1 50 26 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/75a909bdd8b0fc868aebe25cba299cc4.pdf 3e17d0710ca1e65e2a73b94d244da73e PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.) �170 SLOVAKIA The 17th century marked dramatic development in Latin at Slovak Jesuit schools, with performances of Seneca, Sophocles, Plautus, and Terentius, among others. These plays were also translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German, and presented in the vernacular. The Piarist Fathers were also active, although their productions did not match the splendor of Jesuit productions in polish or costuming. Jesuit presentations were costumed from Vienna and not infrequently from Venice. Piarist productions, however, were more liberal in content, dealing more with worldly issues, and thus contributed notably to Slovak drama. Original plays in Latin were presented at Slovak Protestant institutions. Isaac Caban (1638-1707), rector at Brezno and later professor at the Presov and Levoca lyceums, wrote a cycle of five Latin plays titled Labarum Triumphale Victrici Palladi Fragariae Solenne (Triumphant Standard of Presov's Victorious Minerva). The cycle was presented in 1665 on five successive days and repeated several times by popular demand. Other original Latin plays by other professors-divines soon appeared. One such play, titled Eleazar Constans, was about a man who was steadfast in his faith. It was presented in Bardejov, in 1668, by students on the anniversary of the founding of their school. This was followed, in 1669, by Papinianus Tetragonus , which met with tremendous success. The nature of the play itself reflected the universal European trend of that time. The protagonist was Papinianus Ictus, a Roman jurist who lived from 140 to 212, "a man brave, steadfast, and honorable." He was executed by Roman Emperor Caracalla because he would not condone the Emperor's fratricide. Papinianus was translated into the prevalent vernaculars-Slovak, German, Magyar-and continued in popularity. A most interesting study for a thesis would be a comparison of the play to the tragedies of Shakespeare, who had been dead only fifty years at that time. Titus Andronicus? Julius Ceasar? Timon of Athens? Anthony and Cleopatra? Coriolanus? Shakespeare drew heavily upon Plutarch's Parallel Lives for the factual bases of his tragedies. Plutarch had �SLOVAKIA 171 already been translated into English and had a profound influence upon English literature; Plutarch was integral to the classical scholarship of Slovakia; Plutarch was the cultural denominator common to England and Slovakia and could therefore serve as the prime basis for a comparative study. Thanks to the well-organized records keeping of the religious orders, much information is available to us about theatrical presentations. From 1601 to 1773, the Jesuits staged over 10,000 plays in Hungary, most of them in Slovakia. The themes of the plays dealt with the bible and with oriental and classical history. Slovak was used for the first time in Bratislava in 1628 as the language of a play entitled About the Sacrament of the Altar. Performances were held every evening during the Lenten season, and the response was so great that more than a thousand tickets were sold every day. An original play entitled Apollo Returned Heaven, by Rector Paul ~uhaj, was performed in Slovak at Levoca, Spisska Kapitula, and Skalica. With the growth of a middle class by the early 1700's came a burgeoning interest in the theater, reaching from the nobility, through the middle-class and the working-class, to the peasantry. The center of this activity in Slovakia was Bratislava, which was also the seat of the Hungarian Parliament. Only a short drive by horse-coach from Vienna, Bratislava teemed with the nobility of the Austrian Imperial Court and consequently that of Hungary and visitors from the other monarchies of Europe. They brought to Bratislava theatrical companies from Austria, Poland, Italy, and Germany. Private theaters became the fashion among such noble families as the Erdody, Eszterhazy, and Zichy, which maintained residences in Bratislava. The permanent theater in Bratislava, from 1741 on, was at Rybarska Brana (Fisherman's Gate). A small summer theater was established in 1760. To the sorrow of Slovak culture, the situation among talented performers of that time still exists today. Persons of outstanding talent would move on to the larger cities of Europe-Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Prague-and asswne a culture that was alien, if not politically hostile, to their Slovak background. Although �172 SLOVAKIA their talents were genetically rooted in Slovakia, the theatrical dynasties they frequently founded were completely alienated, both culturally and politically. The Czech theater was enriched by two Slovaks, Paul Kyrmezer of Banska stiavnica, and George Tesak of Mosovce. Both were refugees from the ravages of the Turks, who held strategic fortresses in Slovakia at that time. Kyrmezer was for a time pastor and school director of various churches in Moravia, being dean in Uherske Hradiste from 1576 until his death in 1589. He wrote several plays and dramas in Old Slovak. George Tesak, who died in Prague in 1617, wrote many plays incorporating music and song, which are considered early forms of the operetta. Both Kyrmezer and Tesak are respected by the Czechs as pioneers in Czech theatrical arts. Adaptations of their works were performed as late as 1938 in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, and other Czech and Moravian centers with great success. The theatrical arts moved ahead quickly in full force in Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna, which, of course, was reflected in smaller, provincial communities. Music, at this time, became compulsory in all intermediate and higher schools. All professional theaters began to present operas and operettas. Music became an indispensible factor in social and cultural life. Artists-actors, singers, musicians, composers, conductors, and directors-were subsidized by the state and community. Indeed, if one did not attend at least two performances a week, one was almost a social outcast. Many Slovak young men, even from the villages, who came to the big cities to study medicine, pharmacy, law, or philosophy, began to devote themselves to music. They ultimately gave up their original ambitions and enrolled in conservatories of music, undoubtedly causing their parents considerable grief. In this sense they were not unlike our modern youth. · Matthew Kamensky, born in sopron in 1734, composed the first op~ra in Polish, Nedza Uszczesliwiona (Poverty Made Fortunate). He died in Warsaw in 1821 as the popular composer Ka:mi~nski. [Jan Fisher, Dejin,y hudby (History �SLOVAKIA 173 of Music), Spolok sv. Vojtecha (Society of St. Adalbert), Trnava, 1933 ) . Slovakia's central location made the country an important crossing point in the musical lives of surrounding countries. Slovakia was close to the Austrian music of Vienna. But there were also strong Magyar influences. Purely from a Slovak and Slavonic standpoint, the Abbey at Budec was the guardian of liturgical music. The abbey fostered the Cyrilo-Methodian Liturgy and produced many outstanding musicians, composers, and teachers. Bratislava is less than 20 miles, across the Danube, from Rohrau in Austria, where Josef Haydn was born. As a composer of world renown, Haydn contributed outstandingly to the development of the symphony. And as such, he was a teacher of the German genius Ludwig van Beethoven, who raised the symphonic form to its greatest development. Both masters knew Bratislava. Beethoven was only 22 years old when he made Vienna his home in 1792. By 1796 he had already personally endeared himself to Bratislava audiences, although his First Symphony was received with mixed reactions, as elsewhere, when it was first performed in 1800. There is a legend that his Moonlight Sonata was inspired by his love for an innkeeper's daughter in the Slovak spa of Piest'any. Beethoven's fame and popularity brought him many requests for his patronage. One such request, which was fulfilled, came from a young student of music, Jozef Koritansky, who went on to Vienna to become one of the most outstanding of opera stars in Europe. The great Franz Schubert also knew Slovakia. As music teacher to a branch of the Eszterhazy family, he lived in the palace at Zeliezovce. Here he composed his famous Ave Maria, supposedly to express his love for one of the Eszterhazy daughters, which is allegedly why the hymn was banned from churches in some parts of Europe. He, too, was a frequent visitor to Bratislava, where he is known to have had many friends . .Vienna as a cultural magnet, and because of its geographical proximity, drew countless numbers of Slovaks over the centuries. Some went specifically to further their studies. Others went merely to seek their fortunes. At the �174 SLOVAKIA outbreak of World War I, there were innumerable thousands of Slovaks in Vienna. Budapest is an interesting example of Magyar acculturation of Slovaks. The first Magyar opera was composed in 1823 by a Slovak, Jozef Chudy, born in Bratislava. The world-famous composer Ernest Dohnany, was born in Banska Bystrica in 1877. The primadona of the Royal Magyar Theater, Maria Sarvasova, was born in Zvolen in 1894. The leading actress Ilona Bednar was born in Banska stiavnica. Prima ballerina Anna suhaj was a Slovak. The leading actors Jan Sklenar, Tomas Jakub, Pavol Rezar, and Jozef Sedlak, as well as the singers Zoltan Kianicka, Andrej Dvoran, and Jan Mastny, all considered Magyar, had Slovak backgrounds. (Dejiny hudby, Trnava, 1933; Javisko, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1940) As Magyar chauvinism grew in intensity, the Slovak theater in the Slovak highlands suffered, from harassment to direct suppression. Slovak audiences, particularly in the villages, delighted in plays that satirized the Magyarization of the small-town Slovak gentry. Since Magyarization was the planned program of the Budapest government, such plays were considered subversive. Suppression stimulated the growth of the Slovak folk theater, and groups of devoted amateurs sustained the Slovak character through long years of political and cultural oppression. The amateur theater became so ingrained a tradition, that it was brought to the United States by early immigrants, where, with the ubiquitous, multi-functional Slovak choir, it became the fund raiser for most of the Slovak churches, schools, and societies. It would be a long list if one were to enumerate the artists who gained fame on the stages of Budapest and Vienna and whose talents stemmed from the highland villages of Slovakia. It would be an extremely short list to enumerate those artists whose Slovak identity was not obliterated by the cultures of their new environments. There are notable examples, however, of artists who should be mentioned because they emerged as Slovaks through the forces that brought about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and brought into being new states, among them Czecho-Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 175 It was in 1916, a year before the United States entered World War I and when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was already tottering, that a Slovak artist of high professional caliber appeared on the American stage as a Slovak, perhaps for the first time in history. It was Anica Fabry, primadona of the Royal Opera at Budapest. She presented several concerts in New York City, which were favorably reviewed by such newspapers as The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, and the Journal American, among others. Noteworthy is the fact that in the programs of songs Miss Fabry sang were those of a young Slovak composer, Mikulas Schneider-Trnavsky. Following upon the end of the war and the emergence of the states in Central and East Central Europe, the world was able to know the young, talented Slovaks building careers on the stages of Budapest and Vienna. The handsome young Slovak actor-singer Frantisek Kristof Vesely was brought from Vienna to Prague, where he became a leading star in films. From Budapest there returned such outstanding artists as Andrej Bagar, Hana Melickova, and Jozef Kelo. Bratislava was nationalistically awakening in quick tempo. But it soon appeared that the Czechs wanted the National Theater at Bratislava to be a bridge for politicizing and for influencing a pan-Czech Slovak development. This led to an internal struggle that lasted for years, during which Slovaks were gradually beginning to supplant Czechs m thA Slovak National Theater, particular as authors and playwriters.Outstanding foreign plays were being translated into Slovak and presented on the stage. Many Slovaks, however, were applying their talents to the Czech stage, as actors, singers, directors, and ballet performers. They were exceptionally well paid for their talents, it should be said, to prevent them from complementing the Slovak theaters at Bratislava and Kosice, which were, through their high professional standards, too dangerously competitive for the Czech theater at Prague and Brno. The year 1938 decided in favor of the Slovaks. The theater in Bratislava was already on a high professional level. The still relatively young, 39-year-old idol, Frantisek �176 SLOVAKIA Kristof Vesely, came home to Bratislava from Prague. Opera star Belo Turba Nitrancan returned from Brno. New strength arrived through the return of young Slovaks who had been studying abroad. All enriched the Slovak stage. Into this resurging theatrical environment entered the ambitious and talented young Slovak, Gejza Dusik, who in the course of a few years wrote dozens of operettas, Turecky tabak (Turkish Tobacco), Modra ruza (Blue Rose), Pozar na vlak (Watch Out for the Train), Pod cudzou vlajkou (Under a Foreign Flag), to name the most popular. These were received with so great and wide acclaim that they were almost immediately translated into neighboring languages - German, Magyar, Croat, Bulgar, and others. Theaters were filled to standing-room-on ly whenever Dusik's operettas were performed. The names Mayzes, Cikker, and Suchan are known world-wide as contemporary composers of classical music, symphonic and operatic. Their works are in the repertoire of every major, internationally known symphony orchestra and opera company. Mayzes' Janosik Suite musically recreates the legends of the popular Slovak hero-outlaw, who "took from the rich and gave to the poor." Cikker's operas are regularly performed in Germany and England, particularly one based on Dicken's Christmas Carol. Suchon's opera Krutnava (Vortex), in purely Slovak setting and theme, begins in tragedy and ends in happiness, contrary to traditional operatic structure. Nevertheless, Krutnava has established itself even in Italy, the birthplace and home of opera. As already stated, this presentation considers Slovak theatrical and musical arts only in historical delineation. Although the years 1938 to 1945 constitute, in a sense, Slovak cultural risorgimento, those years and the years following up to our time are still within the current historical perspective. As such, they do not lend themselves even to a superficial evaluation that can be objective. Such evaluation is for the future. What may be said today about this period of Slovak risorgimento is that Bratislava surpassed Vienna in the state of the arts. What must be asked today is, "Quo vadis, Bratislava?" ( Second place - College) � SLOVAKIA 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.) �170 SLOVAKIA The 17th century marked dramatic development in Latin at Slovak Jesuit schools, with performances of Seneca, Sophocles, Plautus, and Terentius, among others. These plays were also translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German, and presented in the vernacular. The Piarist Fathers were also active, although their productions did not match the splendor of Jesuit productions in polish or costuming. Jesuit presentations were costumed from Vienna and not infrequently from Venice. Piarist productions, however, were more liberal in content, dealing more with worldly issues, and thus contributed notably to Slovak drama. Original plays in Latin were presented at Slovak Protestant institutions. Isaac Caban (1638-1707), rector at Brezno and later professor at the Presov and Levoca lyceums, wrote a cycle of five Latin plays titled Labarum Triumphale Victrici Palladi Fragariae Solenne (Triumphant Standard of Presov's Victorious Minerva). The cycle was presented in 1665 on five successive days and repeated several times by popular demand. Other original Latin plays by other professors-divines soon appeared. One such play, titled Eleazar Constans, was about a man who was steadfast in his faith. It was presented in Bardejov, in 1668, by students on the anniversary of the founding of their school. This was followed, in 1669, by Papinianus Tetragonus , which met with tremendous success. The nature of the play itself reflected the universal European trend of that time. The protagonist was Papinianus Ictus, a Roman jurist who lived from 140 to 212, "a man brave, steadfast, and honorable." He was executed by Roman Emperor Caracalla because he would not condone the Emperor's fratricide. Papinianus was translated into the prevalent vernaculars-Slovak, German, Magyar-and continued in popularity. A most interesting study for a thesis would be a comparison of the play to the tragedies of Shakespeare, who had been dead only fifty years at that time. Titus Andronicus? Julius Ceasar? Timon of Athens? Anthony and Cleopatra? Coriolanus? Shakespeare drew heavily upon Plutarch's Parallel Lives for the factual bases of his tragedies. Plutarch had �SLOVAKIA 171 already been translated into English and had a profound influence upon English literature; Plutarch was integral to the classical scholarship of Slovakia; Plutarch was the cultural denominator common to England and Slovakia and could therefore serve as the prime basis for a comparative study. Thanks to the well-organized records keeping of the religious orders, much information is available to us about theatrical presentations. From 1601 to 1773, the Jesuits staged over 10,000 plays in Hungary, most of them in Slovakia. The themes of the plays dealt with the bible and with oriental and classical history. Slovak was used for the first time in Bratislava in 1628 as the language of a play entitled About the Sacrament of the Altar. Performances were held every evening during the Lenten season, and the response was so great that more than a thousand tickets were sold every day. An original play entitled Apollo Returned Heaven, by Rector Paul ~uhaj, was performed in Slovak at Levoca, Spisska Kapitula, and Skalica. With the growth of a middle class by the early 1700's came a burgeoning interest in the theater, reaching from the nobility, through the middle-class and the working-class, to the peasantry. The center of this activity in Slovakia was Bratislava, which was also the seat of the Hungarian Parliament. Only a short drive by horse-coach from Vienna, Bratislava teemed with the nobility of the Austrian Imperial Court and consequently that of Hungary and visitors from the other monarchies of Europe. They brought to Bratislava theatrical companies from Austria, Poland, Italy, and Germany. Private theaters became the fashion among such noble families as the Erdody, Eszterhazy, and Zichy, which maintained residences in Bratislava. The permanent theater in Bratislava, from 1741 on, was at Rybarska Brana (Fisherman's Gate). A small summer theater was established in 1760. To the sorrow of Slovak culture, the situation among talented performers of that time still exists today. Persons of outstanding talent would move on to the larger cities of Europe-Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Prague-and asswne a culture that was alien, if not politically hostile, to their Slovak background. Although �172 SLOVAKIA their talents were genetically rooted in Slovakia, the theatrical dynasties they frequently founded were completely alienated, both culturally and politically. The Czech theater was enriched by two Slovaks, Paul Kyrmezer of Banska stiavnica, and George Tesak of Mosovce. Both were refugees from the ravages of the Turks, who held strategic fortresses in Slovakia at that time. Kyrmezer was for a time pastor and school director of various churches in Moravia, being dean in Uherske Hradiste from 1576 until his death in 1589. He wrote several plays and dramas in Old Slovak. George Tesak, who died in Prague in 1617, wrote many plays incorporating music and song, which are considered early forms of the operetta. Both Kyrmezer and Tesak are respected by the Czechs as pioneers in Czech theatrical arts. Adaptations of their works were performed as late as 1938 in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, and other Czech and Moravian centers with great success. The theatrical arts moved ahead quickly in full force in Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna, which, of course, was reflected in smaller, provincial communities. Music, at this time, became compulsory in all intermediate and higher schools. All professional theaters began to present operas and operettas. Music became an indispensible factor in social and cultural life. Artists-actors, singers, musicians, composers, conductors, and directors-were subsidized by the state and community. Indeed, if one did not attend at least two performances a week, one was almost a social outcast. Many Slovak young men, even from the villages, who came to the big cities to study medicine, pharmacy, law, or philosophy, began to devote themselves to music. They ultimately gave up their original ambitions and enrolled in conservatories of music, undoubtedly causing their parents considerable grief. In this sense they were not unlike our modern youth. · Matthew Kamensky, born in sopron in 1734, composed the first op~ra in Polish, Nedza Uszczesliwiona (Poverty Made Fortunate). He died in Warsaw in 1821 as the popular composer Ka:mi~nski. [Jan Fisher, Dejin,y hudby (History �SLOVAKIA 173 of Music), Spolok sv. Vojtecha (Society of St. Adalbert), Trnava, 1933 ) . Slovakia's central location made the country an important crossing point in the musical lives of surrounding countries. Slovakia was close to the Austrian music of Vienna. But there were also strong Magyar influences. Purely from a Slovak and Slavonic standpoint, the Abbey at Budec was the guardian of liturgical music. The abbey fostered the Cyrilo-Methodian Liturgy and produced many outstanding musicians, composers, and teachers. Bratislava is less than 20 miles, across the Danube, from Rohrau in Austria, where Josef Haydn was born. As a composer of world renown, Haydn contributed outstandingly to the development of the symphony. And as such, he was a teacher of the German genius Ludwig van Beethoven, who raised the symphonic form to its greatest development. Both masters knew Bratislava. Beethoven was only 22 years old when he made Vienna his home in 1792. By 1796 he had already personally endeared himself to Bratislava audiences, although his First Symphony was received with mixed reactions, as elsewhere, when it was first performed in 1800. There is a legend that his Moonlight Sonata was inspired by his love for an innkeeper's daughter in the Slovak spa of Piest'any. Beethoven's fame and popularity brought him many requests for his patronage. One such request, which was fulfilled, came from a young student of music, Jozef Koritansky, who went on to Vienna to become one of the most outstanding of opera stars in Europe. The great Franz Schubert also knew Slovakia. As music teacher to a branch of the Eszterhazy family, he lived in the palace at Zeliezovce. Here he composed his famous Ave Maria, supposedly to express his love for one of the Eszterhazy daughters, which is allegedly why the hymn was banned from churches in some parts of Europe. He, too, was a frequent visitor to Bratislava, where he is known to have had many friends . .Vienna as a cultural magnet, and because of its geographical proximity, drew countless numbers of Slovaks over the centuries. Some went specifically to further their studies. Others went merely to seek their fortunes. At the �174 SLOVAKIA outbreak of World War I, there were innumerable thousands of Slovaks in Vienna. Budapest is an interesting example of Magyar acculturation of Slovaks. The first Magyar opera was composed in 1823 by a Slovak, Jozef Chudy, born in Bratislava. The world-famous composer Ernest Dohnany, was born in Banska Bystrica in 1877. The primadona of the Royal Magyar Theater, Maria Sarvasova, was born in Zvolen in 1894. The leading actress Ilona Bednar was born in Banska stiavnica. Prima ballerina Anna suhaj was a Slovak. The leading actors Jan Sklenar, Tomas Jakub, Pavol Rezar, and Jozef Sedlak, as well as the singers Zoltan Kianicka, Andrej Dvoran, and Jan Mastny, all considered Magyar, had Slovak backgrounds. (Dejiny hudby, Trnava, 1933; Javisko, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1940) As Magyar chauvinism grew in intensity, the Slovak theater in the Slovak highlands suffered, from harassment to direct suppression. Slovak audiences, particularly in the villages, delighted in plays that satirized the Magyarization of the small-town Slovak gentry. Since Magyarization was the planned program of the Budapest government, such plays were considered subversive. Suppression stimulated the growth of the Slovak folk theater, and groups of devoted amateurs sustained the Slovak character through long years of political and cultural oppression. The amateur theater became so ingrained a tradition, that it was brought to the United States by early immigrants, where, with the ubiquitous, multi-functional Slovak choir, it became the fund raiser for most of the Slovak churches, schools, and societies. It would be a long list if one were to enumerate the artists who gained fame on the stages of Budapest and Vienna and whose talents stemmed from the highland villages of Slovakia. It would be an extremely short list to enumerate those artists whose Slovak identity was not obliterated by the cultures of their new environments. There are notable examples, however, of artists who should be mentioned because they emerged as Slovaks through the forces that brought about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and brought into being new states, among them Czecho-Slovakia. �SLOVAKIA 175 It was in 1916, a year before the United States entered World War I and when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was already tottering, that a Slovak artist of high professional caliber appeared on the American stage as a Slovak, perhaps for the first time in history. It was Anica Fabry, primadona of the Royal Opera at Budapest. She presented several concerts in New York City, which were favorably reviewed by such newspapers as The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, and the Journal American, among others. Noteworthy is the fact that in the programs of songs Miss Fabry sang were those of a young Slovak composer, Mikulas Schneider-Trnavsky. Following upon the end of the war and the emergence of the states in Central and East Central Europe, the world was able to know the young, talented Slovaks building careers on the stages of Budapest and Vienna. The handsome young Slovak actor-singer Frantisek Kristof Vesely was brought from Vienna to Prague, where he became a leading star in films. From Budapest there returned such outstanding artists as Andrej Bagar, Hana Melickova, and Jozef Kelo. Bratislava was nationalistically awakening in quick tempo. But it soon appeared that the Czechs wanted the National Theater at Bratislava to be a bridge for politicizing and for influencing a pan-Czech Slovak development. This led to an internal struggle that lasted for years, during which Slovaks were gradually beginning to supplant Czechs m thA Slovak National Theater, particular as authors and playwriters.Outstanding foreign plays were being translated into Slovak and presented on the stage. Many Slovaks, however, were applying their talents to the Czech stage, as actors, singers, directors, and ballet performers. They were exceptionally well paid for their talents, it should be said, to prevent them from complementing the Slovak theaters at Bratislava and Kosice, which were, through their high professional standards, too dangerously competitive for the Czech theater at Prague and Brno. The year 1938 decided in favor of the Slovaks. The theater in Bratislava was already on a high professional level. The still relatively young, 39-year-old idol, Frantisek �176 SLOVAKIA Kristof Vesely, came home to Bratislava from Prague. Opera star Belo Turba Nitrancan returned from Brno. New strength arrived through the return of young Slovaks who had been studying abroad. All enriched the Slovak stage. Into this resurging theatrical environment entered the ambitious and talented young Slovak, Gejza Dusik, who in the course of a few years wrote dozens of operettas, Turecky tabak (Turkish Tobacco), Modra ruza (Blue Rose), Pozar na vlak (Watch Out for the Train), Pod cudzou vlajkou (Under a Foreign Flag), to name the most popular. These were received with so great and wide acclaim that they were almost immediately translated into neighboring languages - German, Magyar, Croat, Bulgar, and others. Theaters were filled to standing-room-on ly whenever Dusik's operettas were performed. The names Mayzes, Cikker, and Suchan are known world-wide as contemporary composers of classical music, symphonic and operatic. Their works are in the repertoire of every major, internationally known symphony orchestra and opera company. Mayzes' Janosik Suite musically recreates the legends of the popular Slovak hero-outlaw, who "took from the rich and gave to the poor." Cikker's operas are regularly performed in Germany and England, particularly one based on Dicken's Christmas Carol. Suchon's opera Krutnava (Vortex), in purely Slovak setting and theme, begins in tragedy and ends in happiness, contrary to traditional operatic structure. Nevertheless, Krutnava has established itself even in Italy, the birthplace and home of opera. As already stated, this presentation considers Slovak theatrical and musical arts only in historical delineation. Although the years 1938 to 1945 constitute, in a sense, Slovak cultural risorgimento, those years and the years following up to our time are still within the current historical perspective. As such, they do not lend themselves even to a superficial evaluation that can be objective. Such evaluation is for the future. What may be said today about this period of Slovak risorgimento is that Bratislava surpassed Vienna in the state of the arts. What must be asked today is, "Quo vadis, Bratislava?" ( Second place - College) � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.) 170 SLOVAKIA The 17th century marked dramatic development in Latin at Slovak Jesuit schools, with performances of Seneca, Sophocles, Plautus, and Terentius, among others. These plays were also translated into Slovak, Magyar, and German, and presented in the vernacular. The Piarist Fathers were also active, although their productions did not match the splendor of Jesuit productions in polish or costuming. Jesuit presentations were costumed from Vienna and not infrequently from Venice. Piarist productions, however, were more liberal in content, dealing more with worldly issues, and thus contributed notably to Slovak drama. Original plays in Latin were presented at Slovak Protestant institutions. Isaac Caban (1638-1707), rector at Brezno and later professor at the Presov and Levoca lyceums, wrote a cycle of five Latin plays titled Labarum Triumphale Victrici Palladi Fragariae Solenne (Triumphant Standard of Presov's Victorious Minerva). The cycle was presented in 1665 on five successive days and repeated several times by popular demand. Other original Latin plays by other professors-divines soon appeared. One such play, titled Eleazar Constans, was about a man who was steadfast in his faith. It was presented in Bardejov, in 1668, by students on the anniversary of the founding of their school. This was followed, in 1669, by Papinianus Tetragonus , which met with tremendous success. The nature of the play itself reflected the universal European trend of that time. The protagonist was Papinianus Ictus, a Roman jurist who lived from 140 to 212, "a man brave, steadfast, and honorable." He was executed by Roman Emperor Caracalla because he would not condone the Emperor's fratricide. Papinianus was translated into the prevalent vernaculars-Slovak, German, Magyar-and continued in popularity. A most interesting study for a thesis would be a comparison of the play to the tragedies of Shakespeare, who had been dead only fifty years at that time. Titus Andronicus? Julius Ceasar? Timon of Athens? Anthony and Cleopatra? Coriolanus? Shakespeare drew heavily upon Plutarch's Parallel Lives for the factual bases of his tragedies. Plutarch had SLOVAKIA 171 already been translated into English and had a profound influence upon English literature; Plutarch was integral to the classical scholarship of Slovakia; Plutarch was the cultural denominator common to England and Slovakia and could therefore serve as the prime basis for a comparative study. Thanks to the well-organized records keeping of the religious orders, much information is available to us about theatrical presentations. From 1601 to 1773, the Jesuits staged over 10,000 plays in Hungary, most of them in Slovakia. The themes of the plays dealt with the bible and with oriental and classical history. Slovak was used for the first time in Bratislava in 1628 as the language of a play entitled About the Sacrament of the Altar. Performances were held every evening during the Lenten season, and the response was so great that more than a thousand tickets were sold every day. An original play entitled Apollo Returned Heaven, by Rector Paul ~uhaj, was performed in Slovak at Levoca, Spisska Kapitula, and Skalica. With the growth of a middle class by the early 1700's came a burgeoning interest in the theater, reaching from the nobility, through the middle-class and the working-class, to the peasantry. The center of this activity in Slovakia was Bratislava, which was also the seat of the Hungarian Parliament. Only a short drive by horse-coach from Vienna, Bratislava teemed with the nobility of the Austrian Imperial Court and consequently that of Hungary and visitors from the other monarchies of Europe. They brought to Bratislava theatrical companies from Austria, Poland, Italy, and Germany. Private theaters became the fashion among such noble families as the Erdody, Eszterhazy, and Zichy, which maintained residences in Bratislava. The permanent theater in Bratislava, from 1741 on, was at Rybarska Brana (Fisherman's Gate). A small summer theater was established in 1760. To the sorrow of Slovak culture, the situation among talented performers of that time still exists today. Persons of outstanding talent would move on to the larger cities of Europe-Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Prague-and asswne a culture that was alien, if not politically hostile, to their Slovak background. Although 172 SLOVAKIA their talents were genetically rooted in Slovakia, the theatrical dynasties they frequently founded were completely alienated, both culturally and politically. The Czech theater was enriched by two Slovaks, Paul Kyrmezer of Banska stiavnica, and George Tesak of Mosovce. Both were refugees from the ravages of the Turks, who held strategic fortresses in Slovakia at that time. Kyrmezer was for a time pastor and school director of various churches in Moravia, being dean in Uherske Hradiste from 1576 until his death in 1589. He wrote several plays and dramas in Old Slovak. George Tesak, who died in Prague in 1617, wrote many plays incorporating music and song, which are considered early forms of the operetta. Both Kyrmezer and Tesak are respected by the Czechs as pioneers in Czech theatrical arts. Adaptations of their works were performed as late as 1938 in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, and other Czech and Moravian centers with great success. The theatrical arts moved ahead quickly in full force in Bratislava, Budapest, and Vienna, which, of course, was reflected in smaller, provincial communities. Music, at this time, became compulsory in all intermediate and higher schools. All professional theaters began to present operas and operettas. Music became an indispensible factor in social and cultural life. Artists-actors, singers, musicians, composers, conductors, and directors-were subsidized by the state and community. Indeed, if one did not attend at least two performances a week, one was almost a social outcast. Many Slovak young men, even from the villages, who came to the big cities to study medicine, pharmacy, law, or philosophy, began to devote themselves to music. They ultimately gave up their original ambitions and enrolled in conservatories of music, undoubtedly causing their parents considerable grief. In this sense they were not unlike our modern youth. · Matthew Kamensky, born in sopron in 1734, composed the first op~ra in Polish, Nedza Uszczesliwiona (Poverty Made Fortunate). He died in Warsaw in 1821 as the popular composer Ka:mi~nski. [Jan Fisher, Dejin,y hudby (History SLOVAKIA 173 of Music), Spolok sv. Vojtecha (Society of St. Adalbert), Trnava, 1933 ) . Slovakia's central location made the country an important crossing point in the musical lives of surrounding countries. Slovakia was close to the Austrian music of Vienna. But there were also strong Magyar influences. Purely from a Slovak and Slavonic standpoint, the Abbey at Budec was the guardian of liturgical music. The abbey fostered the Cyrilo-Methodian Liturgy and produced many outstanding musicians, composers, and teachers. Bratislava is less than 20 miles, across the Danube, from Rohrau in Austria, where Josef Haydn was born. As a composer of world renown, Haydn contributed outstandingly to the development of the symphony. And as such, he was a teacher of the German genius Ludwig van Beethoven, who raised the symphonic form to its greatest development. Both masters knew Bratislava. Beethoven was only 22 years old when he made Vienna his home in 1792. By 1796 he had already personally endeared himself to Bratislava audiences, although his First Symphony was received with mixed reactions, as elsewhere, when it was first performed in 1800. There is a legend that his Moonlight Sonata was inspired by his love for an innkeeper's daughter in the Slovak spa of Piest'any. Beethoven's fame and popularity brought him many requests for his patronage. One such request, which was fulfilled, came from a young student of music, Jozef Koritansky, who went on to Vienna to become one of the most outstanding of opera stars in Europe. The great Franz Schubert also knew Slovakia. As music teacher to a branch of the Eszterhazy family, he lived in the palace at Zeliezovce. Here he composed his famous Ave Maria, supposedly to express his love for one of the Eszterhazy daughters, which is allegedly why the hymn was banned from churches in some parts of Europe. He, too, was a frequent visitor to Bratislava, where he is known to have had many friends . .Vienna as a cultural magnet, and because of its geographical proximity, drew countless numbers of Slovaks over the centuries. Some went specifically to further their studies. Others went merely to seek their fortunes. At the 174 SLOVAKIA outbreak of World War I, there were innumerable thousands of Slovaks in Vienna. Budapest is an interesting example of Magyar acculturation of Slovaks. The first Magyar opera was composed in 1823 by a Slovak, Jozef Chudy, born in Bratislava. The world-famous composer Ernest Dohnany, was born in Banska Bystrica in 1877. The primadona of the Royal Magyar Theater, Maria Sarvasova, was born in Zvolen in 1894. The leading actress Ilona Bednar was born in Banska stiavnica. Prima ballerina Anna suhaj was a Slovak. The leading actors Jan Sklenar, Tomas Jakub, Pavol Rezar, and Jozef Sedlak, as well as the singers Zoltan Kianicka, Andrej Dvoran, and Jan Mastny, all considered Magyar, had Slovak backgrounds. (Dejiny hudby, Trnava, 1933; Javisko, Turc. Sv. Martin, 1940) As Magyar chauvinism grew in intensity, the Slovak theater in the Slovak highlands suffered, from harassment to direct suppression. Slovak audiences, particularly in the villages, delighted in plays that satirized the Magyarization of the small-town Slovak gentry. Since Magyarization was the planned program of the Budapest government, such plays were considered subversive. Suppression stimulated the growth of the Slovak folk theater, and groups of devoted amateurs sustained the Slovak character through long years of political and cultural oppression. The amateur theater became so ingrained a tradition, that it was brought to the United States by early immigrants, where, with the ubiquitous, multi-functional Slovak choir, it became the fund raiser for most of the Slovak churches, schools, and societies. It would be a long list if one were to enumerate the artists who gained fame on the stages of Budapest and Vienna and whose talents stemmed from the highland villages of Slovakia. It would be an extremely short list to enumerate those artists whose Slovak identity was not obliterated by the cultures of their new environments. There are notable examples, however, of artists who should be mentioned because they emerged as Slovaks through the forces that brought about the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and brought into being new states, among them Czecho-Slovakia. SLOVAKIA 175 It was in 1916, a year before the United States entered World War I and when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was already tottering, that a Slovak artist of high professional caliber appeared on the American stage as a Slovak, perhaps for the first time in history. It was Anica Fabry, primadona of the Royal Opera at Budapest. She presented several concerts in New York City, which were favorably reviewed by such newspapers as The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, and the Journal American, among others. Noteworthy is the fact that in the programs of songs Miss Fabry sang were those of a young Slovak composer, Mikulas Schneider-Trnavsky. Following upon the end of the war and the emergence of the states in Central and East Central Europe, the world was able to know the young, talented Slovaks building careers on the stages of Budapest and Vienna. The handsome young Slovak actor-singer Frantisek Kristof Vesely was brought from Vienna to Prague, where he became a leading star in films. From Budapest there returned such outstanding artists as Andrej Bagar, Hana Melickova, and Jozef Kelo. Bratislava was nationalistically awakening in quick tempo. But it soon appeared that the Czechs wanted the National Theater at Bratislava to be a bridge for politicizing and for influencing a pan-Czech Slovak development. This led to an internal struggle that lasted for years, during which Slovaks were gradually beginning to supplant Czechs m thA Slovak National Theater, particular as authors and playwriters.Outstanding foreign plays were being translated into Slovak and presented on the stage. Many Slovaks, however, were applying their talents to the Czech stage, as actors, singers, directors, and ballet performers. They were exceptionally well paid for their talents, it should be said, to prevent them from complementing the Slovak theaters at Bratislava and Kosice, which were, through their high professional standards, too dangerously competitive for the Czech theater at Prague and Brno. The year 1938 decided in favor of the Slovaks. The theater in Bratislava was already on a high professional level. The still relatively young, 39-year-old idol, Frantisek 176 SLOVAKIA Kristof Vesely, came home to Bratislava from Prague. Opera star Belo Turba Nitrancan returned from Brno. New strength arrived through the return of young Slovaks who had been studying abroad. All enriched the Slovak stage. Into this resurging theatrical environment entered the ambitious and talented young Slovak, Gejza Dusik, who in the course of a few years wrote dozens of operettas, Turecky tabak (Turkish Tobacco), Modra ruza (Blue Rose), Pozar na vlak (Watch Out for the Train), Pod cudzou vlajkou (Under a Foreign Flag), to name the most popular. These were received with so great and wide acclaim that they were almost immediately translated into neighboring languages - German, Magyar, Croat, Bulgar, and others. Theaters were filled to standing-room-on ly whenever Dusik's operettas were performed. The names Mayzes, Cikker, and Suchan are known world-wide as contemporary composers of classical music, symphonic and operatic. Their works are in the repertoire of every major, internationally known symphony orchestra and opera company. Mayzes' Janosik Suite musically recreates the legends of the popular Slovak hero-outlaw, who "took from the rich and gave to the poor." Cikker's operas are regularly performed in Germany and England, particularly one based on Dicken's Christmas Carol. Suchon's opera Krutnava (Vortex), in purely Slovak setting and theme, begins in tragedy and ends in happiness, contrary to traditional operatic structure. Nevertheless, Krutnava has established itself even in Italy, the birthplace and home of opera. As already stated, this presentation considers Slovak theatrical and musical arts only in historical delineation. Although the years 1938 to 1945 constitute, in a sense, Slovak cultural risorgimento, those years and the years following up to our time are still within the current historical perspective. As such, they do not lend themselves even to a superficial evaluation that can be objective. Such evaluation is for the future. What may be said today about this period of Slovak risorgimento is that Bratislava surpassed Vienna in the state of the arts. What must be asked today is, "Quo vadis, Bratislava?" ( Second place - College)  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 Arts in Perspective Description An account of the resource Marlene Bartos Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 169-176 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Bartos, Marlene Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/86d96c7d18c798012ece401fefbe311c.pdf 9cc550b54da39724fe915bd2ad8cc4c2 PDF Text Text 130 SLOVAKIA Great Slovak Talent Ethnic America is finally emerging from the cocoon of silence about its hopes, successes and failures, progress and achievements. This emergence is not, as some critics charge, hyphenating the United States. On the contrary it is a reemphasis and recounting of the very ideals which made this country gloriously different from other nations. Slovak-Americans are quick to tell you that in the past, and even current history of Slovakia, success could not have been easily achieved by Slovaks. Liberty was something they discovered only in the United States where even failure is not hopeless. The following article from the pen of the editor of Slovakia was translated from Slovak into English as a reminder that the fruition of the dreams of immigrants are fulfilled by succeeding sons and daughters and grandchildren, thanks to the opportunity for education, liberty, as well as the "stick-to-it-iveness" of each individual. The translator therefore presents this article in that spirit and with a hearty ... BRAVO, CYRIL J. ZILKA Among the talented artists justifiably highlighted by Jednota is Cyril J. Zilka of Miami, Florida. Although only 18 years of age, Cyril is a member of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Miami. It may therefore be a correct assumption that he is one of the youngest member of a philharmonic symphony orchestra in America. Such membership is acquired only through exceptional talent and our Slovak-American, Cyril Zilka, possesses it. His long series of performances testify to his mastership and artistry. It was not luck or mere chance that gave Zilka the opportunity to participate in the All-American Youth Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Musical Center at Washington on May 9, 1972. Only the best musical talent in the land was accepted for this orchestra. This opportunity and success came about through Cyril's talent and performances in other cities. In 1972 Cyril was the orchestral concert master of all �SLOVAKIA 131 high schools in Florida, as well as of the Orchestral School of Miami, and likewise for the past two years of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Miami. Last year he was concert master at the Conservatory of the University of Cincinnati and he will continue in this capacity this summer. Cyril has attended many music courses in which he has always placed first. In 1971 he won a scholarship to Tanglewood, renowned musical center, and he also won a scholarship to the Eastern Musical Festival. He is a member of the Carmen Nappo Quarted where he plays first violin. For the past three years he has been a member of the Symphonic Orchestra in North Miami Beach in which he also plays first violin. He has appeared in 90 public concerts in Miami and the neighboring vicinity. Last year he won first prize, competing against contestants of all the high schools of the state of Florida - as soloist, in duet, and in chamber orchestral performances. He played first violin in all of these appearances. In 1972 Cyril won a scholarship for an eight-week music festival in Rome, Italy. He has received offers for further studies from the University of Cincinnati, Peabody Conservatory, Boston University, and the University of Miami for his oustanding performances. Cyril selected the University of Cincinnati. He is the bearer of All-American awards for musical performances - three Arion Awards - and innumerable musical awards and trophies. There is no doubt that Cyril Zilka has great talent. His grandparents came from Slovakia and settled in Monessen, Pa., where for many years they were members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, Branch 311. Cyril's father, Cyril, Sr., was a teacher at the Slovak Benedictine Boys High School at Cleveland, Ohio. If we need any further nudge to have some means of compiling data on our talented Slovak-Americans, the case of Cyril J. Zilka should provide it. We need a SlovakAmerican "Who's Who" for without it we have no way of knowing the progress and successes of our people or who represents us in the advancement of the cultural, artistic, military, professional, political or organizational life in the United States. Translated by Paul B e r i s h � 130 SLOVAKIA Great Slovak Talent Ethnic America is finally emerging from the cocoon of silence about its hopes, successes and failures, progress and achievements. This emergence is not, as some critics charge, hyphenating the United States. On the contrary it is a reemphasis and recounting of the very ideals which made this country gloriously different from other nations. Slovak-Americans are quick to tell you that in the past, and even current history of Slovakia, success could not have been easily achieved by Slovaks. Liberty was something they discovered only in the United States where even failure is not hopeless. The following article from the pen of the editor of Slovakia was translated from Slovak into English as a reminder that the fruition of the dreams of immigrants are fulfilled by succeeding sons and daughters and grandchildren, thanks to the opportunity for education, liberty, as well as the "stick-to-it-iveness" of each individual. The translator therefore presents this article in that spirit and with a hearty ... BRAVO, CYRIL J. ZILKA Among the talented artists justifiably highlighted by Jednota is Cyril J. Zilka of Miami, Florida. Although only 18 years of age, Cyril is a member of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Miami. It may therefore be a correct assumption that he is one of the youngest member of a philharmonic symphony orchestra in America. Such membership is acquired only through exceptional talent and our Slovak-American, Cyril Zilka, possesses it. His long series of performances testify to his mastership and artistry. It was not luck or mere chance that gave Zilka the opportunity to participate in the All-American Youth Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Musical Center at Washington on May 9, 1972. Only the best musical talent in the land was accepted for this orchestra. This opportunity and success came about through Cyril's talent and performances in other cities. In 1972 Cyril was the orchestral concert master of all �SLOVAKIA 131 high schools in Florida, as well as of the Orchestral School of Miami, and likewise for the past two years of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Miami. Last year he was concert master at the Conservatory of the University of Cincinnati and he will continue in this capacity this summer. Cyril has attended many music courses in which he has always placed first. In 1971 he won a scholarship to Tanglewood, renowned musical center, and he also won a scholarship to the Eastern Musical Festival. He is a member of the Carmen Nappo Quarted where he plays first violin. For the past three years he has been a member of the Symphonic Orchestra in North Miami Beach in which he also plays first violin. He has appeared in 90 public concerts in Miami and the neighboring vicinity. Last year he won first prize, competing against contestants of all the high schools of the state of Florida - as soloist, in duet, and in chamber orchestral performances. He played first violin in all of these appearances. In 1972 Cyril won a scholarship for an eight-week music festival in Rome, Italy. He has received offers for further studies from the University of Cincinnati, Peabody Conservatory, Boston University, and the University of Miami for his oustanding performances. Cyril selected the University of Cincinnati. He is the bearer of All-American awards for musical performances - three Arion Awards - and innumerable musical awards and trophies. There is no doubt that Cyril Zilka has great talent. His grandparents came from Slovakia and settled in Monessen, Pa., where for many years they were members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, Branch 311. Cyril's father, Cyril, Sr., was a teacher at the Slovak Benedictine Boys High School at Cleveland, Ohio. If we need any further nudge to have some means of compiling data on our talented Slovak-Americans, the case of Cyril J. Zilka should provide it. We need a SlovakAmerican "Who's Who" for without it we have no way of knowing the progress and successes of our people or who represents us in the advancement of the cultural, artistic, military, professional, political or organizational life in the United States. Translated by Paul B e r i s h � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 130 SLOVAKIA Great Slovak Talent Ethnic America is finally emerging from the cocoon of silence about its hopes, successes and failures, progress and achievements. This emergence is not, as some critics charge, hyphenating the United States. On the contrary it is a reemphasis and recounting of the very ideals which made this country gloriously different from other nations. Slovak-Americans are quick to tell you that in the past, and even current history of Slovakia, success could not have been easily achieved by Slovaks. Liberty was something they discovered only in the United States where even failure is not hopeless. The following article from the pen of the editor of Slovakia was translated from Slovak into English as a reminder that the fruition of the dreams of immigrants are fulfilled by succeeding sons and daughters and grandchildren, thanks to the opportunity for education, liberty, as well as the "stick-to-it-iveness" of each individual. The translator therefore presents this article in that spirit and with a hearty ... BRAVO, CYRIL J. ZILKA Among the talented artists justifiably highlighted by Jednota is Cyril J. Zilka of Miami, Florida. Although only 18 years of age, Cyril is a member of the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of Miami. It may therefore be a correct assumption that he is one of the youngest member of a philharmonic symphony orchestra in America. Such membership is acquired only through exceptional talent and our Slovak-American, Cyril Zilka, possesses it. His long series of performances testify to his mastership and artistry. It was not luck or mere chance that gave Zilka the opportunity to participate in the All-American Youth Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Musical Center at Washington on May 9, 1972. Only the best musical talent in the land was accepted for this orchestra. This opportunity and success came about through Cyril's talent and performances in other cities. In 1972 Cyril was the orchestral concert master of all SLOVAKIA 131 high schools in Florida, as well as of the Orchestral School of Miami, and likewise for the past two years of the Youth Orchestra of Greater Miami. Last year he was concert master at the Conservatory of the University of Cincinnati and he will continue in this capacity this summer. Cyril has attended many music courses in which he has always placed first. In 1971 he won a scholarship to Tanglewood, renowned musical center, and he also won a scholarship to the Eastern Musical Festival. He is a member of the Carmen Nappo Quarted where he plays first violin. For the past three years he has been a member of the Symphonic Orchestra in North Miami Beach in which he also plays first violin. He has appeared in 90 public concerts in Miami and the neighboring vicinity. Last year he won first prize, competing against contestants of all the high schools of the state of Florida - as soloist, in duet, and in chamber orchestral performances. He played first violin in all of these appearances. In 1972 Cyril won a scholarship for an eight-week music festival in Rome, Italy. He has received offers for further studies from the University of Cincinnati, Peabody Conservatory, Boston University, and the University of Miami for his oustanding performances. Cyril selected the University of Cincinnati. He is the bearer of All-American awards for musical performances - three Arion Awards - and innumerable musical awards and trophies. There is no doubt that Cyril Zilka has great talent. His grandparents came from Slovakia and settled in Monessen, Pa., where for many years they were members of the First Catholic Slovak Union, Branch 311. Cyril's father, Cyril, Sr., was a teacher at the Slovak Benedictine Boys High School at Cleveland, Ohio. If we need any further nudge to have some means of compiling data on our talented Slovak-Americans, the case of Cyril J. Zilka should provide it. We need a SlovakAmerican "Who's Who" for without it we have no way of knowing the progress and successes of our people or who represents us in the advancement of the cultural, artistic, military, professional, political or organizational life in the United States. Translated by Paul B e r i s h  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 Great Slovak Talent Description An account of the resource "The following article from the pen of the editor of Slovakia was translated from Slovak into English..." trans. Paul Berish Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 130-131 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Paučo, Jozef, 1914-1975 Berish, Paul Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/2665a947275bb254be9e3a566380943b.pdf 735a3280b60052bd52944c0d480379ca PDF Text Text 112 SLOVAKIA The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs By Paul F e n c h a k In Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Jack Dawkins, called the Artful Dodger, is a teacher - albeit one who taught the art of pickpocketing to innocent youngsters such as Oliver Twist. His motive: personal gain. The writer of this article is convinced that the counterparts of the Artful Dodger are today directing ethnic studies programs in the public schools of the United States. Seemingly they are no more altruistic towards needful ethnic groups in America than the Artful Dodger was toward the welfare of Oliver Twist. Formulators of ethnic studies programs dodge no small number of ethnic groups as they label "minority groups" to the Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and Orientals. Frequently space is also given to Jews, Germans, Italians, and Poles. Scholars who would talk of Ukrainians, Slovaks, Croatians, Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Rumanians, among others, are judged to be divining in some dark, mysterious regions, presided over by pagan gods who, midst Gog and Magog, are all agog in exotic studies about areas considered to be "powder kegs" and "tinderboxes" - "balkanized" beyond comprehension to sensible people. The powerful National Education Association boasts of having a "strong program to improve the lot of minority groups, including Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and other bi-lingual groups." Often Croatians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Finns, et al., are more bi-lingual than some groups cited by the NEA, yet the amount of coverage given East European-Americ ans is usually nil. In 1972 the writer wrote the State Superintendents of Schools of the fifty state education departments requesting copies of curriculum guides, brochures, bulletins, etc., �SLOVAKIA 113 dealing with racial, cultural, multi-cultural, inter-cultural, disadvantaged, etc., matters of ethnics in America. For sundry reasons the responses were not rapid in arriving. To date 24 of 50 state education departments have either forwarded materials or have indicated that materials will be forthcoming. In summary of the vast amount of ethnic studies promoted by state education departments, one conclusion can easily be made: East European ethnics do not exist in the United States. Even Pennsylvania, the most Slavic of the fifty states, with fraternal, religious, and educational institutions located throughout the commonwealth in large numbers, is guilty of producing ethnic materials that are absolutely ignominous to the mass of citizens of East European ancestry living within the state. In Pennsylvania one need just travel from town to town, stopping to examine the names of those who served and those who died for the United States in both World Wars, as registered on community Honor Rolls. Seemingly then, the non-sense of excluding East Europeans would end - and even the very productive efforts of these peoples in the mines, mills, and farms, in athletics, in scholarship, and in good citizenship would then be recognized. The map of Pennsylvania already recognizes these peoples: Mazeppa, Kossuth, Pulaski, Po1and Mines, Dalmatia, Zelienople, Gallitzin, Livonia, St. Petersburg, and Slovan, among others. The bulk of the state curriculum guides, with Texas being a noteworthy exception, on ethnic and racial/cultural studies focus on the groups cited by the National Education Association: Blacks, Indians, and Spanish-Americans. Orientals and Jews are reasonably well-covered as are Italians, Irish, English, Germans, and French. It is always interesting to observe how state and local education experts use the term "minority group." One county in Maryland that contains thousands of Poles, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, et al., admits having "5,603 black students and another 706 pupils from various other minority groups." The thruth is that in most states the term "minority groups" as presented in curriculum guides excludes Americans of East European ancestry and consequently millions of Americans are being denied the �114 SLOVAKIA opportunity of studying their heritages. Likewise, they are being denied opportunity in employment quests and, worst of all, some Americans are being deprived of the opportunity of attaining optimum psychological and emotional growth. Whereas the successful guidance counselor can help students to correctly answer the important question, "Whom am I?," counselors rarely talk about, or know anything about, Slavic languages, Finno-Ugric languages, Baltic languages, etc. But it is ever so fashionable in American schools to talk about the pleasantries of French, Spanish, German, and Latin. Evidently one of the major problems in education re ethnics is that the artful dodgers are not honest enough to admit that they need re-trained in order to be able to properly assemble the American mosaic. How many Slavic-Americans live in Peoria, Illinois? Frankly, the writer doesn't know, yet he assumes that in an industrial area of ca. 150,000 some Croatians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Poles, et al., do live and work. (All cities always have Russans!) Given the resources of the Peoria educational system the writer could develop reasonably accurate projections of the ethnic composition for Peoria; the same could be done for Paducah, Kentucky, or Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Why then the mystique about the manifold ethnic groups that comprise America? It appears that our ethnic directors are hiding and confusing issues. They are run by a system that relegated East Europeans. How negatively runs the cross-examination when an East European scholar seeks to get more considerations from librarians, curriculum directors, supervisors, administrators, editors, and other educators. Sooner or later the question emerges: How many Ukrainians (Czechs, Finns, et. al.) are then in Peoria? Yet these same specialists are able to calculate that there are certain numbers of Blacks and Spanish~speaking in their areas. How strange! The writer has heard this tactic so many times that he refuses to dignify such questions, presenting instead a general response that there are many Slavs, Finno-Ugrics, Baltics, etc., in a political sub-division, if such is the case. If the specialist is persistent in wanting to know the exact number of Czechs in Peoria, the writer usually asks .the specialist to secure �SLOVAKIA 115 that data for him, using the resources of people who should know. It is patently obvious that ethnic analysts do not want t o know how many East European-Americans live in various communities, as there is absolutely nothing stopping them from researching such data for East Europeans. The Texas Education Agency is to be commended for having produced an interesting curriculum guide: Czecho-Slovakia: Information Minimum. This booklet (71 pages) contains important facts about Czecho-Slovakia, especially as they relate to the history and culture of the United States. With its excellent maps, drawings, alphabets, data summaries, etc., it is the type of guide needed by more groups in more states. Unfortunately, of the 24 states that responded with materials, only Texas submitted any recognizable booklet doing justice to East Europeans. The catty Polish jokes seem to have nine lives. In years gone by the same tripe was slurred against Jews, Italians, and Irish. Yet the time length of the ethnic joke being in vogue was never so long. The Polish joke has been in circulation so long now that it is possible that a student my have entered kindergarten, completed grade school and junior high school, and have been graduated from high school while hearing no ethnic jokes other than the Polish variety. The tragedy of this attitude is supported by the extremely weak collection of literature available about East European peoples in American schools. This despite the fact that there are in America today some 35,000,000 Americans of East European ancestry. A stigma of the Polish joke is that some Americans who are not Poles also are labelled as Poles for purposes of jibing, e.g., the writer's daughter who as a third grade student was continually chided by her WASP classmates as being "Polish." "No need to explain that you are a Ukrainian-Slovak-American, Marcia! You're Polish! Ha! Ha! Ha!" (Marcia learned how to counter such diatribes by asking, "How many of you know Polish?" Response: "None of us." "How does it feel to be dumber than a Pole?") This is cited as the last Polish joke. That "Russian" studies receive top billing in American �116 SLOVAKIA schools goes without saying. Soviet Life is the most popular periodical in school libraries, so from such "reliable" sources students learn how the Germans killed 10,000 Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest, as an article early in 1971 indicated. After reading the Soviet account of how the Germans killed the Polish officers, the author wrote a letter to Soviet Life asking how accusations against the Russians can be disproved. Nicholai Zhiltsov, managing editor of Soviet Life, submitted the following reply on June 1, 1971: "Please excuse the delay in answering your letter which we have forwarded to our Moscow Editorial Board for their comments." Needless to say, by late 1973 a reply has not yet arrived. Barbara Mikulski, Polish-American and member of the City Council of Baltimore, spoke clearly and honestly about many situations when she stated, "When we ask