiso's autonomous Slovak provincial government at the end of February 1939, that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938. Dr. Tiso's opening speech at the first working session of the Slovak Diet in the middle of February made known these feelings quite clearly. Later they were proved to be justified when the Czech government carried out its coup d'etat in Slovakia on March 9. The effect of this coup was that, ait the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed , the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas, �86 SLOVAKJA satisfaction at being rid at last of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearence as a nation. Nobody had any illusion about the difficulties and dangers of the situation and there were hardly any public displays of enthusiasm. The attitude of the middle classes and intelligentsia was either depressed or optimistic. In the first Slovak cabinet constituted afiter March 14, the names of M. Sidor and those of M. Stano and M. Pruzinsky, members of M. Sidor's former provincial government, were included and even that of Sivak, the head of the government installed by Prague after its military coup of March 9. This indicates clearly that the new government was a concentration of all the national political groups and did not represent only the successful pro-German group which ·had carried out the revolution. These points are all worth mentioning because they show that the Slovak people as a whole and their leaders even in March had no illusions about the position. Nothing appears to have occurred since then which could cause any alteration in their estimate of their position or their attitude toward the government of Dr. Tiso. There are on the other hand good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not exercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor (who was removed •a t Dr_ Durcansky's request) and does not make a habit of making frequent peremptory demarches on all manner of non-essential subjects and without the instructions of his government. The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc., and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted four-fifths of Slovakia's total export trade, was proceeding almost normally up to the outbreak of war. The only economic problems of importance were the accumulation on a relatively large scale of frozen credits in Germany (500 million ct-owns) * and the Protectorate (200 million crowns)* due to the difficulty of obtaining manufactured goods in exchange for deliveries from Slovakia. The midle-classes are now satisfied because employment in Government offices has been opened to them on a large scale. The peasants in Eastern Slovakia have also been conciliated by increased prices for their grain this year and by the prospect of cheaper freight rates for their produce when the construction of the new railway line through Vranov in East Slovakia has been completed. A typical instance of German methods of exploitation in Slovakia is pmvided by the agreement reached between the Slovak and German governments regarding the construction of strategic roads. The Slovak programme was planned to cost 60 million crowns and was to last for two years. The Germans estimated that the cost would be doubled if the work were carried out in three months ,as they wanted, and therefore agreed with ,the Slovaks to give the contracts to German firms who would receive the difference between the Slovak estimate and the • Up to the end of August �SLOVAKIA 87 German estimate in Reichsmarks from the German Government. The labor and also such raw materials as could be supplied by Slovakia were paid for in Slovak currency whilst the machinery and tar were provided by the German contractors and paid for in Germany. The relations between the Slovaik population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August. When I visited the district of Orava on the Polish frontier, in the middle of May, I stayed with Slovaks and ·h eard no talk of German soldiers in the neighbourhood, though the Orava area lies next door to the Jablunkau district (which was in the military zone) and was actually used by German troops for their advance into Poland in September. The description in the memorandum of the "so-called autonomous government exercising its functions solely at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" does not tally with the account of the state of affairs given above. Nor is it correct, in my experience, •that the Slovaks who are not ,p repared to accept German money have resigned from their posts. I knew very many hard-working and honest officials whilst I was in Bratislava, not one of whom ever received any German money, to judge by their manner of living, or seemed likely to have accepted it, if it had been offered. This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusation which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents. The political administration in Slovakia, though based on authoritarian models was generally reputed to be less stringent than in Germany owing to the easy-going temperament of the Slovaks. Dr. Pauliny Toth, the Slovak Nationalist leader whose name is mentioned in the memorandum, spent some weeks in the detention camp for political prisoners in Ilava and can testify that conditions there are Jess severe than they are said to be in Dachau or other German camps. The delay of punishing the mutinous Slovak regiments last September is another proof of the German willingness to yield to Slovak feelings on questions in which these feelings are really roused and do not conflict with any essential German interest. After the Hlinka party the most powerful single political factor in the Slovak state is perhaps the army and it is definitely "Czechoslovak" in sentiment. This is intelligible since the policy of the CzechoSlovak republic was to use the system of compulsory military service as a means of cementing the union between the two halves of the country which, although closely related from a linguistic point of view, had had no common tradition for a thousand years. In pursuit of this policy Slovak soldiers were sent to serve in Bohemia and Moravia and Czech soldiers were given a taste of the primitive conditions on the Slovak and Ruthenian borders. It is natural therefore that the Czechoslovak tradition should still be strong in the Slovak army. These �88 SLOVAKIA sympathies can be discounted for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slo•v aks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance. Summing up, I should say that the situation in Slovakia has not changed very much since the beginning of the country's existence as an independent state and that with the exception of the army, and some of the Lutherans, the people are not violently discontented with German control. They never had many illusions about their international position and after all the country enjoys a fair measure of autonomy with full self-administration. The attitude of the Slovak intelligentsia is on the whole one of passive disap:proV1al but not of active revolt, with the exception of a section of the Lutheran community, which was the great source of strength of the former centralists or "Czechoslovaks" and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which created bitter antagonism to the existing government of Catholic priests. So :fiar as I know the political influence of the Catholic priests has not diminished and I have never heard of anything which proved that they were opposed to Dr. Tiso's government. 'Dhe Slovaks are still rather suspicious of the Czechs but are beginning to see from experience that they are no worse than any other of their neighbours and also to realize that the Czech regime brought considerable benefits to the country. This is certainly a positive development, but it is a long way from this to a desire for the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak State. In my opinion the restoration depends almost entirely on the manner in which the present Czech leaders set about conciliating the proper quarters in Slovakia. By this I mean the rather bigoted Catholic element embodied in the Hlinka Party and not the arrogant Lutheran minority who were formerly the Czechs' supporters and proteges. The conditions for such an attempt are not unfavourable now but a beginning must be made soon or it may be too late. Political revenge will have to be foregone and much patience and tole:riance will be required on the Czech side. It may be asked why, if the majority of Slovaks are satisfied with their independence thus far, should they be ready to help restore the Czecho-Slovak republic. The answer is that they are aware of the dangers which surround them and might therefore be prepared on certain terms to accept union with the .Czechs as a stronger Slav power. Proof of this uneasiness is to be found in the rather maladroit advances of Dr. Durcansky to the Slovak emig:rants in Paris during the summer. More than once I have observed that Slovak officials are perturbed by the fear that Slovakia may find herself on the wrong side at the end of the war and they therefore attempt to ingratiate themselves simultaneously with Germany and with the representatives of the Wes tern powers. The entry of Russia on the Central European scene has introduced a new factor. It is not out of the question that if the Czechs do not come to terms with the Slovaks. quickly, the situation may change so that the rapprochement would no longer be considered desirable by the Slovaks. P. Pares �SLOVAKIA 89 Appendix Ill. MEMORANDUM OF MR. P. PARES ON "WEEKLY SUMMARIES" NO. 10. (These "Weekly Summaries" were surveys of politically significant events in the Protectorate and Slovakia prepared by the Political Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office and based on information obtained from Czech and Slovak emigres, recent arrivals, press and radio news, etc. In this memorandum Mr. Pares refutes much of the emigre information as biased and unreliable.) Almost every issue of the Weekly Summary has contained reference to the griowing disillusionment of Slovaks with their "autonomy" ( presumably Slovak independence is meant) yet this tendency is not confirmed by the information available here. It must be admitted however that members of the Legation staff have not had opportunities of making contact with Slovaks during the last six weeks owing to Slovaks' fears of falling under the suspicion of the Gestapo. A possible explanation of this differences is that many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only are opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition. The number of Catholic Slovaks who have been obliged to go into exile is very small for the obvious reason that the revolution of October 1938 brought the Catholic majority into ;p ower. The use of the term "disillusionment" is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million ipeople in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaratiion of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if ,t here had been ,a ny it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administi,ation has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Republic and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position. It is doubtful whether, as the Summary of December 5 (No. 10) suggests, the general standard of living has been reduced. During the summer cost of living bonuses were paid to workers whilst employment and conditions of pay among the "white collar" cl.ass appeared to have improved. The standard of living of the Slovak peasant has always been near the minimum necessary for existence and there have been no signs so far thait it has been reduced. On the contrary prices fixed by the grain monopoly this season were in some districts better than these offered last year under the Czecho-Slovak republic. Among the �90 SLOVAKIA middle class there has been a large transference of wealth due to the laws against Jews and the discriminatory practices against Czechs. Government service has been opened to the Slovak middle class and what this means may be inferred from the fact that even at the end of December 1938 when many Czechs had already returned to Bohemia there were still 36,000 of them in government employment in Slovakia. Slovaks were now also able to assert their predominance in the profession such as the Jaw, medicine etc. Thus there is little reason why the average member of the Slovak middle class should complain. If anybody has suffered through the recent changes it is the comparatively small body of well-to-do landowners and businessmen who have sold large quantities of goods to Germany, and the Protectorate, without being able to get their money owing to Germany's inability to pay cash for what she buys. But the losses of these people are insignificant compared with the solid gains of the majority of the middle class. The statement contained in Summary No. 10 rega1·ding the remittance of Slovak workers' sa vings from Germany is incorrect. According to a recent official announcement the Slovak National Bank has alread y advanced over 90 million crowns to the relatives of Slovak workers employed in Germany and although this arrangement has only shifted the burden of inconvenience from the Slovak workers to the Bank, the former are presumably quite satisfied with it. Only in a few cases have workmen returning from Germany attempted to disregard the regulation by bringing their earnings with them instead of depositing them to a German bank, but so far as I know the Slovak National Bank has been able to smooth out the difficulties which have arisen in their way. There appears to be some exaggeration in the opinion ( page 5 of No. 10 ) that most members of the government are looked upon as gangsters. Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of the government installed by the Czechs on March 9 when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three two occupy minor posts and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Viennese wireless. All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that his unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet. The Summaries do not offer any precise infonnation regarding the attitude of the Slovaks to the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris but on page 5 of No. 10 appears the statement that "were Slovakia free to exercise her choice, there is little doubt that a combination of forces headed by Dr. Hodza and M. Sidor, backed by a small but influential Protestant autonomy party, would command the votes of the vast majority of Slovakia." It is quite true that such a combination would be overwhelming. It is equally true that the support of some of the Catholic leaders of the Hlinka party must be enlisted by the Czecho-Slovak National Council before it can fully establish its claim to represent the Slovak people. The Protestants in Slovakia do not number more than 300,000 and �91 SLOVAKIA though the influence of their community in the economic and cultural life of Slovakia is out of all proportion to the total number of its members, the growing self-consciousness and power of one and a half million Catholics now make the most imrpo:rtant political factor in the Slovak State. The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slov,a k National Council has made any progress towards winning over their support up to the present. The composition of the present National Council seems to show that its creators have either neglected ·t his point or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders. The three Slovak members of the Council are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any ,p olitical following. M. Osusky and M . Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seems doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people. The real political leader of ,t he Slovaks is M. Sidor. He is a good political orator and a good writer on national-political subjects; but his pre-eminence among the Slovak Catholic leaders is assured not only by his personality but by the fact that he stood extremely close to Father Hlinka and is said to be his political heir. The demonstrations in his favour, which continue to occur from time to time although they embarrass him and are dangerous for his supporters, are the best proof of his great popularity. He has remained loyal to the government but is definitely dissatisfied with the present German domination which has forced him and his closest friends to abandon temrporarily their political activities. If a moment ever came when it would be safe for Slovakia to abandon her policy of subservience to Germany, it would be he who would assume the political leadership rather then anyone else. It is therefore •interesting that, according to information derived from one of his personal friends, until recently at least the CzechoSlovak leaders in Paris had been unable to reach any agreement with him. He received friendly overtures from M. Osusky last summer to which he did not reply since (in his words) "he was unwilling to go the road to Canossa." One envoy coming to him from Dr. Hodza early in October was detained by the Hungarian police in Hungary and failed to arrive. Up to this time M. Sidor was not even convinced of the necessity for reviving a federal Czecho-Slovak State, although he was not in principle opposed to it. His precise attitude appeared to be that he preferred the existing state of affairs but would accerpt a federal solution if that was the pdlicy adopted by the Western Powers. So far as is known here then it cannot be said that great progress has been made up to the present ,t owards a solution of the problem of the future relations between Czechs and Slovaks. But if collaboration could be arranged between Dr. Hodza and the Czecho-Slovak National Council on the one hand and M. Sidor and the anti-German group of the Hlinkas paiity on the other, there would be good prospects of arranging a settlement which would be lasting and satisfactory to both p_ Pares sides. 1 � SLOVAKIA 65 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 19 3 9 I. In Munich, in September 1938, the Western Powers abandoned Central and Eastern Europe to Germany (in the same manner as they were to abandon her in Yalta and Potsdam in 1944-5 to Soviet Russia) and the small countries of this region were compelled to do their best to accommodate themselves to this new change in the balance of power. Mr. Churchill (as he was then) stated this fact quite eloquently in his speech to the House of Commons on October 5th, 1939: "It must now be accepted that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will make the best terms they can with the triumphant Nazi power." There is always some good which comes from every catastrophe. The Slovaks - though victims of the territorial aggrandizement of their neighbors (Hungary, Poland and Germany) - succeeded in the post-Munich period in their 20-year struggle for autonomy which was proclaimed on October 6th, 1938. By asserting their national identity through their own government and their own Diet the Slovaks finally overcame the arrogant and dangerous theory of a unitary "Czechoslovak" nation. The centralized pre-Munich Czechoslovakia became the federated state (hyphenated Czecho-Slovakia) of two equal nations. The Czechs had to admit the futility of their misplaced megalomania: they recognized the Slovaks as a separate nation, their language as a separate language. The rest of the world took notice of both the external and the internal changes which befell Czecho-Slovakia. The old myths, fostered and sustained by clever Czech propaganda, were demolished and a more sober political thinking was setting in. It was interesting and quite refreshing to read in the British press (in an article by G. B. Shaw at that) about "the entirely imaginary race called Czechoslovaks'',1 because that's what "Czechoslo- �66 SLOVAKIA vaks" in fact were: a figment of political imagination aimed at the absorption of the Slovak nation into the Czech nation. The subsequent events - which are now judged as the prologue to World War II - were in their day accepted as inevitable facts of life. After Munich Hitler's supremacy over Central Europe was unchallenged, his expansionist moves - even if occasionally condemned and disapproved of - were tacitly and implicitly acquiesced in. Even the disintegration of Czecho-Slovakia and the emergence of an independent Slovak state did not produce that wave of indignation and outrage with which it was to be treated later. The leader article in the "Daily Express" on March 15th , 1939 summed up the general sentiments in the following words : "Why are our heads cooler ( than they were a year ago - F . V.) ? Not because our hearts are hardened. Not because we have no sympathy with the Czechs. No. But we are not shocked by stale news. Munich decided that Germany was the boss in Eastern Europe." 2 In this frame of mind did the British people at large and the British Government view the new situation. II. The British foreign policy approach towards the new territorial and political rearrangement followed two distinct lines. Though reluctant to recognize the German " Protektorat " over Bohemia and Moravia, they saw the position of Slovakia in a different and more acceptable light.3 In a memorandum dated April 17th, 1939 the Foreign Office Central Europe expert, R. M. Makins, summarized the result of long deliberations which led to the following conclusions: "The position of Slovakia is different from that of Bohemia and Moravia and a number of practical questions have rendered it advisable for us to regularise the position of our Consul at Bratislava and to give the new state de facto recognition." 4 Shortly afterwards on May 4th, 1939 the British Consul in Bratislava notified the Slovak Foreign Minister (Dr. F. �SLOVAKIA 67 nurcansky) that the British Government had decided to grant the Slovak state a de facto recognition. The act of recognition was followed by the opening of a Slovak Consulate-General in London with Milan P. Harminc in charge. 5 This happy and promising development was suddenly arrested by the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939. Because of Slovakia's geographical position and treaty relations she had with her protecting power, Germany, Slovakia herself became marginally involved in the German attack on Poland. The situation was further aggravated by the defection of the Slovak Minister in Warsaw, L. Szatmary, and the Slovak Consul in London, M. Harminc. Both issued indignant proclamations - as it happened quite incorrect - alleging that Slovakia was occupied by German troops and deprived of every vestige of national independence.6 At the same time the Czech emigres in the West, led by ex-President Benes, launched their propaganda campaign for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in its pre-Munich form. The Slovak cause in the West was at a great disadvantage. There was no one to defend it and the lies and intrigues of the adversaries of Slovak independence could go on almost unhindered. Yet it must be said in all fairness that the British attitude towards Slovakia was marked by a measure of consideration and understanding of which the Slovaks were only too infrequently the recipients. The British viewed the position of Slovakia with sensitive appreciation for the problems of a small country in the shadow of a great power. The allegations of emigre politicians - both Czechs and Slovaks - were taken with more than the proverbial grain of salt and were frequently checked against the opinions of knowledgeable experts and men-on-the-spot such as former British Consul in Bratislava Mr. P. Pares. In the British Consul the Slovaks had a severe critic but at the same time a sincere, shrewd and sympathetic observer. His deep knowledge of Slovak affairs enabled him to evaluate the moves and actions of the Slovak Government in their overall context. Already in May 1939 he had pointed out the difficult dilemma facing the Slovak leaders and their efforts to find a solution to their prob- �68 SLOVAKIA lems. Having heard rumors about their clandestine approaches to the Slovak emigres in the West (particularly towards Dr. s. Osusky in Paris), he wrote: "The object of these manoeuvres seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of cooperating with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles." 7 III. Two days before Britain entered the Second World War the British Foreign Ministry issued an internal memorandum entitled "Our Attitude towards Czechs and Slovaks in Time of War." With respect to Slovaks (in spite of some unflattering remarks about their leadership ) the memorandum stated: "However true it may be that the final defection of the Slovaks last March was the result of German machination and menace and that the present Slovak Government is acting under force majeure in allowing Slovakia to be used as an assembly ground for the German attack on Poland, nevertheless the fact remains that the union of Czechs and Slovaks was not a success and it would be rash to act on the presumption that the Slovaks are now anxious to restore it ... By proclaiming the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia as a war aim, we should be assuming that the Slovaks had repented of their errors and were eager for the reunion with the Czechs. That may be so, but there are yet insufficient grounds for assurance on the point and we should not take at their face value any statements of Slovak emigres on the subject." 8 With regard to ex-President Benes the memorandum had this to say: "The question then arises what recognition we �SLOVAKIA 69 should give to Dr. Benes, if, as is only too likely, he proclaims himself leader of the Czechoslovaks. The question is not an easy one. In the first place it must be admitted that he is far and away the most outstanding Czech figure in the world. His supporters say that Czechs and Slovaks both at home and abroad are now unanimously behind him. So far as those resident abroad are concerned he might be able to produce some adequate proof, but no proof could possibly be forthcoming from those resident in their own countries. All that can be said is that he was not a popular figure in large circles in Slovakia during his presidency, and that the Czechs who assumed power in the Protectorate after his departure made no secret of their condemnation of him and his policy. It may be that they have now changed their minds, but it is difficult to see what proof can be had of the fact, and it is after all the Czechs in the Protectorate and not the emigres who matter most. A further consideration is that Dr . Benes is personally abhorrent in several other states, particularly in Poland and Hungary. All these considerations suggest that we should be wise to walk warily about any official recognition of Dr. Benes, whether as leader of the Czechs or the Czechoslovaks, though in view of his outstanding position we should presumably have no option but to accept him as their de facto spokesman". 9 As the memorandum anticipated Benes spoke out on the very day Britain entered the armed conflict. On September 3rd he wired the following telegram to the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain: "At this moment in which the British people are obliged to wage a war imposed upon Poland, Great Britain and France by Nazi Germany I wish to express to Your Excellency with the deep and inalterable feeling of sympathy the desire and the decision of the Czechs and Slovaks to join without hesitation your people in this struggle for a free Europe. Our country is invaded and occupied by armed forces of Nazism and the whole nation is suffering under inhuman terror and oppression, its forces, however, both �70 SLOVAKIA moral and physical remain intact. We Czechoslovak citizens consider ourselves as being also in war with the German military forces and we shall march with your people till the final victory and the liberation of our fatherland. Edward Benes, former President of Czechoslovakia." 10 This telegram was carefully studied by its British recipients for hidden claims and pretensions. None was found, but it was noted that Benes spoke on behalf of "the Czechs and the Slovaks" as well as "Czechoslovak citizens". The reply (which was despatched with a six-day delay) carefully avoided any reference to either Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks" and with a studied deliberation indicated to Benes the attitude of the British Government towards him and indirectly toward Slovakia also. It read : " I gratefully acknowledge Your Excellency's generous message of sympathy and support in this grave hour. The sufferings of the Czech nation are not forgotten and we look forwards through the triumph of the principles for which we have taken up arms to the release of the Czech people from foreign domination. Neville Chamberlain." 11 This public exchange of telegrams was to demonstrate urbi et orbi that the British Government did not recognize Benes's claim to speak on behalf of the Slovaks nor were they particularly keen to restore Czecho-Slovakia. This was made explicitly clear in an explanatory letter of September 26th, 1939, sent to the Britiish Minister in Budapest (Mr. 0. St. C. O'Malley) by Sir Orme Sargent who wrote: " ... we are taking care to avoid committing ourselves to anything in the nature of a reconstitution of the old Czecho-Slovak state. In confirmation of this I would draw your attention to the answer, of which I enclose a copy, sel'lt by the Prime Minister on the 9th September to Benes's message of sympathy and support. The Prime Minister was careful to speak only of the future of the Czech people." 12 �SLOVAKIA 71 IV. This public rebuke to Dr. Benes reactivated another emigre politician, Dr. Milan Hodza, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia and a bitter antagonist of Dr. Benes. M. Hodza was a Slovak by birth. In his political outlook he was inconsistent and in his political actions unpredictable. Immediately after 1918 he was an ardent exponent of "Czechoslovak unity" and an active opponent of the Slovak autonomists ( whom he used to mock that they did not know the difference between "autonomy" and "automobile") .13 But gradually he realized the futile emptiness of the Czech centralist policies and advocated some measure of autonomy for Slovakia. In the summer of 1938 his proposals were almost identical with those of Andrej Hlinka. 14 But Benes put a stop to Hodza's autonomist plans and schemes and forbade him any further steps in this direction. At the height of the Munich crisis Benes made Hodza a convenient scapegoat for previous Czech mistakes and omissions and on September 22nd, 1938 forced him and his government to resign. Physically and mentally broken M. Hodza retired to France and then to Switzerland. It seemed that he had left politics for good. Unlike Benes he made no pronouncements issued no proclamations when Hitler dismembered Czecho-Slovakia. In the summer of 1939 he moved to London. Here he very quickly realized that official British circles considered the Czecho-Slovak interwar experiment as a mistake which they would be loath to repeat. The exchange of telegrams between Benes and Chamberlain indicated to him very plainly that the British viewed Slovakia not as a political accident but as a permanent feature of the Central European scene. In 1938-9 the British policy-makers realized that the Versailles settlement imposed on Central Europe in 1919 was not satisfactory and created as many new problems as it was supposed to solve. Consequently they were unwilling to advocate any schemes which took no notice of past mistakes. In effect it meant that the Slovaks were not to be forced into any union with the Czechs against their will. The British official circles did their best to clear up the terminological confusion concerning such expressions as Czechs, Slovaks, Czechoslovaks, Czecho- �72 SLOVAKIA Slovaks, nation, people, etc. It is interesting to note that even Mr. Churchill - a tough and consistent opponent of Munich - carefully chose his nouns and adjectives in his speech of November 12th, 1939, when he spoke of "the Polish, Czech and Slovak people". In his original draft he mentioned "the Polish and Czechoslovak nations", but on the advice of a Foreign Office official he accepted the more correct and less offensive terminology .15 V. At the outbreak of World War II the British considered it important to clarify their attitude towards Slovakia. In a message sent to Budapest on September 14th, 1939 we read: "Notification has been issued that Slovakia is to be regarded as territory in German occupation. Effect of this is that Slovakia will be treated as enemy territory for purpose of trading with the enemy, etc., but state of war does not exist between the United Kingdom and Slovakia and Slovaks are not at present to be regarded as enemy nationals in the United Kingdom." 16 But contrary to what was asserted by the defecting Slovak diplomats, Szatmary and Harminc, and apparently believed by the British, Slovakia was not occupied by German troops. Unfortunately after the recall of the British Consul from Bratislava and the defection of the Slovak Consul in London there were no channels of communication between Britain and Slovakia to find out what really went on. On the other hand the enemies of Slovakia and the emigre pretenders of "the oppressed Slovak people" had their field day. By intrigues, half-truths and outright lies they tried to blacken the Slovak record and discredit the idea of Slovak independence. Initially the British Foreign Office did not accept these emigre confidences at face value but passed them for comment to the British Consul P. Pares. Pares' comments and corrections (from Budapest where he had resided from September 1939) are most remarkable documents because it was not often that the Slovak cause found a judicious and objective commentator in a complete foreigner. �SLOVAKIA 73 The type of material forwarded to Mr. Pares for comment consisted mainly of "Weekly summaries" issued by the Political Intelligence Department. The information was collected mainly by R. H. Bruce Lockhart who was a willing and polite listener to many emigre accounts, stories, etc. 17 As a long-standing friend of Jan Masaryk18 and Dr. Benes Bruce Lockhart did more than anybody else towards the promotion of the Czech (i. e. anti-Slovak) interests and towards the acceptance of Dr. Benes as the spokesman for all the "Czechoslovaks". Bruce Lockhart acted in good faith and with sincere conviction but there is no doubt that his credulity was taken for a ride and his official position exploited. Dr. J . Smutny, Benes's secretary and his closest collaborator in London, wrote quite frankly (in March 1940): "Benes is unwilling to participate in the Czech emigre activities except as some sort of 'President' ... As a practical politician he knows that it is not enough for him alone to be of this opinion, but this opinion must be shared by others too. The British Government in particular must accept this view. For this reason every person who comes from the Protectorate and says that the nation stands behind Benes, is carefully put into contact with British circles to give them authentic confirmation. He (the new arrival) does not know about this game, it is all done very cleverly. Every written or verbal message which states the same (i.e. that the nation stands behind Benes) is passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart." 19 Material "passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart" formed then the bulk of these "Weekly summaries". But apart from Benes and his hard working staff of informants there were also other intelligence harbingers, such as M. Hodza. Milan Hodza tried his utmost to cast himself in the role of the sole and rightful spokesman for the Slovaks. Benes and Hodza did not see eye to eye with each other but they were of one mind when it came to denouncing and condemning everything which had happened in Slovakia since their inglorious exit. The "Summaries" regularly reported about "the grow- �74 SLOVAKIA ing disillusionment of Slovaks with their 'autonomy'". The British Consul (P. Pares) in his comments refutes this allegation. He points out that the informants and their sources represent but a small discontented group and their views are at variance with those of the majority. And then he singles out an important fact: "The use of the term 'disillusionment' is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaration of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if there had been any it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Re-public ( of Slovakia) and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position." 20 The "Summaries" invariably harped upon reduced living standards in Slovakia since March 1939. Mr. Pares again was able to point out that the standard of living of the peasantry had not been reduced, while there were "solid (economic) gains of the majority of the middle class". He also refuted the false claims regarding the remittance of the Slovak workers' savings from Germany. Where the Czech-inspired "Summaries" report "that most members of the (Slovak) Government are looked upon as gangsters", Mr. Pares jumps to their defence: "Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of �SLOVAKIA 75 the government installed by the Czechs on March 9th when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three, two (Fritz and Medricky) occupy minor posts, and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Vienna wireless.21 All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that this unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet." Drawing on his local knowledge of the Slovak scene Mr. Pares makes penetrating observations about the end of the Protestant predominance in Slovak political and public affairs: "The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slovak National Council (i. e. Committee established on November 17th, 1939 in Paris ) has made any progress towards winning over their (i.e. Catholic ) support up to the present." Commenting on the composition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee,22 Mr. Pares expresses his doubts about the credentials of the three Slovak representatives on this body. He writes that the creators of this Committee either neglected to take into account the Catholic majority "or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders." And he continues: "The three Slovak members of the Committee are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any political following. M. Osusky and M. Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad, whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seem doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people." �76 SLOVAKIA VI. Early in November 1939 the British Consul in Slovakia (Mr. P. Pares) was asked to comment on a memorandum submitted earlier by B. H. Bruce Lockhart and referring to discussions Mr. Bruce Lockhart had with Dr. Hodfa. In this conversation Hodfa stated that the Slovak population was almost unanimously behind him. He advocated a federalist solution for Slovakia which would keep the Czechs and Slovaks in one state but would grant the Slovaks that degree of autonomy which was secured by the zilina Agreement of October 6th, 1938.23 Hodfa told Bruce Lockhart that independence was virtually forced on the Slovaks and that there was an overwhelming desire for the return to old Czecho-Slovakia. 24 Mr. Pares disagreed with this view almost completely and gave a remarkably accurate interpretation of what had actually happened in March 1939. He mentions the real fears among Slovak politicians "at the end of February 1939 that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938". "Later these fears proved to be justified - writes Mr. Pares - when the Czech Government carried out its coup d 'e tat in Slovakia on March 9th. The effect of this coup was that, at the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed, the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas: satisfaction at being rid at least of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearance as a nation." 25 The claims that the Slovaks were dissatisfied with their state are contradicted by the British Consul who sees the situation in its real and realistic context: �SLOVAKIA 77 "There are . . . good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not excercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance, the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor ( who was removed at Dr. Durcansky's request). . . The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer ( of 1939) has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc. and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted fourfifths of Slovakia's total export trade was proceeding almost up to the outbreak of war." Mr. Pares also disputes the claims about the German occupation of Slovakia and the allegations of the arrogant behavior of the German soldiers towards native people: "The relations between the Slovak population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August." The British Consul ridicules the suggestions of M. Hodza that "the Slovak Government functions at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" and that "the Slovaks who are not prepared to accept German money have resigned from their posts" . Mr. Pares comments: "This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusations which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents." In one respect, however, Mr. Pares agrees with the emigre informants: concerning the pro-Czech sentiments among the officers of the Slovak army. And here he makes an astute and surprisingly accurate prediction: "These (pro-Czech) sympathies can be discounted �78 SLOVAKIA for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slovaks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance." VII. At the end of 1939 there was already a noticeable shift in the British attitude towards the Slovaks. The earlier signs of a favorable disposition towards Slovakia were gradually corroded away by a conjoint action of three mutually interrelated factors: (i) The continuous stream of vicious anti-Slovak propaganda emanating from the Czech emigre groups around Dr. Benes. (ii) A powerful pro-Czech lobby among British parliamentarians, politicians and influential public figures. (iii) The contagious example of France where on October 2nd, 1939 a military agreement was concluded between the French Government and Minister Dr. E:';. Osusky who signed the agreement "on behalf of the provisional government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic". This act was followed on November 15th, 1939 by the French recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people and in particular to execute the agreement of October 2nd." Invoking the French precedent Dr. Benes was pressing hard for a similar concession from the British. After a prolonged negotiation he obtained on December 20th, 1939 British recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people". At the same time, however, it was made very plain to Dr. Benes and all concerned that "no commitments were made at this stage regarding the future of the former territories of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." 26 The fall of France in summer 1940 considerably strengthened Benes's position in London where his Committee was eventually recognized as "the provisional government" (on July 21st, 1940). From this time on if the British attitude towards the Czechs showed some restraint, it was not for the sake of the Slovaks but primarily out of consideration for the feelings of the Poles and Hungarians who too were against the restoration of the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia and against Dr. Benes personally. In December 1940 Viscount Halifax left the position �SLOVAKIA 79 of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and his place was taken by Mr. Anthony Eden (now Earl of Avon) . Mr. Eden was a close personal friend of Jan Masaryk and Dr. Benes and was known as an outspoken antagonist of the whole appeasement policies of the Chamberlain Government. With him a new spirit-highly favorable to Czech political aspirations and ambitions-moved into the corridors of the Foreign Ministry. As the hatred and abhorrence of Hitler and his Nazism grew, so did the sympathy towards the Czechs, and the Czech emigres were quick and clever to exploit it fully. No one is going to dispute the fact that the Czechs were victims of the Munich decision, but one is taken aback by the agility with which they made themselves into poor innocent victims of Munich which they certainly were not. By branding the Munich Agreement a 'dictate' they were making dictators not only of Germany and Italy but also of France and Britain. By transferring these semantics into practical politics they shifted their blame for Munich and all the subsequent events on others, including the Western allies. The simple truth is that in the autumn of 1938 the Czech accepted the Munich Agreement with nothing more than a verbal protest when they could and should have opposed Hitler with arms. But by 1940-41 they were able to elevate their shameless capitulation into an act of supreme heroism and noble sacrifice, for which the Western powers owed them a living - Czech style. So one-sided and uncritical was the British support of Benes and his policies that they actively assisted him in the elimination of his political opponents (who had equally impressive records of both democratic tradition and anti-Nazi fighting as Benes himself) such as the Slovaks s. Osusky and M. Hodza, Czechs as L. Prchala, Sudeten Germans as W. Jaksch and many more less-known but not less meritorious antiNazis. In July 1943 Benes's secretary, J . Smutny, wrote with an air of victorious satisfaction: "Morally the greatest success of Dr. Benes lies in the fact that he managed to change Munich and our decision not to fight there and then into a victory of Czechoslovak moral strength and foresight; he was able to throw at the heads of our present allies the responsibility for OUR decision . . ." 27 �80 SLOVAKIA In the light of all this it is not difficult to see Dr. Benes succeeded in making Slovak leaders willing accomplices and in convincing the Western powers the Slovak nation desired nothing more than reunion the Czechs and himself as their president. F. V how Nazi that with n u k, Australia FOOTNOTES 1) "Daily Herald", March 3rd, 1939. 2) "Daily Express", March 15th, 1939, p. 12. 3) F. Vnuk, British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939, in "Slovak Studies (Historica)", Vol. VIII, (Rome, in press). 4) The Foreign Office Archives, Political Correspondence (CzechoSlovakia) 1939-40, No. 371 / 22898/Doc. 17. In following references only volume and document numbers will be given (e. g 22896/ 47) . 5) Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum, Postoj Vel' kej Britanie k Slovenskej Republike, in "Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike" (Middletown, Pa., 1960) , pp. 63-71. 6) The proclamation handed by Dr. L. Szatmary to the Polish Foreign Ministry and subsequently released to the press on September 2nd , 1939 reads: "In the name of the Slovak people and its representatives who, under the pressure of the Third Reich, have been reduced to silence and have been reproached for penetrations exclusively in the interest of Germany, I protest as the representative of the State of Slovakia in Poland against the brutal disarmament of the Slovak army, against the arbitrary occupation of Slovakia by the troops of the Third Reich, against the use of Slovakia as a base for warlike action against the brotherly Polish people. "The Slovak people, whether they be at home or abroad, will never submit to the violence of the Third Reich. "It associates itself with armed resistance against the aggressor to regain the freedom in collaboration with the civilized nations of the world, and in order that it may freely decide its own destiny. "I would be very obliged to your Excellency if the Polish Government would please acknowledge my present communication and if it would support by all its resources and those of its Allies the fight of the Slovak people to save its national honour and fatherland as well as to win true independence." Mr. Harminc's proclamation, published in the British press on September 24th, 1939 has the following to say: "The whole of Slovakia is occupied by Nazi armed forces. The voice of the Slovak people has been temporarily silenced by the ruthless abrogation of all treaties and agreements. "In the name of Slovakia I solemnly protest against this shameful betrayal, and declare that the aims and ideals of Great Britain and France are identical with those of my sorely-tried people. Milan Harminc �SLOVAKIA 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 81 22803/ 338-9 22899/ 14-15 22899/ 17-18 "The Times" (London), Sepember 5th, 1939. "The Times" (London), September 11th, 1939. 22899/ 191-3 To which a Slovak journalist and politician, J . Mudroii, provided the following repartee: "Oh yes, they do know, Mr. Hodui. The automobile is a mechanical instrument which enables the Czechs to move into Slovakia, autonomy is a political instrument which will make them move out of Slovakia." ("Slovak", February 22nd , 1920) . Dr. Michal Mudry, Milan Hodza v Amerike, Chicago, Ill. , 1949, p. 58. 22900/ 27 22900/ 273 Mr. R. H. Bruce Lockhart gives an interesting account of his work at the Political Intelligence Department in his book, Comes the Reckoning, (London, 1947). He is the author of a sympathetic biographical sketch, Jan Masaryk: a personal memoir, (London, 1951). 19) "Acta Occiipationis Bohemiae et Moraviae", Vol. I. (Pra ha, 1966 ), p. 92. 20) This and the following quotations are taken from a memorandum 24290/79-84 which is reprinted in full in Appendix III. 21) In this memorandum Mr. Pares mentions only six out of seven ministers who ,c omprised the Slovak Government. The seventh man, who is left out, is General F. Catlos, the Minister of National Defense. 22) This Czecho-Slovak National Committee consisted of eight members : iDr. E. Benes, Dr. J . Sramek, Gen. S. Ingr, Dr. E. Outrata, Dr. H. Ripka, Dr. S. Osusky, Dr. J . Slavik, Gen. R. Viest. The last three members were Slovaks, but they were pitifully unrepresentative of the Slovak nation. Not only were they all Protestants - as Mr. Pares points out - but one of them, J. Slavik, summed up his nationalist sentiments in a self-revealing phrase: 'I am an unhyphenated Czechoslovak. " 23) In the West M. Hodza liked to put himself forward as a great and dedicated federalist. In 1941 he even published in London a book. " Federation in Central Europe." But a sad fact remains that back home, when he was the second most powerful politician in CzechoSlovakia, he did not try hard enough to implement his federalist ideas within the Czecho-Slovak framework. 