for something, we are either put off, put out, or put down." Ask for books for the library and the librarian will write off your requests as "Not in Books in Print." Ask that East European specialists be invited to participate in social studies workshops, and your letter goes unanswered. Suggest that an Ethnic Library be started, with coverage for all ethnics, and again your letter is unanswered. Apply for a position in human relations and you are told that the emphasis is on black studies. Period. A frequently used dodge by curriculum formulators is the statement that they do not desire to approach East European studies, as, if they do, then it will be necessary to analyze all other ethnic groups in the United States. In a sense this attitude translates as "East Europeans don't burn, don't riot, don't act like rowdies ... so nobody pays any attention to them." That deceit shows through current ethnic analyses is obvious enough as in legal provisions for the teaching about ethnic studies in most states, no groups are expressly excluded. When prices in America continue to skyrocket as a result of expanded trade with East European nations, a need for better understanding about East Europeans is more imperative than ever. The current campaign by Jews in America to identify the lack of liberties accorded their brethre.n in the Soviet Union could in some ways be made �SLOVAKIA 117 to appear rather miniscule if injustices perpetrated against Slovaks, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, et. al., were similarly examined. Freedom still remains undebatable despite the economic strategems of government and big business. At home, one of principal educational problems may be that big business is too much in the saddle in influencing ethnic studies programs. No champions from business arose to exhort the cause of ethnics when the Schweiker ethnic studies bill was not approved for funding by tlie White House, yet industrial support was hardly lacking for both parties. Michael Novak in The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics speaks of the possibility of Blacks and ethnics forming a coalition for mutual gain. It cannot be assumed that because Blacks have been afforded study programs and given some economic assistance, that power groups in America are genuinely interested in their welfare. Nobody volunteered any help to the Blacks and it can be reasonably assumed that nothing will be given East Europeans unless they demand considerations. One of the greatest problems confronting East Europeans is that textbook purchasers know too little about non-Russian-oriented publications; they buy primarily from the big, conventional publishing houses. East European publishers need to wage a campaign to bring their publications to the school systems throughout the country. The fact is that numerous administrators know as much about East Europeans as a dog knows about mathematics. An example: The late Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki, when at Marquette University, used to begin his classes with an anonymous quiz, one of the questions of which was: List the Slavic nationalities or peoples in Europe. The usual answer ran like this: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Rumania, Albania, Turkey, Austria, Russians, Bavarians, Bolsheviks, "Lower Slobovia" (Li'l Abner's contribution) and "Carpathia" (Marilyn Monroe's contribution from the movie, "The Prince and the Showgirl"). On July 11, 1954, the New York Times altered geography of Europe with the following headline: Rising Danube Flood Hits Prague. The Baltimore Sun had an interesting article (some �118 SLOVAKIA reporters are more discerning than many of our educators) on December 4, 1935, written by R. P. Harriss, "All Others." Harriss states, "The official census for Baltimore is a curious intensely interesting document, both for what it reveals and for what it leaves out. It lists some 14,000 nonexistent Russians and contains vague hints of a polygenous percentage which it does not bother to define." True enough. In an article in the Baltimore Sun on February 13, 1967, a native of Kazan, Russia, is quoted: "There are probably not more than five or six families of true Russians in Baltimore." Yet the article speaks of Russians from Galicia, Byelorussia, Carpatho-Ukraine. Seems that census officials and educators have in America done a magician's job of creating 'Russians.' How some of the mysteries regarding census data will be clarified remains a monumental task for the artful dodgers who have compiled the data thus far. Quoting again the Harriss article of 1935: "Officially there are 1,637 Hungarians in Baltimore, 1,441 Ruman.ians, and no Ukrainians, no Serbs." Harriss was candid enough to realize that by 1935 there were three Ukrainian churches, plus other institutions, in the Baltimore area and he was smart enough to see that the census data was akin to ethnic studies programs of today. Surely nobody would suspect that the Russians built the Ukrainian churches! The situation in literary studies is not much better than in the social sciences. To be sure "Russian Literature" units are taught in many schools, yet in "World Literature" courses very little is presented to develop the genius of Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, Finnish, Polish, et. al., writers. Likewise the study of art and music suffer from non-coverage and from misconceptions. Now is the time to clear the muddied waters. East Europeans must declare themselves. They need to write more, question more, educate P.T.A. groups, civic organizations, education councils (on which they are rarely represented), etc. The "education crisis" should be recognized immediately. Forget about token appointments and honorary ethnic banquets (which cost you $100) in Washington where ethnic foods and cultural items are displayed. Begin a program called "Operation Hometown." Organize East European �SLOVAKIA 119 festivals as was done at Harpur College in Binghamton, New York. Show films. Present books and audio-visual aids to libraries. Request relevant books at your public libraries. Have cultural groups perform at YMCA's, schools, colleges, charity events, etc. It is important that school book lists be examined and that books by and about East Europeans be added. Music departments should be exhorted to sound to the tunes of rhapsodies, mazurkas, kolomajykas, polkas. Home economic departments would win adherents by presenting samplings of pirohy, halusky, makovnik, etc. Courses of study need to be expanded to include information about the great contributions of East Europeans to America, as, in the words of Michael Novak, "America is becoming America." The name of the game for East Europeans is "catch-up." Don't wait for the artful dodgers to structure your ethnic studies as you are excluded from their terminology. In the words of Dickens " ... You must get up very early in the morning, to win against the Dodger." "Morning!" said Charley Bates; "you must put your boots on over-night, and have a telescope at each eye, and a opera-glass between your shoulders, if you want to come over him." The U.S. flight crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project visited Russia for two weeks in November 1973 to familiarize themselves with the Soyuz spacecraft system that will link up with their Apollo in 1975. Most of their activities were conducted in the J . A. Gagarin Center of Cosmonaut Training at Zvezdny Goroduk, or Star City, near Moscow. Making the trip were the three Apollo crewmen, Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. Slayton; backup crewmen, Capt. Alan L. Bean, Capt. Ronald E. Evans and Maj. Jack R. Lousma; support crewmen, Lt. Col. Robert F. Overmyer and Lt. Col. Karol J. Bobko; and Capt. Eugene A. Ceman, Special Assistant to the U.S. ASTP Technical Director. Bobko and Cer:nan are Slovaks. � 112 SLOVAKIA The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs By Paul F e n c h a k In Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Jack Dawkins, called the Artful Dodger, is a teacher - albeit one who taught the art of pickpocketing to innocent youngsters such as Oliver Twist. His motive: personal gain. The writer of this article is convinced that the counterparts of the Artful Dodger are today directing ethnic studies programs in the public schools of the United States. Seemingly they are no more altruistic towards needful ethnic groups in America than the Artful Dodger was toward the welfare of Oliver Twist. Formulators of ethnic studies programs dodge no small number of ethnic groups as they label "minority groups" to the Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and Orientals. Frequently space is also given to Jews, Germans, Italians, and Poles. Scholars who would talk of Ukrainians, Slovaks, Croatians, Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Rumanians, among others, are judged to be divining in some dark, mysterious regions, presided over by pagan gods who, midst Gog and Magog, are all agog in exotic studies about areas considered to be "powder kegs" and "tinderboxes" - "balkanized" beyond comprehension to sensible people. The powerful National Education Association boasts of having a "strong program to improve the lot of minority groups, including Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and other bi-lingual groups." Often Croatians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Finns, et al., are more bi-lingual than some groups cited by the NEA, yet the amount of coverage given East European-Americ ans is usually nil. In 1972 the writer wrote the State Superintendents of Schools of the fifty state education departments requesting copies of curriculum guides, brochures, bulletins, etc., �SLOVAKIA 113 dealing with racial, cultural, multi-cultural, inter-cultural, disadvantaged, etc., matters of ethnics in America. For sundry reasons the responses were not rapid in arriving. To date 24 of 50 state education departments have either forwarded materials or have indicated that materials will be forthcoming. In summary of the vast amount of ethnic studies promoted by state education departments, one conclusion can easily be made: East European ethnics do not exist in the United States. Even Pennsylvania, the most Slavic of the fifty states, with fraternal, religious, and educational institutions located throughout the commonwealth in large numbers, is guilty of producing ethnic materials that are absolutely ignominous to the mass of citizens of East European ancestry living within the state. In Pennsylvania one need just travel from town to town, stopping to examine the names of those who served and those who died for the United States in both World Wars, as registered on community Honor Rolls. Seemingly then, the non-sense of excluding East Europeans would end - and even the very productive efforts of these peoples in the mines, mills, and farms, in athletics, in scholarship, and in good citizenship would then be recognized. The map of Pennsylvania already recognizes these peoples: Mazeppa, Kossuth, Pulaski, Po1and Mines, Dalmatia, Zelienople, Gallitzin, Livonia, St. Petersburg, and Slovan, among others. The bulk of the state curriculum guides, with Texas being a noteworthy exception, on ethnic and racial/cultural studies focus on the groups cited by the National Education Association: Blacks, Indians, and Spanish-Americans. Orientals and Jews are reasonably well-covered as are Italians, Irish, English, Germans, and French. It is always interesting to observe how state and local education experts use the term "minority group." One county in Maryland that contains thousands of Poles, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, et al., admits having "5,603 black students and another 706 pupils from various other minority groups." The thruth is that in most states the term "minority groups" as presented in curriculum guides excludes Americans of East European ancestry and consequently millions of Americans are being denied the �114 SLOVAKIA opportunity of studying their heritages. Likewise, they are being denied opportunity in employment quests and, worst of all, some Americans are being deprived of the opportunity of attaining optimum psychological and emotional growth. Whereas the successful guidance counselor can help students to correctly answer the important question, "Whom am I?," counselors rarely talk about, or know anything about, Slavic languages, Finno-Ugric languages, Baltic languages, etc. But it is ever so fashionable in American schools to talk about the pleasantries of French, Spanish, German, and Latin. Evidently one of the major problems in education re ethnics is that the artful dodgers are not honest enough to admit that they need re-trained in order to be able to properly assemble the American mosaic. How many Slavic-Americans live in Peoria, Illinois? Frankly, the writer doesn't know, yet he assumes that in an industrial area of ca. 150,000 some Croatians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Poles, et al., do live and work. (All cities always have Russans!) Given the resources of the Peoria educational system the writer could develop reasonably accurate projections of the ethnic composition for Peoria; the same could be done for Paducah, Kentucky, or Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Why then the mystique about the manifold ethnic groups that comprise America? It appears that our ethnic directors are hiding and confusing issues. They are run by a system that relegated East Europeans. How negatively runs the cross-examination when an East European scholar seeks to get more considerations from librarians, curriculum directors, supervisors, administrators, editors, and other educators. Sooner or later the question emerges: How many Ukrainians (Czechs, Finns, et. al.) are then in Peoria? Yet these same specialists are able to calculate that there are certain numbers of Blacks and Spanish~speaking in their areas. How strange! The writer has heard this tactic so many times that he refuses to dignify such questions, presenting instead a general response that there are many Slavs, Finno-Ugrics, Baltics, etc., in a political sub-division, if such is the case. If the specialist is persistent in wanting to know the exact number of Czechs in Peoria, the writer usually asks .the specialist to secure �SLOVAKIA 115 that data for him, using the resources of people who should know. It is patently obvious that ethnic analysts do not want t o know how many East European-Americans live in various communities, as there is absolutely nothing stopping them from researching such data for East Europeans. The Texas Education Agency is to be commended for having produced an interesting curriculum guide: Czecho-Slovakia: Information Minimum. This booklet (71 pages) contains important facts about Czecho-Slovakia, especially as they relate to the history and culture of the United States. With its excellent maps, drawings, alphabets, data summaries, etc., it is the type of guide needed by more groups in more states. Unfortunately, of the 24 states that responded with materials, only Texas submitted any recognizable booklet doing justice to East Europeans. The catty Polish jokes seem to have nine lives. In years gone by the same tripe was slurred against Jews, Italians, and Irish. Yet the time length of the ethnic joke being in vogue was never so long. The Polish joke has been in circulation so long now that it is possible that a student my have entered kindergarten, completed grade school and junior high school, and have been graduated from high school while hearing no ethnic jokes other than the Polish variety. The tragedy of this attitude is supported by the extremely weak collection of literature available about East European peoples in American schools. This despite the fact that there are in America today some 35,000,000 Americans of East European ancestry. A stigma of the Polish joke is that some Americans who are not Poles also are labelled as Poles for purposes of jibing, e.g., the writer's daughter who as a third grade student was continually chided by her WASP classmates as being "Polish." "No need to explain that you are a Ukrainian-Slovak-American, Marcia! You're Polish! Ha! Ha! Ha!" (Marcia learned how to counter such diatribes by asking, "How many of you know Polish?" Response: "None of us." "How does it feel to be dumber than a Pole?") This is cited as the last Polish joke. That "Russian" studies receive top billing in American �116 SLOVAKIA schools goes without saying. Soviet Life is the most popular periodical in school libraries, so from such "reliable" sources students learn how the Germans killed 10,000 Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest, as an article early in 1971 indicated. After reading the Soviet account of how the Germans killed the Polish officers, the author wrote a letter to Soviet Life asking how accusations against the Russians can be disproved. Nicholai Zhiltsov, managing editor of Soviet Life, submitted the following reply on June 1, 1971: "Please excuse the delay in answering your letter which we have forwarded to our Moscow Editorial Board for their comments." Needless to say, by late 1973 a reply has not yet arrived. Barbara Mikulski, Polish-American and member of the City Council of Baltimore, spoke clearly and honestly about many situations when she stated, "When we ask for something, we are either put off, put out, or put down." Ask for books for the library and the librarian will write off your requests as "Not in Books in Print." Ask that East European specialists be invited to participate in social studies workshops, and your letter goes unanswered. Suggest that an Ethnic Library be started, with coverage for all ethnics, and again your letter is unanswered. Apply for a position in human relations and you are told that the emphasis is on black studies. Period. A frequently used dodge by curriculum formulators is the statement that they do not desire to approach East European studies, as, if they do, then it will be necessary to analyze all other ethnic groups in the United States. In a sense this attitude translates as "East Europeans don't burn, don't riot, don't act like rowdies ... so nobody pays any attention to them." That deceit shows through current ethnic analyses is obvious enough as in legal provisions for the teaching about ethnic studies in most states, no groups are expressly excluded. When prices in America continue to skyrocket as a result of expanded trade with East European nations, a need for better understanding about East Europeans is more imperative than ever. The current campaign by Jews in America to identify the lack of liberties accorded their brethre.n in the Soviet Union could in some ways be made �SLOVAKIA 117 to appear rather miniscule if injustices perpetrated against Slovaks, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, et. al., were similarly examined. Freedom still remains undebatable despite the economic strategems of government and big business. At home, one of principal educational problems may be that big business is too much in the saddle in influencing ethnic studies programs. No champions from business arose to exhort the cause of ethnics when the Schweiker ethnic studies bill was not approved for funding by tlie White House, yet industrial support was hardly lacking for both parties. Michael Novak in The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics speaks of the possibility of Blacks and ethnics forming a coalition for mutual gain. It cannot be assumed that because Blacks have been afforded study programs and given some economic assistance, that power groups in America are genuinely interested in their welfare. Nobody volunteered any help to the Blacks and it can be reasonably assumed that nothing will be given East Europeans unless they demand considerations. One of the greatest problems confronting East Europeans is that textbook purchasers know too little about non-Russian-oriented publications; they buy primarily from the big, conventional publishing houses. East European publishers need to wage a campaign to bring their publications to the school systems throughout the country. The fact is that numerous administrators know as much about East Europeans as a dog knows about mathematics. An example: The late Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki, when at Marquette University, used to begin his classes with an anonymous quiz, one of the questions of which was: List the Slavic nationalities or peoples in Europe. The usual answer ran like this: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Rumania, Albania, Turkey, Austria, Russians, Bavarians, Bolsheviks, "Lower Slobovia" (Li'l Abner's contribution) and "Carpathia" (Marilyn Monroe's contribution from the movie, "The Prince and the Showgirl"). On July 11, 1954, the New York Times altered geography of Europe with the following headline: Rising Danube Flood Hits Prague. The Baltimore Sun had an interesting article (some �118 SLOVAKIA reporters are more discerning than many of our educators) on December 4, 1935, written by R. P. Harriss, "All Others." Harriss states, "The official census for Baltimore is a curious intensely interesting document, both for what it reveals and for what it leaves out. It lists some 14,000 nonexistent Russians and contains vague hints of a polygenous percentage which it does not bother to define." True enough. In an article in the Baltimore Sun on February 13, 1967, a native of Kazan, Russia, is quoted: "There are probably not more than five or six families of true Russians in Baltimore." Yet the article speaks of Russians from Galicia, Byelorussia, Carpatho-Ukraine. Seems that census officials and educators have in America done a magician's job of creating 'Russians.' How some of the mysteries regarding census data will be clarified remains a monumental task for the artful dodgers who have compiled the data thus far. Quoting again the Harriss article of 1935: "Officially there are 1,637 Hungarians in Baltimore, 1,441 Ruman.ians, and no Ukrainians, no Serbs." Harriss was candid enough to realize that by 1935 there were three Ukrainian churches, plus other institutions, in the Baltimore area and he was smart enough to see that the census data was akin to ethnic studies programs of today. Surely nobody would suspect that the Russians built the Ukrainian churches! The situation in literary studies is not much better than in the social sciences. To be sure "Russian Literature" units are taught in many schools, yet in "World Literature" courses very little is presented to develop the genius of Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, Finnish, Polish, et. al., writers. Likewise the study of art and music suffer from non-coverage and from misconceptions. Now is the time to clear the muddied waters. East Europeans must declare themselves. They need to write more, question more, educate P.T.A. groups, civic organizations, education councils (on which they are rarely represented), etc. The "education crisis" should be recognized immediately. Forget about token appointments and honorary ethnic banquets (which cost you $100) in Washington where ethnic foods and cultural items are displayed. Begin a program called "Operation Hometown." Organize East European �SLOVAKIA 119 festivals as was done at Harpur College in Binghamton, New York. Show films. Present books and audio-visual aids to libraries. Request relevant books at your public libraries. Have cultural groups perform at YMCA's, schools, colleges, charity events, etc. It is important that school book lists be examined and that books by and about East Europeans be added. Music departments should be exhorted to sound to the tunes of rhapsodies, mazurkas, kolomajykas, polkas. Home economic departments would win adherents by presenting samplings of pirohy, halusky, makovnik, etc. Courses of study need to be expanded to include information about the great contributions of East Europeans to America, as, in the words of Michael Novak, "America is becoming America." The name of the game for East Europeans is "catch-up." Don't wait for the artful dodgers to structure your ethnic studies as you are excluded from their terminology. In the words of Dickens " ... You must get up very early in the morning, to win against the Dodger." "Morning!" said Charley Bates; "you must put your boots on over-night, and have a telescope at each eye, and a opera-glass between your shoulders, if you want to come over him." The U.S. flight crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project visited Russia for two weeks in November 1973 to familiarize themselves with the Soyuz spacecraft system that will link up with their Apollo in 1975. Most of their activities were conducted in the J . A. Gagarin Center of Cosmonaut Training at Zvezdny Goroduk, or Star City, near Moscow. Making the trip were the three Apollo crewmen, Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. Slayton; backup crewmen, Capt. Alan L. Bean, Capt. Ronald E. Evans and Maj. Jack R. Lousma; support crewmen, Lt. Col. Robert F. Overmyer and Lt. Col. Karol J. Bobko; and Capt. Eugene A. Ceman, Special Assistant to the U.S. ASTP Technical Director. Bobko and Cer:nan are Slovaks. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 112 SLOVAKIA The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs By Paul F e n c h a k In Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Jack Dawkins, called the Artful Dodger, is a teacher - albeit one who taught the art of pickpocketing to innocent youngsters such as Oliver Twist. His motive: personal gain. The writer of this article is convinced that the counterparts of the Artful Dodger are today directing ethnic studies programs in the public schools of the United States. Seemingly they are no more altruistic towards needful ethnic groups in America than the Artful Dodger was toward the welfare of Oliver Twist. Formulators of ethnic studies programs dodge no small number of ethnic groups as they label "minority groups" to the Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and Orientals. Frequently space is also given to Jews, Germans, Italians, and Poles. Scholars who would talk of Ukrainians, Slovaks, Croatians, Bulgarians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Rumanians, among others, are judged to be divining in some dark, mysterious regions, presided over by pagan gods who, midst Gog and Magog, are all agog in exotic studies about areas considered to be "powder kegs" and "tinderboxes" - "balkanized" beyond comprehension to sensible people. The powerful National Education Association boasts of having a "strong program to improve the lot of minority groups, including Blacks, Indians, Spanish Americans, and other bi-lingual groups." Often Croatians, Byelorussians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Finns, et al., are more bi-lingual than some groups cited by the NEA, yet the amount of coverage given East European-Americ ans is usually nil. In 1972 the writer wrote the State Superintendents of Schools of the fifty state education departments requesting copies of curriculum guides, brochures, bulletins, etc., SLOVAKIA 113 dealing with racial, cultural, multi-cultural, inter-cultural, disadvantaged, etc., matters of ethnics in America. For sundry reasons the responses were not rapid in arriving. To date 24 of 50 state education departments have either forwarded materials or have indicated that materials will be forthcoming. In summary of the vast amount of ethnic studies promoted by state education departments, one conclusion can easily be made: East European ethnics do not exist in the United States. Even Pennsylvania, the most Slavic of the fifty states, with fraternal, religious, and educational institutions located throughout the commonwealth in large numbers, is guilty of producing ethnic materials that are absolutely ignominous to the mass of citizens of East European ancestry living within the state. In Pennsylvania one need just travel from town to town, stopping to examine the names of those who served and those who died for the United States in both World Wars, as registered on community Honor Rolls. Seemingly then, the non-sense of excluding East Europeans would end - and even the very productive efforts of these peoples in the mines, mills, and farms, in athletics, in scholarship, and in good citizenship would then be recognized. The map of Pennsylvania already recognizes these peoples: Mazeppa, Kossuth, Pulaski, Po1and Mines, Dalmatia, Zelienople, Gallitzin, Livonia, St. Petersburg, and Slovan, among others. The bulk of the state curriculum guides, with Texas being a noteworthy exception, on ethnic and racial/cultural studies focus on the groups cited by the National Education Association: Blacks, Indians, and Spanish-Americans. Orientals and Jews are reasonably well-covered as are Italians, Irish, English, Germans, and French. It is always interesting to observe how state and local education experts use the term "minority group." One county in Maryland that contains thousands of Poles, Slovaks, Ukrainians, Czechs, et al., admits having "5,603 black students and another 706 pupils from various other minority groups." The thruth is that in most states the term "minority groups" as presented in curriculum guides excludes Americans of East European ancestry and consequently millions of Americans are being denied the 114 SLOVAKIA opportunity of studying their heritages. Likewise, they are being denied opportunity in employment quests and, worst of all, some Americans are being deprived of the opportunity of attaining optimum psychological and emotional growth. Whereas the successful guidance counselor can help students to correctly answer the important question, "Whom am I?," counselors rarely talk about, or know anything about, Slavic languages, Finno-Ugric languages, Baltic languages, etc. But it is ever so fashionable in American schools to talk about the pleasantries of French, Spanish, German, and Latin. Evidently one of the major problems in education re ethnics is that the artful dodgers are not honest enough to admit that they need re-trained in order to be able to properly assemble the American mosaic. How many Slavic-Americans live in Peoria, Illinois? Frankly, the writer doesn't know, yet he assumes that in an industrial area of ca. 150,000 some Croatians, Bulgarians, Czechs, Poles, et al., do live and work. (All cities always have Russans!) Given the resources of the Peoria educational system the writer could develop reasonably accurate projections of the ethnic composition for Peoria; the same could be done for Paducah, Kentucky, or Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Why then the mystique about the manifold ethnic groups that comprise America? It appears that our ethnic directors are hiding and confusing issues. They are run by a system that relegated East Europeans. How negatively runs the cross-examination when an East European scholar seeks to get more considerations from librarians, curriculum directors, supervisors, administrators, editors, and other educators. Sooner or later the question emerges: How many Ukrainians (Czechs, Finns, et. al.) are then in Peoria? Yet these same specialists are able to calculate that there are certain numbers of Blacks and Spanish~speaking in their areas. How strange! The writer has heard this tactic so many times that he refuses to dignify such questions, presenting instead a general response that there are many Slavs, Finno-Ugrics, Baltics, etc., in a political sub-division, if such is the case. If the specialist is persistent in wanting to know the exact number of Czechs in Peoria, the writer usually asks .the specialist to secure SLOVAKIA 115 that data for him, using the resources of people who should know. It is patently obvious that ethnic analysts do not want t o know how many East European-Americans live in various communities, as there is absolutely nothing stopping them from researching such data for East Europeans. The Texas Education Agency is to be commended for having produced an interesting curriculum guide: Czecho-Slovakia: Information Minimum. This booklet (71 pages) contains important facts about Czecho-Slovakia, especially as they relate to the history and culture of the United States. With its excellent maps, drawings, alphabets, data summaries, etc., it is the type of guide needed by more groups in more states. Unfortunately, of the 24 states that responded with materials, only Texas submitted any recognizable booklet doing justice to East Europeans. The catty Polish jokes seem to have nine lives. In years gone by the same tripe was slurred against Jews, Italians, and Irish. Yet the time length of the ethnic joke being in vogue was never so long. The Polish joke has been in circulation so long now that it is possible that a student my have entered kindergarten, completed grade school and junior high school, and have been graduated from high school while hearing no ethnic jokes other than the Polish variety. The tragedy of this attitude is supported by the extremely weak collection of literature available about East European peoples in American schools. This despite the fact that there are in America today some 35,000,000 Americans of East European ancestry. A stigma of the Polish joke is that some Americans who are not Poles also are labelled as Poles for purposes of jibing, e.g., the writer's daughter who as a third grade student was continually chided by her WASP classmates as being "Polish." "No need to explain that you are a Ukrainian-Slovak-American, Marcia! You're Polish! Ha! Ha! Ha!" (Marcia learned how to counter such diatribes by asking, "How many of you know Polish?" Response: "None of us." "How does it feel to be dumber than a Pole?") This is cited as the last Polish joke. That "Russian" studies receive top billing in American 116 SLOVAKIA schools goes without saying. Soviet Life is the most popular periodical in school libraries, so from such "reliable" sources students learn how the Germans killed 10,000 Polish army officers in the Katyn Forest, as an article early in 1971 indicated. After reading the Soviet account of how the Germans killed the Polish officers, the author wrote a letter to Soviet Life asking how accusations against the Russians can be disproved. Nicholai Zhiltsov, managing editor of Soviet Life, submitted the following reply on June 1, 1971: "Please excuse the delay in answering your letter which we have forwarded to our Moscow Editorial Board for their comments." Needless to say, by late 1973 a reply has not yet arrived. Barbara Mikulski, Polish-American and member of the City Council of Baltimore, spoke clearly and honestly about many situations when she stated, "When we ask for something, we are either put off, put out, or put down." Ask for books for the library and the librarian will write off your requests as "Not in Books in Print." Ask that East European specialists be invited to participate in social studies workshops, and your letter goes unanswered. Suggest that an Ethnic Library be started, with coverage for all ethnics, and again your letter is unanswered. Apply for a position in human relations and you are told that the emphasis is on black studies. Period. A frequently used dodge by curriculum formulators is the statement that they do not desire to approach East European studies, as, if they do, then it will be necessary to analyze all other ethnic groups in the United States. In a sense this attitude translates as "East Europeans don't burn, don't riot, don't act like rowdies ... so nobody pays any attention to them." That deceit shows through current ethnic analyses is obvious enough as in legal provisions for the teaching about ethnic studies in most states, no groups are expressly excluded. When prices in America continue to skyrocket as a result of expanded trade with East European nations, a need for better understanding about East Europeans is more imperative than ever. The current campaign by Jews in America to identify the lack of liberties accorded their brethre.n in the Soviet Union could in some ways be made SLOVAKIA 117 to appear rather miniscule if injustices perpetrated against Slovaks, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians, et. al., were similarly examined. Freedom still remains undebatable despite the economic strategems of government and big business. At home, one of principal educational problems may be that big business is too much in the saddle in influencing ethnic studies programs. No champions from business arose to exhort the cause of ethnics when the Schweiker ethnic studies bill was not approved for funding by tlie White House, yet industrial support was hardly lacking for both parties. Michael Novak in The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics speaks of the possibility of Blacks and ethnics forming a coalition for mutual gain. It cannot be assumed that because Blacks have been afforded study programs and given some economic assistance, that power groups in America are genuinely interested in their welfare. Nobody volunteered any help to the Blacks and it can be reasonably assumed that nothing will be given East Europeans unless they demand considerations. One of the greatest problems confronting East Europeans is that textbook purchasers know too little about non-Russian-oriented publications; they buy primarily from the big, conventional publishing houses. East European publishers need to wage a campaign to bring their publications to the school systems throughout the country. The fact is that numerous administrators know as much about East Europeans as a dog knows about mathematics. An example: The late Prof. Roman Smal-Stocki, when at Marquette University, used to begin his classes with an anonymous quiz, one of the questions of which was: List the Slavic nationalities or peoples in Europe. The usual answer ran like this: Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Rumania, Albania, Turkey, Austria, Russians, Bavarians, Bolsheviks, "Lower Slobovia" (Li'l Abner's contribution) and "Carpathia" (Marilyn Monroe's contribution from the movie, "The Prince and the Showgirl"). On July 11, 1954, the New York Times altered geography of Europe with the following headline: Rising Danube Flood Hits Prague. The Baltimore Sun had an interesting article (some 118 SLOVAKIA reporters are more discerning than many of our educators) on December 4, 1935, written by R. P. Harriss, "All Others." Harriss states, "The official census for Baltimore is a curious intensely interesting document, both for what it reveals and for what it leaves out. It lists some 14,000 nonexistent Russians and contains vague hints of a polygenous percentage which it does not bother to define." True enough. In an article in the Baltimore Sun on February 13, 1967, a native of Kazan, Russia, is quoted: "There are probably not more than five or six families of true Russians in Baltimore." Yet the article speaks of Russians from Galicia, Byelorussia, Carpatho-Ukraine. Seems that census officials and educators have in America done a magician's job of creating 'Russians.' How some of the mysteries regarding census data will be clarified remains a monumental task for the artful dodgers who have compiled the data thus far. Quoting again the Harriss article of 1935: "Officially there are 1,637 Hungarians in Baltimore, 1,441 Ruman.ians, and no Ukrainians, no Serbs." Harriss was candid enough to realize that by 1935 there were three Ukrainian churches, plus other institutions, in the Baltimore area and he was smart enough to see that the census data was akin to ethnic studies programs of today. Surely nobody would suspect that the Russians built the Ukrainian churches! The situation in literary studies is not much better than in the social sciences. To be sure "Russian Literature" units are taught in many schools, yet in "World Literature" courses very little is presented to develop the genius of Slovak, Czech, Ukrainian, Finnish, Polish, et. al., writers. Likewise the study of art and music suffer from non-coverage and from misconceptions. Now is the time to clear the muddied waters. East Europeans must declare themselves. They need to write more, question more, educate P.T.A. groups, civic organizations, education councils (on which they are rarely represented), etc. The "education crisis" should be recognized immediately. Forget about token appointments and honorary ethnic banquets (which cost you $100) in Washington where ethnic foods and cultural items are displayed. Begin a program called "Operation Hometown." Organize East European SLOVAKIA 119 festivals as was done at Harpur College in Binghamton, New York. Show films. Present books and audio-visual aids to libraries. Request relevant books at your public libraries. Have cultural groups perform at YMCA's, schools, colleges, charity events, etc. It is important that school book lists be examined and that books by and about East Europeans be added. Music departments should be exhorted to sound to the tunes of rhapsodies, mazurkas, kolomajykas, polkas. Home economic departments would win adherents by presenting samplings of pirohy, halusky, makovnik, etc. Courses of study need to be expanded to include information about the great contributions of East Europeans to America, as, in the words of Michael Novak, "America is becoming America." The name of the game for East Europeans is "catch-up." Don't wait for the artful dodgers to structure your ethnic studies as you are excluded from their terminology. In the words of Dickens " ... You must get up very early in the morning, to win against the Dodger." "Morning!" said Charley Bates; "you must put your boots on over-night, and have a telescope at each eye, and a opera-glass between your shoulders, if you want to come over him." The U.S. flight crew for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project visited Russia for two weeks in November 1973 to familiarize themselves with the Soyuz spacecraft system that will link up with their Apollo in 1975. Most of their activities were conducted in the J . A. Gagarin Center of Cosmonaut Training at Zvezdny Goroduk, or Star City, near Moscow. Making the trip were the three Apollo crewmen, Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, Vance D. Brand and Donald K. Slayton; backup crewmen, Capt. Alan L. Bean, Capt. Ronald E. Evans and Maj. Jack R. Lousma; support crewmen, Lt. Col. Robert F. Overmyer and Lt. Col. Karol J. Bobko; and Capt. Eugene A. Ceman, Special Assistant to the U.S. ASTP Technical Director. Bobko and Cer:nan are Slovaks.  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 Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs Description An account of the resource Paul Fenchak Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 112-119 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Fenchak, Paul Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/67a71766807f746825c0f4f6587618a4.pdf f0d1736d284a8276bfdba5d1f1dacd6a PDF Text Text 156 SLOVAKIA Famous Slovak Inventors Long before the arrival of the Slovaks in central Europer the Celts who inhabited the area, mined iron-ore, silver, gold and lead and utilized these minerals in making various instruments, ornaments and utensils. As newcomers, the Slovaks continued to use these minerals centuries before the coming of the Turkish-Mongol tribes. Technically, both the mining and metal industries remained rather primitive until modern times. New methods and techniques which were developed outside the· country were not introduced until quite recently. Modernization of the mining industry in Slovakia, though of recent data, was preceded in the 17th and 18th centuries by several notable processes. In 1627, for example, it was K. Wendler, a Tyrolean explosive expert, who detonated the first black-powder charge in the Banska stiavnica mines in Slovakia; incidentally, the first of its kind in mining history. Then, J. A. Born (1742-1791), a Saxon from Transylvania, in the latter half of the 18th century introduced the quicksilver (mercury) amalgamation process of refining gold, silver and lead. At the end of the 17th century most of the Slovak mines were flooded because continual warfare caused them to be neglected. Primitive methods of pumping out the water proved inefficient and expensive. They required an outlay of money for wood, men-power and horses. The cost was prohibitive. Water-wheels proved unsatisfactory and mining engineers decided to try the new atmospheric-fire invention of Newcombe. Potter, an Englishman, came to install the new machinery in the Nova Ban.a mine. It was put into operation in 1724. But when it proved to be a failure it was dismantled. In 1733 a series of modified methods were introduced but all proved inadequate. Finally, J. K. Hell (1713-1789), a native Slovak engineer and machinist, installed his own machinery at the entrance of the mine in Banska stiavnica in 1749. It proved successful, and soon afterwards he installed his invention in a �SLOVAKIA 157 number of deep mine shafts. Later Hell developed a better atmospheric type of mine-pump. Mining methods for gold, silver and lead remained primitive and time consuming. It was Born's amalgamation process, developed and adapted from the Spanish types employed in the mines of South America, which reduced the time of processing silver from six weeks to approximately twelve hours. Moreover, wood was reduced to a minimum and lead was saved in the process. A silver metallurgical plant was built in Sklene Teplice, Slovakia, in 1785, and a lead mill or foundry was constructed in Ulmanka, near Stare Hory, in 1788. Sometime in the 14th century the manufacture of glass was introduced into Slovakia, most likely from the Czech plants in Bohemia. At first, ordinary glass was made, and only later quality glassware was produced for use in the metal and chemical plants in the country. We present a brief summary of the life-work of the following Slovak pioneers in technology. Some of these early scientific technicians are known, some but little known, but their work has all been at least partially evaluated. STEFAN A. JEDLfK Among the earliest inventors in Slovakia was Stefan Ananian Jedlik (1800-1896), who came from the village of Zemne, near Kollarovo, Slovakia. A talented youth he chose the priesthood as a life's vocation. In 1831 he was assigned as a teacher to the Gymnasium ( Junior College ) in Bratislava. Soon his work in Physics won the attention of the administration at the University of Budapest, where he was destined to teach for the next four decades. That is why the Magyars claim him as a Hungarian scientist although he stoutly maintained he was a Slovak. As an electro-technician Jedlik won wide acclaim when electricity was still in its infancy. As early as 1829 in his research in electro-magnetism, he hit upon the theory that an electro-magnet must oscillate simultaneously around another electro-magnet once the current is turned on. His experiments proved the theory true and his primitive motor was the forerunner of the induction motor. �158 SLOVAKIA Although Arag, a French physicist, is credited with the discovery of the theory of electro-magnetism , Jedlik's first motor was certainly closer to the idea of the induction motor than Arag's ideas in theoretical form. Unfortunately, the Slovak scientific genius did not publicize his discovery because he dismissed the motor as economically impractical because it depended on power from an expensive source he himself developed, and which a railroad firm adopted not merely for its own use for its telegraph system but actually put it on the market for general use later. In the late 1850's Jedlik discovered the principle of the self-generating dynamo in which a spark at the magnetic pole is sufficient to give it the initial impetus and gradually the electric current generated will attain maximum power. Werner Siemens, a German pioneer in this field, is given credit for the discovery of the dynamo-electric principle which he patented in 1866 despite the fact that Jedlik and others had actually made the discovery before Siemens registered his patent rights. So far it has been ascertained that Jedlik patented approximately eighty (80 ) patents, mostly in the electromagnetic field. Atoms, Jedlik declared, could be split by a high electric current. Matter, he said, consisted of a radio-active primate, later confirmed by the discovery of radium. AUREL STODOLA World renown was won by another Slovak, namely, Aurel Stodola (1859-1942) in the field of electro-technology indirectly, for he developed the idea of the extensive industrial use of electricity by inventing the steam and gas turbines. He always made it quite clear that he was a Slovak who was born in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, Slovakia. His first studies in Levoca were supplemented at the technological institute in Budapest. Here he won a scholarship to study at the technological school in Zilrich, Switzerland. After two years of work on the railways of Hungary, Stodola went for further study at the technical college in Charlotteburg in Germany, and then in Paris. He returned to his native homeland where he remained only a short time �SLOVAKIA 159 because his services were required by the Rustanka firm in Prague. In the 1880's Parsons and Laval's steam turbines caught the interest of Stodola who now began concentrating upon perfecting their theoretical ideas and putting them into practical use. His success won him a professorship at the Technological Institute in Ztirich, Switzerland in 1892. Here he remained until 1929. During this period he trained hundreds of experts of two generations in the field of steam and gas turbines. Stodola's life-work in the design and manufacture of turbine engines, which he continued to perfect constantly, remains unique in the scientific world. He won the Watt medal and the Nobel prize in science. JOZEF MURGAS Jozef Murgas (1864-1929), world famous pioneer in wireless telegraphy, was born in Tajov, near Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. He was born of a peasant family and early in life was destined to study for the priesthood. His talents were many, however, particularly in art. Soon after ordination he was sent by his bishop to study at the Academy of Art in Munich. For some reason shortly before completing his course of study at the Academy, he was recalled to Slovakia for pastoral work. Because of his ardent patriotism he incurred the hostility of the pro-Magyar ecclesiastical authorities. Upon hearing of the need for priests for Slovak immigrant communities, he immediately applied for this apostolate. Accordingly, he was sent to the anthracite city of Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania. Father Murgas' apostolate as pastor of a thriving Slovak parish was marked by devoted service to his Slovak people. In his spare time he did some painting, but his experiments in wireless teiegraphy began to take up most of his leisure moments. In his scientific laboratory, which he built himself at one end of the parsonage, the priest-scientist experimented in attempts to send messages by air. At first he used the Morse code but later replaced it with a tone system, which he patented in 1904. By 1911 he obtained about a dozen additional patents. Private speculators and syndicates sensed that his experiments were on the right track to revolutionize the communications' system, and they bombarded Father Mur- �160 SLOVAKIA gas with offers. Finally, the inventor accepted the bid from a Philadelphia syndicate, the Aether or Ether Telegraph Company, which furnished him with a new laboratory in return for his patent rights. But he had to erect the necessary towers for transmitting and receiving the messages. This Father Murgas did by constructing twin towers, each 60 meters in height, one near his home in Wilkes-Barre and the other about ten miles distant near Scranton, Pa. It is a matter of historical record that in 1905 Father Murgas succeeded in sending a message from his hometower to Scranton. Before he could pursue his experimentation further, however, a violent storm damaged the wooden towers and destroyed the antenas. His company refused to advance the money necessary for repairs and soon after the syndicate was dissolved. Apparently, Father Murgas was unable to raise enough money to make the repairs himself. Moreover, he became embroiled in a patent suit with Marconi (who was subsequently to be credited with the invention of modern radio) and Fessenden. Although Father Murgas won the law-suit, the government controls imposed on all means of communicati on at the outbreak of World War I prevented him from following up his initial success. Thus ended the scientific career of the great Slovak pioneer in wireless telegraphy. From this time until his death in 1929 he devoted all his time exclusively to pastoral service and patriotic work among his Slovak people. JOZEF M. PETZVAL Jozef Maximilian Petzval (Pecval)-180 7-1895-was a Slovak despite claims by Magyars and Austrians to the contrary. He was born in Spisska Bela in Slovakia. After completing his schooling in Podolinec, Levoca and the Lyceum in Kosice (in Slovakia) he attended the polytechnical institute at the University of Budapest. He paid his own way from his salary as a city engineer. After receiving his doctorate in mathematics he obtained a professorship at the University of Vienna in 1836. Petzval secured living quarters in an abandoned monastery on Kahlenberg hill above the city. Here he established his own mechanical laboratory where he began producing �SLOVAKIA 161 special optical lens of such quality so that soon they were in demand in all parts of the world. When the daguerrotype photo apparatus appeared on the scene in the 1830's Petzval opened his own studio where he made invaluable contributions to modern photography. By 1840 he developed a photo lens that increased the degree of light ten-fold, thereby considerably decreasing the time of exposure. Voigtlander, an optician in Vienna, became the recipient of a real windfall when Petzval surrendered his formulas in the science of optics to him in return for a contract. Voigtlander refused to live up to the agreement. Accordingly, Petzval became so bitterly involved in litigation that this caused him to become a recluse . .. a final outcome of his misanthropic tendencies. Petzval developed the basics for the production of lens for people afflicted with astigmatism, and his process was adopted in the 1880's by the great Zeiss corporation in Jena. From Petzval's laboratories came the first high-power telescopes and fieldglasses, super electric spotlights and other improvements in the field of optics, as well as new developments in the mathematical sciences. It was only during World War II that Petzval's name was discovered inscribed (in German) on a memorial tablet in his birthplace in Spisska Bela, Slovakia. STEFAN BANIC stefan Banic, the inventor of the parachute, emigrated from his native Slovakia in search of a job in the U.S. He worked at odd jobs and tinkered with an invention that resulted in the making of the first real, workable parachute for which he obtained patent rights from the U.S. Patent Office in 1914. Banic sold the patent rights to a company for a mere pittance and the company made millions on government orders from the U.S. Army Air force during the first World War. (A. A. Hoch, Vyndlezy, ktore zmenili svet (Inventions which changed the world). Published by Mlade Leta, Bratislava, 1959). � 156 SLOVAKIA Famous Slovak Inventors Long before the arrival of the Slovaks in central Europer the Celts who inhabited the area, mined iron-ore, silver, gold and lead and utilized these minerals in making various instruments, ornaments and utensils. As newcomers, the Slovaks continued to use these minerals centuries before the coming of the Turkish-Mongol tribes. Technically, both the mining and metal industries remained rather primitive until modern times. New methods and techniques which were developed outside the· country were not introduced until quite recently. Modernization of the mining industry in Slovakia, though of recent data, was preceded in the 17th and 18th centuries by several notable processes. In 1627, for example, it was K. Wendler, a Tyrolean explosive expert, who detonated the first black-powder charge in the Banska stiavnica mines in Slovakia; incidentally, the first of its kind in mining history. Then, J. A. Born (1742-1791), a Saxon from Transylvania, in the latter half of the 18th century introduced the quicksilver (mercury) amalgamation process of refining gold, silver and lead. At the end of the 17th century most of the Slovak mines were flooded because continual warfare caused them to be neglected. Primitive methods of pumping out the water proved inefficient and expensive. They required an outlay of money for wood, men-power and horses. The cost was prohibitive. Water-wheels proved unsatisfactory and mining engineers decided to try the new atmospheric-fire invention of Newcombe. Potter, an Englishman, came to install the new machinery in the Nova Ban.a mine. It was put into operation in 1724. But when it proved to be a failure it was dismantled. In 1733 a series of modified methods were introduced but all proved inadequate. Finally, J. K. Hell (1713-1789), a native Slovak engineer and machinist, installed his own machinery at the entrance of the mine in Banska stiavnica in 1749. It proved successful, and soon afterwards he installed his invention in a �SLOVAKIA 157 number of deep mine shafts. Later Hell developed a better atmospheric type of mine-pump. Mining methods for gold, silver and lead remained primitive and time consuming. It was Born's amalgamation process, developed and adapted from the Spanish types employed in the mines of South America, which reduced the time of processing silver from six weeks to approximately twelve hours. Moreover, wood was reduced to a minimum and lead was saved in the process. A silver metallurgical plant was built in Sklene Teplice, Slovakia, in 1785, and a lead mill or foundry was constructed in Ulmanka, near Stare Hory, in 1788. Sometime in the 14th century the manufacture of glass was introduced into Slovakia, most likely from the Czech plants in Bohemia. At first, ordinary glass was made, and only later quality glassware was produced for use in the metal and chemical plants in the country. We present a brief summary of the life-work of the following Slovak pioneers in technology. Some of these early scientific technicians are known, some but little known, but their work has all been at least partially evaluated. STEFAN A. JEDLfK Among the earliest inventors in Slovakia was Stefan Ananian Jedlik (1800-1896), who came from the village of Zemne, near Kollarovo, Slovakia. A talented youth he chose the priesthood as a life's vocation. In 1831 he was assigned as a teacher to the Gymnasium ( Junior College ) in Bratislava. Soon his work in Physics won the attention of the administration at the University of Budapest, where he was destined to teach for the next four decades. That is why the Magyars claim him as a Hungarian scientist although he stoutly maintained he was a Slovak. As an electro-technician Jedlik won wide acclaim when electricity was still in its infancy. As early as 1829 in his research in electro-magnetism, he hit upon the theory that an electro-magnet must oscillate simultaneously around another electro-magnet once the current is turned on. His experiments proved the theory true and his primitive motor was the forerunner of the induction motor. �158 SLOVAKIA Although Arag, a French physicist, is credited with the discovery of the theory of electro-magnetism , Jedlik's first motor was certainly closer to the idea of the induction motor than Arag's ideas in theoretical form. Unfortunately, the Slovak scientific genius did not publicize his discovery because he dismissed the motor as economically impractical because it depended on power from an expensive source he himself developed, and which a railroad firm adopted not merely for its own use for its telegraph system but actually put it on the market for general use later. In the late 1850's Jedlik discovered the principle of the self-generating dynamo in which a spark at the magnetic pole is sufficient to give it the initial impetus and gradually the electric current generated will attain maximum power. Werner Siemens, a German pioneer in this field, is given credit for the discovery of the dynamo-electric principle which he patented in 1866 despite the fact that Jedlik and others had actually made the discovery before Siemens registered his patent rights. So far it has been ascertained that Jedlik patented approximately eighty (80 ) patents, mostly in the electromagnetic field. Atoms, Jedlik declared, could be split by a high electric current. Matter, he said, consisted of a radio-active primate, later confirmed by the discovery of radium. AUREL STODOLA World renown was won by another Slovak, namely, Aurel Stodola (1859-1942) in the field of electro-technology indirectly, for he developed the idea of the extensive industrial use of electricity by inventing the steam and gas turbines. He always made it quite clear that he was a Slovak who was born in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, Slovakia. His first studies in Levoca were supplemented at the technological institute in Budapest. Here he won a scholarship to study at the technological school in Zilrich, Switzerland. After two years of work on the railways of Hungary, Stodola went for further study at the technical college in Charlotteburg in Germany, and then in Paris. He returned to his native homeland where he remained only a short time �SLOVAKIA 159 because his services were required by the Rustanka firm in Prague. In the 1880's Parsons and Laval's steam turbines caught the interest of Stodola who now began concentrating upon perfecting their theoretical ideas and putting them into practical use. His success won him a professorship at the Technological Institute in Ztirich, Switzerland in 1892. Here he remained until 1929. During this period he trained hundreds of experts of two generations in the field of steam and gas turbines. Stodola's life-work in the design and manufacture of turbine engines, which he continued to perfect constantly, remains unique in the scientific world. He won the Watt medal and the Nobel prize in science. JOZEF MURGAS Jozef Murgas (1864-1929), world famous pioneer in wireless telegraphy, was born in Tajov, near Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. He was born of a peasant family and early in life was destined to study for the priesthood. His talents were many, however, particularly in art. Soon after ordination he was sent by his bishop to study at the Academy of Art in Munich. For some reason shortly before completing his course of study at the Academy, he was recalled to Slovakia for pastoral work. Because of his ardent patriotism he incurred the hostility of the pro-Magyar ecclesiastical authorities. Upon hearing of the need for priests for Slovak immigrant communities, he immediately applied for this apostolate. Accordingly, he was sent to the anthracite city of Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania. Father Murgas' apostolate as pastor of a thriving Slovak parish was marked by devoted service to his Slovak people. In his spare time he did some painting, but his experiments in wireless teiegraphy began to take up most of his leisure moments. In his scientific laboratory, which he built himself at one end of the parsonage, the priest-scientist experimented in attempts to send messages by air. At first he used the Morse code but later replaced it with a tone system, which he patented in 1904. By 1911 he obtained about a dozen additional patents. Private speculators and syndicates sensed that his experiments were on the right track to revolutionize the communications' system, and they bombarded Father Mur- �160 SLOVAKIA gas with offers. Finally, the inventor accepted the bid from a Philadelphia syndicate, the Aether or Ether Telegraph Company, which furnished him with a new laboratory in return for his patent rights. But he had to erect the necessary towers for transmitting and receiving the messages. This Father Murgas did by constructing twin towers, each 60 meters in height, one near his home in Wilkes-Barre and the other about ten miles distant near Scranton, Pa. It is a matter of historical record that in 1905 Father Murgas succeeded in sending a message from his hometower to Scranton. Before he could pursue his experimentation further, however, a violent storm damaged the wooden towers and destroyed the antenas. His company refused to advance the money necessary for repairs and soon after the syndicate was dissolved. Apparently, Father Murgas was unable to raise enough money to make the repairs himself. Moreover, he became embroiled in a patent suit with Marconi (who was subsequently to be credited with the invention of modern radio) and Fessenden. Although Father Murgas won the law-suit, the government controls imposed on all means of communicati on at the outbreak of World War I prevented him from following up his initial success. Thus ended the scientific career of the great Slovak pioneer in wireless telegraphy. From this time until his death in 1929 he devoted all his time exclusively to pastoral service and patriotic work among his Slovak people. JOZEF M. PETZVAL Jozef Maximilian Petzval (Pecval)-180 7-1895-was a Slovak despite claims by Magyars and Austrians to the contrary. He was born in Spisska Bela in Slovakia. After completing his schooling in Podolinec, Levoca and the Lyceum in Kosice (in Slovakia) he attended the polytechnical institute at the University of Budapest. He paid his own way from his salary as a city engineer. After receiving his doctorate in mathematics he obtained a professorship at the University of Vienna in 1836. Petzval secured living quarters in an abandoned monastery on Kahlenberg hill above the city. Here he established his own mechanical laboratory where he began producing �SLOVAKIA 161 special optical lens of such quality so that soon they were in demand in all parts of the world. When the daguerrotype photo apparatus appeared on the scene in the 1830's Petzval opened his own studio where he made invaluable contributions to modern photography. By 1840 he developed a photo lens that increased the degree of light ten-fold, thereby considerably decreasing the time of exposure. Voigtlander, an optician in Vienna, became the recipient of a real windfall when Petzval surrendered his formulas in the science of optics to him in return for a contract. Voigtlander refused to live up to the agreement. Accordingly, Petzval became so bitterly involved in litigation that this caused him to become a recluse . .. a final outcome of his misanthropic tendencies. Petzval developed the basics for the production of lens for people afflicted with astigmatism, and his process was adopted in the 1880's by the great Zeiss corporation in Jena. From Petzval's laboratories came the first high-power telescopes and fieldglasses, super electric spotlights and other improvements in the field of optics, as well as new developments in the mathematical sciences. It was only during World War II that Petzval's name was discovered inscribed (in German) on a memorial tablet in his birthplace in Spisska Bela, Slovakia. STEFAN BANIC stefan Banic, the inventor of the parachute, emigrated from his native Slovakia in search of a job in the U.S. He worked at odd jobs and tinkered with an invention that resulted in the making of the first real, workable parachute for which he obtained patent rights from the U.S. Patent Office in 1914. Banic sold the patent rights to a company for a mere pittance and the company made millions on government orders from the U.S. Army Air force during the first World War. (A. A. Hoch, Vyndlezy, ktore zmenili svet (Inventions which changed the world). Published by Mlade Leta, Bratislava, 1959). � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 156 SLOVAKIA Famous Slovak Inventors Long before the arrival of the Slovaks in central Europer the Celts who inhabited the area, mined iron-ore, silver, gold and lead and utilized these minerals in making various instruments, ornaments and utensils. As newcomers, the Slovaks continued to use these minerals centuries before the coming of the Turkish-Mongol tribes. Technically, both the mining and metal industries remained rather primitive until modern times. New methods and techniques which were developed outside the· country were not introduced until quite recently. Modernization of the mining industry in Slovakia, though of recent data, was preceded in the 17th and 18th centuries by several notable processes. In 1627, for example, it was K. Wendler, a Tyrolean explosive expert, who detonated the first black-powder charge in the Banska stiavnica mines in Slovakia; incidentally, the first of its kind in mining history. Then, J. A. Born (1742-1791), a Saxon from Transylvania, in the latter half of the 18th century introduced the quicksilver (mercury) amalgamation process of refining gold, silver and lead. At the end of the 17th century most of the Slovak mines were flooded because continual warfare caused them to be neglected. Primitive methods of pumping out the water proved inefficient and expensive. They required an outlay of money for wood, men-power and horses. The cost was prohibitive. Water-wheels proved unsatisfactory and mining engineers decided to try the new atmospheric-fire invention of Newcombe. Potter, an Englishman, came to install the new machinery in the Nova Ban.a mine. It was put into operation in 1724. But when it proved to be a failure it was dismantled. In 1733 a series of modified methods were introduced but all proved inadequate. Finally, J. K. Hell (1713-1789), a native Slovak engineer and machinist, installed his own machinery at the entrance of the mine in Banska stiavnica in 1749. It proved successful, and soon afterwards he installed his invention in a SLOVAKIA 157 number of deep mine shafts. Later Hell developed a better atmospheric type of mine-pump. Mining methods for gold, silver and lead remained primitive and time consuming. It was Born's amalgamation process, developed and adapted from the Spanish types employed in the mines of South America, which reduced the time of processing silver from six weeks to approximately twelve hours. Moreover, wood was reduced to a minimum and lead was saved in the process. A silver metallurgical plant was built in Sklene Teplice, Slovakia, in 1785, and a lead mill or foundry was constructed in Ulmanka, near Stare Hory, in 1788. Sometime in the 14th century the manufacture of glass was introduced into Slovakia, most likely from the Czech plants in Bohemia. At first, ordinary glass was made, and only later quality glassware was produced for use in the metal and chemical plants in the country. We present a brief summary of the life-work of the following Slovak pioneers in technology. Some of these early scientific technicians are known, some but little known, but their work has all been at least partially evaluated. STEFAN A. JEDLfK Among the earliest inventors in Slovakia was Stefan Ananian Jedlik (1800-1896), who came from the village of Zemne, near Kollarovo, Slovakia. A talented youth he chose the priesthood as a life's vocation. In 1831 he was assigned as a teacher to the Gymnasium ( Junior College ) in Bratislava. Soon his work in Physics won the attention of the administration at the University of Budapest, where he was destined to teach for the next four decades. That is why the Magyars claim him as a Hungarian scientist although he stoutly maintained he was a Slovak. As an electro-technician Jedlik won wide acclaim when electricity was still in its infancy. As early as 1829 in his research in electro-magnetism, he hit upon the theory that an electro-magnet must oscillate simultaneously around another electro-magnet once the current is turned on. His experiments proved the theory true and his primitive motor was the forerunner of the induction motor. 