24) Dr. Hodfa was asked to put his views down in writing. He did so and his memorandum (22900/ 66-70) is reproduced in full in Appendix I. 25) Mr. Pares' commentaries on Hodfa's accounts of the situation in Slovakia can be found in 22900/74-81 and are given in full in Appendix II. This and the following four quotations are taken from Mr. Pares' comments. �SLOVAKIA 82 26 ) 24288/ 60 27 ) Acta occu.pationis Bohemiae et Moraviae, Vol. I., (Praha, 1966), p. 222. Appendix I. MEMORANDUM BY DR. HODZA ON THE SITUATION IN SLOVAKIA In October 1939 Dr. Milan Hod.fa, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia, had a lengthy discussion about the political situation in Slovakia with Mr. Robert H. Bruce Lockhart of the British Foreign Office. The summary of this discussion was passed for comment to the former British Consul in Bratislava (Mr. Peter Pares) while Dr. Hodza was requested to put his view:s on paper in the form of a memorandum. In his written submission, handed to Mr. Bruce Lockhart on November 14th 1939, Dr. Hodza was less outspoken especially in his references to Dr. Benes. Even so his memorandum is an unusual document of some historical interest, particularly in its allegation - hitherto not mentioned anywhere - about the new political balance in Slovakia in the autumn of 1939. Dr. Hodza claims here the allegiance of 30 out of 49 Slovak deputies elected in 1935 (and including K. Sidor and M. Sokol). But one has to be sceptical about his mathematics . Hodza's memorandum was prefaced by a letter of Mr. Bruce Lockhart: My dear Roberts, I send you herewith a memorandum which has been given me by Dr. Hodza. It gives a picture of the alleged political line-up among l!he Slovaks. You will see that, as I predicted, the old gentleman has been careful not to put his anti-Benes and antiCzech sentiments on paper. R. H. Bruce Lockhart Yours sincerely, MEMORANDUM BY DR. HOD2A The position in Slovakia is now becoming clearer. Except for a small opportunist minority, Slovakia has never wished for separation from Bohemia and Moravia, and even the Slovak Parliament, elected in the Nazi fashion in December 1938, refused to adopt a resolution to pronounce complete separation from them. This resolution, which at the same time called upon Germany for protection, was only passed after Dr. Tiso and his four friends, who had the full support of the German S . S. and S. A., had declared that, if i,t were not accepted, Slovakia would be occupied by German troops. Up to last August Germany treated Slovakia very tactfully, not only politically but also commercially, so that even the moderate Federalists agreed that there were many advantages in being an �SLOVAK.IA 83 independent country. It was not until the preparations for war were begun in July that the situation suddenly changed, and it became obvious that Germany regarded the Slovak Government merely as a means for forcing upon Slovakia any measure, no matter how un popular. The declaration of war finally opened Slovak eyes. The present political position in Slovakia is as follows: After the cession of territory to Hungary there remained forty-nine of the sixty-four Slovak seats in the former Parliament. After the last free elections twenty-six of these were held by the parties led by Dr. Hodza ( 15), Dr. Sokol, President of the Slovak Parliament and a leader of the Catholic Federalist Group , (8) , and Dr. Jan Pauliny-Toth, leade r of the Federalist Slovak National Party, (2) . On October 3 Dr. Pauliny came to Paris and offered Dr. Hodza the co-operation of his party and of Dr. Sokol and his Catholic Federalists in the reconstitution of the Czechoslovak Republic on a federal basis. In the present ciTcumstances, of course, the co-operation of these groups must be secret. On October 10 a special envoy arrived in Paris with a similar message from M. Sidor, another Catholic Federalist and a former advocate of co-operation with the Germans. He had to resign from the Slovak Government soon after March 10, when he had opposed the German effort to establish a separate Slovakia instead of a federal Republic. His party consists of four deputies. It is thus clear that out of a total of forty-nine, thirty former Slovak deputies are in favour of a federal Republic. The nineteen remaining deputies are: i) six members of the Catholic Federalist Party who possibly still recognise Dr. Tiso as their leader; ii) five Socialist deputies, who although differing from the majority in preferring the restitution of the former semi-centralized Government to the establishment of federal methods, also support the Republic; iii) seven Slovak Communist deputies, two of whose leaders are now in Paris, and who are also in favour of the federal system : and iv) one Hungarian deputy, whose views are not known. II. At a meeting in Paris on October 12, representatives of the thirty deputies decided that the federal Republic should, from the international point of view, be a single political entity. Thus there would be one Head of the Federal State and a central Parliament and Government, with powers over foreign policy, the army, economic reconstruction, communications, and international trade and finance. Local parliaments and local governments would be in charge of education, public works, social welfare, hygiene, housing, interior administration and the police, and, in fact, of all economic problems not dealt with by the central Government and Parliament (agriculture, industry, trade, etc. ). It is desirable that federalisation should not only be the programme of the Slovak majority, but also of the Czechs abroad. If, however, the latter refuse to adopt it, this need not prevent co-operation between the Czechs and Slovaks abroad. The Slovak majority are convinced that in the restored Republic there will always be a Czecho-Slovak majority �84 SLOVAKIA in favour of a federal structure, as was the case in October 1938. The Slovak majority therefore offers to co-operate with the Czechs. There is no doubt about the importance of this collaboration. Geographically Slovakia is of the g reatest importance to Bohemia and Moravia, since it connects them with Central and Danubian Europe. Without this connection they would always be the helpless victims of the German pincers. This co-operation is equally important to Slovaks, as so-called i ndependence would always be fraught with danger for her. Co-operation between the Czech and Slovak representatives in the action abroad has now a quite special importance, as the Czechoslovak army which is to be formed in France will comprise 55, if not 60 % of Slovak agricultural labourers and industrial workers domiciled in France for years. III. The Slovak political representatives have always been unanimous in their conviction that the Czechoslovak Republic will at all times be obliged to work in very close co-operation with Poland and the neighbouring Danubian countries. The Slovaks visualise the future structure of central Europe as a confederation of sovereign states prepared to sacrifice complete sovereignty sufficiently to guarantee them independe nce and security. The basis of this scheme for federalisation may be found partly in pre vious Home Rule schemes of the Slovak Federalists and partly in a scheme which Dr. Hodza, then Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, put forward in Ma y and June 1938. This scheme, finally adopted by several leaders of the parliamentary majority, aimed at the setting up of a local Pa rliament and Government for Slovakia within the framework of a general reconstruction of the Czechoslovak political system. Up to •the end of August, some of the leading officers in the Slovak Army kept in touch with Dr. Benes and some with Dr. Hodza , through the medium of special envoys. Thus the overwhelming majority of the Slovak arm y maintained their Czechoslovak orientation. Among those abroad the former Inspector of the Slovak Army, General Viest, is a non-political soldier. The former chief of the Slovak Air Force, Major Ambrus, is, together with the vast majority of his brother-officers, in favour of Czeoho-Slovak federalism . The minutes attached to Hodza's memorandum(signed by Mr. Roberts) are of some importance as they show what kind of credibility rating Dr. Hodza enjoyed with the British Foreign Office. Mr. Roberts writes: "Dr. Hodza is not only an emigre but he was never really popular in Slovakia, where he was considered to be too closely associated with the Czech Central Government at Prague. This memorandum also clearly shows that he is still thinking in terms of the old political parties which - as Mr. Lockhart has assured me - are now completely discredited. I therefore think that we should not accept Dr. Hodza's views too readily ... " �SLOVAKIA 85 Appendix 11. Comments by Mr. P. Pares on the Bruce Lockhart account of discussions with Dr. M. Hodza. The comments were written at the British Legation in Budapest, where Mr. Pares stayed after his recall from Bratislava in September 1939. In the covering letter the Briti!sh Minister to Hungary (Mr. O'Malley) wrote to Mr. I. Kirkpatrick in London: Dear Kirkpatrick, With reference to your letter of October 19 C 16390/ 12 I enclose a memorandum by Pares commenting on Lockhart's memorandum . As I have not been much in Slovakia I will not add any remarks of my own except to say that on almost every point of which I have any knowledge I must venture to differ from Lockhart. Another golden age for emigres of all descriptions is I suppose about to dawn. It is a pity. Their political views are rarely sound. MEMORANDUM The conclusions reached in the memorandum seem to be on the whole over-simplified. The line of argument appears to be that because the independence of Slovakia was dictated by Germany and because German control of the country has increased since the Slovak State came into existence, the present Slovak government has become unpopular and the majority of Slovaks now wish for a restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This is perhaps the impression which might be derived from contacts restricted to Slovak emigres, such as General Viest, whose name is mentioned several times in the memorandum. Incidentally General Viest was on the retired list last March and at the time of my arrival in Bratislava during December 1938, the opinion of him in centralist "Czechoslovak" circles there was that he was a mediocrity in spite of the fact that he enjoyed the distinction of being the only Slovak general in the Czechoslovak army. But this interpretation of developments in Slovakia does not place sufficient emphasis on the growing apprehension felt by Dr. Tiso's autonomous Slovak provincial government at the end of February 1939, that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938. Dr. Tiso's opening speech at the first working session of the Slovak Diet in the middle of February made known these feelings quite clearly. Later they were proved to be justified when the Czech government carried out its coup d'etat in Slovakia on March 9. The effect of this coup was that, ait the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed , the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas, �86 SLOVAKJA satisfaction at being rid at last of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearence as a nation. Nobody had any illusion about the difficulties and dangers of the situation and there were hardly any public displays of enthusiasm. The attitude of the middle classes and intelligentsia was either depressed or optimistic. In the first Slovak cabinet constituted afiter March 14, the names of M. Sidor and those of M. Stano and M. Pruzinsky, members of M. Sidor's former provincial government, were included and even that of Sivak, the head of the government installed by Prague after its military coup of March 9. This indicates clearly that the new government was a concentration of all the national political groups and did not represent only the successful pro-German group which ·had carried out the revolution. These points are all worth mentioning because they show that the Slovak people as a whole and their leaders even in March had no illusions about the position. Nothing appears to have occurred since then which could cause any alteration in their estimate of their position or their attitude toward the government of Dr. Tiso. There are on the other hand good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not exercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor (who was removed •a t Dr_ Durcansky's request) and does not make a habit of making frequent peremptory demarches on all manner of non-essential subjects and without the instructions of his government. The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc., and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted four-fifths of Slovakia's total export trade, was proceeding almost normally up to the outbreak of war. The only economic problems of importance were the accumulation on a relatively large scale of frozen credits in Germany (500 million ct-owns) * and the Protectorate (200 million crowns)* due to the difficulty of obtaining manufactured goods in exchange for deliveries from Slovakia. The midle-classes are now satisfied because employment in Government offices has been opened to them on a large scale. The peasants in Eastern Slovakia have also been conciliated by increased prices for their grain this year and by the prospect of cheaper freight rates for their produce when the construction of the new railway line through Vranov in East Slovakia has been completed. A typical instance of German methods of exploitation in Slovakia is pmvided by the agreement reached between the Slovak and German governments regarding the construction of strategic roads. The Slovak programme was planned to cost 60 million crowns and was to last for two years. The Germans estimated that the cost would be doubled if the work were carried out in three months ,as they wanted, and therefore agreed with ,the Slovaks to give the contracts to German firms who would receive the difference between the Slovak estimate and the • Up to the end of August �SLOVAKIA 87 German estimate in Reichsmarks from the German Government. The labor and also such raw materials as could be supplied by Slovakia were paid for in Slovak currency whilst the machinery and tar were provided by the German contractors and paid for in Germany. The relations between the Slovaik population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August. When I visited the district of Orava on the Polish frontier, in the middle of May, I stayed with Slovaks and ·h eard no talk of German soldiers in the neighbourhood, though the Orava area lies next door to the Jablunkau district (which was in the military zone) and was actually used by German troops for their advance into Poland in September. The description in the memorandum of the "so-called autonomous government exercising its functions solely at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" does not tally with the account of the state of affairs given above. Nor is it correct, in my experience, •that the Slovaks who are not ,p repared to accept German money have resigned from their posts. I knew very many hard-working and honest officials whilst I was in Bratislava, not one of whom ever received any German money, to judge by their manner of living, or seemed likely to have accepted it, if it had been offered. This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusation which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents. The political administration in Slovakia, though based on authoritarian models was generally reputed to be less stringent than in Germany owing to the easy-going temperament of the Slovaks. Dr. Pauliny Toth, the Slovak Nationalist leader whose name is mentioned in the memorandum, spent some weeks in the detention camp for political prisoners in Ilava and can testify that conditions there are Jess severe than they are said to be in Dachau or other German camps. The delay of punishing the mutinous Slovak regiments last September is another proof of the German willingness to yield to Slovak feelings on questions in which these feelings are really roused and do not conflict with any essential German interest. After the Hlinka party the most powerful single political factor in the Slovak state is perhaps the army and it is definitely "Czechoslovak" in sentiment. This is intelligible since the policy of the CzechoSlovak republic was to use the system of compulsory military service as a means of cementing the union between the two halves of the country which, although closely related from a linguistic point of view, had had no common tradition for a thousand years. In pursuit of this policy Slovak soldiers were sent to serve in Bohemia and Moravia and Czech soldiers were given a taste of the primitive conditions on the Slovak and Ruthenian borders. It is natural therefore that the Czechoslovak tradition should still be strong in the Slovak army. These �88 SLOVAKIA sympathies can be discounted for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slo•v aks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance. Summing up, I should say that the situation in Slovakia has not changed very much since the beginning of the country's existence as an independent state and that with the exception of the army, and some of the Lutherans, the people are not violently discontented with German control. They never had many illusions about their international position and after all the country enjoys a fair measure of autonomy with full self-administration. The attitude of the Slovak intelligentsia is on the whole one of passive disap:proV1al but not of active revolt, with the exception of a section of the Lutheran community, which was the great source of strength of the former centralists or "Czechoslovaks" and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which created bitter antagonism to the existing government of Catholic priests. So :fiar as I know the political influence of the Catholic priests has not diminished and I have never heard of anything which proved that they were opposed to Dr. Tiso's government. 'Dhe Slovaks are still rather suspicious of the Czechs but are beginning to see from experience that they are no worse than any other of their neighbours and also to realize that the Czech regime brought considerable benefits to the country. This is certainly a positive development, but it is a long way from this to a desire for the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak State. In my opinion the restoration depends almost entirely on the manner in which the present Czech leaders set about conciliating the proper quarters in Slovakia. By this I mean the rather bigoted Catholic element embodied in the Hlinka Party and not the arrogant Lutheran minority who were formerly the Czechs' supporters and proteges. The conditions for such an attempt are not unfavourable now but a beginning must be made soon or it may be too late. Political revenge will have to be foregone and much patience and tole:riance will be required on the Czech side. It may be asked why, if the majority of Slovaks are satisfied with their independence thus far, should they be ready to help restore the Czecho-Slovak republic. The answer is that they are aware of the dangers which surround them and might therefore be prepared on certain terms to accept union with the .Czechs as a stronger Slav power. Proof of this uneasiness is to be found in the rather maladroit advances of Dr. Durcansky to the Slovak emig:rants in Paris during the summer. More than once I have observed that Slovak officials are perturbed by the fear that Slovakia may find herself on the wrong side at the end of the war and they therefore attempt to ingratiate themselves simultaneously with Germany and with the representatives of the Wes tern powers. The entry of Russia on the Central European scene has introduced a new factor. It is not out of the question that if the Czechs do not come to terms with the Slovaks. quickly, the situation may change so that the rapprochement would no longer be considered desirable by the Slovaks. P. Pares �SLOVAKIA 89 Appendix Ill. MEMORANDUM OF MR. P. PARES ON "WEEKLY SUMMARIES" NO. 10. (These "Weekly Summaries" were surveys of politically significant events in the Protectorate and Slovakia prepared by the Political Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office and based on information obtained from Czech and Slovak emigres, recent arrivals, press and radio news, etc. In this memorandum Mr. Pares refutes much of the emigre information as biased and unreliable.) Almost every issue of the Weekly Summary has contained reference to the griowing disillusionment of Slovaks with their "autonomy" ( presumably Slovak independence is meant) yet this tendency is not confirmed by the information available here. It must be admitted however that members of the Legation staff have not had opportunities of making contact with Slovaks during the last six weeks owing to Slovaks' fears of falling under the suspicion of the Gestapo. A possible explanation of this differences is that many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only are opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition. The number of Catholic Slovaks who have been obliged to go into exile is very small for the obvious reason that the revolution of October 1938 brought the Catholic majority into ;p ower. The use of the term "disillusionment" is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million ipeople in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaratiion of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if ,t here had been ,a ny it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administi,ation has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Republic and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position. It is doubtful whether, as the Summary of December 5 (No. 10) suggests, the general standard of living has been reduced. During the summer cost of living bonuses were paid to workers whilst employment and conditions of pay among the "white collar" cl.ass appeared to have improved. The standard of living of the Slovak peasant has always been near the minimum necessary for existence and there have been no signs so far thait it has been reduced. On the contrary prices fixed by the grain monopoly this season were in some districts better than these offered last year under the Czecho-Slovak republic. Among the �90 SLOVAKIA middle class there has been a large transference of wealth due to the laws against Jews and the discriminatory practices against Czechs. Government service has been opened to the Slovak middle class and what this means may be inferred from the fact that even at the end of December 1938 when many Czechs had already returned to Bohemia there were still 36,000 of them in government employment in Slovakia. Slovaks were now also able to assert their predominance in the profession such as the Jaw, medicine etc. Thus there is little reason why the average member of the Slovak middle class should complain. If anybody has suffered through the recent changes it is the comparatively small body of well-to-do landowners and businessmen who have sold large quantities of goods to Germany, and the Protectorate, without being able to get their money owing to Germany's inability to pay cash for what she buys. But the losses of these people are insignificant compared with the solid gains of the majority of the middle class. The statement contained in Summary No. 10 rega1·ding the remittance of Slovak workers' sa vings from Germany is incorrect. According to a recent official announcement the Slovak National Bank has alread y advanced over 90 million crowns to the relatives of Slovak workers employed in Germany and although this arrangement has only shifted the burden of inconvenience from the Slovak workers to the Bank, the former are presumably quite satisfied with it. Only in a few cases have workmen returning from Germany attempted to disregard the regulation by bringing their earnings with them instead of depositing them to a German bank, but so far as I know the Slovak National Bank has been able to smooth out the difficulties which have arisen in their way. There appears to be some exaggeration in the opinion ( page 5 of No. 10 ) that most members of the government are looked upon as gangsters. Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of the government installed by the Czechs on March 9 when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three two occupy minor posts and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Viennese wireless. All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that his unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet. The Summaries do not offer any precise infonnation regarding the attitude of the Slovaks to the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris but on page 5 of No. 10 appears the statement that "were Slovakia free to exercise her choice, there is little doubt that a combination of forces headed by Dr. Hodza and M. Sidor, backed by a small but influential Protestant autonomy party, would command the votes of the vast majority of Slovakia." It is quite true that such a combination would be overwhelming. It is equally true that the support of some of the Catholic leaders of the Hlinka party must be enlisted by the Czecho-Slovak National Council before it can fully establish its claim to represent the Slovak people. The Protestants in Slovakia do not number more than 300,000 and �91 SLOVAKIA though the influence of their community in the economic and cultural life of Slovakia is out of all proportion to the total number of its members, the growing self-consciousness and power of one and a half million Catholics now make the most imrpo:rtant political factor in the Slovak State. The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slov,a k National Council has made any progress towards winning over their support up to the present. The composition of the present National Council seems to show that its creators have either neglected ·t his point or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders. The three Slovak members of the Council are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any ,p olitical following. M. Osusky and M . Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seems doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people. The real political leader of ,t he Slovaks is M. Sidor. He is a good political orator and a good writer on national-political subjects; but his pre-eminence among the Slovak Catholic leaders is assured not only by his personality but by the fact that he stood extremely close to Father Hlinka and is said to be his political heir. The demonstrations in his favour, which continue to occur from time to time although they embarrass him and are dangerous for his supporters, are the best proof of his great popularity. He has remained loyal to the government but is definitely dissatisfied with the present German domination which has forced him and his closest friends to abandon temrporarily their political activities. If a moment ever came when it would be safe for Slovakia to abandon her policy of subservience to Germany, it would be he who would assume the political leadership rather then anyone else. It is therefore •interesting that, according to information derived from one of his personal friends, until recently at least the CzechoSlovak leaders in Paris had been unable to reach any agreement with him. He received friendly overtures from M. Osusky last summer to which he did not reply since (in his words) "he was unwilling to go the road to Canossa." One envoy coming to him from Dr. Hodza early in October was detained by the Hungarian police in Hungary and failed to arrive. Up to this time M. Sidor was not even convinced of the necessity for reviving a federal Czecho-Slovak State, although he was not in principle opposed to it. His precise attitude appeared to be that he preferred the existing state of affairs but would accerpt a federal solution if that was the pdlicy adopted by the Western Powers. So far as is known here then it cannot be said that great progress has been made up to the present ,t owards a solution of the problem of the future relations between Czechs and Slovaks. But if collaboration could be arranged between Dr. Hodza and the Czecho-Slovak National Council on the one hand and M. Sidor and the anti-German group of the Hlinkas paiity on the other, there would be good prospects of arranging a settlement which would be lasting and satisfactory to both p_ Pares sides. 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 19 3 9 I. In Munich, in September 1938, the Western Powers abandoned Central and Eastern Europe to Germany (in the same manner as they were to abandon her in Yalta and Potsdam in 1944-5 to Soviet Russia) and the small countries of this region were compelled to do their best to accommodate themselves to this new change in the balance of power. Mr. Churchill (as he was then) stated this fact quite eloquently in his speech to the House of Commons on October 5th, 1939: "It must now be accepted that all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe will make the best terms they can with the triumphant Nazi power." There is always some good which comes from every catastrophe. The Slovaks - though victims of the territorial aggrandizement of their neighbors (Hungary, Poland and Germany) - succeeded in the post-Munich period in their 20-year struggle for autonomy which was proclaimed on October 6th, 1938. By asserting their national identity through their own government and their own Diet the Slovaks finally overcame the arrogant and dangerous theory of a unitary "Czechoslovak" nation. The centralized pre-Munich Czechoslovakia became the federated state (hyphenated Czecho-Slovakia) of two equal nations. The Czechs had to admit the futility of their misplaced megalomania: they recognized the Slovaks as a separate nation, their language as a separate language. The rest of the world took notice of both the external and the internal changes which befell Czecho-Slovakia. The old myths, fostered and sustained by clever Czech propaganda, were demolished and a more sober political thinking was setting in. It was interesting and quite refreshing to read in the British press (in an article by G. B. Shaw at that) about "the entirely imaginary race called Czechoslovaks'',1 because that's what "Czechoslo- 66 SLOVAKIA vaks" in fact were: a figment of political imagination aimed at the absorption of the Slovak nation into the Czech nation. The subsequent events - which are now judged as the prologue to World War II - were in their day accepted as inevitable facts of life. After Munich Hitler's supremacy over Central Europe was unchallenged, his expansionist moves - even if occasionally condemned and disapproved of - were tacitly and implicitly acquiesced in. Even the disintegration of Czecho-Slovakia and the emergence of an independent Slovak state did not produce that wave of indignation and outrage with which it was to be treated later. The leader article in the "Daily Express" on March 15th , 1939 summed up the general sentiments in the following words : "Why are our heads cooler ( than they were a year ago - F . V.) ? Not because our hearts are hardened. Not because we have no sympathy with the Czechs. No. But we are not shocked by stale news. Munich decided that Germany was the boss in Eastern Europe." 2 In this frame of mind did the British people at large and the British Government view the new situation. II. The British foreign policy approach towards the new territorial and political rearrangement followed two distinct lines. Though reluctant to recognize the German " Protektorat " over Bohemia and Moravia, they saw the position of Slovakia in a different and more acceptable light.3 In a memorandum dated April 17th, 1939 the Foreign Office Central Europe expert, R. M. Makins, summarized the result of long deliberations which led to the following conclusions: "The position of Slovakia is different from that of Bohemia and Moravia and a number of practical questions have rendered it advisable for us to regularise the position of our Consul at Bratislava and to give the new state de facto recognition." 4 Shortly afterwards on May 4th, 1939 the British Consul in Bratislava notified the Slovak Foreign Minister (Dr. F. SLOVAKIA 67 nurcansky) that the British Government had decided to grant the Slovak state a de facto recognition. The act of recognition was followed by the opening of a Slovak Consulate-General in London with Milan P. Harminc in charge. 5 This happy and promising development was suddenly arrested by the outbreak of the Second World War, in September 1939. Because of Slovakia's geographical position and treaty relations she had with her protecting power, Germany, Slovakia herself became marginally involved in the German attack on Poland. The situation was further aggravated by the defection of the Slovak Minister in Warsaw, L. Szatmary, and the Slovak Consul in London, M. Harminc. Both issued indignant proclamations - as it happened quite incorrect - alleging that Slovakia was occupied by German troops and deprived of every vestige of national independence.6 At the same time the Czech emigres in the West, led by ex-President Benes, launched their propaganda campaign for the restoration of CzechoSlovakia in its pre-Munich form. The Slovak cause in the West was at a great disadvantage. There was no one to defend it and the lies and intrigues of the adversaries of Slovak independence could go on almost unhindered. Yet it must be said in all fairness that the British attitude towards Slovakia was marked by a measure of consideration and understanding of which the Slovaks were only too infrequently the recipients. The British viewed the position of Slovakia with sensitive appreciation for the problems of a small country in the shadow of a great power. The allegations of emigre politicians - both Czechs and Slovaks - were taken with more than the proverbial grain of salt and were frequently checked against the opinions of knowledgeable experts and men-on-the-spot such as former British Consul in Bratislava Mr. P. Pares. In the British Consul the Slovaks had a severe critic but at the same time a sincere, shrewd and sympathetic observer. His deep knowledge of Slovak affairs enabled him to evaluate the moves and actions of the Slovak Government in their overall context. Already in May 1939 he had pointed out the difficult dilemma facing the Slovak leaders and their efforts to find a solution to their prob- 68 SLOVAKIA lems. Having heard rumors about their clandestine approaches to the Slovak emigres in the West (particularly towards Dr. s. Osusky in Paris), he wrote: "The object of these manoeuvres seems to be to maintain contact with the Western powers whilst pursuing a policy of cooperating with the Germans for as long as is necessary - in other words, the policy of the Czechs before and during the Great War. The Slovaks are growing very apprehensive now about the possibility of war. They do not expect Germany to win, but realize that they are powerless to refuse anything she might ask in the event of war. So they are trying to ensure the good will of the Western powers in advance by secretly approving the plans of the exiles." 7 III. Two days before Britain entered the Second World War the British Foreign Ministry issued an internal memorandum entitled "Our Attitude towards Czechs and Slovaks in Time of War." With respect to Slovaks (in spite of some unflattering remarks about their leadership ) the memorandum stated: "However true it may be that the final defection of the Slovaks last March was the result of German machination and menace and that the present Slovak Government is acting under force majeure in allowing Slovakia to be used as an assembly ground for the German attack on Poland, nevertheless the fact remains that the union of Czechs and Slovaks was not a success and it would be rash to act on the presumption that the Slovaks are now anxious to restore it ... By proclaiming the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia as a war aim, we should be assuming that the Slovaks had repented of their errors and were eager for the reunion with the Czechs. That may be so, but there are yet insufficient grounds for assurance on the point and we should not take at their face value any statements of Slovak emigres on the subject." 8 With regard to ex-President Benes the memorandum had this to say: "The question then arises what recognition we SLOVAKIA 69 should give to Dr. Benes, if, as is only too likely, he proclaims himself leader of the Czechoslovaks. The question is not an easy one. In the first place it must be admitted that he is far and away the most outstanding Czech figure in the world. His supporters say that Czechs and Slovaks both at home and abroad are now unanimously behind him. So far as those resident abroad are concerned he might be able to produce some adequate proof, but no proof could possibly be forthcoming from those resident in their own countries. All that can be said is that he was not a popular figure in large circles in Slovakia during his presidency, and that the Czechs who assumed power in the Protectorate after his departure made no secret of their condemnation of him and his policy. It may be that they have now changed their minds, but it is difficult to see what proof can be had of the fact, and it is after all the Czechs in the Protectorate and not the emigres who matter most. A further consideration is that Dr . Benes is personally abhorrent in several other states, particularly in Poland and Hungary. All these considerations suggest that we should be wise to walk warily about any official recognition of Dr. Benes, whether as leader of the Czechs or the Czechoslovaks, though in view of his outstanding position we should presumably have no option but to accept him as their de facto spokesman". 9 As the memorandum anticipated Benes spoke out on the very day Britain entered the armed conflict. On September 3rd he wired the following telegram to the British Prime Minister N. Chamberlain: "At this moment in which the British people are obliged to wage a war imposed upon Poland, Great Britain and France by Nazi Germany I wish to express to Your Excellency with the deep and inalterable feeling of sympathy the desire and the decision of the Czechs and Slovaks to join without hesitation your people in this struggle for a free Europe. Our country is invaded and occupied by armed forces of Nazism and the whole nation is suffering under inhuman terror and oppression, its forces, however, both 70 SLOVAKIA moral and physical remain intact. We Czechoslovak citizens consider ourselves as being also in war with the German military forces and we shall march with your people till the final victory and the liberation of our fatherland. Edward Benes, former President of Czechoslovakia." 10 This telegram was carefully studied by its British recipients for hidden claims and pretensions. None was found, but it was noted that Benes spoke on behalf of "the Czechs and the Slovaks" as well as "Czechoslovak citizens". The reply (which was despatched with a six-day delay) carefully avoided any reference to either Slovaks or "Czechoslovaks" and with a studied deliberation indicated to Benes the attitude of the British Government towards him and indirectly toward Slovakia also. It read : " I gratefully acknowledge Your Excellency's generous message of sympathy and support in this grave hour. The sufferings of the Czech nation are not forgotten and we look forwards through the triumph of the principles for which we have taken up arms to the release of the Czech people from foreign domination. Neville Chamberlain." 11 This public exchange of telegrams was to demonstrate urbi et orbi that the British Government did not recognize Benes's claim to speak on behalf of the Slovaks nor were they particularly keen to restore Czecho-Slovakia. This was made explicitly clear in an explanatory letter of September 26th, 1939, sent to the Britiish Minister in Budapest (Mr. 0. St. C. O'Malley) by Sir Orme Sargent who wrote: " ... we are taking care to avoid committing ourselves to anything in the nature of a reconstitution of the old Czecho-Slovak state. In confirmation of this I would draw your attention to the answer, of which I enclose a copy, sel'lt by the Prime Minister on the 9th September to Benes's message of sympathy and support. The Prime Minister was careful to speak only of the future of the Czech people." 12 SLOVAKIA 71 IV. This public rebuke to Dr. Benes reactivated another emigre politician, Dr. Milan Hodza, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia and a bitter antagonist of Dr. Benes. M. Hodza was a Slovak by birth. In his political outlook he was inconsistent and in his political actions unpredictable. Immediately after 1918 he was an ardent exponent of "Czechoslovak unity" and an active opponent of the Slovak autonomists ( whom he used to mock that they did not know the difference between "autonomy" and "automobile") .13 But gradually he realized the futile emptiness of the Czech centralist policies and advocated some measure of autonomy for Slovakia. In the summer of 1938 his proposals were almost identical with those of Andrej Hlinka. 14 But Benes put a stop to Hodza's autonomist plans and schemes and forbade him any further steps in this direction. At the height of the Munich crisis Benes made Hodza a convenient scapegoat for previous Czech mistakes and omissions and on September 22nd, 1938 forced him and his government to resign. Physically and mentally broken M. Hodza retired to France and then to Switzerland. It seemed that he had left politics for good. Unlike Benes he made no pronouncements issued no proclamations when Hitler dismembered Czecho-Slovakia. In the summer of 1939 he moved to London. Here he very quickly realized that official British circles considered the Czecho-Slovak interwar experiment as a mistake which they would be loath to repeat. The exchange of telegrams between Benes and Chamberlain indicated to him very plainly that the British viewed Slovakia not as a political accident but as a permanent feature of the Central European scene. In 1938-9 the British policy-makers realized that the Versailles settlement imposed on Central Europe in 1919 was not satisfactory and created as many new problems as it was supposed to solve. Consequently they were unwilling to advocate any schemes which took no notice of past mistakes. In effect it meant that the Slovaks were not to be forced into any union with the Czechs against their will. The British official circles did their best to clear up the terminological confusion concerning such expressions as Czechs, Slovaks, Czechoslovaks, Czecho- 72 SLOVAKIA Slovaks, nation, people, etc. It is interesting to note that even Mr. Churchill - a tough and consistent opponent of Munich - carefully chose his nouns and adjectives in his speech of November 12th, 1939, when he spoke of "the Polish, Czech and Slovak people". In his original draft he mentioned "the Polish and Czechoslovak nations", but on the advice of a Foreign Office official he accepted the more correct and less offensive terminology .15 V. At the outbreak of World War II the British considered it important to clarify their attitude towards Slovakia. In a message sent to Budapest on September 14th, 1939 we read: "Notification has been issued that Slovakia is to be regarded as territory in German occupation. Effect of this is that Slovakia will be treated as enemy territory for purpose of trading with the enemy, etc., but state of war does not exist between the United Kingdom and Slovakia and Slovaks are not at present to be regarded as enemy nationals in the United Kingdom." 16 But contrary to what was asserted by the defecting Slovak diplomats, Szatmary and Harminc, and apparently believed by the British, Slovakia was not occupied by German troops. Unfortunately after the recall of the British Consul from Bratislava and the defection of the Slovak Consul in London there were no channels of communication between Britain and Slovakia to find out what really went on. On the other hand the enemies of Slovakia and the emigre pretenders of "the oppressed Slovak people" had their field day. By intrigues, half-truths and outright lies they tried to blacken the Slovak record and discredit the idea of Slovak independence. Initially the British Foreign Office did not accept these emigre confidences at face value but passed them for comment to the British Consul P. Pares. Pares' comments and corrections (from Budapest where he had resided from September 1939) are most remarkable documents because it was not often that the Slovak cause found a judicious and objective commentator in a complete foreigner. SLOVAKIA 73 The type of material forwarded to Mr. Pares for comment consisted mainly of "Weekly summaries" issued by the Political Intelligence Department. The information was collected mainly by R. H. Bruce Lockhart who was a willing and polite listener to many emigre accounts, stories, etc. 17 As a long-standing friend of Jan Masaryk18 and Dr. Benes Bruce Lockhart did more than anybody else towards the promotion of the Czech (i. e. anti-Slovak) interests and towards the acceptance of Dr. Benes as the spokesman for all the "Czechoslovaks". Bruce Lockhart acted in good faith and with sincere conviction but there is no doubt that his credulity was taken for a ride and his official position exploited. Dr. J . Smutny, Benes's secretary and his closest collaborator in London, wrote quite frankly (in March 1940): "Benes is unwilling to participate in the Czech emigre activities except as some sort of 'President' ... As a practical politician he knows that it is not enough for him alone to be of this opinion, but this opinion must be shared by others too. The British Government in particular must accept this view. For this reason every person who comes from the Protectorate and says that the nation stands behind Benes, is carefully put into contact with British circles to give them authentic confirmation. He (the new arrival) does not know about this game, it is all done very cleverly. Every written or verbal message which states the same (i.e. that the nation stands behind Benes) is passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart." 19 Material "passed on to the Foreign Office through Mr. Bruce Lockhart" formed then the bulk of these "Weekly summaries". But apart from Benes and his hard working staff of informants there were also other intelligence harbingers, such as M. Hodza. Milan Hodza tried his utmost to cast himself in the role of the sole and rightful spokesman for the Slovaks. Benes and Hodza did not see eye to eye with each other but they were of one mind when it came to denouncing and condemning everything which had happened in Slovakia since their inglorious exit. The "Summaries" regularly reported about "the grow- 74 SLOVAKIA ing disillusionment of Slovaks with their 'autonomy'". The British Consul (P. Pares) in his comments refutes this allegation. He points out that the informants and their sources represent but a small discontented group and their views are at variance with those of the majority. And then he singles out an important fact: "The use of the term 'disillusionment' is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaration of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if there had been any it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Re-public ( of Slovakia) and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position." 20 The "Summaries" invariably harped upon reduced living standards in Slovakia since March 1939. Mr. Pares again was able to point out that the standard of living of the peasantry had not been reduced, while there were "solid (economic) gains of the majority of the middle class". He also refuted the false claims regarding the remittance of the Slovak workers' savings from Germany. Where the Czech-inspired "Summaries" report "that most members of the (Slovak) Government are looked upon as gangsters", Mr. Pares jumps to their defence: "Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of SLOVAKIA 75 the government installed by the Czechs on March 9th when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three, two (Fritz and Medricky) occupy minor posts, and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Vienna wireless.21 All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that this unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet." Drawing on his local knowledge of the Slovak scene Mr. Pares makes penetrating observations about the end of the Protestant predominance in Slovak political and public affairs: "The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slovak National Council (i. e. Committee established on November 17th, 1939 in Paris ) has made any progress towards winning over their (i.e. Catholic ) support up to the present." Commenting on the composition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee,22 Mr. Pares expresses his doubts about the credentials of the three Slovak representatives on this body. He writes that the creators of this Committee either neglected to take into account the Catholic majority "or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders." And he continues: "The three Slovak members of the Committee are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any political following. M. Osusky and M. Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad, whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seem doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people." 76 SLOVAKIA VI. Early in November 1939 the British Consul in Slovakia (Mr. P. Pares) was asked to comment on a memorandum submitted earlier by B. H. Bruce Lockhart and referring to discussions Mr. Bruce Lockhart had with Dr. Hodfa. In this conversation Hodfa stated that the Slovak population was almost unanimously behind him. He advocated a federalist solution for Slovakia which would keep the Czechs and Slovaks in one state but would grant the Slovaks that degree of autonomy which was secured by the zilina Agreement of October 6th, 1938.23 Hodfa told Bruce Lockhart that independence was virtually forced on the Slovaks and that there was an overwhelming desire for the return to old Czecho-Slovakia. 24 Mr. Pares disagreed with this view almost completely and gave a remarkably accurate interpretation of what had actually happened in March 1939. He mentions the real fears among Slovak politicians "at the end of February 1939 that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938". "Later these fears proved to be justified - writes Mr. Pares - when the Czech Government carried out its coup d 'e tat in Slovakia on March 9th. The effect of this coup was that, at the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed, the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas: satisfaction at being rid at least of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearance as a nation." 25 The claims that the Slovaks were dissatisfied with their state are contradicted by the British Consul who sees the situation in its real and realistic context: SLOVAKIA 77 "There are . . . good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not excercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance, the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor ( who was removed at Dr. Durcansky's request). . . The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer ( of 1939) has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc. and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted fourfifths of Slovakia's total export trade was proceeding almost up to the outbreak of war." Mr. Pares also disputes the claims about the German occupation of Slovakia and the allegations of the arrogant behavior of the German soldiers towards native people: "The relations between the Slovak population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August." The British Consul ridicules the suggestions of M. Hodza that "the Slovak Government functions at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" and that "the Slovaks who are not prepared to accept German money have resigned from their posts" . Mr. Pares comments: "This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusations which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents." In one respect, however, Mr. Pares agrees with the emigre informants: concerning the pro-Czech sentiments among the officers of the Slovak army. And here he makes an astute and surprisingly accurate prediction: "These (pro-Czech) sympathies can be discounted 78 SLOVAKIA for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slovaks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance." VII. At the end of 1939 there was already a noticeable shift in the British attitude towards the Slovaks. The earlier signs of a favorable disposition towards Slovakia were gradually corroded away by a conjoint action of three mutually interrelated factors: (i) The continuous stream of vicious anti-Slovak propaganda emanating from the Czech emigre groups around Dr. Benes. (ii) A powerful pro-Czech lobby among British parliamentarians, politicians and influential public figures. (iii) The contagious example of France where on October 2nd, 1939 a military agreement was concluded between the French Government and Minister Dr. E:';. Osusky who signed the agreement "on behalf of the provisional government of the Czecho-Slovak Republic". This act was followed on November 15th, 1939 by the French recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people and in particular to execute the agreement of October 2nd." Invoking the French precedent Dr. Benes was pressing hard for a similar concession from the British. After a prolonged negotiation he obtained on December 20th, 1939 British recognition of the Czecho-Slovak National Committee "as qualified to represent the Czecho-Slovak people". At the same time, however, it was made very plain to Dr. Benes and all concerned that "no commitments were made at this stage regarding the future of the former territories of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." 26 The fall of France in summer 1940 considerably strengthened Benes's position in London where his Committee was eventually recognized as "the provisional government" (on July 21st, 1940). From this time on if the British attitude towards the Czechs showed some restraint, it was not for the sake of the Slovaks but primarily out of consideration for the feelings of the Poles and Hungarians who too were against the restoration of the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia and against Dr. Benes personally. In December 1940 Viscount Halifax left the position SLOVAKIA 79 of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and his place was taken by Mr. Anthony Eden (now Earl of Avon) . Mr. Eden was a close personal friend of Jan Masaryk and Dr. Benes and was known as an outspoken antagonist of the whole appeasement policies of the Chamberlain Government. With him a new spirit-highly favorable to Czech political aspirations and ambitions-moved into the corridors of the Foreign Ministry. As the hatred and abhorrence of Hitler and his Nazism grew, so did the sympathy towards the Czechs, and the Czech emigres were quick and clever to exploit it fully. No one is going to dispute the fact that the Czechs were victims of the Munich decision, but one is taken aback by the agility with which they made themselves into poor innocent victims of Munich which they certainly were not. By branding the Munich Agreement a 'dictate' they were making dictators not only of Germany and Italy but also of France and Britain. By transferring these semantics into practical politics they shifted their blame for Munich and all the subsequent events on others, including the Western allies. The simple truth is that in the autumn of 1938 the Czech accepted the Munich Agreement with nothing more than a verbal protest when they could and should have opposed Hitler with arms. But by 1940-41 they were able to elevate their shameless capitulation into an act of supreme heroism and noble sacrifice, for which the Western powers owed them a living - Czech style. So one-sided and uncritical was the British support of Benes and his policies that they actively assisted him in the elimination of his political opponents (who had equally impressive records of both democratic tradition and anti-Nazi fighting as Benes himself) such as the Slovaks s. Osusky and M. Hodza, Czechs as L. Prchala, Sudeten Germans as W. Jaksch and many more less-known but not less meritorious antiNazis. In July 1943 Benes's secretary, J . Smutny, wrote with an air of victorious satisfaction: "Morally the greatest success of Dr. Benes lies in the fact that he managed to change Munich and our decision not to fight there and then into a victory of Czechoslovak moral strength and foresight; he was able to throw at the heads of our present allies the responsibility for OUR decision . . ." 27 80 SLOVAKIA In the light of all this it is not difficult to see Dr. Benes succeeded in making Slovak leaders willing accomplices and in convincing the Western powers the Slovak nation desired nothing more than reunion the Czechs and himself as their president. F. V how Nazi that with n u k, Australia FOOTNOTES 1) "Daily Herald", March 3rd, 1939. 2) "Daily Express", March 15th, 1939, p. 12. 3) F. Vnuk, British Recognition of Independent Slovakia in 1939, in "Slovak Studies (Historica)", Vol. VIII, (Rome, in press). 4) The Foreign Office Archives, Political Correspondence (CzechoSlovakia) 1939-40, No. 371 / 22898/Doc. 17. In following references only volume and document numbers will be given (e. g 22896/ 47) . 5) Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum, Postoj Vel' kej Britanie k Slovenskej Republike, in "Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike" (Middletown, Pa., 1960) , pp. 63-71. 6) The proclamation handed by Dr. L. Szatmary to the Polish Foreign Ministry and subsequently released to the press on September 2nd , 1939 reads: "In the name of the Slovak people and its representatives who, under the pressure of the Third Reich, have been reduced to silence and have been reproached for penetrations exclusively in the interest of Germany, I protest as the representative of the State of Slovakia in Poland against the brutal disarmament of the Slovak army, against the arbitrary occupation of Slovakia by the troops of the Third Reich, against the use of Slovakia as a base for warlike action against the brotherly Polish people. "The Slovak people, whether they be at home or abroad, will never submit to the violence of the Third Reich. "It associates itself with armed resistance against the aggressor to regain the freedom in collaboration with the civilized nations of the world, and in order that it may freely decide its own destiny. "I would be very obliged to your Excellency if the Polish Government would please acknowledge my present communication and if it would support by all its resources and those of its Allies the fight of the Slovak people to save its national honour and fatherland as well as to win true independence." Mr. Harminc's proclamation, published in the British press on September 24th, 1939 has the following to say: "The whole of Slovakia is occupied by Nazi armed forces. The voice of the Slovak people has been temporarily silenced by the ruthless abrogation of all treaties and agreements. "In the name of Slovakia I solemnly protest against this shameful betrayal, and declare that the aims and ideals of Great Britain and France are identical with those of my sorely-tried people. Milan Harminc SLOVAKIA 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 81 22803/ 338-9 22899/ 14-15 22899/ 17-18 "The Times" (London), Sepember 5th, 1939. "The Times" (London), September 11th, 1939. 22899/ 191-3 To which a Slovak journalist and politician, J . Mudroii, provided the following repartee: "Oh yes, they do know, Mr. Hodui. The automobile is a mechanical instrument which enables the Czechs to move into Slovakia, autonomy is a political instrument which will make them move out of Slovakia." ("Slovak", February 22nd , 1920) . Dr. Michal Mudry, Milan Hodza v Amerike, Chicago, Ill. , 1949, p. 58. 22900/ 27 22900/ 273 Mr. R. H. Bruce Lockhart gives an interesting account of his work at the Political Intelligence Department in his book, Comes the Reckoning, (London, 1947). He is the author of a sympathetic biographical sketch, Jan Masaryk: a personal memoir, (London, 1951). 19) "Acta Occiipationis Bohemiae et Moraviae", Vol. I. (Pra ha, 1966 ), p. 92. 20) This and the following quotations are taken from a memorandum 24290/79-84 which is reprinted in full in Appendix III. 21) In this memorandum Mr. Pares mentions only six out of seven ministers who ,c omprised the Slovak Government. The seventh man, who is left out, is General F. Catlos, the Minister of National Defense. 22) This Czecho-Slovak National Committee consisted of eight members : iDr. E. Benes, Dr. J . Sramek, Gen. S. Ingr, Dr. E. Outrata, Dr. H. Ripka, Dr. S. Osusky, Dr. J . Slavik, Gen. R. Viest. The last three members were Slovaks, but they were pitifully unrepresentative of the Slovak nation. Not only were they all Protestants - as Mr. Pares points out - but one of them, J. Slavik, summed up his nationalist sentiments in a self-revealing phrase: 'I am an unhyphenated Czechoslovak. " 23) In the West M. Hodza liked to put himself forward as a great and dedicated federalist. In 1941 he even published in London a book. " Federation in Central Europe." But a sad fact remains that back home, when he was the second most powerful politician in CzechoSlovakia, he did not try hard enough to implement his federalist ideas within the Czecho-Slovak framework. 