158 SLOVAKIA Although Arag, a French physicist, is credited with the discovery of the theory of electro-magnetism , Jedlik's first motor was certainly closer to the idea of the induction motor than Arag's ideas in theoretical form. Unfortunately, the Slovak scientific genius did not publicize his discovery because he dismissed the motor as economically impractical because it depended on power from an expensive source he himself developed, and which a railroad firm adopted not merely for its own use for its telegraph system but actually put it on the market for general use later. In the late 1850's Jedlik discovered the principle of the self-generating dynamo in which a spark at the magnetic pole is sufficient to give it the initial impetus and gradually the electric current generated will attain maximum power. Werner Siemens, a German pioneer in this field, is given credit for the discovery of the dynamo-electric principle which he patented in 1866 despite the fact that Jedlik and others had actually made the discovery before Siemens registered his patent rights. So far it has been ascertained that Jedlik patented approximately eighty (80 ) patents, mostly in the electromagnetic field. Atoms, Jedlik declared, could be split by a high electric current. Matter, he said, consisted of a radio-active primate, later confirmed by the discovery of radium. AUREL STODOLA World renown was won by another Slovak, namely, Aurel Stodola (1859-1942) in the field of electro-technology indirectly, for he developed the idea of the extensive industrial use of electricity by inventing the steam and gas turbines. He always made it quite clear that he was a Slovak who was born in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas, Slovakia. His first studies in Levoca were supplemented at the technological institute in Budapest. Here he won a scholarship to study at the technological school in Zilrich, Switzerland. After two years of work on the railways of Hungary, Stodola went for further study at the technical college in Charlotteburg in Germany, and then in Paris. He returned to his native homeland where he remained only a short time SLOVAKIA 159 because his services were required by the Rustanka firm in Prague. In the 1880's Parsons and Laval's steam turbines caught the interest of Stodola who now began concentrating upon perfecting their theoretical ideas and putting them into practical use. His success won him a professorship at the Technological Institute in Ztirich, Switzerland in 1892. Here he remained until 1929. During this period he trained hundreds of experts of two generations in the field of steam and gas turbines. Stodola's life-work in the design and manufacture of turbine engines, which he continued to perfect constantly, remains unique in the scientific world. He won the Watt medal and the Nobel prize in science. JOZEF MURGAS Jozef Murgas (1864-1929), world famous pioneer in wireless telegraphy, was born in Tajov, near Banska Bystrica, Slovakia. He was born of a peasant family and early in life was destined to study for the priesthood. His talents were many, however, particularly in art. Soon after ordination he was sent by his bishop to study at the Academy of Art in Munich. For some reason shortly before completing his course of study at the Academy, he was recalled to Slovakia for pastoral work. Because of his ardent patriotism he incurred the hostility of the pro-Magyar ecclesiastical authorities. Upon hearing of the need for priests for Slovak immigrant communities, he immediately applied for this apostolate. Accordingly, he was sent to the anthracite city of Wilkes-Barre in northeastern Pennsylvania. Father Murgas' apostolate as pastor of a thriving Slovak parish was marked by devoted service to his Slovak people. In his spare time he did some painting, but his experiments in wireless teiegraphy began to take up most of his leisure moments. In his scientific laboratory, which he built himself at one end of the parsonage, the priest-scientist experimented in attempts to send messages by air. At first he used the Morse code but later replaced it with a tone system, which he patented in 1904. By 1911 he obtained about a dozen additional patents. Private speculators and syndicates sensed that his experiments were on the right track to revolutionize the communications' system, and they bombarded Father Mur- 160 SLOVAKIA gas with offers. Finally, the inventor accepted the bid from a Philadelphia syndicate, the Aether or Ether Telegraph Company, which furnished him with a new laboratory in return for his patent rights. But he had to erect the necessary towers for transmitting and receiving the messages. This Father Murgas did by constructing twin towers, each 60 meters in height, one near his home in Wilkes-Barre and the other about ten miles distant near Scranton, Pa. It is a matter of historical record that in 1905 Father Murgas succeeded in sending a message from his hometower to Scranton. Before he could pursue his experimentation further, however, a violent storm damaged the wooden towers and destroyed the antenas. His company refused to advance the money necessary for repairs and soon after the syndicate was dissolved. Apparently, Father Murgas was unable to raise enough money to make the repairs himself. Moreover, he became embroiled in a patent suit with Marconi (who was subsequently to be credited with the invention of modern radio) and Fessenden. Although Father Murgas won the law-suit, the government controls imposed on all means of communicati on at the outbreak of World War I prevented him from following up his initial success. Thus ended the scientific career of the great Slovak pioneer in wireless telegraphy. From this time until his death in 1929 he devoted all his time exclusively to pastoral service and patriotic work among his Slovak people. JOZEF M. PETZVAL Jozef Maximilian Petzval (Pecval)-180 7-1895-was a Slovak despite claims by Magyars and Austrians to the contrary. He was born in Spisska Bela in Slovakia. After completing his schooling in Podolinec, Levoca and the Lyceum in Kosice (in Slovakia) he attended the polytechnical institute at the University of Budapest. He paid his own way from his salary as a city engineer. After receiving his doctorate in mathematics he obtained a professorship at the University of Vienna in 1836. Petzval secured living quarters in an abandoned monastery on Kahlenberg hill above the city. Here he established his own mechanical laboratory where he began producing SLOVAKIA 161 special optical lens of such quality so that soon they were in demand in all parts of the world. When the daguerrotype photo apparatus appeared on the scene in the 1830's Petzval opened his own studio where he made invaluable contributions to modern photography. By 1840 he developed a photo lens that increased the degree of light ten-fold, thereby considerably decreasing the time of exposure. Voigtlander, an optician in Vienna, became the recipient of a real windfall when Petzval surrendered his formulas in the science of optics to him in return for a contract. Voigtlander refused to live up to the agreement. Accordingly, Petzval became so bitterly involved in litigation that this caused him to become a recluse . .. a final outcome of his misanthropic tendencies. Petzval developed the basics for the production of lens for people afflicted with astigmatism, and his process was adopted in the 1880's by the great Zeiss corporation in Jena. From Petzval's laboratories came the first high-power telescopes and fieldglasses, super electric spotlights and other improvements in the field of optics, as well as new developments in the mathematical sciences. It was only during World War II that Petzval's name was discovered inscribed (in German) on a memorial tablet in his birthplace in Spisska Bela, Slovakia. STEFAN BANIC stefan Banic, the inventor of the parachute, emigrated from his native Slovakia in search of a job in the U.S. He worked at odd jobs and tinkered with an invention that resulted in the making of the first real, workable parachute for which he obtained patent rights from the U.S. Patent Office in 1914. Banic sold the patent rights to a company for a mere pittance and the company made millions on government orders from the U.S. Army Air force during the first World War. (A. A. Hoch, Vyndlezy, ktore zmenili svet (Inventions which changed the world). Published by Mlade Leta, Bratislava, 1959).  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 Famous Slovak Inventors Description An account of the resource from A. A. Hoch, Vynálezy, ktoré zmenili svet (Inventions Which Changed the World), pub. Mladé Letá, Bratislava, 1959. covers Štefan A. Jedlík, Aurel Stodola, Jozef Murgaš, Jozef M. Petzval, Štefan Banič Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 156-161 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Hoch, Alois Adalbert, 1888-1978 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/329328bd44102fc8e3fc31826c3d7211.pdf ada238b3dd98531f7a084d213a4f9584 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 �182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became �SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against �184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak �SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In �186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain �SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate �188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works �SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. �190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in �191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection �192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske �SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') �194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre �SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a �[96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ �SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. �198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - �SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. �200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his �SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." �202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." �203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent � SLOVAKIA 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 �182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became �SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against �184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak �SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In �186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain �SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate �188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works �SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. �190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in �191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection �192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske �SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') �194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre �SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a �[96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ �SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. �198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - �SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. �200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his �SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." �202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." �203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 181 ,J.. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D.: Noted Slovak Jubilarians Andrej Z a r n o v "Les elites emigrees vivent tragiquement. Elles sont contraintes a une vie hasardeuse, solitaire, humiliee. Elles sont amenees par l'exil a l'epreuve a reviser leurs valeurs, et a en connaitre ou a en creer d'autres ... " Albert Thibaudet, Histoire de la litterature fra~aise de 1780 a nos jours, Paris, 1936. Since 1945, when Slovakia was overrun by the Soviet armies and subject to communist rule, a number of poets and writers left their native land in protest against political oppression in their homeland and with the intention of working in the free world for freedom and independence of their country. This political mission is especially true with regard to the emigre writers and poets who left Slovakia in 1945-1949 among whom were several of the leading Slovak writers and poets. A similar example can be found mutatis mutandis only in 19th century Poland, when after the revolution of 1830 the best Polish poets (Mickiewicz, Krasinski, Slowacki) and a number of writers and intellectuals escaped the Russians and made Paris the center of Polish literature. The fate of Slovak poets and writers was, of course, not as favorable as that of Polish "grande emigration." Some of the more prominent Slovak writers were soon captured in Austria and brought back to Slovakia and imprisoned (Milo Urban, A. zarnov, Tido J. Gaspar) while others had to fight against false denunciations and other pressures, in order to survive and create. In spite of this, "the 50 odd Slovak men of letters living on this side of the Iron Curtain kept the lights of Slovak culture burning while they were out of their native country. This may sound emotional or sentimental, yet it is a sad truth that in the years 1950-55 there hardly appeared in Slovakia a single book worthy of reading. In those years indeed the emigre literature was the contemporary Slovak literature." 1 182 SLOVAKIA Slovak poets and writers in exile continued to play especially the role of the "conscience of the nation" and that of interpreters of the aspirations of the Slovak people, traditionally assumed by Slovak poets and writers. More than in any other nation, not only the national rebirth was the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the time when the poet Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors in the Great Moravian period, and by giving them hope for a better future, Slovak poetry was an instrument of the national struggle, an expression of the national ideals and hopes, of national sufferings and joy. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world, often being also social revolutionary leaders. This tradition was cultivated in Slovak literature over the past one hundred and fifty years and was even strengthened during the crucial years of Slovakia's national struggle in this century. Slovak poets and writers in exile have not considered themselves exempt from this special mission. On the contrary, exile made them more patriotic and the sufferings of the Slovak people more conscious of their duty to be the "conscience" of their nation and the interpreters of the aspiration of the Slovak people. In the countryside of New York State, one of the best contemporary Slovak poets, Andrej zarnov (by his own name Prof. Frantisek subik), attained on November 19, 1973 the prestigous age of 70. If the present Slovak generations owe a tribute to any poet for his participation in the struggle for national rights and equality with other nations, Andrej zarnov deserves such recognition from Slovaks abroad as well as in Slovakia. Born in 1903 in the village of Kuklov in Western Slovakia, zarnov remained proud of his rural heritage even when he achieved the position of University Professor of Pathology and high recognition from critics and readers for his literary work. He made his secondary studies in Skalica and Trnava and his study of medicine in Bratislava where he was active in student organizations and became SLOVAKIA 183 well-known for his fiery verses already during his university years. In 1926, :2:arnov accompanied Msgr. Andrej Hlinka on the triumphant journey around the United States. At that time neither zarnov nor the American Slovaks could expect that after the dramatic events of the Second World War, he would return to the United States as an exile, persecuted for his patriotism and his part in the International Red Cross Commission which examined during the Second World War the brutal massacre of 10,000 Polish officers by the Soviets in Katyn. zarnov left Slovakia in 1945, but he was forcibly "repatriated" from Austria, arrested and jailed. In 1952 he left Slovakia in a dramatic flight and settled first near Washington and later at Wingdale, N. Y. where he lives presently with his family. 2 ZARNOV'S WORK AND PLACE IN SLOVAK LITERATURE Perhaps to no other country more than to Slovakia is the statement of historians applicable, that in Central and Eastern European national movements were the concern of poets, writers and scholars and that they created the nationalities. Not only was the national rebirth the work of Slovak poets and writers, but also the struggle for political rights and social justice; the first national rebellion was led by them, and they kept the national spirit alive in time of despair. Since the first great Slovak poet, Jan Holly (1785-1849) awakened the Slovak intelligentsia by unveiling to them the glorious past of Slovak ancestors and by giving them a strong faith in a better future of the Slovak people, Slovak poetry was an instrument of national struggle, an expression of the national idea, national sufferings, joys, and hopes. The poets and writers were the heralds and prophets of a new and better world; they were social revolutionaries and national leaders. This tradition was respected in Slovak literature over the past one hundred years, and during the crucial years of Slovak national struggle in this century the role was played by Andrej :2:arnov more prominently than by any other Slovak poet, except for Martin Razus. Andrej :2:arnov appeared in Slovak literature in a period when the Slovak people fought their harsh struggle (against 184 SLOVAKIA the Czech assimilatory tendencies) for preserving their language, national identity and cultural heritage. It was the period of the 20's and 30's of this century, when on one hand Slovakia experienced a strong cultural development, but was at the same time forced into an uneven struggle for her national future, for social justice and political and economic equality. The danger of this situation was not only in the preponderance of means and political power or in the fact that Slovaks were far outnumbered by Czechs, but also in the fact that the masses of the Slovak people were going through the final phase of the process of maturing politically and the Slovak intelligentsia was in cultural and ideological ferment. In this national struggle Zarnov came with his fiery verses full of faith in the Slovak people and his vitality, adYocating national solidarity and protesting against the Czech attempts to rule, exploit and denationalize the Slovak people. At the same time, his poetry dared Slovaks to defend themselves, to stand firmly on their feet and not bow, not to yield. It was a revolutionary call for political and social justice, for national pride and honor which very soon found a favorable echo among the young Slovak intelligentsia and made Zarnov, since he identified himself with his nation's aspirations, sorrows and sufferings, the poet of the Slovak national struggle, and of Slovak patriotism. There was an outburst of poetic production in Slovakia between the two wars, but only Zarnov (besides M. Razus) stood on the barricades of Slovak national struggle with his patriotic poems, his forceful indignation, with his spiritual roots in the national tradition and fervent belief in the victory of the Slovak cause. Zarnov's fiery poetry, after being largely recited and published in periodicals and dailies, had been edited in several volumes. The first one, Strdz pri Morave (The Guard on Morava, 1925) was composed of verses expressing the poet's and his generation's political and spiritual orientation and provoked even the political censors to intervene. The second volwne Brdzda cez uhory (The Furrow Through Fallows, 1929) contained rather meditative and lyrical poetry enquiring into the spiritual ferment and restlessness of the poet's generation. While in the first volwne Zarnov created of his poetry an effective instrument for Slovak SLOVAKIA 185 national struggle, in the second volume he turned his eyes to the soul of the people he inflamed to struggle and bitterly analyzed its conscience. The third volume Hlas krvi (The Call of the Blood, 1932) and the following volume stit (The Shield, 1940) still contained verses of patriotic inspirations; his last volume Mftvy (The Dead, 1941) contains, however, poetry of deep personal sorrow and refine lyrics inspired by the untimely death of his young son. The profile of a patriotic revolutionary and interpreter of the nation's aspirations and struggle was thus completed in z arnov's last volume by poetry of deep human feelings and meditations. In all his volumes, zarnov preferred rather simple poetic forms, including the free verse. The rhythm of his poetry and his vocabulary were of great effectiveness and from the very beginning it indicated a strong talent. His books are, of course, on the index in Slovakia, but some of his verses are among the most recited by Slovaks in the free world, in which zarnov found refuge after the Communists seized power in Slovakia. ZARNOV'S TRANSLATIONS FROM WORLD LITERATURES zarnov enriched, however, Slovak literature also by many masterful translations of lyrics, epics and dramas. His first translations go back to 1933-34 at which time zarnov published in Slovak dailies and periodicals his version of Przerwa-Tetmajer Jdnosikove motivy (Janosik's Motives). In 1936 zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the well-known play from the life of F. Chopin and Georges Sand Leto v Nohante (The Summer in Nohant) by J. Iwaszkiewicz. A year after, Matica slovenska published Sophocles' Antigona in zarnov's translation and in 1941 King Oedipus. The same year zarnov translated for the Slovak National Theatre the libretto of the opera Rusalka and in 1943 his translation of Zygmunt Krasinski's Nebozskd komedia (The Undivine Comedy) was published by Matica slovenska. After the Second World War, in the oppressive atmosphere of the Communist and Czech domination of Slovakia, zarnov was not allowed to publish his own poetry, but he did not cease creating and talking to his countrymen. In 186 SLOVAKIA 1949 the Society of St. Adalbert published his translation of Murphy's novel on Mary Magdalene The Scarlet Lily, in 1950 appeared the volume of translations from Adam Mickiewicz Poeezia, and in 1951 Hymny (The Hymns) of Jan Kasprowicz. The Communist regime did not, however, allow zarnov to use his pen-name on Kasprowicz's Hymns. They were published as translations by Francis ~ubik. Before his dramatic flight from Slovakia, zarnov prepared for publication his translation of Dante's Peklo (The Hell) and selections of poems by Leopold Staff Vyber z poezie (Selected Poems), but they remained in manusscript. zarnov's masterful translations were highly regarded by Slovak literary critics and by the readers and contributed especially to useful cultural relations of Slovakia with Poland. He received a Silver wreath from the Polish Academy of Literature for his pre-war translation U pol'sk'!}ch b<isnikov ( Among Polish Poets) and during the Second World War he prepared an entire book of translations from Adam Mickiewicz's works. 3 The volume was published "in order to transplant Mickiewicz's works to Slovak soil and thereby strengthen the structure of Slavic brotherhood in the cultural sector," and because "in world literature there are only a few great poets who in the work of their genius accumulate and present so universally, profoundly, and magnificently the history of the efforts, failures and spiritual achievements of their own people as does Adam Mickiewicz, the greatest Polish and all-Slavic poet." The book appeared in 1948, published by the Slovak Catholic cultural institution the "Society of St. Adalbert." We can say without exaggeration that zarnov has been, in his generation, artistically and spiritually the best prepared to transmit the heritage of Mickiewicz's most beautiful poems into Slovak literature. And he did it with great artistic skill and brilliance. His volume Poezia contains not only the eighteen Crimean Sonnets, but also Konrad Wallenrod, the Ode to Youth, To a Polish Mother, To My Muscovite Friends, Sages, A Vision, The Master of Masters, Flight and Out of My Sight, thus presenting some valuable lyrics along with his patriotic verse tale about his fatherland. The Crimean Sonnets in zarnov's translation remain SLOVAKIA 187 "a wonder," since he has preserved to a great degree the richness of beauty of the poetic expression which always takes us by surprise and makes us marvel at the audacity of thought and the moral courage which produce the special splendor of this collection. zarnov's poetic language is, naturally, modern, his verse and rhythm vivid, and the whole translation audacious. zarnov found in his own rich poetical invention the metaphors and poetic visions to express Mickiewicz's ideas and colorful images. The translation of Konrad Wallenrod is a poetical and genuine interpretation, equalling in beauty Mickiewicz's own work. zarnov is certainly no romantic in the pattern of the last century, but still an enthusiastic patriot who sings in his poetry a hymn to his crucified country, dooming its traitors and fighting for justice, one who has consecrated his life and his heart to his fatherland. More than anyone else among modern Slovak poets he was, therefore predestined to enrich modern Slovak literature by this Byronic work of great charm and poetic vision, which "of the many and often highly inspired types of Byronism in Polish poetry ranks highest." zarnov's versions of the Ode to Youth and To My Muscovite Friends are to be remembered not only for brilliance of translation ( which could be demonstrated only by quotations and comparisons of texts), but also for the purpose which the translator wished to serve. The volume Poezia was published after the tragic experiences with the Russian occupation of Slovakia. zarnov, to whom the national cause has always been a question of honor and personal dedication, addressed, in Mickiewicz's mordant verses, the new Muscovite rulers and summoned Slovak youth to the dynamic faith which Mickiewicz, in the Ode to Youth, expressed for Poles under very similar circumstances. zarnov's translations were thus to serve after a century the same aim as Mickiewicz had assigned to his poetry. Through the literary works of Mickiewicz zarnov wished to teach the Slovaks, as Mickiewicz had the Poles, "to regard as their personal affair the great question of honor and dedication, truth and falsehood, nobility of ends and legitimacy of means for attaining them." zarnov attemped to convince his martyred people that "the national cause must become an autochthonous idea, the ultimate 188 SLOVAKIA moral criterion around which the entire spiritual life of the nation is crystalized." The real function of zarnov's poetry and translation was, like that of Mickiewicz's, not only to provide artistic enjoyment or to refine aesthetic taste, but primarily to equip his people with the spiritual resources necessary to enable them to survive their enslavement and to fight for their freedom. The Muscovite rulers in Slovakia grasped his intention and silenced the book. zarnov, under constant threat of arrest and deportation, and many times in prison, made a dramatic flight from his country and now fights in exile for his ideas. In exile he published a number of patriotic verses and a masterful transcription of several poems by Jan Holly into a modern Slovak language, to remind the Slovaks of their spiritual roots and national heritage, and to confirm once more that he was one of the Slovak poets who penetrated and stirred to the depths the spirits of his generation and especially of the young intelligentsia, helped to bring them to a strong awareness of their spiritual and national individuality, and successfully summoned them to the struggle for justice and freedom. On behalf of that generation, we are sending to the quiet countryside near New York our grateful: Ad multos annos. F OOTNOTES 1) See F. Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych ro kov . N acrt slovenske j li t eratury v rokoch 1945-62. (Middletown, Pa., 1965) , p . 277. 2) F or more details on 2arnov's work and life, see J . Pauco (ed .), L iterarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa. 1967. 3) On 2arnov's translations from Mickiewicz, see W. Lednicki, Adam . Micki ewicz in W orld Literature, University of California Press, 1956i contribution by J . M. Kirschbaum. lmrich K r u f I i a k The prose and poetry of Slovak emigre writers is varied in themes and literary styles and strongly reflects a deep sadness over the loss of their native country and over the treatment of their people under communism. This is especially characteristic of the writings of poets and writers who had played a prominent role in Slovak literary life before they left their native land. Strong national feelings and "heimweh''; however, can also be found in the works SLOVAKIA 189 of poets who developed their talents far away from their native country. Prominent in this group of Slovak intellectuals is Dr. Imrich Kruzliak whose 60th birthday we will commemorate on December 8, 1974. Born in the romantic Detva, Kruzliak followed the path of educated Slovaks of his generation from villages and towns who went through secondary schools and universities by their own efforts and talents and, after helping the struggle for national independence, had to pay in jails or in exile for their patriotism. Kruzliak did not leave his native Slovakia in 1945. He decided to stay and fight with other Catholic intellectuals for the preservation of Slovak national traditions and for a place for Catholics in the post-war political life. When in 1947, the Communists began their persecution of Catholic intellectuals, he was arrested, tortured, and kept in jail for a year. To avoid a new arrest, he escaped in 1949 to Austria and in 1951 settled in Munich where he became employed by Radio Free Europe as a commentator on Slovak cultural matters. Writing mostly under the pen-name Marian ziar and initials I. K., mz, Dr. Kruzliak contributed in exile to emigre literature either in poetry or in literary criticism. Although Kruzliak had published verses and literary essays already before and during the war, it was in exile that he became known as a poet and mainly as a cultivated commentator and critic of Slovak literary and cultural life at home and abroad. His essays, comments and book reviews have been published mostly in the quarterly Most, Literdr ny Almanach, Rozhl'ady, but also in annuals and newspapers Jednota, Slovak v Amerike and for the past two years in Horizont of which he has been the editor in chief. His writings have been among the best in Slovak empire literature. We would mention especially his survey of Slovak literature under Communism (Most, 1958), anci essay "Shakespeare and Slovaks" (Most, 1964), a study on the "Literary and artistic cult of Sts. Cyril and Methodius among Slovaks" (Most, 1963) and ":C. stur" (Most, 1965) . In scores of book reviews, Kruzliak enriched Slovak emigre literature with new ideas, well-balanced opinions, and by an effort to keep Slovak cultural life abroad on a European level. 190 SLOVAKIA He also deserves recognition for editing and publishing two volumes of poetry of poets in communist jails Modlitby v putdch (Prayers in Shackles, Munich, 1955) and translations from Polish, Magyar and Russian poets of the period of "thaw" Podaj ndm ruku, Eur6pa ( Give us Helping Hand, Europe, Munich, 1957). One of his extensive surveys of Slovak culture under Communism was published in mimeographed book form and his contribution on Slovak culture since 1945 appeared in the symposium Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, published by the Slovak World Congress (Toronto, 1973). He also edited special volume of Arena (Vol. 16, 3-4) which the P.E.N. Centre for Writers in Exile published on Slovak literature in London, England in 1963. Dr. Kruzliak does not belong, however, to literary life alone. Since his university years he was among the most active intellectuals in the Slovak public life and a leading figure in the generation which dedicated talents and energies to the struggle of the Slovak people for an equal place among European nations. His literary beginnings are connected with students periodicals (Rozvoj, Svojet') in the 1930's, while his participation in public life began before he obtained his Ph.D. summa cum laude at the Bratislava University. As many members of his generation, he also was inspired by the idealism of ~udovit t5tur, represented in 1920's and 1930's in Slovak national struggle by Andrej Hlinka. Idealism and dedication of those years marked Dr. Kruzliak's whole life in Slovakia as well as in exile. On the threshold of his 60th birthday he continues his life struggle in the Slovak World Congress as the head of the cultural section. The upheavals and tragedies experienced by his generation, marked also his life, but did not break his spirit. Hardly any Slovak generation had to go through such trials. There were, however, also victories and uncomparable cultural and spiritual growth of the Slovak nation to' which that generation contributed at home and in exile. And no other generation had such opportunities to see the world, to learn foreign languages and to absorb cultural values of the most advanced nations. It is on behalf of those who from that generation survived the persecutions of the tyrannical regimes in 191 SLOVAKIA Slovakia and the trials of exile, that we cordially greet Dr. Kruzliak on the threshold of his 60th birthday, wishing him that the Lord may fulfill his desires to see Slovakia free, democratic and equal to other nations. Mikulas sp r i n C For the past 25 years, perhaps the most important role in the Slovak literary life in exile was played by the highly cultivated and sensitive poet, Rev. Mikulas sprinc, whose 60th birthday Slovaks abroad will commemorate on November 30th, 1974. Like Dilong and Strmen, sprinc also came from the "Catholic Moderna" group and was well-known in Slovakia as Secretary and later Director of the Slovak Catholic Academy and organizer of many cultural activities before and during the War. He published during the War two collections of his own poetry and four collections of translations : from Rilke, from several Italian poets, as well as from the works of P. Lippert and Giovanni Papini. At the same time he contributed to nearly all Slovak literary journals and periodicals, in addition to being the editor of the main Slovak Catholic literary monthly Kultiira <19431945 ). s princ left Slovakia later than other Slovak emigre poets and writers, and reached Rome through Austria and Germany. He was named by the Vatican a delegate for helping the Slovak refugees in Austria and Germany, but in 1946 he obtained a visa for the United States where he developed not only extensive organizational cultural activities, but also his talent so that he became one of the leading Slovak Catholic poets in Diaspora. A professor of modern languages and philosophy of arts by vocation, he deserves credit for keeping alive the Slovak literary journal Most , of which he has been editor since 1954, as well as for founding the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, whose President has been the poet Andrej zarnov. sprinc was also one of the founders of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland, and edited several symposia in addition to his own prolific and varied literary activities. Altogether sprinc published 18 collections of musical and highly cultivated poetry, and an English collection 192 SLOVAKIA Driftwood ( 1969), partly translated by himself and partly by one of his students and a well-known translator of Slovak poetry, Jaroslav Vajda. Those who appreciate a poetry rooted in the strong belief in the Creator without sounding too religious, and those who like the beauty of life in the song of birds, in the colors of flowers, in the sound of the wind, and blue skies or the colors of the rainbow, can find great enjoyment in sprinc's poetry. In his lyrical verses, sprinc echoes the art of Paul Verlaine and the spirit of St. Francis of Assissi. The musical and rhythmical quality of his poetry is rarely equalled by other Slovak emigre poets, except probably Gorazd Zvonicky. The translations of sprinc's verses are not an easy task for translators. Many of his volumes also contain fine poems with patriotic overtones, expressing his love for his lost and oppressed Slovakia. Recent volumes of sprinc's poetry have been artistically illustrated and carefully published, reflecting high artistic quality also in their technical presentation. As a result, reading his beautifully published collections is a double pleasure; they are written by a sensitive and gifted poet but, even more, by a man humbly and joyfully believing in God whose faith and glorification of the Creator sounds so natural and full of hope that one longs for the same beautiful world and the author's joyful soul and spirit. Even though Paul Verlaine seems to be his preferred poet (he wrote his M.A . thesis in French on Verlaine), sprinc is very well versed in Italian, German and Spanish poetry, and contributed to Slovak emigre literature by several excellent translations. To his large and varied cultural activities he has added more than 300 articles, book reviews, comments and contributions to Slovak periodicals, almanacs and newspapers. More than any other poet or writer, sprinc deserves credit for keeping Slovak culture abroad not only alive, but also reflecting the best Slovak national traditions. In spite of his many activities as professor, editor and secretary of the Association of Slovak Writers and Artists, sprinc was able during the past two decades to publish nearly every year a volume of his poetry or a book in prose. Among his published works we find: Ozveny v samotdch (1940), Tak umieral bdsnik Pal'o Oliva (1942), 0 ldske SLOVAKIA a bolesti (1942), Duinske elegie (1942), O Tebe spieva zem idc sdm 0943), K slobodnym pobreziam (1950), Na r:"•rFlo 'l J () • polnopi 'ti· · poludnfa Z (1955), slnku proti (1953), Tvdrou ')s'ted6~ putnie~±{~ moje Oci (1962), orla (1960), Mladost' a ffPk k?J s _ Brat~la'8 (1967), Andante (1952), kovia utrpenia ,a ~- ~1 • S'! 1 JI ora· ll:170 Palidora, z Piesne (1969), (1968), Driftwood 11 "' · j rn JC lovy ostrov (1973) etc.* t'f" : 'iOr.?.910 I'l Among his translation s we should metftionfGidva:aru Papini's work Witnesses of Suffering (Scraiitott CFA-{J'1i95!!) and among his foreign language writings hi M~..fthesi t Paul Verlaine: Etude de sa poesie religieuse,Wil'i-100',i stiill u v[ ,, , 1 ;. ,.... in manuscrip t. I 'di _Jj(,· ~-II sprinc also published an interesting narra,J;;':vp1!n,:prose about his escape and journey from Slovakia ~f?' ,1i0:Yr'l1Il,~9 States in a volume K slobodnym pobreziam ('J;R>t~'rr r;;~1e Shores), a book on St. Andrew Svorad as vv,:e, ~r~~d l. p~~lf dedicated to the Virgin Mary. For the llth -1 0~~t[;npial<: 0J Christianit y in Slovakia, he edited a collectiop."r~ ~!:5e-? by several Slovak poets under the title Zdravic0-; sp-"'qy j!oRi a Metodovi (Rome, 1963). He also contributec l:11f?: 1aurn~smr~ fully illustrated anthology Odkaz (The Legacy.., 197Jp in f.eJfg~ehte~. which leading Slovak poets and writers are ro "¼o"'"' 10· ""i In prose, he edited the memoirs of Msgr. Joze · KaB3-i a prominent Slovak diplomat at the Vatican du¥fh§ \ .war Spod Rohdcov po Vatikdn (From Rohace M9tiRtim to? · e Vatican, 1973) as well as two symposia comp.~~~ ,cif 'qop; C~ictrfn_tributions by Slovak emigre writers: Ndde7· vit'azria 1J 'R? 'fJf U?'f • -. ::;;_ 1939-1-.~4(} republika Slovenskd and 1947) Hope, ous ' ,.., Republic 1939-1949, Scranton, Pa., 1949). 9.i · V)\1)')1Sh'1 ·i•h ai 1~f'd2 c( aii~ Literary work of this envergure and 1 we -Iiifre > ; case; a does not need to be praised. It is again 1 • if'tceW!. Laudat'·a'¥f have to repeat the Latin dictum: Opus fivities It was a blessing for Slovak literature and cultubr-a~i abroad that sprinc left Slovakia. Therefore, ori~he~ooa §i6n of his 60th birthday, we cannot be more sincer.e"1wlierfJ,we - :>.r. ,h,i< say: Ad multos annos! 1 (JJ Jy3c-riqz~t{ :llC J *) :r-r::;m For more details on Sprinc and his work, see Literltrfi'y 11.lrMnbcn for 1967, p. 232-234, and Most, Vol. I, 2, 1954, and Vol. 13~ 4;-1956!!') 194 SLOVAKIA Teodorik Zubek To the ranks of prominent Slovak intellectuals in exile whose 60th birthday we will commemorate in 1974, also belongs Prof. T. J. Zubek, oustanding member of the Slovak Franciscan Order in Slovakia and the United States, who was born on April 4, 1914 in Malacky, Western Slovakia. Professor Zubek filled an important gap in exile activities by his theological writings and mainly by presenting the religious situation in post war Slovakia to the Western World. At the same time he deserves recognition for reviving the Order of Slovak Franciscan Fathers in the United States who under his leadership become active not only in the religious field but also in education and cultural life. Well educated at Slovak and foreign Universities (Zagreb, Croatia; Fribourg, Switzerland), Dr. Zubek played leading role in his Order in Slovakia, and had to pay under the Communist regime for his patriotism and service to God by detention in the concentration camp for priests in Svaty Benadik. After his escape in 1951, he found refuge in Austria and Rome, Italy, from where he came to the United States in 1952. Soon after his arrival to the U.S.A. Dr. Zubek became Professor of Theology at Seton Hall University, Newark, N. J. and published an authoritative work on the Communist persecution of religion in his native country Church of Silence in Slovakia (J. Lach Publ., Whiting, Ind., 1956). This book and his scholarly contributions to American religious and academic periodicals (Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Jurist, Ameri can Ecclesiastical Review, The Catholic Educator and others) performed an important service to the Slovak cause among Western intellectuals. Some of his studies rank among the best writings on contemporary theological and educational topics. From the Slovak point of view, of great importance among his English writings is also his presentation of the case of Msgr. Tiso and the fate of Slovak bishops (Slovak Bishops - Martyrs of Christ, 1963) to Western readers. Exposed to hostile propaganda during the War and after, many people in the free world maintained biased attitudes towards Slovakia even among clergy and in academic circles. Dr. Zubek was among the first Slovak emigre SLOVAKIA 195 intellectuals who grasped the need for writing on Slovakia in English and in non-Slovak periodicals, and for doing it in a much more reserved manner than we can afford in our Slovak publications. Dr. Zubek contributed at the same time to Slovak periodicals and newspapers, to Slovak Studies, and edited the religious monthly Listy Sv. Frantiska (Leaflets of St. Francis) published by his Order of which he was the head as Provincial Delegate. He also took part in Slovak emigre cultural and organizational activities aiming at the unity and co-operation, namely in Slovak Liberation Council and Slovak World Congress, at the Conference on Slovakia held in Toronto in 1971 and elsewhere. From the very beginning of his exile has been considered as one of the most distinguished representatives of Slovak clergymen abroad. By his activities, high education and devotion to the work for God and bonum commune, Dr. Zubek upheld the noble tradition of the Franciscan Order in Slovakia, whose members belonged to the best educators, historians, writers and poets in the centuries of Slovak national revival as well as in this century. It is with sincere admiration for his work and great human qualities that we greet him on his sixtieth birthday with a heartfelt: Ad multos annos! Jozef Pa u co For more than a century, journalists and editors played in Slovak national life a role going far beyond their profession. Starting with Eudovit stur in the middle of the 19th century, leading Slovak journalists were also political leaders, poets, writers, historians, grammarians and organizers of cultural and political institutions. This phenomenon appeared in Slovakia as well as among Slovaks abroad, especially in the United States and Canada. After stur, S. H . Vajansky was an outstanding example of a journalist, who also was a prominent poet, novelist and fighter for the Slovak cause. In the following generation Karol Sidor and Konstantin Culen remained faithful to that tradition in Slovakia and on the American continent. Both of them were journalists by profession, but they also wrote a [96 SLOVAKIA am lil,erary works and books dealing with the ofoSI~aks and their struggle for freedom. h'eq>ast 25 years, an austanding example of journalist who became a historian, political writer and organizer • .Joll!uraI &F.~ political activities, was Dr. Jozef Pauco, ~ '1We .1 2¥thday was celebrated by Slovaks abroad on ~ 8f.f9 r¥R~L 1974. Pauco's admiration for E. stur goes Bi~ 1t2,1r.. ,years when he wrote his Ph.D. thesis at the I}, ·1-ffi ·1i v~c13ratislava, which was later published under 9} yt • {,1J{!,OJJYChova u sturovcov (Popular Education in nt) . Since that time Dr. Pauco also followed ~ ' x' MB, ~ f8o}§jeps of K. Sidor and K. culen in his work as ~n !n eing a political exile, in his dedication to the ~ ~.HJ.Iijijle:iJer2 freecto111: , and independence for Slovakia and i - fillfp,tjfj>_n with American Slovaks and Slovak-American organizations. bibliography listed below indicates, Dr. As thej seJect ' ' r[J J)l [IQ[ f y Hjj r(~mgs are not only extensive, but also cover e.vera1' ~ cfs9!rom history to political science and belles 12t ,nw .fil~S.V O II . pub1·ished works . part of his 1l 1 :e~ . .tS s19.a y, th e maJor . t ct· f d t S {:_!(, ''IS I'I .'11 ' hJfiIH~W . , rAR?"ever, a e en mg he Slovak cause. This :a cr1°fsB~afiW even his works on American Slovaks, which !fh~ Y#1 ~9 ~fo~);'o his best writings and in their method and $I&»Jay flDif compare with standard works on the subj~cf.'."'i frer fof. F. Hrusovsky and K. culen, he actually deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. His books on their history atest to his great love for jjl_jz~ i 9_mt branch of the Slovak people. In addition, lzli-l ~ftlltl.futijsplayed in his works on American Slovaks, of Wlli.Plb :ti~cY~mninous history of the First Catholic Slovak ~smrubip rrecent book on Slovak Pioneers in America 4%fill:YJ O ~fkteular attention, that history was the field W~fttmt~ ld use his academic education and thorough fmID'{fflP.g.f~mf@lovak American organizational structure and ~ ~g:njfl~J:?.g ~ of individual leaders. As a result, whoever }Y!UsiYfOOl ~(tc,::omplete history of American Slovak~, will lff)lUiffifHfliiO.l:Wlfite authoritatively without ~sing Dr. Pauco's , ~f4J!!g)}V~rks. 110Ui-Bi¥unMjgl,lly, a larger number of books, essays an(\ MMtje b&;ia . Pauco deals, however, with Slova~a•s strugglaj::Rf!~~p.filldence l;l,nd with the _defense of leading Slovak h'i&j t> n; b~ SLOVAKIA 197 personalities, especially Dr. Jozef Tiso, against whom many incorrect views and misconceptions were spread in the West during and after the Second World War. Slovakia and Slovaks suffered not only under Communism. There was a lot of injustice and descrimination against Slovaks also before the War and during the short period after the War when the Communists ruled together with their Czech and Slovak fellow-travelers from the non-communist parties. In his writings, Dr. Pauco endeavored to fight the falsehood and injustice of· both. It was, however, the communist misrule in Slovakia and the communist ideology which he exposed and fiercely criticized in his writings, advocating Christian democracy and the independence of Slovakia. Besides his own books, essays and thousands of articles, Dr. Pauco also published-as editor-the valuable documentary work Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (Dr. Jozef Tiso About Himself), containing the defense of the President of the Slovak Republic at his trial by the communist court, and a number of symposia on leading Slovak exiles (K. Sidor, J.C. Hronsky,· etc.). Furthermore, he deserves recognition for publishing and editing the Literdrny Almanach and the weekly Slovak v Amerike, both of which would have disappeared several years ago without his dedication and sacrifice as well that of his literary active wife. Last but not least, Dr. Pauco has rendered great service to the Slovak cause as the editor of the English periodical dealing with Slovak cultural and political matters, Slovakia. founded by Philip Hrobak. This editorial part of Dr. Pauco's work is of far reaching importance for the activities of Slovaks abroad and can be evaluated adequately only if we imagine how much poorer Slovak cultural life and the struggle for independence would be without these publications. In view of the fact that the historical and geopolitical situation of Slovakia made the Slovak cause a matter of controversy, Dr. Pauco's writings were bol,lild to provoke a strong reaction from the adversaries of the Slovak struggle for independence. His militant spirit, uncompromising attitude and fervor incited them to make denunciations, accusations and . undeserved attacks, but Pauco remained, in spite of all attacks on his person, one of 'the most dedicated defenders of the Slovak cause in his generation. 198 SLOVAKIA He also continues to be the most prolific Slovak journalist and writer on politics and history who remained faithful to stur's tradition and Hlinka-Tiso's ideology of Christian democracy and self-determination for the Slovaks. SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY IN SLOVAK Popular Education ). Matica slovenska. Turciansky Sv. Martin, 1943, pp. 151. Politicko-narodny program Hsns (Political Program of the Slovak People's Party ). Andrej uc. spol. Bratislava, 1944, pp. 96. co po komunizme? (After Communism What?) . Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1952, pp. 29. Dr. Jozef Ti so o sebe (Dr. Joseph Tiso About Himself) . Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, Passaic, N. J., 1952, pp. 359. (Ed.) Tisov odkaz (Tiso's Message). Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1953, pp. 89. Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (Stephen Furdek and Slovak Immigration ). J ednota, Middletown, Pa., 1955, pp. 190. Slovcici a komunizmus (The Slovaks and Communism ). Rev. Jan Lach, Whiting, Ind., 1957, pp. 318. P-0d zcistavou krest'anskej demokracie (Under the Banner of the Christian Democracy). Slovenski krest'anski demokrati v Spojenych Statoch, Middletown, Pa. , 1957, pp. 30. Slovenskci rehol'a Sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda (Slovak Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius). Slovensky .Zensky Spolok sv. Anny, Wyoming Valley, Pa., 1957, pp. 32. Matus Jankola - knaz a ncirodovec (Matus Jankola - A Priest and Patriot). Rad sestier sv. Cyrila a Metoda, Danville, Pa., 1959, pp. 174. Pamiatke Jozefa Cigra Hronskeho (In Memoriam Jozef Cig-er Hronsky) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1960, pp. 46. (Ed.) Martin Kopunek) . Laicky apostol Martin Kopunek (Lay Apostle Vychodna Oblast' Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov, Bethlehem, Pa., 1961, pp. 67. (Ed.) Neporazitel'ni (Unconquerables). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1961, pp. 190. Karol Sidor - politik novincir, spisovatel' (Karol Sidor - Politician, Newspaperman, and Writer) . Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1962, pp. 148. (Ed.) Piit'desiatnik Dr. J-0zef Kirschbaum (Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum - Fifty Years Old). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1963, pp. 171. (Ed.) Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (75 Years of the First rokov 75 Catholic Slovak Union). Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, Cleveland, Ohio, 1965, pp. 560 and XIV. 80 pages of pictures. Na uteku (Flight to Wonderland; serialized in the Weekly Jednota) . Middletown, Pa., 1965. l}udovychova u sturovcov (Stur's Movement - SLOVAKIA 199 Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another). Literarny Almanach Slovaka v Amerike, Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 281. Illustra- tions. Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America). First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, pp. 358. Illustrations. IN ENGLISH Unconquerables, Vantage Press, New York, N. Y., 1958, pp. 225. Christian Slovakia Under Communism. The Slovak Catholic Federation, Valparaiso, Ind., 1959, pp. 31. Flight to Wonderland. Robert Speller and Sons, New York, N. Y., 1963, pp. 334. 'i0 Years of the Slovak League of America. Middletown, Pa., 1967, pp. 146. (Ed.) IN GERMAN Dr. Jozef Tiso: Die Wahrheit uber die Slowakei (The Truth About Slovakia). Tisovo Tovarisstvo, in the Emigration, 1948, pp. 187. Illustrated. ARTICLES IN ENGLISH The Practi cal Aspect of a Federation. Slovakia, III, No. 2, 1953, p. 26-36. American Slovaks and March 14, 1939. Slovakia, IV, No. 1, 1954, p. 17-22. The Slovak Republic and Communism. Slovakia, IV, No. 3-4, 1954, p. 35-38. Slovakia Viewed By American Historians. Most, I. No. 4, 1954, p . 17-25. The Failures of Communist Politics in Slovakia, Slovakia, V, No. 4, 1955, p. 3-20. Stu.r's Group in the Service of the People. Slovakia, VI, No. 1, 1956, p. 11-16. I Was Editor of President Tiso's Newspaper. Slovakia, VII, No. 1, 1957, p. 9-12. Dr. Joseph Tiso : Christian Democrat. Slovakia, VII, No. 2, 1957, p. 37-50. The Stirring Days of March 1939. Slovakia, IX, No. 4, 1959, p. 24-32. Slovakia Under Communism. Slovakia, IX, N-0. 5, 1959, p. 1-5; Slovakia, X, No. 6, 1960, p. 62-73 ; Slovakia, XI, No. 1, 1961, p. 13-21. Slovakia's Mid-Nineteenth Century Struggle for National Life. Slovak Studies I, 1961, p. 69-83. The Matica Slovenskd in America. Slovakia, XIII, No. 1, 1963, p. 77-82. American Slovaks and the Beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia. Slovakia, XVI, No. 39, 1966, p. 63-75. Slovak Pioneers in America. Slovakia, XIX, No. 42, 1969, p. l0S-124. Under Dynamic Leadership. 60 Years of the Slovak League of America, 1967, p. 112-146. The Slovak Benedictines Review 50 Years in Cleveland, Ohio. Slovakia, XXII, No. 45, 1972, p. 92-97. Twenty Years of the Slovak Institute in Cleveland. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 16-23. Cultural Revival of American and Canadian Slovaks. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 72-81. Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek. Slovakia, XXIII, No. 46, 1973, p. 123-128. 200 SLOVAKIA EVALUATION OF DR. PAUCO'S WRITINGS BY REVIEWERS The number of book reviews published on individual Pauco's works is too large to be listed in this survey. In general, we can say that extensive reviews and commentaries, written by known Slovak authors, scholars, poets and cultural workers, were published not only in newspapers, but also in literary and cultural periodicals (Most, Furdek, Slovakia) and almanacs. Book reviews in Slovak language prevail, but his major writings were evaluated and commented upon also in English, mostly by reviewers born or educated on the American continent. The majority of reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books evaluated his writings favorably not only because of their ideological contents and usefulness for preservation of Slovak cultural heritage but also for their literary, and in many instances, scholarly value, thorough research and vast knowledge of the Slovak past and present. Deeply involved in Slovak political and cultural life since his students years, Dr. Pauco was a participant in historical events or closely associated with persons he writes about in a majority of his books, which gives to some of his works particular significance. On the other hand, his books on the history of American Slovaks fill an important gap and therefore the reviewers valued them for their contribution to the neglected history of American Slovaks as well as for their documentation and objectivity with which Pauco approached his subjects. Among the reviewers of Dr. Pauco's books and publications edited by him were K. culen, Prof. F. Hrusovsky, J . E. Bor, M. Jankovsky, J. M. Kirschbaum, J. C. Krajsa, M. K. Mlynarovic, J. Mest'ancik, Prof. K. Murin, Rev. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., Dr. B. Pissko, Dr. J. Rekem, Dr. J. Stasko, Rev. Mother Emerentia, Rev. Sister Tarcisia and many others. The book 75 Years of the FCSU was reviewed by 15 and his recent book Slovak Pioneers in America by 9 reviewers. All reviews were favorable . The evaluation by American born reviewers deserves, however special mention. Prof. V. R. Greene of the Kansas State University, who has learned to read and understand Slovak and wrote his SLOVAKIA 201 Ph.D. thesis on East European immigrants in Pennsylvania , said on Pauco's 75 Years of the First Catholic Slovak Union: "Not only is it a complete and most comprehensiv e history of the Jednota and the Slovaks in America, but its many references, footnotes and bibliography will satisfy any serious reader and research historian." Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M. in her extensive review published in Jednota (June 30, 1965) referred to Matthew Arnold's statement that "Great creative works in literature result from happy concurence of two notable powers, the power of the man and the power of the moment," and wrote on Pauco's book: "Such a happy concurence of two notable powers has been strikingly exemplified before our eyes this year. For the power of the moment there was the 75th anniversary of the First Catholic Slovak Union in 1965, calling for the writing of the history of this remarkable organization. For the power of the man there was Joseph Pauco, Ph.D., a gifted author, historian and scholar, capable and willing to assume the task of writing this history. The result is a truly monumental contribution to Slovak history and literature, entitled 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty." The book Tak sme sa poznali (So Have We Known One Another, 1967) attracted the attention of Slovak exiles as well as of American born Slovak intellectuals. "Dr. J. Pauco's Memoirs encompass - according to Sister M. Tarcisia - multiple and varied personal contacts as well as deep insight, broad vision and a skillful pen. The author is a scholar, a man of the people, an editor, a journalist, a lecturer, a politcian. The era he portrays was at once shatteringly disruptive and marvelously formative in its application to Central Europe and specifically to Slovakia. The men who played the leading roles in the drama of the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) were true to human nature: some giants, some midgets, some heroes, some traitors. Tak sme sa poznali is a tremendously vital book. In recounting his experience in the Slovak Republic - all of which he saw, part of which he was - Dr. Pauco has written authentic history. As such it will live and flourish." 202 SLOVAKIA Pauco's last book Slovenskt priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America, 1972) was favorably reviewed and welcome as a valuable contribution to the history of American Slovaks by a dozen of Slovak writers, scholars, journalists and cultural workers. In the opinion of the American born editor of Jednota, J. C. Krajsa, "Pauco's work required serious research and documentation. In an objective manner he credits the life and work of the pioneers and categorizes them in their proper niche in the history of the American Slovaks, in America and the Slovak nation. He presents those leading pioneers who played the greatest role in the cultural field; those who organized fraternal societies, parishes, schools, and religious orders; those who preserved the literary culture with the publication of newspapers and books; and those who were fired with the ideal of liberty that even permeated to Slovakia." The book is in Krajsa's view "in itself a pioneer book. Nothing to date has been published in such documentary detail about American Slovak pioneers. The First Catholic Slovak Union is proud to publish this vital literary work of Dr. Joseph Pauco." According to another prominent American Slovak, Fr. J. A. Gajdosik "Pauco's book is one sure way to arousing interest in the Slovak heritage on a personal and individual basis, especially among our younger people. Hopefully, an English translation will be made in the near future, so that devotion to the Slovak ethnicity will be fostered. "The book should bolster Dr. Joseph Pauco's strong thoughts about the termination and death of the Slovak language in the United States. The book is also a warning to our fair-weather-Slovaks, who claim that they received little if anything from their Slovak ancestors, for it teaches that much Slovak affluence and prestige is directly the result of the conduct and work of our pioneers. "It behooves our brethren who are ashamed of their Slovak ethnicity, to study their history, and learn how everything they have was given to them, and that they should give themselves for others as our pioneers did. The ultimate lesson is that we, American of Slovak ancestry, should foster and serve the Slovak cause and ideal, at least as much, if not better than our pioneers in early America." 203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent  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 Noted Slovak Jubilarians Description An account of the resource covers ndrej Žarnov, Imrich Kružliak, Mikuláš Šprinc, Teodorik Zúbek, Jozef Paučo incl. "Evaluation of Dr. Paučo's Writings by Reviewers" and "Reviews of Paučo's Writings in Leading Periodicals" J. M. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 181-203 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 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/10aed17015a5abecf03124d945932fa2.pdf 13ba17b6c0a62ac1bcb8fadc80beabd4 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the �64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. �SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. �66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews. � SLOVAKIA 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the �64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. �SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. �66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 63 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle /or Freed om J. M. Ki rs ch b au m, Ph.D. National struggles for emancipation from foreign rule were fought in East Central Europe for more than a century on two fronts: at home, and by emigres abroad. During the first World War and again during the Second World War, leading Western Powers gave to various emigre groups formal recognition to become the official representatives of their native countries. In so doing, they helped to establish a tradition which, in time of political oppression, assigns to emigres the role of interpreters of the national aspirations of the people in their country of origin. Slovakia is one of the Central European countries in which this tradition has played an important role. At the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced. Political developments in Slovakia after the Second World War brought disappointment even to those who desired the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia and favored Soviet expansion in Central Europe. The introduction of a rigid centralism instead of the promised autonomy, the ruthless replacement of parliamentary democracy by the Stalinist system, political and religious persecution, economic discrimination and prohibition of contacts with Western countries, could not leave Slovaks abroad indifferent to the fate of the Slovak people. American Slovaks together with Slovaks in other Western countries, strengthened by thousands of political emigres as well as by those who were deceived in their attempts at co-operation with the Communists, resumed the role of interpreters of the 64 SLOVAKIA aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom, democracy and independence . In 1968 when the attempts to reform the political and economic system imposed on Slovakia by Moscow and Prague failed and "socialism with human face" was crushed under the tanks of the Warsaw Pact military forces, a new wave of Slovak emigrants found refuge in Western countries. This new situation prompted Slovaks abroad to rally their forces for intensified political and cultural activities within the framework of the Slovak World Congress, founded in the City of New York in June 1970. The aims and goals of the Congress were defined as follows: "Slovaks living throughout the entire world, many of whom were born in the United States and elsewhere, accept as a moral duty the necessity to unite in the struggle for the natural rights of the Slovak nation and for the complete freedom in the determinatio n of its destinies. We consider it our obligation to present to the world a true picture of the life and aspirations of the Slovak nation for a free and democratic way of life. Today we are more acutely aware of this duty in view of the fact that the regime which has been forced upon the Slovak nation is opposed to the national traditions of Slovakia and the country is occupied by the military forces of a foreign Great Power. Therefore, in view of the foregoing: We subscribe to the traditional values of Slovak history which have promoted the re-birth of our nation, its growth and its acceptance in western civilization among cultured nations; We contend that the Slovak question is an international problem and therefore we request that international justice be done Slovakia, justice that would be expressed in full democratic statehood; We take a positive attitude towards the process of integration in Europe and we demand that the Slovak nation be given the right to participate freely and directly in this process. SLOVAKIA 65 We desire and hope that the situation in Central and Eastern Europe will change so that there will no longer be any obstacle towards establishing and maintaining cultural exchanges between the Slovaks at home and abroad which present conditions in Slovakia either make completely impossible, or allow only in a restricted sense." Among the main tasks of the Slovak World Congress are the activities aiming at acquainting the Western world with the history, culture and the present political situation in Slovakia. The Congress fulfills this task through the activities of its individual and constitutional members and their press. Some of the best known authors of books on Slovakia and political scientists and historians are leading figures of the Congress. The institutional members, mostly large Slovak organizations, help to fulfill this role in their press and, publishing activities, by memoranda and so on. Three publications by the Congress are destined to achieve the same aim. Before the Second General Meeting of the Congress in Toronto in 1971, the Slovak World Congress published its first publication: Slovakia - Historical and Cultural Background (Toronto, 1971). Two authors, Prof. J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum, outlined in concise chapters the historical and cultural developments in Slovakia since the appearance of Slovaks in Central Europe in order to correct many misconceptions about the Slovak political and cultural history. The book gives, however, only basic information and, therefore, to fill the gap in presenting Slovakia to the West, the Congress organized a Conference on Slovakia, and the papers which were delivered at the Conference by more than 20 scholars were published in the volume: Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973).1 The aim of this book - as expressed in the Preface by S. B. Roman - is "to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-operation and only if each recognize the equal rights to independence that each has." 1) For evaluation of the book see Book reviews. 