24) Dr. Hodfa was asked to put his views down in writing. He did so and his memorandum (22900/ 66-70) is reproduced in full in Appendix I. 25) Mr. Pares' commentaries on Hodfa's accounts of the situation in Slovakia can be found in 22900/74-81 and are given in full in Appendix II. This and the following four quotations are taken from Mr. Pares' comments. SLOVAKIA 82 26 ) 24288/ 60 27 ) Acta occu.pationis Bohemiae et Moraviae, Vol. I., (Praha, 1966), p. 222. Appendix I. MEMORANDUM BY DR. HODZA ON THE SITUATION IN SLOVAKIA In October 1939 Dr. Milan Hod.fa, former Prime Minister of Czecho-Slovakia, had a lengthy discussion about the political situation in Slovakia with Mr. Robert H. Bruce Lockhart of the British Foreign Office. The summary of this discussion was passed for comment to the former British Consul in Bratislava (Mr. Peter Pares) while Dr. Hodza was requested to put his view:s on paper in the form of a memorandum. In his written submission, handed to Mr. Bruce Lockhart on November 14th 1939, Dr. Hodza was less outspoken especially in his references to Dr. Benes. Even so his memorandum is an unusual document of some historical interest, particularly in its allegation - hitherto not mentioned anywhere - about the new political balance in Slovakia in the autumn of 1939. Dr. Hodza claims here the allegiance of 30 out of 49 Slovak deputies elected in 1935 (and including K. Sidor and M. Sokol). But one has to be sceptical about his mathematics . Hodza's memorandum was prefaced by a letter of Mr. Bruce Lockhart: My dear Roberts, I send you herewith a memorandum which has been given me by Dr. Hodza. It gives a picture of the alleged political line-up among l!he Slovaks. You will see that, as I predicted, the old gentleman has been careful not to put his anti-Benes and antiCzech sentiments on paper. R. H. Bruce Lockhart Yours sincerely, MEMORANDUM BY DR. HOD2A The position in Slovakia is now becoming clearer. Except for a small opportunist minority, Slovakia has never wished for separation from Bohemia and Moravia, and even the Slovak Parliament, elected in the Nazi fashion in December 1938, refused to adopt a resolution to pronounce complete separation from them. This resolution, which at the same time called upon Germany for protection, was only passed after Dr. Tiso and his four friends, who had the full support of the German S . S. and S. A., had declared that, if i,t were not accepted, Slovakia would be occupied by German troops. Up to last August Germany treated Slovakia very tactfully, not only politically but also commercially, so that even the moderate Federalists agreed that there were many advantages in being an SLOVAK.IA 83 independent country. It was not until the preparations for war were begun in July that the situation suddenly changed, and it became obvious that Germany regarded the Slovak Government merely as a means for forcing upon Slovakia any measure, no matter how un popular. The declaration of war finally opened Slovak eyes. The present political position in Slovakia is as follows: After the cession of territory to Hungary there remained forty-nine of the sixty-four Slovak seats in the former Parliament. After the last free elections twenty-six of these were held by the parties led by Dr. Hodza ( 15), Dr. Sokol, President of the Slovak Parliament and a leader of the Catholic Federalist Group , (8) , and Dr. Jan Pauliny-Toth, leade r of the Federalist Slovak National Party, (2) . On October 3 Dr. Pauliny came to Paris and offered Dr. Hodza the co-operation of his party and of Dr. Sokol and his Catholic Federalists in the reconstitution of the Czechoslovak Republic on a federal basis. In the present ciTcumstances, of course, the co-operation of these groups must be secret. On October 10 a special envoy arrived in Paris with a similar message from M. Sidor, another Catholic Federalist and a former advocate of co-operation with the Germans. He had to resign from the Slovak Government soon after March 10, when he had opposed the German effort to establish a separate Slovakia instead of a federal Republic. His party consists of four deputies. It is thus clear that out of a total of forty-nine, thirty former Slovak deputies are in favour of a federal Republic. The nineteen remaining deputies are: i) six members of the Catholic Federalist Party who possibly still recognise Dr. Tiso as their leader; ii) five Socialist deputies, who although differing from the majority in preferring the restitution of the former semi-centralized Government to the establishment of federal methods, also support the Republic; iii) seven Slovak Communist deputies, two of whose leaders are now in Paris, and who are also in favour of the federal system : and iv) one Hungarian deputy, whose views are not known. II. At a meeting in Paris on October 12, representatives of the thirty deputies decided that the federal Republic should, from the international point of view, be a single political entity. Thus there would be one Head of the Federal State and a central Parliament and Government, with powers over foreign policy, the army, economic reconstruction, communications, and international trade and finance. Local parliaments and local governments would be in charge of education, public works, social welfare, hygiene, housing, interior administration and the police, and, in fact, of all economic problems not dealt with by the central Government and Parliament (agriculture, industry, trade, etc. ). It is desirable that federalisation should not only be the programme of the Slovak majority, but also of the Czechs abroad. If, however, the latter refuse to adopt it, this need not prevent co-operation between the Czechs and Slovaks abroad. The Slovak majority are convinced that in the restored Republic there will always be a Czecho-Slovak majority 84 SLOVAKIA in favour of a federal structure, as was the case in October 1938. The Slovak majority therefore offers to co-operate with the Czechs. There is no doubt about the importance of this collaboration. Geographically Slovakia is of the g reatest importance to Bohemia and Moravia, since it connects them with Central and Danubian Europe. Without this connection they would always be the helpless victims of the German pincers. This co-operation is equally important to Slovaks, as so-called i ndependence would always be fraught with danger for her. Co-operation between the Czech and Slovak representatives in the action abroad has now a quite special importance, as the Czechoslovak army which is to be formed in France will comprise 55, if not 60 % of Slovak agricultural labourers and industrial workers domiciled in France for years. III. The Slovak political representatives have always been unanimous in their conviction that the Czechoslovak Republic will at all times be obliged to work in very close co-operation with Poland and the neighbouring Danubian countries. The Slovaks visualise the future structure of central Europe as a confederation of sovereign states prepared to sacrifice complete sovereignty sufficiently to guarantee them independe nce and security. The basis of this scheme for federalisation may be found partly in pre vious Home Rule schemes of the Slovak Federalists and partly in a scheme which Dr. Hodza, then Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia, put forward in Ma y and June 1938. This scheme, finally adopted by several leaders of the parliamentary majority, aimed at the setting up of a local Pa rliament and Government for Slovakia within the framework of a general reconstruction of the Czechoslovak political system. Up to •the end of August, some of the leading officers in the Slovak Army kept in touch with Dr. Benes and some with Dr. Hodza , through the medium of special envoys. Thus the overwhelming majority of the Slovak arm y maintained their Czechoslovak orientation. Among those abroad the former Inspector of the Slovak Army, General Viest, is a non-political soldier. The former chief of the Slovak Air Force, Major Ambrus, is, together with the vast majority of his brother-officers, in favour of Czeoho-Slovak federalism . The minutes attached to Hodza's memorandum(signed by Mr. Roberts) are of some importance as they show what kind of credibility rating Dr. Hodza enjoyed with the British Foreign Office. Mr. Roberts writes: "Dr. Hodza is not only an emigre but he was never really popular in Slovakia, where he was considered to be too closely associated with the Czech Central Government at Prague. This memorandum also clearly shows that he is still thinking in terms of the old political parties which - as Mr. Lockhart has assured me - are now completely discredited. I therefore think that we should not accept Dr. Hodza's views too readily ... " SLOVAKIA 85 Appendix 11. Comments by Mr. P. Pares on the Bruce Lockhart account of discussions with Dr. M. Hodza. The comments were written at the British Legation in Budapest, where Mr. Pares stayed after his recall from Bratislava in September 1939. In the covering letter the Briti!sh Minister to Hungary (Mr. O'Malley) wrote to Mr. I. Kirkpatrick in London: Dear Kirkpatrick, With reference to your letter of October 19 C 16390/ 12 I enclose a memorandum by Pares commenting on Lockhart's memorandum . As I have not been much in Slovakia I will not add any remarks of my own except to say that on almost every point of which I have any knowledge I must venture to differ from Lockhart. Another golden age for emigres of all descriptions is I suppose about to dawn. It is a pity. Their political views are rarely sound. MEMORANDUM The conclusions reached in the memorandum seem to be on the whole over-simplified. The line of argument appears to be that because the independence of Slovakia was dictated by Germany and because German control of the country has increased since the Slovak State came into existence, the present Slovak government has become unpopular and the majority of Slovaks now wish for a restoration of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. This is perhaps the impression which might be derived from contacts restricted to Slovak emigres, such as General Viest, whose name is mentioned several times in the memorandum. Incidentally General Viest was on the retired list last March and at the time of my arrival in Bratislava during December 1938, the opinion of him in centralist "Czechoslovak" circles there was that he was a mediocrity in spite of the fact that he enjoyed the distinction of being the only Slovak general in the Czechoslovak army. But this interpretation of developments in Slovakia does not place sufficient emphasis on the growing apprehension felt by Dr. Tiso's autonomous Slovak provincial government at the end of February 1939, that the Czechs might soon take some opportunity of setting aside the spirit if not the letter of the Slovak autonomy law of October 1938. Dr. Tiso's opening speech at the first working session of the Slovak Diet in the middle of February made known these feelings quite clearly. Later they were proved to be justified when the Czech government carried out its coup d'etat in Slovakia on March 9. The effect of this coup was that, ait the moment when Dr. Tiso was notified in Berlin that unless Slovakia declared her independence she would be divided between Hungary and Poland after Germany had taken what she needed , the Slovaks were in no mood to risk anything for the sake of the Czechs and therefore agreed to the German demand. Thus the opinion of the majority of people in Slovakia at the time of the declaration of independence was dominated by two main ideas, 86 SLOVAKJA satisfaction at being rid at last of the Czech bugbear and relief at having saved the Slovak people from a partition which might have led to its complete disappearence as a nation. Nobody had any illusion about the difficulties and dangers of the situation and there were hardly any public displays of enthusiasm. The attitude of the middle classes and intelligentsia was either depressed or optimistic. In the first Slovak cabinet constituted afiter March 14, the names of M. Sidor and those of M. Stano and M. Pruzinsky, members of M. Sidor's former provincial government, were included and even that of Sivak, the head of the government installed by Prague after its military coup of March 9. This indicates clearly that the new government was a concentration of all the national political groups and did not represent only the successful pro-German group which ·had carried out the revolution. These points are all worth mentioning because they show that the Slovak people as a whole and their leaders even in March had no illusions about the position. Nothing appears to have occurred since then which could cause any alteration in their estimate of their position or their attitude toward the government of Dr. Tiso. There are on the other hand good reasons why the Slovaks should be satisfied with this situation despite its drawbacks. Germany's authority is not exercised entirely without regard for Slovak feelings or interests. For instance the new German Minister who arrived recently is far better liked than his predecessor (who was removed •a t Dr_ Durcansky's request) and does not make a habit of making frequent peremptory demarches on all manner of non-essential subjects and without the instructions of his government. The conclusion of trade agreements with Poland, Germany, Italy, Yugoslavia and other countries during the summer has assured the necessary supply of commodities such as coal, textiles, fruit, lard, coffee, etc., and the exchange of goods with the Protectorate which constituted four-fifths of Slovakia's total export trade, was proceeding almost normally up to the outbreak of war. The only economic problems of importance were the accumulation on a relatively large scale of frozen credits in Germany (500 million ct-owns) * and the Protectorate (200 million crowns)* due to the difficulty of obtaining manufactured goods in exchange for deliveries from Slovakia. The midle-classes are now satisfied because employment in Government offices has been opened to them on a large scale. The peasants in Eastern Slovakia have also been conciliated by increased prices for their grain this year and by the prospect of cheaper freight rates for their produce when the construction of the new railway line through Vranov in East Slovakia has been completed. A typical instance of German methods of exploitation in Slovakia is pmvided by the agreement reached between the Slovak and German governments regarding the construction of strategic roads. The Slovak programme was planned to cost 60 million crowns and was to last for two years. The Germans estimated that the cost would be doubled if the work were carried out in three months ,as they wanted, and therefore agreed with ,the Slovaks to give the contracts to German firms who would receive the difference between the Slovak estimate and the • Up to the end of August SLOVAKIA 87 German estimate in Reichsmarks from the German Government. The labor and also such raw materials as could be supplied by Slovakia were paid for in Slovak currency whilst the machinery and tar were provided by the German contractors and paid for in Germany. The relations between the Slovaik population and the German troops of occupation in the small strip of territory which constituted the military zone, were described to me as excellent by an impartial and reliable American observer as late as the beginning of August. So far as I know German soldiers - except for some deputations of officers who toured the country examining strategic roads, railways and the possibility of requisitioning local supplies - did not move outside the military zone until late in August. When I visited the district of Orava on the Polish frontier, in the middle of May, I stayed with Slovaks and ·h eard no talk of German soldiers in the neighbourhood, though the Orava area lies next door to the Jablunkau district (which was in the military zone) and was actually used by German troops for their advance into Poland in September. The description in the memorandum of the "so-called autonomous government exercising its functions solely at the bidding of its German masters and with the support of German bayonets" does not tally with the account of the state of affairs given above. Nor is it correct, in my experience, •that the Slovaks who are not ,p repared to accept German money have resigned from their posts. I knew very many hard-working and honest officials whilst I was in Bratislava, not one of whom ever received any German money, to judge by their manner of living, or seemed likely to have accepted it, if it had been offered. This sort of charge sounds like the kind of generalized accusation which one hears rather frequently from a Central European when he is speaking about his political opponents. The political administration in Slovakia, though based on authoritarian models was generally reputed to be less stringent than in Germany owing to the easy-going temperament of the Slovaks. Dr. Pauliny Toth, the Slovak Nationalist leader whose name is mentioned in the memorandum, spent some weeks in the detention camp for political prisoners in Ilava and can testify that conditions there are Jess severe than they are said to be in Dachau or other German camps. The delay of punishing the mutinous Slovak regiments last September is another proof of the German willingness to yield to Slovak feelings on questions in which these feelings are really roused and do not conflict with any essential German interest. After the Hlinka party the most powerful single political factor in the Slovak state is perhaps the army and it is definitely "Czechoslovak" in sentiment. This is intelligible since the policy of the CzechoSlovak republic was to use the system of compulsory military service as a means of cementing the union between the two halves of the country which, although closely related from a linguistic point of view, had had no common tradition for a thousand years. In pursuit of this policy Slovak soldiers were sent to serve in Bohemia and Moravia and Czech soldiers were given a taste of the primitive conditions on the Slovak and Ruthenian borders. It is natural therefore that the Czechoslovak tradition should still be strong in the Slovak army. These 88 SLOVAKIA sympathies can be discounted for the present, and only when the time comes, and Germany's hold over the Czechs and Slo•v aks weakens, will this factor assume a real political importance. Summing up, I should say that the situation in Slovakia has not changed very much since the beginning of the country's existence as an independent state and that with the exception of the army, and some of the Lutherans, the people are not violently discontented with German control. They never had many illusions about their international position and after all the country enjoys a fair measure of autonomy with full self-administration. The attitude of the Slovak intelligentsia is on the whole one of passive disap:proV1al but not of active revolt, with the exception of a section of the Lutheran community, which was the great source of strength of the former centralists or "Czechoslovaks" and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which created bitter antagonism to the existing government of Catholic priests. So :fiar as I know the political influence of the Catholic priests has not diminished and I have never heard of anything which proved that they were opposed to Dr. Tiso's government. 'Dhe Slovaks are still rather suspicious of the Czechs but are beginning to see from experience that they are no worse than any other of their neighbours and also to realize that the Czech regime brought considerable benefits to the country. This is certainly a positive development, but it is a long way from this to a desire for the restoration of the Czecho-Slovak State. In my opinion the restoration depends almost entirely on the manner in which the present Czech leaders set about conciliating the proper quarters in Slovakia. By this I mean the rather bigoted Catholic element embodied in the Hlinka Party and not the arrogant Lutheran minority who were formerly the Czechs' supporters and proteges. The conditions for such an attempt are not unfavourable now but a beginning must be made soon or it may be too late. Political revenge will have to be foregone and much patience and tole:riance will be required on the Czech side. It may be asked why, if the majority of Slovaks are satisfied with their independence thus far, should they be ready to help restore the Czecho-Slovak republic. The answer is that they are aware of the dangers which surround them and might therefore be prepared on certain terms to accept union with the .Czechs as a stronger Slav power. Proof of this uneasiness is to be found in the rather maladroit advances of Dr. Durcansky to the Slovak emig:rants in Paris during the summer. More than once I have observed that Slovak officials are perturbed by the fear that Slovakia may find herself on the wrong side at the end of the war and they therefore attempt to ingratiate themselves simultaneously with Germany and with the representatives of the Wes tern powers. The entry of Russia on the Central European scene has introduced a new factor. It is not out of the question that if the Czechs do not come to terms with the Slovaks. quickly, the situation may change so that the rapprochement would no longer be considered desirable by the Slovaks. P. Pares SLOVAKIA 89 Appendix Ill. MEMORANDUM OF MR. P. PARES ON "WEEKLY SUMMARIES" NO. 10. (These "Weekly Summaries" were surveys of politically significant events in the Protectorate and Slovakia prepared by the Political Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office and based on information obtained from Czech and Slovak emigres, recent arrivals, press and radio news, etc. In this memorandum Mr. Pares refutes much of the emigre information as biased and unreliable.) Almost every issue of the Weekly Summary has contained reference to the griowing disillusionment of Slovaks with their "autonomy" ( presumably Slovak independence is meant) yet this tendency is not confirmed by the information available here. It must be admitted however that members of the Legation staff have not had opportunities of making contact with Slovaks during the last six weeks owing to Slovaks' fears of falling under the suspicion of the Gestapo. A possible explanation of this differences is that many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only are opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition. The number of Catholic Slovaks who have been obliged to go into exile is very small for the obvious reason that the revolution of October 1938 brought the Catholic majority into ;p ower. The use of the term "disillusionment" is in itself misleading since from the moment when independence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million ipeople in the centre of Europe. Popular enthusiasm for the declaratiion of independence was noticeably lacking last March and if ,t here had been ,a ny it would have been quickly dispelled by the small war with Hungary which immediately followed. One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia's need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administi,ation has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the Republic and goes far towards reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position. It is doubtful whether, as the Summary of December 5 (No. 10) suggests, the general standard of living has been reduced. During the summer cost of living bonuses were paid to workers whilst employment and conditions of pay among the "white collar" cl.ass appeared to have improved. The standard of living of the Slovak peasant has always been near the minimum necessary for existence and there have been no signs so far thait it has been reduced. On the contrary prices fixed by the grain monopoly this season were in some districts better than these offered last year under the Czecho-Slovak republic. Among the 90 SLOVAKIA middle class there has been a large transference of wealth due to the laws against Jews and the discriminatory practices against Czechs. Government service has been opened to the Slovak middle class and what this means may be inferred from the fact that even at the end of December 1938 when many Czechs had already returned to Bohemia there were still 36,000 of them in government employment in Slovakia. Slovaks were now also able to assert their predominance in the profession such as the Jaw, medicine etc. Thus there is little reason why the average member of the Slovak middle class should complain. If anybody has suffered through the recent changes it is the comparatively small body of well-to-do landowners and businessmen who have sold large quantities of goods to Germany, and the Protectorate, without being able to get their money owing to Germany's inability to pay cash for what she buys. But the losses of these people are insignificant compared with the solid gains of the majority of the middle class. The statement contained in Summary No. 10 rega1·ding the remittance of Slovak workers' sa vings from Germany is incorrect. According to a recent official announcement the Slovak National Bank has alread y advanced over 90 million crowns to the relatives of Slovak workers employed in Germany and although this arrangement has only shifted the burden of inconvenience from the Slovak workers to the Bank, the former are presumably quite satisfied with it. Only in a few cases have workmen returning from Germany attempted to disregard the regulation by bringing their earnings with them instead of depositing them to a German bank, but so far as I know the Slovak National Bank has been able to smooth out the difficulties which have arisen in their way. There appears to be some exaggeration in the opinion ( page 5 of No. 10 ) that most members of the government are looked upon as gangsters. Of the seven ministers, three, namely M. Stano, M. Sivak and M. Pruzinsky are Czechophil moderates belonging to the Hlinka party (M. Sivak was head of the government installed by the Czechs on March 9 when Dr. Tiso was deposed) and all three were members of M. Sidor's Czechophil government which succeeded Sivak's. Of the other three two occupy minor posts and Dr. Durcansky has travelled far politically since the days when he broadcast against the Czechs over the Viennese wireless. All these facts are very well known to Slovaks and it is inconceivable that they should hold the view ascribed to them in the Summary. The general attitude towards Dr. Tuka, the present Prime Minister, is indeed hostile but there is no reason to suppose that his unpopularity extends to the members of his cabinet. The Summaries do not offer any precise infonnation regarding the attitude of the Slovaks to the Czecho-Slovak National Council in Paris but on page 5 of No. 10 appears the statement that "were Slovakia free to exercise her choice, there is little doubt that a combination of forces headed by Dr. Hodza and M. Sidor, backed by a small but influential Protestant autonomy party, would command the votes of the vast majority of Slovakia." It is quite true that such a combination would be overwhelming. It is equally true that the support of some of the Catholic leaders of the Hlinka party must be enlisted by the Czecho-Slovak National Council before it can fully establish its claim to represent the Slovak people. The Protestants in Slovakia do not number more than 300,000 and 91 SLOVAKIA though the influence of their community in the economic and cultural life of Slovakia is out of all proportion to the total number of its members, the growing self-consciousness and power of one and a half million Catholics now make the most imrpo:rtant political factor in the Slovak State. The Protestant predominance of 1918 has gone for ever and it is useless to seek any sort of accord between Slovaks and Czechs which was opposed to the wishes of the Slovak Catholics. Yet there are no signs that the Czecho-Slov,a k National Council has made any progress towards winning over their support up to the present. The composition of the present National Council seems to show that its creators have either neglected ·t his point or have been unsuccessful in their negotiations with the Catholic leaders. The three Slovak members of the Council are not only Protestants but have not and never have had any ,p olitical following. M. Osusky and M . Slavik are career diplomats and have lived for a long time abroad whilst General Viest is a professional soldier. Though there is evidence to show that they are regarded with sympathy by the Slovak Protestants, it seems doubtful whether they can really claim to represent the political views of the whole Slovak people. The real political leader of ,t he Slovaks is M. Sidor. He is a good political orator and a good writer on national-political subjects; but his pre-eminence among the Slovak Catholic leaders is assured not only by his personality but by the fact that he stood extremely close to Father Hlinka and is said to be his political heir. The demonstrations in his favour, which continue to occur from time to time although they embarrass him and are dangerous for his supporters, are the best proof of his great popularity. He has remained loyal to the government but is definitely dissatisfied with the present German domination which has forced him and his closest friends to abandon temrporarily their political activities. If a moment ever came when it would be safe for Slovakia to abandon her policy of subservience to Germany, it would be he who would assume the political leadership rather then anyone else. It is therefore •interesting that, according to information derived from one of his personal friends, until recently at least the CzechoSlovak leaders in Paris had been unable to reach any agreement with him. He received friendly overtures from M. Osusky last summer to which he did not reply since (in his words) "he was unwilling to go the road to Canossa." One envoy coming to him from Dr. Hodza early in October was detained by the Hungarian police in Hungary and failed to arrive. Up to this time M. Sidor was not even convinced of the necessity for reviving a federal Czecho-Slovak State, although he was not in principle opposed to it. His precise attitude appeared to be that he preferred the existing state of affairs but would accerpt a federal solution if that was the pdlicy adopted by the Western Powers. So far as is known here then it cannot be said that great progress has been made up to the present ,t owards a solution of the problem of the future relations between Czechs and Slovaks. But if collaboration could be arranged between Dr. Hodza and the Czecho-Slovak National Council on the one hand and M. Sidor and the anti-German group of the Hlinkas paiity on the other, there would be good prospects of arranging a settlement which would be lasting and satisfactory to both p_ Pares sides. 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 British Attitude Towards Independent Slovakia in 1939 Description An account of the resource F. Vnuk Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 65-91 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Vnuk, František, 1926- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3a3b70e418e8fecabcbff543a4ab1131.pdf a1c42c72d6453d5e5b376d901fd1430c PDF Text Text 62 SLOVAKIA Michael Novak on White Ethnics As a reader of Michael Novak's books, author and scholar of Slovak origin, I had great pleasure in finding his article "White Ethnic" in the September 1971 issue of Harper's Magazine. There is wit, clarity and accuracy in it. It is delightful to see that someone can properly express the feeling of ethnics and immigrants in America who do not always find it easy to adjust themselves to. what is being offered to them as the American way of life. Even though I have spent the longest span of my mature age here, as an American citizen I am only a "teenager". Since my arrival in 1952, I have never ceased admiring the American federal system whose example might have solved the political problem of Central Europe where I was born. Yet, the human aspect of American life has been more puzzling. Technology and marketable values seem to have priority over human values. The abrupt homogeneization of society of diverse origins and civilizations implies as uprootal of individuals. Many Americans of non-Anglo-Saxon descent suffer from historical amnesia. They lack a larger trajectory, the wings which sustain human beings on their flight and add an important dimension to human life. The ethnics who came to America with strong religious background, like Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, etc., have found in religion a stabilizing factor of highest importance. Many white nativists who were reprived of those roots are slipping to the level of civil unconsciousness. They use drugs, regale themselves with pornography, indulge in swinging parties, draft card burning, and riots. The official doctrine which has relegated religion as an entirely private affair to a negligible corner of human endeavor, contributes without doubt to the state of restlessness, to the philosophy of nothingness that seems to have so much influenced the younger generation. This is all the more serious that the questionable writings of some fashionable, but ultramontane apostles, such as Jean Paul �SLOVAKIA 63 Sartre and Herbert Marcuse, will have an adverse effect on the future not only of that generation, but on the future of the country. However great and economically powerful the United States may be, it can ignore higher values and motivations only to its own detriment. We do not live on an exclusive planet. We are being exposed to the hostility and pressure of other, less liberal, systems. Consequently, those groups which stick to their traditional values, including religion, are more in agreement with the basic interests of the country than those which prefer to swim with the stream. A disturbing indifference to values is visible in some other fields. Pragmatism, that allegedly "typical" American philosophy, frequently allows our policy-makers to do with the right hand something different from what they try to do with their left hand. Examples? Our attitude to Pakistan. While we have been sending armaments to West Pakistan, we indulge in charities toward Bangladesh. Our Social Science is dominated by the school of "causalists". However, while causality a.s a method interpreting the interdependence of phenomena is proper in Natural Science, it is false in Social Science which since Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas has been the proper realm of teleology, i.e., of objectives and means. The lack of higher goals, metaphysical, international or simply national, is undoubtedly a result of this improper methodology. Legal Science in America is the guarded domain of the sociological school trying to explain criminality as a consequence of environmental conditions. Thus, the law has been losing its normative character. Not so much intentions, but statistics determine judicial sentences. More frequent crimes are being accepted as a sort of national fatality. Whereas in our economic system inflationary trends are being curbed by a higher interest-rate, inflationary trend in criminality are being acted by a more moderate sentencing. Who can see any logic in that? The freedom of judges under the common law system is excessive and, therefore arbitrary. The sentencing of Martin Luther King's assassin to 99 years in prison throws a doubt on the seriousness of our justice. The United States whose population �SLOVAKIA 64 is of various origins and cultures should have abandoned the common law many decades ago. This country needs codification more than an increase in the number of policemen. The second amendment to the Constitution, passed under different circumstances and allowing the individual to be judge in his own cause, is absolete. We need, consequently, to overcome the incipient "state of nature" by stricter, codified rules that would deter potential criminals. The law would then play its preventive and dissuasive role. The existing problem of ethnicity in America requires restatement of our philosophy and revision of our practices. Ethnic federalism would bring an improvement. Something has to be done to enhance the standing of some forgotten ethnic grounds; to put them on an equal footing with others; to render human dignity to them. "The Ethnic Heritage Studies Centers Act" of 1971, just passed by the Senate, may perhaps bring some remedy to the present situation. Washington, D. C. Prof. Joseph A . Mikus ' M .C.L.,J.D. Slovak Martyrs Father Anton salat lectured and wrote against the Communists. Consequently, the partisans caught him in the first week of the "uprising" in August 1944, at the rectory of Hajniky, and led him to the bridge on the River Hron. Father salat begged permission at least to go to confession, but his request was denied. The partisans shot him, took his gold watch and gold teeth, and cast the body into the Hron. Father Seda, in Liptov, suffered an even more agonizing death. The Communists, while he was still alive, cut belts of hide from his back, cut his privates, and left him to die a slow and inhuman death. � 62 SLOVAKIA Michael Novak on White Ethnics As a reader of Michael Novak's books, author and scholar of Slovak origin, I had great pleasure in finding his article "White Ethnic" in the September 1971 issue of Harper's Magazine. There is wit, clarity and accuracy in it. It is delightful to see that someone can properly express the feeling of ethnics and immigrants in America who do not always find it easy to adjust themselves to. what is being offered to them as the American way of life. Even though I have spent the longest span of my mature age here, as an American citizen I am only a "teenager". Since my arrival in 1952, I have never ceased admiring the American federal system whose example might have solved the political problem of Central Europe where I was born. Yet, the human aspect of American life has been more puzzling. Technology and marketable values seem to have priority over human values. The abrupt homogeneization of society of diverse origins and civilizations implies as uprootal of individuals. Many Americans of non-Anglo-Saxon descent suffer from historical amnesia. They lack a larger trajectory, the wings which sustain human beings on their flight and add an important dimension to human life. The ethnics who came to America with strong religious background, like Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, etc., have found in religion a stabilizing factor of highest importance. Many white nativists who were reprived of those roots are slipping to the level of civil unconsciousness. They use drugs, regale themselves with pornography, indulge in swinging parties, draft card burning, and riots. The official doctrine which has relegated religion as an entirely private affair to a negligible corner of human endeavor, contributes without doubt to the state of restlessness, to the philosophy of nothingness that seems to have so much influenced the younger generation. This is all the more serious that the questionable writings of some fashionable, but ultramontane apostles, such as Jean Paul �SLOVAKIA 63 Sartre and Herbert Marcuse, will have an adverse effect on the future not only of that generation, but on the future of the country. However great and economically powerful the United States may be, it can ignore higher values and motivations only to its own detriment. We do not live on an exclusive planet. We are being exposed to the hostility and pressure of other, less liberal, systems. Consequently, those groups which stick to their traditional values, including religion, are more in agreement with the basic interests of the country than those which prefer to swim with the stream. A disturbing indifference to values is visible in some other fields. Pragmatism, that allegedly "typical" American philosophy, frequently allows our policy-makers to do with the right hand something different from what they try to do with their left hand. Examples? Our attitude to Pakistan. While we have been sending armaments to West Pakistan, we indulge in charities toward Bangladesh. Our Social Science is dominated by the school of "causalists". However, while causality a.s a method interpreting the interdependence of phenomena is proper in Natural Science, it is false in Social Science which since Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas has been the proper realm of teleology, i.e., of objectives and means. The lack of higher goals, metaphysical, international or simply national, is undoubtedly a result of this improper methodology. Legal Science in America is the guarded domain of the sociological school trying to explain criminality as a consequence of environmental conditions. Thus, the law has been losing its normative character. Not so much intentions, but statistics determine judicial sentences. More frequent crimes are being accepted as a sort of national fatality. Whereas in our economic system inflationary trends are being curbed by a higher interest-rate, inflationary trend in criminality are being acted by a more moderate sentencing. Who can see any logic in that? The freedom of judges under the common law system is excessive and, therefore arbitrary. The sentencing of Martin Luther King's assassin to 99 years in prison throws a doubt on the seriousness of our justice. The United States whose population �SLOVAKIA 64 is of various origins and cultures should have abandoned the common law many decades ago. This country needs codification more than an increase in the number of policemen. The second amendment to the Constitution, passed under different circumstances and allowing the individual to be judge in his own cause, is absolete. We need, consequently, to overcome the incipient "state of nature" by stricter, codified rules that would deter potential criminals. The law would then play its preventive and dissuasive role. The existing problem of ethnicity in America requires restatement of our philosophy and revision of our practices. Ethnic federalism would bring an improvement. Something has to be done to enhance the standing of some forgotten ethnic grounds; to put them on an equal footing with others; to render human dignity to them. "The Ethnic Heritage Studies Centers Act" of 1971, just passed by the Senate, may perhaps bring some remedy to the present situation. Washington, D. C. Prof. Joseph A . Mikus ' M .C.L.,J.D. Slovak Martyrs Father Anton salat lectured and wrote against the Communists. Consequently, the partisans caught him in the first week of the "uprising" in August 1944, at the rectory of Hajniky, and led him to the bridge on the River Hron. Father salat begged permission at least to go to confession, but his request was denied. The partisans shot him, took his gold watch and gold teeth, and cast the body into the Hron. Father Seda, in Liptov, suffered an even more agonizing death. The Communists, while he was still alive, cut belts of hide from his back, cut his privates, and left him to die a slow and inhuman death. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 62 SLOVAKIA Michael Novak on White Ethnics As a reader of Michael Novak's books, author and scholar of Slovak origin, I had great pleasure in finding his article "White Ethnic" in the September 1971 issue of Harper's Magazine. There is wit, clarity and accuracy in it. It is delightful to see that someone can properly express the feeling of ethnics and immigrants in America who do not always find it easy to adjust themselves to. what is being offered to them as the American way of life. Even though I have spent the longest span of my mature age here, as an American citizen I am only a "teenager". Since my arrival in 1952, I have never ceased admiring the American federal system whose example might have solved the political problem of Central Europe where I was born. Yet, the human aspect of American life has been more puzzling. Technology and marketable values seem to have priority over human values. The abrupt homogeneization of society of diverse origins and civilizations implies as uprootal of individuals. Many Americans of non-Anglo-Saxon descent suffer from historical amnesia. They lack a larger trajectory, the wings which sustain human beings on their flight and add an important dimension to human life. The ethnics who came to America with strong religious background, like Poles, Slovaks, Lithuanians, etc., have found in religion a stabilizing factor of highest importance. Many white nativists who were reprived of those roots are slipping to the level of civil unconsciousness. They use drugs, regale themselves with pornography, indulge in swinging parties, draft card burning, and riots. The official doctrine which has relegated religion as an entirely private affair to a negligible corner of human endeavor, contributes without doubt to the state of restlessness, to the philosophy of nothingness that seems to have so much influenced the younger generation. This is all the more serious that the questionable writings of some fashionable, but ultramontane apostles, such as Jean Paul SLOVAKIA 63 Sartre and Herbert Marcuse, will have an adverse effect on the future not only of that generation, but on the future of the country. However great and economically powerful the United States may be, it can ignore higher values and motivations only to its own detriment. We do not live on an exclusive planet. We are being exposed to the hostility and pressure of other, less liberal, systems. Consequently, those groups which stick to their traditional values, including religion, are more in agreement with the basic interests of the country than those which prefer to swim with the stream. A disturbing indifference to values is visible in some other fields. Pragmatism, that allegedly "typical" American philosophy, frequently allows our policy-makers to do with the right hand something different from what they try to do with their left hand. Examples? Our attitude to Pakistan. While we have been sending armaments to West Pakistan, we indulge in charities toward Bangladesh. Our Social Science is dominated by the school of "causalists". However, while causality a.s a method interpreting the interdependence of phenomena is proper in Natural Science, it is false in Social Science which since Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas has been the proper realm of teleology, i.e., of objectives and means. The lack of higher goals, metaphysical, international or simply national, is undoubtedly a result of this improper methodology. Legal Science in America is the guarded domain of the sociological school trying to explain criminality as a consequence of environmental conditions. Thus, the law has been losing its normative character. Not so much intentions, but statistics determine judicial sentences. More frequent crimes are being accepted as a sort of national fatality. Whereas in our economic system inflationary trends are being curbed by a higher interest-rate, inflationary trend in criminality are being acted by a more moderate sentencing. Who can see any logic in that? The freedom of judges under the common law system is excessive and, therefore arbitrary. The sentencing of Martin Luther King's assassin to 99 years in prison throws a doubt on the seriousness of our justice. The United States whose population SLOVAKIA 64 is of various origins and cultures should have abandoned the common law many decades ago. This country needs codification more than an increase in the number of policemen. The second amendment to the Constitution, passed under different circumstances and allowing the individual to be judge in his own cause, is absolete. We need, consequently, to overcome the incipient "state of nature" by stricter, codified rules that would deter potential criminals. The law would then play its preventive and dissuasive role. The existing problem of ethnicity in America requires restatement of our philosophy and revision of our practices. Ethnic federalism would bring an improvement. Something has to be done to enhance the standing of some forgotten ethnic grounds; to put them on an equal footing with others; to render human dignity to them. "The Ethnic Heritage Studies Centers Act" of 1971, just passed by the Senate, may perhaps bring some remedy to the present situation. Washington, D. C. Prof. Joseph A . Mikus ' M .C.L.,J.D. Slovak Martyrs Father Anton salat lectured and wrote against the Communists. Consequently, the partisans caught him in the first week of the "uprising" in August 1944, at the rectory of Hajniky, and led him to the bridge on the River Hron. Father salat begged permission at least to go to confession, but his request was denied. The partisans shot him, took his gold watch and gold teeth, and cast the body into the Hron. Father Seda, in Liptov, suffered an even more agonizing death. The Communists, while he was still alive, cut belts of hide from his back, cut his privates, and left him to die a slow and inhuman death.  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 Michael Novak on White Ethnics Description An account of the resource Prof. Joseph A. Mikus, M.C.L., J.D. also: Slovak Martyrs, Fr. Anton Šalát Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 62-64 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Mikuš, Joseph A., 1909-2005 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/dbde9d29d97125296684855753e3b11b.pdf b79bbc59e21388cbb51d6e021352d1be PDF Text Text 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. �SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m � 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. �SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 60 SLOVAK.IA Prof. Stanislav Meciar (1910-1971)-ln Memoriam With a group of writers and poets who left Slovakia before the advancing Soviet armies in 1945, with the intention to fight for Slovak freedom and independence in the West, there were also literary critics and literary historians with established reputations. Among them, Prof. Stanislav Meciar, born on March 21, 1910, in Prievidza, was one of the most outstanding. His untimely death on November 23, 1971, in Buenos Aires , Argentina, has been . therefore, regretted with great sorrow everywhere in the free world where Slovaks live. In Stanislav Meciar, Slovak literary history and criticism had a well educated, eclectic literary critic, essayist and evaluator of Slovak cultural life. Meciar studied at the Universities of Bratislava, Prague, Leipzig and Warsaw, specializing in Slavic and German literatures and philology. Equipped with a solid academic preparation and a strong ambition to elevate Slovak literary and cultural life to European standards, he occupied during the War the prestigious position of the editor of Slovenske Pohl'ady and made it a tribune of intellectual ferment and struggle for national goals. His patriotism and nationalistic fervor marked not only the contents of Slovenske Pohl'ady but also his whole literary work. Like many other writers and literary critics, Meciar appeared on the literary scene first as a writer of literary comments, book reviews, short novels and verses. Subsequently he moved into the field of comparative literature and translations from Slavic, especially Polish, poetry and prose. By 1936 he emerged as a literary critic and aesthete with a solid knowledge of Slovak literature always bearing in mind specific hlstorical and cultural development of the Slovak people. His published works : Poetry and L i f e (1936 ); Unknown Verses of Janka Kral' (1938 ) ; Hviezdoslav's Forester's Wife (1939), and Beniak's Zofia (1941 ) proved that Meciar was a mature, erudite literary critic who applied scholarly methods in his evaluation of Slovak literature. SLOVAKIA 61 On the basis of these literary works and Meciar's academic background, the President of the Slovak Republic nominated him in 1944 Professor at the University of Bratislava. The Soviet occupation of Slovakia prevented him, however, from contributing to Slovak scholarship at university level. Meciar's patriotism and nationalistic fervor grew even stronger in exile which can be easily understood if one takes into account that Slovaks, after a few years of independent cultural development, had to see their dreams of independence crashed and their traditional values destroyed by Communism imposed upon them from outside. He became an "ecrivain engage" opposed to any compromise in the Slovak national struggle. From 1949 to 1952 he edited the most nationalistic of all Slovak periodicals abroad Slovenskd Republika, a series of books "Slovenskd slobodnd kultura" (Slovak Free Culture, 1951-60) and Letopisy (Archives, 1963), the latter published by the Zahranicnd Matica Slovenskd which was organized in Buenos Aires by J. C. Hronsky with Meciar as secretary. Besides his many contributions to Slovak emigre newspapers on cultural and political matters, Meciar did not fail, however, to continue his scholarly work. His main literary achievement in exile has been two volume work on Martin Kukucin (Kukucin zivy, Buenos Aires, 1958-1960), the best Slovak novelist of the period of realism in Slovak literature, who also spent his life outside of his native country and died in Argentina. In the literary journals and almanacs (Most, Almanach Slovdka v Amerike, and in the symposium Vo Vyhnanstve), Meciar published essays on Slovak culture, on the leading Slovak post-war novelist Milo Urban, and on the most outstanding Slovak poets, Jan Holly and P. 0. Hviezdoslav. An intellectual with a proud national consciousness and dedicated to the struggle for freedom of the Slovak people, Meciar never hesitated to display his uncompromising attitude towards the foes of the Slovak striving for a free and independent cultural and political development. His death created a gap in the ranks of Slovak intellectuals abroad which will be very hard to fill. Slovak culture lost in Prof. Meciar a proud representative of a generation which helped the dream of Slovak independence to come true. J. M. Ki rs c h b au 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 Prof. Stanislav Mečiar (1910-1971) - In Memoriam Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 60-61 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 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/e09c413c8ec993b1f87997223d7f3734.pdf af7d988263d437dd4ebed5d111b657bd PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. �58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The �SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � SLOVAKIA 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. �58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The �SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 57 IN HIS 70TH YEAR Dr. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks By Joseph C. Krajsa In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual men, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people, their nation and their country. These are men who are dreamers and some who are doers. But the great ones are those who are both--dreamers and doers. They are the one who set alight their hope and hearts upon the heights they seek to scale. They are the ones who light bright fires of their aspirations and give heart and direction to those who follow . Dr. Peter P. Hletko, in his 70th year, is such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, now semiretired, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home is in Warrenville, Illinois and his office is at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anna E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at Saint Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius Academy (1915-1919), Lisle, Illinois, and St. Procopius College (1919-1921 ) . He attended De Paul University in Chicago from 1921 to 1923 and received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. In 1927 he received his Medical Degree (M. D.) from Loyola University, Chicago. PROFESSIONAL Dr. Hletko served on the resident staff of Cook County Hospital, Chicago from 1927 to 1928. Besides his private practice, he was an instructor in clinical neurology a t Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. 58 SLOVAK.IA He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society and he serves in this capacity today. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and today is Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko is a member of the American Medical Association; Illinois Medical Association; Chicago Medical Association; and Medical Examiner of Municipal Court and Law Department Benefit and Pension Fund, Chicago, ( 19361961). CIVIC AND CULTURAL In 1938 Dr. Hletko led a Slovak League of America delegation to Czecho-Slovakia in behalf of gaining recognition of the Pittsburgh Pact. Over 100,000 Slovaks gathered in Bratislava, the capitol of Slovakia, as he and Msgr. Andrew Hlinka unveiled the original of the Pittsburgh Pact-an agreement that was to guarantee autonomy for the Slovak nation. The vast crowd roared: "Hlinka, Hletko daju vsetko" ( Hlinka and Hletko will give everything!). The rest of his services for the Slovak people in a span of more than four decades reads like a special "Who's Who": President of the Slovak League of America (1935-1939) and ( 1963-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America ( 1938-); Vice President of the Slovak Catholic Federation of America ( 1934) ; Supreme Officer of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and the National Slovak Society; a Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of 'Club Furdek' - ( a Catholic Slovak Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago, since 1935. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Today, Dr. Hletko has a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary material, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. To many of these he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The SLOVAKIA 59 Dr. Peter P. Hletko ( second from the right ) with Ms~:ir- A·ndrew Hlinka (at Hletko's right ) , leader oif the S l ovak Popu li st Party , and Karol SidOf' (right), former Premier of Slovakia, at the 1938 event in Bratislava when the delegati'on of the Slova~ League of .America c-ame to Slovakia with the origi-nal of the Pittsburgh Pac:t. following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: "The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact" (1934 ) ; wrote "Iskry"-a reprint of satiro-comic column in the Osadne Hlasy ( Slovak Parish News, 1931); edited the "Slovak Catholic Sokol Cook Book", 1964; was a contributing editor of Osadne Hlasy (Chicago Parish News, 1927-1963 ); editor of "Jaro" (Spring), English supplement to JEDNOTA. official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; eclitor of "Chicagsky Dennik" (Chicago Slovak Daily News, 1926-1927 ); presently serves as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society; and is President of the Slovak Newspapermen's Association in America. In honor of his 70th birthday, the Slovak League of America labeled 1972 "Dr. Peter Hletko Year" and designated a special award to him at the Slovak League of America Congress in Chicago in the spring of this year. REFERENCES Slovakia 1965, Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. " Slovaci a ich zivot", Jedtnota, 3/ 17/ 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco.  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. Peter P. Hletko Most Elite of American Slovaks Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 57-59 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Krajsa, Joseph C. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2747f933a62a7f150798c00cc4cb29e5.pdf 107816a44fd98f85db66c1f289bd1ab9 PDF Text Text 50 SLOVAKIA Dr. Jozef Tiso His Political Creed (EXCERPT FROM HIS DEFENSE SPEECH PRESENTED ON MARCH 17, 1947 IN THE POLITICAL TRIAL CONDUCTED BY THE· SO-CALLED SLOVAK NATIONAL COURT IN BRATISLAVA.) My political involvement cannot be examined or judged by the usual norms of political critique because essentially it was not governed by typically prevalent political techniques. I undertake this representation of the motivation and impelling force that prompted my political involvement because as a Catholic priest I feel bound to this formal deposition of testimony not only by the circumstance of my clerical status but also out of regard for a universal Christian outlook. Both of these considerations are cherished as top-ranking principles in my political life, but under some spurious forms of evaluation, my political endeavors could easily be fixed in a very misleading light. The estimable attitude with which the Slovak Catholic clergy is regarded and even more importantly, the exalted position of a universal Christian outlook rightfully expect that I shall make a public statement specifically directed to those who may very likely conclude that in my person they will also humiliate or confound those intrinsic values that always reside above and beyond the person of an individual; in this case, those values that exceed my very person or individual self. When I appeal or draw attention to the reality of my priestly rank and when I testify that all my political activity was guided solely by Christian principles which are always consonant with sound policy making in public affairs whether the active agent be a priest or a lay Christian statesman, I do so with no intent or need to extenuate a fault or disguise a failing. Just as I reprehend denying a priest the right to function in politics simply because of the fact that he is a priest, so do I not condone any theorizing that a priest's �SLOVAKIA . 51 responsibility in public affairs is other than that of any accountable citizen, for after all, that is just what a priest is-a responsible and accountable citizen who is entitled to all the rights of a citizen and is bound by the same sacred obligations and duties that bind every citizen in the land. My reference to the fact that I am a priest sterns from one desire only: let it ever be kept in mind that I engaged in politics as a priest active in politics and for that reason it is imperative that my position and my participation in politics at all times be grasped and assessed as a priest's conscious involvement. Consequently, there must be imputed to my public life that specific type of motivation that is invariably associated with the character of a priest committed to public interests and civic obligation. Open reference to my priestly status is, then, eminently desirable in order to open the way to the clear and only proper and authentic mode of understanding my part in politics. On the other hand, I am thoroughly convinced that a correct appraisal of my political career can never be made by anyone who does not first of all bring attention to bear this special priestly feature of mine, by anyone who does not admit the worthiness of priestly motivation on my part-these attributes ( especially when they are associated with one's public condu~t in matters of state) which can contribute clarification for a line of conduct that otherwise can be construed as incomprehensible or even less than favorable when judged in the light of the average scale of norms, and can focus it into a clearly understandable and acceptable program of responsible action. The life of a goal-conscious individual-and do pardon my saying without any smacking of arrogance or conceit that I consider myself such a one; I assert that I am a goal-conscious person because I know just what it is that I want-the life of such a one is much like a work of art executed with a definite point of view in mind. a given sighting angle for valid critical evaluation that will assure its total appreciation. If a specific work lacks this feature, we can stand before it as before a charmed castle to which we hold no key. There are artistic creations upon which we can look from several varying angles, estimate their merits with critical eye, and yet fail to appreciate them justly and honestly unless we approach �52 SLOVAKIA them from their given point of vantage. This kind of talisman for an unbiased understanding of my public life and activities is my priestly character with all its intrinsic dynamics and principles which have been appointed by the determinants of Christian doctrine on behalf of public service and public servants. It follows very naturally then, that one does not apply the same norms in evaluating the merits of a public minister or a politician who has never subscribed to these tenets. But the fact that such circumstances must be taken into account in judging a politician who does profess this adherence and evidences it in his conduct, this is an indispensable ingredient to that sense of objectivity on which every public court of justice prides itself. And this situation prevails even in cases where the law itself does not concur with given motivating factors or identity with the principles that enter into a specific case. Nevertheless, in the juridical trial of the accused, these circumstances must of necessity be taken into consideration and they must be examined as the intention which influenced and helped to coordinate the motives and the endeavors of the accused. Otherwise a commitment which is not marked with some form of self-interest or some element of redounding glory remains forever incomprehensible or forever doomed to false interpretation of some kind. This, of course, is wholly inadmissible in a totally objective approach to truth. My politics was politics of a unique kind precisely because it was undertaken by an individual who is a priest. All my life's training and preparation was for a career in the priesthood and not in politics. The goal of all my schooling-formal schooling as well as self-education-was directed to spiritual leadership. I dedicated myself to serve God, the Church and the people of whom I was born and among whom I hoped to bring my priestly vocation to fruition. The ringing principles: For God and Nation! With the people and for the people! were no hollow slogans that I had later acquired somehow, absorbed by magnetic acclaim, and appropriated as guiding mottoes in my life. They are and they have ever been universally valid fundamentals. Only by and through these concepts could I have hoped to attain the sublime ultimate objective of all my life: The glory of God first and foremost, and then the common good of the people. �SLOVAKIA 53 This outlook and focus of perspectives in my life was in no way conditioned by demagoguery or a political platform of any kind; it was rooted in my very life's commitment and in my pastoral ethics which mandates my identification with the faithful of my flock together with a complete negation of all self-interest and vain concerns. The logical sequel to such ministerial canons culminates in the moral conviction to represent the valid interests and needs of the people, to further what is of benefit for the people in general, and to support their common welfare. These are the basics which formulated the patent guidelines of all my priestly functioning, my official ministry which was never circumscribed merely to aspects of immediate church and school matters but which, by the ramification of its social and organizational commitments and as concomitant of these,. extended generally into the cultural, social and economic life of my people. I did, of course, further this rule of life theoretically also, acting in my capacity as educator and formation director of a younger priestly generation. In this office I sought to imbue every young cleric who came within the sphere of my influence with this ideal: With the people and on behalf of the people! Later on, in 1918, when the world of politics unmistakably summoned me into active participation, I further elaborated my philosophy of life on the basis of this fundamental principle and I oriented all my political involvement toward it. In this frame of mind and with this sense of dedication, I undertook a role in political service and this principle alone characterized my contribution to the building of the Czecho-Slovak republic. Here again it was concern for the people that urged me on, for by the very dictates of the natural law I reasoned that it will be far better for the Slovak people to co-exist in a federated union with the Czech brother-nation rather than to become allied in a foreign state with a non-Slavic nation, and I moved toward mature diplomatic functioning, especially after the Czechs repudiated any implementing of the Pittsburgh Agreement. After the harsh reality of the first experiences of disenchantment with this arrangement and the increasingly corrupt disregard of the Slovak people as public and state positions were being filled, the more the tempo of political �54 SLOVAKIA activity mounted, the more clearly did I delineate my own course of action in accord with sound norms of Christian ethics and the more readily did I gain acquaintance with state jurisprudence . Let no one be taken aback on realizing that I had had no formal academic schooling in law or diplomacy. I managed to compensate for this lack by relying on applicable theses from Christian doctrine-a practice which was very effective and rewarding. And it was a thoroughly correct procedure, for Christian truth is a fount of principles for public life, all drawn from that same natural law on which solid juristic political science is also founded . On the other hand, too, Christian doctrine with its tenets from the natural law, all precisely formulated, afforded me wholly reliable foundations for outlining and coordinating my line of conduct in my service on behalf of the Slovak state and its rights as well as for its welfare and progress. Christian doctrine advoc~tes that well-recognized hierarchy of values governing right order in matters of natural vital rank : the individual, the family, the nation. God has endowed all three with distinctive individuality and freedom so that each of these entities might within itself and for itself put its energies to good use in order to advance its own development. The duty not only to preserve intact the individuality and freedom of these three but even to secure for each whatever help may be needed that they might attain their life's objective devolves upon them as well as upon the public powers or authorities. Consequently , when Christian teaching develops the principles, rights and duties of these three agents, it likewise establishes norms for the discharge of public power whose responsibility it is to promote the development of all three agents rather than to suppress them in any way. It is from these teachings of Christian doctrine that I have drawn enlightenmen t on the true meaning of various elements in juridical terminology; e. g., the nation, the state, autonomy, concern for the whole; the concern of an individual or of a part, as well as sanctioned means and methods for realizing these principles-a ll this being both morally and politically commendable . Much of my thinking was consistently devoted to this topic and on July 5, 1939, I even chose it as the central theme of an address which I presented at the mass meeting of Slovak Catholic �SLOVAKIA 55 students' organization. And the more deeply I reached into the treasure store of Christian teaching on this score. the more satisfactory did I grasp the authentic concept of the words: nation, state, private and public interests , etc. With these developments I all the more tenaciously adhered to the outlined program for autonomy, for in it I saw clear fulfillment of the natural law. I perceived in it as well the lasting guarantee of peaceful coexistence on the part of the Czechs and the Slovaks within the totality of one state largely because this program which encompassed self-determination was intended to guarantee to the Slovak nation its own national individuality, its proper identity and its free right to regulate its life so that its cultural, social and economic evolvement would be in no way impeded by anyone or anything. The scope of Christian teaching, then, was for me not only an interpreter of the natural law but through its specialized directives for public affairs it became as well an effective moderating factor in my political endeavors, guiding me at all times to act with due regard for presciptions fixed by natural law. So it is no personal credit of mine that I advocated that type of political involvement that was characterized as moderate autonomous politics, for this way was distinctly marked out for me by Christian thought and principle under whose influence I was wholesomely indoctrinated to put the interests of the wholethat is, the interest of the entire nation-before any other less universal interest, for the general good can be effective only when the interests of the entire nation suffer no impairment of any kind. I chose to adopt a branch of political science founded on such principles, motivated as I was, by no personal interest or self-seeking, not looking for return in power or glory but rather endeavoring in every undertaking to attain and secure the general welfare of the Slovak nation. Working from the key points of an autonomy program, we set ourselves to formulate a state organism or structure of the kind which Christian principles regard as an instrument in the hands of a nation, a force under whose aegis it may work out its ultimate welfare and progress. It was this kind of distinctively Christian-founded politics �56 SLOVAKIA that I had in view both on March 14, 1939 and throughout the years of Slovak independent statehood. A change was brought about in the situation as the nation lived its life, moving from one segment of time to another. It was not our endeavors or doings that brought about crises or changes; the principles of natural claims or rights-or strictly speaking, the principles of Christian truth-remained unalterable and it was our bounden duty and the burden of our political position to make these norms very much alive and effective in every situation as it developed. We did not create the situation but we were conscience-charged on every occasion as it presented itself to us, to represent and to champion those immutable principles which are destined to come to the fore in the interests of a nation. Today it is this aspect of politics that stands before this legal bench, embodied in my person, though I am improperly charged, for politics is entirely out of place before this tribunal, especially that category of political activity to which I was dedicated in my public life. Translated by Sister M. Constance Yakubov , SS.C.M. Danville, Pennsylvania "Monsignor Tiso's execution was a travesty of justice. The fact that he could have remained president of the Slovak nation if he had only bent his knee to the communist tyrant makes him a martyr of the cause of freedom and religion. Although the Slovaks have suffered much from their political oppressors for centuries, this is the greatest crime against them in their historic struggle for national freedom. His tragic death cannot help but inspire SlovalG for centuries to come to defend their God-given political and religious rights."-Abbot Theodor e Kojis, O.S.B., Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947. "Eduard Bene~, murderer of the freedom of the Slovak nation, kJ.lled a g,ood man, a zealous priest of Christ, a loyal Slovak patriot, the first president of the Slovak Republic elected by the Slovak nation. The crime of murderer Benes is worse, uglier and more wicked than ~e crime of Cain." - Peter Pridavok, President Slovak National Gouncil, London, England, April 30, 1947. � 50 SLOVAKIA Dr. Jozef Tiso His Political Creed (EXCERPT FROM HIS DEFENSE SPEECH PRESENTED ON MARCH 17, 1947 IN THE POLITICAL TRIAL CONDUCTED BY THE· SO-CALLED SLOVAK NATIONAL COURT IN BRATISLAVA.) My political involvement cannot be examined or judged by the usual norms of political critique because essentially it was not governed by typically prevalent political techniques. I undertake this representation of the motivation and impelling force that prompted my political involvement because as a Catholic priest I feel bound to this formal deposition of testimony not only by the circumstance of my clerical status but also out of regard for a universal Christian outlook. Both of these considerations are cherished as top-ranking principles in my political life, but under some spurious forms of evaluation, my political endeavors could easily be fixed in a very misleading light. The estimable attitude with which the Slovak Catholic clergy is regarded and even more importantly, the exalted position of a universal Christian outlook rightfully expect that I shall make a public statement specifically directed to those who may very likely conclude that in my person they will also humiliate or confound those intrinsic values that always reside above and beyond the person of an individual; in this case, those values that exceed my very person or individual self. When I appeal or draw attention to the reality of my priestly rank and when I testify that all my political activity was guided solely by Christian principles which are always consonant with sound policy making in public affairs whether the active agent be a priest or a lay Christian statesman, I do so with no intent or need to extenuate a fault or disguise a failing. Just as I reprehend denying a priest the right to function in politics simply because of the fact that he is a priest, so do I not condone any theorizing that a priest's �SLOVAKIA . 51 responsibility in public affairs is other than that of any accountable citizen, for after all, that is just what a priest is-a responsible and accountable citizen who is entitled to all the rights of a citizen and is bound by the same sacred obligations and duties that bind every citizen in the land. My reference to the fact that I am a priest sterns from one desire only: let it ever be kept in mind that I engaged in politics as a priest active in politics and for that reason it is imperative that my position and my participation in politics at all times be grasped and assessed as a priest's conscious involvement. Consequently, there must be imputed to my public life that specific type of motivation that is invariably associated with the character of a priest committed to public interests and civic obligation. Open reference to my priestly status is, then, eminently desirable in order to open the way to the clear and only proper and authentic mode of understanding my part in politics. On the other hand, I am thoroughly convinced that a correct appraisal of my political career can never be made by anyone who does not first of all bring attention to bear this special priestly feature of mine, by anyone who does not admit the worthiness of priestly motivation on my part-these attributes ( especially when they are associated with one's public condu~t in matters of state) which can contribute clarification for a line of conduct that otherwise can be construed as incomprehensible or even less than favorable when judged in the light of the average scale of norms, and can focus it into a clearly understandable and acceptable program of responsible action. The life of a goal-conscious individual-and do pardon my saying without any smacking of arrogance or conceit that I consider myself such a one; I assert that I am a goal-conscious person because I know just what it is that I want-the life of such a one is much like a work of art executed with a definite point of view in mind. a given sighting angle for valid critical evaluation that will assure its total appreciation. If a specific work lacks this feature, we can stand before it as before a charmed castle to which we hold no key. There are artistic creations upon which we can look from several varying angles, estimate their merits with critical eye, and yet fail to appreciate them justly and honestly unless we approach �52 SLOVAKIA them from their given point of vantage. This kind of talisman for an unbiased understanding of my public life and activities is my priestly character with all its intrinsic dynamics and principles which have been appointed by the determinants of Christian doctrine on behalf of public service and public servants. It follows very naturally then, that one does not apply the same norms in evaluating the merits of a public minister or a politician who has never subscribed to these tenets. But the fact that such circumstances must be taken into account in judging a politician who does profess this adherence and evidences it in his conduct, this is an indispensable ingredient to that sense of objectivity on which every public court of justice prides itself. And this situation prevails even in cases where the law itself does not concur with given motivating factors or identity with the principles that enter into a specific case. Nevertheless, in the juridical trial of the accused, these circumstances must of necessity be taken into consideration and they must be examined as the intention which influenced and helped to coordinate the motives and the endeavors of the accused. Otherwise a commitment which is not marked with some form of self-interest or some element of redounding glory remains forever incomprehensible or forever doomed to false interpretation of some kind. This, of course, is wholly inadmissible in a totally objective approach to truth. My politics was politics of a unique kind precisely because it was undertaken by an individual who is a priest. All my life's training and preparation was for a career in the priesthood and not in politics. The goal of all my schooling-formal schooling as well as self-education-was directed to spiritual leadership. I dedicated myself to serve God, the Church and the people of whom I was born and among whom I hoped to bring my priestly vocation to fruition. The ringing principles: For God and Nation! With the people and for the people! were no hollow slogans that I had later acquired somehow, absorbed by magnetic acclaim, and appropriated as guiding mottoes in my life. They are and they have ever been universally valid fundamentals. Only by and through these concepts could I have hoped to attain the sublime ultimate objective of all my life: The glory of God first and foremost, and then the common good of the people. �SLOVAKIA 53 This outlook and focus of perspectives in my life was in no way conditioned by demagoguery or a political platform of any kind; it was rooted in my very life's commitment and in my pastoral ethics which mandates my identification with the faithful of my flock together with a complete negation of all self-interest and vain concerns. The logical sequel to such ministerial canons culminates in the moral conviction to represent the valid interests and needs of the people, to further what is of benefit for the people in general, and to support their common welfare. These are the basics which formulated the patent guidelines of all my priestly functioning, my official ministry which was never circumscribed merely to aspects of immediate church and school matters but which, by the ramification of its social and organizational commitments and as concomitant of these,. extended generally into the cultural, social and economic life of my people. I did, of course, further this rule of life theoretically also, acting in my capacity as educator and formation director of a younger priestly generation. In this office I sought to imbue every young cleric who came within the sphere of my influence with this ideal: With the people and on behalf of the people! Later on, in 1918, when the world of politics unmistakably summoned me into active participation, I further elaborated my philosophy of life on the basis of this fundamental principle and I oriented all my political involvement toward it. In this frame of mind and with this sense of dedication, I undertook a role in political service and this principle alone characterized my contribution to the building of the Czecho-Slovak republic. Here again it was concern for the people that urged me on, for by the very dictates of the natural law I reasoned that it will be far better for the Slovak people to co-exist in a federated union with the Czech brother-nation rather than to become allied in a foreign state with a non-Slavic nation, and I moved toward mature diplomatic functioning, especially after the Czechs repudiated any implementing of the Pittsburgh Agreement. After the harsh reality of the first experiences of disenchantment with this arrangement and the increasingly corrupt disregard of the Slovak people as public and state positions were being filled, the more the tempo of political �54 SLOVAKIA activity mounted, the more clearly did I delineate my own course of action in accord with sound norms of Christian ethics and the more readily did I gain acquaintance with state jurisprudence . Let no one be taken aback on realizing that I had had no formal academic schooling in law or diplomacy. I managed to compensate for this lack by relying on applicable theses from Christian doctrine-a practice which was very effective and rewarding. And it was a thoroughly correct procedure, for Christian truth is a fount of principles for public life, all drawn from that same natural law on which solid juristic political science is also founded . On the other hand, too, Christian doctrine with its tenets from the natural law, all precisely formulated, afforded me wholly reliable foundations for outlining and coordinating my line of conduct in my service on behalf of the Slovak state and its rights as well as for its welfare and progress. Christian doctrine advoc~tes that well-recognized hierarchy of values governing right order in matters of natural vital rank : the individual, the family, the nation. God has endowed all three with distinctive individuality and freedom so that each of these entities might within itself and for itself put its energies to good use in order to advance its own development. The duty not only to preserve intact the individuality and freedom of these three but even to secure for each whatever help may be needed that they might attain their life's objective devolves upon them as well as upon the public powers or authorities. Consequently , when Christian teaching develops the principles, rights and duties of these three agents, it likewise establishes norms for the discharge of public power whose responsibility it is to promote the development of all three agents rather than to suppress them in any way. It is from these teachings of Christian doctrine that I have drawn enlightenmen t on the true meaning of various elements in juridical terminology; e. g., the nation, the state, autonomy, concern for the whole; the concern of an individual or of a part, as well as sanctioned means and methods for realizing these principles-a ll this being both morally and politically commendable . Much of my thinking was consistently devoted to this topic and on July 5, 1939, I even chose it as the central theme of an address which I presented at the mass meeting of Slovak Catholic �SLOVAKIA 55 students' organization. And the more deeply I reached into the treasure store of Christian teaching on this score. the more satisfactory did I grasp the authentic concept of the words: nation, state, private and public interests , etc. With these developments I all the more tenaciously adhered to the outlined program for autonomy, for in it I saw clear fulfillment of the natural law. I perceived in it as well the lasting guarantee of peaceful coexistence on the part of the Czechs and the Slovaks within the totality of one state largely because this program which encompassed self-determination was intended to guarantee to the Slovak nation its own national individuality, its proper identity and its free right to regulate its life so that its cultural, social and economic evolvement would be in no way impeded by anyone or anything. The scope of Christian teaching, then, was for me not only an interpreter of the natural law but through its specialized directives for public affairs it became as well an effective moderating factor in my political endeavors, guiding me at all times to act with due regard for presciptions fixed by natural law. So it is no personal credit of mine that I advocated that type of political involvement that was characterized as moderate autonomous politics, for this way was distinctly marked out for me by Christian thought and principle under whose influence I was wholesomely indoctrinated to put the interests of the wholethat is, the interest of the entire nation-before any other less universal interest, for the general good can be effective only when the interests of the entire nation suffer no impairment of any kind. I chose to adopt a branch of political science founded on such principles, motivated as I was, by no personal interest or self-seeking, not looking for return in power or glory but rather endeavoring in every undertaking to attain and secure the general welfare of the Slovak nation. Working from the key points of an autonomy program, we set ourselves to formulate a state organism or structure of the kind which Christian principles regard as an instrument in the hands of a nation, a force under whose aegis it may work out its ultimate welfare and progress. It was this kind of distinctively Christian-founded politics �56 SLOVAKIA that I had in view both on March 14, 1939 and throughout the years of Slovak independent statehood. A change was brought about in the situation as the nation lived its life, moving from one segment of time to another. It was not our endeavors or doings that brought about crises or changes; the principles of natural claims or rights-or strictly speaking, the principles of Christian truth-remained unalterable and it was our bounden duty and the burden of our political position to make these norms very much alive and effective in every situation as it developed. We did not create the situation but we were conscience-charged on every occasion as it presented itself to us, to represent and to champion those immutable principles which are destined to come to the fore in the interests of a nation. Today it is this aspect of politics that stands before this legal bench, embodied in my person, though I am improperly charged, for politics is entirely out of place before this tribunal, especially that category of political activity to which I was dedicated in my public life. Translated by Sister M. Constance Yakubov , SS.C.M. Danville, Pennsylvania "Monsignor Tiso's execution was a travesty of justice. The fact that he could have remained president of the Slovak nation if he had only bent his knee to the communist tyrant makes him a martyr of the cause of freedom and religion. Although the Slovaks have suffered much from their political oppressors for centuries, this is the greatest crime against them in their historic struggle for national freedom. His tragic death cannot help but inspire SlovalG for centuries to come to defend their God-given political and religious rights."-Abbot Theodor e Kojis, O.S.B., Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947. "Eduard Bene~, murderer of the freedom of the Slovak nation, kJ.lled a g,ood man, a zealous priest of Christ, a loyal Slovak patriot, the first president of the Slovak Republic elected by the Slovak nation. The crime of murderer Benes is worse, uglier and more wicked than ~e crime of Cain." - Peter Pridavok, President Slovak National Gouncil, London, England, April 30, 1947. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 50 SLOVAKIA Dr. Jozef Tiso His Political Creed (EXCERPT FROM HIS DEFENSE SPEECH PRESENTED ON MARCH 17, 1947 IN THE POLITICAL TRIAL CONDUCTED BY THE· SO-CALLED SLOVAK NATIONAL COURT IN BRATISLAVA.) My political involvement cannot be examined or judged by the usual norms of political critique because essentially it was not governed by typically prevalent political techniques. I undertake this representation of the motivation and impelling force that prompted my political involvement because as a Catholic priest I feel bound to this formal deposition of testimony not only by the circumstance of my clerical status but also out of regard for a universal Christian outlook. Both of these considerations are cherished as top-ranking principles in my political life, but under some spurious forms of evaluation, my political endeavors could easily be fixed in a very misleading light. The estimable attitude with which the Slovak Catholic clergy is regarded and even more importantly, the exalted position of a universal Christian outlook rightfully expect that I shall make a public statement specifically directed to those who may very likely conclude that in my person they will also humiliate or confound those intrinsic values that always reside above and beyond the person of an individual; in this case, those values that exceed my very person or individual self. When I appeal or draw attention to the reality of my priestly rank and when I testify that all my political activity was guided solely by Christian principles which are always consonant with sound policy making in public affairs whether the active agent be a priest or a lay Christian statesman, I do so with no intent or need to extenuate a fault or disguise a failing. Just as I reprehend denying a priest the right to function in politics simply because of the fact that he is a priest, so do I not condone any theorizing that a priest's SLOVAKIA . 51 responsibility in public affairs is other than that of any accountable citizen, for after all, that is just what a priest is-a responsible and accountable citizen who is entitled to all the rights of a citizen and is bound by the same sacred obligations and duties that bind every citizen in the land. My reference to the fact that I am a priest sterns from one desire only: let it ever be kept in mind that I engaged in politics as a priest active in politics and for that reason it is imperative that my position and my participation in politics at all times be grasped and assessed as a priest's conscious involvement. Consequently, there must be imputed to my public life that specific type of motivation that is invariably associated with the character of a priest committed to public interests and civic obligation. Open reference to my priestly status is, then, eminently desirable in order to open the way to the clear and only proper and authentic mode of understanding my part in politics. On the other hand, I am thoroughly convinced that a correct appraisal of my political career can never be made by anyone who does not first of all bring attention to bear this special priestly feature of mine, by anyone who does not admit the worthiness of priestly motivation on my part-these attributes ( especially when they are associated with one's public condu~t in matters of state) which can contribute clarification for a line of conduct that otherwise can be construed as incomprehensible or even less than favorable when judged in the light of the average scale of norms, and can focus it into a clearly understandable and acceptable program of responsible action. The life of a goal-conscious individual-and do pardon my saying without any smacking of arrogance or conceit that I consider myself such a one; I assert that I am a goal-conscious person because I know just what it is that I want-the life of such a one is much like a work of art executed with a definite point of view in mind. a given sighting angle for valid critical evaluation that will assure its total appreciation. If a specific work lacks this feature, we can stand before it as before a charmed castle to which we hold no key. There are artistic creations upon which we can look from several varying angles, estimate their merits with critical eye, and yet fail to appreciate them justly and honestly unless we approach 52 SLOVAKIA them from their given point of vantage. This kind of talisman for an unbiased understanding of my public life and activities is my priestly character with all its intrinsic dynamics and principles which have been appointed by the determinants of Christian doctrine on behalf of public service and public servants. It follows very naturally then, that one does not apply the same norms in evaluating the merits of a public minister or a politician who has never subscribed to these tenets. But the fact that such circumstances must be taken into account in judging a politician who does profess this adherence and evidences it in his conduct, this is an indispensable ingredient to that sense of objectivity on which every public court of justice prides itself. And this situation prevails even in cases where the law itself does not concur with given motivating factors or identity with the principles that enter into a specific case. Nevertheless, in the juridical trial of the accused, these circumstances must of necessity be taken into consideration and they must be examined as the intention which influenced and helped to coordinate the motives and the endeavors of the accused. Otherwise a commitment which is not marked with some form of self-interest or some element of redounding glory remains forever incomprehensible or forever doomed to false interpretation of some kind. This, of course, is wholly inadmissible in a totally objective approach to truth. My politics was politics of a unique kind precisely because it was undertaken by an individual who is a priest. All my life's training and preparation was for a career in the priesthood and not in politics. The goal of all my schooling-formal schooling as well as self-education-was directed to spiritual leadership. I dedicated myself to serve God, the Church and the people of whom I was born and among whom I hoped to bring my priestly vocation to fruition. The ringing principles: For God and Nation! With the people and for the people! were no hollow slogans that I had later acquired somehow, absorbed by magnetic acclaim, and appropriated as guiding mottoes in my life. They are and they have ever been universally valid fundamentals. Only by and through these concepts could I have hoped to attain the sublime ultimate objective of all my life: The glory of God first and foremost, and then the common good of the people. SLOVAKIA 53 This outlook and focus of perspectives in my life was in no way conditioned by demagoguery or a political platform of any kind; it was rooted in my very life's commitment and in my pastoral ethics which mandates my identification with the faithful of my flock together with a complete negation of all self-interest and vain concerns. The logical sequel to such ministerial canons culminates in the moral conviction to represent the valid interests and needs of the people, to further what is of benefit for the people in general, and to support their common welfare. These are the basics which formulated the patent guidelines of all my priestly functioning, my official ministry which was never circumscribed merely to aspects of immediate church and school matters but which, by the ramification of its social and organizational commitments and as concomitant of these,. extended generally into the cultural, social and economic life of my people. I did, of course, further this rule of life theoretically also, acting in my capacity as educator and formation director of a younger priestly generation. In this office I sought to imbue every young cleric who came within the sphere of my influence with this ideal: With the people and on behalf of the people! Later on, in 1918, when the world of politics unmistakably summoned me into active participation, I further elaborated my philosophy of life on the basis of this fundamental principle and I oriented all my political involvement toward it. In this frame of mind and with this sense of dedication, I undertook a role in political service and this principle alone characterized my contribution to the building of the Czecho-Slovak republic. Here again it was concern for the people that urged me on, for by the very dictates of the natural law I reasoned that it will be far better for the Slovak people to co-exist in a federated union with the Czech brother-nation rather than to become allied in a foreign state with a non-Slavic nation, and I moved toward mature diplomatic functioning, especially after the Czechs repudiated any implementing of the Pittsburgh Agreement. After the harsh reality of the first experiences of disenchantment with this arrangement and the increasingly corrupt disregard of the Slovak people as public and state positions were being filled, the more the tempo of political 54 SLOVAKIA activity mounted, the more clearly did I delineate my own course of action in accord with sound norms of Christian ethics and the more readily did I gain acquaintance with state jurisprudence . Let no one be taken aback on realizing that I had had no formal academic schooling in law or diplomacy. I managed to compensate for this lack by relying on applicable theses from Christian doctrine-a practice which was very effective and rewarding. And it was a thoroughly correct procedure, for Christian truth is a fount of principles for public life, all drawn from that same natural law on which solid juristic political science is also founded . On the other hand, too, Christian doctrine with its tenets from the natural law, all precisely formulated, afforded me wholly reliable foundations for outlining and coordinating my line of conduct in my service on behalf of the Slovak state and its rights as well as for its welfare and progress. Christian doctrine advoc~tes that well-recognized hierarchy of values governing right order in matters of natural vital rank : the individual, the family, the nation. God has endowed all three with distinctive individuality and freedom so that each of these entities might within itself and for itself put its energies to good use in order to advance its own development. The duty not only to preserve intact the individuality and freedom of these three but even to secure for each whatever help may be needed that they might attain their life's objective devolves upon them as well as upon the public powers or authorities. Consequently , when Christian teaching develops the principles, rights and duties of these three agents, it likewise establishes norms for the discharge of public power whose responsibility it is to promote the development of all three agents rather than to suppress them in any way. It is from these teachings of Christian doctrine that I have drawn enlightenmen t on the true meaning of various elements in juridical terminology; e. g., the nation, the state, autonomy, concern for the whole; the concern of an individual or of a part, as well as sanctioned means and methods for realizing these principles-a ll this being both morally and politically commendable . Much of my thinking was consistently devoted to this topic and on July 5, 1939, I even chose it as the central theme of an address which I presented at the mass meeting of Slovak Catholic SLOVAKIA 55 students' organization. And the more deeply I reached into the treasure store of Christian teaching on this score. the more satisfactory did I grasp the authentic concept of the words: nation, state, private and public interests , etc. With these developments I all the more tenaciously adhered to the outlined program for autonomy, for in it I saw clear fulfillment of the natural law. I perceived in it as well the lasting guarantee of peaceful coexistence on the part of the Czechs and the Slovaks within the totality of one state largely because this program which encompassed self-determination was intended to guarantee to the Slovak nation its own national individuality, its proper identity and its free right to regulate its life so that its cultural, social and economic evolvement would be in no way impeded by anyone or anything. The scope of Christian teaching, then, was for me not only an interpreter of the natural law but through its specialized directives for public affairs it became as well an effective moderating factor in my political endeavors, guiding me at all times to act with due regard for presciptions fixed by natural law. So it is no personal credit of mine that I advocated that type of political involvement that was characterized as moderate autonomous politics, for this way was distinctly marked out for me by Christian thought and principle under whose influence I was wholesomely indoctrinated to put the interests of the wholethat is, the interest of the entire nation-before any other less universal interest, for the general good can be effective only when the interests of the entire nation suffer no impairment of any kind. I chose to adopt a branch of political science founded on such principles, motivated as I was, by no personal interest or self-seeking, not looking for return in power or glory but rather endeavoring in every undertaking to attain and secure the general welfare of the Slovak nation. Working from the key points of an autonomy program, we set ourselves to formulate a state organism or structure of the kind which Christian principles regard as an instrument in the hands of a nation, a force under whose aegis it may work out its ultimate welfare and progress. It was this kind of distinctively Christian-founded politics 56 SLOVAKIA that I had in view both on March 14, 1939 and throughout the years of Slovak independent statehood. A change was brought about in the situation as the nation lived its life, moving from one segment of time to another. It was not our endeavors or doings that brought about crises or changes; the principles of natural claims or rights-or strictly speaking, the principles of Christian truth-remained unalterable and it was our bounden duty and the burden of our political position to make these norms very much alive and effective in every situation as it developed. We did not create the situation but we were conscience-charged on every occasion as it presented itself to us, to represent and to champion those immutable principles which are destined to come to the fore in the interests of a nation. Today it is this aspect of politics that stands before this legal bench, embodied in my person, though I am improperly charged, for politics is entirely out of place before this tribunal, especially that category of political activity to which I was dedicated in my public life. Translated by Sister M. Constance Yakubov , SS.C.M. Danville, Pennsylvania "Monsignor Tiso's execution was a travesty of justice. The fact that he could have remained president of the Slovak nation if he had only bent his knee to the communist tyrant makes him a martyr of the cause of freedom and religion. Although the Slovaks have suffered much from their political oppressors for centuries, this is the greatest crime against them in their historic struggle for national freedom. His tragic death cannot help but inspire SlovalG for centuries to come to defend their God-given political and religious rights."-Abbot Theodor e Kojis, O.S.B., Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947. "Eduard Bene~, murderer of the freedom of the Slovak nation, kJ.lled a g,ood man, a zealous priest of Christ, a loyal Slovak patriot, the first president of the Slovak Republic elected by the Slovak nation. The crime of murderer Benes is worse, uglier and more wicked than ~e crime of Cain." - Peter Pridavok, President Slovak National Gouncil, London, England, April 30, 1947.  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 - His Political Creed Description An account of the resource trans. Sister M. Constance Yakubov, SS.C.M. Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 50-56 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Yakubov, Sister M. Constance, SS.C.M. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9c5a91b4d81ccee7ea296689cadfafca.pdf a3cf960c15ff0b7080d4617154213bf3 PDF Text Text 48 SLOVAK.IA Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero Dr. Joseph Tiso, war-time president of the Slovak Republic, was born October 13, 1887, in Vel'ka Bytca, Slovakia. After completing his elementary training, he studied in zilina and Nitra, then completed his theological studies in Vienna. He was ordained priest in 1910 and a year later attained the degree of Doctor of Theology. Father Tiso served as chaplain in Oscadnica, Rajec and Banovce. In 1914 he served in the army as field chaplain and in 1915 was named spiritual director of the seminary at Nitra and professor of religion at the college and high school there. In 1918 he was appointed professor of theology. In 1921, he was honored by the Holy Father with the title of Monsignor. Dr. Joseph Tiso was very active as an organizer and writer. He was imprisoned twice by the government for "anti-state" activities, the general term for anything that did not coincide with the political ideology of the government. While incarcerated Dr. Tiso tranlated several apologetic works into Slovak. Father Tiso was truly a man of his people and for his people. He strained every effort to elevate them spiritually and materially. In 1924 Dr. Joseph Tiso became pastor of the church at Banovce and served the spiritual and temporal needs of the people there until he was imprisoned in 1945. As a member of Hlinka's People's Party, he was elected to parliament in 1925 and in 1927 was appointed Minister of Health and Physical Culture by the Masaryk regime. Dr . Tiso visited America only once; that was in 1937 when he came as a member of a delegation of the Society of St. Adalbert, Slovakia's greatest Catholic publishing house. When Slovakia was granted autonomy on October 6, 1938, the Prague government named Dr. Tiso premier of the autonomous Slovak government. The following year, when Czecho-Slovakia collapsed completely, the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 49 parliament declared the independence of Slovakia on March 14. The parliament elected Dr. Joseph Tiso president of the independent Slovak Republic on October 26, 1939. Under Tiso's guidance Slovakia fared quite well even during the war years. He saved whatever he could for his nation. Even his political enemies admit that. When the wild Red armies tore toward Bratislava, Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Slovak government withdrew to Kremsmtinster. Austria, where they formally surrendered to the U.S. Army. At the insistence of the provisional Czecho-Slovak government, the U. S Department of State ordered the U.S. Army authorities in Austria to surrender Dr. Tiso and his group to the Czecho-Slovak War Crimes Commission. In November 1945 Dr. Tiso and members of the Slovak government were delivered to Czecho-Slovak authorities though their status was never investigated by the U. S. authorities. From Prague Dr. Tiso and several of his group were sent to Bratislava to stand trial before the Slovak National Court. The trial began December 2, 1946, and ended March 14, 1947. Sentence was pronounced by the Court on April 15, and Father Tiso, reciting the rosary out loud, was led to the gallows at 5.30 A.M. on April 18, 1947; he was pronounced dead seven minutes later. Slovaks the world over agree with Father Tiso's aged mother: Dr. Tiso died a martyr for the cause of his people and his Church. Bratislav a. It has been noted that representatives of foreign news agencies who "covered" the first days of the trial left Bratislava about ten days ago and r eturned to Prague where they obtained information on the progress of the trial from second-hand sources. In view of these conditions it appears doubtful to observers personally present at the trial whether foreign public opinion is being enabled to gain an authentic and objective view of the defense presented by Dr. Tiso against the 113 charges in the 212-page indictment. - J an Mauthner Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 1. 1947. "Dr. Tiso died for his Church and his nation. He always did and ever shall belong to us. We bow our heads to his memory and pray for his soul that his martyr's death encourage us to greater sacrifices for genuine freedom according to the Four Freedoms and the Atlantic Charter. " - Msgr. S. J . Krasula, New York City, April 30, 1947. � 48 SLOVAK.IA Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero Dr. Joseph Tiso, war-time president of the Slovak Republic, was born October 13, 1887, in Vel'ka Bytca, Slovakia. After completing his elementary training, he studied in zilina and Nitra, then completed his theological studies in Vienna. He was ordained priest in 1910 and a year later attained the degree of Doctor of Theology. Father Tiso served as chaplain in Oscadnica, Rajec and Banovce. In 1914 he served in the army as field chaplain and in 1915 was named spiritual director of the seminary at Nitra and professor of religion at the college and high school there. In 1918 he was appointed professor of theology. In 1921, he was honored by the Holy Father with the title of Monsignor. Dr. Joseph Tiso was very active as an organizer and writer. He was imprisoned twice by the government for "anti-state" activities, the general term for anything that did not coincide with the political ideology of the government. While incarcerated Dr. Tiso tranlated several apologetic works into Slovak. Father Tiso was truly a man of his people and for his people. He strained every effort to elevate them spiritually and materially. In 1924 Dr. Joseph Tiso became pastor of the church at Banovce and served the spiritual and temporal needs of the people there until he was imprisoned in 1945. As a member of Hlinka's People's Party, he was elected to parliament in 1925 and in 1927 was appointed Minister of Health and Physical Culture by the Masaryk regime. Dr . Tiso visited America only once; that was in 1937 when he came as a member of a delegation of the Society of St. Adalbert, Slovakia's greatest Catholic publishing house. When Slovakia was granted autonomy on October 6, 1938, the Prague government named Dr. Tiso premier of the autonomous Slovak government. The following year, when Czecho-Slovakia collapsed completely, the Slovak �SLOVAKIA 49 parliament declared the independence of Slovakia on March 14. The parliament elected Dr. Joseph Tiso president of the independent Slovak Republic on October 26, 1939. Under Tiso's guidance Slovakia fared quite well even during the war years. He saved whatever he could for his nation. Even his political enemies admit that. When the wild Red armies tore toward Bratislava, Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Slovak government withdrew to Kremsmtinster. Austria, where they formally surrendered to the U.S. Army. At the insistence of the provisional Czecho-Slovak government, the U. S Department of State ordered the U.S. Army authorities in Austria to surrender Dr. Tiso and his group to the Czecho-Slovak War Crimes Commission. In November 1945 Dr. Tiso and members of the Slovak government were delivered to Czecho-Slovak authorities though their status was never investigated by the U. S. authorities. From Prague Dr. Tiso and several of his group were sent to Bratislava to stand trial before the Slovak National Court. The trial began December 2, 1946, and ended March 14, 1947. Sentence was pronounced by the Court on April 15, and Father Tiso, reciting the rosary out loud, was led to the gallows at 5.30 A.M. on April 18, 1947; he was pronounced dead seven minutes later. Slovaks the world over agree with Father Tiso's aged mother: Dr. Tiso died a martyr for the cause of his people and his Church. Bratislav a. It has been noted that representatives of foreign news agencies who "covered" the first days of the trial left Bratislava about ten days ago and r eturned to Prague where they obtained information on the progress of the trial from second-hand sources. In view of these conditions it appears doubtful to observers personally present at the trial whether foreign public opinion is being enabled to gain an authentic and objective view of the defense presented by Dr. Tiso against the 113 charges in the 212-page indictment. - J an Mauthner Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 1. 