66 SLOVAKIA The book is divided into four parts which deal with Slovak national philosophy; Slovak politics in the 19th and 20th centuries; the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors, and with the attitude of Slovaks abroad towards Slovakia. All the authors, of whom four are of non-Slovak origin, examined in a scholarly manner Slovak political and cultural developments. The book presents at the same time "a confrontation of views on the Slovak past and present, as there are among the Slovak contributors two generations and two schools of thought," as the editor of the book stressed. The Slovak World Congress published also a German publication: Der Weltkongress der Slowaken - Seine Ziele und sein Program (Koln, 1973) 2 for informing political and cultural circles in Western Europe about the aims and goals of Slovaks abroad in their struggle for freedom and independence of Slovakia. In view of the fact that the fate of the peoples of Central Europe was decided in modern history by the Great Powers, it is by means of informing Western political and cultural circles about the national aspirations of the Slovak people that Slovaks abroad could help their native country to regain freedom and democracy. The above publications are destined to serve this aim, but they are hopefully only the beginning of a series of books by Slovak intellectuals in the democratic countries of the Western hemisphere. At the Third General Meeting of the Slovak World Congress, a survey of Slovaks active in various scientific fields, prepared by this writer, would indicate that at the present time there is a considerable number of scientists whose writings and activities have not yet been absorbed in this struggle for international recognition of political and cultural identity of the Slovak people. When this intellectual force will also be integrated into the activities for recognition of equal political and cultural rights of the Slovak people with other civilized nations, Slovaks abroad will remedy to a great degree the lack of communication between Slovakia and the Western countries, which has been caused by the policy of the regimes imposed on the Slovak people since 1945 by foreign powers. 2) For details see Book reviews.  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 Slovaks Abroad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle for Freedom Description An account of the resource J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 63-66 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 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5c313bfa13cf9069d823447544071007.pdf 71baa88f67621894f9b45c50dc7e2861 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. �178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas �SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or �180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year. � SLOVAKIA 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. �178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas �SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or �180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 177 SLOVAK SOM JA Stephen John Knoblock This is not going to be a composition about our great patrons Saint Cyril and Methodius, nor about the first President the Slovaks had, Dr. Joseph Tiso. I will not write about the founder of the Sisters of Saint Cyril and Methodius, Father Matthew Jankola or of any other great Slovak leader about whom I have only read. Instead I will write about my great-grandparent s who were born in Slovakia and journeyed to this country at the turn of the century. I will tell about their strong love of God, traditions, and the variety of songs which they brought with them, along with stories I have heard from them and my parents. All their traditions today are an integral part of my life. The people of central, southern, and eastern Europe constantly looked toward the United States as a haven free from social injustice, economic serfdom and the threat of national liquidation. The Slovak was no exception. Harassed at home, subject to the insidious pressures of Magyarization, which sought to deprive them of their national character and identity, thousands of Slovak families, including my great-grandparent s, sought refuge in the new world. My great-grandparent s came to the United States on a passenger ship called "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in nineteen hundred, wearing their babuskies and carrying their loved possessions from the old country. Along with goose feathers, perinas, beautifully and artistically embroidered towels and linens, and some fine China pieces, they brought with them most importantly, their strong faith and immense love of God. They settled in little Slovak communities and shared apartments with relatives and friends. Many found work here in Yonkers at the hat factory, Sugar House, or at the Alexander Smith Carpet Mills. It was hard for them in the beginning, but just as any one of the many immigrant groups we can say that they "have made it" in America. They didn't want charity but worked hard and saved their money. They help found our beautiful Church, Most Holy Trinity, and denied themselves many luxuries and pleasures to build a fine school which still stands as a monument to these fine people. 178 SLOVAKIA At that time the Church was the center of their lives. Life revolved around all parish activities. There was no television, airplanes, or mini skirts. Most husbands and wives with their families attended High Mass and Vespers on Sunday afternoon (after their polievka), which was a must. After Vespers many would walk to Glen Park to watch local clubs and teams play soft ball. The Church sponsored many summer outings, Slovak plays and musicals. The Slovak people were a humble close-knit group with an innate reverence, love, and respect for their church and pastors. They were a praying people who always knelt to say morning and evening prayers and the men were not ashamed to be seen praying from their Slovak prayer books and fingering their rosaries. Every Holy Day or well known saint's day was a day for prayer and celebration. Seldom did they miss rosary devotions during the months of May and October or the Stations of the Cross during the season of Lent. Since their lives were so closely related to the church, so too many of their traditions are religious orientated. On the day before Christmas it was considered good luck if a man was the first person to enter a home. The man was expected to Vinsovat' . One major and very loving custom is the traditional Christmas Eve supper. This supper consists of the blessed oblatky, honey, kozare soup (mushroom and sauerkraut), bobal'ky, roshky and kapustnica. This symbolic meal always began and finished with prayers and blessings from the head of the family. The blest oblatky (or Christmas wafers) symbolized the manna that God sent to His people as they sojourned in the desert. Jesus also said that He was the "bread of life." He left us His Body and Blood under the appearances of bread and wine in the Eucharist. The word oblatky derives from the Latin word oblata, which simply means 'offerings'. Blessed bread, associated with Mass and yet distinct from the Eucharist continues to be an important food at our holy meal. We as Slovaks are fortunate in preserving this custom at Christmas, as an aid to worthy reception of Holy Communion as well as a family spiritual communion on this most joyous of feasts. Later that evening they went to Midnight Mass which was always preceeded by the "Koledy" or Slovak Christmas SLOVAKIA 179 carols. Even today we sing these simple melodic hymns which tell of the events that occured at Bethlehem.Co To Za Krdsne Diet'atko?, Dnesny Den sa Radujme, Narodil Sa Spasitel', Prisli Sme Ku Tebe, are only but a few. My favorite is Novinu Radostnu, a glorious and moving piece written by the late Vendel Galik, organist and choir director of our parish for forty years. Now I am a member of the Most Holy Trinity Choir and am becoming familiar with these simple, yet beautiful hymns. After the solemn, quiet, prayerful season of Post (Lent) came the joyous and happy time of the church year Vel'ka Noc (Easter). When our forefathers sang Aleluja, Radujme Sa, Pan Jezis Kristus Vstal Z Mftvych, they truly were happy and joyfully secure in their faith. Palm Sunday began the holy week with processions of the blessing of the palm branches. Every Slovak, young and old, wore a cross of palms on his lapel, and reverently displayed them at home. Very few missed Mass on Holy Thursday. The procession of priests, altar boys and children venerating the Blessed Sacrament was and is a spiritual experience. It was the custom to visit as many different churches as possible and offer prayers at their altars. Good Friday then was taken a little more seriously. It was a day of prayers and silence. A day to make a visit to Church and say the Way of the Cross. It was a busy day in the kitchen with paskas, nut and poppyseed cakes to be baked and the syrek to be cooked. Dedo usually got the job of grating of horseradish for the making of chren. It was always done outdoors because the aroma was so pungent it actually brought him to tears. On Holy Saturday we always bring our food to church to be blessed by the priest. The food is carried in a basket covered by a specially embroidered cloth or doily. The basket contains baked ham, klobasy, some lamb, decorated hard boiled eggs, chren, butter, paska and my favorite, syrek. The church, filled with hundreds of baskets of food, smelled so good, I could hardly wait for our Easter break~ fast. My great-grandfa ther, so my Mother .tells me, always circled the house with the basket to bring us blessings all year. Now, my Father and I still follow this ritual. I'm not alwas sure why we do all the things we do or 180 SLOVAKIA follow our special customs, but I know without them life would be dull and we wouldn't have much to look forward to. Take any large or small group of Slovak people at a wed.ding, social outing, banquet, family get-to-gether or a bus ride and they invariably start to sing. The man will start with Ja Parobok z Kapusian, and then you'll always hear Pod Tym Nasim Okieneckom, Ked' Komara zenili and the ladies all love Tancuj, Tancuj. Have you ever noticed how the proud Slovak people stand straighter, sing with more gusto and feeling and renewed faith when Hej, Slovaci is played? I always do and I too feel proud and happy to be of Slovak descent. On the)Whole we, too, are happy, singing musical family, and I recall the first few lines of a song, Slovak Som Ja, Slovak Budem and this is the theme of my paper. "Slovak I am and Slovak I will be" and very proud and happy too, if someday I can accomplish as much as my ancestors, and be so well remembered. True, my great-grandparents biographies will never be published, televised or reiterated by great speakers, but the Slovak traditions, customs, and ideals will remain a part of my life. The greatest heritage bequeathed to me is my Catholic Faith ... (First place - High School) No people or nation can blossom culturally, socially, financially and politically without its own state or country. This is true for little or big nations. This is true for America and for Slovakia. THE OLD KR.AEOVIANSKY TUNNEL serves as a warehouse for 50,000 kilograms of the famed bryndza cheese beginning with May each year.  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 Slovák som ja Description An account of the resource Stephen John Knoblock Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 177-180 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Knoblock, Stephen John Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/05830a9f7b1891136ed86a28d6d1e32e.pdf b647e20e2ea1ed7c42b8774a34b61939 PDF Text Text 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones 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 was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius �SLOVAKIA 55 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 at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was 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 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); 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 �SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic 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, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was 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. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 17, 1971, p. 11, by Dr. Joseph Pauco. � 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones 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 was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius �SLOVAKIA 55 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 at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was 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 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); 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 �SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic 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, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was 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. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document 54 SLOVAKIA DR. PETER P. HLETKO American Slovaks Lost a Great Man With the passing of Dr. Peter P. Hletko on November 4, 1973 in the City of Chicago, the American Slovaks and all freedom loving Slovaks in the world lost one of their most illustrious sons. Exceptionally talented and devoted, he contributed his efforts in helping his beloved Slovak people here and behind the Iron Curtain. Deserving tribute was paid to him by the hierarchy, clergy, civic and business leaders, the Slovak World Congress, the Slovak League of America, the Slovak Catholic Federation of America and all the Slovak fraternal societies that he served so well in various capacities. OUTSTANDING CAREER In the course of the history of a people or a nation come individual man, who by the force of their personalities and their endeavors shape and determine the form and direction of the church, their people and their country. These men who are dreamers and who are doers . But the great ones are those who are both-dreamers and doers. They are the ones 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 was such a man! Peter Paul Hletko, M. D., physician-surgeon, was born June 26, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Martin and Catherine Hargas Hletko. His home was in Warrenville, Illinois and his office was at 2740 W. 55th Street, Chicago. In 1938 he married Anne E. Remijas. EDUCATION Hletko received his elementary education at St. Michael's School (1908-1915), Chicago. He attended St. Procopius SLOVAKIA 55 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 at Loyola University Medical School from 1931 to 1935. He served as medical examiner of many insurance companies. From 1934 to 1939 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner for the National Slovak Society. From 1927 to 1964 he served as Supreme Medical Examiner of the Slovak Catholic Sokol and was Honorary Medical Examiner for the Society. Dr. Hletko was 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 1962-64); Honorary President and Member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America (1938-1973); 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 SLOVAKIA 56 Committee of the Slovak Catholic Sokol; organizer and first President of "Club Furdek"-(a Catholic Cultural Society, Chicago, 1929); and President of the Gage Park Savings and Loan Association, Chicago. AUTHOR-JOURN ALIST Dr. Hletko had a vast collection of manuscripts, documentary materials, books, complete volumes of publications, newspapers, and annuals. He made a contribution of his materials to the Jednota Museum in Middletown, Pa. To many of the publications he was a contributor, a columnist, editor, or author. The following is a list of Dr. Hletko's literary efforts: Author: The Slovaks and the Pittsburgh Pact (1934); wrote Iskry-a reprint of satirocomic 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, 19271963); editor of Jara (Spring), English supplement to Jednota, official publication of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1927-1936; editor of Chicagsky Dennik (Chicago Daily News, 1926-1927); served as the Chairman of the Literary Committee of the National Slovak Society, and was 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. Joseph C. Kr a j s a REFERENCES Slovakia 1965-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. Slovakia 1972-Published by the Slovak League of America, Middletown, Pennsylvania. "Slovaci a ich zivot," Jednota, March 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: American Slovaks Lost a Great Man Description An account of the resource Joseph C. Krajsa Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 54-56 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 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/3bd6b8d67e6244e70a9cfdeafefe3d2f.pdf 3159be9185a023845d86ca8c2474ffcf PDF Text Text 120 SLOVAKIA Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Steven I. M i l l e r , Ph.D. The basic purpose of survey research ( or broadly speaking, empirical research) is to find relationships be tween variables. 1 If a relationship, or association, can be established, than it becomes possible to predict one variable from another. Thus, if we know that the variable IQ and achievement test scores are related to one another, it then becomes possible (within limits) to predict one from the other. That is, if we know a person's IQ score, we can say with some degree of certainty what his score may be on the particular achievement test. 2 The idea of accurate prediction is one of the most important assumptions underlying the scientific method in general, and its specific applications to the field of social science. In addition to prediction, however, the idea of a relationship between two variables gives us other important information. For one, it tells us that two things that we probably did not think were associated in any meaningful way turn out to be so. We might find out, for instance, that there is a relationship between the arrival of various Slovak immigrants and their political behavior; or that compared to Polish immigrants, Slovak immigrants have voted more consistently for a particular political party.3 The idea of looking for a relationships also has consequences in terms of constructing a coherent body of propositions that can give us a clear and comprehensive picture of a field of study, i.e., Slovak immigrant behavior. In a similar view, if it is possible to establish valid empirical generalization about a specific group, then it may be possible to extend these findings to other groups. In this way, it is possible to extend the theoretical base for a field of inquiry. 4 �SLOVAKIA 121 THE LOGIC OF PROCEDURE In the search for relationship in the social world, there is a definite procedure that can be utilized. There are certain logical steps that help us proceed with the investigation in such a way so as to determine the meaning of our problem. 5 The first step, then, would be to identify a problem that is of interest to us. The area of investigation should be one that is in need of clarification. Let us choose for our problem the following: Do all Slovaks concern themselves in similar ways with the political and religious problems of Slovakia? Why choose this particular issue? That would entirely depend on what we were concerned with? There are, of course, hundreds of different issues that we could turn our direction to. But let us assume that the present one is important to us because we suspect (for whatever reason) that interest in political and religious affairs in Slovakia is decreasing; it could also be the opposite: interest is increasing. Perhaps, however, we believe the first assertion is correct. Furthermore, we have some previous information from which to draw on which indicates that immigrants who have lived in their adopted country for a period of time will become socialized into the norms of that society, and will increasingly become interested in the concerns of their adopted country rather than their native one. If we had a larger context in which to place our specific problem, then, in a very broad sense, we have some type of theory. Having a "theory" of behavior enables us to focus our attention more clearly on the specific problem, as well as presenting possibilities of generalizing from our findings .6 Once we have the problem in focus, the next step is to place it in more precise and formal language. This is called an hypothesis. An hypothesis is "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more variables." 7 We can state the problem in the following way: there is a relationship between length of residence in the adopted country and interest in political (religious) affairs of the �122 SLOVAKIA native country. This is, of course, a very broad hypothesis, but it sets the boundaries of our investigation. It tells us, minimally, that we are interested in determining a relationship between two things: length of residence and political interest. There are many other aspects that are left open to investigation. We will examine these a little later. LOOKING FOR A RELATIONSHIP The first step is to determine whether our two variables are related. We want to know, in other words, if the independent variable length of residence is affecting the dependent variable, political interest. Residence is our independent variable because we can see that a person's length of residence may influence his political beliefs, but a person's political beliefs would not normally "cause" his length of residence. 8 To see if the variables are associated, it is necessary to show that the independent variable can be divided into at least two mutually exhaustive and inclusive categories.9 For instance, we could divide our independent variable into the categories of "old residents" and "new residents," or into more precise categories of years-perhaps every ten years. For our purposes, let us say "old residents" will be those coming to the United States from 1939 to 1950, while "new" residents will be those coming from 1950 to 1970. Let us further assume that we are dealing only with those individuals who were at least fifteen years or older when they emigrated, and who were therefore at last somewhat politically aware. To continue, let us also say that we have gotten a representative sample of Slovaks, and that through the use of a questionaire information has been received on a range of topics. In terms of political interest, we could ask, for example, whether or not they have a strong, personal interest in the political affairs of Slovakia. The responses could be measured by constructing a scale that would be a valid and reliable measure of this particular attitude. 10 Let us represent our hypothetical findings by the following table: �123 SLOVAKIA TABLE 1 Interest in Slovak Political Affairs by Length of Residence in United States (Hypothetical Data) PERCENTAGE STRONGLY INTERESTED IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS "Old" Residents 35% (1000) "New" Residents 75% (1000) Residence The table shows us that our two variables are related.11 There is a 40 percentage point difference indicating that the newer residents are more interested in Slovak political affairs than the older residents. Now if we found this type of relationship in our data, we would report the relationship and leave it at that. This would give us some information, but it would be a very restricted sort of information. One logical question we might want to ask is "why is there such a relationship?" Once we ask the "why," we are in the realm of explanatory research.12 That is, we are now interested in extending our original findings. But how can we explain the original relationship? There are many possibilities. We may argue, for example, that our original independent and dependent variables were not clearly defined, and therefore, our findings is incorrect; or that our sampling was not done correctly. These, of course, could be legitimate criticisms. But let us assume that we have satifactorily overcome these problems. We must now attempt to find another reason why the original relationship is there. To do this requires thinking of some other factors that may be of importance. One may be age. We could argue that the "older" residents are chronologically older than the "younger" residents and that the difference in political interest is simply one of the effects of age. It would, of course, be helpful to have some type of theory or data which suggests a relationship between age and political interest. When we think another factor is responsible for our original relationship, and we wish to see if it is having any effect on the original relationship, then we say we are "controlling for," or "holding constant" this factor. 13 Or �124 SLOVAKIA put somewhat differently, we are saying "were it not for age, the original relationsb,ip would disappear or be substantially reduced." That is, we think that age is the reason why there is a relationship between residence and political interest. What we want to do, then, is to make people "alike" on age and see what happens. How shall we divide people in our sample by age? A very rough measure would be to look at people over sixty and under sixty years of age. This is represented in the following Table. TABLE 2 The Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Age (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITICAL INTEREST Old -60 10 (300) New 40 (600) Age 10 (700) Residence 40 (400) The table shows that even when we control for age, the original relationship is maintained: new residents are still more likely to have strong political interests regardless of age. How it is possible that when we controlled for age the original relationship could have "disappeared." 14 If this had happened, we would have concluded that age was the reason for the association, and that our original finding had been "spurious." 15 Since age is not the factor we are looking for, other variables must be considered. For example, one possibility would be a person's sex. That is, the reason why we observed the original relationship was because there were differences among men and women in terms of political interest. There may, of course, be many other potential explanatory variables-educational level, rural-urban residence, level of intelligence, socioeconomic status to mention just a few. No matter what variable(s) we decide to use as test factors, there should be some (often tbere is not) a priori reason for selecting them. 16 Tn return to our example, let us say we chose educational level as our test factor. OUr guess is that a person's �125 SLOVAKIA educational level is related to political interest regardless of whether or not he has resided in the United States a particular period of time. Table three illustrates this. TABLE 3 Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Education (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITlCAL INTEREST Less than H.S. Educational Level High School College Old 20 (400) 30 (300) 50 (100) New 20 (200) 30 (500) 40 (500) Residence Table three shows that when educational level is introduced as a test factor, our original relationship between residence and political activity disappears. What we are saying is that while there were more college-educated Slovaks that had a high degree of political interest, it did not matter, at any educational level whether or not the Slovaks were new or old residents. Our educational breakdowns, are of course, rather crude, and it is seldom the case that a table would appear as it does above. In addition, there would be some other problems that would require additional attention. We would want to know, for the new residents as well as the old, at what point in time the highest educational level was being measured. Thus, it would be possible to have certain members of the new residents who had not completed their formal education at the time of the study. It is also possible, for our old residents, to have a significant number fifteen years old in 1940. It would, however, be possible to ask for the highest educational level attained. Thus, one could still determine the amount of education received by the old residents after 1940. If, on the other hand, there was a large group of fifteen-year-olds who arrived in 1968, and assuming the study was done around that time, it would be possible through other means, to estimate their highest educational level of attainment. �126 SLOVAKIA EXTENDING RELATIONSHIPS: INTERVENING ANTECEDENT AND EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES A point worth noting is that if we were interested in understanding the behavior of Slovaks, and if the empirical method were chosen to do this, then the type of information received is only one segment of a larger causal chain. What we attempt to do is to examine only one part of a large and very complex pattern of behavior, and possibly relate the findings to other patterns so as to form a complete picture. Again we are asking, "why is this variable influencing that variable?" Even when we find that two variables are related, we are still faced with several problems of interpretation. For instance, in our previous example, it was found that when educational level was controlled, the original relationship disappeared. Well, what does it mean to say that the original relationship "disappears?" There are several possibilities here. One is the search for intervening variables. 17 This means that the original relationship is "caused" by the intervention of a third variable. This third variable, however, is related to the independent and dependent variables in a special way. It logically comes between the independent and dependent variables, and when controlled for, makes the original relationship disappear. For example, we might discover that Slovak-Americans and Polish-Americans differ in the amount of "ethnic consciousness" they display. 13 Let us assume that Slovak-Americans demonstrate higher levels of ethnic consciousness. We now have an original relationship between the independent variable "ethnicity" and the dependent variable "ethnic consciousness." We are again faced with the problem of trying to explain the relationship. One way would be to search for an intervening variable. The intervening variable is in effect another independent variable. The intervening variable must also logically come after the original independent variable. For our example, such a variable could be education. We could argue that ethnicity precedes education, and that education has an effect on level of consciousness. The relationship would look like the following: Ethnicity ♦ (Independent) Education ♦ (Intervening) Consciousness (Dependent) �127 SLOVAKIA We are saying here that a person's ethnic background is related to his level of education and his level of education is responsible for his degree of ethnic consciousness. Let us look at some other possiblities. One principal objective of survey research is to trace out a "causal chain." This means that in addition to looking for intervening variables, we are also finding a causal link in which a variable precedes the original independent variable, is related to it, and in which the original independent variable is then related to the dependent variable. In order to construct this chain of events, Rosenberg lists three conditions that must be set. 19 1. All three variables must be related. 2. When the antecedent variable is controlled, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables should not disappear. 3. When the independent variable is controlled, the relationship between the antecedent and dependent variables should disappear. As an illustration, let us suppose that we find a relationship between liberal and conservative Slovak-Americans and degree of alienation. Specifically, we find that conservative Slovak-Americans are more alienated. In this case, however, we are interested in looking for an antecedent variable; one that comes before political orientation and is related to it. We might postulate that such a variable could be religion. Thus, we are saying that a person's religion influences his political orientation and his political orientation influence his degree of alienation. Schematically it would be as follows: Religion • (Antecedent) Political Orientation (Independent) • Alienation (Dependent ) In order to be considered a true antecedent relationship, it would have to meet all three of Rosenberg's conditions. We would first control on religion. If the relationship is maintained between political orientation and alienation, then we are on the right track. We would next want to control on political orientation. If the relationship between religion and alienation disappears, we have found the correct antecedent variable. Let us consider one additional relationship before �SLOVAKIA 128 closing the discussion. This is called looking the extraneous variables. The logic here is this: we find a relationship between two variables, introduce a test factor, and the original relationship disappears. Let us assume further that the test factor precedes the independent factor, and therefore, is not an intervening one. If the relationship disappears, we then conclude that it was "spurious"-that another variable ( the test factor) was producing the original results. For instance, in our original example, we found that Slovaks who were "newer" residents had a higher level of political interest than "older" residents. We concluded that the reason was education. Education, in this instance, could be considered an extraneous variable. That is, there is no inherent link between the original independent and dependent variables. Rather, both are related separately to the extraneous variable education.20 The relationship would be as follows: ♦ Residence (Independent) ♦ Political Interest (Dependent) Education (Extraneous) Here we are saying that the reason why residence was associated with political interest was because education was separately related to residence and to political interest. The newer residents had more education than the older ones, and people who have lower levels of education may be less politically motivated. SUMMARY If Slovaks, whether native-born or American, are interested in maintaining their ethnic heritage, then new research efforts must be undertaken. These research efforts should at least in part use the logic and methodology of the social sciences. Although this is only one of many approaches to the understanding of social phenomena, it is an important one because it enables us to probe deeply into the motivations underlying human behavior. The above has been an elementary attempt to show some of the thinking, or logic of procedure, behind that part of empirical inquiry called survey analysis. While the procedure has many and complex facets to it, in its most �SLOVAKIA 129 general form it attempts to establish relationships between variables and then elaborates on those relationships . REFERENC ES 1) Stephen Cole, The Sociological Method (Chicago: Markham, 1972), Ch. 4. 2) Harry L. Miller and Roger R. Woock, Social Foundations of Urban Education (Hindale, Ill.: The Dryden Press, 1970), pp. 401-412. 3) See, for example, Djuro J. Vrga, "Different Associational Involvement of Successive Ethnic Immigrants: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants," Social Forces, 50 (December, 1971), pp. 239-249. 4) See, generally, Richard S. Rudner, Philosophy of Social Science (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), Ch. 1 and 2. 5) One of the best volumes in this connection is Morris Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis (New York: Basic Books, 1968). I will draw heavily from Rosenberg in the remaining discussion. 6) For theory building in the social sciences, see Robert Dubin, Theory Building (New York: The Free Press, 1969) , Ch. 1 and 2. 7) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 20. 8) Cole, The Sociological Method, Ch. 2. 9) James A. Davis, Elementary Survey Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971), pp. 9-10. 10) See Max D. Engelhart, Methods of Educational Research (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1972), Ch. 7. 11) Here we are only interested in establishing a percentage point difference. We are not analyzing all the cells (4) of the table, nor are we discussing "significant" differences. There are appropriate methods for this that go beyond this discussion. 12) Cole, The Sociological Method, pp. 101-106. 13) Travis Hirschi and Hanan C. Selven, Delinquency Research: An Appraisal of Analytical Methods (New York: The Free Press, 1967) , pp. 37-51; and Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, Ch. 2 and 3. 14) "Disappear" in this context usually means that an original relationship is substantially reduced when the test factor is introduced. 15) Cole and Rosenberg give this term a slightly different meaning. We are using it in Rosenberg's sense of a relationship existing because it is an effect of a common cause, pp. 23-82. 16) Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 37-39. 17) Ibid., pp. 54-82. 18 ) We will assume there is some way of measuring "ethnic consciousness." 19) Rosenberg, Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 68-69. 20) Ibid., pp. 27-4-0. � 120 SLOVAKIA Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Steven I. M i l l e r , Ph.D. The basic purpose of survey research ( or broadly speaking, empirical research) is to find relationships be tween variables. 1 If a relationship, or association, can be established, than it becomes possible to predict one variable from another. Thus, if we know that the variable IQ and achievement test scores are related to one another, it then becomes possible (within limits) to predict one from the other. That is, if we know a person's IQ score, we can say with some degree of certainty what his score may be on the particular achievement test. 2 The idea of accurate prediction is one of the most important assumptions underlying the scientific method in general, and its specific applications to the field of social science. In addition to prediction, however, the idea of a relationship between two variables gives us other important information. For one, it tells us that two things that we probably did not think were associated in any meaningful way turn out to be so. We might find out, for instance, that there is a relationship between the arrival of various Slovak immigrants and their political behavior; or that compared to Polish immigrants, Slovak immigrants have voted more consistently for a particular political party.3 The idea of looking for a relationships also has consequences in terms of constructing a coherent body of propositions that can give us a clear and comprehensive picture of a field of study, i.e., Slovak immigrant behavior. In a similar view, if it is possible to establish valid empirical generalization about a specific group, then it may be possible to extend these findings to other groups. In this way, it is possible to extend the theoretical base for a field of inquiry. 4 �SLOVAKIA 121 THE LOGIC OF PROCEDURE In the search for relationship in the social world, there is a definite procedure that can be utilized. There are certain logical steps that help us proceed with the investigation in such a way so as to determine the meaning of our problem. 5 The first step, then, would be to identify a problem that is of interest to us. The area of investigation should be one that is in need of clarification. Let us choose for our problem the following: Do all Slovaks concern themselves in similar ways with the political and religious problems of Slovakia? Why choose this particular issue? That would entirely depend on what we were concerned with? There are, of course, hundreds of different issues that we could turn our direction to. But let us assume that the present one is important to us because we suspect (for whatever reason) that interest in political and religious affairs in Slovakia is decreasing; it could also be the opposite: interest is increasing. Perhaps, however, we believe the first assertion is correct. Furthermore, we have some previous information from which to draw on which indicates that immigrants who have lived in their adopted country for a period of time will become socialized into the norms of that society, and will increasingly become interested in the concerns of their adopted country rather than their native one. If we had a larger context in which to place our specific problem, then, in a very broad sense, we have some type of theory. Having a "theory" of behavior enables us to focus our attention more clearly on the specific problem, as well as presenting possibilities of generalizing from our findings .6 Once we have the problem in focus, the next step is to place it in more precise and formal language. This is called an hypothesis. An hypothesis is "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more variables." 7 We can state the problem in the following way: there is a relationship between length of residence in the adopted country and interest in political (religious) affairs of the �122 SLOVAKIA native country. This is, of course, a very broad hypothesis, but it sets the boundaries of our investigation. It tells us, minimally, that we are interested in determining a relationship between two things: length of residence and political interest. There are many other aspects that are left open to investigation. We will examine these a little later. LOOKING FOR A RELATIONSHIP The first step is to determine whether our two variables are related. We want to know, in other words, if the independent variable length of residence is affecting the dependent variable, political interest. Residence is our independent variable because we can see that a person's length of residence may influence his political beliefs, but a person's political beliefs would not normally "cause" his length of residence. 8 To see if the variables are associated, it is necessary to show that the independent variable can be divided into at least two mutually exhaustive and inclusive categories.9 For instance, we could divide our independent variable into the categories of "old residents" and "new residents," or into more precise categories of years-perhaps every ten years. For our purposes, let us say "old residents" will be those coming to the United States from 1939 to 1950, while "new" residents will be those coming from 1950 to 1970. Let us further assume that we are dealing only with those individuals who were at least fifteen years or older when they emigrated, and who were therefore at last somewhat politically aware. To continue, let us also say that we have gotten a representative sample of Slovaks, and that through the use of a questionaire information has been received on a range of topics. In terms of political interest, we could ask, for example, whether or not they have a strong, personal interest in the political affairs of Slovakia. The responses could be measured by constructing a scale that would be a valid and reliable measure of this particular attitude. 10 Let us represent our hypothetical findings by the following table: �123 SLOVAKIA TABLE 1 Interest in Slovak Political Affairs by Length of Residence in United States (Hypothetical Data) PERCENTAGE STRONGLY INTERESTED IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS "Old" Residents 35% (1000) "New" Residents 75% (1000) Residence The table shows us that our two variables are related.11 There is a 40 percentage point difference indicating that the newer residents are more interested in Slovak political affairs than the older residents. Now if we found this type of relationship in our data, we would report the relationship and leave it at that. This would give us some information, but it would be a very restricted sort of information. One logical question we might want to ask is "why is there such a relationship?" Once we ask the "why," we are in the realm of explanatory research.12 That is, we are now interested in extending our original findings. But how can we explain the original relationship? There are many possibilities. We may argue, for example, that our original independent and dependent variables were not clearly defined, and therefore, our findings is incorrect; or that our sampling was not done correctly. These, of course, could be legitimate criticisms. But let us assume that we have satifactorily overcome these problems. We must now attempt to find another reason why the original relationship is there. To do this requires thinking of some other factors that may be of importance. One may be age. We could argue that the "older" residents are chronologically older than the "younger" residents and that the difference in political interest is simply one of the effects of age. It would, of course, be helpful to have some type of theory or data which suggests a relationship between age and political interest. When we think another factor is responsible for our original relationship, and we wish to see if it is having any effect on the original relationship, then we say we are "controlling for," or "holding constant" this factor. 13 Or �124 SLOVAKIA put somewhat differently, we are saying "were it not for age, the original relationsb,ip would disappear or be substantially reduced." That is, we think that age is the reason why there is a relationship between residence and political interest. What we want to do, then, is to make people "alike" on age and see what happens. How shall we divide people in our sample by age? A very rough measure would be to look at people over sixty and under sixty years of age. This is represented in the following Table. TABLE 2 The Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Age (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITICAL INTEREST Old -60 10 (300) New 40 (600) Age 10 (700) Residence 40 (400) The table shows that even when we control for age, the original relationship is maintained: new residents are still more likely to have strong political interests regardless of age. How it is possible that when we controlled for age the original relationship could have "disappeared." 14 If this had happened, we would have concluded that age was the reason for the association, and that our original finding had been "spurious." 15 Since age is not the factor we are looking for, other variables must be considered. For example, one possibility would be a person's sex. That is, the reason why we observed the original relationship was because there were differences among men and women in terms of political interest. There may, of course, be many other potential explanatory variables-educational level, rural-urban residence, level of intelligence, socioeconomic status to mention just a few. No matter what variable(s) we decide to use as test factors, there should be some (often tbere is not) a priori reason for selecting them. 16 Tn return to our example, let us say we chose educational level as our test factor. OUr guess is that a person's �125 SLOVAKIA educational level is related to political interest regardless of whether or not he has resided in the United States a particular period of time. Table three illustrates this. TABLE 3 Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Education (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITlCAL INTEREST Less than H.S. Educational Level High School College Old 20 (400) 30 (300) 50 (100) New 20 (200) 30 (500) 40 (500) Residence Table three shows that when educational level is introduced as a test factor, our original relationship between residence and political activity disappears. What we are saying is that while there were more college-educated Slovaks that had a high degree of political interest, it did not matter, at any educational level whether or not the Slovaks were new or old residents. Our educational breakdowns, are of course, rather crude, and it is seldom the case that a table would appear as it does above. In addition, there would be some other problems that would require additional attention. We would want to know, for the new residents as well as the old, at what point in time the highest educational level was being measured. Thus, it would be possible to have certain members of the new residents who had not completed their formal education at the time of the study. It is also possible, for our old residents, to have a significant number fifteen years old in 1940. It would, however, be possible to ask for the highest educational level attained. Thus, one could still determine the amount of education received by the old residents after 1940. If, on the other hand, there was a large group of fifteen-year-olds who arrived in 1968, and assuming the study was done around that time, it would be possible through other means, to estimate their highest educational level of attainment. �126 SLOVAKIA EXTENDING RELATIONSHIPS: INTERVENING ANTECEDENT AND EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES A point worth noting is that if we were interested in understanding the behavior of Slovaks, and if the empirical method were chosen to do this, then the type of information received is only one segment of a larger causal chain. What we attempt to do is to examine only one part of a large and very complex pattern of behavior, and possibly relate the findings to other patterns so as to form a complete picture. Again we are asking, "why is this variable influencing that variable?" Even when we find that two variables are related, we are still faced with several problems of interpretation. For instance, in our previous example, it was found that when educational level was controlled, the original relationship disappeared. Well, what does it mean to say that the original relationship "disappears?" There are several possibilities here. One is the search for intervening variables. 17 This means that the original relationship is "caused" by the intervention of a third variable. This third variable, however, is related to the independent and dependent variables in a special way. It logically comes between the independent and dependent variables, and when controlled for, makes the original relationship disappear. For example, we might discover that Slovak-Americans and Polish-Americans differ in the amount of "ethnic consciousness" they display. 13 Let us assume that Slovak-Americans demonstrate higher levels of ethnic consciousness. We now have an original relationship between the independent variable "ethnicity" and the dependent variable "ethnic consciousness." We are again faced with the problem of trying to explain the relationship. One way would be to search for an intervening variable. The intervening variable is in effect another independent variable. The intervening variable must also logically come after the original independent variable. For our example, such a variable could be education. We could argue that ethnicity precedes education, and that education has an effect on level of consciousness. The relationship would look like the following: Ethnicity ♦ (Independent) Education ♦ (Intervening) Consciousness (Dependent) �127 SLOVAKIA We are saying here that a person's ethnic background is related to his level of education and his level of education is responsible for his degree of ethnic consciousness. Let us look at some other possiblities. One principal objective of survey research is to trace out a "causal chain." This means that in addition to looking for intervening variables, we are also finding a causal link in which a variable precedes the original independent variable, is related to it, and in which the original independent variable is then related to the dependent variable. In order to construct this chain of events, Rosenberg lists three conditions that must be set. 19 1. All three variables must be related. 2. When the antecedent variable is controlled, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables should not disappear. 3. When the independent variable is controlled, the relationship between the antecedent and dependent variables should disappear. As an illustration, let us suppose that we find a relationship between liberal and conservative Slovak-Americans and degree of alienation. Specifically, we find that conservative Slovak-Americans are more alienated. In this case, however, we are interested in looking for an antecedent variable; one that comes before political orientation and is related to it. We might postulate that such a variable could be religion. Thus, we are saying that a person's religion influences his political orientation and his political orientation influence his degree of alienation. Schematically it would be as follows: Religion • (Antecedent) Political Orientation (Independent) • Alienation (Dependent ) In order to be considered a true antecedent relationship, it would have to meet all three of Rosenberg's conditions. We would first control on religion. If the relationship is maintained between political orientation and alienation, then we are on the right track. We would next want to control on political orientation. If the relationship between religion and alienation disappears, we have found the correct antecedent variable. Let us consider one additional relationship before �SLOVAKIA 128 closing the discussion. This is called looking the extraneous variables. The logic here is this: we find a relationship between two variables, introduce a test factor, and the original relationship disappears. Let us assume further that the test factor precedes the independent factor, and therefore, is not an intervening one. If the relationship disappears, we then conclude that it was "spurious"-that another variable ( the test factor) was producing the original results. For instance, in our original example, we found that Slovaks who were "newer" residents had a higher level of political interest than "older" residents. We concluded that the reason was education. Education, in this instance, could be considered an extraneous variable. That is, there is no inherent link between the original independent and dependent variables. Rather, both are related separately to the extraneous variable education.20 The relationship would be as follows: ♦ Residence (Independent) ♦ Political Interest (Dependent) Education (Extraneous) Here we are saying that the reason why residence was associated with political interest was because education was separately related to residence and to political interest. The newer residents had more education than the older ones, and people who have lower levels of education may be less politically motivated. SUMMARY If Slovaks, whether native-born or American, are interested in maintaining their ethnic heritage, then new research efforts must be undertaken. These research efforts should at least in part use the logic and methodology of the social sciences. Although this is only one of many approaches to the understanding of social phenomena, it is an important one because it enables us to probe deeply into the motivations underlying human behavior. The above has been an elementary attempt to show some of the thinking, or logic of procedure, behind that part of empirical inquiry called survey analysis. While the procedure has many and complex facets to it, in its most �SLOVAKIA 129 general form it attempts to establish relationships between variables and then elaborates on those relationships . REFERENC ES 1) Stephen Cole, The Sociological Method (Chicago: Markham, 1972), Ch. 4. 2) Harry L. Miller and Roger R. Woock, Social Foundations of Urban Education (Hindale, Ill.: The Dryden Press, 1970), pp. 401-412. 3) See, for example, Djuro J. Vrga, "Different Associational Involvement of Successive Ethnic Immigrants: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants," Social Forces, 50 (December, 1971), pp. 239-249. 4) See, generally, Richard S. Rudner, Philosophy of Social Science (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), Ch. 1 and 2. 5) One of the best volumes in this connection is Morris Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis (New York: Basic Books, 1968). I will draw heavily from Rosenberg in the remaining discussion. 6) For theory building in the social sciences, see Robert Dubin, Theory Building (New York: The Free Press, 1969) , Ch. 1 and 2. 7) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 20. 8) Cole, The Sociological Method, Ch. 2. 9) James A. Davis, Elementary Survey Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971), pp. 9-10. 10) See Max D. Engelhart, Methods of Educational Research (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1972), Ch. 7. 11) Here we are only interested in establishing a percentage point difference. We are not analyzing all the cells (4) of the table, nor are we discussing "significant" differences. There are appropriate methods for this that go beyond this discussion. 12) Cole, The Sociological Method, pp. 101-106. 13) Travis Hirschi and Hanan C. Selven, Delinquency Research: An Appraisal of Analytical Methods (New York: The Free Press, 1967) , pp. 37-51; and Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, Ch. 2 and 3. 14) "Disappear" in this context usually means that an original relationship is substantially reduced when the test factor is introduced. 15) Cole and Rosenberg give this term a slightly different meaning. We are using it in Rosenberg's sense of a relationship existing because it is an effect of a common cause, pp. 23-82. 16) Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 37-39. 17) Ibid., pp. 54-82. 18 ) We will assume there is some way of measuring "ethnic consciousness." 19) Rosenberg, Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 68-69. 20) Ibid., pp. 27-4-0. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 120 SLOVAKIA Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Steven I. M i l l e r , Ph.D. The basic purpose of survey research ( or broadly speaking, empirical research) is to find relationships be tween variables. 1 If a relationship, or association, can be established, than it becomes possible to predict one variable from another. Thus, if we know that the variable IQ and achievement test scores are related to one another, it then becomes possible (within limits) to predict one from the other. That is, if we know a person's IQ score, we can say with some degree of certainty what his score may be on the particular achievement test. 2 The idea of accurate prediction is one of the most important assumptions underlying the scientific method in general, and its specific applications to the field of social science. In addition to prediction, however, the idea of a relationship between two variables gives us other important information. For one, it tells us that two things that we probably did not think were associated in any meaningful way turn out to be so. We might find out, for instance, that there is a relationship between the arrival of various Slovak immigrants and their political behavior; or that compared to Polish immigrants, Slovak immigrants have voted more consistently for a particular political party.3 The idea of looking for a relationships also has consequences in terms of constructing a coherent body of propositions that can give us a clear and comprehensive picture of a field of study, i.e., Slovak immigrant behavior. In a similar view, if it is possible to establish valid empirical generalization about a specific group, then it may be possible to extend these findings to other groups. In this way, it is possible to extend the theoretical base for a field of inquiry. 4 SLOVAKIA 121 THE LOGIC OF PROCEDURE In the search for relationship in the social world, there is a definite procedure that can be utilized. There are certain logical steps that help us proceed with the investigation in such a way so as to determine the meaning of our problem. 5 The first step, then, would be to identify a problem that is of interest to us. The area of investigation should be one that is in need of clarification. Let us choose for our problem the following: Do all Slovaks concern themselves in similar ways with the political and religious problems of Slovakia? Why choose this particular issue? That would entirely depend on what we were concerned with? There are, of course, hundreds of different issues that we could turn our direction to. But let us assume that the present one is important to us because we suspect (for whatever reason) that interest in political and religious affairs in Slovakia is decreasing; it could also be the opposite: interest is increasing. Perhaps, however, we believe the first assertion is correct. Furthermore, we have some previous information from which to draw on which indicates that immigrants who have lived in their adopted country for a period of time will become socialized into the norms of that society, and will increasingly become interested in the concerns of their adopted country rather than their native one. If we had a larger context in which to place our specific problem, then, in a very broad sense, we have some type of theory. Having a "theory" of behavior enables us to focus our attention more clearly on the specific problem, as well as presenting possibilities of generalizing from our findings .6 Once we have the problem in focus, the next step is to place it in more precise and formal language. This is called an hypothesis. An hypothesis is "a conjectural statement about the relationship between two or more variables." 7 We can state the problem in the following way: there is a relationship between length of residence in the adopted country and interest in political (religious) affairs of the 122 SLOVAKIA native country. This is, of course, a very broad hypothesis, but it sets the boundaries of our investigation. It tells us, minimally, that we are interested in determining a relationship between two things: length of residence and political interest. There are many other aspects that are left open to investigation. We will examine these a little later. LOOKING FOR A RELATIONSHIP The first step is to determine whether our two variables are related. We want to know, in other words, if the independent variable length of residence is affecting the dependent variable, political interest. Residence is our independent variable because we can see that a person's length of residence may influence his political beliefs, but a person's political beliefs would not normally "cause" his length of residence. 8 To see if the variables are associated, it is necessary to show that the independent variable can be divided into at least two mutually exhaustive and inclusive categories.9 For instance, we could divide our independent variable into the categories of "old residents" and "new residents," or into more precise categories of years-perhaps every ten years. For our purposes, let us say "old residents" will be those coming to the United States from 1939 to 1950, while "new" residents will be those coming from 1950 to 1970. Let us further assume that we are dealing only with those individuals who were at least fifteen years or older when they emigrated, and who were therefore at last somewhat politically aware. To continue, let us also say that we have gotten a representative sample of Slovaks, and that through the use of a questionaire information has been received on a range of topics. In terms of political interest, we could ask, for example, whether or not they have a strong, personal interest in the political affairs of Slovakia. The responses could be measured by constructing a scale that would be a valid and reliable measure of this particular attitude. 10 Let us represent our hypothetical findings by the following table: 123 SLOVAKIA TABLE 1 Interest in Slovak Political Affairs by Length of Residence in United States (Hypothetical Data) PERCENTAGE STRONGLY INTERESTED IN POLITICAL AFFAIRS "Old" Residents 35% (1000) "New" Residents 75% (1000) Residence The table shows us that our two variables are related.11 There is a 40 percentage point difference indicating that the newer residents are more interested in Slovak political affairs than the older residents. Now if we found this type of relationship in our data, we would report the relationship and leave it at that. This would give us some information, but it would be a very restricted sort of information. One logical question we might want to ask is "why is there such a relationship?" Once we ask the "why," we are in the realm of explanatory research.12 That is, we are now interested in extending our original findings. But how can we explain the original relationship? There are many possibilities. We may argue, for example, that our original independent and dependent variables were not clearly defined, and therefore, our findings is incorrect; or that our sampling was not done correctly. These, of course, could be legitimate criticisms. But let us assume that we have satifactorily overcome these problems. We must now attempt to find another reason why the original relationship is there. To do this requires thinking of some other factors that may be of importance. One may be age. We could argue that the "older" residents are chronologically older than the "younger" residents and that the difference in political interest is simply one of the effects of age. It would, of course, be helpful to have some type of theory or data which suggests a relationship between age and political interest. When we think another factor is responsible for our original relationship, and we wish to see if it is having any effect on the original relationship, then we say we are "controlling for," or "holding constant" this factor. 13 Or 124 SLOVAKIA put somewhat differently, we are saying "were it not for age, the original relationsb,ip would disappear or be substantially reduced." That is, we think that age is the reason why there is a relationship between residence and political interest. What we want to do, then, is to make people "alike" on age and see what happens. How shall we divide people in our sample by age? A very rough measure would be to look at people over sixty and under sixty years of age. This is represented in the following Table. TABLE 2 The Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Age (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITICAL INTEREST Old -60 10 (300) New 40 (600) Age 10 (700) Residence 40 (400) The table shows that even when we control for age, the original relationship is maintained: new residents are still more likely to have strong political interests regardless of age. How it is possible that when we controlled for age the original relationship could have "disappeared." 14 If this had happened, we would have concluded that age was the reason for the association, and that our original finding had been "spurious." 15 Since age is not the factor we are looking for, other variables must be considered. For example, one possibility would be a person's sex. That is, the reason why we observed the original relationship was because there were differences among men and women in terms of political interest. There may, of course, be many other potential explanatory variables-educational level, rural-urban residence, level of intelligence, socioeconomic status to mention just a few. No matter what variable(s) we decide to use as test factors, there should be some (often tbere is not) a priori reason for selecting them. 16 Tn return to our example, let us say we chose educational level as our test factor. OUr guess is that a person's 125 SLOVAKIA educational level is related to political interest regardless of whether or not he has resided in the United States a particular period of time. Table three illustrates this. TABLE 3 Relationship of Political Interest and Residence by Education (Hypothetical Data) % STRONG POLITlCAL INTEREST Less than H.S. Educational Level High School College Old 20 (400) 30 (300) 50 (100) New 20 (200) 30 (500) 40 (500) Residence Table three shows that when educational level is introduced as a test factor, our original relationship between residence and political activity disappears. What we are saying is that while there were more college-educated Slovaks that had a high degree of political interest, it did not matter, at any educational level whether or not the Slovaks were new or old residents. Our educational breakdowns, are of course, rather crude, and it is seldom the case that a table would appear as it does above. In addition, there would be some other problems that would require additional attention. We would want to know, for the new residents as well as the old, at what point in time the highest educational level was being measured. Thus, it would be possible to have certain members of the new residents who had not completed their formal education at the time of the study. It is also possible, for our old residents, to have a significant number fifteen years old in 1940. It would, however, be possible to ask for the highest educational level attained. Thus, one could still determine the amount of education received by the old residents after 1940. If, on the other hand, there was a large group of fifteen-year-olds who arrived in 1968, and assuming the study was done around that time, it would be possible through other means, to estimate their highest educational level of attainment. 126 SLOVAKIA EXTENDING RELATIONSHIPS: INTERVENING ANTECEDENT AND EXTRANEOUS VARIABLES A point worth noting is that if we were interested in understanding the behavior of Slovaks, and if the empirical method were chosen to do this, then the type of information received is only one segment of a larger causal chain. What we attempt to do is to examine only one part of a large and very complex pattern of behavior, and possibly relate the findings to other patterns so as to form a complete picture. Again we are asking, "why is this variable influencing that variable?" Even when we find that two variables are related, we are still faced with several problems of interpretation. For instance, in our previous example, it was found that when educational level was controlled, the original relationship disappeared. Well, what does it mean to say that the original relationship "disappears?" There are several possibilities here. One is the search for intervening variables. 17 This means that the original relationship is "caused" by the intervention of a third variable. This third variable, however, is related to the independent and dependent variables in a special way. It logically comes between the independent and dependent variables, and when controlled for, makes the original relationship disappear. For example, we might discover that Slovak-Americans and Polish-Americans differ in the amount of "ethnic consciousness" they display. 13 Let us assume that Slovak-Americans demonstrate higher levels of ethnic consciousness. We now have an original relationship between the independent variable "ethnicity" and the dependent variable "ethnic consciousness." We are again faced with the problem of trying to explain the relationship. One way would be to search for an intervening variable. The intervening variable is in effect another independent variable. The intervening variable must also logically come after the original independent variable. For our example, such a variable could be education. We could argue that ethnicity precedes education, and that education has an effect on level of consciousness. The relationship would look like the following: Ethnicity ♦ (Independent) Education ♦ (Intervening) Consciousness (Dependent) 127 SLOVAKIA We are saying here that a person's ethnic background is related to his level of education and his level of education is responsible for his degree of ethnic consciousness. Let us look at some other possiblities. One principal objective of survey research is to trace out a "causal chain." This means that in addition to looking for intervening variables, we are also finding a causal link in which a variable precedes the original independent variable, is related to it, and in which the original independent variable is then related to the dependent variable. In order to construct this chain of events, Rosenberg lists three conditions that must be set. 19 1. All three variables must be related. 2. When the antecedent variable is controlled, the relationship between the independent and dependent variables should not disappear. 3. When the independent variable is controlled, the relationship between the antecedent and dependent variables should disappear. As an illustration, let us suppose that we find a relationship between liberal and conservative Slovak-Americans and degree of alienation. Specifically, we find that conservative Slovak-Americans are more alienated. In this case, however, we are interested in looking for an antecedent variable; one that comes before political orientation and is related to it. We might postulate that such a variable could be religion. Thus, we are saying that a person's religion influences his political orientation and his political orientation influence his degree of alienation. Schematically it would be as follows: Religion • (Antecedent) Political Orientation (Independent) • Alienation (Dependent ) In order to be considered a true antecedent relationship, it would have to meet all three of Rosenberg's conditions. We would first control on religion. If the relationship is maintained between political orientation and alienation, then we are on the right track. We would next want to control on political orientation. If the relationship between religion and alienation disappears, we have found the correct antecedent variable. Let us consider one additional relationship before SLOVAKIA 128 closing the discussion. This is called looking the extraneous variables. The logic here is this: we find a relationship between two variables, introduce a test factor, and the original relationship disappears. Let us assume further that the test factor precedes the independent factor, and therefore, is not an intervening one. If the relationship disappears, we then conclude that it was "spurious"-that another variable ( the test factor) was producing the original results. For instance, in our original example, we found that Slovaks who were "newer" residents had a higher level of political interest than "older" residents. We concluded that the reason was education. Education, in this instance, could be considered an extraneous variable. That is, there is no inherent link between the original independent and dependent variables. Rather, both are related separately to the extraneous variable education.20 The relationship would be as follows: ♦ Residence (Independent) ♦ Political Interest (Dependent) Education (Extraneous) Here we are saying that the reason why residence was associated with political interest was because education was separately related to residence and to political interest. The newer residents had more education than the older ones, and people who have lower levels of education may be less politically motivated. SUMMARY If Slovaks, whether native-born or American, are interested in maintaining their ethnic heritage, then new research efforts must be undertaken. These research efforts should at least in part use the logic and methodology of the social sciences. Although this is only one of many approaches to the understanding of social phenomena, it is an important one because it enables us to probe deeply into the motivations underlying human behavior. The above has been an elementary attempt to show some of the thinking, or logic of procedure, behind that part of empirical inquiry called survey analysis. While the procedure has many and complex facets to it, in its most SLOVAKIA 129 general form it attempts to establish relationships between variables and then elaborates on those relationships . REFERENC ES 1) Stephen Cole, The Sociological Method (Chicago: Markham, 1972), Ch. 4. 2) Harry L. Miller and Roger R. Woock, Social Foundations of Urban Education (Hindale, Ill.: The Dryden Press, 1970), pp. 401-412. 3) See, for example, Djuro J. Vrga, "Different Associational Involvement of Successive Ethnic Immigrants: An Indicator of Ethno-Religious Factionalism and Alienation of Immigrants," Social Forces, 50 (December, 1971), pp. 239-249. 4) See, generally, Richard S. Rudner, Philosophy of Social Science (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1966), Ch. 1 and 2. 5) One of the best volumes in this connection is Morris Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis (New York: Basic Books, 1968). I will draw heavily from Rosenberg in the remaining discussion. 6) For theory building in the social sciences, see Robert Dubin, Theory Building (New York: The Free Press, 1969) , Ch. 1 and 2. 7) Fred N. Kerlinger, Foundations of Behavioral Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965), p. 20. 8) Cole, The Sociological Method, Ch. 2. 9) James A. Davis, Elementary Survey Analysis (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1971), pp. 9-10. 10) See Max D. Engelhart, Methods of Educational Research (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1972), Ch. 7. 11) Here we are only interested in establishing a percentage point difference. We are not analyzing all the cells (4) of the table, nor are we discussing "significant" differences. There are appropriate methods for this that go beyond this discussion. 12) Cole, The Sociological Method, pp. 101-106. 13) Travis Hirschi and Hanan C. Selven, Delinquency Research: An Appraisal of Analytical Methods (New York: The Free Press, 1967) , pp. 37-51; and Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, Ch. 2 and 3. 14) "Disappear" in this context usually means that an original relationship is substantially reduced when the test factor is introduced. 15) Cole and Rosenberg give this term a slightly different meaning. We are using it in Rosenberg's sense of a relationship existing because it is an effect of a common cause, pp. 23-82. 16) Rosenberg, The Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 37-39. 17) Ibid., pp. 54-82. 18 ) We will assume there is some way of measuring "ethnic consciousness." 19) Rosenberg, Logic of Survey Analysis, pp. 68-69. 20) Ibid., pp. 27-4-0.  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 Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Description An account of the resource Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 120-129 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 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/515b0e4ac86bbf6f0063a375becb5f25.pdf 9f300ab3cdcf65f756d206de1ede1137 PDF Text Text 162 SLOVAKIA WINNING ESSAYS Slovak League of America Scholarship Program I. SLOVAK BACKGROUND OF EVENTS THROUGH THE SOVIET TAKEOVER IN 1968 By Jane N o o n a n Prior to World War I and the formation of the CzechoSlovak State, the Czech lands and Slovakia were contiguous but separate and geographically situated in the heart of central Europe, at the crossroads of the continent, between the Carpathian Mountains on the north and the Danube and Tisza Rivers on the south. Its inhabitants are known as Slovaks and Czechs and with the Poles of Poland belong to the group of Western Slavs. Since early in the Middle Ages, these and other Slavic peoples have been involved in the great European struggles. During World War I, the spirit of nationalism was greatly stimulated within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This spirit was reflected by increasing demands for outright independence for the different nations within that empire. In the course of that war, Czech political leaders established a secret committee which directed the activities of the Czech nationalists at home and abroad. Thomas G. Masaryk, as the leader of this movement, toured Europe and the United States where he received encouragement and support. Meanwhile, a movement arose among the large number of Americans of Slovak descent promoting Slovakia's separation from Hungary. Three different solutions of the Slovak problem were imagined-Slovakia as a new state, as a partner of a Czecho-Slovak Federation, and as a territory forming a political union with the prospective Polish Republic. �SLOVAKIA 163 The Slovak League of America entered into contact with the Americans of Czech descent and in 1915 signed with their organization the Cleveland Agreement, and in 1918 the Pittsburgh Pact, both of which aimed at the creation of a Czecho-Slovak federal state. In these documents, the Slovak organization stipulated that Slovakia should be an equal member with the Czech lands and have complete legislative, executive, judicial, and cultural independence in strictly national matters, while matters of common interest, such as foreign affairs and defense, should be within the competence of a common parliament. History shows that Masaryk did not live up to the commitments of the Pittsburgh Pact even though he was one of its signers. Redistributio n of land was an urgent problem facing the new government and a Land Reform Act, therefore, was one of the first measures passed by the Czecho-Slovak Parliament. This act entitled the state to take over, after compensation , all land from the great estates in excess of a fixed maximum, and to permit land purchases by those who needed it most. Thus, the agrarian reform program greatly improved the material conditions of the rural population and averted disturbances. The cultural level of the Slovaks and Czechs was high and their passion for education prompted the new republic t o establish additional free schools and by improving existing schools. The Czecho-Slovak State also forged ahead in the field of social improvement . All groups and interests possessed the right of organization and thus organized labor had its trade unions, farmers their societies, and white-collar workers and businessmen their associations. Health and other types of social insurance were either provided for or encouraged by the State and provision was made for State assistance to housing and co-ops. As to the religious situation, 80 % of the population was Roman Catholic, but the Protestant element played a role far beyond its numerical strength. Many prominent political leaders, Thomas G. Masaryk among them, belonged to the Protestant faith . Economically and financially, Czecho-Slovakia was a sound state in central Europe. As an exporting country it was severly hit by the world economic depression of the �164 SLOVAKIA early thirties, but, by timely adjustments to new price and exchange levels, it was one of the first European countries to weather the crisis. Before Hitler came to power in 1933, Czecho-Slovakia was an enthusiastic supporter of the League of Nations and collaborated whole-heartedly in the negotiations which brought Germany and the Soviet Union into the League. However, when Hitler came to power, Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations entered into a critical phase. Desperately anxious to avert a new war, France and Great Britain proposed in 1938 to Czecho-Slovakia that she not oppose the leaders of the Sudeten German movement, and further cede to Germany all areas with a German majority. When Czecho-Slovakia demurred, she was informed that she must accept the proposal or bear the consequences alone. The result was that Czecho-Slovakia gave in and the country was divided on the lines dictated by Hitler. After Munich'~' , Czecho-Slovakia tried to adjust itself to the new situation. President Benes resigned and left the country - and the transition to Hitler's New Order was swift. The administration was purged, the press put under rigorous control and anti-democratic measures were enacted. According to the Nuremberg documents, Hitler at that time had already decided to destroy Czecho-Slovakia. But there was apparently no definite decision on Slovakia as to whether to place it under German occupation or to have it occupied by Hungary. On March 14, 1939, the government of Dr. Jozef Tiso of Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia as an independent republic. Dr. Tiso was a Monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church and Vice-President of the People's Party of Slovakia. The Slovak people considered the act was the result of the Prague regime's violations of agreements that had been signed between Prague ( the Czech capital) and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) and which agreements had been incorporated in their Constitution. Public demonstrations spread throughout Slovakia. Hitler then suggested, in order to prevent Hungary possibly taking over Slovakia, that there be a declaration of Slovakia's independence. Even though the Slovak State was largely the result of a tense international situation, it nevertheless corresponded to the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom �SLOVAKIA 165 and the principle of self-determination and self-government. The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It, however, reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the selfpreservation instinct of the Slovak nation. In 1941, the Slovak Government found it necessary, because of circumstances, to join Germany in the war against the Soviet Union. However, the Slovak forces, during the Second World War, did not engage in combat against any of the Western Powers. In 1944, an uprising, improvised by Russian Communists as well as Slovak communists, took place and of course the Germans intervened. It took the Nazis exactly two months to crush this rebellion and in the meantime the Red Army laying the ground work for its invasion, held up for more than three months on the Carpathian Mountains, watching this national tragedy quietly. Around 30,000 Slovaks of all political shades were killed in this uprising. Once the uprising had been liquidated, the Soviet Army began to advance and finally occupied Slovakia's territory by mid-April, 1945. Meanwhile, Dr. Benes and most of the Cabinet flew to Moscow where the new Czecho-Slovak Government was to be formed. Dr. Benes and his political entourage believed, or at least hoped, that collaboration between democracy and communism was possible and that co-existence could be achieved without the loss of freedom. They fostered the illusion that the Czech and Slovak Communists were different from other Reds and that their methods would turn out to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Thus, the Communist seizure of power in 1948 may be traced back to the 1945 Moscow meeting, and so it was that in April of 1945, Benes proclaimed the so-called 'Kosice Program' for the new Government of re-established CzechoSlovakia. The 'Kosice Program' was in effect a death sentence for the past. In July, 1947, an important event illustrated the new course of Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations when the Czecho-Slovak Government had unanimously accepted the invitation to a conference of the Marshall Plan, which was �166 SLOVAKIA to be held in Paris. But Moscow reacted vehemently, asserting that Czecho-Slovakia, by accepting the Marshall Plan, would be participating in a political scheme directed against the Soviet Union and demanded that the Government reverse its decision. The Government complied. This was just the beginning of open interference by the Soviets in Czecho-Slovakia's foreign affairs. Then, with the Communist undermining the February, 1948 elections in Czecho-Slovakia, and Benes because of the Communistic pressure accepting the resignations of the 12 Democratic Minister, the Iron Curtain descended on the Czecho-Slovak frontier. Since 1948, Czechs and Slovaks had no independent foreign policy of their own, while internally both the Slovaks and Czechs have been forced to accept systematically 'introduced Soviet institutions which were designed to submerge their national and ethnic consciousness. Furthermore, the Russians have recklessly fostered heavy industry in Slovakia to serve Soviet military and economic needs, while wishes and well-being of the local people go almost totally unheeded. Hence, the Russians enjoy scant confidence and support from the bulk of the Slovak people who look upon them not as "socialist brothers" but instead as tyrans. The government of Czecho-Slovakia is communist, although people qualified to estimate have guessed that no more than 12 to 15 % are Party members or are unqualified supporters of communism. Thus, the peoples of Czecho-Slovakia were pitifully robbed of their economic, spiritual, and intellectual will under the terror of Stalin. This continued for approximately two decades. By the latter part of 1967, Party Chief Novotny of Czecho-Slovakia found himself enmeshed in a political crisis of major proportions; he had alienated the country's educated factions, the economy was in a mess and no one trusted or approved of his efforts to improve the situation, and finally, the Slovaks, led by Alexander Dubcek were daily gaining power towards the goal of getting more of their own people in high government office. Eventually, on February 18, 1968, Novotny lost his job as Party Chief to Alexander Dubcek. The inevitable pressure of circumstances caused Dubcek, a proud Slovak, to transform Czecho-Slovakia into the most liberal state east of the Iron Curtain. �SLOVAKIA 167 Literary and press censorship was abolished, many victims of the Stalinist terror trials were publicly rehabilitated, freedom of minority opinion was guaranteed, travel and trade restrictions with the West were eased, the first strike of Czecho-Slovakia workers under communism was allowed, the police were required to wear numbered badges for identification, the church was partially freed of restraints, and finally the National Assembly was allowed to develop real legislative powers. Mr. Dubcek wanted the government to reflect the will of the people and to respect their traditions. On April 15, 1968, Dubcek unveiled his plans for the future as he published his "Action Program" in which he outlined his plans for even more freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and even larger increase of trade with the rest of Europe, especially with West Germany. Hence, in early 1968, Alexander Dubcek, who began as a leader of the aggrieved Slovaks, ended up as a national symbol for the entire nation. This event, however, created a situation that was both unique and dangerous to continued Russian domination of Eastern Europe. The reforms contemplated for Czecho-Slovakia went far beyond anything attempted before in the Soviet Bloc. Furthermore, there was a clearly pronounced anti-Soviet character to the popular responses to the planned liberalization reforms. Dubcek, although an ardent socialist, attempted to apply the principle that practicing socialism must respect the traditions of the country. All of the foregoing consequently alarmed the Russians, who publicly sought, at every opportunity available, to confer with Dubcek and privately to undermine his support and popularity in every way possible. And so on the night of August 21, 1968,' great hordes of Russian-led tanks and troops crossed into Czecho-Slovakia from neighboring Iron Curtain countries to end the most valiant and extensive attempt to liberalize a communist dominated land. This protest movement, although initiated to a large degree by Slovaks and led by a Slovak Dubcek, had nevertheless succeeded in rallying all segments of the country to seek a freer, more democratic way of life. The Soviets dared not let the noble experiment last, and therefore, in contradiction to all moral and international treaty �168 SLOVAKIA law, they intimidated the Slovaks and Czechs into partial submission by massed military might. Dubcek pleaded with his fellow countrymen that the only way to keep the nation from being literally destroyed by the Russians was to maintain strict discipline and order, as the withdrawal of Russian military force depended on the order in the country. However, the dislike for the invaders was so strong that the Slovaks and Czechs did protest and cursed and spat upon the troops, and some futile attempts at armed resistance was made by courageous young Slovaks who hurled gasoline bombs on tanks, thereby setting them ablaze and their crews scurrying. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks ended a period of approximately 71/2 months of comparative freedom for the Slovaks and Czechs, and in one brutal week's work, the U.S.S.R. with its "rape of Czecho-Slovakia" made it crystalclear that even a little freedom is more than Soviet communism can tolerate. In conclusion, one must remember it has been said that the longest journey always starts with a single step, and possibly this can be applied to the efforts of the Slovak people to free themselves from the heavy burden of Russian oppression. Hopefully someday in the near future, they will be able to take more, even broader strides towards their freedom. In any case, it does not seem probable that the Slovaks will be forced to step back again. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood as had been Slovakia and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stifled; yet she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as mistress of her own household. So be it! an agreement signed in Munich, Germany on September 30, 1938 forcing Czecho-Slovakia to give up the Sudetenland, part of its territory, to Nazi Germany. • Munich - (First place - College) BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Freidin, Seymour, The Forgotten P eople, 1962, Charles Scribner & Soru. Kavka, Frantisek, A n Outline of Czecho-Slovak History, Prague, Orbis, 1963. �SLOVAKIA 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.) � 162 SLOVAKIA WINNING ESSAYS Slovak League of America Scholarship Program I. SLOVAK BACKGROUND OF EVENTS THROUGH THE SOVIET TAKEOVER IN 1968 By Jane N o o n a n Prior to World War I and the formation of the CzechoSlovak State, the Czech lands and Slovakia were contiguous but separate and geographically situated in the heart of central Europe, at the crossroads of the continent, between the Carpathian Mountains on the north and the Danube and Tisza Rivers on the south. Its inhabitants are known as Slovaks and Czechs and with the Poles of Poland belong to the group of Western Slavs. Since early in the Middle Ages, these and other Slavic peoples have been involved in the great European struggles. During World War I, the spirit of nationalism was greatly stimulated within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This spirit was reflected by increasing demands for outright independence for the different nations within that empire. In the course of that war, Czech political leaders established a secret committee which directed the activities of the Czech nationalists at home and abroad. Thomas G. Masaryk, as the leader of this movement, toured Europe and the United States where he received encouragement and support. Meanwhile, a movement arose among the large number of Americans of Slovak descent promoting Slovakia's separation from Hungary. Three different solutions of the Slovak problem were imagined-Slovakia as a new state, as a partner of a Czecho-Slovak Federation, and as a territory forming a political union with the prospective Polish Republic. �SLOVAKIA 163 The Slovak League of America entered into contact with the Americans of Czech descent and in 1915 signed with their organization the Cleveland Agreement, and in 1918 the Pittsburgh Pact, both of which aimed at the creation of a Czecho-Slovak federal state. In these documents, the Slovak organization stipulated that Slovakia should be an equal member with the Czech lands and have complete legislative, executive, judicial, and cultural independence in strictly national matters, while matters of common interest, such as foreign affairs and defense, should be within the competence of a common parliament. History shows that Masaryk did not live up to the commitments of the Pittsburgh Pact even though he was one of its signers. Redistributio n of land was an urgent problem facing the new government and a Land Reform Act, therefore, was one of the first measures passed by the Czecho-Slovak Parliament. This act entitled the state to take over, after compensation , all land from the great estates in excess of a fixed maximum, and to permit land purchases by those who needed it most. Thus, the agrarian reform program greatly improved the material conditions of the rural population and averted disturbances. The cultural level of the Slovaks and Czechs was high and their passion for education prompted the new republic t o establish additional free schools and by improving existing schools. The Czecho-Slovak State also forged ahead in the field of social improvement . All groups and interests possessed the right of organization and thus organized labor had its trade unions, farmers their societies, and white-collar workers and businessmen their associations. Health and other types of social insurance were either provided for or encouraged by the State and provision was made for State assistance to housing and co-ops. As to the religious situation, 80 % of the population was Roman Catholic, but the Protestant element played a role far beyond its numerical strength. Many prominent political leaders, Thomas G. Masaryk among them, belonged to the Protestant faith . Economically and financially, Czecho-Slovakia was a sound state in central Europe. As an exporting country it was severly hit by the world economic depression of the �164 SLOVAKIA early thirties, but, by timely adjustments to new price and exchange levels, it was one of the first European countries to weather the crisis. Before Hitler came to power in 1933, Czecho-Slovakia was an enthusiastic supporter of the League of Nations and collaborated whole-heartedly in the negotiations which brought Germany and the Soviet Union into the League. However, when Hitler came to power, Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations entered into a critical phase. Desperately anxious to avert a new war, France and Great Britain proposed in 1938 to Czecho-Slovakia that she not oppose the leaders of the Sudeten German movement, and further cede to Germany all areas with a German majority. When Czecho-Slovakia demurred, she was informed that she must accept the proposal or bear the consequences alone. The result was that Czecho-Slovakia gave in and the country was divided on the lines dictated by Hitler. After Munich'~' , Czecho-Slovakia tried to adjust itself to the new situation. President Benes resigned and left the country - and the transition to Hitler's New Order was swift. The administration was purged, the press put under rigorous control and anti-democratic measures were enacted. According to the Nuremberg documents, Hitler at that time had already decided to destroy Czecho-Slovakia. But there was apparently no definite decision on Slovakia as to whether to place it under German occupation or to have it occupied by Hungary. On March 14, 1939, the government of Dr. Jozef Tiso of Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia as an independent republic. Dr. Tiso was a Monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church and Vice-President of the People's Party of Slovakia. The Slovak people considered the act was the result of the Prague regime's violations of agreements that had been signed between Prague ( the Czech capital) and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) and which agreements had been incorporated in their Constitution. Public demonstrations spread throughout Slovakia. Hitler then suggested, in order to prevent Hungary possibly taking over Slovakia, that there be a declaration of Slovakia's independence. Even though the Slovak State was largely the result of a tense international situation, it nevertheless corresponded to the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom �SLOVAKIA 165 and the principle of self-determination and self-government. The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It, however, reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the selfpreservation instinct of the Slovak nation. In 1941, the Slovak Government found it necessary, because of circumstances, to join Germany in the war against the Soviet Union. However, the Slovak forces, during the Second World War, did not engage in combat against any of the Western Powers. In 1944, an uprising, improvised by Russian Communists as well as Slovak communists, took place and of course the Germans intervened. It took the Nazis exactly two months to crush this rebellion and in the meantime the Red Army laying the ground work for its invasion, held up for more than three months on the Carpathian Mountains, watching this national tragedy quietly. Around 30,000 Slovaks of all political shades were killed in this uprising. Once the uprising had been liquidated, the Soviet Army began to advance and finally occupied Slovakia's territory by mid-April, 1945. Meanwhile, Dr. Benes and most of the Cabinet flew to Moscow where the new Czecho-Slovak Government was to be formed. Dr. Benes and his political entourage believed, or at least hoped, that collaboration between democracy and communism was possible and that co-existence could be achieved without the loss of freedom. They fostered the illusion that the Czech and Slovak Communists were different from other Reds and that their methods would turn out to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Thus, the Communist seizure of power in 1948 may be traced back to the 1945 Moscow meeting, and so it was that in April of 1945, Benes proclaimed the so-called 'Kosice Program' for the new Government of re-established CzechoSlovakia. The 'Kosice Program' was in effect a death sentence for the past. In July, 1947, an important event illustrated the new course of Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations when the Czecho-Slovak Government had unanimously accepted the invitation to a conference of the Marshall Plan, which was �166 SLOVAKIA to be held in Paris. But Moscow reacted vehemently, asserting that Czecho-Slovakia, by accepting the Marshall Plan, would be participating in a political scheme directed against the Soviet Union and demanded that the Government reverse its decision. The Government complied. This was just the beginning of open interference by the Soviets in Czecho-Slovakia's foreign affairs. Then, with the Communist undermining the February, 1948 elections in Czecho-Slovakia, and Benes because of the Communistic pressure accepting the resignations of the 12 Democratic Minister, the Iron Curtain descended on the Czecho-Slovak frontier. Since 1948, Czechs and Slovaks had no independent foreign policy of their own, while internally both the Slovaks and Czechs have been forced to accept systematically 'introduced Soviet institutions which were designed to submerge their national and ethnic consciousness. Furthermore, the Russians have recklessly fostered heavy industry in Slovakia to serve Soviet military and economic needs, while wishes and well-being of the local people go almost totally unheeded. Hence, the Russians enjoy scant confidence and support from the bulk of the Slovak people who look upon them not as "socialist brothers" but instead as tyrans. The government of Czecho-Slovakia is communist, although people qualified to estimate have guessed that no more than 12 to 15 % are Party members or are unqualified supporters of communism. Thus, the peoples of Czecho-Slovakia were pitifully robbed of their economic, spiritual, and intellectual will under the terror of Stalin. This continued for approximately two decades. By the latter part of 1967, Party Chief Novotny of Czecho-Slovakia found himself enmeshed in a political crisis of major proportions; he had alienated the country's educated factions, the economy was in a mess and no one trusted or approved of his efforts to improve the situation, and finally, the Slovaks, led by Alexander Dubcek were daily gaining power towards the goal of getting more of their own people in high government office. Eventually, on February 18, 1968, Novotny lost his job as Party Chief to Alexander Dubcek. The inevitable pressure of circumstances caused Dubcek, a proud Slovak, to transform Czecho-Slovakia into the most liberal state east of the Iron Curtain. �SLOVAKIA 167 Literary and press censorship was abolished, many victims of the Stalinist terror trials were publicly rehabilitated, freedom of minority opinion was guaranteed, travel and trade restrictions with the West were eased, the first strike of Czecho-Slovakia workers under communism was allowed, the police were required to wear numbered badges for identification, the church was partially freed of restraints, and finally the National Assembly was allowed to develop real legislative powers. Mr. Dubcek wanted the government to reflect the will of the people and to respect their traditions. On April 15, 1968, Dubcek unveiled his plans for the future as he published his "Action Program" in which he outlined his plans for even more freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and even larger increase of trade with the rest of Europe, especially with West Germany. Hence, in early 1968, Alexander Dubcek, who began as a leader of the aggrieved Slovaks, ended up as a national symbol for the entire nation. This event, however, created a situation that was both unique and dangerous to continued Russian domination of Eastern Europe. The reforms contemplated for Czecho-Slovakia went far beyond anything attempted before in the Soviet Bloc. Furthermore, there was a clearly pronounced anti-Soviet character to the popular responses to the planned liberalization reforms. Dubcek, although an ardent socialist, attempted to apply the principle that practicing socialism must respect the traditions of the country. All of the foregoing consequently alarmed the Russians, who publicly sought, at every opportunity available, to confer with Dubcek and privately to undermine his support and popularity in every way possible. And so on the night of August 21, 1968,' great hordes of Russian-led tanks and troops crossed into Czecho-Slovakia from neighboring Iron Curtain countries to end the most valiant and extensive attempt to liberalize a communist dominated land. This protest movement, although initiated to a large degree by Slovaks and led by a Slovak Dubcek, had nevertheless succeeded in rallying all segments of the country to seek a freer, more democratic way of life. The Soviets dared not let the noble experiment last, and therefore, in contradiction to all moral and international treaty �168 SLOVAKIA law, they intimidated the Slovaks and Czechs into partial submission by massed military might. Dubcek pleaded with his fellow countrymen that the only way to keep the nation from being literally destroyed by the Russians was to maintain strict discipline and order, as the withdrawal of Russian military force depended on the order in the country. However, the dislike for the invaders was so strong that the Slovaks and Czechs did protest and cursed and spat upon the troops, and some futile attempts at armed resistance was made by courageous young Slovaks who hurled gasoline bombs on tanks, thereby setting them ablaze and their crews scurrying. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks ended a period of approximately 71/2 months of comparative freedom for the Slovaks and Czechs, and in one brutal week's work, the U.S.S.R. with its "rape of Czecho-Slovakia" made it crystalclear that even a little freedom is more than Soviet communism can tolerate. In conclusion, one must remember it has been said that the longest journey always starts with a single step, and possibly this can be applied to the efforts of the Slovak people to free themselves from the heavy burden of Russian oppression. Hopefully someday in the near future, they will be able to take more, even broader strides towards their freedom. In any case, it does not seem probable that the Slovaks will be forced to step back again. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood as had been Slovakia and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stifled; yet she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as mistress of her own household. So be it! an agreement signed in Munich, Germany on September 30, 1938 forcing Czecho-Slovakia to give up the Sudetenland, part of its territory, to Nazi Germany. • Munich - (First place - College) BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Freidin, Seymour, The Forgotten P eople, 1962, Charles Scribner & Soru. Kavka, Frantisek, A n Outline of Czecho-Slovak History, Prague, Orbis, 1963. �SLOVAKIA 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.) � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 162 SLOVAKIA WINNING ESSAYS Slovak League of America Scholarship Program I. SLOVAK BACKGROUND OF EVENTS THROUGH THE SOVIET TAKEOVER IN 1968 By Jane N o o n a n Prior to World War I and the formation of the CzechoSlovak State, the Czech lands and Slovakia were contiguous but separate and geographically situated in the heart of central Europe, at the crossroads of the continent, between the Carpathian Mountains on the north and the Danube and Tisza Rivers on the south. Its inhabitants are known as Slovaks and Czechs and with the Poles of Poland belong to the group of Western Slavs. Since early in the Middle Ages, these and other Slavic peoples have been involved in the great European struggles. During World War I, the spirit of nationalism was greatly stimulated within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This spirit was reflected by increasing demands for outright independence for the different nations within that empire. In the course of that war, Czech political leaders established a secret committee which directed the activities of the Czech nationalists at home and abroad. Thomas G. Masaryk, as the leader of this movement, toured Europe and the United States where he received encouragement and support. Meanwhile, a movement arose among the large number of Americans of Slovak descent promoting Slovakia's separation from Hungary. Three different solutions of the Slovak problem were imagined-Slovakia as a new state, as a partner of a Czecho-Slovak Federation, and as a territory forming a political union with the prospective Polish Republic. SLOVAKIA 163 The Slovak League of America entered into contact with the Americans of Czech descent and in 1915 signed with their organization the Cleveland Agreement, and in 1918 the Pittsburgh Pact, both of which aimed at the creation of a Czecho-Slovak federal state. In these documents, the Slovak organization stipulated that Slovakia should be an equal member with the Czech lands and have complete legislative, executive, judicial, and cultural independence in strictly national matters, while matters of common interest, such as foreign affairs and defense, should be within the competence of a common parliament. History shows that Masaryk did not live up to the commitments of the Pittsburgh Pact even though he was one of its signers. Redistributio n of land was an urgent problem facing the new government and a Land Reform Act, therefore, was one of the first measures passed by the Czecho-Slovak Parliament. This act entitled the state to take over, after compensation , all land from the great estates in excess of a fixed maximum, and to permit land purchases by those who needed it most. Thus, the agrarian reform program greatly improved the material conditions of the rural population and averted disturbances. The cultural level of the Slovaks and Czechs was high and their passion for education prompted the new republic t o establish additional free schools and by improving existing schools. The Czecho-Slovak State also forged ahead in the field of social improvement . All groups and interests possessed the right of organization and thus organized labor had its trade unions, farmers their societies, and white-collar workers and businessmen their associations. Health and other types of social insurance were either provided for or encouraged by the State and provision was made for State assistance to housing and co-ops. As to the religious situation, 80 % of the population was Roman Catholic, but the Protestant element played a role far beyond its numerical strength. Many prominent political leaders, Thomas G. Masaryk among them, belonged to the Protestant faith . Economically and financially, Czecho-Slovakia was a sound state in central Europe. As an exporting country it was severly hit by the world economic depression of the 164 SLOVAKIA early thirties, but, by timely adjustments to new price and exchange levels, it was one of the first European countries to weather the crisis. Before Hitler came to power in 1933, Czecho-Slovakia was an enthusiastic supporter of the League of Nations and collaborated whole-heartedly in the negotiations which brought Germany and the Soviet Union into the League. However, when Hitler came to power, Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations entered into a critical phase. Desperately anxious to avert a new war, France and Great Britain proposed in 1938 to Czecho-Slovakia that she not oppose the leaders of the Sudeten German movement, and further cede to Germany all areas with a German majority. When Czecho-Slovakia demurred, she was informed that she must accept the proposal or bear the consequences alone. The result was that Czecho-Slovakia gave in and the country was divided on the lines dictated by Hitler. After Munich'~' , Czecho-Slovakia tried to adjust itself to the new situation. President Benes resigned and left the country - and the transition to Hitler's New Order was swift. The administration was purged, the press put under rigorous control and anti-democratic measures were enacted. According to the Nuremberg documents, Hitler at that time had already decided to destroy Czecho-Slovakia. But there was apparently no definite decision on Slovakia as to whether to place it under German occupation or to have it occupied by Hungary. On March 14, 1939, the government of Dr. Jozef Tiso of Slovakia proclaimed Slovakia as an independent republic. Dr. Tiso was a Monsignor in the Roman Catholic Church and Vice-President of the People's Party of Slovakia. The Slovak people considered the act was the result of the Prague regime's violations of agreements that had been signed between Prague ( the Czech capital) and Bratislava (the capital of Slovakia) and which agreements had been incorporated in their Constitution. Public demonstrations spread throughout Slovakia. Hitler then suggested, in order to prevent Hungary possibly taking over Slovakia, that there be a declaration of Slovakia's independence. Even though the Slovak State was largely the result of a tense international situation, it nevertheless corresponded to the aspirations of the Slovak people for freedom SLOVAKIA 165 and the principle of self-determination and self-government. The Slovak state was far from being a perfect democracy in the traditional sense. It, however, reflected a compromise between the past and present, between an old tradition and a temporarily determined political dynamism in Central Europe. But, in general, it was an expression of the selfpreservation instinct of the Slovak nation. In 1941, the Slovak Government found it necessary, because of circumstances, to join Germany in the war against the Soviet Union. However, the Slovak forces, during the Second World War, did not engage in combat against any of the Western Powers. In 1944, an uprising, improvised by Russian Communists as well as Slovak communists, took place and of course the Germans intervened. It took the Nazis exactly two months to crush this rebellion and in the meantime the Red Army laying the ground work for its invasion, held up for more than three months on the Carpathian Mountains, watching this national tragedy quietly. Around 30,000 Slovaks of all political shades were killed in this uprising. Once the uprising had been liquidated, the Soviet Army began to advance and finally occupied Slovakia's territory by mid-April, 1945. Meanwhile, Dr. Benes and most of the Cabinet flew to Moscow where the new Czecho-Slovak Government was to be formed. Dr. Benes and his political entourage believed, or at least hoped, that collaboration between democracy and communism was possible and that co-existence could be achieved without the loss of freedom. They fostered the illusion that the Czech and Slovak Communists were different from other Reds and that their methods would turn out to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Thus, the Communist seizure of power in 1948 may be traced back to the 1945 Moscow meeting, and so it was that in April of 1945, Benes proclaimed the so-called 'Kosice Program' for the new Government of re-established CzechoSlovakia. The 'Kosice Program' was in effect a death sentence for the past. In July, 1947, an important event illustrated the new course of Czecho-Slovakia's foreign relations when the Czecho-Slovak Government had unanimously accepted the invitation to a conference of the Marshall Plan, which was 166 SLOVAKIA to be held in Paris. But Moscow reacted vehemently, asserting that Czecho-Slovakia, by accepting the Marshall Plan, would be participating in a political scheme directed against the Soviet Union and demanded that the Government reverse its decision. The Government complied. This was just the beginning of open interference by the Soviets in Czecho-Slovakia's foreign affairs. Then, with the Communist undermining the February, 1948 elections in Czecho-Slovakia, and Benes because of the Communistic pressure accepting the resignations of the 12 Democratic Minister, the Iron Curtain descended on the Czecho-Slovak frontier. Since 1948, Czechs and Slovaks had no independent foreign policy of their own, while internally both the Slovaks and Czechs have been forced to accept systematically 'introduced Soviet institutions which were designed to submerge their national and ethnic consciousness. Furthermore, the Russians have recklessly fostered heavy industry in Slovakia to serve Soviet military and economic needs, while wishes and well-being of the local people go almost totally unheeded. Hence, the Russians enjoy scant confidence and support from the bulk of the Slovak people who look upon them not as "socialist brothers" but instead as tyrans. The government of Czecho-Slovakia is communist, although people qualified to estimate have guessed that no more than 12 to 15 % are Party members or are unqualified supporters of communism. Thus, the peoples of Czecho-Slovakia were pitifully robbed of their economic, spiritual, and intellectual will under the terror of Stalin. This continued for approximately two decades. By the latter part of 1967, Party Chief Novotny of Czecho-Slovakia found himself enmeshed in a political crisis of major proportions; he had alienated the country's educated factions, the economy was in a mess and no one trusted or approved of his efforts to improve the situation, and finally, the Slovaks, led by Alexander Dubcek were daily gaining power towards the goal of getting more of their own people in high government office. Eventually, on February 18, 1968, Novotny lost his job as Party Chief to Alexander Dubcek. The inevitable pressure of circumstances caused Dubcek, a proud Slovak, to transform Czecho-Slovakia into the most liberal state east of the Iron Curtain. SLOVAKIA 167 Literary and press censorship was abolished, many victims of the Stalinist terror trials were publicly rehabilitated, freedom of minority opinion was guaranteed, travel and trade restrictions with the West were eased, the first strike of Czecho-Slovakia workers under communism was allowed, the police were required to wear numbered badges for identification, the church was partially freed of restraints, and finally the National Assembly was allowed to develop real legislative powers. Mr. Dubcek wanted the government to reflect the will of the people and to respect their traditions. On April 15, 1968, Dubcek unveiled his plans for the future as he published his "Action Program" in which he outlined his plans for even more freedom of the press, rights of assembly, and even larger increase of trade with the rest of Europe, especially with West Germany. Hence, in early 1968, Alexander Dubcek, who began as a leader of the aggrieved Slovaks, ended up as a national symbol for the entire nation. This event, however, created a situation that was both unique and dangerous to continued Russian domination of Eastern Europe. The reforms contemplated for Czecho-Slovakia went far beyond anything attempted before in the Soviet Bloc. Furthermore, there was a clearly pronounced anti-Soviet character to the popular responses to the planned liberalization reforms. Dubcek, although an ardent socialist, attempted to apply the principle that practicing socialism must respect the traditions of the country. All of the foregoing consequently alarmed the Russians, who publicly sought, at every opportunity available, to confer with Dubcek and privately to undermine his support and popularity in every way possible. And so on the night of August 21, 1968,' great hordes of Russian-led tanks and troops crossed into Czecho-Slovakia from neighboring Iron Curtain countries to end the most valiant and extensive attempt to liberalize a communist dominated land. This protest movement, although initiated to a large degree by Slovaks and led by a Slovak Dubcek, had nevertheless succeeded in rallying all segments of the country to seek a freer, more democratic way of life. The Soviets dared not let the noble experiment last, and therefore, in contradiction to all moral and international treaty 168 SLOVAKIA law, they intimidated the Slovaks and Czechs into partial submission by massed military might. Dubcek pleaded with his fellow countrymen that the only way to keep the nation from being literally destroyed by the Russians was to maintain strict discipline and order, as the withdrawal of Russian military force depended on the order in the country. However, the dislike for the invaders was so strong that the Slovaks and Czechs did protest and cursed and spat upon the troops, and some futile attempts at armed resistance was made by courageous young Slovaks who hurled gasoline bombs on tanks, thereby setting them ablaze and their crews scurrying. On August 21, 1968, Russian tanks ended a period of approximately 71/2 months of comparative freedom for the Slovaks and Czechs, and in one brutal week's work, the U.S.S.R. with its "rape of Czecho-Slovakia" made it crystalclear that even a little freedom is more than Soviet communism can tolerate. In conclusion, one must remember it has been said that the longest journey always starts with a single step, and possibly this can be applied to the efforts of the Slovak people to free themselves from the heavy burden of Russian oppression. Hopefully someday in the near future, they will be able to take more, even broader strides towards their freedom. In any case, it does not seem probable that the Slovaks will be forced to step back again. No other nation has suffered so much nor been more misunderstood as had been Slovakia and yet still possesses a fire of determination for its freedom and self-determination. Slovakia did emerge but unfortunately was stifled; yet she will again someday rise up to stand among the free and independent peoples of the earth as mistress of her own household. So be it! an agreement signed in Munich, Germany on September 30, 1938 forcing Czecho-Slovakia to give up the Sudetenland, part of its territory, to Nazi Germany. • Munich - (First place - College) BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS Freidin, Seymour, The Forgotten P eople, 1962, Charles Scribner & Soru. Kavka, Frantisek, A n Outline of Czecho-Slovak History, Prague, Orbis, 1963. SLOVAKIA 169 Kirschbaum, Joseph M., "Twenty Years of Czech and Communist Rule in Slovakia," SLovakia, 1965. Levine, Isaac D., Intervention, 1969, Van Rees Press. Oddo, Gilbert L., Slovakia and its People, 1960, Robert Speller and Sons. Pauco, Joseph (ed.), Slovakia, 1966, 1968, 1969, Slovak League of America. Roberts, Adam and Windsor, Philip, Czechoslovakia 1968, 1969, Columbia University Press. Schwartz, Harry, Prague's 200 Days, 1969, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc. Zubek, T. J ., O.F.M., Church of Silence in Slovakia, 1969, J. J . Lach. MAGAZINES Newsweek, Prague Defies the Kremlin, July 29, 1968. Reader's Digest, The Rape of Czechoslovakia, November, 1968. Time, Self-Determination for Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1968; Czechoslovakia-Approaching Total Eclipse, April 6, 1970; Alexander Dubcek's AU Too Human Face, May 18, 1970. PAMPHLETS AND PAPERS Committee on Un-American Activities, Soviet Total War, 1956. Embassy of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, Background Notes Department of State, Socialist Republic Background Notes. New York Times, February 10, 1970, Students in Prague Now Know Their Beautiful Dream is Over, by Alvin Shuster. Hrobak, Philip A., Who Betrayed Slovakia to the Reds. THE SLOVAK ARTS IN PERSPECTIVE Marlene B a rt o s It is \from the vantage point of a multi-ethnic democracy such as the United States that Slovak cultural history can best be placed in true perspective. This paper is an attempt to do so. Because Slovak cultural history has so many ramifications that reach deeply in the histories of neighboring nations, this presentation considers only the theatrical and musical arts, and then only in historical delineation. Analyses and evaluations must remain for the future. The earliest recorded report of a theatrical presentation in Slovakia is the performance of a Christmas play in Bratislava in 1439. By the mid-1500's, plays seem to have been regularly presented. The year 1544 to 1545, for example, records the performances of two plays in German; the one entitled Judith, the other, The Five Wise and Unwise Maidens. Similar reports record activity in Bardejov and Kremnica. (Dejiny slovenskej literatury, 1960. History of Slovak Literature.)  