1947. "Dr. Tiso died for his Church and his nation. He always did and ever shall belong to us. We bow our heads to his memory and pray for his soul that his martyr's death encourage us to greater sacrifices for genuine freedom according to the Four Freedoms and the Atlantic Charter. " - Msgr. S. J . Krasula, New York City, April 30, 1947. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 48 SLOVAK.IA Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero Dr. Joseph Tiso, war-time president of the Slovak Republic, was born October 13, 1887, in Vel'ka Bytca, Slovakia. After completing his elementary training, he studied in zilina and Nitra, then completed his theological studies in Vienna. He was ordained priest in 1910 and a year later attained the degree of Doctor of Theology. Father Tiso served as chaplain in Oscadnica, Rajec and Banovce. In 1914 he served in the army as field chaplain and in 1915 was named spiritual director of the seminary at Nitra and professor of religion at the college and high school there. In 1918 he was appointed professor of theology. In 1921, he was honored by the Holy Father with the title of Monsignor. Dr. Joseph Tiso was very active as an organizer and writer. He was imprisoned twice by the government for "anti-state" activities, the general term for anything that did not coincide with the political ideology of the government. While incarcerated Dr. Tiso tranlated several apologetic works into Slovak. Father Tiso was truly a man of his people and for his people. He strained every effort to elevate them spiritually and materially. In 1924 Dr. Joseph Tiso became pastor of the church at Banovce and served the spiritual and temporal needs of the people there until he was imprisoned in 1945. As a member of Hlinka's People's Party, he was elected to parliament in 1925 and in 1927 was appointed Minister of Health and Physical Culture by the Masaryk regime. Dr . Tiso visited America only once; that was in 1937 when he came as a member of a delegation of the Society of St. Adalbert, Slovakia's greatest Catholic publishing house. When Slovakia was granted autonomy on October 6, 1938, the Prague government named Dr. Tiso premier of the autonomous Slovak government. The following year, when Czecho-Slovakia collapsed completely, the Slovak SLOVAKIA 49 parliament declared the independence of Slovakia on March 14. The parliament elected Dr. Joseph Tiso president of the independent Slovak Republic on October 26, 1939. Under Tiso's guidance Slovakia fared quite well even during the war years. He saved whatever he could for his nation. Even his political enemies admit that. When the wild Red armies tore toward Bratislava, Dr. Joseph Tiso and the Slovak government withdrew to Kremsmtinster. Austria, where they formally surrendered to the U.S. Army. At the insistence of the provisional Czecho-Slovak government, the U. S Department of State ordered the U.S. Army authorities in Austria to surrender Dr. Tiso and his group to the Czecho-Slovak War Crimes Commission. In November 1945 Dr. Tiso and members of the Slovak government were delivered to Czecho-Slovak authorities though their status was never investigated by the U. S. authorities. From Prague Dr. Tiso and several of his group were sent to Bratislava to stand trial before the Slovak National Court. The trial began December 2, 1946, and ended March 14, 1947. Sentence was pronounced by the Court on April 15, and Father Tiso, reciting the rosary out loud, was led to the gallows at 5.30 A.M. on April 18, 1947; he was pronounced dead seven minutes later. Slovaks the world over agree with Father Tiso's aged mother: Dr. Tiso died a martyr for the cause of his people and his Church. Bratislav a. It has been noted that representatives of foreign news agencies who "covered" the first days of the trial left Bratislava about ten days ago and r eturned to Prague where they obtained information on the progress of the trial from second-hand sources. In view of these conditions it appears doubtful to observers personally present at the trial whether foreign public opinion is being enabled to gain an authentic and objective view of the defense presented by Dr. Tiso against the 113 charges in the 212-page indictment. - J an Mauthner Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 1. 1947. "Dr. Tiso died for his Church and his nation. He always did and ever shall belong to us. We bow our heads to his memory and pray for his soul that his martyr's death encourage us to greater sacrifices for genuine freedom according to the Four Freedoms and the Atlantic Charter. " - Msgr. S. J . Krasula, New York City, April 30, 1947.  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 Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero Description An account of the resource Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 48-49 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/9b9b3c6eab5d3f9227a036adee4be991.pdf 8384edaaf1e310b34172cfe6933180ee PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Paul KO 43 t Va : Who Killed Dr. Tiso? The sentence of death was pronounc ed on presiden t Dr. Joseph Tiso "in the name of the Republic and the Slovak nation." Logically then, the responsib ility for the execution of the sentence falls on the Czecho-S lovak republic and the Slovak nation. In this case who was the "Republi c?" Nobody else but Dr. Edward Benes. And in this case who was the "Slovak nation"? Nobody else but the Slovak National Council (SNC) in Bratislav a, which was, accordin g to the Prague Agreement of June 1, 1945, not only the authorize d represen tative of the self-exist ence of the Slovak nation, but also the bearer of state power (legislativ e, administ rative and executive ) in Slovak territory ." This, then, is quite clear: the "Republi c" was Dr. Edward Benes, and the "Slovak nation" was the Slovak National Council. GEORGE DID IT! But nobody wanted to take the responsib ility for the ignomini ous death of Dr. Joseph Tiso. In the central organ of the Democra tic Party, "CAS" (Time), dated April 23, 1947, there appeared the article entitled "What Actually Happene d?" wherein the blackgua rds, who did their black and filthy duty, are cleansing themselv es. They want to shake of all responsib ility and place the whole blame on Prague, as if the sentence of death was pronounc ed against Tiso only "in the name of the Republic ," and not also "in the name of the Slovak nation." Dr. Tiso had appealed for mercy with the express remark, that he was asking it "only on moral grounds. " The newspap er "Cas" says that the chief prosecut or recommend ed the appeal for mercy to the National Court. But the National Court, with Dr. Daxner presiding , decided : "not to recomme nd mercy for Tiso." "The fate of the condemn ed Tiso," says "Cas", "was thus sealed; the execution was to follow in 48 hours.'' �44 SLOVAKIA THE PARAGRAPHS On the basis of what paragraphs was the fate of Tiso sealed? "Cas" tells us that it was on the basis of paragraph 19 of decree number 33-1945 of the Slovak National Council, in the sense of decree No. 57-1946 of the Colection of Decrees of the Slovak National Council. Therefore the Slovak National Council was responsible for the fact that Dr. Tiso had to be executed within 48 hours, because it had written, accepted and proclaimed such decrees and such paragraphs as the valid law in Slovak territory. The guilty party, then, was and still is the Slovak National Council. The Slovak National Council must have realized this, even though rather late, and its brain suddenly began to function. The gentlemen, proud of their paragraphs, had a concrete case before them: the life or death of Dr. Tiso. And it was then that their own paragraphs began to displease them. "According to the valid law," says CAS, "there now was no ground whereby anyone except the president of the Republic, might deal with the question of mercy." In this case the paragraphs of the SNC decrees, mentioned above, were responsible for that situation. THE SNC PEOPLE But the gentlemen of the Slovak National Council disregarded this fact and acted as if they actually were very much concerned with the saving of the life of Dr. Tiso. Without any legal foundation the National Court presented this appeal to the Trustee (Commissar) of the Judiciary (Dr. Stefanik), who in turn without any legal basis sent it on to the presidency of the SNC. And so it happened that the executive committee of the SNC had a session the day after sentence was pronounced, on April 16, and began to deliberate. It was then ascertained that "the views of the representatives of the Democratic and Communist parties were completely divergent on the question of granting mercy." The Democrats were for granting mercy and the Communists against. So the matter was returned to the Justice of the Supreme Court, whowithout any legal basis-prepared the motion in which he recommended the granting of mercy. �SLOVAKIA 45 In the meantime the 48 hours were almost expended. The presidency of the Slovak National Council quickly took the Trustee's motion and sent it on to the central Government in Prague without adding a single word of recommendation. Let Prague plague itself with the whole case! Annas too once sent Christ to Caiphas, and Caiphas in turn sent him to Pilate. Everybody wanted to shake off all responsibility. PRAGUE: NO MERCY! The central Government in Prague thus received the Slovak motion: the Trustee of the Judiciary recommends mercy for Tiso; the presidency of the Slovak National Council presents this motion, but adds no comment to it for the central Government. "Cas" now wants to suggest to its readers what it forgot to suggest to the central Government, namely, that "The Trustee's presentation of the official notice to the Government to grant mercy is in accord also with the recommendation of the presidency of the Slovak National Council." The Pharisees in Prague, that is the central Government, convened at 5 p. m. on April 16th and debated whether they should present the plea for mercy to president Benes or not. The issue was balloted. The Ministers of the Democratic Party and sramek's Party (the Czech Catholic People's Party) voted for mercy, but the Communists, Social-Democratic Ministers, as well as those of Benes's Party (the Czech Nazi Party), voted against it. Since the Democrats and the followers of Sramek cast only 6 votes, they remained in the minority, and the motion of the majority of the central Government come to Benes: not to grant mercy to Tiso. DR. LETTRICH: NO CONTACT It was at this time that the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Joseph Lettrich, began to act-but again without any legal basis. "Cas" writes that "there were also many serious, non-political factoiis, for example, both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church," that were for the granting of mercy. Our information, therefore, that not only the Catholic but even the Evangelical Bishops intervened to save Tiso's life, proved to be correct. On purely partisan-political grounds even Dr. Lettrich heeded �46 SLOVAKIA this pressure and personally began to intervene by calling directly to Benes's office. "Dr. Lettrich," writes CAS, "urgently called the president of the Republic, Benes, five times in the evening of April 16th so that he could explain to him just how the Democratic Party stow on the issue. The message was taken by the personal secretary of the President, Dr. skarvan." Thus, "the representative" of the Slovak nation, the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Lettrich, in an urgent matter, a matter in which both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical church were intervening, called the representative of the Republic, Dr. Benes, five times by phone. But "CAS" conveniently forgets to report just how many of those times Dr. Lettrich got Benes personally to the phone. "CAS" modestly reports that the "representative" of the Slovak nation spoke with the personal secretary of "Mr. President," Dr. i:3karvan. Behold the heights attained by the "representative" of the Slovak nation! He could tell young skarvan "how the Democratic Party stood on the issue" but he could not tell it to Benes! That really was a miserable and pitiful situation to be in. It shows how Dr. Benes, the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regards and values Dr. Lettrich, the representative of the Slovak nation. How different things were when Slovakia was represented by the Slovak autonomists! At that time president Dr. Emil Ha.cha set in Benes's place in the Prague Castle. Slovakia had two prime ministers, first Dr. Joseph Tiso, and then Karol Sidor. When Dr. Tiso or Sidor in Bratislava wanted to talk with president Ha.cha in Prague, they lifted the telephone receiver and forthwith had president Ha.cha on the other end of the telephone. There were no "personal secretaries" in between. The representatives of Slovakia spoke directly and without delay with the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We read in the proceedings of the Tiso trial that Dr. Tiso, as late as March 13, 1939, called Dr. Ha.cha from Berlin and spoke to him over the telephone personally. And here Lettrich calls president Benes five times, who does not answer him once, but leaves that matter to his personal secretary, Dr. skarvan . . . �SLOVAKIA 47 DECREES MADE TO KILL Who, then, is responsible for the death of president Dr. Tiso? Blame it on the paragraphs, the decrees of the Slovak National Council. And who wrote those paragraphs? Dr. Lettrich and all the members of the SNC, therefore both the Democrats and the Communists who voted for them. These paragraphs were compiled to kill and not to protect Slovak lives. How many Slovaks already paid with their lives and how many hundreds of years of imprisonment were meted out to Slovaks on the basis of these paragraphs!? That, all of that, is the merit of the present representatives of Slovakia who wrote, accepted and voted for these paragraphs. Added to all of this, they themselves surrendered the right to grant mercy to those who shall be condemned on the basis of these, their paragraphs. When it became clear that Dr. Tiso would be tried, a new Prague Agreement was quickly concluded on April 11,1946. Its first article, point b) says: "The President of the Republic (Dr. Benes ) grants mercy even in Slovakia and that even in matters pertaining to the people's courts and the National Court." Dr. Martin Kvetko, in his book "Agreements" (issued in 1947 in Bratislava ) says the following about that paragraph on page 57: "Up to the time of this agreement-i. e. up to April 11, 1946-appeals of the convicted were decided by the presidency of the Slovak National Council. By the agreement the authority is correctly ( ! ! ) transferred to the President, so that even in this case the validity of the Constitution be renewed as the basis of state unity." So the gentlemen of the SNC were renewing "the validity of the Constitution" of 1920 that was centralistic and anti-Slovak; they were making "the foundation of state unity," so they surrendered, in the interests of Benes, the right to grant mercy to convicted Slovaks, and so they themselves destroyed the legal balSis, on the strength of which, up to April 11 , 1946, they could save the life of Dr. Tiso and the lives of so many other Slovaks without Benes and without the central Government, nay even against the will of Benes and against the will of the central Government! (April, 1947 ) � SLOVAKIA Paul KO 43 t Va : Who Killed Dr. Tiso? The sentence of death was pronounc ed on presiden t Dr. Joseph Tiso "in the name of the Republic and the Slovak nation." Logically then, the responsib ility for the execution of the sentence falls on the Czecho-S lovak republic and the Slovak nation. In this case who was the "Republi c?" Nobody else but Dr. Edward Benes. And in this case who was the "Slovak nation"? Nobody else but the Slovak National Council (SNC) in Bratislav a, which was, accordin g to the Prague Agreement of June 1, 1945, not only the authorize d represen tative of the self-exist ence of the Slovak nation, but also the bearer of state power (legislativ e, administ rative and executive ) in Slovak territory ." This, then, is quite clear: the "Republi c" was Dr. Edward Benes, and the "Slovak nation" was the Slovak National Council. GEORGE DID IT! But nobody wanted to take the responsib ility for the ignomini ous death of Dr. Joseph Tiso. In the central organ of the Democra tic Party, "CAS" (Time), dated April 23, 1947, there appeared the article entitled "What Actually Happene d?" wherein the blackgua rds, who did their black and filthy duty, are cleansing themselv es. They want to shake of all responsib ility and place the whole blame on Prague, as if the sentence of death was pronounc ed against Tiso only "in the name of the Republic ," and not also "in the name of the Slovak nation." Dr. Tiso had appealed for mercy with the express remark, that he was asking it "only on moral grounds. " The newspap er "Cas" says that the chief prosecut or recommend ed the appeal for mercy to the National Court. But the National Court, with Dr. Daxner presiding , decided : "not to recomme nd mercy for Tiso." "The fate of the condemn ed Tiso," says "Cas", "was thus sealed; the execution was to follow in 48 hours.'' �44 SLOVAKIA THE PARAGRAPHS On the basis of what paragraphs was the fate of Tiso sealed? "Cas" tells us that it was on the basis of paragraph 19 of decree number 33-1945 of the Slovak National Council, in the sense of decree No. 57-1946 of the Colection of Decrees of the Slovak National Council. Therefore the Slovak National Council was responsible for the fact that Dr. Tiso had to be executed within 48 hours, because it had written, accepted and proclaimed such decrees and such paragraphs as the valid law in Slovak territory. The guilty party, then, was and still is the Slovak National Council. The Slovak National Council must have realized this, even though rather late, and its brain suddenly began to function. The gentlemen, proud of their paragraphs, had a concrete case before them: the life or death of Dr. Tiso. And it was then that their own paragraphs began to displease them. "According to the valid law," says CAS, "there now was no ground whereby anyone except the president of the Republic, might deal with the question of mercy." In this case the paragraphs of the SNC decrees, mentioned above, were responsible for that situation. THE SNC PEOPLE But the gentlemen of the Slovak National Council disregarded this fact and acted as if they actually were very much concerned with the saving of the life of Dr. Tiso. Without any legal foundation the National Court presented this appeal to the Trustee (Commissar) of the Judiciary (Dr. Stefanik), who in turn without any legal basis sent it on to the presidency of the SNC. And so it happened that the executive committee of the SNC had a session the day after sentence was pronounced, on April 16, and began to deliberate. It was then ascertained that "the views of the representatives of the Democratic and Communist parties were completely divergent on the question of granting mercy." The Democrats were for granting mercy and the Communists against. So the matter was returned to the Justice of the Supreme Court, whowithout any legal basis-prepared the motion in which he recommended the granting of mercy. �SLOVAKIA 45 In the meantime the 48 hours were almost expended. The presidency of the Slovak National Council quickly took the Trustee's motion and sent it on to the central Government in Prague without adding a single word of recommendation. Let Prague plague itself with the whole case! Annas too once sent Christ to Caiphas, and Caiphas in turn sent him to Pilate. Everybody wanted to shake off all responsibility. PRAGUE: NO MERCY! The central Government in Prague thus received the Slovak motion: the Trustee of the Judiciary recommends mercy for Tiso; the presidency of the Slovak National Council presents this motion, but adds no comment to it for the central Government. "Cas" now wants to suggest to its readers what it forgot to suggest to the central Government, namely, that "The Trustee's presentation of the official notice to the Government to grant mercy is in accord also with the recommendation of the presidency of the Slovak National Council." The Pharisees in Prague, that is the central Government, convened at 5 p. m. on April 16th and debated whether they should present the plea for mercy to president Benes or not. The issue was balloted. The Ministers of the Democratic Party and sramek's Party (the Czech Catholic People's Party) voted for mercy, but the Communists, Social-Democratic Ministers, as well as those of Benes's Party (the Czech Nazi Party), voted against it. Since the Democrats and the followers of Sramek cast only 6 votes, they remained in the minority, and the motion of the majority of the central Government come to Benes: not to grant mercy to Tiso. DR. LETTRICH: NO CONTACT It was at this time that the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Joseph Lettrich, began to act-but again without any legal basis. "Cas" writes that "there were also many serious, non-political factoiis, for example, both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church," that were for the granting of mercy. Our information, therefore, that not only the Catholic but even the Evangelical Bishops intervened to save Tiso's life, proved to be correct. On purely partisan-political grounds even Dr. Lettrich heeded �46 SLOVAKIA this pressure and personally began to intervene by calling directly to Benes's office. "Dr. Lettrich," writes CAS, "urgently called the president of the Republic, Benes, five times in the evening of April 16th so that he could explain to him just how the Democratic Party stow on the issue. The message was taken by the personal secretary of the President, Dr. skarvan." Thus, "the representative" of the Slovak nation, the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Lettrich, in an urgent matter, a matter in which both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical church were intervening, called the representative of the Republic, Dr. Benes, five times by phone. But "CAS" conveniently forgets to report just how many of those times Dr. Lettrich got Benes personally to the phone. "CAS" modestly reports that the "representative" of the Slovak nation spoke with the personal secretary of "Mr. President," Dr. i:3karvan. Behold the heights attained by the "representative" of the Slovak nation! He could tell young skarvan "how the Democratic Party stood on the issue" but he could not tell it to Benes! That really was a miserable and pitiful situation to be in. It shows how Dr. Benes, the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regards and values Dr. Lettrich, the representative of the Slovak nation. How different things were when Slovakia was represented by the Slovak autonomists! At that time president Dr. Emil Ha.cha set in Benes's place in the Prague Castle. Slovakia had two prime ministers, first Dr. Joseph Tiso, and then Karol Sidor. When Dr. Tiso or Sidor in Bratislava wanted to talk with president Ha.cha in Prague, they lifted the telephone receiver and forthwith had president Ha.cha on the other end of the telephone. There were no "personal secretaries" in between. The representatives of Slovakia spoke directly and without delay with the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We read in the proceedings of the Tiso trial that Dr. Tiso, as late as March 13, 1939, called Dr. Ha.cha from Berlin and spoke to him over the telephone personally. And here Lettrich calls president Benes five times, who does not answer him once, but leaves that matter to his personal secretary, Dr. skarvan . . . �SLOVAKIA 47 DECREES MADE TO KILL Who, then, is responsible for the death of president Dr. Tiso? Blame it on the paragraphs, the decrees of the Slovak National Council. And who wrote those paragraphs? Dr. Lettrich and all the members of the SNC, therefore both the Democrats and the Communists who voted for them. These paragraphs were compiled to kill and not to protect Slovak lives. How many Slovaks already paid with their lives and how many hundreds of years of imprisonment were meted out to Slovaks on the basis of these paragraphs!? That, all of that, is the merit of the present representatives of Slovakia who wrote, accepted and voted for these paragraphs. Added to all of this, they themselves surrendered the right to grant mercy to those who shall be condemned on the basis of these, their paragraphs. When it became clear that Dr. Tiso would be tried, a new Prague Agreement was quickly concluded on April 11,1946. Its first article, point b) says: "The President of the Republic (Dr. Benes ) grants mercy even in Slovakia and that even in matters pertaining to the people's courts and the National Court." Dr. Martin Kvetko, in his book "Agreements" (issued in 1947 in Bratislava ) says the following about that paragraph on page 57: "Up to the time of this agreement-i. e. up to April 11, 1946-appeals of the convicted were decided by the presidency of the Slovak National Council. By the agreement the authority is correctly ( ! ! ) transferred to the President, so that even in this case the validity of the Constitution be renewed as the basis of state unity." So the gentlemen of the SNC were renewing "the validity of the Constitution" of 1920 that was centralistic and anti-Slovak; they were making "the foundation of state unity," so they surrendered, in the interests of Benes, the right to grant mercy to convicted Slovaks, and so they themselves destroyed the legal balSis, on the strength of which, up to April 11 , 1946, they could save the life of Dr. Tiso and the lives of so many other Slovaks without Benes and without the central Government, nay even against the will of Benes and against the will of the central Government! (April, 1947 ) � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 Paul KO 43 t Va : Who Killed Dr. Tiso? The sentence of death was pronounc ed on presiden t Dr. Joseph Tiso "in the name of the Republic and the Slovak nation." Logically then, the responsib ility for the execution of the sentence falls on the Czecho-S lovak republic and the Slovak nation. In this case who was the "Republi c?" Nobody else but Dr. Edward Benes. And in this case who was the "Slovak nation"? Nobody else but the Slovak National Council (SNC) in Bratislav a, which was, accordin g to the Prague Agreement of June 1, 1945, not only the authorize d represen tative of the self-exist ence of the Slovak nation, but also the bearer of state power (legislativ e, administ rative and executive ) in Slovak territory ." This, then, is quite clear: the "Republi c" was Dr. Edward Benes, and the "Slovak nation" was the Slovak National Council. GEORGE DID IT! But nobody wanted to take the responsib ility for the ignomini ous death of Dr. Joseph Tiso. In the central organ of the Democra tic Party, "CAS" (Time), dated April 23, 1947, there appeared the article entitled "What Actually Happene d?" wherein the blackgua rds, who did their black and filthy duty, are cleansing themselv es. They want to shake of all responsib ility and place the whole blame on Prague, as if the sentence of death was pronounc ed against Tiso only "in the name of the Republic ," and not also "in the name of the Slovak nation." Dr. Tiso had appealed for mercy with the express remark, that he was asking it "only on moral grounds. " The newspap er "Cas" says that the chief prosecut or recommend ed the appeal for mercy to the National Court. But the National Court, with Dr. Daxner presiding , decided : "not to recomme nd mercy for Tiso." "The fate of the condemn ed Tiso," says "Cas", "was thus sealed; the execution was to follow in 48 hours.'' 44 SLOVAKIA THE PARAGRAPHS On the basis of what paragraphs was the fate of Tiso sealed? "Cas" tells us that it was on the basis of paragraph 19 of decree number 33-1945 of the Slovak National Council, in the sense of decree No. 57-1946 of the Colection of Decrees of the Slovak National Council. Therefore the Slovak National Council was responsible for the fact that Dr. Tiso had to be executed within 48 hours, because it had written, accepted and proclaimed such decrees and such paragraphs as the valid law in Slovak territory. The guilty party, then, was and still is the Slovak National Council. The Slovak National Council must have realized this, even though rather late, and its brain suddenly began to function. The gentlemen, proud of their paragraphs, had a concrete case before them: the life or death of Dr. Tiso. And it was then that their own paragraphs began to displease them. "According to the valid law," says CAS, "there now was no ground whereby anyone except the president of the Republic, might deal with the question of mercy." In this case the paragraphs of the SNC decrees, mentioned above, were responsible for that situation. THE SNC PEOPLE But the gentlemen of the Slovak National Council disregarded this fact and acted as if they actually were very much concerned with the saving of the life of Dr. Tiso. Without any legal foundation the National Court presented this appeal to the Trustee (Commissar) of the Judiciary (Dr. Stefanik), who in turn without any legal basis sent it on to the presidency of the SNC. And so it happened that the executive committee of the SNC had a session the day after sentence was pronounced, on April 16, and began to deliberate. It was then ascertained that "the views of the representatives of the Democratic and Communist parties were completely divergent on the question of granting mercy." The Democrats were for granting mercy and the Communists against. So the matter was returned to the Justice of the Supreme Court, whowithout any legal basis-prepared the motion in which he recommended the granting of mercy. SLOVAKIA 45 In the meantime the 48 hours were almost expended. The presidency of the Slovak National Council quickly took the Trustee's motion and sent it on to the central Government in Prague without adding a single word of recommendation. Let Prague plague itself with the whole case! Annas too once sent Christ to Caiphas, and Caiphas in turn sent him to Pilate. Everybody wanted to shake off all responsibility. PRAGUE: NO MERCY! The central Government in Prague thus received the Slovak motion: the Trustee of the Judiciary recommends mercy for Tiso; the presidency of the Slovak National Council presents this motion, but adds no comment to it for the central Government. "Cas" now wants to suggest to its readers what it forgot to suggest to the central Government, namely, that "The Trustee's presentation of the official notice to the Government to grant mercy is in accord also with the recommendation of the presidency of the Slovak National Council." The Pharisees in Prague, that is the central Government, convened at 5 p. m. on April 16th and debated whether they should present the plea for mercy to president Benes or not. The issue was balloted. The Ministers of the Democratic Party and sramek's Party (the Czech Catholic People's Party) voted for mercy, but the Communists, Social-Democratic Ministers, as well as those of Benes's Party (the Czech Nazi Party), voted against it. Since the Democrats and the followers of Sramek cast only 6 votes, they remained in the minority, and the motion of the majority of the central Government come to Benes: not to grant mercy to Tiso. DR. LETTRICH: NO CONTACT It was at this time that the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Joseph Lettrich, began to act-but again without any legal basis. "Cas" writes that "there were also many serious, non-political factoiis, for example, both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Church," that were for the granting of mercy. Our information, therefore, that not only the Catholic but even the Evangelical Bishops intervened to save Tiso's life, proved to be correct. On purely partisan-political grounds even Dr. Lettrich heeded 46 SLOVAKIA this pressure and personally began to intervene by calling directly to Benes's office. "Dr. Lettrich," writes CAS, "urgently called the president of the Republic, Benes, five times in the evening of April 16th so that he could explain to him just how the Democratic Party stow on the issue. The message was taken by the personal secretary of the President, Dr. skarvan." Thus, "the representative" of the Slovak nation, the president of the Slovak National Council, Dr. Lettrich, in an urgent matter, a matter in which both the Catholic Church and the Evangelical church were intervening, called the representative of the Republic, Dr. Benes, five times by phone. But "CAS" conveniently forgets to report just how many of those times Dr. Lettrich got Benes personally to the phone. "CAS" modestly reports that the "representative" of the Slovak nation spoke with the personal secretary of "Mr. President," Dr. i:3karvan. Behold the heights attained by the "representative" of the Slovak nation! He could tell young skarvan "how the Democratic Party stood on the issue" but he could not tell it to Benes! That really was a miserable and pitiful situation to be in. It shows how Dr. Benes, the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic, regards and values Dr. Lettrich, the representative of the Slovak nation. How different things were when Slovakia was represented by the Slovak autonomists! At that time president Dr. Emil Ha.cha set in Benes's place in the Prague Castle. Slovakia had two prime ministers, first Dr. Joseph Tiso, and then Karol Sidor. When Dr. Tiso or Sidor in Bratislava wanted to talk with president Ha.cha in Prague, they lifted the telephone receiver and forthwith had president Ha.cha on the other end of the telephone. There were no "personal secretaries" in between. The representatives of Slovakia spoke directly and without delay with the representative of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. We read in the proceedings of the Tiso trial that Dr. Tiso, as late as March 13, 1939, called Dr. Ha.cha from Berlin and spoke to him over the telephone personally. And here Lettrich calls president Benes five times, who does not answer him once, but leaves that matter to his personal secretary, Dr. skarvan . . . SLOVAKIA 47 DECREES MADE TO KILL Who, then, is responsible for the death of president Dr. Tiso? Blame it on the paragraphs, the decrees of the Slovak National Council. And who wrote those paragraphs? Dr. Lettrich and all the members of the SNC, therefore both the Democrats and the Communists who voted for them. These paragraphs were compiled to kill and not to protect Slovak lives. How many Slovaks already paid with their lives and how many hundreds of years of imprisonment were meted out to Slovaks on the basis of these paragraphs!? That, all of that, is the merit of the present representatives of Slovakia who wrote, accepted and voted for these paragraphs. Added to all of this, they themselves surrendered the right to grant mercy to those who shall be condemned on the basis of these, their paragraphs. When it became clear that Dr. Tiso would be tried, a new Prague Agreement was quickly concluded on April 11,1946. Its first article, point b) says: "The President of the Republic (Dr. Benes ) grants mercy even in Slovakia and that even in matters pertaining to the people's courts and the National Court." Dr. Martin Kvetko, in his book "Agreements" (issued in 1947 in Bratislava ) says the following about that paragraph on page 57: "Up to the time of this agreement-i. e. up to April 11, 1946-appeals of the convicted were decided by the presidency of the Slovak National Council. By the agreement the authority is correctly ( ! ! ) transferred to the President, so that even in this case the validity of the Constitution be renewed as the basis of state unity." So the gentlemen of the SNC were renewing "the validity of the Constitution" of 1920 that was centralistic and anti-Slovak; they were making "the foundation of state unity," so they surrendered, in the interests of Benes, the right to grant mercy to convicted Slovaks, and so they themselves destroyed the legal balSis, on the strength of which, up to April 11 , 1946, they could save the life of Dr. Tiso and the lives of so many other Slovaks without Benes and without the central Government, nay even against the will of Benes and against the will of the central Government! (April, 1947 )  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 Who Killed Dr. Tiso? Description An account of the resource Karol Sidor, writing as Paul Kotva Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 43-47 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sidor, Karol, 1901-1953 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/879ef97a8ddef8efe5a17a597364edab.pdf 37ea45531a30003441660b3ff95649be PDF Text Text 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso (In view of the trial of Msgr. Joseph Tiso, former President of Slovakia, the following letter addressed January 8, 1946 by the Bishops of Slovakia to the Slovak National Council is of particulad interest. ) N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE In the course of recent years, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia have often pleaded with government authorities on behalf of all who suffered, were imprisoned or persecuted. They did so for all, Catholics and non-Catholics. The example of the Divine Samaritan and His positive command inspired us and urged us to raise our protective voice in the interest of people who suffered pernecution for political reasons or even because of their race. We did so at a time when we had to expect nothing but various inconveniences for our intervention. In taking the liberty today of graciously recommending to your good will the fate of the former president Dr. Joseph Tiso, we do so inspired by the most noble example of all history, the command given in the Gospel and which we also have before us at the present hour. We are motivated not only by the fact that the case concerns a priest of the Catholic Church, but also because the disposition of his personal problem is bound to have a deep effect upon the sentiment and conduct of a part of the Slovak nation with regard to reconstituted CzechoSlovakia and her representatives. We are also urged to take this action by the reality, that is generally known and admitted by every objective observer, that Dr. Joseph Tiso has always been a zealous priest of unimpeachable character. In his extensive labors he always endeavored to work for the common good and never enriched himself thereby. The exercise of justice is one of the most difficult tasks of state authority. Experience teaches that this task, difficult enough in itself becomes an even more delicate one when it is concerned with political delicts. History shows �SLOVAKIA 4.1 how many burdensome fateful errors have been made particularly at political trials, since it is a most difficult task to judge impartially the activities of a political opponent. It is, therefore, by no means a rare occurence that after severe sentences were pronounced in political trials, a demand for their revision arose sooner or later. In judging the activities of a statesman, even his intentions must also be taken into consideration. The predominant majority of the Slovak people shares our convictions that Dr. Joseph Tiso in his public activity was animated by the best intentions. No doubt, mistakes were made. At the time, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia did not hesitate to call them to his attention. However, we must disregard the well-known fact that even the shrewdest politicians can commit very serious errors. Yet the unprejudiced observer, be he a contemporary or historian, can render objective judgment only if he takes into consideration the good and positive (elements) in the activities of a statesman. And this factor will often outweigh the errors committed by politicians as the result of their weakness. It will not be irrelevant to consider from another point of view the errors charged to Dr. Tiso. We graciously point at least to some of their circumstances. Recent declarations by the present governmental representatives make the incidents of zilina of October 1938* appear in a light different from that which party propaganda seeks to spread among the public. Even the press has shown that practically all Slovak political parties participated in these political changes. Attention must also be called to the important document which has been made public in the course of the Nuremberg trial, viz. the letter sent to Berlin by the former Magyar leader of the empire, Horthy, on March 13, 1939.** This important circumstance, too, throws a different light on the decisions made by Tiso and his regime on March 14, 1939. We must think what would have been the fate of the Slovak people if Horthy's plan had been carried through. We also know that after the publication of the antiJewish laws, Dr. Tiso was willing to resign the presidency. That he did not do so happened only because he tried to �42 SLOVAKIA hamper and alleviate the consequen ces of these decrees and also to prevent a greater evil. It is worth considerin g the fact that Tiso was unable to prevent what the government chief of Hungary, a country far larger and more independen t than Slovakia, equally failed to prevent. After considerin g all the circumstan ces it may also be possible to evaluate the other errors charged to Dr. Tiso (for instance, the war in the east, the events of August 29, 1944,***) in a manner different from that employed by a prejudiced propagand a. The entire Slovak public is following the developme nt situation concerning Dr. Tiso with keen interest, the of and the great majority is taking a negative stand to the efforts that would incite hatred against his person. This is bound to increase the unfortunat e division of the nation, which now should be united and exerting all its strength for reconstruc tion. A settlement of the Tiso case in a spirit of understand ing and without any unscrupulo us severity would be an accomplish ment of political vision and will greatly serve the peace of the nation. These higher motives prompt us to graciously ask you to consider our request and act favorably on it. Signatures : Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra; Bishop Joseph C<irsky of Kosice; Bishop Andrej skr<ibik, Banska Bystrica; Bishop Joseph Toman6cy, Bishop Karol Jantausch, and Bishop Edward Necsey, Auxiliary of Nitra. * On October 6, 1938, all parties except the Communists and Social Democrats, joined forces at 2ilina to demand emphatically the political autonomy of Slovakia, as it had been repeatedly stipulated in several agreements concluded between Czechs and Slovaks since 1914, v. i.: The Pittsburgh Agreement, etc. ** In the letter Horthy demanded the split-up of Slovakia among Germany, Hungary and Poland. *** The date referred to marks the "partisan" uprising in Slovakia which Dr. Tiso is accused of having failed to support. "The execution of Dr. Joseph Tiso, who loved his people and served them conscientious ly throughout his life, will undoubtedly inspire thousands of his brethren to continue the fight for the inherent and God-given rights of the Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947. � 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso (In view of the trial of Msgr. Joseph Tiso, former President of Slovakia, the following letter addressed January 8, 1946 by the Bishops of Slovakia to the Slovak National Council is of particulad interest. ) N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE In the course of recent years, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia have often pleaded with government authorities on behalf of all who suffered, were imprisoned or persecuted. They did so for all, Catholics and non-Catholics. The example of the Divine Samaritan and His positive command inspired us and urged us to raise our protective voice in the interest of people who suffered pernecution for political reasons or even because of their race. We did so at a time when we had to expect nothing but various inconveniences for our intervention. In taking the liberty today of graciously recommending to your good will the fate of the former president Dr. Joseph Tiso, we do so inspired by the most noble example of all history, the command given in the Gospel and which we also have before us at the present hour. We are motivated not only by the fact that the case concerns a priest of the Catholic Church, but also because the disposition of his personal problem is bound to have a deep effect upon the sentiment and conduct of a part of the Slovak nation with regard to reconstituted CzechoSlovakia and her representatives. We are also urged to take this action by the reality, that is generally known and admitted by every objective observer, that Dr. Joseph Tiso has always been a zealous priest of unimpeachable character. In his extensive labors he always endeavored to work for the common good and never enriched himself thereby. The exercise of justice is one of the most difficult tasks of state authority. Experience teaches that this task, difficult enough in itself becomes an even more delicate one when it is concerned with political delicts. History shows �SLOVAKIA 4.1 how many burdensome fateful errors have been made particularly at political trials, since it is a most difficult task to judge impartially the activities of a political opponent. It is, therefore, by no means a rare occurence that after severe sentences were pronounced in political trials, a demand for their revision arose sooner or later. In judging the activities of a statesman, even his intentions must also be taken into consideration. The predominant majority of the Slovak people shares our convictions that Dr. Joseph Tiso in his public activity was animated by the best intentions. No doubt, mistakes were made. At the time, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia did not hesitate to call them to his attention. However, we must disregard the well-known fact that even the shrewdest politicians can commit very serious errors. Yet the unprejudiced observer, be he a contemporary or historian, can render objective judgment only if he takes into consideration the good and positive (elements) in the activities of a statesman. And this factor will often outweigh the errors committed by politicians as the result of their weakness. It will not be irrelevant to consider from another point of view the errors charged to Dr. Tiso. We graciously point at least to some of their circumstances. Recent declarations by the present governmental representatives make the incidents of zilina of October 1938* appear in a light different from that which party propaganda seeks to spread among the public. Even the press has shown that practically all Slovak political parties participated in these political changes. Attention must also be called to the important document which has been made public in the course of the Nuremberg trial, viz. the letter sent to Berlin by the former Magyar leader of the empire, Horthy, on March 13, 1939.** This important circumstance, too, throws a different light on the decisions made by Tiso and his regime on March 14, 1939. We must think what would have been the fate of the Slovak people if Horthy's plan had been carried through. We also know that after the publication of the antiJewish laws, Dr. Tiso was willing to resign the presidency. That he did not do so happened only because he tried to �42 SLOVAKIA hamper and alleviate the consequen ces of these decrees and also to prevent a greater evil. It is worth considerin g the fact that Tiso was unable to prevent what the government chief of Hungary, a country far larger and more independen t than Slovakia, equally failed to prevent. After considerin g all the circumstan ces it may also be possible to evaluate the other errors charged to Dr. Tiso (for instance, the war in the east, the events of August 29, 1944,***) in a manner different from that employed by a prejudiced propagand a. The entire Slovak public is following the developme nt situation concerning Dr. Tiso with keen interest, the of and the great majority is taking a negative stand to the efforts that would incite hatred against his person. This is bound to increase the unfortunat e division of the nation, which now should be united and exerting all its strength for reconstruc tion. A settlement of the Tiso case in a spirit of understand ing and without any unscrupulo us severity would be an accomplish ment of political vision and will greatly serve the peace of the nation. These higher motives prompt us to graciously ask you to consider our request and act favorably on it. Signatures : Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra; Bishop Joseph C<irsky of Kosice; Bishop Andrej skr<ibik, Banska Bystrica; Bishop Joseph Toman6cy, Bishop Karol Jantausch, and Bishop Edward Necsey, Auxiliary of Nitra. * On October 6, 1938, all parties except the Communists and Social Democrats, joined forces at 2ilina to demand emphatically the political autonomy of Slovakia, as it had been repeatedly stipulated in several agreements concluded between Czechs and Slovaks since 1914, v. i.: The Pittsburgh Agreement, etc. ** In the letter Horthy demanded the split-up of Slovakia among Germany, Hungary and Poland. *** The date referred to marks the "partisan" uprising in Slovakia which Dr. Tiso is accused of having failed to support. "The execution of Dr. Joseph Tiso, who loved his people and served them conscientious ly throughout his life, will undoubtedly inspire thousands of his brethren to continue the fight for the inherent and God-given rights of the Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 40 SLOVAKIA Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso (In view of the trial of Msgr. Joseph Tiso, former President of Slovakia, the following letter addressed January 8, 1946 by the Bishops of Slovakia to the Slovak National Council is of particulad interest. ) N.C.W.C. NEWS SERVICE In the course of recent years, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia have often pleaded with government authorities on behalf of all who suffered, were imprisoned or persecuted. They did so for all, Catholics and non-Catholics. The example of the Divine Samaritan and His positive command inspired us and urged us to raise our protective voice in the interest of people who suffered pernecution for political reasons or even because of their race. We did so at a time when we had to expect nothing but various inconveniences for our intervention. In taking the liberty today of graciously recommending to your good will the fate of the former president Dr. Joseph Tiso, we do so inspired by the most noble example of all history, the command given in the Gospel and which we also have before us at the present hour. We are motivated not only by the fact that the case concerns a priest of the Catholic Church, but also because the disposition of his personal problem is bound to have a deep effect upon the sentiment and conduct of a part of the Slovak nation with regard to reconstituted CzechoSlovakia and her representatives. We are also urged to take this action by the reality, that is generally known and admitted by every objective observer, that Dr. Joseph Tiso has always been a zealous priest of unimpeachable character. In his extensive labors he always endeavored to work for the common good and never enriched himself thereby. The exercise of justice is one of the most difficult tasks of state authority. Experience teaches that this task, difficult enough in itself becomes an even more delicate one when it is concerned with political delicts. History shows SLOVAKIA 4.1 how many burdensome fateful errors have been made particularly at political trials, since it is a most difficult task to judge impartially the activities of a political opponent. It is, therefore, by no means a rare occurence that after severe sentences were pronounced in political trials, a demand for their revision arose sooner or later. In judging the activities of a statesman, even his intentions must also be taken into consideration. The predominant majority of the Slovak people shares our convictions that Dr. Joseph Tiso in his public activity was animated by the best intentions. No doubt, mistakes were made. At the time, the Catholic Bishops of Slovakia did not hesitate to call them to his attention. However, we must disregard the well-known fact that even the shrewdest politicians can commit very serious errors. Yet the unprejudiced observer, be he a contemporary or historian, can render objective judgment only if he takes into consideration the good and positive (elements) in the activities of a statesman. And this factor will often outweigh the errors committed by politicians as the result of their weakness. It will not be irrelevant to consider from another point of view the errors charged to Dr. Tiso. We graciously point at least to some of their circumstances. Recent declarations by the present governmental representatives make the incidents of zilina of October 1938* appear in a light different from that which party propaganda seeks to spread among the public. Even the press has shown that practically all Slovak political parties participated in these political changes. Attention must also be called to the important document which has been made public in the course of the Nuremberg trial, viz. the letter sent to Berlin by the former Magyar leader of the empire, Horthy, on March 13, 1939.** This important circumstance, too, throws a different light on the decisions made by Tiso and his regime on March 14, 1939. We must think what would have been the fate of the Slovak people if Horthy's plan had been carried through. We also know that after the publication of the antiJewish laws, Dr. Tiso was willing to resign the presidency. That he did not do so happened only because he tried to 42 SLOVAKIA hamper and alleviate the consequen ces of these decrees and also to prevent a greater evil. It is worth considerin g the fact that Tiso was unable to prevent what the government chief of Hungary, a country far larger and more independen t than Slovakia, equally failed to prevent. After considerin g all the circumstan ces it may also be possible to evaluate the other errors charged to Dr. Tiso (for instance, the war in the east, the events of August 29, 1944,***) in a manner different from that employed by a prejudiced propagand a. The entire Slovak public is following the developme nt situation concerning Dr. Tiso with keen interest, the of and the great majority is taking a negative stand to the efforts that would incite hatred against his person. This is bound to increase the unfortunat e division of the nation, which now should be united and exerting all its strength for reconstruc tion. A settlement of the Tiso case in a spirit of understand ing and without any unscrupulo us severity would be an accomplish ment of political vision and will greatly serve the peace of the nation. These higher motives prompt us to graciously ask you to consider our request and act favorably on it. Signatures : Archbishop Karol Kmet'ko of Nitra; Bishop Joseph C<irsky of Kosice; Bishop Andrej skr<ibik, Banska Bystrica; Bishop Joseph Toman6cy, Bishop Karol Jantausch, and Bishop Edward Necsey, Auxiliary of Nitra. * On October 6, 1938, all parties except the Communists and Social Democrats, joined forces at 2ilina to demand emphatically the political autonomy of Slovakia, as it had been repeatedly stipulated in several agreements concluded between Czechs and Slovaks since 1914, v. i.: The Pittsburgh Agreement, etc. ** In the letter Horthy demanded the split-up of Slovakia among Germany, Hungary and Poland. *** The date referred to marks the "partisan" uprising in Slovakia which Dr. Tiso is accused of having failed to support. "The execution of Dr. Joseph Tiso, who loved his people and served them conscientious ly throughout his life, will undoubtedly inspire thousands of his brethren to continue the fight for the inherent and God-given rights of the Slovak nation." - John Sabol, Secretary First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, April 30, 1947.  