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 Background of Events Through the Soviet Takeover in 1968 Description An account of the resource Jane Noonan Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 162-169 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Noonan, Jane Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1df83948b28be53f41f1a49d27467cd0.pdf 64cadc0dbdfe4aaeb00fb33597bbf71f PDF Text Text 96 SLOVAKIA One Species, Many Cultures Michael N ov ak Bounded by the slow Danube River on the south and by the rugged Carpathian Mountains on the north, the ancestral land of the Slovak people lies at the axis of Westem lcivilization. For centuries, the vast armies of Attila, Genghis Khan, the Turks, the Germans and the Russians have risen like a tide toward Europe and in due course have been broken in or near the mountains of Slovakia. In the ninth century, Saints Cyril and Methodius established there the Byzantine influence of the Cyrillic alphabet and the Old Slavonic liturgy; but ambitious German rulers later imposed the Latin language, in order to draw Slovakia back toward the West. The rivers of Slovakia run southward and the cultivation of grapes makes Slovakia a wine-drinking nation; the sensibility pf the Slovaks is partly Mediterranean and partly Nordic. For two thousand years, the Slovak people, often to their woe, have abhorred large governmental units and preferred local rule. For a thousand years they have endured almost unbroken political oppression. Just before the Johnstown flood of 1889, one of my grandfathers came from Slovakia to the United States; within a few years, all three of my other grandparents had done the same. During the thirty-nine years from 1875 to 1914, nearly a third of the population of Slovakia emigrated. They left from sheer hunger, to escape military conscription in the h~ted Hungarian army, to find some was to break the political oppression of Hungarian "magyarization," "" and to 'fulfill the ancient Slovak legends and myths of freedom. The Slovaks, like many other Slavs, tend to be suspicious of governments, activism and politicians. "Every official has a tail, to sweep in goods," runs a Slovak proverb. Better to concentrate on home, family and work. No other Slavic people is so inventive in song; over fifteen thousand folk songs Qf the Slovaks have been catalogued, and a Slavic saying goes: "See. a Slovak, hear a song." Nearly all the arts of the Slovaks focus on the home. �SLOVAKIA 97 The great Slovak names Svatopluk, Janosik, Benovsky and Stefanik mean little to most Americans. But this is only to say that an ordinary American education is remarkably ethnocentric. About one-third of our population is of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. Yet so far is our nation from fulfilling its own pluralistic destiny that our education is almost entirely Anglo-American. (Indeed, not even all social classes, religious traditions, or regions of Anglo-Americans are equally represented in our educational cultures-"rednecks," evangelicals, Appalachians, for example.) Perhaps the dominance of Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism in the past necessitates its continued dominance; it has shaped our history. Every American should learn about and, to some extent, assimilate English political history and literature. But is a virtually total concentration on the upper-class culture based in the northeastern section of the nation a sufficient intellectual guide to actual American life, or to the character of the other cultures on this planet? Not long ago, "the humanities" meant, not humanity, but "Western civilization." More than that, it meant "Western civilization as seen through English, Protestant, upperclass eyes." Not many of the graduates of Harvard, Princeton and Yale now in their fifties learned very much in their college days about the other cultures of the world - about Buddhism, or Slavic history, or Jewish family life, or Chinese civilization, or Latin America, or the history of slavery. What they were instructed in as "liberal arts" was not quite fully liberating; what passed before their eyes as "the humanities" was, rather astonishingly, a mirror image of their own ethnicity. The phrase "our common culture" has in recent years been used with more glibness than hard reflection. A culture is not put on like a suit of clothes. One can mimic a culture, absorb it, even use it as a vehicle of one's own self-expression. If, however, the culture does not flow out of one's own tutored instincts and aspirations, it is not yet one's own and does not yet exhaust one's own intelligence, perceptions or dreams. So for many millions of immigrants and their descendants-for a majority of Americans-what is currently available as "mainstream culture" does not spring from the heart. Hundreds of thousands of freshmen tapping their feet in classrooms in Providence, Buffalo, �98 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles do not hear, in the voice of their professors, their own voices - and this is not only because of television, or a generation gap, or the collapsing of "the great tradition." The great tradition itself has been in America too narrowly, too ethnocentrically, perceived. I concur, there is a great tradition. There is a "common" Western culture, distinct from other cultures. But ever since Kant, scholars have sought this tradition in a premature and inaccurately projected "universality." They have tried to emphasize what is common in all men, what is universal, those qualities in which we all share and are alike, those characteristics that do not divide, but rather unite us. A laudable but grievously mistaken impulse. A profound irony is involved in our common identity as members of the human species. The species to which we belong in a historical species; it possesses consciousness, and this consciousness is at once symbolic and concrete. That is, our species lives not only within the physical atmosphere surrounding this blue green planet but also within a variety of concrete, historical cultures. We are the species that lives within cultures - within spheres of meaning, sensibility, selective perception and patterned action. What we have in common is that we are diverse. Our diversity is proof that we are human. We are not so many ants crawling on a soundless orb, nor so many apes obeying laws of natural selection. We generate distinctive cultures. Within cultures, we develop endlessly complex, distinctive individuals. We live within symbolic worlds all our own, both as individuals and as cultures. In the twentieth century (which is itself, a friend reminds me, a somewhat "culture-bound" concept), the relativity of each of our identities is borne in upon us because we inescapably encounter so many who differ from us. In this relativity we meet a second and novel kind of common identity. What we have in common are our finitude and interdependence. Our diversity does not mean we are intrinsically divided from each other, only that we are intrinsically different from each other. Our future unity lies not in "overcoming our differences" but in seeing how they are analogous: in learning to see that my struggle to become a moral human being is rather like (not the same �SLOVAKIA 99 as, only analogous to) your struggle to become a moral human being. In a word, the way to become moral is not to become universal, but to become concrete. I need not become the same as you. But my struggle to realize my own moral identity - solely my own, concrete, unique - has many parallels to your struggle to realize your own identity. We face, for example, many similar obstacles: social inequities, ill fortune, self-deception, aging, death. How you face these obstacles in your life illuminates possibilities by which I may, allowing for our differences, conduct my life as well. A nun may define her life around her chastity, as a chosen symbol of God's transcendent love; whereas I, a sensual man, may see in her struggles to protect virginity (of spirit and of flesh) illumination for the perplexities surrounding the central value by which I define my life. The world's literature opens up for me a world of analogy, where flashes of illumination ricochet in unpredictable patterns off a thousand mirrors. The critic of literature who reads Nietzsche after having learned Goethe may catch different reflections from one who reads him after studying Russell, Hare and Austin. What "the great tradition" concerns is wisdom, the voyages individuals take toward moral maturity and moral growth, and the analogous "stages on the way," the analogous "moves," the analogous "dilemmas," "ironies" and "tragedies" they encounter. These words, of course, are already heavy with cultural specificity; they conjure up Aeschylus, Kierkegaard, Hesse and a hundred German scholars. Still, every human life is a structuring of time; each begins with birth, each ends. "Voyage," therefore, is a universal motif. It is the kind of motif that allows for infinite variation, for concrete diversity, for cultural and personal uniqueness. Cultures structure time quite differently. Cultures imagine the model of human fulfillment differently. Yet in every culture individuals voyage from birth to death, and from moral beginnings to moral development. Many of our present perplexities arise from two confusions: one is a misperception of class, the other a misperception of culture. Some young blacks from Hough may not be literate, but that does not mean that the basic human voyage is closed to them. Both the Autobiography �100 SLOVAKIA of Malcolm X and Sou l on Ice are classically Greek and Christian in the metanoia they narrate, and in the structure of decision and liberation they exhibit. (Note even their chapter headings.) It is a mistake to hold that the fundamental moral struggle is restricted to upper-class AngloSaxons - or to the "oppressed." Whatever one's social class, the struggle against self-deception (never decisively won), the struggle for clear vision, and the struggle to respect concrete human persons different from oneself is always present. Bourgeois morality, the morality of appearances and proprieties, must be distinguished from fundamental human morality. "The habit doth not make the monk." One may be an attorney general of the United States without becoming a moral hero to whom others look for illumination on how to become a moral man. It is not easy to be moral simply because one is wellborn, nor simply because one is born in a slum. The voyage toward moral development in either case is analogous to the others - essentially different, yet sufficiently parallel to cast mutual illumination. No human life is so different from all others that it cannot shed morally profitable light; thus the fascination of stories even about moral monsters. When a culture is highly articulated, a "cultivated" person is skilled both in discerning movements of the soul and in giving names to them. He will have a full range of references and allusions with which to speak of what he feels. It is not enough, for example, to be "an atheist." Like Sartre? Or like Merleau-Ponty? Or like Malraux? Or like Camus? Like John Dewey? Or like Corliss Lamont? Or like some churchgoer going through empty motions? The state of soul is remarkably various in every case. Nevertheless, a lack of words does not necessarily indicate an incapacity of soul. It is true (it certainly seems true) that many persons are indeed shallow of soul and contemptuous of introspection. It does not necessarily follow that an abundance of words indicates greatness of soul, or poverty of words powerty of spirit. There are some professors, disdainful of the "cultural deprivation" of those they are obliged to instruct, who are sterile of soul; and in some of their students there are depths untongued. Among some of the Indian chiefs of American history, �SLOVAKIA 101 for example, there is an eloquence, dignity and precision of speech worthy of the ancient Greeks. Or, to state the matter differently, some of the heroes of Homer utter sentiments worthy of the Indian nations. Want of reading does not disbar human beings from profound moral insight or from classical eloquence. One does not have to read Greek to encounter ancient wisdom. (The American Indians produced no Aristotle; neither has New York.) On the other hand, a university education in the humanities today is not aimed at profound moral insight or classical eloquence. They are lucky indeed whose insight and eloquence are not destroyed by a university education today. For the culture of the universities today is not the culture of "the great tradition," not the culture of Western civilization, not even the culture of upper-class Anglo-Americans. In some few persons, it may be these things. In most administrators, professors, teaching assistants and students a university education exhibits a different culture altogether. Let me call it "the culture of the professionals" and attempt to draw attention to its pervasiveness. Not long ago, a major corporation took an ad in the Wall Street Journal to honor one of its employees. Above his picture was a single word, "Professionalism ... " and below it a definition: "More than education ... More than experience . . . More than training ... it's a state of mind." Who today are proud to call themselves professionals? Football players, stockbrockers, doctors, lawyers, journal• ists, gangsters and professors of literature, philosophy and other fields. "Professionalism. " "State of Mind." These are terms of considerable power. Implied are choices, special• izations, narrowings down for purposes of efficiency and effect. Implied, indeed, is the disciplining of an entire life, a concentration upon a limited field of expertise. "A state of mind." "A way of life." A major, driving, powerful culture in our midst is the culture of professionals. Football is its major public liturgy, its dramatic expression, its mirror-image festival. In the daily world of politics, the word "professional" is used in fascinating ways. Of some lifelong politicians, an informed opinion of their performance is "hack" or "fake." By contrast, the most sober and comforting praise �102 SLOVAKIA for a public figure or for this or that person on his staff is, "He's a real pro." An intermediate word of praise, spoken with a faintly baffled sort of affection, is the phrase, "an old pro." The meaning is that the person in question - Senator Sam Ervin, let us say - lacks some of the technical sophistication and scientific art of modern professionalism, but is, so to speak, an artist of an older style, in a different sort of way, and by God, admirable nevertheless. He "knows his way around," "knows what he's doing," and so one "shouldn't be fooled" by his apparent naivete or folksy style. There are some jobs, among some constituencies, that maybe "the old pro" tackles with a surer grasp that "the real pro." It's a very good feeling to be called by one's peers "a pro." Certification (college degrees, a tough job assignment) confers the objective status. But not all who have the certification are truly considered by their peers to be "the real pros." Such hints suggest that an accurate discussion of culture must move on several levels. The first meaning of culture applies to the "state of mind," or the "way of life," of our professional classes. This is the class that manages our institutions of certification the schools, the universities, the media and the new institutes of research, development and consultantship. This same class also manages many of our traditional institutions - business corporations, government, foundations, churches and national organizations. By no means a majority of Americans experiences the culture of professionalizatio n. But most of the high-salaried and/or organizing, articulating, managing and "influential" people do. "Above" the level of the professional culture lies the "high culture" of family tradition, and/or money, and/ or dedication to the classical, recognized arts. Nurture in a certain kind of family tradition - children of Cabots or Lodges, or of concert violinists or professors of the clasics - sometimes provides the requisite sensibility. Money that can buy a new generation the education denied its parents may provide it. (There are many "middle-brow" participants in high culture who enjoy its fruits without being creators.) Finally, sheer talent and desire, an "innate" capacity for the flowering of one's spirit, and the good �SLOVAKIA 103 fortune of schooling of some sort may provide it. Thus, not a few of our ablest artists and scholars today, like Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare, although not "wellborn," have advanced the reaches of the human spirit. It is true that the "high culture," once it has been achieved, is in some respects more accessible to the wealthy than to the poor. The wealthy can travel. They have leisure. They are provided with instruction. They finance artists and scholars. They buy the materials, the time spent and the fruits of artistic endeavor; they are the patrons of art and learning. Yet by their nature the achievements of high culture speak to - and belong to - the human spirit, not to wealth. Instrumentally both a society and individuals require sufficient wealth to gain that freedom from necessity without which there are no liberal arts. Such wealth can be very modest. Even in the caves, humans began to draw, and already by the fireside the spirit of Lincoln was being forged. High culture, nonetheless, requires a culture in which leisure is available; it requires wealth. This instrumental tie between wealth and high culture occasions a certain embarrassment in a ruthlessly egalitarian society. Common speech, we recall, distinguishes several kinds of professional performance. The main force of the word "professional" points toward a specialized commitment: one professes one line of work rather than another. A "hack" is a fellow who has not really mastered all the skills he needs, or else does not really commit the whole of himself to the skills does possess. A "slick professional," or "operator," or apparatchik is a fellow who has the skills but no larger commitment to the whole reality of the world within which he operates, he is "a gun for hire." We respect his skills, but not the spirit of their use. When we say "real pro," however, we mean that the person has not been distorted by his specialized techniques. We mean that his intelligence and instincts reach out for all the complex, ambiguous, even mysterious elements of the social realities within which he operates. We mean that, both regarding himself and regarding the world of his activities, he maintains a certain realism. He is "in touch." His professionalism is an instrument of his commitment to reality, not a defense against that reality. He is neither an operator, nor a hack, nor a mere specialist. �104 SLOVAKIA Hacks are easy to understand but what is the culture of the operator? We are afflicted with operators in America. As testimony to their "cultivation," they may take homemovies, or become amateur photographers, or be buffs of considerable artistic skill in one field or another. They may attend concerts or go to all the arty flicks. They may be articulate and even, in some sense, well and broadly educated. Yet there is a sense in which, used in this context, the word "culture" gives off a tinny ring. No doubt anthropologists should study their "culture," too; in a perfectly neutral scene, they represent a "state of mind," a "way of life," as surely as do primitive tribes in New Guinea. But in some way they are rootless, rudderless, without depth. They have made themselves rather into instruments than into ends. The phrase "new barbarians" points to their shallowness. It suggests that smooth, civil persons, persons of considerable education and articulateness, are somehow empty and lacking. Empty of what? Lacking what? No tradition, it seems, lives in them; no long-range, virtually unchangeable, perennial values guide them; their moral universe is without a center; no passionate inwardness directs them. They are, in a sense, larger than David Riesman intended, "other-directed." Success, power, expertise - their guides are extrinsic, changeable, consulted for the short term. The social realities of our "temporary society" do not discourage the flexibility such men exemplify. The state, as Plato says, is man writ large; so men are often their society writ small. Operators, then, are quintessentially American; their role has been mythically established in Huck Finn and in Melville's The Confidence Man. They are outsiders, from the city (or the university), traveling salesmen, "experts." But what about the local cultures, those millions who admire and understand "the old pros" but dislike operators? When Senator Sam Ervin quotes the Bible and Shakespeare, he makes reverberate a network of trustworthy and illuminating traditions. He plays on symbolic strings that have shaped the consciousness of perhaps eightly million Americans. Many, indeed, find the language of a "country lawyer" a good deal more persuasive than the language of the new professionals. Many, indeed, can scarcely discriminate among the several languages of the new professionals. To �SLOVAKIA 105 them, they are all the same: the smooth articulateness of John Dean and Gary Hart, of David Brinkley and Professor Galbraith, of Doctor Kildare and Doctor Spock, of Jeb Stuart Magruder and William Coffin. Often today ideology does not divide people (liberal versus conservative) so much as cultural style does. The old pros remain connected to the symbolic worlds of this nation's many diverse cultures; the operators leave and "do not go home again." Region, ethnicity, religion, race and other cultural factors shape symbolic consciousness in different ways. The Irish of Boston are not exactly like those of Minnesota or Texas; contrasts among John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Daley and John Connally suggest several of the most significant Irish traditions in the nation. Both George McGovern and George Wallace spring from fundamentalist Scotch-Irish traditions, but in regions whose history has been profoundly different. The symbolic worlds within which they speak set off intense but opposite vibrations. Of the French-Canadians of New Hampshire and Maine; the Appalachians of West Virginia and Kentucky, the poor whites of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle; the AngloAmericans of Wyoming and Idaho; the Oregonians; the Mormons of Utah; the Slavic farmers of Illinois and Nebraska, contrasted with the Slavic miners and millworkers of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; the Italians contrasted with the upper-class and the lower-class Jews of New York City; the Anglo-American Protestants who supported George Wallace in the 1968 Indiana primary in proportions far heavier than did German-American Protestants of similar economic class - of such diverse and crisscross variety is this nation composed. Among blacks, there are differences depending on origins in Africa: on the generations of colonial experience whether in the West Indies, or rural Mississippi, or the cities of the South; and on length of time in the urban North. The Spanish-speaking population of Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Albuquerque are significantly different. The experiences of Oriental Americans - including, without benefit of "Protestant ethic," their astonishing capacity for work and for success - are better admitted into consciousness if one approaches �106 SLOVAKIA American pluralism from Hawaii and California, than from Boston and New York. The variety of cultural worlds in the United States is a powerful, subterranean influence in our national life. It remains subterranean because it is often repressed, as thought it were something "dirty," disfunctional, and doomed to disappear. In its place, a "national" ideology has been created, divided into three parts. First, there is the ideology of "the American way of life," popular, patriotic, capitalistic, chauvinistic. Second, there is the ideology of the mobile, educated, "committed," professional classes what one writer has called "the ideocracy." Third, there is the ideology of the neutral, meritocratic, incommitted, objective professional classes, neither conservative nor liberal, but comfortably in charge. All three of these ideologies, for their own various purposes, try to eliminate cultural diversity. Each carries with it its own ethnic and regional biases. Some, for example, make provision for black, Hispanic and Indian diversity - and, pressed a little, perhaps, they might expand the list. But the terms of their analyses do not give cultural diversity the prominence reality demands. It is true, we have seen, that there is a "common culture" in the West, a set of achievements that represents the most profound insights, wrested from suffering, that Western peoples for some five millennia have attained. But it is not true that even highly educated people in any part of the West are well versed in all the subtraditions of this "common culture." A young Italian from New Jersey who attends the University of Notre Dame will have as part of the furniture of his mind and sensibility materials that the young Jew from Brooklyn who attends City College of New York will not share, and vice versa. When I compare, for example, my years of reading in St. Augustine, St. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman and others, my virtual neglect of Marx, and my dislike of Enlightenment writers like Kant and Mill, with the reading patterns exhibited by, say, Irving Howe, it is vividly clear to me that American intellectual life is profoundly diverse. So it is also with Protestant colleagues of mine in philosophy and religious studies who respond in significantly different ways to materials we jointly consider. Other colleagues have �SLOVAKIA 107 interests and training in the sciences or social sciences; their symbolic world is, again, quite different from mine. "Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? What is your religious and ethnic background? What do these mean to you?" These are important questions, not for purpose of stereotyping, but for intelligent and sensitive perception. In order to come to learn and to appreciate the cultural background within which the words of others gain their full and familiar meaning, we must be able to answer such questions. What we have most to gain from each other is generated by our mutual differences. The different horizon, standpoint and way of perceiving we each bring to our common world are instruments of spiritual wealth. Consider the following propositions: 1. There is a common Western culture of high intellectual and humanizing potency, instructing all who journey into it in inexhaustible wisdom, insight and spiritual depth. 2. This common culture is composed of many related but divergent traditions, and no one can master all of them. 3. Beyond the boundaries of Western culture, there are also other "common cultures" of great complexity and diversity. In some of these non-Western riches, westerners are also beginning to share in ways both superficial and serious. 4. In higher education and in museums and other instrumentalities of culture in the United States, Protestant traditions within the common culture have been favored over Catholic and Jewish traditions. English literature and philosophy have been favored over Continental literatures and philosophies. Post-Enlightenment materials have virtually driven pre-Enlightenment materials from the field. Agnostic or atheistic materials are favored over religious materials. A rather positivistic ideology of the modern, the progressive and the "factual" has dominated our dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as our schools, our journalism and our business world. (Dictionaries do not list under "rose" one of its most important cultural meanings: that it is the flower of love, fate and war.) 5. Education is commonly regarded, not as a device for strengthening and benefiting by local, regional, ethnic and religious differences but for "overcoming" them, �108 SLOVAKIA for replacing them with a more or less universal culture. The underlying model for this "universal" ideological outlook is not perfectly neutral as regards those who enter into it. Even if they are of equal talent, some will find cultural models, heroes, texts and materials related to their own cultural background, and others will not. 6. The preferred and most prestigious model for the "high culture" in the United States coincides with the background of our most wealthy and powerful citizens. This model illustrates the history of some, at least, of our major institutions, and partially grounds the dominant language of the land. Hence even though it is biased, it cannot be ignored. Let us attend, first, to proposition 6. Andover, Groton, Milton, Choate and the other prestigious private schools nurture a good part of one major wing of the nation's financial and governmental elites. Yet with every year that passes, in order to understand American reality, students have to go further beyond the limits of Anglo-American traditions. How can one understand Mailer, Malamud, Trilling, Chomsky or Howe without understanding the Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe and America? How can one understand Kennedy, McCarthy or Daley without learning about the Irish experience in America? Will anyone comprehend Detroit without learning about black history in America and Polish history in America - two out of every three citizens of that city being either black or Polish, while virtually all the wealth and power of the city's elites remain Anglo-American and Jewish? Power in America is essentially Anglo-American, hence it is a condition of survival (and of eventual justice) that all the others penetrate the intricacies of the Anglo-American mind. The Yankee pride in "candor," fo example, has generated unique deceptions, especially self-deceptions, whose routes must be painfully traced and plainly marked Yankee appeals to "morality" and leadership" and "integrity" require most careful scrutiny; these are the banners of the most powerful elites. Thus those whose heritage is not Anglo-American, have every right (and duty) both to assimilate all that is good in Anglo-American culture, and to be clear-eyed about what assimilation entails. Two years ago, Irving Howe quoted in these pages �SLOVAKIA 109 the argument of Louis Kampf that "initiating the 'underpriviledged' to the cultural treasures of the West could be a form of oppression - a weapon in the hands of those who rule . .. High culture itself ... tends to reinforce the given alignments of powers within the society." Against Kampf, Howe is able to quote Trotsky: "Mastery of the art of the past is ... a necessary precondition not only for the creation of new art but also for the building of a new society . . . If we were groundlessly to repudiate the art of the past, we should at once become poorer spiritually." Cultural backwardness is not required for political advance. And yet, what is meant by "backwardness"? In order to be fully moral man must one be a professor, or at minimum a college graduate? Is it necessary to have read many books? "Man is not saved by dialectics," a Christian aphorism insists. The simple, too, have their own precious wisdom and the learned their patent foolishness. It is not necessary to romanticize either side in order to recognize that there are analogies between the life stories of the uneducated and those of the college trained. A democracy needs an early discernment system, to spot young persons of talent in every social condition. But it also needs a way to encourage young persons of talent to remain (if they so wish) in living contact with their own roots. They should encouraged not to be parochial, and yet to be rooted. Neither our egalitarians nor our meritocrats, it seems, have a sufficiently cultural perspective; both proceed somewhat atomically, somewhat mechanically. According to egalitarian sentimentality, any student admitted to college through "open admissions" has within him the makings of a student. According to meritocratic arrogance, each student should be judged according to his own performance. The egalitarian forgets that a university is an institution not all citizens are graced with the talent to appreciate; perhaps not one person in ten ought to be admitted to a genuine university. The meritocrat forgets that persons are not individuals merely but also creatures of culture, and that the institutions of high culture in the United States are inequitably and inhumanely ethnocentric. When as a young Slovak-American I read ( with eagerness and delight) "English literature," I learned as well �110 SLOVAKIA a latent message: "These are the kinds of people literature is about; not about families like yours, feeling like yours, dilemmas like yours." Literature was not (except by analogy) about myself; it was about those fascinating, foreign "others." In our part of town, when I was very young, we called them "the Americans." (With less than accurate perception, we included the Irish among "the Americans." We seldom dealt directly with Anglo-Americans.) The heart of the matter comes down to this. There are three main locations of culture. The actual ways of life of ordinary people, in their diverse, loose and permeable communities are one location. The humanities are, in this sense, not primarily what is written down in books, or celebrated in works of art, but what is lived. Those relatively few artists, scholars and critical persons in whom a genuinely high culture is alive are a second location. The swarming army of professionals, highly educated but not necessarily in tune with the high traditions of the past, are a third location. Among these new professionals are many who call themselves humanists . Each of these groups is to be taken seriously. Each enhances our own identity. We need, in America, a public and popular humanities - a pluralism of stories, myths, accurate histories, detailed studies that touch our various peopl8 in all their variety. As a boy, I wish I had learned of the exploits of Janosik as well as of Robin Hood, and had been taught in public and parochial school of the democratic traditions of the early Slovak tribes. I wish I had learned that, after the origins of feudalism, my ancestors endured a thousand-year struggle against oppression that is not yet complete. I wish I had learned officially and fully of the bitter deaths of so many of my countrymen in the mills and mines and strikes of Pennsylvania. (The murder of the Jablonski.s of the United Mine Workers is a recent episode in a hundredyear war.) My sense of injustice and untruth in America would have come earlier than it did. I would have learned earlier both a tragic sense of life and fierce desire to remedy injustice. I would have had a way to discern what made me culturally different, and what my peculiar contribution might have been. I would have had personal parallels by which to judge more accurately what America had done to the Indians, blacks and others in Amei:ica. (What was �SLOVAKIA 111 I doing, cheering for Custer in They Died with Their Boots On?) We also need, of course, a high culture. We need continuity with the visions and sources of judgment upon us that derive from the great spiritual achievements of our past. In many American towns, counties and cities, one family or a small number of families controls the politics, economics and media of communication. Against their vulgar power, the arts and critical skills of the high culture are as powerful a threat as human beings have. Indeed even our highest national elites, our best and our brightest, suffer embarrassment compared to the best our race has seen before. I recognize that our elites sometimes use "taste" and "culture" as weapon of intimidation, which only proves their own vulgarity. The proof that a person has attained a genuine high culture in his unselfconscious respect for the moral analogies between his life and those of others. Portrayed in myth and narrative as the nobleman at home with peasants, the saint with sinners, the learned doctor with children and the ignorant, the political leader sharing his people's crusts of bread, this is the excellence by which our culture measures us. It is not exactly an egalitarian standard, for differences of station and talent are not blurred, but it is, at least, a standard of fraternity, and of the human spirit's radical equality in the eyes of God. Finally, we need the professionals. It is true that concerning the large and important issues, they are almost always wrong. But this is exactly what we should expect; it is their profession to attend scrupulously to a part of the whole; they almost necessarily distort. Yet specialization is no cause for excommunication. Professionals are our brothers, too. We need their powerful skills. One could wish that more of them would turn their skills toward many neglected problems. To mention but one: toward the history and culture of each of the diverse peoples of the United States. Toward an accurate history of our actual pluralism. '' From 1896 to 1908, 508 Slovaks were arrested and convicted for using the Slovak language in public. (Reprinted from The American Scholar, Volume 43, Number 1, Winter, 1973-74. Copyright 1973 by the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. By permission of the publishers.) � 96 SLOVAKIA One Species, Many Cultures Michael N ov ak Bounded by the slow Danube River on the south and by the rugged Carpathian Mountains on the north, the ancestral land of the Slovak people lies at the axis of Westem lcivilization. For centuries, the vast armies of Attila, Genghis Khan, the Turks, the Germans and the Russians have risen like a tide toward Europe and in due course have been broken in or near the mountains of Slovakia. In the ninth century, Saints Cyril and Methodius established there the Byzantine influence of the Cyrillic alphabet and the Old Slavonic liturgy; but ambitious German rulers later imposed the Latin language, in order to draw Slovakia back toward the West. The rivers of Slovakia run southward and the cultivation of grapes makes Slovakia a wine-drinking nation; the sensibility pf the Slovaks is partly Mediterranean and partly Nordic. For two thousand years, the Slovak people, often to their woe, have abhorred large governmental units and preferred local rule. For a thousand years they have endured almost unbroken political oppression. Just before the Johnstown flood of 1889, one of my grandfathers came from Slovakia to the United States; within a few years, all three of my other grandparents had done the same. During the thirty-nine years from 1875 to 1914, nearly a third of the population of Slovakia emigrated. They left from sheer hunger, to escape military conscription in the h~ted Hungarian army, to find some was to break the political oppression of Hungarian "magyarization," "" and to 'fulfill the ancient Slovak legends and myths of freedom. The Slovaks, like many other Slavs, tend to be suspicious of governments, activism and politicians. "Every official has a tail, to sweep in goods," runs a Slovak proverb. Better to concentrate on home, family and work. No other Slavic people is so inventive in song; over fifteen thousand folk songs Qf the Slovaks have been catalogued, and a Slavic saying goes: "See. a Slovak, hear a song." Nearly all the arts of the Slovaks focus on the home. �SLOVAKIA 97 The great Slovak names Svatopluk, Janosik, Benovsky and Stefanik mean little to most Americans. But this is only to say that an ordinary American education is remarkably ethnocentric. About one-third of our population is of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. Yet so far is our nation from fulfilling its own pluralistic destiny that our education is almost entirely Anglo-American. (Indeed, not even all social classes, religious traditions, or regions of Anglo-Americans are equally represented in our educational cultures-"rednecks," evangelicals, Appalachians, for example.) Perhaps the dominance of Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism in the past necessitates its continued dominance; it has shaped our history. Every American should learn about and, to some extent, assimilate English political history and literature. But is a virtually total concentration on the upper-class culture based in the northeastern section of the nation a sufficient intellectual guide to actual American life, or to the character of the other cultures on this planet? Not long ago, "the humanities" meant, not humanity, but "Western civilization." More than that, it meant "Western civilization as seen through English, Protestant, upperclass eyes." Not many of the graduates of Harvard, Princeton and Yale now in their fifties learned very much in their college days about the other cultures of the world - about Buddhism, or Slavic history, or Jewish family life, or Chinese civilization, or Latin America, or the history of slavery. What they were instructed in as "liberal arts" was not quite fully liberating; what passed before their eyes as "the humanities" was, rather astonishingly, a mirror image of their own ethnicity. The phrase "our common culture" has in recent years been used with more glibness than hard reflection. A culture is not put on like a suit of clothes. One can mimic a culture, absorb it, even use it as a vehicle of one's own self-expression. If, however, the culture does not flow out of one's own tutored instincts and aspirations, it is not yet one's own and does not yet exhaust one's own intelligence, perceptions or dreams. So for many millions of immigrants and their descendants-for a majority of Americans-what is currently available as "mainstream culture" does not spring from the heart. Hundreds of thousands of freshmen tapping their feet in classrooms in Providence, Buffalo, �98 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles do not hear, in the voice of their professors, their own voices - and this is not only because of television, or a generation gap, or the collapsing of "the great tradition." The great tradition itself has been in America too narrowly, too ethnocentrically, perceived. I concur, there is a great tradition. There is a "common" Western culture, distinct from other cultures. But ever since Kant, scholars have sought this tradition in a premature and inaccurately projected "universality." They have tried to emphasize what is common in all men, what is universal, those qualities in which we all share and are alike, those characteristics that do not divide, but rather unite us. A laudable but grievously mistaken impulse. A profound irony is involved in our common identity as members of the human species. The species to which we belong in a historical species; it possesses consciousness, and this consciousness is at once symbolic and concrete. That is, our species lives not only within the physical atmosphere surrounding this blue green planet but also within a variety of concrete, historical cultures. We are the species that lives within cultures - within spheres of meaning, sensibility, selective perception and patterned action. What we have in common is that we are diverse. Our diversity is proof that we are human. We are not so many ants crawling on a soundless orb, nor so many apes obeying laws of natural selection. We generate distinctive cultures. Within cultures, we develop endlessly complex, distinctive individuals. We live within symbolic worlds all our own, both as individuals and as cultures. In the twentieth century (which is itself, a friend reminds me, a somewhat "culture-bound" concept), the relativity of each of our identities is borne in upon us because we inescapably encounter so many who differ from us. In this relativity we meet a second and novel kind of common identity. What we have in common are our finitude and interdependence. Our diversity does not mean we are intrinsically divided from each other, only that we are intrinsically different from each other. Our future unity lies not in "overcoming our differences" but in seeing how they are analogous: in learning to see that my struggle to become a moral human being is rather like (not the same �SLOVAKIA 99 as, only analogous to) your struggle to become a moral human being. In a word, the way to become moral is not to become universal, but to become concrete. I need not become the same as you. But my struggle to realize my own moral identity - solely my own, concrete, unique - has many parallels to your struggle to realize your own identity. We face, for example, many similar obstacles: social inequities, ill fortune, self-deception, aging, death. How you face these obstacles in your life illuminates possibilities by which I may, allowing for our differences, conduct my life as well. A nun may define her life around her chastity, as a chosen symbol of God's transcendent love; whereas I, a sensual man, may see in her struggles to protect virginity (of spirit and of flesh) illumination for the perplexities surrounding the central value by which I define my life. The world's literature opens up for me a world of analogy, where flashes of illumination ricochet in unpredictable patterns off a thousand mirrors. The critic of literature who reads Nietzsche after having learned Goethe may catch different reflections from one who reads him after studying Russell, Hare and Austin. What "the great tradition" concerns is wisdom, the voyages individuals take toward moral maturity and moral growth, and the analogous "stages on the way," the analogous "moves," the analogous "dilemmas," "ironies" and "tragedies" they encounter. These words, of course, are already heavy with cultural specificity; they conjure up Aeschylus, Kierkegaard, Hesse and a hundred German scholars. Still, every human life is a structuring of time; each begins with birth, each ends. "Voyage," therefore, is a universal motif. It is the kind of motif that allows for infinite variation, for concrete diversity, for cultural and personal uniqueness. Cultures structure time quite differently. Cultures imagine the model of human fulfillment differently. Yet in every culture individuals voyage from birth to death, and from moral beginnings to moral development. Many of our present perplexities arise from two confusions: one is a misperception of class, the other a misperception of culture. Some young blacks from Hough may not be literate, but that does not mean that the basic human voyage is closed to them. Both the Autobiography �100 SLOVAKIA of Malcolm X and Sou l on Ice are classically Greek and Christian in the metanoia they narrate, and in the structure of decision and liberation they exhibit. (Note even their chapter headings.) It is a mistake to hold that the fundamental moral struggle is restricted to upper-class AngloSaxons - or to the "oppressed." Whatever one's social class, the struggle against self-deception (never decisively won), the struggle for clear vision, and the struggle to respect concrete human persons different from oneself is always present. Bourgeois morality, the morality of appearances and proprieties, must be distinguished from fundamental human morality. "The habit doth not make the monk." One may be an attorney general of the United States without becoming a moral hero to whom others look for illumination on how to become a moral man. It is not easy to be moral simply because one is wellborn, nor simply because one is born in a slum. The voyage toward moral development in either case is analogous to the others - essentially different, yet sufficiently parallel to cast mutual illumination. No human life is so different from all others that it cannot shed morally profitable light; thus the fascination of stories even about moral monsters. When a culture is highly articulated, a "cultivated" person is skilled both in discerning movements of the soul and in giving names to them. He will have a full range of references and allusions with which to speak of what he feels. It is not enough, for example, to be "an atheist." Like Sartre? Or like Merleau-Ponty? Or like Malraux? Or like Camus? Like John Dewey? Or like Corliss Lamont? Or like some churchgoer going through empty motions? The state of soul is remarkably various in every case. Nevertheless, a lack of words does not necessarily indicate an incapacity of soul. It is true (it certainly seems true) that many persons are indeed shallow of soul and contemptuous of introspection. It does not necessarily follow that an abundance of words indicates greatness of soul, or poverty of words powerty of spirit. There are some professors, disdainful of the "cultural deprivation" of those they are obliged to instruct, who are sterile of soul; and in some of their students there are depths untongued. Among some of the Indian chiefs of American history, �SLOVAKIA 101 for example, there is an eloquence, dignity and precision of speech worthy of the ancient Greeks. Or, to state the matter differently, some of the heroes of Homer utter sentiments worthy of the Indian nations. Want of reading does not disbar human beings from profound moral insight or from classical eloquence. One does not have to read Greek to encounter ancient wisdom. (The American Indians produced no Aristotle; neither has New York.) On the other hand, a university education in the humanities today is not aimed at profound moral insight or classical eloquence. They are lucky indeed whose insight and eloquence are not destroyed by a university education today. For the culture of the universities today is not the culture of "the great tradition," not the culture of Western civilization, not even the culture of upper-class Anglo-Americans. In some few persons, it may be these things. In most administrators, professors, teaching assistants and students a university education exhibits a different culture altogether. Let me call it "the culture of the professionals" and attempt to draw attention to its pervasiveness. Not long ago, a major corporation took an ad in the Wall Street Journal to honor one of its employees. Above his picture was a single word, "Professionalism ... " and below it a definition: "More than education ... More than experience . . . More than training ... it's a state of mind." Who today are proud to call themselves professionals? Football players, stockbrockers, doctors, lawyers, journal• ists, gangsters and professors of literature, philosophy and other fields. "Professionalism. " "State of Mind." These are terms of considerable power. Implied are choices, special• izations, narrowings down for purposes of efficiency and effect. Implied, indeed, is the disciplining of an entire life, a concentration upon a limited field of expertise. "A state of mind." "A way of life." A major, driving, powerful culture in our midst is the culture of professionals. Football is its major public liturgy, its dramatic expression, its mirror-image festival. In the daily world of politics, the word "professional" is used in fascinating ways. Of some lifelong politicians, an informed opinion of their performance is "hack" or "fake." By contrast, the most sober and comforting praise �102 SLOVAKIA for a public figure or for this or that person on his staff is, "He's a real pro." An intermediate word of praise, spoken with a faintly baffled sort of affection, is the phrase, "an old pro." The meaning is that the person in question - Senator Sam Ervin, let us say - lacks some of the technical sophistication and scientific art of modern professionalism, but is, so to speak, an artist of an older style, in a different sort of way, and by God, admirable nevertheless. He "knows his way around," "knows what he's doing," and so one "shouldn't be fooled" by his apparent naivete or folksy style. There are some jobs, among some constituencies, that maybe "the old pro" tackles with a surer grasp that "the real pro." It's a very good feeling to be called by one's peers "a pro." Certification (college degrees, a tough job assignment) confers the objective status. But not all who have the certification are truly considered by their peers to be "the real pros." Such hints suggest that an accurate discussion of culture must move on several levels. The first meaning of culture applies to the "state of mind," or the "way of life," of our professional classes. This is the class that manages our institutions of certification the schools, the universities, the media and the new institutes of research, development and consultantship. This same class also manages many of our traditional institutions - business corporations, government, foundations, churches and national organizations. By no means a majority of Americans experiences the culture of professionalizatio n. But most of the high-salaried and/or organizing, articulating, managing and "influential" people do. "Above" the level of the professional culture lies the "high culture" of family tradition, and/or money, and/ or dedication to the classical, recognized arts. Nurture in a certain kind of family tradition - children of Cabots or Lodges, or of concert violinists or professors of the clasics - sometimes provides the requisite sensibility. Money that can buy a new generation the education denied its parents may provide it. (There are many "middle-brow" participants in high culture who enjoy its fruits without being creators.) Finally, sheer talent and desire, an "innate" capacity for the flowering of one's spirit, and the good �SLOVAKIA 103 fortune of schooling of some sort may provide it. Thus, not a few of our ablest artists and scholars today, like Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare, although not "wellborn," have advanced the reaches of the human spirit. It is true that the "high culture," once it has been achieved, is in some respects more accessible to the wealthy than to the poor. The wealthy can travel. They have leisure. They are provided with instruction. They finance artists and scholars. They buy the materials, the time spent and the fruits of artistic endeavor; they are the patrons of art and learning. Yet by their nature the achievements of high culture speak to - and belong to - the human spirit, not to wealth. Instrumentally both a society and individuals require sufficient wealth to gain that freedom from necessity without which there are no liberal arts. Such wealth can be very modest. Even in the caves, humans began to draw, and already by the fireside the spirit of Lincoln was being forged. High culture, nonetheless, requires a culture in which leisure is available; it requires wealth. This instrumental tie between wealth and high culture occasions a certain embarrassment in a ruthlessly egalitarian society. Common speech, we recall, distinguishes several kinds of professional performance. The main force of the word "professional" points toward a specialized commitment: one professes one line of work rather than another. A "hack" is a fellow who has not really mastered all the skills he needs, or else does not really commit the whole of himself to the skills does possess. A "slick professional," or "operator," or apparatchik is a fellow who has the skills but no larger commitment to the whole reality of the world within which he operates, he is "a gun for hire." We respect his skills, but not the spirit of their use. When we say "real pro," however, we mean that the person has not been distorted by his specialized techniques. We mean that his intelligence and instincts reach out for all the complex, ambiguous, even mysterious elements of the social realities within which he operates. We mean that, both regarding himself and regarding the world of his activities, he maintains a certain realism. He is "in touch." His professionalism is an instrument of his commitment to reality, not a defense against that reality. He is neither an operator, nor a hack, nor a mere specialist. �104 SLOVAKIA Hacks are easy to understand but what is the culture of the operator? We are afflicted with operators in America. As testimony to their "cultivation," they may take homemovies, or become amateur photographers, or be buffs of considerable artistic skill in one field or another. They may attend concerts or go to all the arty flicks. They may be articulate and even, in some sense, well and broadly educated. Yet there is a sense in which, used in this context, the word "culture" gives off a tinny ring. No doubt anthropologists should study their "culture," too; in a perfectly neutral scene, they represent a "state of mind," a "way of life," as surely as do primitive tribes in New Guinea. But in some way they are rootless, rudderless, without depth. They have made themselves rather into instruments than into ends. The phrase "new barbarians" points to their shallowness. It suggests that smooth, civil persons, persons of considerable education and articulateness, are somehow empty and lacking. Empty of what? Lacking what? No tradition, it seems, lives in them; no long-range, virtually unchangeable, perennial values guide them; their moral universe is without a center; no passionate inwardness directs them. They are, in a sense, larger than David Riesman intended, "other-directed." Success, power, expertise - their guides are extrinsic, changeable, consulted for the short term. The social realities of our "temporary society" do not discourage the flexibility such men exemplify. The state, as Plato says, is man writ large; so men are often their society writ small. Operators, then, are quintessentially American; their role has been mythically established in Huck Finn and in Melville's The Confidence Man. They are outsiders, from the city (or the university), traveling salesmen, "experts." But what about the local cultures, those millions who admire and understand "the old pros" but dislike operators? When Senator Sam Ervin quotes the Bible and Shakespeare, he makes reverberate a network of trustworthy and illuminating traditions. He plays on symbolic strings that have shaped the consciousness of perhaps eightly million Americans. Many, indeed, find the language of a "country lawyer" a good deal more persuasive than the language of the new professionals. Many, indeed, can scarcely discriminate among the several languages of the new professionals. To �SLOVAKIA 105 them, they are all the same: the smooth articulateness of John Dean and Gary Hart, of David Brinkley and Professor Galbraith, of Doctor Kildare and Doctor Spock, of Jeb Stuart Magruder and William Coffin. Often today ideology does not divide people (liberal versus conservative) so much as cultural style does. The old pros remain connected to the symbolic worlds of this nation's many diverse cultures; the operators leave and "do not go home again." Region, ethnicity, religion, race and other cultural factors shape symbolic consciousness in different ways. The Irish of Boston are not exactly like those of Minnesota or Texas; contrasts among John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Daley and John Connally suggest several of the most significant Irish traditions in the nation. Both George McGovern and George Wallace spring from fundamentalist Scotch-Irish traditions, but in regions whose history has been profoundly different. The symbolic worlds within which they speak set off intense but opposite vibrations. Of the French-Canadians of New Hampshire and Maine; the Appalachians of West Virginia and Kentucky, the poor whites of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle; the AngloAmericans of Wyoming and Idaho; the Oregonians; the Mormons of Utah; the Slavic farmers of Illinois and Nebraska, contrasted with the Slavic miners and millworkers of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; the Italians contrasted with the upper-class and the lower-class Jews of New York City; the Anglo-American Protestants who supported George Wallace in the 1968 Indiana primary in proportions far heavier than did German-American Protestants of similar economic class - of such diverse and crisscross variety is this nation composed. Among blacks, there are differences depending on origins in Africa: on the generations of colonial experience whether in the West Indies, or rural Mississippi, or the cities of the South; and on length of time in the urban North. The Spanish-speaking population of Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Albuquerque are significantly different. The experiences of Oriental Americans - including, without benefit of "Protestant ethic," their astonishing capacity for work and for success - are better admitted into consciousness if one approaches �106 SLOVAKIA American pluralism from Hawaii and California, than from Boston and New York. The variety of cultural worlds in the United States is a powerful, subterranean influence in our national life. It remains subterranean because it is often repressed, as thought it were something "dirty," disfunctional, and doomed to disappear. In its place, a "national" ideology has been created, divided into three parts. First, there is the ideology of "the American way of life," popular, patriotic, capitalistic, chauvinistic. Second, there is the ideology of the mobile, educated, "committed," professional classes what one writer has called "the ideocracy." Third, there is the ideology of the neutral, meritocratic, incommitted, objective professional classes, neither conservative nor liberal, but comfortably in charge. All three of these ideologies, for their own various purposes, try to eliminate cultural diversity. Each carries with it its own ethnic and regional biases. Some, for example, make provision for black, Hispanic and Indian diversity - and, pressed a little, perhaps, they might expand the list. But the terms of their analyses do not give cultural diversity the prominence reality demands. It is true, we have seen, that there is a "common culture" in the West, a set of achievements that represents the most profound insights, wrested from suffering, that Western peoples for some five millennia have attained. But it is not true that even highly educated people in any part of the West are well versed in all the subtraditions of this "common culture." A young Italian from New Jersey who attends the University of Notre Dame will have as part of the furniture of his mind and sensibility materials that the young Jew from Brooklyn who attends City College of New York will not share, and vice versa. When I compare, for example, my years of reading in St. Augustine, St. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman and others, my virtual neglect of Marx, and my dislike of Enlightenment writers like Kant and Mill, with the reading patterns exhibited by, say, Irving Howe, it is vividly clear to me that American intellectual life is profoundly diverse. So it is also with Protestant colleagues of mine in philosophy and religious studies who respond in significantly different ways to materials we jointly consider. Other colleagues have �SLOVAKIA 107 interests and training in the sciences or social sciences; their symbolic world is, again, quite different from mine. "Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? What is your religious and ethnic background? What do these mean to you?" These are important questions, not for purpose of stereotyping, but for intelligent and sensitive perception. In order to come to learn and to appreciate the cultural background within which the words of others gain their full and familiar meaning, we must be able to answer such questions. What we have most to gain from each other is generated by our mutual differences. The different horizon, standpoint and way of perceiving we each bring to our common world are instruments of spiritual wealth. Consider the following propositions: 1. There is a common Western culture of high intellectual and humanizing potency, instructing all who journey into it in inexhaustible wisdom, insight and spiritual depth. 2. This common culture is composed of many related but divergent traditions, and no one can master all of them. 3. Beyond the boundaries of Western culture, there are also other "common cultures" of great complexity and diversity. In some of these non-Western riches, westerners are also beginning to share in ways both superficial and serious. 4. In higher education and in museums and other instrumentalities of culture in the United States, Protestant traditions within the common culture have been favored over Catholic and Jewish traditions. English literature and philosophy have been favored over Continental literatures and philosophies. Post-Enlightenment materials have virtually driven pre-Enlightenment materials from the field. Agnostic or atheistic materials are favored over religious materials. A rather positivistic ideology of the modern, the progressive and the "factual" has dominated our dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as our schools, our journalism and our business world. (Dictionaries do not list under "rose" one of its most important cultural meanings: that it is the flower of love, fate and war.) 5. Education is commonly regarded, not as a device for strengthening and benefiting by local, regional, ethnic and religious differences but for "overcoming" them, �108 SLOVAKIA for replacing them with a more or less universal culture. The underlying model for this "universal" ideological outlook is not perfectly neutral as regards those who enter into it. Even if they are of equal talent, some will find cultural models, heroes, texts and materials related to their own cultural background, and others will not. 6. The preferred and most prestigious model for the "high culture" in the United States coincides with the background of our most wealthy and powerful citizens. This model illustrates the history of some, at least, of our major institutions, and partially grounds the dominant language of the land. Hence even though it is biased, it cannot be ignored. Let us attend, first, to proposition 6. Andover, Groton, Milton, Choate and the other prestigious private schools nurture a good part of one major wing of the nation's financial and governmental elites. Yet with every year that passes, in order to understand American reality, students have to go further beyond the limits of Anglo-American traditions. How can one understand Mailer, Malamud, Trilling, Chomsky or Howe without understanding the Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe and America? How can one understand Kennedy, McCarthy or Daley without learning about the Irish experience in America? Will anyone comprehend Detroit without learning about black history in America and Polish history in America - two out of every three citizens of that city being either black or Polish, while virtually all the wealth and power of the city's elites remain Anglo-American and Jewish? Power in America is essentially Anglo-American, hence it is a condition of survival (and of eventual justice) that all the others penetrate the intricacies of the Anglo-American mind. The Yankee pride in "candor," fo example, has generated unique deceptions, especially self-deceptions, whose routes must be painfully traced and plainly marked Yankee appeals to "morality" and leadership" and "integrity" require most careful scrutiny; these are the banners of the most powerful elites. Thus those whose heritage is not Anglo-American, have every right (and duty) both to assimilate all that is good in Anglo-American culture, and to be clear-eyed about what assimilation entails. Two years ago, Irving Howe quoted in these pages �SLOVAKIA 109 the argument of Louis Kampf that "initiating the 'underpriviledged' to the cultural treasures of the West could be a form of oppression - a weapon in the hands of those who rule . .. High culture itself ... tends to reinforce the given alignments of powers within the society." Against Kampf, Howe is able to quote Trotsky: "Mastery of the art of the past is ... a necessary precondition not only for the creation of new art but also for the building of a new society . . . If we were groundlessly to repudiate the art of the past, we should at once become poorer spiritually." Cultural backwardness is not required for political advance. And yet, what is meant by "backwardness"? In order to be fully moral man must one be a professor, or at minimum a college graduate? Is it necessary to have read many books? "Man is not saved by dialectics," a Christian aphorism insists. The simple, too, have their own precious wisdom and the learned their patent foolishness. It is not necessary to romanticize either side in order to recognize that there are analogies between the life stories of the uneducated and those of the college trained. A democracy needs an early discernment system, to spot young persons of talent in every social condition. But it also needs a way to encourage young persons of talent to remain (if they so wish) in living contact with their own roots. They should encouraged not to be parochial, and yet to be rooted. Neither our egalitarians nor our meritocrats, it seems, have a sufficiently cultural perspective; both proceed somewhat atomically, somewhat mechanically. According to egalitarian sentimentality, any student admitted to college through "open admissions" has within him the makings of a student. According to meritocratic arrogance, each student should be judged according to his own performance. The egalitarian forgets that a university is an institution not all citizens are graced with the talent to appreciate; perhaps not one person in ten ought to be admitted to a genuine university. The meritocrat forgets that persons are not individuals merely but also creatures of culture, and that the institutions of high culture in the United States are inequitably and inhumanely ethnocentric. When as a young Slovak-American I read ( with eagerness and delight) "English literature," I learned as well �110 SLOVAKIA a latent message: "These are the kinds of people literature is about; not about families like yours, feeling like yours, dilemmas like yours." Literature was not (except by analogy) about myself; it was about those fascinating, foreign "others." In our part of town, when I was very young, we called them "the Americans." (With less than accurate perception, we included the Irish among "the Americans." We seldom dealt directly with Anglo-Americans.) The heart of the matter comes down to this. There are three main locations of culture. The actual ways of life of ordinary people, in their diverse, loose and permeable communities are one location. The humanities are, in this sense, not primarily what is written down in books, or celebrated in works of art, but what is lived. Those relatively few artists, scholars and critical persons in whom a genuinely high culture is alive are a second location. The swarming army of professionals, highly educated but not necessarily in tune with the high traditions of the past, are a third location. Among these new professionals are many who call themselves humanists . Each of these groups is to be taken seriously. Each enhances our own identity. We need, in America, a public and popular humanities - a pluralism of stories, myths, accurate histories, detailed studies that touch our various peopl8 in all their variety. As a boy, I wish I had learned of the exploits of Janosik as well as of Robin Hood, and had been taught in public and parochial school of the democratic traditions of the early Slovak tribes. I wish I had learned that, after the origins of feudalism, my ancestors endured a thousand-year struggle against oppression that is not yet complete. I wish I had learned officially and fully of the bitter deaths of so many of my countrymen in the mills and mines and strikes of Pennsylvania. (The murder of the Jablonski.s of the United Mine Workers is a recent episode in a hundredyear war.) My sense of injustice and untruth in America would have come earlier than it did. I would have learned earlier both a tragic sense of life and fierce desire to remedy injustice. I would have had a way to discern what made me culturally different, and what my peculiar contribution might have been. I would have had personal parallels by which to judge more accurately what America had done to the Indians, blacks and others in Amei:ica. (What was �SLOVAKIA 111 I doing, cheering for Custer in They Died with Their Boots On?) We also need, of course, a high culture. We need continuity with the visions and sources of judgment upon us that derive from the great spiritual achievements of our past. In many American towns, counties and cities, one family or a small number of families controls the politics, economics and media of communication. Against their vulgar power, the arts and critical skills of the high culture are as powerful a threat as human beings have. Indeed even our highest national elites, our best and our brightest, suffer embarrassment compared to the best our race has seen before. I recognize that our elites sometimes use "taste" and "culture" as weapon of intimidation, which only proves their own vulgarity. The proof that a person has attained a genuine high culture in his unselfconscious respect for the moral analogies between his life and those of others. Portrayed in myth and narrative as the nobleman at home with peasants, the saint with sinners, the learned doctor with children and the ignorant, the political leader sharing his people's crusts of bread, this is the excellence by which our culture measures us. It is not exactly an egalitarian standard, for differences of station and talent are not blurred, but it is, at least, a standard of fraternity, and of the human spirit's radical equality in the eyes of God. Finally, we need the professionals. It is true that concerning the large and important issues, they are almost always wrong. But this is exactly what we should expect; it is their profession to attend scrupulously to a part of the whole; they almost necessarily distort. Yet specialization is no cause for excommunication. Professionals are our brothers, too. We need their powerful skills. One could wish that more of them would turn their skills toward many neglected problems. To mention but one: toward the history and culture of each of the diverse peoples of the United States. Toward an accurate history of our actual pluralism. '' From 1896 to 1908, 508 Slovaks were arrested and convicted for using the Slovak language in public. (Reprinted from The American Scholar, Volume 43, Number 1, Winter, 1973-74. Copyright 1973 by the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. By permission of the publishers.) � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 96 SLOVAKIA One Species, Many Cultures Michael N ov ak Bounded by the slow Danube River on the south and by the rugged Carpathian Mountains on the north, the ancestral land of the Slovak people lies at the axis of Westem lcivilization. For centuries, the vast armies of Attila, Genghis Khan, the Turks, the Germans and the Russians have risen like a tide toward Europe and in due course have been broken in or near the mountains of Slovakia. In the ninth century, Saints Cyril and Methodius established there the Byzantine influence of the Cyrillic alphabet and the Old Slavonic liturgy; but ambitious German rulers later imposed the Latin language, in order to draw Slovakia back toward the West. The rivers of Slovakia run southward and the cultivation of grapes makes Slovakia a wine-drinking nation; the sensibility pf the Slovaks is partly Mediterranean and partly Nordic. For two thousand years, the Slovak people, often to their woe, have abhorred large governmental units and preferred local rule. For a thousand years they have endured almost unbroken political oppression. Just before the Johnstown flood of 1889, one of my grandfathers came from Slovakia to the United States; within a few years, all three of my other grandparents had done the same. During the thirty-nine years from 1875 to 1914, nearly a third of the population of Slovakia emigrated. They left from sheer hunger, to escape military conscription in the h~ted Hungarian army, to find some was to break the political oppression of Hungarian "magyarization," "" and to 'fulfill the ancient Slovak legends and myths of freedom. The Slovaks, like many other Slavs, tend to be suspicious of governments, activism and politicians. "Every official has a tail, to sweep in goods," runs a Slovak proverb. Better to concentrate on home, family and work. No other Slavic people is so inventive in song; over fifteen thousand folk songs Qf the Slovaks have been catalogued, and a Slavic saying goes: "See. a Slovak, hear a song." Nearly all the arts of the Slovaks focus on the home. SLOVAKIA 97 The great Slovak names Svatopluk, Janosik, Benovsky and Stefanik mean little to most Americans. But this is only to say that an ordinary American education is remarkably ethnocentric. About one-third of our population is of Anglo-Saxon ancestry. Yet so far is our nation from fulfilling its own pluralistic destiny that our education is almost entirely Anglo-American. (Indeed, not even all social classes, religious traditions, or regions of Anglo-Americans are equally represented in our educational cultures-"rednecks," evangelicals, Appalachians, for example.) Perhaps the dominance of Anglo-Saxon ethnocentrism in the past necessitates its continued dominance; it has shaped our history. Every American should learn about and, to some extent, assimilate English political history and literature. But is a virtually total concentration on the upper-class culture based in the northeastern section of the nation a sufficient intellectual guide to actual American life, or to the character of the other cultures on this planet? Not long ago, "the humanities" meant, not humanity, but "Western civilization." More than that, it meant "Western civilization as seen through English, Protestant, upperclass eyes." Not many of the graduates of Harvard, Princeton and Yale now in their fifties learned very much in their college days about the other cultures of the world - about Buddhism, or Slavic history, or Jewish family life, or Chinese civilization, or Latin America, or the history of slavery. What they were instructed in as "liberal arts" was not quite fully liberating; what passed before their eyes as "the humanities" was, rather astonishingly, a mirror image of their own ethnicity. The phrase "our common culture" has in recent years been used with more glibness than hard reflection. A culture is not put on like a suit of clothes. One can mimic a culture, absorb it, even use it as a vehicle of one's own self-expression. If, however, the culture does not flow out of one's own tutored instincts and aspirations, it is not yet one's own and does not yet exhaust one's own intelligence, perceptions or dreams. So for many millions of immigrants and their descendants-for a majority of Americans-what is currently available as "mainstream culture" does not spring from the heart. Hundreds of thousands of freshmen tapping their feet in classrooms in Providence, Buffalo, 98 SLOVAKIA Pittsburgh, Detroit, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles do not hear, in the voice of their professors, their own voices - and this is not only because of television, or a generation gap, or the collapsing of "the great tradition." The great tradition itself has been in America too narrowly, too ethnocentrically, perceived. I concur, there is a great tradition. There is a "common" Western culture, distinct from other cultures. But ever since Kant, scholars have sought this tradition in a premature and inaccurately projected "universality." They have tried to emphasize what is common in all men, what is universal, those qualities in which we all share and are alike, those characteristics that do not divide, but rather unite us. A laudable but grievously mistaken impulse. A profound irony is involved in our common identity as members of the human species. The species to which we belong in a historical species; it possesses consciousness, and this consciousness is at once symbolic and concrete. That is, our species lives not only within the physical atmosphere surrounding this blue green planet but also within a variety of concrete, historical cultures. We are the species that lives within cultures - within spheres of meaning, sensibility, selective perception and patterned action. What we have in common is that we are diverse. Our diversity is proof that we are human. We are not so many ants crawling on a soundless orb, nor so many apes obeying laws of natural selection. We generate distinctive cultures. Within cultures, we develop endlessly complex, distinctive individuals. We live within symbolic worlds all our own, both as individuals and as cultures. In the twentieth century (which is itself, a friend reminds me, a somewhat "culture-bound" concept), the relativity of each of our identities is borne in upon us because we inescapably encounter so many who differ from us. In this relativity we meet a second and novel kind of common identity. What we have in common are our finitude and interdependence. Our diversity does not mean we are intrinsically divided from each other, only that we are intrinsically different from each other. Our future unity lies not in "overcoming our differences" but in seeing how they are analogous: in learning to see that my struggle to become a moral human being is rather like (not the same SLOVAKIA 99 as, only analogous to) your struggle to become a moral human being. In a word, the way to become moral is not to become universal, but to become concrete. I need not become the same as you. But my struggle to realize my own moral identity - solely my own, concrete, unique - has many parallels to your struggle to realize your own identity. We face, for example, many similar obstacles: social inequities, ill fortune, self-deception, aging, death. How you face these obstacles in your life illuminates possibilities by which I may, allowing for our differences, conduct my life as well. A nun may define her life around her chastity, as a chosen symbol of God's transcendent love; whereas I, a sensual man, may see in her struggles to protect virginity (of spirit and of flesh) illumination for the perplexities surrounding the central value by which I define my life. The world's literature opens up for me a world of analogy, where flashes of illumination ricochet in unpredictable patterns off a thousand mirrors. The critic of literature who reads Nietzsche after having learned Goethe may catch different reflections from one who reads him after studying Russell, Hare and Austin. What "the great tradition" concerns is wisdom, the voyages individuals take toward moral maturity and moral growth, and the analogous "stages on the way," the analogous "moves," the analogous "dilemmas," "ironies" and "tragedies" they encounter. These words, of course, are already heavy with cultural specificity; they conjure up Aeschylus, Kierkegaard, Hesse and a hundred German scholars. Still, every human life is a structuring of time; each begins with birth, each ends. "Voyage," therefore, is a universal motif. It is the kind of motif that allows for infinite variation, for concrete diversity, for cultural and personal uniqueness. Cultures structure time quite differently. Cultures imagine the model of human fulfillment differently. Yet in every culture individuals voyage from birth to death, and from moral beginnings to moral development. Many of our present perplexities arise from two confusions: one is a misperception of class, the other a misperception of culture. Some young blacks from Hough may not be literate, but that does not mean that the basic human voyage is closed to them. Both the Autobiography 100 SLOVAKIA of Malcolm X and Sou l on Ice are classically Greek and Christian in the metanoia they narrate, and in the structure of decision and liberation they exhibit. (Note even their chapter headings.) It is a mistake to hold that the fundamental moral struggle is restricted to upper-class AngloSaxons - or to the "oppressed." Whatever one's social class, the struggle against self-deception (never decisively won), the struggle for clear vision, and the struggle to respect concrete human persons different from oneself is always present. Bourgeois morality, the morality of appearances and proprieties, must be distinguished from fundamental human morality. "The habit doth not make the monk." One may be an attorney general of the United States without becoming a moral hero to whom others look for illumination on how to become a moral man. It is not easy to be moral simply because one is wellborn, nor simply because one is born in a slum. The voyage toward moral development in either case is analogous to the others - essentially different, yet sufficiently parallel to cast mutual illumination. No human life is so different from all others that it cannot shed morally profitable light; thus the fascination of stories even about moral monsters. When a culture is highly articulated, a "cultivated" person is skilled both in discerning movements of the soul and in giving names to them. He will have a full range of references and allusions with which to speak of what he feels. It is not enough, for example, to be "an atheist." Like Sartre? Or like Merleau-Ponty? Or like Malraux? Or like Camus? Like John Dewey? Or like Corliss Lamont? Or like some churchgoer going through empty motions? The state of soul is remarkably various in every case. Nevertheless, a lack of words does not necessarily indicate an incapacity of soul. It is true (it certainly seems true) that many persons are indeed shallow of soul and contemptuous of introspection. It does not necessarily follow that an abundance of words indicates greatness of soul, or poverty of words powerty of spirit. There are some professors, disdainful of the "cultural deprivation" of those they are obliged to instruct, who are sterile of soul; and in some of their students there are depths untongued. Among some of the Indian chiefs of American history, SLOVAKIA 101 for example, there is an eloquence, dignity and precision of speech worthy of the ancient Greeks. Or, to state the matter differently, some of the heroes of Homer utter sentiments worthy of the Indian nations. Want of reading does not disbar human beings from profound moral insight or from classical eloquence. One does not have to read Greek to encounter ancient wisdom. (The American Indians produced no Aristotle; neither has New York.) On the other hand, a university education in the humanities today is not aimed at profound moral insight or classical eloquence. They are lucky indeed whose insight and eloquence are not destroyed by a university education today. For the culture of the universities today is not the culture of "the great tradition," not the culture of Western civilization, not even the culture of upper-class Anglo-Americans. In some few persons, it may be these things. In most administrators, professors, teaching assistants and students a university education exhibits a different culture altogether. Let me call it "the culture of the professionals" and attempt to draw attention to its pervasiveness. Not long ago, a major corporation took an ad in the Wall Street Journal to honor one of its employees. Above his picture was a single word, "Professionalism ... " and below it a definition: "More than education ... More than experience . . . More than training ... it's a state of mind." Who today are proud to call themselves professionals? Football players, stockbrockers, doctors, lawyers, journal• ists, gangsters and professors of literature, philosophy and other fields. "Professionalism. " "State of Mind." These are terms of considerable power. Implied are choices, special• izations, narrowings down for purposes of efficiency and effect. Implied, indeed, is the disciplining of an entire life, a concentration upon a limited field of expertise. "A state of mind." "A way of life." A major, driving, powerful culture in our midst is the culture of professionals. Football is its major public liturgy, its dramatic expression, its mirror-image festival. In the daily world of politics, the word "professional" is used in fascinating ways. Of some lifelong politicians, an informed opinion of their performance is "hack" or "fake." By contrast, the most sober and comforting praise 102 SLOVAKIA for a public figure or for this or that person on his staff is, "He's a real pro." An intermediate word of praise, spoken with a faintly baffled sort of affection, is the phrase, "an old pro." The meaning is that the person in question - Senator Sam Ervin, let us say - lacks some of the technical sophistication and scientific art of modern professionalism, but is, so to speak, an artist of an older style, in a different sort of way, and by God, admirable nevertheless. He "knows his way around," "knows what he's doing," and so one "shouldn't be fooled" by his apparent naivete or folksy style. There are some jobs, among some constituencies, that maybe "the old pro" tackles with a surer grasp that "the real pro." It's a very good feeling to be called by one's peers "a pro." Certification (college degrees, a tough job assignment) confers the objective status. But not all who have the certification are truly considered by their peers to be "the real pros." Such hints suggest that an accurate discussion of culture must move on several levels. The first meaning of culture applies to the "state of mind," or the "way of life," of our professional classes. This is the class that manages our institutions of certification the schools, the universities, the media and the new institutes of research, development and consultantship. This same class also manages many of our traditional institutions - business corporations, government, foundations, churches and national organizations. By no means a majority of Americans experiences the culture of professionalizatio n. But most of the high-salaried and/or organizing, articulating, managing and "influential" people do. "Above" the level of the professional culture lies the "high culture" of family tradition, and/or money, and/ or dedication to the classical, recognized arts. Nurture in a certain kind of family tradition - children of Cabots or Lodges, or of concert violinists or professors of the clasics - sometimes provides the requisite sensibility. Money that can buy a new generation the education denied its parents may provide it. (There are many "middle-brow" participants in high culture who enjoy its fruits without being creators.) Finally, sheer talent and desire, an "innate" capacity for the flowering of one's spirit, and the good SLOVAKIA 103 fortune of schooling of some sort may provide it. Thus, not a few of our ablest artists and scholars today, like Abraham Lincoln and William Shakespeare, although not "wellborn," have advanced the reaches of the human spirit. It is true that the "high culture," once it has been achieved, is in some respects more accessible to the wealthy than to the poor. The wealthy can travel. They have leisure. They are provided with instruction. They finance artists and scholars. They buy the materials, the time spent and the fruits of artistic endeavor; they are the patrons of art and learning. Yet by their nature the achievements of high culture speak to - and belong to - the human spirit, not to wealth. Instrumentally both a society and individuals require sufficient wealth to gain that freedom from necessity without which there are no liberal arts. Such wealth can be very modest. Even in the caves, humans began to draw, and already by the fireside the spirit of Lincoln was being forged. High culture, nonetheless, requires a culture in which leisure is available; it requires wealth. This instrumental tie between wealth and high culture occasions a certain embarrassment in a ruthlessly egalitarian society. Common speech, we recall, distinguishes several kinds of professional performance. The main force of the word "professional" points toward a specialized commitment: one professes one line of work rather than another. A "hack" is a fellow who has not really mastered all the skills he needs, or else does not really commit the whole of himself to the skills does possess. A "slick professional," or "operator," or apparatchik is a fellow who has the skills but no larger commitment to the whole reality of the world within which he operates, he is "a gun for hire." We respect his skills, but not the spirit of their use. When we say "real pro," however, we mean that the person has not been distorted by his specialized techniques. We mean that his intelligence and instincts reach out for all the complex, ambiguous, even mysterious elements of the social realities within which he operates. We mean that, both regarding himself and regarding the world of his activities, he maintains a certain realism. He is "in touch." His professionalism is an instrument of his commitment to reality, not a defense against that reality. He is neither an operator, nor a hack, nor a mere specialist. 104 SLOVAKIA Hacks are easy to understand but what is the culture of the operator? We are afflicted with operators in America. As testimony to their "cultivation," they may take homemovies, or become amateur photographers, or be buffs of considerable artistic skill in one field or another. They may attend concerts or go to all the arty flicks. They may be articulate and even, in some sense, well and broadly educated. Yet there is a sense in which, used in this context, the word "culture" gives off a tinny ring. No doubt anthropologists should study their "culture," too; in a perfectly neutral scene, they represent a "state of mind," a "way of life," as surely as do primitive tribes in New Guinea. But in some way they are rootless, rudderless, without depth. They have made themselves rather into instruments than into ends. The phrase "new barbarians" points to their shallowness. It suggests that smooth, civil persons, persons of considerable education and articulateness, are somehow empty and lacking. Empty of what? Lacking what? No tradition, it seems, lives in them; no long-range, virtually unchangeable, perennial values guide them; their moral universe is without a center; no passionate inwardness directs them. They are, in a sense, larger than David Riesman intended, "other-directed." Success, power, expertise - their guides are extrinsic, changeable, consulted for the short term. The social realities of our "temporary society" do not discourage the flexibility such men exemplify. The state, as Plato says, is man writ large; so men are often their society writ small. Operators, then, are quintessentially American; their role has been mythically established in Huck Finn and in Melville's The Confidence Man. They are outsiders, from the city (or the university), traveling salesmen, "experts." But what about the local cultures, those millions who admire and understand "the old pros" but dislike operators? When Senator Sam Ervin quotes the Bible and Shakespeare, he makes reverberate a network of trustworthy and illuminating traditions. He plays on symbolic strings that have shaped the consciousness of perhaps eightly million Americans. Many, indeed, find the language of a "country lawyer" a good deal more persuasive than the language of the new professionals. Many, indeed, can scarcely discriminate among the several languages of the new professionals. To SLOVAKIA 105 them, they are all the same: the smooth articulateness of John Dean and Gary Hart, of David Brinkley and Professor Galbraith, of Doctor Kildare and Doctor Spock, of Jeb Stuart Magruder and William Coffin. Often today ideology does not divide people (liberal versus conservative) so much as cultural style does. The old pros remain connected to the symbolic worlds of this nation's many diverse cultures; the operators leave and "do not go home again." Region, ethnicity, religion, race and other cultural factors shape symbolic consciousness in different ways. The Irish of Boston are not exactly like those of Minnesota or Texas; contrasts among John Kennedy, Eugene McCarthy, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Daley and John Connally suggest several of the most significant Irish traditions in the nation. Both George McGovern and George Wallace spring from fundamentalist Scotch-Irish traditions, but in regions whose history has been profoundly different. The symbolic worlds within which they speak set off intense but opposite vibrations. Of the French-Canadians of New Hampshire and Maine; the Appalachians of West Virginia and Kentucky, the poor whites of Alabama and the Florida Panhandle; the AngloAmericans of Wyoming and Idaho; the Oregonians; the Mormons of Utah; the Slavic farmers of Illinois and Nebraska, contrasted with the Slavic miners and millworkers of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan; the Italians contrasted with the upper-class and the lower-class Jews of New York City; the Anglo-American Protestants who supported George Wallace in the 1968 Indiana primary in proportions far heavier than did German-American Protestants of similar economic class - of such diverse and crisscross variety is this nation composed. Among blacks, there are differences depending on origins in Africa: on the generations of colonial experience whether in the West Indies, or rural Mississippi, or the cities of the South; and on length of time in the urban North. The Spanish-speaking population of Miami, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Antonio and Albuquerque are significantly different. The experiences of Oriental Americans - including, without benefit of "Protestant ethic," their astonishing capacity for work and for success - are better admitted into consciousness if one approaches 106 SLOVAKIA American pluralism from Hawaii and California, than from Boston and New York. The variety of cultural worlds in the United States is a powerful, subterranean influence in our national life. It remains subterranean because it is often repressed, as thought it were something "dirty," disfunctional, and doomed to disappear. In its place, a "national" ideology has been created, divided into three parts. First, there is the ideology of "the American way of life," popular, patriotic, capitalistic, chauvinistic. Second, there is the ideology of the mobile, educated, "committed," professional classes what one writer has called "the ideocracy." Third, there is the ideology of the neutral, meritocratic, incommitted, objective professional classes, neither conservative nor liberal, but comfortably in charge. All three of these ideologies, for their own various purposes, try to eliminate cultural diversity. Each carries with it its own ethnic and regional biases. Some, for example, make provision for black, Hispanic and Indian diversity - and, pressed a little, perhaps, they might expand the list. But the terms of their analyses do not give cultural diversity the prominence reality demands. It is true, we have seen, that there is a "common culture" in the West, a set of achievements that represents the most profound insights, wrested from suffering, that Western peoples for some five millennia have attained. But it is not true that even highly educated people in any part of the West are well versed in all the subtraditions of this "common culture." A young Italian from New Jersey who attends the University of Notre Dame will have as part of the furniture of his mind and sensibility materials that the young Jew from Brooklyn who attends City College of New York will not share, and vice versa. When I compare, for example, my years of reading in St. Augustine, St. Bernard, Thomas Aquinas, Cardinal Newman and others, my virtual neglect of Marx, and my dislike of Enlightenment writers like Kant and Mill, with the reading patterns exhibited by, say, Irving Howe, it is vividly clear to me that American intellectual life is profoundly diverse. So it is also with Protestant colleagues of mine in philosophy and religious studies who respond in significantly different ways to materials we jointly consider. Other colleagues have SLOVAKIA 107 interests and training in the sciences or social sciences; their symbolic world is, again, quite different from mine. "Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? What is your religious and ethnic background? What do these mean to you?" These are important questions, not for purpose of stereotyping, but for intelligent and sensitive perception. In order to come to learn and to appreciate the cultural background within which the words of others gain their full and familiar meaning, we must be able to answer such questions. What we have most to gain from each other is generated by our mutual differences. The different horizon, standpoint and way of perceiving we each bring to our common world are instruments of spiritual wealth. Consider the following propositions: 1. There is a common Western culture of high intellectual and humanizing potency, instructing all who journey into it in inexhaustible wisdom, insight and spiritual depth. 2. This common culture is composed of many related but divergent traditions, and no one can master all of them. 3. Beyond the boundaries of Western culture, there are also other "common cultures" of great complexity and diversity. In some of these non-Western riches, westerners are also beginning to share in ways both superficial and serious. 4. In higher education and in museums and other instrumentalities of culture in the United States, Protestant traditions within the common culture have been favored over Catholic and Jewish traditions. English literature and philosophy have been favored over Continental literatures and philosophies. Post-Enlightenment materials have virtually driven pre-Enlightenment materials from the field. Agnostic or atheistic materials are favored over religious materials. A rather positivistic ideology of the modern, the progressive and the "factual" has dominated our dictionaries and encyclopedias, as well as our schools, our journalism and our business world. (Dictionaries do not list under "rose" one of its most important cultural meanings: that it is the flower of love, fate and war.) 5. Education is commonly regarded, not as a device for strengthening and benefiting by local, regional, ethnic and religious differences but for "overcoming" them, 108 SLOVAKIA for replacing them with a more or less universal culture. The underlying model for this "universal" ideological outlook is not perfectly neutral as regards those who enter into it. Even if they are of equal talent, some will find cultural models, heroes, texts and materials related to their own cultural background, and others will not. 6. The preferred and most prestigious model for the "high culture" in the United States coincides with the background of our most wealthy and powerful citizens. This model illustrates the history of some, at least, of our major institutions, and partially grounds the dominant language of the land. Hence even though it is biased, it cannot be ignored. Let us attend, first, to proposition 6. Andover, Groton, Milton, Choate and the other prestigious private schools nurture a good part of one major wing of the nation's financial and governmental elites. Yet with every year that passes, in order to understand American reality, students have to go further beyond the limits of Anglo-American traditions. How can one understand Mailer, Malamud, Trilling, Chomsky or Howe without understanding the Jewish traditions of Eastern Europe and America? How can one understand Kennedy, McCarthy or Daley without learning about the Irish experience in America? Will anyone comprehend Detroit without learning about black history in America and Polish history in America - two out of every three citizens of that city being either black or Polish, while virtually all the wealth and power of the city's elites remain Anglo-American and Jewish? Power in America is essentially Anglo-American, hence it is a condition of survival (and of eventual justice) that all the others penetrate the intricacies of the Anglo-American mind. The Yankee pride in "candor," fo example, has generated unique deceptions, especially self-deceptions, whose routes must be painfully traced and plainly marked Yankee appeals to "morality" and leadership" and "integrity" require most careful scrutiny; these are the banners of the most powerful elites. Thus those whose heritage is not Anglo-American, have every right (and duty) both to assimilate all that is good in Anglo-American culture, and to be clear-eyed about what assimilation entails. Two years ago, Irving Howe quoted in these pages SLOVAKIA 109 the argument of Louis Kampf that "initiating the 'underpriviledged' to the cultural treasures of the West could be a form of oppression - a weapon in the hands of those who rule . .. High culture itself ... tends to reinforce the given alignments of powers within the society." Against Kampf, Howe is able to quote Trotsky: "Mastery of the art of the past is ... a necessary precondition not only for the creation of new art but also for the building of a new society . . . If we were groundlessly to repudiate the art of the past, we should at once become poorer spiritually." Cultural backwardness is not required for political advance. And yet, what is meant by "backwardness"? In order to be fully moral man must one be a professor, or at minimum a college graduate? Is it necessary to have read many books? "Man is not saved by dialectics," a Christian aphorism insists. The simple, too, have their own precious wisdom and the learned their patent foolishness. It is not necessary to romanticize either side in order to recognize that there are analogies between the life stories of the uneducated and those of the college trained. A democracy needs an early discernment system, to spot young persons of talent in every social condition. But it also needs a way to encourage young persons of talent to remain (if they so wish) in living contact with their own roots. They should encouraged not to be parochial, and yet to be rooted. Neither our egalitarians nor our meritocrats, it seems, have a sufficiently cultural perspective; both proceed somewhat atomically, somewhat mechanically. According to egalitarian sentimentality, any student admitted to college through "open admissions" has within him the makings of a student. According to meritocratic arrogance, each student should be judged according to his own performance. The egalitarian forgets that a university is an institution not all citizens are graced with the talent to appreciate; perhaps not one person in ten ought to be admitted to a genuine university. The meritocrat forgets that persons are not individuals merely but also creatures of culture, and that the institutions of high culture in the United States are inequitably and inhumanely ethnocentric. When as a young Slovak-American I read ( with eagerness and delight) "English literature," I learned as well 110 SLOVAKIA a latent message: "These are the kinds of people literature is about; not about families like yours, feeling like yours, dilemmas like yours." Literature was not (except by analogy) about myself; it was about those fascinating, foreign "others." In our part of town, when I was very young, we called them "the Americans." (With less than accurate perception, we included the Irish among "the Americans." We seldom dealt directly with Anglo-Americans.) The heart of the matter comes down to this. There are three main locations of culture. The actual ways of life of ordinary people, in their diverse, loose and permeable communities are one location. The humanities are, in this sense, not primarily what is written down in books, or celebrated in works of art, but what is lived. Those relatively few artists, scholars and critical persons in whom a genuinely high culture is alive are a second location. The swarming army of professionals, highly educated but not necessarily in tune with the high traditions of the past, are a third location. Among these new professionals are many who call themselves humanists . Each of these groups is to be taken seriously. Each enhances our own identity. We need, in America, a public and popular humanities - a pluralism of stories, myths, accurate histories, detailed studies that touch our various peopl8 in all their variety. As a boy, I wish I had learned of the exploits of Janosik as well as of Robin Hood, and had been taught in public and parochial school of the democratic traditions of the early Slovak tribes. I wish I had learned that, after the origins of feudalism, my ancestors endured a thousand-year struggle against oppression that is not yet complete. I wish I had learned officially and fully of the bitter deaths of so many of my countrymen in the mills and mines and strikes of Pennsylvania. (The murder of the Jablonski.s of the United Mine Workers is a recent episode in a hundredyear war.) My sense of injustice and untruth in America would have come earlier than it did. I would have learned earlier both a tragic sense of life and fierce desire to remedy injustice. I would have had a way to discern what made me culturally different, and what my peculiar contribution might have been. I would have had personal parallels by which to judge more accurately what America had done to the Indians, blacks and others in Amei:ica. (What was SLOVAKIA 111 I doing, cheering for Custer in They Died with Their Boots On?) We also need, of course, a high culture. We need continuity with the visions and sources of judgment upon us that derive from the great spiritual achievements of our past. In many American towns, counties and cities, one family or a small number of families controls the politics, economics and media of communication. Against their vulgar power, the arts and critical skills of the high culture are as powerful a threat as human beings have. Indeed even our highest national elites, our best and our brightest, suffer embarrassment compared to the best our race has seen before. I recognize that our elites sometimes use "taste" and "culture" as weapon of intimidation, which only proves their own vulgarity. The proof that a person has attained a genuine high culture in his unselfconscious respect for the moral analogies between his life and those of others. Portrayed in myth and narrative as the nobleman at home with peasants, the saint with sinners, the learned doctor with children and the ignorant, the political leader sharing his people's crusts of bread, this is the excellence by which our culture measures us. It is not exactly an egalitarian standard, for differences of station and talent are not blurred, but it is, at least, a standard of fraternity, and of the human spirit's radical equality in the eyes of God. Finally, we need the professionals. It is true that concerning the large and important issues, they are almost always wrong. But this is exactly what we should expect; it is their profession to attend scrupulously to a part of the whole; they almost necessarily distort. Yet specialization is no cause for excommunication. Professionals are our brothers, too. We need their powerful skills. One could wish that more of them would turn their skills toward many neglected problems. To mention but one: toward the history and culture of each of the diverse peoples of the United States. Toward an accurate history of our actual pluralism. '' From 1896 to 1908, 508 Slovaks were arrested and convicted for using the Slovak language in public. (Reprinted from The American Scholar, Volume 43, Number 1, Winter, 1973-74. Copyright 1973 by the United Chapters of Phi Beta Kappa. By permission of the publishers.)  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 One Species, Many Cultures Description An account of the resource Michael Novak Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 96-111 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Novak, Michael, 1933-2017 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/efdd0fb781b17d3de5567c2e9c360e4f.pdf 2b61d04f355f3bfeebd984321c4e80f0 PDF Text Text 84 SLOVAKIA Slovak Heritage By Michael O'P a k e, Esq. There were only three of us on deck that cold, foggy morning-Joseph, Stephen and I. On the distant horizon we could percive the faint outline of a women, standing like a sentinel in the middle of New York harbor. As we drew closer, her haunting voice seemed to penetrate the very depths of our souls and even brought tears to the eyes of my Slovak friends: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me." I watched Joseph who had been hungry and persecuted, brainwashed and forced by the party to sell his soul for the "glorious revolution of the proletariat." I followed Stephen who, untouched by freedom, had not been able to voice his own opinion or never able to worship his God. I thought of the other millions of enslaved human-beings, drifting helplessly on the sea of uncertainty, brutality, and prejudice-starvin g for a taste of freedom. I wondered what the Statue of Liberty thought when Joseph, in a voice choked up joy, said to her: "I wonder what it's like to be free." Yes, I learned a lesson that morning. We, the youth of America, as well as you . . . and you . . . and you-take freedom for granted. Little do we realize that it was bought with and protected by a precious coin-the blood spilled by the Joes and Jims at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, at the Marne and on Heartbreak Ridge. Because these men died, we are free to live-to talk, laugh, and pray freedom. Freedom is a process-it must be handled and practiced in order to be known and loved. If freedom were taken away from American, then would we truly appreciate what a precious heritage that freedom is. Perhaps, then, fathers would be thankful that every man's home is his castle where he reigns king. Maybe mothers would appreciate being free to pray and equally important, to teach little Johnny or Susie the Our Father, the Hail Mary or a Psalm. Perhaps then and only then would 167 million Americans wake up! Then would they realize that their God- �SLOVAKIA 85 given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could be snatched away and buried on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Perhaps then would all of the grumblers and ·groaners; who praise every century but their own, every country but this, realize that America is a synonym for freedom. , But what are you doing to prevent that dreadful daythe day when America could become freedomless? Oh, you_ celebrate every 4th of July with a picnic and fireworks-you pay your taxes because it's getting harder and harder to cheat -you skip casting your ballot on election day because "it's such a bother" -you separate the black-skinned from the, white in your segregated schools. Is this the way to safeguard our most precious heritage? Is this the way the people of America are answering the little boy's question? The Statue of Liberty, in all her pomp and glory, couldn't answer but we Americans can. What would you say to Joseph if he should. ask you: "I wonder what it's like to be free?" That story, or speech, was written by me in 1956--while still in high school. The thoughts are as valid today as they were 17 years ago but today in 1973-all of us as free proud Slovaks here in America- should be asking ourselves some · additional questions. The freedom and independence and religious liberty which we cherish and about which our ancestors in the old country dreamed-what are we doing to make it a realityin an independent Slovakia? A peaceful and independent Slovakia should be the goal of each and every one of us. One enemy of that goal is Communism. The raucous rumble of the Russian tanks and the screams of the innocent victims of Communist tyranny sinking into pools of their own blood were heard not too long ago in Eastern Europe. The presence and fear are still there. Communism lays its eggs in poverty, feeds on filth, grows in hatred and ignorance and then rears its ugly head for all the world to see. Communism is no idle economic theory for intellectuals to debate. It is a real scourge that saps the lifeblood of a people and subjugates them. It is godless, but it is a powerful religion. It makes machines out of men but they carry out their orders. Communism has threatened to bury us. What is your answer? �86 SLOVAKIA Communism, be it Russian, Chinese or Nationalistic, has always feared religion. That's why it's so important that your efforts to establish Slovakia as an independent religious province be successful. And now is the time. I urge you, Catholics as well as Lutheran and Greek Catholic leaders-to implore the Vatican to recognize now that Slovakia deserves its own cardinal, arehbishops and independent r,eligious ex,istence. I commend you for your efforts in this direction and ask you-are you doing enough? A letter once a year may not convey the sense of urgency and support that thousands of frequent letters from individuals and organizations and maybe even a personal audience. The second question I would like you to ponder-are you satisfied with the moral and political and social climate here in America? Look around you. What do you see? Materialism? This is a more subtle, more insidious growth. Like a cancer, it eats from within to weaken the body of our society. The moral fiber of our nation is slowly taking on the texture of the shiny synthetic creation called pleasure. "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think." "What counts is a good time." These are the slogans being peddled by today's hucksters of materialism as they count their 30 pieces of silver. Our sense of values is being warped and we're too busy enjoying ourselves to care. Is it any wonder that youth seeks its thrills on the streets when parents are never home either? It is a surprise that marriages don't work when the concept of love has been stripped of its dignity and transformed into lust? Is the business world bribe or political pay-off unusual when a "full day's work for a full day's pay" is a thing of the past? Materialism takes many forms as it gradually weakens our spiritual values. One of the bulwarks against that erosion of values is the unity of the family-a trait so characteristic of the Slovak heritage. Love and closeness of family. We have much to give to America. What else do you see? A third dangerous enemy closely linked to materialism is complacency. "Why bother?" This is the tranquilizer that soothes our minds when a difficult task or problem presents itself. You've heard it many times''Why work harder than you have to, nobody else does?" �SLOVAKIA 87 "Why get involved in politics, it's a crooked game?" And so it goes. The most powerful and most comfortable nation in the world is content to grow fat and soft. The industriousness, the willingness, the pride in work of the Slovak is well-known and respected. But how about the political involvement? Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied that there is no Slovak governor in the entire United States? Are you satisfied that there are so few Slovak Congressmen and Senators? While the Slovaks were busy building churches, the Irish were building political organizations. We can learn a lesson. What else do you see? Another dangerous enemy is lawlessness. People get shook and disgusted ever so often when a national tragedy strikes. As though seared with a burning iron, our minds react and we feel sorry for ourselves-for awhile. But why does it take an assassins bullet to pierce our consciences. The disrespect for law which causes national tragedy starts with small things-with you and me- cheating at school, in the car, at parties, then it's robberies, assaults, drugs, rapes, murders. Draft cards are burned, the American Flag is desecreated, students riot and abuse lawful authority, and then withdraw from all this ugly reality with LSD, the pot party, the trip. God and country have given us law-for the good of us all. Let us respect it and be constructive in changing man's law when needed. No problems are solved by merely being against. Ask not, "Can I get away with it?" ask, "Is this right or wrong?" One way to combat this tide of lawnessness is to channel your energy into active involvement in organizing Slovak organizations, societies and clubs. Are you satisfied with the activities of all of our organizations? Could they be strengthened-by merger, by more youth involvement? These are some of the challenges facing all of us who are interested in freedom for all peoples everywhere. I urge you to do your part right now in achieving that goal. Together we can take the first step that will lead to the goals that all of us hold so dear. (Address given at the Conference of the Slovak League of America, May 19, 1973.) � 84 SLOVAKIA Slovak Heritage By Michael O'P a k e, Esq. There were only three of us on deck that cold, foggy morning-Joseph, Stephen and I. On the distant horizon we could percive the faint outline of a women, standing like a sentinel in the middle of New York harbor. As we drew closer, her haunting voice seemed to penetrate the very depths of our souls and even brought tears to the eyes of my Slovak friends: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me." I watched Joseph who had been hungry and persecuted, brainwashed and forced by the party to sell his soul for the "glorious revolution of the proletariat." I followed Stephen who, untouched by freedom, had not been able to voice his own opinion or never able to worship his God. I thought of the other millions of enslaved human-beings, drifting helplessly on the sea of uncertainty, brutality, and prejudice-starvin g for a taste of freedom. I wondered what the Statue of Liberty thought when Joseph, in a voice choked up joy, said to her: "I wonder what it's like to be free." Yes, I learned a lesson that morning. We, the youth of America, as well as you . . . and you . . . and you-take freedom for granted. Little do we realize that it was bought with and protected by a precious coin-the blood spilled by the Joes and Jims at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, at the Marne and on Heartbreak Ridge. Because these men died, we are free to live-to talk, laugh, and pray freedom. Freedom is a process-it must be handled and practiced in order to be known and loved. If freedom were taken away from American, then would we truly appreciate what a precious heritage that freedom is. Perhaps, then, fathers would be thankful that every man's home is his castle where he reigns king. Maybe mothers would appreciate being free to pray and equally important, to teach little Johnny or Susie the Our Father, the Hail Mary or a Psalm. Perhaps then and only then would 167 million Americans wake up! Then would they realize that their God- �SLOVAKIA 85 given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could be snatched away and buried on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Perhaps then would all of the grumblers and ·groaners; who praise every century but their own, every country but this, realize that America is a synonym for freedom. , But what are you doing to prevent that dreadful daythe day when America could become freedomless? Oh, you_ celebrate every 4th of July with a picnic and fireworks-you pay your taxes because it's getting harder and harder to cheat -you skip casting your ballot on election day because "it's such a bother" -you separate the black-skinned from the, white in your segregated schools. Is this the way to safeguard our most precious heritage? Is this the way the people of America are answering the little boy's question? The Statue of Liberty, in all her pomp and glory, couldn't answer but we Americans can. What would you say to Joseph if he should. ask you: "I wonder what it's like to be free?" That story, or speech, was written by me in 1956--while still in high school. The thoughts are as valid today as they were 17 years ago but today in 1973-all of us as free proud Slovaks here in America- should be asking ourselves some · additional questions. The freedom and independence and religious liberty which we cherish and about which our ancestors in the old country dreamed-what are we doing to make it a realityin an independent Slovakia? A peaceful and independent Slovakia should be the goal of each and every one of us. One enemy of that goal is Communism. The raucous rumble of the Russian tanks and the screams of the innocent victims of Communist tyranny sinking into pools of their own blood were heard not too long ago in Eastern Europe. The presence and fear are still there. Communism lays its eggs in poverty, feeds on filth, grows in hatred and ignorance and then rears its ugly head for all the world to see. Communism is no idle economic theory for intellectuals to debate. It is a real scourge that saps the lifeblood of a people and subjugates them. It is godless, but it is a powerful religion. It makes machines out of men but they carry out their orders. Communism has threatened to bury us. What is your answer? �86 SLOVAKIA Communism, be it Russian, Chinese or Nationalistic, has always feared religion. That's why it's so important that your efforts to establish Slovakia as an independent religious province be successful. And now is the time. I urge you, Catholics as well as Lutheran and Greek Catholic leaders-to implore the Vatican to recognize now that Slovakia deserves its own cardinal, arehbishops and independent r,eligious ex,istence. I commend you for your efforts in this direction and ask you-are you doing enough? A letter once a year may not convey the sense of urgency and support that thousands of frequent letters from individuals and organizations and maybe even a personal audience. The second question I would like you to ponder-are you satisfied with the moral and political and social climate here in America? Look around you. What do you see? Materialism? This is a more subtle, more insidious growth. Like a cancer, it eats from within to weaken the body of our society. The moral fiber of our nation is slowly taking on the texture of the shiny synthetic creation called pleasure. "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think." "What counts is a good time." These are the slogans being peddled by today's hucksters of materialism as they count their 30 pieces of silver. Our sense of values is being warped and we're too busy enjoying ourselves to care. Is it any wonder that youth seeks its thrills on the streets when parents are never home either? It is a surprise that marriages don't work when the concept of love has been stripped of its dignity and transformed into lust? Is the business world bribe or political pay-off unusual when a "full day's work for a full day's pay" is a thing of the past? Materialism takes many forms as it gradually weakens our spiritual values. One of the bulwarks against that erosion of values is the unity of the family-a trait so characteristic of the Slovak heritage. Love and closeness of family. We have much to give to America. What else do you see? A third dangerous enemy closely linked to materialism is complacency. "Why bother?" This is the tranquilizer that soothes our minds when a difficult task or problem presents itself. You've heard it many times''Why work harder than you have to, nobody else does?" �SLOVAKIA 87 "Why get involved in politics, it's a crooked game?" And so it goes. The most powerful and most comfortable nation in the world is content to grow fat and soft. The industriousness, the willingness, the pride in work of the Slovak is well-known and respected. But how about the political involvement? Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied that there is no Slovak governor in the entire United States? Are you satisfied that there are so few Slovak Congressmen and Senators? While the Slovaks were busy building churches, the Irish were building political organizations. We can learn a lesson. What else do you see? Another dangerous enemy is lawlessness. People get shook and disgusted ever so often when a national tragedy strikes. As though seared with a burning iron, our minds react and we feel sorry for ourselves-for awhile. But why does it take an assassins bullet to pierce our consciences. The disrespect for law which causes national tragedy starts with small things-with you and me- cheating at school, in the car, at parties, then it's robberies, assaults, drugs, rapes, murders. Draft cards are burned, the American Flag is desecreated, students riot and abuse lawful authority, and then withdraw from all this ugly reality with LSD, the pot party, the trip. God and country have given us law-for the good of us all. Let us respect it and be constructive in changing man's law when needed. No problems are solved by merely being against. Ask not, "Can I get away with it?" ask, "Is this right or wrong?" One way to combat this tide of lawnessness is to channel your energy into active involvement in organizing Slovak organizations, societies and clubs. Are you satisfied with the activities of all of our organizations? Could they be strengthened-by merger, by more youth involvement? These are some of the challenges facing all of us who are interested in freedom for all peoples everywhere. I urge you to do your part right now in achieving that goal. Together we can take the first step that will lead to the goals that all of us hold so dear. (Address given at the Conference of the Slovak League of America, May 19, 1973.) � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 84 SLOVAKIA Slovak Heritage By Michael O'P a k e, Esq. There were only three of us on deck that cold, foggy morning-Joseph, Stephen and I. On the distant horizon we could percive the faint outline of a women, standing like a sentinel in the middle of New York harbor. As we drew closer, her haunting voice seemed to penetrate the very depths of our souls and even brought tears to the eyes of my Slovak friends: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free; the wretched refuse of your teeming shore; send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me." I watched Joseph who had been hungry and persecuted, brainwashed and forced by the party to sell his soul for the "glorious revolution of the proletariat." I followed Stephen who, untouched by freedom, had not been able to voice his own opinion or never able to worship his God. I thought of the other millions of enslaved human-beings, drifting helplessly on the sea of uncertainty, brutality, and prejudice-starvin g for a taste of freedom. I wondered what the Statue of Liberty thought when Joseph, in a voice choked up joy, said to her: "I wonder what it's like to be free." Yes, I learned a lesson that morning. We, the youth of America, as well as you . . . and you . . . and you-take freedom for granted. Little do we realize that it was bought with and protected by a precious coin-the blood spilled by the Joes and Jims at Bunker Hill, Gettysburg, at the Marne and on Heartbreak Ridge. Because these men died, we are free to live-to talk, laugh, and pray freedom. Freedom is a process-it must be handled and practiced in order to be known and loved. If freedom were taken away from American, then would we truly appreciate what a precious heritage that freedom is. Perhaps, then, fathers would be thankful that every man's home is his castle where he reigns king. Maybe mothers would appreciate being free to pray and equally important, to teach little Johnny or Susie the Our Father, the Hail Mary or a Psalm. Perhaps then and only then would 167 million Americans wake up! Then would they realize that their God- SLOVAKIA 85 given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness could be snatched away and buried on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Perhaps then would all of the grumblers and ·groaners; who praise every century but their own, every country but this, realize that America is a synonym for freedom. , But what are you doing to prevent that dreadful daythe day when America could become freedomless? Oh, you_ celebrate every 4th of July with a picnic and fireworks-you pay your taxes because it's getting harder and harder to cheat -you skip casting your ballot on election day because "it's such a bother" -you separate the black-skinned from the, white in your segregated schools. Is this the way to safeguard our most precious heritage? Is this the way the people of America are answering the little boy's question? The Statue of Liberty, in all her pomp and glory, couldn't answer but we Americans can. What would you say to Joseph if he should. ask you: "I wonder what it's like to be free?" That story, or speech, was written by me in 1956--while still in high school. The thoughts are as valid today as they were 17 years ago but today in 1973-all of us as free proud Slovaks here in America- should be asking ourselves some · additional questions. The freedom and independence and religious liberty which we cherish and about which our ancestors in the old country dreamed-what are we doing to make it a realityin an independent Slovakia? A peaceful and independent Slovakia should be the goal of each and every one of us. One enemy of that goal is Communism. The raucous rumble of the Russian tanks and the screams of the innocent victims of Communist tyranny sinking into pools of their own blood were heard not too long ago in Eastern Europe. The presence and fear are still there. Communism lays its eggs in poverty, feeds on filth, grows in hatred and ignorance and then rears its ugly head for all the world to see. Communism is no idle economic theory for intellectuals to debate. It is a real scourge that saps the lifeblood of a people and subjugates them. It is godless, but it is a powerful religion. It makes machines out of men but they carry out their orders. Communism has threatened to bury us. What is your answer? 86 SLOVAKIA Communism, be it Russian, Chinese or Nationalistic, has always feared religion. That's why it's so important that your efforts to establish Slovakia as an independent religious province be successful. And now is the time. I urge you, Catholics as well as Lutheran and Greek Catholic leaders-to implore the Vatican to recognize now that Slovakia deserves its own cardinal, arehbishops and independent r,eligious ex,istence. I commend you for your efforts in this direction and ask you-are you doing enough? A letter once a year may not convey the sense of urgency and support that thousands of frequent letters from individuals and organizations and maybe even a personal audience. The second question I would like you to ponder-are you satisfied with the moral and political and social climate here in America? Look around you. What do you see? Materialism? This is a more subtle, more insidious growth. Like a cancer, it eats from within to weaken the body of our society. The moral fiber of our nation is slowly taking on the texture of the shiny synthetic creation called pleasure. "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think." "What counts is a good time." These are the slogans being peddled by today's hucksters of materialism as they count their 30 pieces of silver. Our sense of values is being warped and we're too busy enjoying ourselves to care. Is it any wonder that youth seeks its thrills on the streets when parents are never home either? It is a surprise that marriages don't work when the concept of love has been stripped of its dignity and transformed into lust? Is the business world bribe or political pay-off unusual when a "full day's work for a full day's pay" is a thing of the past? Materialism takes many forms as it gradually weakens our spiritual values. One of the bulwarks against that erosion of values is the unity of the family-a trait so characteristic of the Slovak heritage. Love and closeness of family. We have much to give to America. What else do you see? A third dangerous enemy closely linked to materialism is complacency. "Why bother?" This is the tranquilizer that soothes our minds when a difficult task or problem presents itself. You've heard it many times''Why work harder than you have to, nobody else does?" SLOVAKIA 87 "Why get involved in politics, it's a crooked game?" And so it goes. The most powerful and most comfortable nation in the world is content to grow fat and soft. The industriousness, the willingness, the pride in work of the Slovak is well-known and respected. But how about the political involvement? Are you satisfied? Are you satisfied that there is no Slovak governor in the entire United States? Are you satisfied that there are so few Slovak Congressmen and Senators? While the Slovaks were busy building churches, the Irish were building political organizations. We can learn a lesson. What else do you see? Another dangerous enemy is lawlessness. People get shook and disgusted ever so often when a national tragedy strikes. As though seared with a burning iron, our minds react and we feel sorry for ourselves-for awhile. But why does it take an assassins bullet to pierce our consciences. The disrespect for law which causes national tragedy starts with small things-with you and me- cheating at school, in the car, at parties, then it's robberies, assaults, drugs, rapes, murders. Draft cards are burned, the American Flag is desecreated, students riot and abuse lawful authority, and then withdraw from all this ugly reality with LSD, the pot party, the trip. God and country have given us law-for the good of us all. Let us respect it and be constructive in changing man's law when needed. No problems are solved by merely being against. Ask not, "Can I get away with it?" ask, "Is this right or wrong?" One way to combat this tide of lawnessness is to channel your energy into active involvement in organizing Slovak organizations, societies and clubs. Are you satisfied with the activities of all of our organizations? Could they be strengthened-by merger, by more youth involvement? These are some of the challenges facing all of us who are interested in freedom for all peoples everywhere. I urge you to do your part right now in achieving that goal. Together we can take the first step that will lead to the goals that all of us hold so dear. (Address given at the Conference of the Slovak League of America, May 19, 1973.)  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 Heritage Description An account of the resource Michael O'Pake, Esq. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 84-87 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource O'Pake, Michael A., 1940-2010 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/f94875fc8f747e7995fc4eecf1cdeba6.pdf 1b7642a3332fca6d163ffb00092d6b6d PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 67 Jozef Pa u co, Ph.D.: Slovak Pioneers Ln America REVEREND GREGORY VANISCAK, O.S.B. (JULY 24, 1884-JANUARY 15, 1938) Father Furdek's accomplishments in behalf of the Slovak people by organizing the two Jednotas and the Slovak League of America and Father Jankola's achievement of being the founder of the Religious Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pa. were supplemented by Father Vaniscak's founding of the Slovak abbey of the Order of St. Benedict in Cleveland, Ohio. These three men constitute the most glorious trio of Slovak Catholic leaders in America. The future founder of the Slovak Benedictine Abbey of St. Andrew Svorad in Cleveland, Ohio, namely, Jan Vaniscak, came to the United States as a 16-year old youth from the village of Lemesany, saris district, Slovakia, to join his brother, Andrew, in the city of Johnstown, Pa. Three years later through the efforts of Rev. Jan Martvo:n, pastor of St. Stephen's Slovak parish there, and Father Matus Jankola, Jan Vaniscak was enrolled at St. Procopius Benedictine College in Lisle, Illinois. As a zealous student and a pious, warm-hearted youth he became a leader among the Slovak students at Lisle. Under his guidance and inspiration several of his colleagues became attracted to the Benedictine way of life and soon shared his vision of establishing a Slovak Benedictine monastery. Foremost among these were the following: Francis Gmuca, destined to become the first abbot of the future St. Andrew's Abbey, his name in the Benedictine Order was Stanislaus; Father George (Stephen) Luba, who became the first principal of the new Benedictine High School in 1927 at St. Andrew's Priory, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue; Father Celestine Drexler, who did pioneer pastoral work for the new community; Father Leo Rehak, pastor of St. Benedict's parish in Cleveland for many years; Father Ivan Kramoris, principal at Benedictine High School and editor of the zenska Jednota semi-monthly publication �68 SLOVAKIA for a number of years; Father Charles Florek, who succeeded Father Gregory as pastor of St. Michael's in Chicago. These were the charter members of the Abbey. Father Gregory (his name in the Religious Order of St. Benedict) Vaniscak was ordained on June 6, 1914, and offered up his first solemn Mass in St. Stephen's Church, Johnstown, Pa. on June 14, 1914. He was immediately appointed pastor of the large flourishing Slovak parish of St. Michael's in Chicago. During his pastorate of approximately 15 years Father Gregory built a new school, a convent for the school sisters and a parsonage. The parish soon became a leading Slovak religious, cultural and national center in the heart of South Chicago. While at St. Procopius College and Seminary Father Gregory established life-long friendship with the following future priests: Father Malinak, Msgr. Hrtanek, Msgr. Kocis, Father Krispinsky, Msgr. Begalla, Msgr. Hamrak, Father Barlok, Father Banik, Father Fecko, also with outstanding lay leaders, among them Adam Podkrivacky, Julius Badzik and Philip Hrobak. Father Gregory's dream of having a Slovak Benedictine monastery was realized when he was elected conventual prior of St. Andrew's Priory in Cleveland, Ohio in the fall of 1929. The ground had been laid for the new foundation in February of 1922 when a dependent priory was established at St. Andrew's parish, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue by Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, 0. S. B. and the monastic Chapter at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois. Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B., assistant to Father Gregory at St. Michael's parish in Chicago, was appointed prior of the fledging community in Cleveland at St. Andrew's dependent priory. Moreover, in the fall of 1927 Father George Luba, the newly-appointed principal of the Benedictine High School, welcomed a Freshman class of 27 boys to the new school at the priory. Two years later both the priory and school were moved to the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road and East Boulevard. Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. transferred to St. Andrew's Abbey from St. Vincent's Archabbey in the late 1920's. The new monastic nucleus added the following clerical candidates : Frs. Wendelin Kravec, Michael Jasko, Gilbert Stopko, Sylvester Prise and John Zeman, O.S.B. At this time, too, �SLOVAKIA 69 the monastic community was increased by Brothers Method Tokarcik, Nicholas Pekar, Martin Seckar, Florian Halcin and Victor Repon, as well as by clerics at the beginning of the 1930's: Fratres Theodore Kojis, Daniel Novak, Joseph Bue, Stephen Sramek, Andrew Pier, Anthony Bachleda, Benedict Dobrancin, Paul Taracko. This was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Father Gregory's life-long dream, for he envisioned a college, a seminary and eventually a university. Although this rather grandiose dream was not to become a reality, nevertheless, the priory was elevated to the status of an abbey by the Holy See in 1934 and the 13-member chapter of St. Andrew's Priory (now with abbatial rank) was entitled to vote for its first abbot. Accordingly, on August 8, 1934, Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was elected. The many activities of Father Gregory exacted their toll and, as an inevitable consequence, his health began to fail noticeably after the election of the first abbot. Nevertheless, he accepted the position of pastor at St. Andrew's parish where he continued to fulfill his pastoral duties faithfully until he succumbed to a fatal heart attack on January 15, 1938. Thus at the age of 53 the life of an inspiring Slovak Benedictine monk came to a sudden end. Father Gregory's writings remain as an immortal legacy of his cultural and religious endeavors, namely, the many articles in the Ave Maria magazine which he edited for several years, his translation of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict and a brief life history of the Patriarch of the West, his Holy Name Manuel, the Way of the Cross, a Catechism and his Slovak grammar, and many articles that appeared in Slovak periodicals throughout the country. During World War I Father Gregory was in the forefront of the struggle for the liberation of the Slovak nation from Magyar rule. When the Slovaks joined the Czechs in forming Czecho-Slovakia, he refused to accept a medal from the new state because the government in Prague failed to live up to the promise of self-government in Slovakia. Michael Bosak, Sr., a leading American Slovak banker and patriot and intimate friend of Father Gregory's, also refused the proffered honor for meritorious service in behalf of the liberation of the Slovaks from foreign rule. �70 SLOVAKIA Slovaks everywhere mourned the death of Father Gregory Vaniscak, a foremost Slovak Benedictine in America, the founder of St. Andrew Svorad Abbey in Cleveland, an indefatigable worker, a zealous priest, a great Slovak patriot and a faithful servant of the Lord in His wineyard who labored perseveringly until the end for God, our Country and the Slovak nation under God. SOURCES Slovenske relwle v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America), Fr. Hrusovsky, Ph.D., Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. Dve sviite hodiny (Two Holy Hours ), Jednota, February 2, 1938 by Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. Slovensky samostatny priorcit (The Slovak Independent Priory), Jednota kalendar, 1931, by Rev. Gregor K.Vaniscak, O.S.B. Rehor K. Vanisccik, O.S.B. (Tribute in the Jednota kalendar, 1931). Several eye-witnesses of the events recorded, also first-hand account of all Benedictine personalities mentioned from persons who knew them personally. FATHER JOSEPH J. DUL1K (SEPTEMBER 10, 1884-AUGUST 26, 1936) As I look over the list of accomplishments of our Slovak pioneer priests, I invariably say to myself: "All deserved to be honored highly for innumerable religious and cultural contributions. But not one of them received due recognition for a lifetime of devoted service and noble endeavor in behalf of our Slovak people." Father f>ulik was one of the most deserving leaders among our Slovak clergy. In a comparatively brief span of life, Father :t.>ulik as a priest accomplished extraordinary services for the Slovak immigrants. An ideal priest, he labored indefatigably with true apostolic zeal for the cause of Christ. He was a veritable lighthouse of faith. His widespread influence among Slovak Catholic organizations inspired them to foster the highest ideals of our national, religious and cultural traditions and yet he vanished from the scene of American Slovak life virtually unknown, except among his own compatriots. A SERVANT OF GOD Father Joseph :t.>ulik was born in Rovne, Trencin district, Slovakia, on September 10, 1884. His parents were Jan and Katarina f>ulik (nee Podkrivacky). After completing his �SLOVAKIA 71 college education in Bratislava, zilina and Nitra he emigrated to the United States in 1904. He was enrolled in the diocesan seminary in Brooklyn, N. Y. where he was ordained five years later, on May 9, 1909. The new priest's first appointment was in an Irish parish, but he was soon given the assignment of organizing the Slovak parish of the Holy Family. In a short while he built a church and a rectory. Here he remained until November 12, 1912, when he was called to St. Michael's parish in Jessup, Pa. Before being transferred on March 1, 1916, to the Holy Ghost Slovak parish in Olyphant, Pa. he built a new school. Father t.