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 Slovak Bishops Appeal on Behalf of President Tiso Description An account of the resource N.C.W.C. News Service Letter by the Bishops of Slovakia to the Slovak National Council, January 8, 1946 Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 40-42 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4ec8e11c8b1fc6f94ef01661cfe32a13.pdf 52ccc3d69708367c24a03977de30ef70 PDF Text Text 36 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - Murder in Slovakia SPEECH OF HON. ALVINE. O'KONSKI OF WISCONSIN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 23, 1947 Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, the recent hanging by the Communists of Czecho-Slovakia of the brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso was murder in its most ghastly and shameful form. The brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso went the way of the immortal General Mihailovitch and the immortal Archbishop Stepinac, of Yugoslavia. On trumped-up charges, the Communists disposed of these brave men because they dared to oppose communism among their respective people. These murders will set the pattern of what will happen to all who have opposed communism wherever communism takes over. On trumped-up charges, they held a farce of a trial and sentenced Monsignor Tiso to be hanged. Imagine the joy in the hearts of the Communists when they succeeded and used the Czechoslovakian Government as a puppet to do their dirty murder for them. Yes; this is a modem tragedy, but there will be more like it as time goes on. But the hanging of Monsignor Tiso itself is not the greatest tragedy. The greatest tragedy is the silence by our American President and by our American State Department while this murder was going on. Our Government gave the Czecho-Slovak Government hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two years. We are going to give them millions of dollars more. Yet, with this giving of millions of dollars to the Government of Czecho-Slovakia, our President and our State Department are not even men enough to stand up and protest against the murder by the Soviets. All of this leads me to believe that the leaders of our country in the White House and in our State Department no longer understand the meaning of the term "honor". Monsignor Tiso is dead. He was murdered. While he was murdered America was silent. The day is not very distant when these American leaders will regret their �SLOVAKIA 37 silence. The day may come and may be too soon when these leaders who were so shamefully silent will be treated the same way that Monsignor Tiso and Archbishop Stepinac and General Mihailovitch were treated. Then maybe there will be protests. But then it will be too late. Frankly, I do not think America could have saved the life of Monsignor Tiso. But I am ashamed that my country did not even have the decency and honor to file a protest - just for the record. By some miracle such a protest might have at least postponed the execution. Here in America our officials grant our basest criminals a stay of execution. The least that our national leaders could have done is file a plea for the same consideration for a Christian lover of freedom - Monsignor Tiso - whose only crime was that he hated communism just as he hated nazism. But America remains silent and murder has free sway. SPEECH OF HON. RAY J. MADDEN OF INDIANA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, March 31, 1947 Mr. MADDEN. Mr. Speaker, America and all libertyloving nations should at this time concentrate against international situations which might bring about war in the future. I have, on several occasions, stated on the floor of Congress that the application of the principles of the Atlantic Charter is our greatest antidote for future peace. Self-government, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion is as essential for smaller countries as it is for the larger nations. Our Nation, during World War II, spent billions of dollars and sacrificed in lives and casualties to preserve the above principles in order to insure liberty and future peace. Since VJ-day, aggression and tyranny has again been launched in certain areas of Europe. The latest example of persecution, unfair trial, and threatened execution for political belief is that of Dr. Joseph Tiso, former President of the Interim Republic of Slovakia. Dr. Tiso has been acclaimed a hero in the eyes of nearly all the people of Slovakia and the prevailing majority of Americans of Slovak ancestry. My attention has been called to the fact that over 80 percent of the Slovak American fraternal �38 SLOVAKIA organizations have forthrightly declared themselves to be of the opinion that Tiso was a hero in the defense of the best interests of the Slovak people. During his presidency, Slovakia thrived, progressed, and developed internally more than it had during any five years of the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The communistic control now over the country of Slovakia will execute Dr. Tiso, a political prisoner, 1,1nless our Government intervenes. This communistic control is inflicted upon the people of Slovakia in spite of the fact that the election of May 26, 1946, gave over 64 percent of the total vote cast against the present government. The press is likewise controlled, at least to the extent that the newspapers cannot publish what they think. This is evidenced in the fact that four American newpapers have been barred in Slovakia. The present communistic government will brook no freedom of political thought; though the people voted for Christian democracy, they received totalitarian communism. The archbishop of Slovakia testified at the trial of Dr . Tiso. He is and has been a respected member not only of the hierarchy in Czecho-Slovakia, but of the official family of Czecho-Slovakia, including its President, Edward Benes. Appearing as a witness for Dr. Tiso, the archbishop testified that: "Tiso acted and worked in the interest of Slovakia and was never a traitor, and that his election as President of Slovakia was the will of 90 percent of the Slovaks at that time and was acclaimed by the bishops, priests, and ministers of both the Catholic and Protestant churches." It is apparent that Czecho-Slovakia has been re-created with the aid of Moscow and that Moscow will unboubtedly demand the extinction of Slovak national leaders of ability and high intellect. The ways of the Communists are devious and it behooves us to understand more of the Slovakian situation. In the meantime, the least that freedom loving nations can aisk is that the so-called peoples courts in the Communist-dominated countries in eastern Europe, refrain from any further political executions or from liquidating political opposition by long-term imprisonment as in the case of Archbishop Stepinac. All of this adds up to the price we will have to pay to aid in the establishing of true democracy in the countries of eastern Europe to insure world peace. �SLOVAKIA 39 In supporting President Truman's International program, we cannot be unmindful of what is happening throughout this region in Europe, comprising over 100 million Christians who have nothing in common with communism. We have heard of political executions, imprisonment, and banishment of outstanding citizens in Poland, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and other small countries. Thousands of brave Polish soldiers who fought to stamp out fascism are now prohibited from returning to their native Poland by a communistic controlled government. Americans are asking the question "do we not have at least a moral obligation to voice our protest against such trials and executions?" The judge who presided at the .trial of Dr. Tiso, previous to the trial , vowed personal vengeance on Tiso and was provided the opportunity by being placed in charge of the case. These facts, though not appearing in the American press releases, are not disputed. Almost upanimously, the people of Slovak descent in America, are rising in protest to the impending execution of Dr. Tiso. I ask the Members of Congress to join with me in protesting this unjust conviction by interceding with President Truman and Secretary Marshall to use their good offices to prevent this. injustice. We might well apply the words of the Honorable Judge Robert H . Jackson: "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. • • • You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal guilt. * * * If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso of Slovakia is an attempt to execute the principles of Christian democracy. It is supposed to be the death knell :for Slovak freedom. Msgr. Tiso was executed for defending the inherent rights of his people. Tiso shall go down in history as a martyr and Dr. Bene~ as a modern Pilate." - Rt. Rev. Msgr. F. J . D u bosh, Lakewood , Ohio, April 30, 1947. � 36 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - Murder in Slovakia SPEECH OF HON. ALVINE. O'KONSKI OF WISCONSIN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 23, 1947 Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, the recent hanging by the Communists of Czecho-Slovakia of the brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso was murder in its most ghastly and shameful form. The brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso went the way of the immortal General Mihailovitch and the immortal Archbishop Stepinac, of Yugoslavia. On trumped-up charges, the Communists disposed of these brave men because they dared to oppose communism among their respective people. These murders will set the pattern of what will happen to all who have opposed communism wherever communism takes over. On trumped-up charges, they held a farce of a trial and sentenced Monsignor Tiso to be hanged. Imagine the joy in the hearts of the Communists when they succeeded and used the Czechoslovakian Government as a puppet to do their dirty murder for them. Yes; this is a modem tragedy, but there will be more like it as time goes on. But the hanging of Monsignor Tiso itself is not the greatest tragedy. The greatest tragedy is the silence by our American President and by our American State Department while this murder was going on. Our Government gave the Czecho-Slovak Government hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two years. We are going to give them millions of dollars more. Yet, with this giving of millions of dollars to the Government of Czecho-Slovakia, our President and our State Department are not even men enough to stand up and protest against the murder by the Soviets. All of this leads me to believe that the leaders of our country in the White House and in our State Department no longer understand the meaning of the term "honor". Monsignor Tiso is dead. He was murdered. While he was murdered America was silent. The day is not very distant when these American leaders will regret their �SLOVAKIA 37 silence. The day may come and may be too soon when these leaders who were so shamefully silent will be treated the same way that Monsignor Tiso and Archbishop Stepinac and General Mihailovitch were treated. Then maybe there will be protests. But then it will be too late. Frankly, I do not think America could have saved the life of Monsignor Tiso. But I am ashamed that my country did not even have the decency and honor to file a protest - just for the record. By some miracle such a protest might have at least postponed the execution. Here in America our officials grant our basest criminals a stay of execution. The least that our national leaders could have done is file a plea for the same consideration for a Christian lover of freedom - Monsignor Tiso - whose only crime was that he hated communism just as he hated nazism. But America remains silent and murder has free sway. SPEECH OF HON. RAY J. MADDEN OF INDIANA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, March 31, 1947 Mr. MADDEN. Mr. Speaker, America and all libertyloving nations should at this time concentrate against international situations which might bring about war in the future. I have, on several occasions, stated on the floor of Congress that the application of the principles of the Atlantic Charter is our greatest antidote for future peace. Self-government, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion is as essential for smaller countries as it is for the larger nations. Our Nation, during World War II, spent billions of dollars and sacrificed in lives and casualties to preserve the above principles in order to insure liberty and future peace. Since VJ-day, aggression and tyranny has again been launched in certain areas of Europe. The latest example of persecution, unfair trial, and threatened execution for political belief is that of Dr. Joseph Tiso, former President of the Interim Republic of Slovakia. Dr. Tiso has been acclaimed a hero in the eyes of nearly all the people of Slovakia and the prevailing majority of Americans of Slovak ancestry. My attention has been called to the fact that over 80 percent of the Slovak American fraternal �38 SLOVAKIA organizations have forthrightly declared themselves to be of the opinion that Tiso was a hero in the defense of the best interests of the Slovak people. During his presidency, Slovakia thrived, progressed, and developed internally more than it had during any five years of the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The communistic control now over the country of Slovakia will execute Dr. Tiso, a political prisoner, 1,1nless our Government intervenes. This communistic control is inflicted upon the people of Slovakia in spite of the fact that the election of May 26, 1946, gave over 64 percent of the total vote cast against the present government. The press is likewise controlled, at least to the extent that the newspapers cannot publish what they think. This is evidenced in the fact that four American newpapers have been barred in Slovakia. The present communistic government will brook no freedom of political thought; though the people voted for Christian democracy, they received totalitarian communism. The archbishop of Slovakia testified at the trial of Dr . Tiso. He is and has been a respected member not only of the hierarchy in Czecho-Slovakia, but of the official family of Czecho-Slovakia, including its President, Edward Benes. Appearing as a witness for Dr. Tiso, the archbishop testified that: "Tiso acted and worked in the interest of Slovakia and was never a traitor, and that his election as President of Slovakia was the will of 90 percent of the Slovaks at that time and was acclaimed by the bishops, priests, and ministers of both the Catholic and Protestant churches." It is apparent that Czecho-Slovakia has been re-created with the aid of Moscow and that Moscow will unboubtedly demand the extinction of Slovak national leaders of ability and high intellect. The ways of the Communists are devious and it behooves us to understand more of the Slovakian situation. In the meantime, the least that freedom loving nations can aisk is that the so-called peoples courts in the Communist-dominated countries in eastern Europe, refrain from any further political executions or from liquidating political opposition by long-term imprisonment as in the case of Archbishop Stepinac. All of this adds up to the price we will have to pay to aid in the establishing of true democracy in the countries of eastern Europe to insure world peace. �SLOVAKIA 39 In supporting President Truman's International program, we cannot be unmindful of what is happening throughout this region in Europe, comprising over 100 million Christians who have nothing in common with communism. We have heard of political executions, imprisonment, and banishment of outstanding citizens in Poland, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and other small countries. Thousands of brave Polish soldiers who fought to stamp out fascism are now prohibited from returning to their native Poland by a communistic controlled government. Americans are asking the question "do we not have at least a moral obligation to voice our protest against such trials and executions?" The judge who presided at the .trial of Dr. Tiso, previous to the trial , vowed personal vengeance on Tiso and was provided the opportunity by being placed in charge of the case. These facts, though not appearing in the American press releases, are not disputed. Almost upanimously, the people of Slovak descent in America, are rising in protest to the impending execution of Dr. Tiso. I ask the Members of Congress to join with me in protesting this unjust conviction by interceding with President Truman and Secretary Marshall to use their good offices to prevent this. injustice. We might well apply the words of the Honorable Judge Robert H . Jackson: "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. • • • You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal guilt. * * * If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso of Slovakia is an attempt to execute the principles of Christian democracy. It is supposed to be the death knell :for Slovak freedom. Msgr. Tiso was executed for defending the inherent rights of his people. Tiso shall go down in history as a martyr and Dr. Bene~ as a modern Pilate." - Rt. Rev. Msgr. F. J . D u bosh, Lakewood , Ohio, April 30, 1947. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 36 SLOVAKIA - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - - - - - - - - - - Murder in Slovakia SPEECH OF HON. ALVINE. O'KONSKI OF WISCONSIN IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wednesday, April 23, 1947 Mr. O'KONSKI. Mr. Speaker, the recent hanging by the Communists of Czecho-Slovakia of the brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso was murder in its most ghastly and shameful form. The brave and gallant Monsignor Joseph Tiso went the way of the immortal General Mihailovitch and the immortal Archbishop Stepinac, of Yugoslavia. On trumped-up charges, the Communists disposed of these brave men because they dared to oppose communism among their respective people. These murders will set the pattern of what will happen to all who have opposed communism wherever communism takes over. On trumped-up charges, they held a farce of a trial and sentenced Monsignor Tiso to be hanged. Imagine the joy in the hearts of the Communists when they succeeded and used the Czechoslovakian Government as a puppet to do their dirty murder for them. Yes; this is a modem tragedy, but there will be more like it as time goes on. But the hanging of Monsignor Tiso itself is not the greatest tragedy. The greatest tragedy is the silence by our American President and by our American State Department while this murder was going on. Our Government gave the Czecho-Slovak Government hundreds of millions of dollars in the past two years. We are going to give them millions of dollars more. Yet, with this giving of millions of dollars to the Government of Czecho-Slovakia, our President and our State Department are not even men enough to stand up and protest against the murder by the Soviets. All of this leads me to believe that the leaders of our country in the White House and in our State Department no longer understand the meaning of the term "honor". Monsignor Tiso is dead. He was murdered. While he was murdered America was silent. The day is not very distant when these American leaders will regret their SLOVAKIA 37 silence. The day may come and may be too soon when these leaders who were so shamefully silent will be treated the same way that Monsignor Tiso and Archbishop Stepinac and General Mihailovitch were treated. Then maybe there will be protests. But then it will be too late. Frankly, I do not think America could have saved the life of Monsignor Tiso. But I am ashamed that my country did not even have the decency and honor to file a protest - just for the record. By some miracle such a protest might have at least postponed the execution. Here in America our officials grant our basest criminals a stay of execution. The least that our national leaders could have done is file a plea for the same consideration for a Christian lover of freedom - Monsignor Tiso - whose only crime was that he hated communism just as he hated nazism. But America remains silent and murder has free sway. SPEECH OF HON. RAY J. MADDEN OF INDIANA IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Monday, March 31, 1947 Mr. MADDEN. Mr. Speaker, America and all libertyloving nations should at this time concentrate against international situations which might bring about war in the future. I have, on several occasions, stated on the floor of Congress that the application of the principles of the Atlantic Charter is our greatest antidote for future peace. Self-government, freedom of thought, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion is as essential for smaller countries as it is for the larger nations. Our Nation, during World War II, spent billions of dollars and sacrificed in lives and casualties to preserve the above principles in order to insure liberty and future peace. Since VJ-day, aggression and tyranny has again been launched in certain areas of Europe. The latest example of persecution, unfair trial, and threatened execution for political belief is that of Dr. Joseph Tiso, former President of the Interim Republic of Slovakia. Dr. Tiso has been acclaimed a hero in the eyes of nearly all the people of Slovakia and the prevailing majority of Americans of Slovak ancestry. My attention has been called to the fact that over 80 percent of the Slovak American fraternal 38 SLOVAKIA organizations have forthrightly declared themselves to be of the opinion that Tiso was a hero in the defense of the best interests of the Slovak people. During his presidency, Slovakia thrived, progressed, and developed internally more than it had during any five years of the existence of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. The communistic control now over the country of Slovakia will execute Dr. Tiso, a political prisoner, 1,1nless our Government intervenes. This communistic control is inflicted upon the people of Slovakia in spite of the fact that the election of May 26, 1946, gave over 64 percent of the total vote cast against the present government. The press is likewise controlled, at least to the extent that the newspapers cannot publish what they think. This is evidenced in the fact that four American newpapers have been barred in Slovakia. The present communistic government will brook no freedom of political thought; though the people voted for Christian democracy, they received totalitarian communism. The archbishop of Slovakia testified at the trial of Dr . Tiso. He is and has been a respected member not only of the hierarchy in Czecho-Slovakia, but of the official family of Czecho-Slovakia, including its President, Edward Benes. Appearing as a witness for Dr. Tiso, the archbishop testified that: "Tiso acted and worked in the interest of Slovakia and was never a traitor, and that his election as President of Slovakia was the will of 90 percent of the Slovaks at that time and was acclaimed by the bishops, priests, and ministers of both the Catholic and Protestant churches." It is apparent that Czecho-Slovakia has been re-created with the aid of Moscow and that Moscow will unboubtedly demand the extinction of Slovak national leaders of ability and high intellect. The ways of the Communists are devious and it behooves us to understand more of the Slovakian situation. In the meantime, the least that freedom loving nations can aisk is that the so-called peoples courts in the Communist-dominated countries in eastern Europe, refrain from any further political executions or from liquidating political opposition by long-term imprisonment as in the case of Archbishop Stepinac. All of this adds up to the price we will have to pay to aid in the establishing of true democracy in the countries of eastern Europe to insure world peace. SLOVAKIA 39 In supporting President Truman's International program, we cannot be unmindful of what is happening throughout this region in Europe, comprising over 100 million Christians who have nothing in common with communism. We have heard of political executions, imprisonment, and banishment of outstanding citizens in Poland, Lithuania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and other small countries. Thousands of brave Polish soldiers who fought to stamp out fascism are now prohibited from returning to their native Poland by a communistic controlled government. Americans are asking the question "do we not have at least a moral obligation to voice our protest against such trials and executions?" The judge who presided at the .trial of Dr. Tiso, previous to the trial , vowed personal vengeance on Tiso and was provided the opportunity by being placed in charge of the case. These facts, though not appearing in the American press releases, are not disputed. Almost upanimously, the people of Slovak descent in America, are rising in protest to the impending execution of Dr. Tiso. I ask the Members of Congress to join with me in protesting this unjust conviction by interceding with President Truman and Secretary Marshall to use their good offices to prevent this. injustice. We might well apply the words of the Honorable Judge Robert H . Jackson: "All experience teaches that there are certain things you cannot do under the guise of judicial trial. • • • You must put no man on trial before anything that is called a court, if you are not prepared to establish his personal guilt. * * * If you are determined to execute a man in any case, there is no occasion for trial. The world yields no respect to courts that are merely organized to convict." "The execution of Msgr. Joseph Tiso of Slovakia is an attempt to execute the principles of Christian democracy. It is supposed to be the death knell :for Slovak freedom. Msgr. Tiso was executed for defending the inherent rights of his people. Tiso shall go down in history as a martyr and Dr. Bene~ as a modern Pilate." - Rt. Rev. Msgr. F. J . D u bosh, Lakewood , Ohio, April 30, 1947.  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 Murder in Slovakia Description An account of the resource Speech of Hon. Alvin E. O'Konski of Wisconsin in the House of Representatives, April 23, 1947; Speech of Hon. Ray J. Madden of Indiana in the House of Representatives, March 31, 1947 Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 36-39 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource O'Konski, Alvin E. (Alvin Edward), 1904-1987 Madden, Ray J. (Ray John), 1892-1987 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/12fbcd8e208aada60c83b04755363215.pdf adece9da441311731c67bae9a61dec0e PDF Text Text 26 SLOVAKIA Msgr. Joseph Tiso By Fran{;Ois d 'O r Ci Val ( This is the English translation of Mr. FranQois d'Orcival's article originally published in French, in the July 1971 issue of the magazine "Miroir de l'Histoire", Paris. The young French political writer has dealt with the cause of Slovak independence in his book " Le Danube etait noir" (The Danube was black), La Table Ronde, Paris 1968. In France, he represents a realistic trend seeking to de-mythologize European history. Ed.) At dawn on April 18, 1947 the bridge over the Danube was shrouded in fog as Msgr. Joseph Tiso concluded his prayer in the central prison of Bratislava and donned his black serge robe with the prisoner's red armband and the churchman's white collar. He had been condemned to death on April 15 and on April 17 reprieve had been denied. A Franciscan father had been sent to accompany him on his final journey. Msgr. Tiso was 59. He had been born in Bytca in the valley of the Vah, which cuts through the Carpathians and where the mountains and the forest always wear autumn color. He was a sturdy, well-built man with broad shoulders, closely-cropped hair and a serene expression, with the rough-hewn features of a solid man of the people. He had been the leader of an autonomous Slovak government from October 6, 1938 to March 10, 1939, then head of independent Slovakia from March 14, 1939 to Easter of 1945. That year when spring returned to the Tatras the bells of Rome were silent. Malinovsky's forces were scouring the countryside. In Bohemia the Wehrmacht was retreating. Msgr. Tiso and his government distributed to their people the flour remaining in the state granaries, then went into exile. The Americans arrested Msgr. Tiso in October 1945, extradited him from Austria and turned him over to Dr. Edward Benes, who had once again become Czecho-Slovakia's leader. �SLOVAKIA 27 The preliminary examination in the Tiso trial began December 3. The bill of indictment contained 230 pages and was prepared by three attorneys specializing in general matters, political guestions and military affairs. 42 witnesses were subpoenaed by the prosecution. Igor Daxner, a Protestant Slovak communist, was selected to preside over the people's court, assisted by Bedrna, a Czech communist. Five of the seven members of the court were communists. The first day of the hearing the authorities, fearing street demonstratio ns and riots, ringed Bratislava with soldiers; they also controlled access to public buildings and took strong security precautions at the Palace of Justice. At first the press was allowed to report the testimony of witnesses and some of Msgr. Tiso's statements but soon, realizing that popular sentiment remained too favorable to the former president of independent Slovakia, the government censored all news reports of the trial. The Catholic bishops, evidencing outstanding courage, published on January 3, 1946 a petition in the prisoner's behalf. "His fate", they declared, "will strongly influence a portion of the Slovak population in its attitude towards the reconstituted Czecho-Slovak Republic." The majority of the nation concurs with its bishops in believing Dr. Tiso's intentions to have been pure and good. The prosecutor summoned Karol Kmet'ko, archbishop of Slovakia, who paused to shake hands with the defendant on his way to the witness stand to answer the prosecutor's questions. "What did the Slovak state accomplish for the people?" he was asked. "Can you think of any nation which does not long for independence ?" replied archbishop Kmet'ko and continued: "Can you imagine an unfortunate people who would not rather have their own homes than depend on others?" "But", the prosecutor insisted, "this independence was actually dependence!" "No!" replied archbishop Kmet'ko. "It was ten times less damaging than the Protectorate ( of Bohemia and Moravia)!" "How could you approve of Msgr. Tiso's assumption of office?" the prosecutor then asked, and the archbishop �28 SLOVAKIA responded: "When the independence of the Slovak state was proclaimed I can affirm that the country and its people were 90 % in favor of it. We rediscovered the independence and the freedom which had been lost since the time of King Svatopluk." For those with the borders of the German and Slovak world that story goes back to the early period of the Middle Ages. In a study entitled "The Slovaks: A People; A Nation" Professor Joseph A. Mikus, one of the youngest diplomats of the independent Slovak state and currently professor in an American college, writes: It was Prince Pribina in the year 830 iwho conquered the West Slovak tribes and governed them from his castle in Nitra. His successors, Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk extended their rule over the neighboring ,t erritories. In the second half of the ninth century the Czech lands (Bohemia and Moravia) were also subjugated by the Slovak king, Svatopluk. However, shortly thereafter the Czechs appealed to the German monarchs for help and were able to free themselves from Greater Moravia. After a c,o alition of Germans and Hungarians had defeated Mojmir II near Bratislava in 906, Slovakia was occupied by the Hungarians while the Czechs full under the domination of the Germans. Although Slovakia became an integral part of the Hungarian realm, the Premyslides rwere able to elevate the principality of Bohemia to a kingdom whose ruler became one of the electors of the German Empire. During the Turkish invasions Slovakia or Upper Hungary became the impregnable fortress of the realm. The Hungarian parliaments were still meeting in Bratislava during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was here, too, in Saint Martin's cathedral that the coronation of the Hungarian kings took place. On the other hand, after the defeat of the Czech Protestants at the White Mountain in 1620, the kingdom of Bohemia became an integral part of Austria's hereditary possessions. Even after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the Czechs remained under Austrian control and the Slovaks under Hungarian rule. Thus Czechs and Slovaks had never been united under one government before 1918. They were separated by the Carpathians. Bohemia was Protestant; Slovakia Catholic. The Czechs and the Germans had made Prague, the Bohemian capitol, one of the most cultured cities of Europe. The Slovaks, by contrast, boasted neither elite nor aristocracy; they were peasants and good soldiers. Although they lacked lords and commanders, the Slovaks nevertheless had their churchmen. One of these, �SLOVAKIA 29 Father Hlinka, born in 1864, was pastor at Ruzomberok, a big market-town situated in northern Slovakia between the Fatras and the Lower Tatras. He began his political ministry in 1905, fought for the autonomy of Slovakia, and founded the Slovak Populist party. In Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 a Belgrade high school student assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne. On the same day in Prague the cry arose: "Down with the Hapsburgs! Down with AustriaHungary!" This was the cry of two atheist Czech socialists: the first a sociology professor at the University of Prague and leftist deputy to the Diet of Vienna, 64 year old Thomas Masaryk and the second, his 30 year old disciple, Edward Benes, doctor of laws. Of the 534 deputies representing all the nationalities of the empire the Czechs numbered 107, yet not one took up the cry of Masaryk and Benes. Repudiated, the two delegates left Prague secretly for Paris and London, where they founded a Czech National Committee, which in 1917 was transformed into a provisional government. A year later the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, attacked from within. In Slovakia Father Hlinka declared in 1918: "Our thousand-year marriage with the Magyars is ending in disaster. We must sever our ties with them!" The Slovaks were welcomed by the Czechs, who promised them freedom. The official birth of Czecho-Slovakia was proclaimed on October 28, 1918. It was the triumph of Masaryk and Benes after four years of exile. According to international law Czecho-Slovakia did not come into being until the treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, September 10, 1919. Comprising Bohemia and Moravia in the west, Slovakia and Lower Subcarpathian Ukraine in the east, the country had an area of 140,000 square kilometers. The population was 13.6 million, of whom 6.5 million were Czech, 2.5 million Slovak, 3.3 million German and the rest Magyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities. It was a mosaic of nationalities. In dismembering Austria-Hungary the western diplomats at Saint-Germain-en-Laye hoped to isolate Germany from Russia by a "cordon sanitaire" composed of newly allied states: Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Rumania, Jugoslavia. But the Hapsburg dynasty, the unifying influence over all these states, was gone; the Danube countries of Europe �30 SLOVAKIA were destined once again to become the battleground of endless struggles. Masaryk and Benes had another plan. Realizing that they could not expect to found an independent Bohemia with only 6.5 million Czechs in a territory including 3.3 million Germans, they invented the fiction of a state which joined together the Czechs and Slovaks, a Czecho-Slovak state with 9 million inhabitants, who counterbalanced the 3 million Germans. The Slovaks accepted the new state on condition that it be federated and Benes assured them: "The Czecho-Slovakia of tomorrow will be the Switzerland of Central Europe. I guarantee it." However, from late 1918 onward Czech soldiers occupied Slovak territory to maintain order and Slovakia was not federated but annexed. After the soldiers came the bureaucrats. All the former Czech officials of the Empire, dismissed from Vienna and Budapest, descended on Bratislava. New teachers appeared in Slovak schools to teach Czech, which incited antiCatholic demonstrations in the villages. In September 1919 Father Hlinka, leader of the Catholic Populist party, went to the Paris peace conference with a long memorandum which began with these words: "Never has a nation been so cruelly deceived in its hopes as the Slovak nation." The Czech army also intervened energetically in Bohemia, but against the Sudeten Germans this time. (The Sudeten mountains are located in northern BohemiaMoravia.) As in Slovakia the Czech central government proceeded with an intense "czechization" of the administration, the economy, the schools and the police of the German regions. In the elections of 1935 the autonomists polled a majority in Slovakia, while in Bohemia the Germans had organized their own party. Their leader, Henlein, made contact with Hitler, who soon used the Sudeten Germans as one of the principal points of the propaganda. The German action and the diplomatic intervention of the British brought about a meeting in Munich of the four great powers of the time (Germany, Italy, Britain and France) on the Sudeten question. Through the Munich agreement the Germans of Czecho-Slovakia obtained on September 30, 1938 the right to regain their German �SLOVAKIA 31 fatherland. This development caused the loss of a strip of 25,000 square kilometers on the north-west frontier of the Czecho-Slovak state and a simultaneous loss of nearly 4 million inhabitants. As a consequence of this defeat Dr. Edward Benes, leader of the Czech government, resigned on October 5, 1938 and left Prague. The next day, October 6, at zilina, a little town situated in western Slovakia quite far from Prague, the leaders of Slovak parties assembled to proclaim the autonomy of their land, claiming the right defined in the Munich agreement-the right of nations to determine their own destiny. Father Hlinka's successor as head of the Populist and Autonomist party announced: "The Munich agreement has profoundly altered the political positions and the relations of the different states of central Europe. We Slovaks desire the freedom to determine our future, particularly in respect to the administration of our state." That very evening the first autonomous Slovak government was formed and its presidency entrusted to the new leader of the autonomous Populist party, Msgr. Tiso. zilina was a town Msgr. Tiso knew well, for in its schools he had learned to read and write. He had then enrolled in the seminary at Nitra, where in the year 833 Prince Pribina had erected the first Christian Church in Slovakia at the base of the Slovak central mountains. Joseph Tiso had completed his studies of ethics and theology at the University of Vienna. He was ordained July 14, 1910 and the same year received the degree of doctor of theology. In 1914 he became military chaplain. The following year he wa.s called back to Nitra to teach during the absence of professors who had gone to war. About 1920 he joined Father Hlinka, the founder of the Autonomist party and was assigned to the parish at Banovce, which is on the Bebrava river at the southern point of the hills of the Patras. Here began his public life. He was always to be a man of his word, loyal to his faith and to his land. To his parishioners he was a protector against the devil, as in ancient times. General Sirovy, head of the central government of Prague since the departure of Dr. Benes, assented to the setting-up of the Slovak cabinet. For Msgr. Tiso the most �32 SLOVAKIA difficult problem involved the frontiers, for the Magyars were making claims, as were the Poles and the Germans. On November 2, 1938 in Vienna an agreement was signed. The Magyars received the regions of Slovakia where the majority of the people were Magyar, the Poles received Teschen, and the Germans received a suburb of Petrzalka near Bratislava on the Danube. Elections took place in Slovakia on November 18, 1938 and the Autonomist candidates received 97 .5 ~c of the vote. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic having died at Munich two months previously, a second Republic came into being on November 30, federated and under the presidency of Dr. Ha.cha, a slight, 66 year old man in delicate health, who spoke with a marked Bohemian accent. In spite of the creation of a federated Republic, the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks did not improve. A latent crisis kept them in conflict until February 1939, when the real crisis began. The Slovaks needed credit, but the Czechs refused it on the pretext that the Slovaks were disloyal to the republic. Finally on March 9, 1939 Dr. Ha.cha ousted Msgr. Tiso and his colleagues from their positions and at dawn on March 10, 1939 Slovakia was occupied by Czech police and soldiers-that is, by the "federals". Martial law was proclaimed; the local militia was dissolved. Msgr. Tiso withdrew to his rectory in Banovce and waited. German diplomacy, which had been very active since the departure of Dr. Benes, intervened, trying to crush the Czech coup in Slovakia so that the Slovaks would clearly separate themselves from the Czechs and put an end to the existence of this unified country situated in the heart of the German Reich. After several vain attempts the Reich representatives in Vienna, Seyss-Inquart and Buerckel, made contact with Msgr. Tiso; two of their secret agents came to Banovce the night of March 12 to 13, 1939 to extend an invitation from Hitler. Msgr . Tiso, waking with a start, was at first stunned, suspecting a trap. Then he acquiesced but requested a delay. Hitler frightened him and yet he knew that Berlin was the city of destiny at that moment. Finally, after conferring with his friends, he flew to Berlin. Even after 6 months of heading an �SLOVAKIA 33 autonomous government he had remained essentially a fighter-priest of the country and now resembled a Poujadist cleric on his way to see Dracula. On the evening of March 13 Hitler and Tiso agreed that Slovakia would declare her independence the next day. Hitler, moreover, convinced of an impending assault by Benes to regain power in Prague, had already decided to invade Bohemia on March 15. Msgr. Tiso hesitated at length before being convinced. He returned to Bratislava, convened the Assembly and formed a new cabinet. His cabinet ministers were not appointed by the Reich ambassadors but were simply those who had been Autonomist Slovak leaders for the previous ten or twenty years. At noon on Tuesday, March 14 the Assembly by unanimous vote severed Slovakia from the rest of Czech nation. This declaration had been accelerated by the German action but would have been less effective without the Czech coup on March 10. Dr. Ha.cha reached Berlin the same day in a state of exhaustion to entreat the Fuhrer on behalf of his people but the Fuhrer did not yield. On March 15, two hours before the first columns of the Wehrmacht re '.:'.ched Bohemia, President Ha.cha signed the capitulation: "The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic has confidently placed the destiny of the Czech people and the Czech lands in the hands of the Fuhrer of the German Reich ... " On March 16, while the German protectorate was being established in Bohemia-Moravia, Msgr. Tiso, leader of independent Slovakia, sought the protection of the Reich and signed a treaty which, without specifying occupation of Slovak territory, rendered the country a satellite. Hungary, with the support of Italy, invaded Subcarpathian Ukraine and a strip along the eastern border of Slovakia. Thus was the Czecho-Slovakia of 1919 stricken from the map. During the 5 years of the war Msgr. Tiso did not involve the country in the conflict ( except for sending volunteers to the Polish front). He declared his sympathy for the Reich while pursuing a neutral policy in Rome in order to protect his exports and his country's uncertain future. Msgr. Tiso's Slovakia was a curiously sad spectacle, encircled by Germany, protected by the Vatican, never �34 SLOVAKIA truly free but never quite occupied. Until 1944 she was indeed the Switzerland of the Danube basin, the "marketplace of Provence" of the Carpathian region. In August 1944 the internal calm was shattered by ill-matched squads, who set in motion an insurrection against the presence of the Germans. One group was directed from Moscow, the other (by Benes) from London. Armed bands were in conflict everywhere, but the Germans put down the rebellion within two months. The red army to the east looked on idly, reasoning that the Germans would suppress the entire Slovak resistance movement, which would facilitate an eventual communist takeover . Six months after the uprising the reds entered Slovakia and Slovak independence was at an end. On April 5, 1945 Dr. Edward Benes in company with the communist. Klement Gottwald, came to Kosice on the Slovak border, where he was met by Gustav Husak, a 32 year old communist leader. Husak said: "The first Czecho-Slovak Republic is dead. Gone is its centralism as well as its false political democracy. The new Republic will be a socialist federation of two nations equal under the law, the Czech nation and the Slovak nation." But the voice of Gustav Husak was not heard; it was the Czech communists who were in power. On March 17 and 18 in 1947 Msgr. Tiso's trial was coming to an end. The former head of the Slovak government drew up his own defense. "Mine was an unusual policy because the man who executed it was a priest", he began. "I had prepared for and intended to follow the duties of holy priesthood, not those of public office. As a priest I was committed to the service of God, the Church and the country of my birth, in which I was serving my ministry. Hence the mottoes 'for God, for country', 'with the people, for the people', were the expression of a guiding principle valid everywhere and under all conditions. They were not political slogans invented later to suit the circumstances." The death sentence was pronounced April 15, 1947 and was received calmly by Msgr. Joseph Tiso. The recital of the bill of indictment had lasted several hours. The communist jury had found the Slovak leader guilty on 97 �SLOVAKIA 35 out of 113 counts. The two principal crimes were: collaboration with Germany and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia. Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald refused clemency. "I promise to intercede before God, the supreme master of this world", wrote Msgr. Tiso in his final message to the Slovaks, "that He keep the Slovak nation forever in His holy care, that He bless her in her struggle and that He grant she remain forever faithful to the Church of Christ." No one knows where the priest is buried. The interment was carried out in secrecy to prevent memorial demonstrations. But in St. Martin's cemetery a tomb was discovered where the earth was still loose and it was soon covered with the fowers of the faithful. There is an epilogue to this story. At the end of August 1968 the Russians began to speculate on whether or not they should separate Slovakia from Bohemia again. They decided against it but later, for greater security, they appointed Gustav Husak, the Slovak communist, to the leadership of the central government. Bratislava. - Dr. Joseph Tiso, former president of Siovakia, who is now on trial for his life before the Slovak People's Court here, gave startling testimony to the effect that early in 1945 he rejected a written suggestion submitted to him by an agent to proclaim Slovakia as a Soviet republic. He also disclaimed any personal responsibility for Slovakia 's participation in the war against Poland and Russia and the alleged maltreatment of political and war prisoners. - Jan Mauthner, Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 11 , 1947 . . Tiso's attorney was prevented from defending his client. Tiso was not allowed to make any notes on the trial. Tiso was accused on 113 counts, each of which carried the death sentence. No one is surprised that the final verdict of this long trial is death by hanging for Dr. Tiso. Try to imagine a similar situation in this country: Put President Truman on trial by order of Gromyko and let Gerard Eisler be the judge. Let Truman have no attorney and let both Gromyko and Eisler state publicly before the trial that the defendant will be hanged . - WGAR Clevelan d Radio Station, April 20, 1947, by Commentator Rev. Francis F ergus, Professor at St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio. � 26 SLOVAKIA Msgr. Joseph Tiso By Fran{;Ois d 'O r Ci Val ( This is the English translation of Mr. FranQois d'Orcival's article originally published in French, in the July 1971 issue of the magazine "Miroir de l'Histoire", Paris. The young French political writer has dealt with the cause of Slovak independence in his book " Le Danube etait noir" (The Danube was black), La Table Ronde, Paris 1968. In France, he represents a realistic trend seeking to de-mythologize European history. Ed.) At dawn on April 18, 1947 the bridge over the Danube was shrouded in fog as Msgr. Joseph Tiso concluded his prayer in the central prison of Bratislava and donned his black serge robe with the prisoner's red armband and the churchman's white collar. He had been condemned to death on April 15 and on April 17 reprieve had been denied. A Franciscan father had been sent to accompany him on his final journey. Msgr. Tiso was 59. He had been born in Bytca in the valley of the Vah, which cuts through the Carpathians and where the mountains and the forest always wear autumn color. He was a sturdy, well-built man with broad shoulders, closely-cropped hair and a serene expression, with the rough-hewn features of a solid man of the people. He had been the leader of an autonomous Slovak government from October 6, 1938 to March 10, 1939, then head of independent Slovakia from March 14, 1939 to Easter of 1945. That year when spring returned to the Tatras the bells of Rome were silent. Malinovsky's forces were scouring the countryside. In Bohemia the Wehrmacht was retreating. Msgr. Tiso and his government distributed to their people the flour remaining in the state granaries, then went into exile. The Americans arrested Msgr. Tiso in October 1945, extradited him from Austria and turned him over to Dr. Edward Benes, who had once again become Czecho-Slovakia's leader. �SLOVAKIA 27 The preliminary examination in the Tiso trial began December 3. The bill of indictment contained 230 pages and was prepared by three attorneys specializing in general matters, political guestions and military affairs. 42 witnesses were subpoenaed by the prosecution. Igor Daxner, a Protestant Slovak communist, was selected to preside over the people's court, assisted by Bedrna, a Czech communist. Five of the seven members of the court were communists. The first day of the hearing the authorities, fearing street demonstratio ns and riots, ringed Bratislava with soldiers; they also controlled access to public buildings and took strong security precautions at the Palace of Justice. At first the press was allowed to report the testimony of witnesses and some of Msgr. Tiso's statements but soon, realizing that popular sentiment remained too favorable to the former president of independent Slovakia, the government censored all news reports of the trial. The Catholic bishops, evidencing outstanding courage, published on January 3, 1946 a petition in the prisoner's behalf. "His fate", they declared, "will strongly influence a portion of the Slovak population in its attitude towards the reconstituted Czecho-Slovak Republic." The majority of the nation concurs with its bishops in believing Dr. Tiso's intentions to have been pure and good. The prosecutor summoned Karol Kmet'ko, archbishop of Slovakia, who paused to shake hands with the defendant on his way to the witness stand to answer the prosecutor's questions. "What did the Slovak state accomplish for the people?" he was asked. "Can you think of any nation which does not long for independence ?" replied archbishop Kmet'ko and continued: "Can you imagine an unfortunate people who would not rather have their own homes than depend on others?" "But", the prosecutor insisted, "this independence was actually dependence!" "No!" replied archbishop Kmet'ko. "It was ten times less damaging than the Protectorate ( of Bohemia and Moravia)!" "How could you approve of Msgr. Tiso's assumption of office?" the prosecutor then asked, and the archbishop �28 SLOVAKIA responded: "When the independence of the Slovak state was proclaimed I can affirm that the country and its people were 90 % in favor of it. We rediscovered the independence and the freedom which had been lost since the time of King Svatopluk." For those with the borders of the German and Slovak world that story goes back to the early period of the Middle Ages. In a study entitled "The Slovaks: A People; A Nation" Professor Joseph A. Mikus, one of the youngest diplomats of the independent Slovak state and currently professor in an American college, writes: It was Prince Pribina in the year 830 iwho conquered the West Slovak tribes and governed them from his castle in Nitra. His successors, Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk extended their rule over the neighboring ,t erritories. In the second half of the ninth century the Czech lands (Bohemia and Moravia) were also subjugated by the Slovak king, Svatopluk. However, shortly thereafter the Czechs appealed to the German monarchs for help and were able to free themselves from Greater Moravia. After a c,o alition of Germans and Hungarians had defeated Mojmir II near Bratislava in 906, Slovakia was occupied by the Hungarians while the Czechs full under the domination of the Germans. Although Slovakia became an integral part of the Hungarian realm, the Premyslides rwere able to elevate the principality of Bohemia to a kingdom whose ruler became one of the electors of the German Empire. During the Turkish invasions Slovakia or Upper Hungary became the impregnable fortress of the realm. The Hungarian parliaments were still meeting in Bratislava during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was here, too, in Saint Martin's cathedral that the coronation of the Hungarian kings took place. On the other hand, after the defeat of the Czech Protestants at the White Mountain in 1620, the kingdom of Bohemia became an integral part of Austria's hereditary possessions. Even after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the Czechs remained under Austrian control and the Slovaks under Hungarian rule. Thus Czechs and Slovaks had never been united under one government before 1918. They were separated by the Carpathians. Bohemia was Protestant; Slovakia Catholic. The Czechs and the Germans had made Prague, the Bohemian capitol, one of the most cultured cities of Europe. The Slovaks, by contrast, boasted neither elite nor aristocracy; they were peasants and good soldiers. Although they lacked lords and commanders, the Slovaks nevertheless had their churchmen. One of these, �SLOVAKIA 29 Father Hlinka, born in 1864, was pastor at Ruzomberok, a big market-town situated in northern Slovakia between the Fatras and the Lower Tatras. He began his political ministry in 1905, fought for the autonomy of Slovakia, and founded the Slovak Populist party. In Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 a Belgrade high school student assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne. On the same day in Prague the cry arose: "Down with the Hapsburgs! Down with AustriaHungary!" This was the cry of two atheist Czech socialists: the first a sociology professor at the University of Prague and leftist deputy to the Diet of Vienna, 64 year old Thomas Masaryk and the second, his 30 year old disciple, Edward Benes, doctor of laws. Of the 534 deputies representing all the nationalities of the empire the Czechs numbered 107, yet not one took up the cry of Masaryk and Benes. Repudiated, the two delegates left Prague secretly for Paris and London, where they founded a Czech National Committee, which in 1917 was transformed into a provisional government. A year later the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, attacked from within. In Slovakia Father Hlinka declared in 1918: "Our thousand-year marriage with the Magyars is ending in disaster. We must sever our ties with them!" The Slovaks were welcomed by the Czechs, who promised them freedom. The official birth of Czecho-Slovakia was proclaimed on October 28, 1918. It was the triumph of Masaryk and Benes after four years of exile. According to international law Czecho-Slovakia did not come into being until the treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, September 10, 1919. Comprising Bohemia and Moravia in the west, Slovakia and Lower Subcarpathian Ukraine in the east, the country had an area of 140,000 square kilometers. The population was 13.6 million, of whom 6.5 million were Czech, 2.5 million Slovak, 3.3 million German and the rest Magyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities. It was a mosaic of nationalities. In dismembering Austria-Hungary the western diplomats at Saint-Germain-en-Laye hoped to isolate Germany from Russia by a "cordon sanitaire" composed of newly allied states: Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Rumania, Jugoslavia. But the Hapsburg dynasty, the unifying influence over all these states, was gone; the Danube countries of Europe �30 SLOVAKIA were destined once again to become the battleground of endless struggles. Masaryk and Benes had another plan. Realizing that they could not expect to found an independent Bohemia with only 6.5 million Czechs in a territory including 3.3 million Germans, they invented the fiction of a state which joined together the Czechs and Slovaks, a Czecho-Slovak state with 9 million inhabitants, who counterbalanced the 3 million Germans. The Slovaks accepted the new state on condition that it be federated and Benes assured them: "The Czecho-Slovakia of tomorrow will be the Switzerland of Central Europe. I guarantee it." However, from late 1918 onward Czech soldiers occupied Slovak territory to maintain order and Slovakia was not federated but annexed. After the soldiers came the bureaucrats. All the former Czech officials of the Empire, dismissed from Vienna and Budapest, descended on Bratislava. New teachers appeared in Slovak schools to teach Czech, which incited antiCatholic demonstrations in the villages. In September 1919 Father Hlinka, leader of the Catholic Populist party, went to the Paris peace conference with a long memorandum which began with these words: "Never has a nation been so cruelly deceived in its hopes as the Slovak nation." The Czech army also intervened energetically in Bohemia, but against the Sudeten Germans this time. (The Sudeten mountains are located in northern BohemiaMoravia.) As in Slovakia the Czech central government proceeded with an intense "czechization" of the administration, the economy, the schools and the police of the German regions. In the elections of 1935 the autonomists polled a majority in Slovakia, while in Bohemia the Germans had organized their own party. Their leader, Henlein, made contact with Hitler, who soon used the Sudeten Germans as one of the principal points of the propaganda. The German action and the diplomatic intervention of the British brought about a meeting in Munich of the four great powers of the time (Germany, Italy, Britain and France) on the Sudeten question. Through the Munich agreement the Germans of Czecho-Slovakia obtained on September 30, 1938 the right to regain their German �SLOVAKIA 31 fatherland. This development caused the loss of a strip of 25,000 square kilometers on the north-west frontier of the Czecho-Slovak state and a simultaneous loss of nearly 4 million inhabitants. As a consequence of this defeat Dr. Edward Benes, leader of the Czech government, resigned on October 5, 1938 and left Prague. The next day, October 6, at zilina, a little town situated in western Slovakia quite far from Prague, the leaders of Slovak parties assembled to proclaim the autonomy of their land, claiming the right defined in the Munich agreement-the right of nations to determine their own destiny. Father Hlinka's successor as head of the Populist and Autonomist party announced: "The Munich agreement has profoundly altered the political positions and the relations of the different states of central Europe. We Slovaks desire the freedom to determine our future, particularly in respect to the administration of our state." That very evening the first autonomous Slovak government was formed and its presidency entrusted to the new leader of the autonomous Populist party, Msgr. Tiso. zilina was a town Msgr. Tiso knew well, for in its schools he had learned to read and write. He had then enrolled in the seminary at Nitra, where in the year 833 Prince Pribina had erected the first Christian Church in Slovakia at the base of the Slovak central mountains. Joseph Tiso had completed his studies of ethics and theology at the University of Vienna. He was ordained July 14, 1910 and the same year received the degree of doctor of theology. In 1914 he became military chaplain. The following year he wa.s called back to Nitra to teach during the absence of professors who had gone to war. About 1920 he joined Father Hlinka, the founder of the Autonomist party and was assigned to the parish at Banovce, which is on the Bebrava river at the southern point of the hills of the Patras. Here began his public life. He was always to be a man of his word, loyal to his faith and to his land. To his parishioners he was a protector against the devil, as in ancient times. General Sirovy, head of the central government of Prague since the departure of Dr. Benes, assented to the setting-up of the Slovak cabinet. For Msgr. Tiso the most �32 SLOVAKIA difficult problem involved the frontiers, for the Magyars were making claims, as were the Poles and the Germans. On November 2, 1938 in Vienna an agreement was signed. The Magyars received the regions of Slovakia where the majority of the people were Magyar, the Poles received Teschen, and the Germans received a suburb of Petrzalka near Bratislava on the Danube. Elections took place in Slovakia on November 18, 1938 and the Autonomist candidates received 97 .5 ~c of the vote. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic having died at Munich two months previously, a second Republic came into being on November 30, federated and under the presidency of Dr. Ha.cha, a slight, 66 year old man in delicate health, who spoke with a marked Bohemian accent. In spite of the creation of a federated Republic, the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks did not improve. A latent crisis kept them in conflict until February 1939, when the real crisis began. The Slovaks needed credit, but the Czechs refused it on the pretext that the Slovaks were disloyal to the republic. Finally on March 9, 1939 Dr. Ha.cha ousted Msgr. Tiso and his colleagues from their positions and at dawn on March 10, 1939 Slovakia was occupied by Czech police and soldiers-that is, by the "federals". Martial law was proclaimed; the local militia was dissolved. Msgr. Tiso withdrew to his rectory in Banovce and waited. German diplomacy, which had been very active since the departure of Dr. Benes, intervened, trying to crush the Czech coup in Slovakia so that the Slovaks would clearly separate themselves from the Czechs and put an end to the existence of this unified country situated in the heart of the German Reich. After several vain attempts the Reich representatives in Vienna, Seyss-Inquart and Buerckel, made contact with Msgr. Tiso; two of their secret agents came to Banovce the night of March 12 to 13, 1939 to extend an invitation from Hitler. Msgr . Tiso, waking with a start, was at first stunned, suspecting a trap. Then he acquiesced but requested a delay. Hitler frightened him and yet he knew that Berlin was the city of destiny at that moment. Finally, after conferring with his friends, he flew to Berlin. Even after 6 months of heading an �SLOVAKIA 33 autonomous government he had remained essentially a fighter-priest of the country and now resembled a Poujadist cleric on his way to see Dracula. On the evening of March 13 Hitler and Tiso agreed that Slovakia would declare her independence the next day. Hitler, moreover, convinced of an impending assault by Benes to regain power in Prague, had already decided to invade Bohemia on March 15. Msgr. Tiso hesitated at length before being convinced. He returned to Bratislava, convened the Assembly and formed a new cabinet. His cabinet ministers were not appointed by the Reich ambassadors but were simply those who had been Autonomist Slovak leaders for the previous ten or twenty years. At noon on Tuesday, March 14 the Assembly by unanimous vote severed Slovakia from the rest of Czech nation. This declaration had been accelerated by the German action but would have been less effective without the Czech coup on March 10. Dr. Ha.cha reached Berlin the same day in a state of exhaustion to entreat the Fuhrer on behalf of his people but the Fuhrer did not yield. On March 15, two hours before the first columns of the Wehrmacht re '.:'.ched Bohemia, President Ha.cha signed the capitulation: "The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic has confidently placed the destiny of the Czech people and the Czech lands in the hands of the Fuhrer of the German Reich ... " On March 16, while the German protectorate was being established in Bohemia-Moravia, Msgr. Tiso, leader of independent Slovakia, sought the protection of the Reich and signed a treaty which, without specifying occupation of Slovak territory, rendered the country a satellite. Hungary, with the support of Italy, invaded Subcarpathian Ukraine and a strip along the eastern border of Slovakia. Thus was the Czecho-Slovakia of 1919 stricken from the map. During the 5 years of the war Msgr. Tiso did not involve the country in the conflict ( except for sending volunteers to the Polish front). He declared his sympathy for the Reich while pursuing a neutral policy in Rome in order to protect his exports and his country's uncertain future. Msgr. Tiso's Slovakia was a curiously sad spectacle, encircled by Germany, protected by the Vatican, never �34 SLOVAKIA truly free but never quite occupied. Until 1944 she was indeed the Switzerland of the Danube basin, the "marketplace of Provence" of the Carpathian region. In August 1944 the internal calm was shattered by ill-matched squads, who set in motion an insurrection against the presence of the Germans. One group was directed from Moscow, the other (by Benes) from London. Armed bands were in conflict everywhere, but the Germans put down the rebellion within two months. The red army to the east looked on idly, reasoning that the Germans would suppress the entire Slovak resistance movement, which would facilitate an eventual communist takeover . Six months after the uprising the reds entered Slovakia and Slovak independence was at an end. On April 5, 1945 Dr. Edward Benes in company with the communist. Klement Gottwald, came to Kosice on the Slovak border, where he was met by Gustav Husak, a 32 year old communist leader. Husak said: "The first Czecho-Slovak Republic is dead. Gone is its centralism as well as its false political democracy. The new Republic will be a socialist federation of two nations equal under the law, the Czech nation and the Slovak nation." But the voice of Gustav Husak was not heard; it was the Czech communists who were in power. On March 17 and 18 in 1947 Msgr. Tiso's trial was coming to an end. The former head of the Slovak government drew up his own defense. "Mine was an unusual policy because the man who executed it was a priest", he began. "I had prepared for and intended to follow the duties of holy priesthood, not those of public office. As a priest I was committed to the service of God, the Church and the country of my birth, in which I was serving my ministry. Hence the mottoes 'for God, for country', 'with the people, for the people', were the expression of a guiding principle valid everywhere and under all conditions. They were not political slogans invented later to suit the circumstances." The death sentence was pronounced April 15, 1947 and was received calmly by Msgr. Joseph Tiso. The recital of the bill of indictment had lasted several hours. The communist jury had found the Slovak leader guilty on 97 �SLOVAKIA 35 out of 113 counts. The two principal crimes were: collaboration with Germany and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia. Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald refused clemency. "I promise to intercede before God, the supreme master of this world", wrote Msgr. Tiso in his final message to the Slovaks, "that He keep the Slovak nation forever in His holy care, that He bless her in her struggle and that He grant she remain forever faithful to the Church of Christ." No one knows where the priest is buried. The interment was carried out in secrecy to prevent memorial demonstrations. But in St. Martin's cemetery a tomb was discovered where the earth was still loose and it was soon covered with the fowers of the faithful. There is an epilogue to this story. At the end of August 1968 the Russians began to speculate on whether or not they should separate Slovakia from Bohemia again. They decided against it but later, for greater security, they appointed Gustav Husak, the Slovak communist, to the leadership of the central government. Bratislava. - Dr. Joseph Tiso, former president of Siovakia, who is now on trial for his life before the Slovak People's Court here, gave startling testimony to the effect that early in 1945 he rejected a written suggestion submitted to him by an agent to proclaim Slovakia as a Soviet republic. He also disclaimed any personal responsibility for Slovakia 's participation in the war against Poland and Russia and the alleged maltreatment of political and war prisoners. - Jan Mauthner, Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 11 , 1947 . . Tiso's attorney was prevented from defending his client. Tiso was not allowed to make any notes on the trial. Tiso was accused on 113 counts, each of which carried the death sentence. No one is surprised that the final verdict of this long trial is death by hanging for Dr. Tiso. Try to imagine a similar situation in this country: Put President Truman on trial by order of Gromyko and let Gerard Eisler be the judge. Let Truman have no attorney and let both Gromyko and Eisler state publicly before the trial that the defendant will be hanged . - WGAR Clevelan d Radio Station, April 20, 1947, by Commentator Rev. Francis F ergus, Professor at St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 26 SLOVAKIA Msgr. Joseph Tiso By Fran{;Ois d 'O r Ci Val ( This is the English translation of Mr. FranQois d'Orcival's article originally published in French, in the July 1971 issue of the magazine "Miroir de l'Histoire", Paris. The young French political writer has dealt with the cause of Slovak independence in his book " Le Danube etait noir" (The Danube was black), La Table Ronde, Paris 1968. In France, he represents a realistic trend seeking to de-mythologize European history. Ed.) At dawn on April 18, 1947 the bridge over the Danube was shrouded in fog as Msgr. Joseph Tiso concluded his prayer in the central prison of Bratislava and donned his black serge robe with the prisoner's red armband and the churchman's white collar. He had been condemned to death on April 15 and on April 17 reprieve had been denied. A Franciscan father had been sent to accompany him on his final journey. Msgr. Tiso was 59. He had been born in Bytca in the valley of the Vah, which cuts through the Carpathians and where the mountains and the forest always wear autumn color. He was a sturdy, well-built man with broad shoulders, closely-cropped hair and a serene expression, with the rough-hewn features of a solid man of the people. He had been the leader of an autonomous Slovak government from October 6, 1938 to March 10, 1939, then head of independent Slovakia from March 14, 1939 to Easter of 1945. That year when spring returned to the Tatras the bells of Rome were silent. Malinovsky's forces were scouring the countryside. In Bohemia the Wehrmacht was retreating. Msgr. Tiso and his government distributed to their people the flour remaining in the state granaries, then went into exile. The Americans arrested Msgr. Tiso in October 1945, extradited him from Austria and turned him over to Dr. Edward Benes, who had once again become Czecho-Slovakia's leader. SLOVAKIA 27 The preliminary examination in the Tiso trial began December 3. The bill of indictment contained 230 pages and was prepared by three attorneys specializing in general matters, political guestions and military affairs. 42 witnesses were subpoenaed by the prosecution. Igor Daxner, a Protestant Slovak communist, was selected to preside over the people's court, assisted by Bedrna, a Czech communist. Five of the seven members of the court were communists. The first day of the hearing the authorities, fearing street demonstratio ns and riots, ringed Bratislava with soldiers; they also controlled access to public buildings and took strong security precautions at the Palace of Justice. At first the press was allowed to report the testimony of witnesses and some of Msgr. Tiso's statements but soon, realizing that popular sentiment remained too favorable to the former president of independent Slovakia, the government censored all news reports of the trial. The Catholic bishops, evidencing outstanding courage, published on January 3, 1946 a petition in the prisoner's behalf. "His fate", they declared, "will strongly influence a portion of the Slovak population in its attitude towards the reconstituted Czecho-Slovak Republic." The majority of the nation concurs with its bishops in believing Dr. Tiso's intentions to have been pure and good. The prosecutor summoned Karol Kmet'ko, archbishop of Slovakia, who paused to shake hands with the defendant on his way to the witness stand to answer the prosecutor's questions. "What did the Slovak state accomplish for the people?" he was asked. "Can you think of any nation which does not long for independence ?" replied archbishop Kmet'ko and continued: "Can you imagine an unfortunate people who would not rather have their own homes than depend on others?" "But", the prosecutor insisted, "this independence was actually dependence!" "No!" replied archbishop Kmet'ko. "It was ten times less damaging than the Protectorate ( of Bohemia and Moravia)!" "How could you approve of Msgr. Tiso's assumption of office?" the prosecutor then asked, and the archbishop 28 SLOVAKIA responded: "When the independence of the Slovak state was proclaimed I can affirm that the country and its people were 90 % in favor of it. We rediscovered the independence and the freedom which had been lost since the time of King Svatopluk." For those with the borders of the German and Slovak world that story goes back to the early period of the Middle Ages. In a study entitled "The Slovaks: A People; A Nation" Professor Joseph A. Mikus, one of the youngest diplomats of the independent Slovak state and currently professor in an American college, writes: It was Prince Pribina in the year 830 iwho conquered the West Slovak tribes and governed them from his castle in Nitra. His successors, Mojmir, Rastislav and Svatopluk extended their rule over the neighboring ,t erritories. In the second half of the ninth century the Czech lands (Bohemia and Moravia) were also subjugated by the Slovak king, Svatopluk. However, shortly thereafter the Czechs appealed to the German monarchs for help and were able to free themselves from Greater Moravia. After a c,o alition of Germans and Hungarians had defeated Mojmir II near Bratislava in 906, Slovakia was occupied by the Hungarians while the Czechs full under the domination of the Germans. Although Slovakia became an integral part of the Hungarian realm, the Premyslides rwere able to elevate the principality of Bohemia to a kingdom whose ruler became one of the electors of the German Empire. During the Turkish invasions Slovakia or Upper Hungary became the impregnable fortress of the realm. The Hungarian parliaments were still meeting in Bratislava during the first half of the nineteenth century. It was here, too, in Saint Martin's cathedral that the coronation of the Hungarian kings took place. On the other hand, after the defeat of the Czech Protestants at the White Mountain in 1620, the kingdom of Bohemia became an integral part of Austria's hereditary possessions. Even after the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867, the Czechs remained under Austrian control and the Slovaks under Hungarian rule. Thus Czechs and Slovaks had never been united under one government before 1918. They were separated by the Carpathians. Bohemia was Protestant; Slovakia Catholic. The Czechs and the Germans had made Prague, the Bohemian capitol, one of the most cultured cities of Europe. The Slovaks, by contrast, boasted neither elite nor aristocracy; they were peasants and good soldiers. Although they lacked lords and commanders, the Slovaks nevertheless had their churchmen. One of these, SLOVAKIA 29 Father Hlinka, born in 1864, was pastor at Ruzomberok, a big market-town situated in northern Slovakia between the Fatras and the Lower Tatras. He began his political ministry in 1905, fought for the autonomy of Slovakia, and founded the Slovak Populist party. In Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 a Belgrade high school student assassinated Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne. On the same day in Prague the cry arose: "Down with the Hapsburgs! Down with AustriaHungary!" This was the cry of two atheist Czech socialists: the first a sociology professor at the University of Prague and leftist deputy to the Diet of Vienna, 64 year old Thomas Masaryk and the second, his 30 year old disciple, Edward Benes, doctor of laws. Of the 534 deputies representing all the nationalities of the empire the Czechs numbered 107, yet not one took up the cry of Masaryk and Benes. Repudiated, the two delegates left Prague secretly for Paris and London, where they founded a Czech National Committee, which in 1917 was transformed into a provisional government. A year later the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, attacked from within. In Slovakia Father Hlinka declared in 1918: "Our thousand-year marriage with the Magyars is ending in disaster. We must sever our ties with them!" The Slovaks were welcomed by the Czechs, who promised them freedom. The official birth of Czecho-Slovakia was proclaimed on October 28, 1918. It was the triumph of Masaryk and Benes after four years of exile. According to international law Czecho-Slovakia did not come into being until the treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, September 10, 1919. Comprising Bohemia and Moravia in the west, Slovakia and Lower Subcarpathian Ukraine in the east, the country had an area of 140,000 square kilometers. The population was 13.6 million, of whom 6.5 million were Czech, 2.5 million Slovak, 3.3 million German and the rest Magyar, Ukrainian and Polish minorities. It was a mosaic of nationalities. In dismembering Austria-Hungary the western diplomats at Saint-Germain-en-Laye hoped to isolate Germany from Russia by a "cordon sanitaire" composed of newly allied states: Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, Rumania, Jugoslavia. But the Hapsburg dynasty, the unifying influence over all these states, was gone; the Danube countries of Europe 30 SLOVAKIA were destined once again to become the battleground of endless struggles. Masaryk and Benes had another plan. Realizing that they could not expect to found an independent Bohemia with only 6.5 million Czechs in a territory including 3.3 million Germans, they invented the fiction of a state which joined together the Czechs and Slovaks, a Czecho-Slovak state with 9 million inhabitants, who counterbalanced the 3 million Germans. The Slovaks accepted the new state on condition that it be federated and Benes assured them: "The Czecho-Slovakia of tomorrow will be the Switzerland of Central Europe. I guarantee it." However, from late 1918 onward Czech soldiers occupied Slovak territory to maintain order and Slovakia was not federated but annexed. After the soldiers came the bureaucrats. All the former Czech officials of the Empire, dismissed from Vienna and Budapest, descended on Bratislava. New teachers appeared in Slovak schools to teach Czech, which incited antiCatholic demonstrations in the villages. In September 1919 Father Hlinka, leader of the Catholic Populist party, went to the Paris peace conference with a long memorandum which began with these words: "Never has a nation been so cruelly deceived in its hopes as the Slovak nation." The Czech army also intervened energetically in Bohemia, but against the Sudeten Germans this time. (The Sudeten mountains are located in northern BohemiaMoravia.) As in Slovakia the Czech central government proceeded with an intense "czechization" of the administration, the economy, the schools and the police of the German regions. In the elections of 1935 the autonomists polled a majority in Slovakia, while in Bohemia the Germans had organized their own party. Their leader, Henlein, made contact with Hitler, who soon used the Sudeten Germans as one of the principal points of the propaganda. The German action and the diplomatic intervention of the British brought about a meeting in Munich of the four great powers of the time (Germany, Italy, Britain and France) on the Sudeten question. Through the Munich agreement the Germans of Czecho-Slovakia obtained on September 30, 1938 the right to regain their German SLOVAKIA 31 fatherland. This development caused the loss of a strip of 25,000 square kilometers on the north-west frontier of the Czecho-Slovak state and a simultaneous loss of nearly 4 million inhabitants. As a consequence of this defeat Dr. Edward Benes, leader of the Czech government, resigned on October 5, 1938 and left Prague. The next day, October 6, at zilina, a little town situated in western Slovakia quite far from Prague, the leaders of Slovak parties assembled to proclaim the autonomy of their land, claiming the right defined in the Munich agreement-the right of nations to determine their own destiny. Father Hlinka's successor as head of the Populist and Autonomist party announced: "The Munich agreement has profoundly altered the political positions and the relations of the different states of central Europe. We Slovaks desire the freedom to determine our future, particularly in respect to the administration of our state." That very evening the first autonomous Slovak government was formed and its presidency entrusted to the new leader of the autonomous Populist party, Msgr. Tiso. zilina was a town Msgr. Tiso knew well, for in its schools he had learned to read and write. He had then enrolled in the seminary at Nitra, where in the year 833 Prince Pribina had erected the first Christian Church in Slovakia at the base of the Slovak central mountains. Joseph Tiso had completed his studies of ethics and theology at the University of Vienna. He was ordained July 14, 1910 and the same year received the degree of doctor of theology. In 1914 he became military chaplain. The following year he wa.s called back to Nitra to teach during the absence of professors who had gone to war. About 1920 he joined Father Hlinka, the founder of the Autonomist party and was assigned to the parish at Banovce, which is on the Bebrava river at the southern point of the hills of the Patras. Here began his public life. He was always to be a man of his word, loyal to his faith and to his land. To his parishioners he was a protector against the devil, as in ancient times. General Sirovy, head of the central government of Prague since the departure of Dr. Benes, assented to the setting-up of the Slovak cabinet. For Msgr. Tiso the most 32 SLOVAKIA difficult problem involved the frontiers, for the Magyars were making claims, as were the Poles and the Germans. On November 2, 1938 in Vienna an agreement was signed. The Magyars received the regions of Slovakia where the majority of the people were Magyar, the Poles received Teschen, and the Germans received a suburb of Petrzalka near Bratislava on the Danube. Elections took place in Slovakia on November 18, 1938 and the Autonomist candidates received 97 .5 ~c of the vote. The first Czecho-Slovak Republic having died at Munich two months previously, a second Republic came into being on November 30, federated and under the presidency of Dr. Ha.cha, a slight, 66 year old man in delicate health, who spoke with a marked Bohemian accent. In spite of the creation of a federated Republic, the relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks did not improve. A latent crisis kept them in conflict until February 1939, when the real crisis began. The Slovaks needed credit, but the Czechs refused it on the pretext that the Slovaks were disloyal to the republic. Finally on March 9, 1939 Dr. Ha.cha ousted Msgr. Tiso and his colleagues from their positions and at dawn on March 10, 1939 Slovakia was occupied by Czech police and soldiers-that is, by the "federals". Martial law was proclaimed; the local militia was dissolved. Msgr. Tiso withdrew to his rectory in Banovce and waited. German diplomacy, which had been very active since the departure of Dr. Benes, intervened, trying to crush the Czech coup in Slovakia so that the Slovaks would clearly separate themselves from the Czechs and put an end to the existence of this unified country situated in the heart of the German Reich. After several vain attempts the Reich representatives in Vienna, Seyss-Inquart and Buerckel, made contact with Msgr. Tiso; two of their secret agents came to Banovce the night of March 12 to 13, 1939 to extend an invitation from Hitler. Msgr . Tiso, waking with a start, was at first stunned, suspecting a trap. Then he acquiesced but requested a delay. Hitler frightened him and yet he knew that Berlin was the city of destiny at that moment. Finally, after conferring with his friends, he flew to Berlin. Even after 6 months of heading an SLOVAKIA 33 autonomous government he had remained essentially a fighter-priest of the country and now resembled a Poujadist cleric on his way to see Dracula. On the evening of March 13 Hitler and Tiso agreed that Slovakia would declare her independence the next day. Hitler, moreover, convinced of an impending assault by Benes to regain power in Prague, had already decided to invade Bohemia on March 15. Msgr. Tiso hesitated at length before being convinced. He returned to Bratislava, convened the Assembly and formed a new cabinet. His cabinet ministers were not appointed by the Reich ambassadors but were simply those who had been Autonomist Slovak leaders for the previous ten or twenty years. At noon on Tuesday, March 14 the Assembly by unanimous vote severed Slovakia from the rest of Czech nation. This declaration had been accelerated by the German action but would have been less effective without the Czech coup on March 10. Dr. Ha.cha reached Berlin the same day in a state of exhaustion to entreat the Fuhrer on behalf of his people but the Fuhrer did not yield. On March 15, two hours before the first columns of the Wehrmacht re '.:'.ched Bohemia, President Ha.cha signed the capitulation: "The president of the Czecho-Slovak Republic has confidently placed the destiny of the Czech people and the Czech lands in the hands of the Fuhrer of the German Reich ... " On March 16, while the German protectorate was being established in Bohemia-Moravia, Msgr. Tiso, leader of independent Slovakia, sought the protection of the Reich and signed a treaty which, without specifying occupation of Slovak territory, rendered the country a satellite. Hungary, with the support of Italy, invaded Subcarpathian Ukraine and a strip along the eastern border of Slovakia. Thus was the Czecho-Slovakia of 1919 stricken from the map. During the 5 years of the war Msgr. Tiso did not involve the country in the conflict ( except for sending volunteers to the Polish front). He declared his sympathy for the Reich while pursuing a neutral policy in Rome in order to protect his exports and his country's uncertain future. Msgr. Tiso's Slovakia was a curiously sad spectacle, encircled by Germany, protected by the Vatican, never 34 SLOVAKIA truly free but never quite occupied. Until 1944 she was indeed the Switzerland of the Danube basin, the "marketplace of Provence" of the Carpathian region. In August 1944 the internal calm was shattered by ill-matched squads, who set in motion an insurrection against the presence of the Germans. One group was directed from Moscow, the other (by Benes) from London. Armed bands were in conflict everywhere, but the Germans put down the rebellion within two months. The red army to the east looked on idly, reasoning that the Germans would suppress the entire Slovak resistance movement, which would facilitate an eventual communist takeover . Six months after the uprising the reds entered Slovakia and Slovak independence was at an end. On April 5, 1945 Dr. Edward Benes in company with the communist. Klement Gottwald, came to Kosice on the Slovak border, where he was met by Gustav Husak, a 32 year old communist leader. Husak said: "The first Czecho-Slovak Republic is dead. Gone is its centralism as well as its false political democracy. The new Republic will be a socialist federation of two nations equal under the law, the Czech nation and the Slovak nation." But the voice of Gustav Husak was not heard; it was the Czech communists who were in power. On March 17 and 18 in 1947 Msgr. Tiso's trial was coming to an end. The former head of the Slovak government drew up his own defense. "Mine was an unusual policy because the man who executed it was a priest", he began. "I had prepared for and intended to follow the duties of holy priesthood, not those of public office. As a priest I was committed to the service of God, the Church and the country of my birth, in which I was serving my ministry. Hence the mottoes 'for God, for country', 'with the people, for the people', were the expression of a guiding principle valid everywhere and under all conditions. They were not political slogans invented later to suit the circumstances." The death sentence was pronounced April 15, 1947 and was received calmly by Msgr. Joseph Tiso. The recital of the bill of indictment had lasted several hours. The communist jury had found the Slovak leader guilty on 97 SLOVAKIA 35 out of 113 counts. The two principal crimes were: collaboration with Germany and the dissolution of Czecho-Slovakia. Dr. Benes and Klement Gottwald refused clemency. "I promise to intercede before God, the supreme master of this world", wrote Msgr. Tiso in his final message to the Slovaks, "that He keep the Slovak nation forever in His holy care, that He bless her in her struggle and that He grant she remain forever faithful to the Church of Christ." No one knows where the priest is buried. The interment was carried out in secrecy to prevent memorial demonstrations. But in St. Martin's cemetery a tomb was discovered where the earth was still loose and it was soon covered with the fowers of the faithful. There is an epilogue to this story. At the end of August 1968 the Russians began to speculate on whether or not they should separate Slovakia from Bohemia again. They decided against it but later, for greater security, they appointed Gustav Husak, the Slovak communist, to the leadership of the central government. Bratislava. - Dr. Joseph Tiso, former president of Siovakia, who is now on trial for his life before the Slovak People's Court here, gave startling testimony to the effect that early in 1945 he rejected a written suggestion submitted to him by an agent to proclaim Slovakia as a Soviet republic. He also disclaimed any personal responsibility for Slovakia 's participation in the war against Poland and Russia and the alleged maltreatment of political and war prisoners. - Jan Mauthner, Special Correspondent, N.C.W.C. News Service, January 11 , 1947 . . Tiso's attorney was prevented from defending his client. Tiso was not allowed to make any notes on the trial. Tiso was accused on 113 counts, each of which carried the death sentence. No one is surprised that the final verdict of this long trial is death by hanging for Dr. Tiso. Try to imagine a similar situation in this country: Put President Truman on trial by order of Gromyko and let Gerard Eisler be the judge. Let Truman have no attorney and let both Gromyko and Eisler state publicly before the trial that the defendant will be hanged . - WGAR Clevelan d Radio Station, April 20, 1947, by Commentator Rev. Francis F ergus, Professor at St. Mary's Seminary, Cleveland, Ohio.  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 Msgr. Joseph Tiso Description An account of the resource François d'Orcival orig. in French, publ. in Miroir de l'Histoire, July 1971 Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 26-35 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Orcival, François d' Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/4b3dfb1be510791b953c7ba1bf686763.pdf 1bd60abcbe147ef63cc1b2e4b7d2a222 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 21 I Met President Tiso E. L. Delaney Periodically some senators and representatives arise in the halls of Congress to eloquently deplore the plight of those people in what we rightly regard as the "Captive Nations". Apart from expressions of synthetic sympathy nothing meaningful is done to effect the liberation of those captives in the Soviet-communist combine. The short-lived Republic of Slovakia is one of those unfortunate victims. Thirty three years ago-March 14, 1939, the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava-in accordance with the CzechoSlovak constitution - unanimously proclaimed the independence of the Slovak Republic. With its population of about 4,400,000 and an area of approximately 50,000 square kilometers, Slovakia is in the heart of Eastern Europe . In the 9th and 10th centuries it was the first political, cultural and Christian center in that part of the world . But it was not until March of 1939 that Slovakia's duly elected political representatives proclaimed their right of self-determination. In March 1939 there was no war in Europe and none was imminent. Practically all European countries officially recognized Slovakia and established diplomatic or consular relations with the new political entity-including our wartime allies, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The fact that pernicious influences in our Washington administration succeeded in withholding recognition of the new Republic does not alter the indisputable fact that it did exist. Non-European countries with representation in Bratislava, the capital, were: Japan, Manchuria, Siam, China, Costa Rica and Equador. It is appropriate to mention that the Soviet had approximately 200 persons attached to its embassy in Bratislava. Other countries could operate with 10 or 12 people. But undoubtedly large staffs are �22 SLOVAEJA needed for propaganda, subversion and espionage, in which the Soviet is always engaged. During World War II, when a large part of Europe was plagued by want, Slovakia was rightfully regarded as an oasis of peace, prosperity and plenty. This paradise in war-rationed Europe had existed over three years before I had an opportunity to enjoy it. A few days after my arrival in Bratislava, the capital, I was invited to a dinner party where I met Jozef Mracna. He had been Consul for Czecho-Slovakia in New York. We soon discovered that we had many mutual friends there. He returned to Slovakia when it became a self-governing republic and was an official of the administration. I asked him if he could arrange for me to interview the President. He said he could-and did. On my arrival at the presidential palace at the appointed time I met Dr. Karol Murin, personal secretary of Msgr. Tiso who escorted me into the President's private study. Msgr. Tiso, or President Tiso as he was then, greeted me with a hearty hand-shake and a few words of English -his entire vocabulary in that language, as he laughingly admitted. He spoke Slovak, Czech, German and Hungarian, so our interview was conducted in German. His black hair was sprinkled with a few strands of grey and his dark blue eyes resembled those of the Irish. I mentioned to the President that a learned professor in Banska Bystrica told me that the Slovaks and Irish are both of Celtic origin. Msgr. Tiso observed that there is some similarity between Slovakia and Ireland; both countries are predominently Christian and have been for centuries; both are largely agrarian and both have more of their countrymen in America than in Europe. Our discussion touched on various subjects. For generations Slovakia had been a farming community but now they were promoting various industries. "A major problem confronting us," said the President, "is in getting teachers and technical instructors for the projects we hope to develop." When Slovakia was part of Czecho-Slovakia, the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 23 contrived to keep all industries in their part of the country. Now Slovakia, as the President observed, was endeavoring to encourage and develop its resources without too much reliance on Czechs, Germans, Hungarians or Russians. As the time came for me to leave, I mentioned to his Excellency that there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes and would it be quite proper for me to send him a little reminder of our visit? "What-for instance?" he asked. "I'm sure that during these winter nights it is quite cold in this ages-old palace. So I thought - that for medicinal purpose, of course, you might appreciate a half dozen bottles of good Canadian whisky." He laughed heartily and said, "I'll be glad to get it." The gift was sent. Some time later I was asked to again visit the palace when the President gave me a beautiful example of the artistic needle work that is done by many of the Slovak women and girls. That treasure is still in my possession. Little did I surmise that we were to be together several more times-but under vastly different circumstances. In the so-called histories and recordings of important events in Central and Eastern Europe during the latter weeks of World War II-much is purposely omitted. There is no mention of the unprecedented proposal made by the Soviet communists to recognize Slovakia as a sovereign state and to retain Msgr. Tiso as President. That proposal was made through diplomatic channels and told me by Stefan Tiso, then prime minister of Slovakia and confirmed by the former foreign minister of Slovakia, Dr. Ferdinand f>urcansky, presently residing in Munich, Germany. Of all the captive nations under the thraldom of Soviet communism, none would be more incongruous than a communist Slovakia with a Catholic monsignor as its president. Of course the Kremlin's proposal was curtly rejected by the Tiso administration. When the Red army advanced from Budapest toward Bratislava, President Tiso and his cabinet together with many others fled to Kremsmuenster, Austria. They expected and rightly so, that the United States forces would occupy �24 SLOVAKIA that part of Eastern Europe. The Slovak "colony" arrived in Austria April 1, 1945. (This writer left Slovakia the following day.) Although regarded as "top secret" it was known that the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Eduard Benes, with the aid of Franklin Roosevelt had flown to Moscow where he betrayed his country to the communists, with the understanding that he would be the "president" of the republic we now know as Czecho-Slovakia. On May 8, 1945, the refugee Slovak government in Austria signed a surrender document which was co-signed by Brig. General W. A. Collier of the US Army; Col. T. 0. Curtis and Capt. David W. Allard of the US Army. General Collier assured the Slovak refugees that they would not be delivered to the communists. Like some of the other pledges of proper treatment that were made by American officialdom to the anticommunists in certain European countries, such assurances were flagrantly violated. President Tiso, with his cabinet members, private secretary and another priest were transferred from Austria to an internment establishment in Freising, Bavaria, which was maintained by the U.S. Army . In Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum's book "Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe" is noted on page 311 a caption: Denial By U.S. War Department." (as follows) "Washington, D. C. February 7, 1947. "There is no record in the files of this office which shows that Monsignor Tiso was ever held by the American Forces or delivered to the Czechoslovakian authorities from American custody. Daniel Noce, Major General, O.S.C . Chief Civil Affairs Div." That statement of General Noce was either due to lamentable and inexcusable ignorance of fact or deliberate lie. I was with Msgr. Tiso many hours of many days when he and his fellow Slovaks were imprisoned by the American military forces in barracks at Freising. The charge against me was that I "had written anti-communist articles during the war." The charge was correct. I had written anti-communist, anti-Soviet articles. I dared, in fact cordially invited the �SLOVAKIA 25 Justice Department officials to make such formal indictment against me. If anti-Soviet and anti-communist was regarded as un-American and a criminal offense, I wanted it publicized in an American court. For obvious reasons the Justice Department found it convenient not to invite such exposure of aid to communist causes of which certain departments of the administration were guilty. All were shocked one morning when word was received at the Freising barracks that the Slovaks were to be delivered to the communist regime of Eduard Benes. I went to those betrayed Slovaks and assured them that it was not real Americans who were violating every pledge given them. Among the armed guards who were to deliver the Slovaks to the communist torturers were European born refugees in American uniforms . The testimony of those Slovaks who endured that transfer from Freising into the territory of the Czech regime of communist-aiding Eduard Benes-is a matter of indisputable record. We recall with shame the barbarian brutalities suffered recently by the Lithuanian seaman who sought refuge on an American Coast Guard vessel. Equally as brutal treatment was the lot of those Slovaks whe were beaten, kicked and tortured unmercifully by the alien element in American uniforms, then delivered to the communists. During the sham "trial" in Bratislava of Msgr. Tiso the communist prosecutor endeavored to force reference by Tiso of that ordeal. But Tiso refused to speak of it. His fate was pre-ordained. Death by hanging. Because he had served his God and his beloved people to the best of his ability-he was sentenced to death. Two hours before his execution he wrote a message for his people and for all Western Christian civilization. He wrote-in part: "I consider myself a martyr in defense c:>f Christianity against Bolshevism-against which the nation must defend itself in all possible ways, not only in the spirit of its Christian character but in the interests of its future." I recall that Msgr. Tiso once impressed on me the truth that "you cannot compromise with communism." That truism should be impressed on those who now urge cooperation with communism. � SLOVAKIA 21 I Met President Tiso E. L. Delaney Periodically some senators and representatives arise in the halls of Congress to eloquently deplore the plight of those people in what we rightly regard as the "Captive Nations". Apart from expressions of synthetic sympathy nothing meaningful is done to effect the liberation of those captives in the Soviet-communist combine. The short-lived Republic of Slovakia is one of those unfortunate victims. Thirty three years ago-March 14, 1939, the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava-in accordance with the CzechoSlovak constitution - unanimously proclaimed the independence of the Slovak Republic. With its population of about 4,400,000 and an area of approximately 50,000 square kilometers, Slovakia is in the heart of Eastern Europe . In the 9th and 10th centuries it was the first political, cultural and Christian center in that part of the world . But it was not until March of 1939 that Slovakia's duly elected political representatives proclaimed their right of self-determination. In March 1939 there was no war in Europe and none was imminent. Practically all European countries officially recognized Slovakia and established diplomatic or consular relations with the new political entity-including our wartime allies, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The fact that pernicious influences in our Washington administration succeeded in withholding recognition of the new Republic does not alter the indisputable fact that it did exist. Non-European countries with representation in Bratislava, the capital, were: Japan, Manchuria, Siam, China, Costa Rica and Equador. It is appropriate to mention that the Soviet had approximately 200 persons attached to its embassy in Bratislava. Other countries could operate with 10 or 12 people. But undoubtedly large staffs are �22 SLOVAEJA needed for propaganda, subversion and espionage, in which the Soviet is always engaged. During World War II, when a large part of Europe was plagued by want, Slovakia was rightfully regarded as an oasis of peace, prosperity and plenty. This paradise in war-rationed Europe had existed over three years before I had an opportunity to enjoy it. A few days after my arrival in Bratislava, the capital, I was invited to a dinner party where I met Jozef Mracna. He had been Consul for Czecho-Slovakia in New York. We soon discovered that we had many mutual friends there. He returned to Slovakia when it became a self-governing republic and was an official of the administration. I asked him if he could arrange for me to interview the President. He said he could-and did. On my arrival at the presidential palace at the appointed time I met Dr. Karol Murin, personal secretary of Msgr. Tiso who escorted me into the President's private study. Msgr. Tiso, or President Tiso as he was then, greeted me with a hearty hand-shake and a few words of English -his entire vocabulary in that language, as he laughingly admitted. He spoke Slovak, Czech, German and Hungarian, so our interview was conducted in German. His black hair was sprinkled with a few strands of grey and his dark blue eyes resembled those of the Irish. I mentioned to the President that a learned professor in Banska Bystrica told me that the Slovaks and Irish are both of Celtic origin. Msgr. Tiso observed that there is some similarity between Slovakia and Ireland; both countries are predominently Christian and have been for centuries; both are largely agrarian and both have more of their countrymen in America than in Europe. Our discussion touched on various subjects. For generations Slovakia had been a farming community but now they were promoting various industries. "A major problem confronting us," said the President, "is in getting teachers and technical instructors for the projects we hope to develop." When Slovakia was part of Czecho-Slovakia, the Czechs �SLOVAKIA 23 contrived to keep all industries in their part of the country. Now Slovakia, as the President observed, was endeavoring to encourage and develop its resources without too much reliance on Czechs, Germans, Hungarians or Russians. As the time came for me to leave, I mentioned to his Excellency that there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes and would it be quite proper for me to send him a little reminder of our visit? "What-for instance?" he asked. "I'm sure that during these winter nights it is quite cold in this ages-old palace. So I thought - that for medicinal purpose, of course, you might appreciate a half dozen bottles of good Canadian whisky." He laughed heartily and said, "I'll be glad to get it." The gift was sent. Some time later I was asked to again visit the palace when the President gave me a beautiful example of the artistic needle work that is done by many of the Slovak women and girls. That treasure is still in my possession. Little did I surmise that we were to be together several more times-but under vastly different circumstances. In the so-called histories and recordings of important events in Central and Eastern Europe during the latter weeks of World War II-much is purposely omitted. There is no mention of the unprecedented proposal made by the Soviet communists to recognize Slovakia as a sovereign state and to retain Msgr. Tiso as President. That proposal was made through diplomatic channels and told me by Stefan Tiso, then prime minister of Slovakia and confirmed by the former foreign minister of Slovakia, Dr. Ferdinand f>urcansky, presently residing in Munich, Germany. Of all the captive nations under the thraldom of Soviet communism, none would be more incongruous than a communist Slovakia with a Catholic monsignor as its president. Of course the Kremlin's proposal was curtly rejected by the Tiso administration. When the Red army advanced from Budapest toward Bratislava, President Tiso and his cabinet together with many others fled to Kremsmuenster, Austria. They expected and rightly so, that the United States forces would occupy �24 SLOVAKIA that part of Eastern Europe. The Slovak "colony" arrived in Austria April 1, 1945. (This writer left Slovakia the following day.) Although regarded as "top secret" it was known that the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Eduard Benes, with the aid of Franklin Roosevelt had flown to Moscow where he betrayed his country to the communists, with the understanding that he would be the "president" of the republic we now know as Czecho-Slovakia. On May 8, 1945, the refugee Slovak government in Austria signed a surrender document which was co-signed by Brig. General W. A. Collier of the US Army; Col. T. 0. Curtis and Capt. David W. Allard of the US Army. General Collier assured the Slovak refugees that they would not be delivered to the communists. Like some of the other pledges of proper treatment that were made by American officialdom to the anticommunists in certain European countries, such assurances were flagrantly violated. President Tiso, with his cabinet members, private secretary and another priest were transferred from Austria to an internment establishment in Freising, Bavaria, which was maintained by the U.S. Army . In Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum's book "Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe" is noted on page 311 a caption: Denial By U.S. War Department." (as follows) "Washington, D. C. February 7, 1947. "There is no record in the files of this office which shows that Monsignor Tiso was ever held by the American Forces or delivered to the Czechoslovakian authorities from American custody. Daniel Noce, Major General, O.S.C . Chief Civil Affairs Div." That statement of General Noce was either due to lamentable and inexcusable ignorance of fact or deliberate lie. I was with Msgr. Tiso many hours of many days when he and his fellow Slovaks were imprisoned by the American military forces in barracks at Freising. The charge against me was that I "had written anti-communist articles during the war." The charge was correct. I had written anti-communist, anti-Soviet articles. I dared, in fact cordially invited the �SLOVAKIA 25 Justice Department officials to make such formal indictment against me. If anti-Soviet and anti-communist was regarded as un-American and a criminal offense, I wanted it publicized in an American court. For obvious reasons the Justice Department found it convenient not to invite such exposure of aid to communist causes of which certain departments of the administration were guilty. All were shocked one morning when word was received at the Freising barracks that the Slovaks were to be delivered to the communist regime of Eduard Benes. I went to those betrayed Slovaks and assured them that it was not real Americans who were violating every pledge given them. Among the armed guards who were to deliver the Slovaks to the communist torturers were European born refugees in American uniforms . The testimony of those Slovaks who endured that transfer from Freising into the territory of the Czech regime of communist-aiding Eduard Benes-is a matter of indisputable record. We recall with shame the barbarian brutalities suffered recently by the Lithuanian seaman who sought refuge on an American Coast Guard vessel. Equally as brutal treatment was the lot of those Slovaks whe were beaten, kicked and tortured unmercifully by the alien element in American uniforms, then delivered to the communists. During the sham "trial" in Bratislava of Msgr. Tiso the communist prosecutor endeavored to force reference by Tiso of that ordeal. But Tiso refused to speak of it. His fate was pre-ordained. Death by hanging. Because he had served his God and his beloved people to the best of his ability-he was sentenced to death. Two hours before his execution he wrote a message for his people and for all Western Christian civilization. He wrote-in part: "I consider myself a martyr in defense c:>f Christianity against Bolshevism-against which the nation must defend itself in all possible ways, not only in the spirit of its Christian character but in the interests of its future." I recall that Msgr. Tiso once impressed on me the truth that "you cannot compromise with communism." That truism should be impressed on those who now urge cooperation with communism. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 21 I Met President Tiso E. L. Delaney Periodically some senators and representatives arise in the halls of Congress to eloquently deplore the plight of those people in what we rightly regard as the "Captive Nations". Apart from expressions of synthetic sympathy nothing meaningful is done to effect the liberation of those captives in the Soviet-communist combine. The short-lived Republic of Slovakia is one of those unfortunate victims. Thirty three years ago-March 14, 1939, the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava-in accordance with the CzechoSlovak constitution - unanimously proclaimed the independence of the Slovak Republic. With its population of about 4,400,000 and an area of approximately 50,000 square kilometers, Slovakia is in the heart of Eastern Europe . In the 9th and 10th centuries it was the first political, cultural and Christian center in that part of the world . But it was not until March of 1939 that Slovakia's duly elected political representatives proclaimed their right of self-determination. In March 1939 there was no war in Europe and none was imminent. Practically all European countries officially recognized Slovakia and established diplomatic or consular relations with the new political entity-including our wartime allies, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The fact that pernicious influences in our Washington administration succeeded in withholding recognition of the new Republic does not alter the indisputable fact that it did exist. Non-European countries with representation in Bratislava, the capital, were: Japan, Manchuria, Siam, China, Costa Rica and Equador. It is appropriate to mention that the Soviet had approximately 200 persons attached to its embassy in Bratislava. Other countries could operate with 10 or 12 people. But undoubtedly large staffs are 22 SLOVAEJA needed for propaganda, subversion and espionage, in which the Soviet is always engaged. During World War II, when a large part of Europe was plagued by want, Slovakia was rightfully regarded as an oasis of peace, prosperity and plenty. This paradise in war-rationed Europe had existed over three years before I had an opportunity to enjoy it. A few days after my arrival in Bratislava, the capital, I was invited to a dinner party where I met Jozef Mracna. He had been Consul for Czecho-Slovakia in New York. We soon discovered that we had many mutual friends there. He returned to Slovakia when it became a self-governing republic and was an official of the administration. I asked him if he could arrange for me to interview the President. He said he could-and did. On my arrival at the presidential palace at the appointed time I met Dr. Karol Murin, personal secretary of Msgr. Tiso who escorted me into the President's private study. Msgr. Tiso, or President Tiso as he was then, greeted me with a hearty hand-shake and a few words of English -his entire vocabulary in that language, as he laughingly admitted. He spoke Slovak, Czech, German and Hungarian, so our interview was conducted in German. His black hair was sprinkled with a few strands of grey and his dark blue eyes resembled those of the Irish. I mentioned to the President that a learned professor in Banska Bystrica told me that the Slovaks and Irish are both of Celtic origin. Msgr. Tiso observed that there is some similarity between Slovakia and Ireland; both countries are predominently Christian and have been for centuries; both are largely agrarian and both have more of their countrymen in America than in Europe. Our discussion touched on various subjects. For generations Slovakia had been a farming community but now they were promoting various industries. "A major problem confronting us," said the President, "is in getting teachers and technical instructors for the projects we hope to develop." When Slovakia was part of Czecho-Slovakia, the Czechs SLOVAKIA 23 contrived to keep all industries in their part of the country. Now Slovakia, as the President observed, was endeavoring to encourage and develop its resources without too much reliance on Czechs, Germans, Hungarians or Russians. As the time came for me to leave, I mentioned to his Excellency that there was a twinkle of humor in his eyes and would it be quite proper for me to send him a little reminder of our visit? "What-for instance?" he asked. "I'm sure that during these winter nights it is quite cold in this ages-old palace. So I thought - that for medicinal purpose, of course, you might appreciate a half dozen bottles of good Canadian whisky." He laughed heartily and said, "I'll be glad to get it." The gift was sent. Some time later I was asked to again visit the palace when the President gave me a beautiful example of the artistic needle work that is done by many of the Slovak women and girls. That treasure is still in my possession. Little did I surmise that we were to be together several more times-but under vastly different circumstances. In the so-called histories and recordings of important events in Central and Eastern Europe during the latter weeks of World War II-much is purposely omitted. There is no mention of the unprecedented proposal made by the Soviet communists to recognize Slovakia as a sovereign state and to retain Msgr. Tiso as President. That proposal was made through diplomatic channels and told me by Stefan Tiso, then prime minister of Slovakia and confirmed by the former foreign minister of Slovakia, Dr. Ferdinand f>urcansky, presently residing in Munich, Germany. Of all the captive nations under the thraldom of Soviet communism, none would be more incongruous than a communist Slovakia with a Catholic monsignor as its president. Of course the Kremlin's proposal was curtly rejected by the Tiso administration. When the Red army advanced from Budapest toward Bratislava, President Tiso and his cabinet together with many others fled to Kremsmuenster, Austria. They expected and rightly so, that the United States forces would occupy 24 SLOVAKIA that part of Eastern Europe. The Slovak "colony" arrived in Austria April 1, 1945. (This writer left Slovakia the following day.) Although regarded as "top secret" it was known that the former president of Czecho-Slovakia, Eduard Benes, with the aid of Franklin Roosevelt had flown to Moscow where he betrayed his country to the communists, with the understanding that he would be the "president" of the republic we now know as Czecho-Slovakia. On May 8, 1945, the refugee Slovak government in Austria signed a surrender document which was co-signed by Brig. General W. A. Collier of the US Army; Col. T. 0. Curtis and Capt. David W. Allard of the US Army. General Collier assured the Slovak refugees that they would not be delivered to the communists. Like some of the other pledges of proper treatment that were made by American officialdom to the anticommunists in certain European countries, such assurances were flagrantly violated. President Tiso, with his cabinet members, private secretary and another priest were transferred from Austria to an internment establishment in Freising, Bavaria, which was maintained by the U.S. Army . In Dr. J . M. Kirschbaum's book "Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe" is noted on page 311 a caption: Denial By U.S. War Department." (as follows) "Washington, D. C. February 7, 1947. "There is no record in the files of this office which shows that Monsignor Tiso was ever held by the American Forces or delivered to the Czechoslovakian authorities from American custody. Daniel Noce, Major General, O.S.C . Chief Civil Affairs Div." That statement of General Noce was either due to lamentable and inexcusable ignorance of fact or deliberate lie. I was with Msgr. Tiso many hours of many days when he and his fellow Slovaks were imprisoned by the American military forces in barracks at Freising. The charge against me was that I "had written anti-communist articles during the war." The charge was correct. I had written anti-communist, anti-Soviet articles. I dared, in fact cordially invited the SLOVAKIA 25 Justice Department officials to make such formal indictment against me. If anti-Soviet and anti-communist was regarded as un-American and a criminal offense, I wanted it publicized in an American court. For obvious reasons the Justice Department found it convenient not to invite such exposure of aid to communist causes of which certain departments of the administration were guilty. All were shocked one morning when word was received at the Freising barracks that the Slovaks were to be delivered to the communist regime of Eduard Benes. I went to those betrayed Slovaks and assured them that it was not real Americans who were violating every pledge given them. Among the armed guards who were to deliver the Slovaks to the communist torturers were European born refugees in American uniforms . The testimony of those Slovaks who endured that transfer from Freising into the territory of the Czech regime of communist-aiding Eduard Benes-is a matter of indisputable record. We recall with shame the barbarian brutalities suffered recently by the Lithuanian seaman who sought refuge on an American Coast Guard vessel. Equally as brutal treatment was the lot of those Slovaks whe were beaten, kicked and tortured unmercifully by the alien element in American uniforms, then delivered to the communists. During the sham "trial" in Bratislava of Msgr. Tiso the communist prosecutor endeavored to force reference by Tiso of that ordeal. But Tiso refused to speak of it. His fate was pre-ordained. Death by hanging. Because he had served his God and his beloved people to the best of his ability-he was sentenced to death. Two hours before his execution he wrote a message for his people and for all Western Christian civilization. He wrote-in part: "I consider myself a martyr in defense c:>f Christianity against Bolshevism-against which the nation must defend itself in all possible ways, not only in the spirit of its Christian character but in the interests of its future." I recall that Msgr. Tiso once impressed on me the truth that "you cannot compromise with communism." That truism should be impressed on those who now urge cooperation with communism.  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 I Met President Tiso Description An account of the resource E. L. Delaney Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 21-25 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 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/58b55ccc80d01f8f164dc7ee1430c6ab.pdf 6a33bd58852659e830704638b78c6719 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows �6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial �SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his �8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head �SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- �SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 �SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, �12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who �SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar �14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's �SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. �16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his �SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. �18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some �SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- �20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956. � SLOVAKIA 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows �6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial �SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his �8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head �SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- �SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 �SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, �12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who �SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar �14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's �SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. �16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his �SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. �18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some �SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- �20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 5 Dr. Joseph Tiso The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People J. M. Ki rs C h b au m Most wars in history have ended with the morally doubtful "vae victis"; the Second World War was no exception. Twenty-five years ago on April 18th in Bratislava, the picturesque site of the medieval University and later the crowning city of the Hapsburgs as kings of Hungary, a Catholic prelate with rosary in hand was led to the gallows and executed. Fearing German reprisals against the Slovak population, he had refused the Soviet demand to turn against the Germans, as the king of Rumania has done, and thus lost the first chance to save his life. By refusing to recommend Communism to his people and renounce their right to independence , he lost the last chance. It was an early chilling morning on the slopes of the Carpathians and on the shores of the Danube where Bratislava is situated. Only Czech troops and police detachment sent by Prague circulated the city to prevent an uprising or an attempt at freeing the incarcerated prelate. The country had been in a tense and grim mood for several months. Nothing except promises by the government composed of Communists and members of the Democratic Party that Dr. Tiso, President of the short-lived Slovak Republic, would be sentenced but not hanged, kept the population from revolting. Dr. E. Benes, President of the restored Czecho-Slova kia, refused, however, to spare the life of Dr. Tiso because, as he publicly said, "two Presidents could not live in one country," especially when the preferred one in Slovakia was not him but the incarcerated Dr. Tiso. When the news about the execution spread throughout the country, there was anger, sorrow and fear among the population. It was the first time that in Slovakia's long history a political leader had died on the gallows 6 SLOVAKIA for his convictions. Even during the Second World War no execution had been carried out in Slovakia because Dr. Tiso, as a priest, would not sign the order of execution. However, the shock was caused not only by the fact that the Slovaks were deceived, horrified and humiliated in their national pride. Dr. Tiso-until now little known abroad or presented in a distorted light-was the first President the Slovaks ever had. His policy could have been hard to understand or even abhorent to many people in the West, but the Slovak people looked at it from a different angle. He saved them from a division among their neighbors and from an occupation by the German Reich. He led his small Slovak Republic during the calamities of the Second World War without much damage and secured for the population the highest living standards in Europe, including neutral Switzerland. Furthermore, he was a Catholic prelate in a conservative and deeply religious land with over 80 ~'" of the population being devoted Catholics. The vast majority of the Slovak population considered, therefore, the execution as an act of political vengeance. In fact, the members of the government who represented the Democratic Party which, in the 1946 elections had won a 62 ~f, majority, urged Dr. Benes to give amnesty to Dr. Tiso. Only the Communists and the Prague government insisted on his execution. Dr. Tiso was accused of treason and collaboration with Germany. Since Czecho-Slovakia originated with the dismemberment of Austrio-Hungary by the activities of T. G. Masaryk and Dr. Benes during the First World War, nobody in Slovakia could take seriously the charge of treason. Dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was not as much the result of the activities of Dr. Tiso, as of the international situation. Besides T. G. Masaryk himself, accused of treason, refuted as preposterous any charge of treason for activities leading to independence of an oppressed people. There are some learned paragraphs in his writings about this subject. 1 On the other side, the "collaboration" of Dr. Tiso with Berlin was not that of conspiracy or voluntary acceptance either of German supremacy in Central Europe, or of German Nazi ideology. He went for the first time to Berlin in order to defend Slovakia against Magyar territorial SLOVAKIA 7 claims and saw Hitler for the first time on March 13, 1939, on the invitation of Hitler and with the consent of the Presidium of the Slovak parliament and the Slovak provincial government. His mission in Berlin was to save Slovakia from dismemberment and occupation and not to ask for German supremacy or for the introduction of the Nazi ideology in Slovakia. In fact, he opposed the introduction of Nazism into Slovakia, proof of which can be found in many official German documents published by the American and British governments.2 During the war Dr. Tiso publicly proclaimed that Slovak participation in the war was symbolic and that Slovakia fought Communism and Soviet expansion and not the Russian people. For these pronouncements he had difficulties with Berlin. His envoy in Rome in 1940 informed through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs the British government that Slovakia desired to remain neutral. 3 The Secretary-General of the ruling Party of which Dr. Tiso was chairman, spoke publicly against the introduction of foreign ideologies and insisted on keeping Slovakia out of the conflict of the Great Powers. The pressure of Berlin, especially after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany was, however, too strong to be fully resisted and Dr. Tiso had to deal with a government in Slovakia in which some members were acquiescent to the demands of the Third Reich, especially in solving some internal problems such as the Jewish problem. In this case Dr. Tiso did his best and saved many thousands of Slovak Jews. The international Red Cross report acknowledged that Slovakia had been at times a haven for the Jews of Poland. 4 But those who were saved, and even less Dr. Benes, were willing to consider the real situation in Slovakia during the Second World War. The speeches and addresses Dr. Tiso made during the war were those of a patriot, tempered by the realistic evaluation of Slovakia's situation, by his long political experience and knowledge of the Slovak mentality and, of course, by the precarious conditions of the war and German distrust. 5 According to all who knew Dr. Tiso, political power had no corrupting effect on this quiet, solidly build figure, whose goal in life was to serve God and his nation and who repeatedly proclaimed himself ready to retire to his 8 SLOVAKIA parish if it would serve the interests of his people. He remained what he always had been-a fighter for his beliefs on the pattern of Central European national leaders who combined strong patriotism with their religious vocation and intellectual distinction. 6 His distaste for democratic politics as practised between the two wars in CzechoSlovakia should be judged by taking into account the situation in Slovakia during the 20 years after the First World War. Ruled from Prague, with political power divided between some 30 splinter parties, Slovakia was certainly not happy 7 under a regime where democracy was often nothing less than a series of noisy and incoherent promise, impossible demands and hot-potch of unfortunate ideas and impractical plans. Dr. Tiso was not against criticism or opposition and even less against free discussion, but the war situation everywhere in the world imposed brakes on the democratic way of life. In addition, in Ttso's view, public opinion should have been formed on the basis of solid arguments and knowledge of indisputable and properly interpreted facts and disinterested attitudes, and not on the basis of passions and distortions of truth. He repeated this in many of his speeches and addresses which were based on the doctrine of the Papal encyclicals and works of Western and European sociologists with a mixture of patriotic ideas deeply rooted in Slovak tradition. He wanted to rally his fellow citizens to have them respond to an invocation of national destiny great enough to jolt them out of their passivity and submissivness. If he praised the Germans, as he sometimes did, it was because he felt that such was the price which would have to be paid for his people's salvation from German occupation and division among Slovakia's neighbors. He also had to do it in order to prevent subservient elements from taking into their hands complete power in Slovakia . German ambassadors in Bratislava sent many reports to Berlin against Tiso's politics and tried hard to have put in his place a man who would have been more obedient and more subservient to German demands and pressure.8 There was, in fact, a time when they tried to remove him by an attempt on his life. As a result, Tiso looks in historical perspective more as a Slovak Petain than as any other head SLOVAKIA 9 of state who during the war had to be on the German side either because of geo-political reasons or by compulsion. II. DR. TISO'S CONCEPT OF SLOVAK POLITICS Dr. Tiso left no compact work about his views on Slovak national life or on the ideological foundations of Slovak politics. Always in the middle of obstinate struggles for the rights of the Slovak people and their national survival, in which he played the foremost role from 1918 on, Dr. Tiso had little time to write books. He postponed the task for a time when he would depart from the political arena, but this was denied him by his execution. Although he formulated the goals of the Slovak national struggle between 1920-1945 and in countless speeches and addresses developed the fundamental principles of a Slovak national ideology more systematically than any other Slovak leader had in this century or in the past, a systematic explanation of Tiso's political views and principles still awaits the efforts of a serious scholar. The first step in this direction was made by Dr. Stefan Polakovic during the lifetime of Dr. Tiso, when he expertly and systematically collected in the work Tiso's Doctrine and From Tiso 's Struggle9 the fundamental concepts of Dr. Tiso's views on the nation, nationalism, the state, religion, and social order. Even though the volumes bear the imprints of war conditions in Slovakia, they remain thus far, along with the final speech of Dr. Tiso before the Bratislava Court, which was edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco,10 the main source of knowledge of the fundamental ideas, aims, and efforts of Slovak political life in the first half of this century. In Slovakia and abroad, Dr. Tiso was accused after the Second World War of being against democracy, favoring dictatorship and of introducing during the war a fascist regime and immitating German Nazi ideology. The perusal of the articles, studies, parliamentary speeches and presidential messages make all these accusations not only foundless, but testify to the fact that Dr. Tiso's ideology was anchored in Papal Encyclicals, in Natural Law, in modern sociological thought. His ideal was a true democracy which he called Christian democracy. German pres- SLOVAKIA sure, the circumstances of a war which seriously curtailed democracy in England, the U.S.A. or Canada, and many problems of a specific nature facing a new state in a precarious geo-political situation, did not allow Dr. Tiso to implement all his ideas. Furthermore, Dr. Tiso was a president with powers strictly defined by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic 11 and executive powers were vested largely in the hands of the government. Dr. Tiso pointed out this important fact in his last eloquent pladoyer before the Bratislava Court, but it was apparently overlooked by all foreign writers who wrote about Dr. Tiso and wartime Slovakia. As a cabinet minister in pre-war Czecho-Slovakia as well as one of the principal leaders of the Slovak Populist Party which fought for political autonomy within CzechoSlovakia, Dr. Tiso made numerous speeches on democracy and dictatorship, not only a long time before Hitler came to power but also when the Fuehrer's impact on European politics was strong and found imitators and sympathizers in many European countries. In 1936, when democracy in Europe and especially in Central Europe was passing through a crisis, Dr. Tiso, speaking on behalf of the Slovak Populist Party, proclaimed: We Slovaks are adherents of Christian democracy from the depth of our hearts and condemn any dictatorship regardless of its name. We have always been for democracy but a true democracy. We are criticizing our mystified (falsified) democracy exactly for the reaso n that at present, democracy in Czecho-Slovakia, by its methods, actually discredits democracy. At home it shatters faith in democracy in the hearts of the people, and elsewhere, especially abroad , it gives to the adversaries of democracy an efficient weapon against our democracy. We are for such a democracy which is blsed on equal rights for everybody, for a true and sincere democracy which serves the public and protects interests of the nation as a whole. 12 His adverse stand against the ideological principles of Nazism (national socialism) was expressed as late as 1942, when Germany ruled over Europe and tried to impose an ideological "Gleichaltung." In an address to diplomats accredited in Bratislava, Dr. Tiso as President of the Slovak Republic, said among other things: "We cannot accept and implement the political part of national socialism, but its economic and social goals and methods we can follow, because they are in accordance with Natural Law." 13 SLOVAKIA 11 Social problems, especially just rewards for workers and the equitable distribution of national income were close to the heart of Dr. Tiso during his whole political career. It was apparently his life ambition to implement the social ideas and principles of the Papal Encyclical "Quadragesimo Anno" in the economic and social system of Slovakia. Certain social measures, especially those aiming at improving the lot of the working class, which the Germans had introduced in the late 1930's, were the economic and social goals which Dr. Tiso thought worthwhile to accept from national socialism. In fact, during his term of office, several reforms were introduced such as paid holidays for workers, family wages and a bill introducing the participation of workers on the profits of industrial enterprise. From his deep feeling for social justice stemmed also Dr. Tiso's views on the role of the capital and capitalists in Slovakia: The new Slovakia is not against capital, but she is against the unscrupulous capitalists who would like to continue exploiting Slovakia. Not every,body who has a lot of money is a capitalist in the bad sense of the word. A capitalist is a man who uses his money for personal enrichment and not for the common good. I did not abandon Ohristian principles when I declared that from the invested capital either in industry or in commerce or agriculture the owner can obtain only 10% and the rest he must use for improvement of the enterprise and mainly for the !improvement of the social standards of the employees. The profits should be divided in such a way that not only the investor but also the enterprise and the employees would obtain a proper share of it. This is Christian philosophy.14 Not only Tiso's views regarding social justice and the role of capital but his ideology in a broad sense was anchored in the philosophy of Natural Law and in Christian ethics. In a narrower sense, Slovak national traditions permeated with expressions of patriotism and a selfless dedication to the struggle for national rights, as defined in the political thought of European philosophers and ideologists of the 19th and 20th centuries, were other components of his political philosophy. As if following the Old Testament prophets, Dr. Tiso spoke of his approach to Slovak politics: In profound humility we are ,p aying tribute to our good Lord for the light we receive from the principles of Natural Law, 12 SLOVAKIA according to which we conducted ourselves in the fight for independence, as well as in our work of building our State. A return to the Natural Law can be the only foundation upon which a new world can be built, a world of contentment, order, and permanent peace.15 A practical manifestation of the Natural Law is and shall remain our old goal: Slovakia for the Slovaks. Slovakia in its entirety, indivisible and without reservations in the legal, cultural, economical, and social iields, so that the inde,p endent Slovak nation might be the living bearer of all power and the consumer of all that the Slovak country contains and represents. Placing the foundation of Slovak politics on Natural Law, Dr. Tiso on March 16, 1939, defined the ethical basis of Slovak politics as follows: Our Slovak State was not born out of hatred, but out of our great love for our homeland. Let us above all else be led by this thought: no hatred toward anyone, but love, and ardent love for our State, which inspires us to work and sacrifice .. _16 "Not force, but law which is founded on truth," was the philosophy of Dr. Joseph Tiso, and he followed it in the full sense of the word throughout his life, because he believed that "no one will be mistaken who builds on the nation and always has only the interests of his nation in mind. We have taken over this thesis from stirring times for the future so that we might strengthen ourselves in the old convictions that individuals pass away but the nation remains, and the person who, separated completely from his own interests, stands unconditionally in the service of the nation, knows how to hold his ground and is the only one fit to lead and to speak in the name of the nation." Regarding politics as a service to the nation, Dr. Tiso during his many years of political activity pleaded that political leaders learn to give priority to the interests of the nation over their own interests. His understanding of politics was that "the interest of the nation is the highest directive of political work." Politics is not supposed to be: A medium for several individuals to conceal their own materialistic interests. Politics serves the nation. The politician, more than any one else, must be the guardian of the traditional values of the nation and must be the ever ready intepreter of Natural Law in any given situation. Should any one lack the one or the other, he is not fit to be the representative ,of the nation, because he will either become a figure tossed about by contemporary political or social currents which have no connection with the living body of the nation, or else he will be a museum guardian of the nation who SLOVAKIA 13 stands afar from contemporary routes along which life flows and on which the fate of the future of the nation is determined. Whoever boasts that he is a loyal son of the nation must also ponder what he is giving to his nation: an ideological infection which causes a fever, or bacteria which causes decay and can bring the nation to the grave; or does he contribute labor which shall forever remain in the nation as a cell of healthy social and cultural development. As Dr. Tiso saw it, "the State should serve the nation, therefore, it has the right to existence only insofar as it does not threaten the interests of the nation." As far as State order is concerned, this must "be subordinated to the principles of morality and law; the State must respect the rights of the individual, the family, society, and hold sacred the right of parents to educate their children, the right of conscience and religious affiliation; it guarantees the right of private ownership and safeguards the peaceful co-existence of labor and capital, of employer and employee." Every loyal son of the Slovak nation, according to Tiso, "sanctifies his nationalism with a Christian spirit, so that nationalism does not remain a slogan or a mantle of dubious aims, but an internal motivating force to create values for the benefit of the national whole. Love for the nation is a religious precept, and a person sins against the Fourth Commandment who does not love his nation. He bears a stigma not only as an earthly traitor, but also as a transgressor who does not keep the Divine Commandment. A nation whose sons do not know how to bear a blow and personal sacrifices, such a nation will not get far. The nation lives, the national whole lives, only by the fight and work of individuals." From the above quotations, it is quite evident that the main principles of Dr. Tiso's ideology were: 1) Natural Law; 2) Love in place of hatred; 3) Right in.stead of violence; 4) Respect for morality; 5) Nation above the State; 6) Loyalty to traditions; 7) The personal selflessness and sacrifice of political leaders; 8) Nationalism sanctified by Christianity; 9) Social justice, and 10) Religious tolerance. During the decades of his political activity, Dr. Tiso developed these ideas not only in his popular speeches to the people, but also in his addresses, parliamentary speeches, and presidential messages, so that a scholar 14 SLOVAKIA will have little difficulty in elaborating Dr. Tiso's ideology. Dr. Tiso himself indicated Christianity as the basis of his ideas, especially the philosophy of St. Thomas 17 and, in the social sphere, the Papal Encyclicals. On the question of nationalism Tiso said that "the symbol of Slovak nationalism was stur," 18 because "stur's nationalism was the dynamic force in individuals whom he prompted to work and sacrifice for the nation; it was the connecting link of individuals into a rock-firm whole with a united aim a united will . . ." 19 A study of Dr. Tiso's political speeches reveals that he frequently tied in his talks with the spiritual-political heritage of the followers of Louis stur, the 19th century Slovak patriot and the "father of modern Slovak nationalism." Dr. Tiso did this consciously to preserve the continuity in Slovak ideological-political development and so that the Slovaks could build on traditions. If we compare the basic ideas of stur's political and philosophical writing and speeches which are dealt with in several published works 20 with Tiso's, the latter, of course, shows more elaborate concepts and deeper sociological insights. Preserving ideological continuity with former Slovak generations, Dr. Tiso draws deeply from a Christian world outlook on the individual and his relation to the State, nation, family and society. His ideology is firmly founded on the principles of modern sociology and political science; it has solid philosophical foundations and a strictly logical system; it emanates from an idea and stresses the primacy of spirituality, but it depends on and respects the reality of life. Tiso's ideology is the result of long years study and political experience, drawn from daily contact with the people and from the unceasing struggle with Slovakia's adversaries. As a result, it is, as it were, an ideology forged in the fire of battles and tested in confrontation with the actual life of the nation in the phase of its political formation, but also in the phase of struggles for its natural rights, and, finally, also in the period of building its own state. In comparison with the ideology of :r.. stur and his followers, we are concerned in Tiso's case with an ideology whose foundations are not only broader but one which was more thought out, mature and tested by life. Dr. Tiso's SLOVAKIA 15 political activity had almost been as long as Stu.r's entire life 0815-1856) and hence he could see the ideas which he professed and for which he labored and fought, materialized in national life. If we should compare Dr. Tiso as a politician and ideologue with other leaders of Slovak life, then objectively it can be said that during the last 100 year,s there was no political leader in Slovakia who could compare with his thorough preparation for political activity, either theoretically or from parliamentary experience. III. WRITINGS ON PRESIDENT TISO IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES In many West European countries, the President of the Slovak Republic was presented after the war in a distorted way. Journalists and scholars accepted Czech propaganda and Communist accusations and wrote about Slovakia and her President with a definite bias. After 25 years, this trend is changing, as all of us, who knew that the adverse propaganda was not based on facts, believed from the very beginning that it would. In books, periodicals and newpapers, the personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics appear today in a much different light than was the case immediately after the war. European Scholars About Msgr. Tiso In this respect, two recent articles deserve our attention. The French historian, Francois d'Orcival, who published an interesting book on Slovakia about three years ago under the title Le Danube Etait Noir, contributed to the periodical Miroir de l'Histoire (July 1971, No. 259), a lengthy essay in which he set the records straight and presented Dr. Tiso and his politics objectively. Dr. Tiso appears to the French historian as a patriot who did everything possible to save his people from disaster and who applied in his politics as many Christian and humanist principles as the intricate situation of the Second World War allowed him. The essay gives a brief historical background of Slovakia during the centuries and deals with the political events from 1918 to the proclamation of Slovakia's independence, ending with the execution of Msgr. Tiso in 1947. 16 SLOVAKIA The second article "Premesse ideologiche del Federalismo ceco-slovacco (La dottrina politico-sociale di Jozef Tiso)" appeared in Italy in the periodical fl Mondo Slavo (Vol. 2), published by the Centro di Studi Sull' Europa Orientale in Padova. It deals with the political and social doctrines of President Tiso, and was written by Lisa Guarda Nardini. It is a well-written analysis of the politics and ideology of Dr. Tiso. The author of the article also gives many biographical data on the President and dwells on his doctrine about the individual, the family, the nation and the State. The article is written on the basis of many sources published in English, German and Italian languages by foreign or Slovak authors. Writings by Slovak Authors in Foreign Languages Slovak writers, journalists and scholars published during the past 25 years scores of articles in the quarterlies Slovakia and Slowakei, or chapters in books dealing generally with Slovak history. The former Minister of External Affairs, Dr. F . t>urcansky, left some valuable information on Dr. Tiso in his contributions to German historical periodicals. In 1967 two publications appeared, one by Prof. Francis Vnuk and another by Prof. Milan S. Durica. Prof. Vnuk's publication, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic (The Association of Australian Slovaks, Sydney, 1967), is a well-balanced and well-written presentation of Dr. Tiso and his political career. After writing hundreds of articles and two books on political and cultural topics from modern Slovak history, Vnuk had become one of the best qualified persons to seriously tackle the subject. He displays a considerable knowledge of foreign and domestic sources on the crucial years of Slovakia's modern history and uses it with skill and good judgment in summarizing Dr. Tiso's achievements, his role in the struggle of the Slovak people for equality of rights in Czecho-Slovakia and finally for national independence in the troubled period before and during the Second World War. In the sub-title of his work, Prof. Vnuk mentions that it was published " In commemoration of the twentieth anniversary of his (Dr. Tiso's ) death at the hands of his SLOVAKIA 17 enemies of Slovak independence," but it is not a current commemorative booklet. The author gives the reader in a nutshell a serious and well-documented analysis not only of Dr. Tiso's political life struggle, but also an excellent survey of Slovak politics and the treacheries and perfidy of the adversaries of Slovak independence. The booklet is divided into 15 chapters and also includes several photographs and a map of Slovakia. There could hardly be a better concised presentation of "the case of Tiso," as it has been done by Vnuk. In equally sober manner is written Prof. M. St. i'.>urica's analysis of Slovak politics "in the light of Tiso's political thought and teaching" - Die Slowakische Politik 1938/ 39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tiso 's (Emil Semmel Verlag, Bonn) , 1967. Both i'.>urica and Vnuk belong to the younger generation of Slovak scholars in the Free World and while they lived in Slovakia during the crucial years of her history, they were too young to be involved personally in politics, which is undoubtedly an advantage. Nobody can seriously accuse them of speaking "pro domo sua," as the adversaries of Slovakia's aspirations for freedom used to do with regard to other Slovak writers on political subjects. i'.>urica also has a thorough preparation for his work and is equipped with probably the best knowledge of German and other European diplomatic sources on Slovakia, as his Italian book and numerous studies in other languages indicate. The present publication is actually his lecture at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat in Bonn to the students of all Faculties on June 12, 1967. Like Vnuk, i'.>urica also gives first a survey of Slovak history to make his subject more intelligible to his readers. Then he speaks about the political thought (he uses the word Lehre-teaching) of Dr. Tiso and about the crisis of 1938/ 39. There are all the elements of a serious study in i'.>urica's publication, and it presents Dr. Tiso and Slovak politics to the Western world in an objective light, fighting only indirectly all the distortions and political propaganda which were spread by the Communists and non-Communists who adopted Czech and anti-Slovak conceptions about modern Slovak history. 18 SLOVAKIA The bulk of writings in the English language will be, of course, found in the American Slovak newspapers especially in Jednota and in the quarterly Oater annual) Slovakia. The late Philip Hrobak, editor of both Slovakia and Jednota was one of the most courageous defenders of the President of the Slovak Republic and there are many articles written by him personally and scores of essays which he translated and published. Some will be a valuable source for historians since they were written by persons who either knew President Tiso personally and worked in some political or cultural institution during the time he was President, or were acquainted with his trial and tragic and as politicians of the restored Czecho-Slovakia under the Soviet tutelage. Of documentary value will especially be two articles by President Tiso's Personal Secretary, Prof. Charles Murin: "Eight Fatal Days in the Life of Dr. Joseph Tiso," Slovakia, Vol. III, March 1957, pp. 13-18, and "A Belated Report," Slovakia, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 31-36. Prof. Murin was Private Secretary to Dr. Tiso from 1938 until the latter's capture in Austria and extradition to Czecho-Slovakia, and the closest person in the President's entourage. The value of Prof. Murin's articles lies, in addition, in his intergrity and desire to portray the situation objectively. Another article of documentary value was written by an opponent of Slovakia's independence and indirectly of Dr. Tiso, Dr. Michael Zibrin, a member of Prague Parliament, under the title The Case of Dr. Joseph Tiso, Vol. II, August 1952, pp. 1-24. For historians, two articles will be of interest, one by Prof. J. Zubek, O.F.M., S.T.D., Monsignor Jozef TisoControversial Personality, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and the other by Prof. Milan St. !>urica Dr'. Joseph Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia, Vol. VII, SeptemberDecember 1957, pp. 1-22. Neither Prof. Zubek nor Prof. !>urica were active in politics and their articles are a result of serious scholarly research. Among the articles by Slovaks who were close to some SLOVAKIA 19 time to Dr. Tiso during the years 1938-1945, there are two by Dr. J. M. Kirschbaum The Tenth Anniversary of Dr. Joseph Tiso's Execution, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 1-8, and Facts and Events Behind the Scenes of Slovakia's Declaration of Independence, Vol. IX, March 1959, pp. 1-7, and two by Dr. Joseph Pauco Dr. Joseph Tiso: Christian Democrat, Vol. VII, June 1957, pp. 37-49, and / was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper, Vol. VII, March 1957, pp. 9-13. The quarterly Slovakia published many other articles which in one way or another shed further information on the personality and politics of Dr. Tiso. In 1957, an entire volume was devoted to the memory of Dr. Tiso and many articles were published in previous or in the following years. At least some of them should be mentioned: The First President of the Slovak Republic, by Dr. Joseph Cieker, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 1-29. Dr. Joseph Tiso: Priest, Teacher, President and National Hero of the Slovak Nation, Vol. II, March 1952, pp. 45-46. Anniversary of a Murder, Vol. III, April 1953, pp. 28-30, and Dr. Joseph Tiso in Memoriam, Vol. XI, September-December 1961, pp. 1-2. Slovakia: Trial of Dr. Joseph Tiso, March 1957, pp. 19-21. All these writings are an important source of information not only for foreign historians interested in Eastern Europe, but also for the new generation of Slovaks. Nevertheless, there is still need for a comprehensive work on the remarkable personality of Dr. Tiso and his politics during the crucial years before and during the Second World War, as well as on his place in the history of Slovakia. If written without prejudice by an able historian, such a book can be of great service to the Slovak nation and of great value for understanding not only the struggle of a small nation between two great powers, but also of the Communist methods of enslaving people with old traditions and love of freedom and democracy. See T. G. Masaryk, Das neue Europa and Der Agramer Hock- verratsprozess, both published during his struggle fo r the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary. 2) See Documents on German Foreign Policy, Series 'D', Vol. IX-X. 3) Ibid, Vol. X, No. 205. 1) 4) See the report of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Revue Internationale de la Croix Rouge, Geneva, 1947, pp. 957- 20 SLOVAKIA 959, and Milan St. !>urica, "Dr, Jozef Tiso and the Jewish Problem in Slovakia," Slovakia, Vol. VII, No. 3-4, 1957. See Francis Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso - President of the Slovak Republic. (Sydney, 1967) and Th. J Zubek, "Monsignor J . Tiso-Controversial Personality," Slovakia, Vol. Vil, March, 1957. 6 ) See quotations from his speeches and addresses in this article, Part II. 7) See Watson Klrkconnell, Canada, Europe and Hitler (Toronto, 1939) , pp. 47-48. 8) See J . M. Klrschbaum, Slovakia-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (Speller & Sons, New York, 1960), p. 280-283, F . Vnuk, op. cit. , and Francois d'Orcival, Le Danube etait noir, (Paris, 1967 ) and his article in Mirroir de l'Histoire, (No. 259, July 1971). 5) 9 ) Dr. Stefan Polakovic, Tisova Nauka (Tiso's Political Philosophy), and Z Tisovho Boja (From Tiso's Struggle) , Bratislava, 1941. 10) Dr. Jozef Tiso o se be, edited by Dr. Joseph Pauco, Passaic, N. J . 1952. 11) On Slovak Constitution, see Kirschbaum, Slov aki11r-Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe, (Speller, New York, 1960) . 12) Published in the daily Slovak, No. 177-178, Bratislava, 1936. 13) Quoted from Dr. J . Pauco, op cit. , p. 243. 14) Polakovic, Tisova Nauka, op. cit., p. 324. Originally published in the daily Slovak, No. 283 , 1938. 15) This and the following quotations are taken from the books by Polakovic and Pauco. 16) See Polakovic, Z Tisovho Boja, op. cit. , p. 236-237. 17) "All who recall our thesis that 'the nation is the substance and the state only the form' should know that its state-political formula is the practical consequence of rtihe state-political theory which is built on the foundations of Thomistic philosophy ." - SLOVAK, 1935. 18 ) See "Prve posolstvo" (The First Message), Ruzomberok, August 16, 1939. Already in 1936 Dr. Tiso had proclaimed: "It is this amount of Louis Stur, built in the Banovce county, that shall be the visible proof of the fact that we have progressed so far that only we, Slovak Catholics, have not forgotten our Slovak past and we pay our respects to the memory of our national awakeners even when they are Evangelical (Lutherans) , as was Stur."-SLOVAK, 1936. 19) Dr. Tiso also characterized Stur's nationalism in this manner: " Stur's nationalism-built on the foundation of the independent Slovak nation and the genuine Slovak language, ,b ecause it acknowledges the law of God and the law .of nature-was the natural foundation of the life of the Slovak nation."-SLOVAK, 1936. 20 ) See the works by Profess.or Dr. Cizevsky, Stefan Polakovic, Dr. Samuel S. Osusky, Daniel Rapant, Joseph Pauco, and J . M. Kirschbaum's, ~udovit Slur and His Place in the Slavic World, (Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio), 1956.  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. Joseph Tiso: The Prelate-Politician who Died on the Gallows for His People Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 pp. 5-20 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 1972 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a6b5b447ac77a477ba858b0858c52bd7.pdf 36c06838ceb2978564eaacc8adb3cfa4 PDF Text Text 4 SLOVAKIA Paean to Integrity Who goes into battle in defense of truth, For the rights of people sacrifices youth: When oppression rages, who will mercy bring, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. When the cannon thunder, when the eagles soar, Who will shed his lifeblood freedom to restore, Who will shield his nation from the Dragon's sting, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. He who keeps his pledges though the heavens fall , Who regards his honor as the crown of all; Whom no threat can cower, bribe can never swing, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Evil cannot conquer, God had cursed its part, As he built a Heaven for the noble heart; He who keeps His mandates, to His truth will cling, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Karol Kuzmany's "Kto za pravdu hori" translated in 1943 by George A. Ga Ii k, in collaboration with his sister, Cecilia G. Kennedy. � 4 SLOVAKIA Paean to Integrity Who goes into battle in defense of truth, For the rights of people sacrifices youth: When oppression rages, who will mercy bring, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. When the cannon thunder, when the eagles soar, Who will shed his lifeblood freedom to restore, Who will shield his nation from the Dragon's sting, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. He who keeps his pledges though the heavens fall , Who regards his honor as the crown of all; Whom no threat can cower, bribe can never swing, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Evil cannot conquer, God had cursed its part, As he built a Heaven for the noble heart; He who keeps His mandates, to His truth will cling, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Karol Kuzmany's "Kto za pravdu hori" translated in 1943 by George A. Ga Ii k, in collaboration with his sister, Cecilia G. Kennedy. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 4 SLOVAKIA Paean to Integrity Who goes into battle in defense of truth, For the rights of people sacrifices youth: When oppression rages, who will mercy bring, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. When the cannon thunder, when the eagles soar, Who will shed his lifeblood freedom to restore, Who will shield his nation from the Dragon's sting, Him my voice will honor and his glory sing. He who keeps his pledges though the heavens fall , Who regards his honor as the crown of all; Whom no threat can cower, bribe can never swing, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Evil cannot conquer, God had cursed its part, As he built a Heaven for the noble heart; He who keeps His mandates, to His truth will cling, Him my voice will honor and glory sing. Karol Kuzmany's "Kto za pravdu hori" translated in 1943 by George A. Ga Ii k, in collaboration with his sister, Cecilia G. Kennedy.  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 Paean to Integrity (Kto za pravdu horí) Description An account of the resource Karol Kuzmány trans. George A. Galik Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 p. 4 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kuzmány, Karol, 1806-1866 Galik, George A. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f9288cf8d18ff709ac08247a75df8ed5.pdf 51bd81874bd9e51112561089d782b497 PDF Text Text SLOVAKlA 3 Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People ( Two hours before he died on the gallows, Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime P resident of the Slovak Republic, wrote the following last message to the Slovak people in Bratislava prison.) In the spirit of this sacrifice which I am about to make, these are my words to the Slovak people: Be unanimous and united in pursuing always, everywhere and in every respect the great principle: "FOR GOD AND FOR THE NATION!" This is not only the unequivocal intent of Slovak history, but also the explicit command of God, who made it the law of nature, and inculcated it in the nation and all its members. This law I have served all my life. And for this r eason I regard myself as a martyr in the defense of Christianity against Bolshevism, against which our nation must in all possible ways defend itself, and only in order to remain true to its Christian character, but also in the interest of its future survival. In the same way as I am asking all of you to remember me in your prayers, so will I also pray to God Almighty on your behalf and supplicate that He bless the Slovak people in their life-struggle for God and for the nation, and that the Slovak nation shall always remain a faithful and devoted son to the Church of Christ. Bratislava. April 18, 1947, 3 o'clock a. m. Dr. Joseph Ti s o � SLOVAKlA 3 Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People ( Two hours before he died on the gallows, Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime P resident of the Slovak Republic, wrote the following last message to the Slovak people in Bratislava prison.) In the spirit of this sacrifice which I am about to make, these are my words to the Slovak people: Be unanimous and united in pursuing always, everywhere and in every respect the great principle: "FOR GOD AND FOR THE NATION!" This is not only the unequivocal intent of Slovak history, but also the explicit command of God, who made it the law of nature, and inculcated it in the nation and all its members. This law I have served all my life. And for this r eason I regard myself as a martyr in the defense of Christianity against Bolshevism, against which our nation must in all possible ways defend itself, and only in order to remain true to its Christian character, but also in the interest of its future survival. In the same way as I am asking all of you to remember me in your prayers, so will I also pray to God Almighty on your behalf and supplicate that He bless the Slovak people in their life-struggle for God and for the nation, and that the Slovak nation shall always remain a faithful and devoted son to the Church of Christ. Bratislava. April 18, 1947, 3 o'clock a. m. Dr. Joseph Ti s o � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 SLOVAKlA 3 Dr. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People ( Two hours before he died on the gallows, Dr. Joseph Tiso, wartime P resident of the Slovak Republic, wrote the following last message to the Slovak people in Bratislava prison.) In the spirit of this sacrifice which I am about to make, these are my words to the Slovak people: Be unanimous and united in pursuing always, everywhere and in every respect the great principle: "FOR GOD AND FOR THE NATION!" This is not only the unequivocal intent of Slovak history, but also the explicit command of God, who made it the law of nature, and inculcated it in the nation and all its members. This law I have served all my life. And for this r eason I regard myself as a martyr in the defense of Christianity against Bolshevism, against which our nation must in all possible ways defend itself, and only in order to remain true to its Christian character, but also in the interest of its future survival. In the same way as I am asking all of you to remember me in your prayers, so will I also pray to God Almighty on your behalf and supplicate that He bless the Slovak people in their life-struggle for God and for the nation, and that the Slovak nation shall always remain a faithful and devoted son to the Church of Christ. Bratislava. April 18, 1947, 3 o'clock a. m. Dr. Joseph Ti s o  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. Tiso's Last Message to the Slovak People Description An account of the resource Dr. Joseph Tiso Slovakia, Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972 p. 3 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Tiso, Jozef, 1887-1947 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/de3e24b2737590f66339f43803fa0a29.pdf 474a49aa5b7f00c90fb8c8693d9692e6 PDF Text Text �SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXII • 1972 • NO. 45 Editor JOSEPH PAUCO, Ph.D. Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue • Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 �Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY, Middletown, Pennsylvania, U. S. A. � �SLOVAKIA VOLUME XXII • 1972 • NO. 45 Editor JOSEPH PAUCO, Ph.D. Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue • Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 �Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY, Middletown, Pennsylvania, U. S. A. � 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 1972, Vol. 22 Description An account of the resource Vol. 22 (No. 45), 1972. 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 1972 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 VOLUME XXII • 1972 • NO. 45 Editor JOSEPH PAUCO, Ph.D. Published by THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue • Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY, Middletown, Pennsylvania, U. S. A.  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. 22 (No. 45) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1972