>ulik was destined to remain in Olyphant until his untimely death twenty years later. Father !:>ulik's pastorate in Olyphant was marked by the building of a new church, a rectory and a Slovak cultural center-the latter in the renovated old church edifice. The parish under his inspiring leadership became the focal point of Slovak national and cultural activity in the entire area. Olyphant's Slovak community had complete confidence in Father f>ulik who devoted himself wholeheartedly to the spiritual, social and cultural welfare of his people. But his influence soon extended far beyond the confines of his parish, for he became involved in an extensive Slovak Catholic program that affected the destiny of the Slovak nation in America and in its native homeland. Moreover, he promoted a healthy ecumenical spirit in his personal intimate relationship with the Slovaks of the Lutheran faith. 1 A PILLAR IN THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC FEDERATION OF AMERICA At a critical time when it was necessary to maintain a proper perspective of the situation, it was Father t.>ulik's prudent leadership, honest convictions and genuine love for his people that brought him into national focus as a truly great leader in American Slovak life. After the first World War it was his role to win the Slovak Catholics to a pro-Hlinka outlook. In order to mitivate them in this direction Father t.>ulik made a decisive break with a number of organizations that did not share his views. As president of the Slovak Catholic Federation �72 SLOVAKIA he wrote a distinct chapter in the history of the Slovak nation, particularly as it affected his co-religionists. Even before his election as president of the federation, Father t'.>ulik had made his mark in Slovak national life. Had it not been for his initiative and the cooperation of Father Jan Kubasek (Yonkers, N. Y.) in 1919 the American Slovaks might have become sorely disunited. Under the auspices of the Slovak Catholic Federation, Father Anton Gracik was sent to Slovakia to invite a delegation of the Slovak People's Party (led by Andrej Hlinka) for a visit to America. The need for an exchange of views and united action in behalf of Slovak autonomy was a vital necessity because at a decisive stage of the Slovak nation's struggle for freedom the Slovak League of America, for lack of proper leadership, had lost its course and the mass of the American Slovaks was in a quandary. Soon after the coming of the Slovak delegation from overseas the matter was cleared up and the American Slovaks were again marching in the right direction. Father Joseph Rudinsky, a delegate of the Slovak People's Party, convinced the officers of the Slovak Catholic Federation to call a meeting of Slovak clergy and officers of all the Slovak societies in Pittsburgh, Pa. on November 19 and 20, 1919. Father t'.>ulik presided at the priests' meeting on November 19 and it was unanimously decided to support the program for Slovakia's autonomy in the frame-work of the newly-established Republic of CzechoSlovakia.2 The Slovak press throughout America hailed the announcement that was approved the following day by representatives of the various Slovak societies. At the above conference a proposal by Father i'.>ulik that a demand for the immediate release of Father Andrej Hlinka from prison be addressed to President Masaryk and that autonomy be put into effect in Slovakia ( an official paragraph in the Paris Peace Treaty) was adopted unanimously. 3 These measures were adopted at the convention of the Sdruzenie Slovenskych Katolikov ( Slovak Catholic Federation) on December 18, 1919, in Scranton, Pa. and Father t'.>ulik was elected president.4 On January 14, 1920, Father i'.>ulik called an executive meeting of the federation which voted 100,000 crowns to Andrej Hlinka, decided to issue a commemorative stamp �SLOVAKIA 73 in his honor and added a sum of $5,000 for Catholic action in Slovakia. Father Joseph Rudinsky, and Joseph Kubala, the two delegates from Slovakia, were assured that the federation was completely in accord with the Hlinka movement for autonomy, and, as if to confirm this policy, they were named to the positions of organizer and assistant secretary of the Slovak Catholic Federation.5 Under Father !>ulik's leadership a nationwide newspaper campaign was inaugurated to demand the acceptance and ratification of the Pittsburgh Pact in Czecho-Slovakia. The Memorandum adopted by the central executive committee of the federation on April 7, 1920, was sent to the Slovak leaders in Slovakia. An outline of the reasons for insisting that the Pittsburgh Pact be adopted officially by the new government of Czecho-Slovakia was attached to the Memorandum that called attention to the fact that President Masaryk had personally signed the document guaranteeing Slovak autonomy. Moreover, a supplementary denial of any agreement with irridentist Magyar elements accompanied the Memorandum. Father !>ulik's signature to the document proved beyond a doubt that he was a dedicated patriot of the Slovak nation.6 Twenty thousand members in 189 assemblies throughout the United States were enrolled as members in less than a year before the Slovak Catholic Federation held its convention on October 13 and 14 in Chicago in 1920.7 Demands for Slovakia's autonomy were reiterated at t his convention in Chicago.8 Father f>ulik, spokesman for t he delegates representing the majority of the Slovaks in America, declared that failure to grant autonomy to the Slovak nation would make President Masaryk and his cohorts a laughing-stock before the whole world. 9 SUPREME CHAPLAIN OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION (JEDNOTA) Outstanding personalities in the early pioneer days built First Catholic Slovak Union on strong foundations . Father !>ulik was one of the foremost leaders of the era, closely behind in influence to Fathers Furdek and Jankola. As the last of the remarkable trio in the first quarter of �74 SLOVAKIA the 20th century, his was a highly influential career in both our national and fraternal life as one of our greatest Jednota leaders who served the society and our common cause with distinction and honor until the end of his life. Jednota's 22nd national convention in Scranton, Pa. in 1926 saw the emergence of a new set of leaders, among them John Sabol who was destined to serve as supreme secretary for four decades. Andrej Hlinka was the guest of honor at this convention that elected him as Jednota's honorary supreme chaplain for life. It was a great moment for the Slovaks in America, and for Slovaks everywhere. The great champion of Slovak liberty was given a standing ovation after a special proclamation, expressing gratitude to him for his sacrifices in behalf of the Slovak nation, was read, and assurances were given that the Jednota stood behind him 100 % in the struggle to win Slovak national freedom and self-governing statehood according to the Pittsburgh Pact. At the same convention the Jednota delegates elected Father t:>ulik as the supreme chaplain, as if to place him alongside Hlinka upon whom they had conferred the honorary title of chaplain for life. 10 Recognized as a veritable golden link between the old and young, Father Dulik was re-elected at the New York convention in 1928 11 and again at the Detroit convention in 1931.12 Much more can be said of Father Dulik than merely to note that he had been elected and re-elected as supreme chaplain several times. His influence in both the Jednota and the Slovak Catholic Federation left an indelible mark on both organizations in which his official priestly office and dignity, moral power and love of the Slovak nation and American patriotism proved to be unmistakably great assets for unquestioned leadership in his time. At a critical stage in the history of the Slovaks in America whose influence was felt in their native homeland across the Atlantic, when it was somewhat popular to downgrade the Church and religion in general, the Jednota was the bulwark of the Faith of our Fathers. When Magyar chauvinists stopped at nothing to destroy the Slovak national spirit, it was the Jednota that provided the resources and the power to withstand the assaults of these foes of �SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak freedom, foes who unfortunately sometimes found recruits for their ranks among ambitious or naive Slovaks themselves! Jednota leaders were not content to merely maintam a defensive position. They launched an effective offensive to rout the enemy and establish the natural right of the Slovak nation to its own democratic self-government in line with the Wilsonian principle of 'self-determinatio n for all nations.' Historically, it must be registered that the Jednota, from the highest officer to the last member, met the challenge of both the ancient and modern foes of Slovak freedom and helped immeasurably to liberate the Slovaks from Magyar rule in Hungary.13 Moral values for Father nulik rated an A-1 priority. Thus, the Jednota for him was a vital factor in Catholic action, and, thank God, under the truly Christian-inspired leadership of such leaders as Father Dulik the Jednota can rightfully and proudly claim that its policies have been guided by spiritual motives rather than material interests that are too often motivated by mere expediency. "Unique is the proper world to describe the total achievements of the Jednota, for it is undoubtedly great to have an organization with many thousands of members, to have a rich treasury, to have order and discipline, all of which have to a greater or less extent, as a matter of fact, but it is a far greater asset to cherish and foster our ancient Christian faith and traditions and to excel in moral virtue that contributed far more to our society in America than mere material wealth. I re-affirm unequivocally that the millions we have given out in benefits and that we shall distribute in the future cannot equal in value the spiritual benefits that have accrued to our members, Slovak nation and America directly as fruits of Jednota leadership in the past decades." 14 Father Dulik was fully aware of the vita! role of the Jednota, but he realized, too, that its work ultimately depended upon human beings. He always gave his full support, therefore, to his colleagues. His friendship with Joseph Husek, a noted journalist, was particularly strong and effective among the American Slovaks. These two complemented each other in the struggle for unity among �76 SLOVAKIA American Slovaks. This was an important and decisive factor when a number of Slovak priests organized opposition to Rusek. Father Dulik did not hesitate to side with his friend against a number of clerical opponents who attacked Rusek on the question of Slovak national freedom. 15 Husek's talents as editor Father nulik rightfully assessed and appreciated. Moreover, he did not doubt his sincerity, for he regarded Rusek as a true successor of Stefan Furdek in whose footsteps he followed to work in the true interests of the Jednota and the Slovak people. 16 Father nulik, unfortunately, became a victim of circumstances that seem to have plagued all of our great Slovak figures of the time. He suddenly lost his popularity at the very height of his brilliant career. A background to this ironical development is found in the minutes of the First Catholic Slovak Union. There we find a long list of intrigues and prejudices levelled against his person, as he himself outlined before his resignation at the annual executive meeting in 1933.17 Suddenly and unexpectedly a forceful personality was removed from the ranks of the Jednota. Father nulik's vision and dynamic energy were lost with his departure from the office of supreme chaplain. IN RETROSPECT: THE 1928 CONVENTION One of Father Dulik's proposals at the executive meeting in 1928, namely, to have a junior membership convention was immediately endorsed and the first such meeting was held at the Jednota Home in Middletown, Pa. in the summer of that very same year. A total of 170 delegates and more than 2,000 guests convened for this general assembly of our junior membership. As might be expected, the Man of the Hour was Father nulik. In his keynote address he called upon the entire assembly to foster the Slovak language, to cherish the ideals of the Slovak nation and to preserve our ancient national heritage of faith and freedom under God. 18 Hailed throughout the country in Slovak circles and publicized by the Slovak press, Father nulik's program stimulated such interest that the supreme chaplain was invited to speak at a series of programs in various parts of the country. He travelled extensively and created interest �SLOVAKIA 77 everywhere in the common cause of our fraternal and national destiny as true sons of the land of our Slovak forefathers. 19 TREASURER OF THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE Slovak priests and laity, as a general rule, from the very beginning worked together in harmony in this country, and that included cooperation in cultural and national affairs. In the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute, for example, under the presidency of the genial Michael Bosak, Sr. the office of secretary was ably filled by the aggressive Joseph Husek, and the treasurer's post was entrusted to the highly respected Father i'.>ulik. This unusual trio did an excellent job of collecting a substantial sum of several hundred thousand dollars despite adverse economic conditions in the country. A nationwide appeal by Father f>ulik aroused the interest of his fellow Slovaks who contributed generously to the project of higher education. A number of American bishops not only endorsed the campaign in their dioceses but contributed financially, too.20 Michael Bosak's generosity and Father f>ulik's personality were a happy combination that won generous support among the clergy and laity. The Slovak press supported the campaign that enabled the Slovak Sisters of St. Cyril and Methodius to build a beautiful new Academy for girls in Danville, Pa. and the Slovak Benedictines to purchase a suitable site for their boys' Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Father f>ulik in a brief span of time between two World Wars was a dynamic force in stimulating an active and vigorous interest in the preservation of the Slovak spirit and the enrichment of Slovak culture in America, as well as a tremendous growth of our Slovak fraternal organizations. A TRAGIC ENDING Father Joseph i'.>ulik's life came to a tragic end when he was drawned accidentally while on a routine fishing trip on the Delaware River on August 26, 1936. Although Father f>ulik's life was comparatively brief, �78 SLOVAKIA his highly concentrated energies were instrumental in successfully promoting the highest traditions of Slovak freedom, culture and faith that became intimately interwoven into a beautiful fabric of American Slovak life that bears the unique imprint of his indomitable character and skillful workmanship. Perhaps more than any single individual in the history of the Slovaks in America Father Dulik's influence brought out the primeval elements of our national Slovak Christian heritage, namely, an indestructible faith in God and His Church, an all consuming love of his Slovak brethren and a passionate aspiration for Slovak national freedom, as well as profound appreciation of the richness of our Slovak language, literature and culture. Translated by Andrew Pier, O.S.B. FOOTNOTES 1) "Rev. J. J. 1'.>ulik 20 rokov knazom" (Rev J . J. Dulik 20 years a priest). Slovak v Amerike, June 6, 1929, p. 2. 2) "Za krest'anske a autonomne Slovensko" (For a Christian and autonomous Slovakia). Jednota, November 26, 1919, p. 4. 3) "Uradna zprava schodze katolickych duchovnych a zastupcov kat. organizacil odbyvana dna 19. a 20. novembra 19-19 v Pittsburgh, Pa." ( Official report of the meeting of Catholic clergy and representatives of Catholic organizations on November 19 and 20, 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jednota, December 3, 1919, p. 5. Signed by Father !>ullk and A. Pirhalla. 4) "Podrobnosti z konvencie Sdruzenia Slov. Katolikov" (From the report of the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation ), Jednota, November 24, 1919, p. 1. 5) "Vaznejsie uznesenia Sdruz. SI. Katolikov (More important proceedings of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, January 28, 1920, p. 1. 6) The complete text of the Memorandum in the Jednota of May 26, 1920, p. 5. Signatures of Fr. Jozef !>ulik, president, Fr. Stefan Kocis, secretary and Jozef Husek, member of the executive committee. 7) "Konvencia Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 1. Reports from the convention confirmed Fr. !>ulik's principle expressed when he was elected president: "I am not a friend of programmed speeches, or articles. I prefer to do more than I promise." "Sdruzenie Katolikov," Jednota, January 7, 1920, p. 1. Father Klemo Hrtanek was elected president in Chicago. 8) Quote: "The Slovak Catholic Federation today is in favor of autonomous Slovakia and it will continue to support Slovak autonomy �SLOVAKIA 79 until the flag of Slovak autonomy waves above the Tatras in the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." ... Rev. G. K. Vaniscak, O.S.B., "Po konvencii Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (After the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 4. 9) "Rev. Moysovi, " Jednota, March 13, 1920, p. 4. 10) Report of his election in the Minutes of the 22nd Convention of the Jednota (First Catholic Slovak Union), p. 254. Data in the minutes about the presence and election of Msgr. Andrej ffiinka. 11 ) Minutes from the 23rd Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 288. 12) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the Jednota, p . 540. 13) "40 rokov" (40 Years) , Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 14) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 17. 15) Matter pertaining to a pro-Magyar Slovak priest, Rev. Dr. Jehli~ka, and his comrades in America. See Minutes from the 24th Conv ention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, pp. 20-21. 16) "40 rokov" (40 Years), Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 17) Compare the Minutes from the annual meeting of the executive committee of the F.C.S.U. (Jednota), 1932, p. 3 pertaining to Fr. f>ulik's complaints with Husek's editorial "S Bohom . .. do videnia" (Goodbye, until we meet again) in the February 3, 1932, issue of the Jednota weekly. 18) Sermon on July 16, 1928, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Harrisburg, Pa. Compare the report on the first convention of the young membership (Junior Branch) in the July 18, 1928, p. 1 issue of the Jednota. Details are given in this report. 19) "Rev. Joseph J . Dulik," Jednota issue of May 23, 1934. Contemporary critics agreed that Fr. f>ulik was a good preacher and an eloquent speaker. 20) Bishops Philip McDevitt of Harrisburg, Pa., Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland, Ohio, and T. C. O'Reilly of Scranton, Pa. endorsed the campaign of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute for their Slovak priests. Bishop O'Reilly donated $1,000 and Bishop Thomas Walsh of Trenton gave $250 to the campaign. At a meeting of the Slovaks in T11enton Bishop Walsh recommended that the young Slovaks ought to learn the Slovak language, a language that has been spoken and written for hundreds of years. See Jednota issue of April 11, 1928, p. 4. Bishop Schrembs wrote an official letter in behalf of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute. See the Jednota issue of April 24, 1929, p.1. SOURCES Minutes of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Convention of the Jednota, and Minutes of the annual meeting of the executive committee of the First Catholic Slovak Union for the following years: 1928 through 1932. Kalendar Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1937, p. 91. � SLOVAKIA 67 Jozef Pa u co, Ph.D.: Slovak Pioneers Ln America REVEREND GREGORY VANISCAK, O.S.B. (JULY 24, 1884-JANUARY 15, 1938) Father Furdek's accomplishments in behalf of the Slovak people by organizing the two Jednotas and the Slovak League of America and Father Jankola's achievement of being the founder of the Religious Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pa. were supplemented by Father Vaniscak's founding of the Slovak abbey of the Order of St. Benedict in Cleveland, Ohio. These three men constitute the most glorious trio of Slovak Catholic leaders in America. The future founder of the Slovak Benedictine Abbey of St. Andrew Svorad in Cleveland, Ohio, namely, Jan Vaniscak, came to the United States as a 16-year old youth from the village of Lemesany, saris district, Slovakia, to join his brother, Andrew, in the city of Johnstown, Pa. Three years later through the efforts of Rev. Jan Martvo:n, pastor of St. Stephen's Slovak parish there, and Father Matus Jankola, Jan Vaniscak was enrolled at St. Procopius Benedictine College in Lisle, Illinois. As a zealous student and a pious, warm-hearted youth he became a leader among the Slovak students at Lisle. Under his guidance and inspiration several of his colleagues became attracted to the Benedictine way of life and soon shared his vision of establishing a Slovak Benedictine monastery. Foremost among these were the following: Francis Gmuca, destined to become the first abbot of the future St. Andrew's Abbey, his name in the Benedictine Order was Stanislaus; Father George (Stephen) Luba, who became the first principal of the new Benedictine High School in 1927 at St. Andrew's Priory, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue; Father Celestine Drexler, who did pioneer pastoral work for the new community; Father Leo Rehak, pastor of St. Benedict's parish in Cleveland for many years; Father Ivan Kramoris, principal at Benedictine High School and editor of the zenska Jednota semi-monthly publication �68 SLOVAKIA for a number of years; Father Charles Florek, who succeeded Father Gregory as pastor of St. Michael's in Chicago. These were the charter members of the Abbey. Father Gregory (his name in the Religious Order of St. Benedict) Vaniscak was ordained on June 6, 1914, and offered up his first solemn Mass in St. Stephen's Church, Johnstown, Pa. on June 14, 1914. He was immediately appointed pastor of the large flourishing Slovak parish of St. Michael's in Chicago. During his pastorate of approximately 15 years Father Gregory built a new school, a convent for the school sisters and a parsonage. The parish soon became a leading Slovak religious, cultural and national center in the heart of South Chicago. While at St. Procopius College and Seminary Father Gregory established life-long friendship with the following future priests: Father Malinak, Msgr. Hrtanek, Msgr. Kocis, Father Krispinsky, Msgr. Begalla, Msgr. Hamrak, Father Barlok, Father Banik, Father Fecko, also with outstanding lay leaders, among them Adam Podkrivacky, Julius Badzik and Philip Hrobak. Father Gregory's dream of having a Slovak Benedictine monastery was realized when he was elected conventual prior of St. Andrew's Priory in Cleveland, Ohio in the fall of 1929. The ground had been laid for the new foundation in February of 1922 when a dependent priory was established at St. Andrew's parish, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue by Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, 0. S. B. and the monastic Chapter at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois. Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B., assistant to Father Gregory at St. Michael's parish in Chicago, was appointed prior of the fledging community in Cleveland at St. Andrew's dependent priory. Moreover, in the fall of 1927 Father George Luba, the newly-appointed principal of the Benedictine High School, welcomed a Freshman class of 27 boys to the new school at the priory. Two years later both the priory and school were moved to the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road and East Boulevard. Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. transferred to St. Andrew's Abbey from St. Vincent's Archabbey in the late 1920's. The new monastic nucleus added the following clerical candidates : Frs. Wendelin Kravec, Michael Jasko, Gilbert Stopko, Sylvester Prise and John Zeman, O.S.B. At this time, too, �SLOVAKIA 69 the monastic community was increased by Brothers Method Tokarcik, Nicholas Pekar, Martin Seckar, Florian Halcin and Victor Repon, as well as by clerics at the beginning of the 1930's: Fratres Theodore Kojis, Daniel Novak, Joseph Bue, Stephen Sramek, Andrew Pier, Anthony Bachleda, Benedict Dobrancin, Paul Taracko. This was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Father Gregory's life-long dream, for he envisioned a college, a seminary and eventually a university. Although this rather grandiose dream was not to become a reality, nevertheless, the priory was elevated to the status of an abbey by the Holy See in 1934 and the 13-member chapter of St. Andrew's Priory (now with abbatial rank) was entitled to vote for its first abbot. Accordingly, on August 8, 1934, Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was elected. The many activities of Father Gregory exacted their toll and, as an inevitable consequence, his health began to fail noticeably after the election of the first abbot. Nevertheless, he accepted the position of pastor at St. Andrew's parish where he continued to fulfill his pastoral duties faithfully until he succumbed to a fatal heart attack on January 15, 1938. Thus at the age of 53 the life of an inspiring Slovak Benedictine monk came to a sudden end. Father Gregory's writings remain as an immortal legacy of his cultural and religious endeavors, namely, the many articles in the Ave Maria magazine which he edited for several years, his translation of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict and a brief life history of the Patriarch of the West, his Holy Name Manuel, the Way of the Cross, a Catechism and his Slovak grammar, and many articles that appeared in Slovak periodicals throughout the country. During World War I Father Gregory was in the forefront of the struggle for the liberation of the Slovak nation from Magyar rule. When the Slovaks joined the Czechs in forming Czecho-Slovakia, he refused to accept a medal from the new state because the government in Prague failed to live up to the promise of self-government in Slovakia. Michael Bosak, Sr., a leading American Slovak banker and patriot and intimate friend of Father Gregory's, also refused the proffered honor for meritorious service in behalf of the liberation of the Slovaks from foreign rule. �70 SLOVAKIA Slovaks everywhere mourned the death of Father Gregory Vaniscak, a foremost Slovak Benedictine in America, the founder of St. Andrew Svorad Abbey in Cleveland, an indefatigable worker, a zealous priest, a great Slovak patriot and a faithful servant of the Lord in His wineyard who labored perseveringly until the end for God, our Country and the Slovak nation under God. SOURCES Slovenske relwle v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America), Fr. Hrusovsky, Ph.D., Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. Dve sviite hodiny (Two Holy Hours ), Jednota, February 2, 1938 by Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. Slovensky samostatny priorcit (The Slovak Independent Priory), Jednota kalendar, 1931, by Rev. Gregor K.Vaniscak, O.S.B. Rehor K. Vanisccik, O.S.B. (Tribute in the Jednota kalendar, 1931). Several eye-witnesses of the events recorded, also first-hand account of all Benedictine personalities mentioned from persons who knew them personally. FATHER JOSEPH J. DUL1K (SEPTEMBER 10, 1884-AUGUST 26, 1936) As I look over the list of accomplishments of our Slovak pioneer priests, I invariably say to myself: "All deserved to be honored highly for innumerable religious and cultural contributions. But not one of them received due recognition for a lifetime of devoted service and noble endeavor in behalf of our Slovak people." Father f>ulik was one of the most deserving leaders among our Slovak clergy. In a comparatively brief span of life, Father :t.>ulik as a priest accomplished extraordinary services for the Slovak immigrants. An ideal priest, he labored indefatigably with true apostolic zeal for the cause of Christ. He was a veritable lighthouse of faith. His widespread influence among Slovak Catholic organizations inspired them to foster the highest ideals of our national, religious and cultural traditions and yet he vanished from the scene of American Slovak life virtually unknown, except among his own compatriots. A SERVANT OF GOD Father Joseph :t.>ulik was born in Rovne, Trencin district, Slovakia, on September 10, 1884. His parents were Jan and Katarina f>ulik (nee Podkrivacky). After completing his �SLOVAKIA 71 college education in Bratislava, zilina and Nitra he emigrated to the United States in 1904. He was enrolled in the diocesan seminary in Brooklyn, N. Y. where he was ordained five years later, on May 9, 1909. The new priest's first appointment was in an Irish parish, but he was soon given the assignment of organizing the Slovak parish of the Holy Family. In a short while he built a church and a rectory. Here he remained until November 12, 1912, when he was called to St. Michael's parish in Jessup, Pa. Before being transferred on March 1, 1916, to the Holy Ghost Slovak parish in Olyphant, Pa. he built a new school. Father t.>ulik was destined to remain in Olyphant until his untimely death twenty years later. Father !:>ulik's pastorate in Olyphant was marked by the building of a new church, a rectory and a Slovak cultural center-the latter in the renovated old church edifice. The parish under his inspiring leadership became the focal point of Slovak national and cultural activity in the entire area. Olyphant's Slovak community had complete confidence in Father f>ulik who devoted himself wholeheartedly to the spiritual, social and cultural welfare of his people. But his influence soon extended far beyond the confines of his parish, for he became involved in an extensive Slovak Catholic program that affected the destiny of the Slovak nation in America and in its native homeland. Moreover, he promoted a healthy ecumenical spirit in his personal intimate relationship with the Slovaks of the Lutheran faith. 1 A PILLAR IN THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC FEDERATION OF AMERICA At a critical time when it was necessary to maintain a proper perspective of the situation, it was Father t.>ulik's prudent leadership, honest convictions and genuine love for his people that brought him into national focus as a truly great leader in American Slovak life. After the first World War it was his role to win the Slovak Catholics to a pro-Hlinka outlook. In order to mitivate them in this direction Father t.>ulik made a decisive break with a number of organizations that did not share his views. As president of the Slovak Catholic Federation �72 SLOVAKIA he wrote a distinct chapter in the history of the Slovak nation, particularly as it affected his co-religionists. Even before his election as president of the federation, Father t'.>ulik had made his mark in Slovak national life. Had it not been for his initiative and the cooperation of Father Jan Kubasek (Yonkers, N. Y.) in 1919 the American Slovaks might have become sorely disunited. Under the auspices of the Slovak Catholic Federation, Father Anton Gracik was sent to Slovakia to invite a delegation of the Slovak People's Party (led by Andrej Hlinka) for a visit to America. The need for an exchange of views and united action in behalf of Slovak autonomy was a vital necessity because at a decisive stage of the Slovak nation's struggle for freedom the Slovak League of America, for lack of proper leadership, had lost its course and the mass of the American Slovaks was in a quandary. Soon after the coming of the Slovak delegation from overseas the matter was cleared up and the American Slovaks were again marching in the right direction. Father Joseph Rudinsky, a delegate of the Slovak People's Party, convinced the officers of the Slovak Catholic Federation to call a meeting of Slovak clergy and officers of all the Slovak societies in Pittsburgh, Pa. on November 19 and 20, 1919. Father t'.>ulik presided at the priests' meeting on November 19 and it was unanimously decided to support the program for Slovakia's autonomy in the frame-work of the newly-established Republic of CzechoSlovakia.2 The Slovak press throughout America hailed the announcement that was approved the following day by representatives of the various Slovak societies. At the above conference a proposal by Father i'.>ulik that a demand for the immediate release of Father Andrej Hlinka from prison be addressed to President Masaryk and that autonomy be put into effect in Slovakia ( an official paragraph in the Paris Peace Treaty) was adopted unanimously. 3 These measures were adopted at the convention of the Sdruzenie Slovenskych Katolikov ( Slovak Catholic Federation) on December 18, 1919, in Scranton, Pa. and Father t'.>ulik was elected president.4 On January 14, 1920, Father i'.>ulik called an executive meeting of the federation which voted 100,000 crowns to Andrej Hlinka, decided to issue a commemorative stamp �SLOVAKIA 73 in his honor and added a sum of $5,000 for Catholic action in Slovakia. Father Joseph Rudinsky, and Joseph Kubala, the two delegates from Slovakia, were assured that the federation was completely in accord with the Hlinka movement for autonomy, and, as if to confirm this policy, they were named to the positions of organizer and assistant secretary of the Slovak Catholic Federation.5 Under Father !>ulik's leadership a nationwide newspaper campaign was inaugurated to demand the acceptance and ratification of the Pittsburgh Pact in Czecho-Slovakia. The Memorandum adopted by the central executive committee of the federation on April 7, 1920, was sent to the Slovak leaders in Slovakia. An outline of the reasons for insisting that the Pittsburgh Pact be adopted officially by the new government of Czecho-Slovakia was attached to the Memorandum that called attention to the fact that President Masaryk had personally signed the document guaranteeing Slovak autonomy. Moreover, a supplementary denial of any agreement with irridentist Magyar elements accompanied the Memorandum. Father !>ulik's signature to the document proved beyond a doubt that he was a dedicated patriot of the Slovak nation.6 Twenty thousand members in 189 assemblies throughout the United States were enrolled as members in less than a year before the Slovak Catholic Federation held its convention on October 13 and 14 in Chicago in 1920.7 Demands for Slovakia's autonomy were reiterated at t his convention in Chicago.8 Father f>ulik, spokesman for t he delegates representing the majority of the Slovaks in America, declared that failure to grant autonomy to the Slovak nation would make President Masaryk and his cohorts a laughing-stock before the whole world. 9 SUPREME CHAPLAIN OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION (JEDNOTA) Outstanding personalities in the early pioneer days built First Catholic Slovak Union on strong foundations . Father !>ulik was one of the foremost leaders of the era, closely behind in influence to Fathers Furdek and Jankola. As the last of the remarkable trio in the first quarter of �74 SLOVAKIA the 20th century, his was a highly influential career in both our national and fraternal life as one of our greatest Jednota leaders who served the society and our common cause with distinction and honor until the end of his life. Jednota's 22nd national convention in Scranton, Pa. in 1926 saw the emergence of a new set of leaders, among them John Sabol who was destined to serve as supreme secretary for four decades. Andrej Hlinka was the guest of honor at this convention that elected him as Jednota's honorary supreme chaplain for life. It was a great moment for the Slovaks in America, and for Slovaks everywhere. The great champion of Slovak liberty was given a standing ovation after a special proclamation, expressing gratitude to him for his sacrifices in behalf of the Slovak nation, was read, and assurances were given that the Jednota stood behind him 100 % in the struggle to win Slovak national freedom and self-governing statehood according to the Pittsburgh Pact. At the same convention the Jednota delegates elected Father t:>ulik as the supreme chaplain, as if to place him alongside Hlinka upon whom they had conferred the honorary title of chaplain for life. 10 Recognized as a veritable golden link between the old and young, Father Dulik was re-elected at the New York convention in 1928 11 and again at the Detroit convention in 1931.12 Much more can be said of Father Dulik than merely to note that he had been elected and re-elected as supreme chaplain several times. His influence in both the Jednota and the Slovak Catholic Federation left an indelible mark on both organizations in which his official priestly office and dignity, moral power and love of the Slovak nation and American patriotism proved to be unmistakably great assets for unquestioned leadership in his time. At a critical stage in the history of the Slovaks in America whose influence was felt in their native homeland across the Atlantic, when it was somewhat popular to downgrade the Church and religion in general, the Jednota was the bulwark of the Faith of our Fathers. When Magyar chauvinists stopped at nothing to destroy the Slovak national spirit, it was the Jednota that provided the resources and the power to withstand the assaults of these foes of �SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak freedom, foes who unfortunately sometimes found recruits for their ranks among ambitious or naive Slovaks themselves! Jednota leaders were not content to merely maintam a defensive position. They launched an effective offensive to rout the enemy and establish the natural right of the Slovak nation to its own democratic self-government in line with the Wilsonian principle of 'self-determinatio n for all nations.' Historically, it must be registered that the Jednota, from the highest officer to the last member, met the challenge of both the ancient and modern foes of Slovak freedom and helped immeasurably to liberate the Slovaks from Magyar rule in Hungary.13 Moral values for Father nulik rated an A-1 priority. Thus, the Jednota for him was a vital factor in Catholic action, and, thank God, under the truly Christian-inspired leadership of such leaders as Father Dulik the Jednota can rightfully and proudly claim that its policies have been guided by spiritual motives rather than material interests that are too often motivated by mere expediency. "Unique is the proper world to describe the total achievements of the Jednota, for it is undoubtedly great to have an organization with many thousands of members, to have a rich treasury, to have order and discipline, all of which have to a greater or less extent, as a matter of fact, but it is a far greater asset to cherish and foster our ancient Christian faith and traditions and to excel in moral virtue that contributed far more to our society in America than mere material wealth. I re-affirm unequivocally that the millions we have given out in benefits and that we shall distribute in the future cannot equal in value the spiritual benefits that have accrued to our members, Slovak nation and America directly as fruits of Jednota leadership in the past decades." 14 Father Dulik was fully aware of the vita! role of the Jednota, but he realized, too, that its work ultimately depended upon human beings. He always gave his full support, therefore, to his colleagues. His friendship with Joseph Husek, a noted journalist, was particularly strong and effective among the American Slovaks. These two complemented each other in the struggle for unity among �76 SLOVAKIA American Slovaks. This was an important and decisive factor when a number of Slovak priests organized opposition to Rusek. Father Dulik did not hesitate to side with his friend against a number of clerical opponents who attacked Rusek on the question of Slovak national freedom. 15 Husek's talents as editor Father nulik rightfully assessed and appreciated. Moreover, he did not doubt his sincerity, for he regarded Rusek as a true successor of Stefan Furdek in whose footsteps he followed to work in the true interests of the Jednota and the Slovak people. 16 Father nulik, unfortunately, became a victim of circumstances that seem to have plagued all of our great Slovak figures of the time. He suddenly lost his popularity at the very height of his brilliant career. A background to this ironical development is found in the minutes of the First Catholic Slovak Union. There we find a long list of intrigues and prejudices levelled against his person, as he himself outlined before his resignation at the annual executive meeting in 1933.17 Suddenly and unexpectedly a forceful personality was removed from the ranks of the Jednota. Father nulik's vision and dynamic energy were lost with his departure from the office of supreme chaplain. IN RETROSPECT: THE 1928 CONVENTION One of Father Dulik's proposals at the executive meeting in 1928, namely, to have a junior membership convention was immediately endorsed and the first such meeting was held at the Jednota Home in Middletown, Pa. in the summer of that very same year. A total of 170 delegates and more than 2,000 guests convened for this general assembly of our junior membership. As might be expected, the Man of the Hour was Father nulik. In his keynote address he called upon the entire assembly to foster the Slovak language, to cherish the ideals of the Slovak nation and to preserve our ancient national heritage of faith and freedom under God. 18 Hailed throughout the country in Slovak circles and publicized by the Slovak press, Father nulik's program stimulated such interest that the supreme chaplain was invited to speak at a series of programs in various parts of the country. He travelled extensively and created interest �SLOVAKIA 77 everywhere in the common cause of our fraternal and national destiny as true sons of the land of our Slovak forefathers. 19 TREASURER OF THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE Slovak priests and laity, as a general rule, from the very beginning worked together in harmony in this country, and that included cooperation in cultural and national affairs. In the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute, for example, under the presidency of the genial Michael Bosak, Sr. the office of secretary was ably filled by the aggressive Joseph Husek, and the treasurer's post was entrusted to the highly respected Father i'.>ulik. This unusual trio did an excellent job of collecting a substantial sum of several hundred thousand dollars despite adverse economic conditions in the country. A nationwide appeal by Father f>ulik aroused the interest of his fellow Slovaks who contributed generously to the project of higher education. A number of American bishops not only endorsed the campaign in their dioceses but contributed financially, too.20 Michael Bosak's generosity and Father f>ulik's personality were a happy combination that won generous support among the clergy and laity. The Slovak press supported the campaign that enabled the Slovak Sisters of St. Cyril and Methodius to build a beautiful new Academy for girls in Danville, Pa. and the Slovak Benedictines to purchase a suitable site for their boys' Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Father f>ulik in a brief span of time between two World Wars was a dynamic force in stimulating an active and vigorous interest in the preservation of the Slovak spirit and the enrichment of Slovak culture in America, as well as a tremendous growth of our Slovak fraternal organizations. A TRAGIC ENDING Father Joseph i'.>ulik's life came to a tragic end when he was drawned accidentally while on a routine fishing trip on the Delaware River on August 26, 1936. Although Father f>ulik's life was comparatively brief, �78 SLOVAKIA his highly concentrated energies were instrumental in successfully promoting the highest traditions of Slovak freedom, culture and faith that became intimately interwoven into a beautiful fabric of American Slovak life that bears the unique imprint of his indomitable character and skillful workmanship. Perhaps more than any single individual in the history of the Slovaks in America Father Dulik's influence brought out the primeval elements of our national Slovak Christian heritage, namely, an indestructible faith in God and His Church, an all consuming love of his Slovak brethren and a passionate aspiration for Slovak national freedom, as well as profound appreciation of the richness of our Slovak language, literature and culture. Translated by Andrew Pier, O.S.B. FOOTNOTES 1) "Rev. J. J. 1'.>ulik 20 rokov knazom" (Rev J . J. Dulik 20 years a priest). Slovak v Amerike, June 6, 1929, p. 2. 2) "Za krest'anske a autonomne Slovensko" (For a Christian and autonomous Slovakia). Jednota, November 26, 1919, p. 4. 3) "Uradna zprava schodze katolickych duchovnych a zastupcov kat. organizacil odbyvana dna 19. a 20. novembra 19-19 v Pittsburgh, Pa." ( Official report of the meeting of Catholic clergy and representatives of Catholic organizations on November 19 and 20, 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jednota, December 3, 1919, p. 5. Signed by Father !>ullk and A. Pirhalla. 4) "Podrobnosti z konvencie Sdruzenia Slov. Katolikov" (From the report of the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation ), Jednota, November 24, 1919, p. 1. 5) "Vaznejsie uznesenia Sdruz. SI. Katolikov (More important proceedings of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, January 28, 1920, p. 1. 6) The complete text of the Memorandum in the Jednota of May 26, 1920, p. 5. Signatures of Fr. Jozef !>ulik, president, Fr. Stefan Kocis, secretary and Jozef Husek, member of the executive committee. 7) "Konvencia Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 1. Reports from the convention confirmed Fr. !>ulik's principle expressed when he was elected president: "I am not a friend of programmed speeches, or articles. I prefer to do more than I promise." "Sdruzenie Katolikov," Jednota, January 7, 1920, p. 1. Father Klemo Hrtanek was elected president in Chicago. 8) Quote: "The Slovak Catholic Federation today is in favor of autonomous Slovakia and it will continue to support Slovak autonomy �SLOVAKIA 79 until the flag of Slovak autonomy waves above the Tatras in the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." ... Rev. G. K. Vaniscak, O.S.B., "Po konvencii Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (After the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 4. 9) "Rev. Moysovi, " Jednota, March 13, 1920, p. 4. 10) Report of his election in the Minutes of the 22nd Convention of the Jednota (First Catholic Slovak Union), p. 254. Data in the minutes about the presence and election of Msgr. Andrej ffiinka. 11 ) Minutes from the 23rd Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 288. 12) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the Jednota, p . 540. 13) "40 rokov" (40 Years) , Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 14) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 17. 15) Matter pertaining to a pro-Magyar Slovak priest, Rev. Dr. Jehli~ka, and his comrades in America. See Minutes from the 24th Conv ention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, pp. 20-21. 16) "40 rokov" (40 Years), Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 17) Compare the Minutes from the annual meeting of the executive committee of the F.C.S.U. (Jednota), 1932, p. 3 pertaining to Fr. f>ulik's complaints with Husek's editorial "S Bohom . .. do videnia" (Goodbye, until we meet again) in the February 3, 1932, issue of the Jednota weekly. 18) Sermon on July 16, 1928, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Harrisburg, Pa. Compare the report on the first convention of the young membership (Junior Branch) in the July 18, 1928, p. 1 issue of the Jednota. Details are given in this report. 19) "Rev. Joseph J . Dulik," Jednota issue of May 23, 1934. Contemporary critics agreed that Fr. f>ulik was a good preacher and an eloquent speaker. 20) Bishops Philip McDevitt of Harrisburg, Pa., Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland, Ohio, and T. C. O'Reilly of Scranton, Pa. endorsed the campaign of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute for their Slovak priests. Bishop O'Reilly donated $1,000 and Bishop Thomas Walsh of Trenton gave $250 to the campaign. At a meeting of the Slovaks in T11enton Bishop Walsh recommended that the young Slovaks ought to learn the Slovak language, a language that has been spoken and written for hundreds of years. See Jednota issue of April 11, 1928, p. 4. Bishop Schrembs wrote an official letter in behalf of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute. See the Jednota issue of April 24, 1929, p.1. SOURCES Minutes of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Convention of the Jednota, and Minutes of the annual meeting of the executive committee of the First Catholic Slovak Union for the following years: 1928 through 1932. Kalendar Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1937, p. 91. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 67 Jozef Pa u co, Ph.D.: Slovak Pioneers Ln America REVEREND GREGORY VANISCAK, O.S.B. (JULY 24, 1884-JANUARY 15, 1938) Father Furdek's accomplishments in behalf of the Slovak people by organizing the two Jednotas and the Slovak League of America and Father Jankola's achievement of being the founder of the Religious Order of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Danville, Pa. were supplemented by Father Vaniscak's founding of the Slovak abbey of the Order of St. Benedict in Cleveland, Ohio. These three men constitute the most glorious trio of Slovak Catholic leaders in America. The future founder of the Slovak Benedictine Abbey of St. Andrew Svorad in Cleveland, Ohio, namely, Jan Vaniscak, came to the United States as a 16-year old youth from the village of Lemesany, saris district, Slovakia, to join his brother, Andrew, in the city of Johnstown, Pa. Three years later through the efforts of Rev. Jan Martvo:n, pastor of St. Stephen's Slovak parish there, and Father Matus Jankola, Jan Vaniscak was enrolled at St. Procopius Benedictine College in Lisle, Illinois. As a zealous student and a pious, warm-hearted youth he became a leader among the Slovak students at Lisle. Under his guidance and inspiration several of his colleagues became attracted to the Benedictine way of life and soon shared his vision of establishing a Slovak Benedictine monastery. Foremost among these were the following: Francis Gmuca, destined to become the first abbot of the future St. Andrew's Abbey, his name in the Benedictine Order was Stanislaus; Father George (Stephen) Luba, who became the first principal of the new Benedictine High School in 1927 at St. Andrew's Priory, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue; Father Celestine Drexler, who did pioneer pastoral work for the new community; Father Leo Rehak, pastor of St. Benedict's parish in Cleveland for many years; Father Ivan Kramoris, principal at Benedictine High School and editor of the zenska Jednota semi-monthly publication 68 SLOVAKIA for a number of years; Father Charles Florek, who succeeded Father Gregory as pastor of St. Michael's in Chicago. These were the charter members of the Abbey. Father Gregory (his name in the Religious Order of St. Benedict) Vaniscak was ordained on June 6, 1914, and offered up his first solemn Mass in St. Stephen's Church, Johnstown, Pa. on June 14, 1914. He was immediately appointed pastor of the large flourishing Slovak parish of St. Michael's in Chicago. During his pastorate of approximately 15 years Father Gregory built a new school, a convent for the school sisters and a parsonage. The parish soon became a leading Slovak religious, cultural and national center in the heart of South Chicago. While at St. Procopius College and Seminary Father Gregory established life-long friendship with the following future priests: Father Malinak, Msgr. Hrtanek, Msgr. Kocis, Father Krispinsky, Msgr. Begalla, Msgr. Hamrak, Father Barlok, Father Banik, Father Fecko, also with outstanding lay leaders, among them Adam Podkrivacky, Julius Badzik and Philip Hrobak. Father Gregory's dream of having a Slovak Benedictine monastery was realized when he was elected conventual prior of St. Andrew's Priory in Cleveland, Ohio in the fall of 1929. The ground had been laid for the new foundation in February of 1922 when a dependent priory was established at St. Andrew's parish, East 51st Street and Superior Avenue by Abbot Valentine Kohlbeck, 0. S. B. and the monastic Chapter at St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Illinois. Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B., assistant to Father Gregory at St. Michael's parish in Chicago, was appointed prior of the fledging community in Cleveland at St. Andrew's dependent priory. Moreover, in the fall of 1927 Father George Luba, the newly-appointed principal of the Benedictine High School, welcomed a Freshman class of 27 boys to the new school at the priory. Two years later both the priory and school were moved to the new site at 10510 Buckeye Road and East Boulevard. Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. transferred to St. Andrew's Abbey from St. Vincent's Archabbey in the late 1920's. The new monastic nucleus added the following clerical candidates : Frs. Wendelin Kravec, Michael Jasko, Gilbert Stopko, Sylvester Prise and John Zeman, O.S.B. At this time, too, SLOVAKIA 69 the monastic community was increased by Brothers Method Tokarcik, Nicholas Pekar, Martin Seckar, Florian Halcin and Victor Repon, as well as by clerics at the beginning of the 1930's: Fratres Theodore Kojis, Daniel Novak, Joseph Bue, Stephen Sramek, Andrew Pier, Anthony Bachleda, Benedict Dobrancin, Paul Taracko. This was only the beginning of the fulfillment of Father Gregory's life-long dream, for he envisioned a college, a seminary and eventually a university. Although this rather grandiose dream was not to become a reality, nevertheless, the priory was elevated to the status of an abbey by the Holy See in 1934 and the 13-member chapter of St. Andrew's Priory (now with abbatial rank) was entitled to vote for its first abbot. Accordingly, on August 8, 1934, Father Stanislaus Gmuca, O.S.B. was elected. The many activities of Father Gregory exacted their toll and, as an inevitable consequence, his health began to fail noticeably after the election of the first abbot. Nevertheless, he accepted the position of pastor at St. Andrew's parish where he continued to fulfill his pastoral duties faithfully until he succumbed to a fatal heart attack on January 15, 1938. Thus at the age of 53 the life of an inspiring Slovak Benedictine monk came to a sudden end. Father Gregory's writings remain as an immortal legacy of his cultural and religious endeavors, namely, the many articles in the Ave Maria magazine which he edited for several years, his translation of the Holy Rule of St. Benedict and a brief life history of the Patriarch of the West, his Holy Name Manuel, the Way of the Cross, a Catechism and his Slovak grammar, and many articles that appeared in Slovak periodicals throughout the country. During World War I Father Gregory was in the forefront of the struggle for the liberation of the Slovak nation from Magyar rule. When the Slovaks joined the Czechs in forming Czecho-Slovakia, he refused to accept a medal from the new state because the government in Prague failed to live up to the promise of self-government in Slovakia. Michael Bosak, Sr., a leading American Slovak banker and patriot and intimate friend of Father Gregory's, also refused the proffered honor for meritorious service in behalf of the liberation of the Slovaks from foreign rule. 70 SLOVAKIA Slovaks everywhere mourned the death of Father Gregory Vaniscak, a foremost Slovak Benedictine in America, the founder of St. Andrew Svorad Abbey in Cleveland, an indefatigable worker, a zealous priest, a great Slovak patriot and a faithful servant of the Lord in His wineyard who labored perseveringly until the end for God, our Country and the Slovak nation under God. SOURCES Slovenske relwle v Amerike (Slovak Religious Orders in America), Fr. Hrusovsky, Ph.D., Slovak Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, 1955. Dve sviite hodiny (Two Holy Hours ), Jednota, February 2, 1938 by Rev. Paschal Kavulic, O.S.B. Slovensky samostatny priorcit (The Slovak Independent Priory), Jednota kalendar, 1931, by Rev. Gregor K.Vaniscak, O.S.B. Rehor K. Vanisccik, O.S.B. (Tribute in the Jednota kalendar, 1931). Several eye-witnesses of the events recorded, also first-hand account of all Benedictine personalities mentioned from persons who knew them personally. FATHER JOSEPH J. DUL1K (SEPTEMBER 10, 1884-AUGUST 26, 1936) As I look over the list of accomplishments of our Slovak pioneer priests, I invariably say to myself: "All deserved to be honored highly for innumerable religious and cultural contributions. But not one of them received due recognition for a lifetime of devoted service and noble endeavor in behalf of our Slovak people." Father f>ulik was one of the most deserving leaders among our Slovak clergy. In a comparatively brief span of life, Father :t.>ulik as a priest accomplished extraordinary services for the Slovak immigrants. An ideal priest, he labored indefatigably with true apostolic zeal for the cause of Christ. He was a veritable lighthouse of faith. His widespread influence among Slovak Catholic organizations inspired them to foster the highest ideals of our national, religious and cultural traditions and yet he vanished from the scene of American Slovak life virtually unknown, except among his own compatriots. A SERVANT OF GOD Father Joseph :t.>ulik was born in Rovne, Trencin district, Slovakia, on September 10, 1884. His parents were Jan and Katarina f>ulik (nee Podkrivacky). After completing his SLOVAKIA 71 college education in Bratislava, zilina and Nitra he emigrated to the United States in 1904. He was enrolled in the diocesan seminary in Brooklyn, N. Y. where he was ordained five years later, on May 9, 1909. The new priest's first appointment was in an Irish parish, but he was soon given the assignment of organizing the Slovak parish of the Holy Family. In a short while he built a church and a rectory. Here he remained until November 12, 1912, when he was called to St. Michael's parish in Jessup, Pa. Before being transferred on March 1, 1916, to the Holy Ghost Slovak parish in Olyphant, Pa. he built a new school. Father t.>ulik was destined to remain in Olyphant until his untimely death twenty years later. Father !:>ulik's pastorate in Olyphant was marked by the building of a new church, a rectory and a Slovak cultural center-the latter in the renovated old church edifice. The parish under his inspiring leadership became the focal point of Slovak national and cultural activity in the entire area. Olyphant's Slovak community had complete confidence in Father f>ulik who devoted himself wholeheartedly to the spiritual, social and cultural welfare of his people. But his influence soon extended far beyond the confines of his parish, for he became involved in an extensive Slovak Catholic program that affected the destiny of the Slovak nation in America and in its native homeland. Moreover, he promoted a healthy ecumenical spirit in his personal intimate relationship with the Slovaks of the Lutheran faith. 1 A PILLAR IN THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC FEDERATION OF AMERICA At a critical time when it was necessary to maintain a proper perspective of the situation, it was Father t.>ulik's prudent leadership, honest convictions and genuine love for his people that brought him into national focus as a truly great leader in American Slovak life. After the first World War it was his role to win the Slovak Catholics to a pro-Hlinka outlook. In order to mitivate them in this direction Father t.>ulik made a decisive break with a number of organizations that did not share his views. As president of the Slovak Catholic Federation 72 SLOVAKIA he wrote a distinct chapter in the history of the Slovak nation, particularly as it affected his co-religionists. Even before his election as president of the federation, Father t'.>ulik had made his mark in Slovak national life. Had it not been for his initiative and the cooperation of Father Jan Kubasek (Yonkers, N. Y.) in 1919 the American Slovaks might have become sorely disunited. Under the auspices of the Slovak Catholic Federation, Father Anton Gracik was sent to Slovakia to invite a delegation of the Slovak People's Party (led by Andrej Hlinka) for a visit to America. The need for an exchange of views and united action in behalf of Slovak autonomy was a vital necessity because at a decisive stage of the Slovak nation's struggle for freedom the Slovak League of America, for lack of proper leadership, had lost its course and the mass of the American Slovaks was in a quandary. Soon after the coming of the Slovak delegation from overseas the matter was cleared up and the American Slovaks were again marching in the right direction. Father Joseph Rudinsky, a delegate of the Slovak People's Party, convinced the officers of the Slovak Catholic Federation to call a meeting of Slovak clergy and officers of all the Slovak societies in Pittsburgh, Pa. on November 19 and 20, 1919. Father t'.>ulik presided at the priests' meeting on November 19 and it was unanimously decided to support the program for Slovakia's autonomy in the frame-work of the newly-established Republic of CzechoSlovakia.2 The Slovak press throughout America hailed the announcement that was approved the following day by representatives of the various Slovak societies. At the above conference a proposal by Father i'.>ulik that a demand for the immediate release of Father Andrej Hlinka from prison be addressed to President Masaryk and that autonomy be put into effect in Slovakia ( an official paragraph in the Paris Peace Treaty) was adopted unanimously. 3 These measures were adopted at the convention of the Sdruzenie Slovenskych Katolikov ( Slovak Catholic Federation) on December 18, 1919, in Scranton, Pa. and Father t'.>ulik was elected president.4 On January 14, 1920, Father i'.>ulik called an executive meeting of the federation which voted 100,000 crowns to Andrej Hlinka, decided to issue a commemorative stamp SLOVAKIA 73 in his honor and added a sum of $5,000 for Catholic action in Slovakia. Father Joseph Rudinsky, and Joseph Kubala, the two delegates from Slovakia, were assured that the federation was completely in accord with the Hlinka movement for autonomy, and, as if to confirm this policy, they were named to the positions of organizer and assistant secretary of the Slovak Catholic Federation.5 Under Father !>ulik's leadership a nationwide newspaper campaign was inaugurated to demand the acceptance and ratification of the Pittsburgh Pact in Czecho-Slovakia. The Memorandum adopted by the central executive committee of the federation on April 7, 1920, was sent to the Slovak leaders in Slovakia. An outline of the reasons for insisting that the Pittsburgh Pact be adopted officially by the new government of Czecho-Slovakia was attached to the Memorandum that called attention to the fact that President Masaryk had personally signed the document guaranteeing Slovak autonomy. Moreover, a supplementary denial of any agreement with irridentist Magyar elements accompanied the Memorandum. Father !>ulik's signature to the document proved beyond a doubt that he was a dedicated patriot of the Slovak nation.6 Twenty thousand members in 189 assemblies throughout the United States were enrolled as members in less than a year before the Slovak Catholic Federation held its convention on October 13 and 14 in Chicago in 1920.7 Demands for Slovakia's autonomy were reiterated at t his convention in Chicago.8 Father f>ulik, spokesman for t he delegates representing the majority of the Slovaks in America, declared that failure to grant autonomy to the Slovak nation would make President Masaryk and his cohorts a laughing-stock before the whole world. 9 SUPREME CHAPLAIN OF THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION (JEDNOTA) Outstanding personalities in the early pioneer days built First Catholic Slovak Union on strong foundations . Father !>ulik was one of the foremost leaders of the era, closely behind in influence to Fathers Furdek and Jankola. As the last of the remarkable trio in the first quarter of 74 SLOVAKIA the 20th century, his was a highly influential career in both our national and fraternal life as one of our greatest Jednota leaders who served the society and our common cause with distinction and honor until the end of his life. Jednota's 22nd national convention in Scranton, Pa. in 1926 saw the emergence of a new set of leaders, among them John Sabol who was destined to serve as supreme secretary for four decades. Andrej Hlinka was the guest of honor at this convention that elected him as Jednota's honorary supreme chaplain for life. It was a great moment for the Slovaks in America, and for Slovaks everywhere. The great champion of Slovak liberty was given a standing ovation after a special proclamation, expressing gratitude to him for his sacrifices in behalf of the Slovak nation, was read, and assurances were given that the Jednota stood behind him 100 % in the struggle to win Slovak national freedom and self-governing statehood according to the Pittsburgh Pact. At the same convention the Jednota delegates elected Father t:>ulik as the supreme chaplain, as if to place him alongside Hlinka upon whom they had conferred the honorary title of chaplain for life. 10 Recognized as a veritable golden link between the old and young, Father Dulik was re-elected at the New York convention in 1928 11 and again at the Detroit convention in 1931.12 Much more can be said of Father Dulik than merely to note that he had been elected and re-elected as supreme chaplain several times. His influence in both the Jednota and the Slovak Catholic Federation left an indelible mark on both organizations in which his official priestly office and dignity, moral power and love of the Slovak nation and American patriotism proved to be unmistakably great assets for unquestioned leadership in his time. At a critical stage in the history of the Slovaks in America whose influence was felt in their native homeland across the Atlantic, when it was somewhat popular to downgrade the Church and religion in general, the Jednota was the bulwark of the Faith of our Fathers. When Magyar chauvinists stopped at nothing to destroy the Slovak national spirit, it was the Jednota that provided the resources and the power to withstand the assaults of these foes of SLOVAKIA 75 Slovak freedom, foes who unfortunately sometimes found recruits for their ranks among ambitious or naive Slovaks themselves! Jednota leaders were not content to merely maintam a defensive position. They launched an effective offensive to rout the enemy and establish the natural right of the Slovak nation to its own democratic self-government in line with the Wilsonian principle of 'self-determinatio n for all nations.' Historically, it must be registered that the Jednota, from the highest officer to the last member, met the challenge of both the ancient and modern foes of Slovak freedom and helped immeasurably to liberate the Slovaks from Magyar rule in Hungary.13 Moral values for Father nulik rated an A-1 priority. Thus, the Jednota for him was a vital factor in Catholic action, and, thank God, under the truly Christian-inspired leadership of such leaders as Father Dulik the Jednota can rightfully and proudly claim that its policies have been guided by spiritual motives rather than material interests that are too often motivated by mere expediency. "Unique is the proper world to describe the total achievements of the Jednota, for it is undoubtedly great to have an organization with many thousands of members, to have a rich treasury, to have order and discipline, all of which have to a greater or less extent, as a matter of fact, but it is a far greater asset to cherish and foster our ancient Christian faith and traditions and to excel in moral virtue that contributed far more to our society in America than mere material wealth. I re-affirm unequivocally that the millions we have given out in benefits and that we shall distribute in the future cannot equal in value the spiritual benefits that have accrued to our members, Slovak nation and America directly as fruits of Jednota leadership in the past decades." 14 Father Dulik was fully aware of the vita! role of the Jednota, but he realized, too, that its work ultimately depended upon human beings. He always gave his full support, therefore, to his colleagues. His friendship with Joseph Husek, a noted journalist, was particularly strong and effective among the American Slovaks. These two complemented each other in the struggle for unity among 76 SLOVAKIA American Slovaks. This was an important and decisive factor when a number of Slovak priests organized opposition to Rusek. Father Dulik did not hesitate to side with his friend against a number of clerical opponents who attacked Rusek on the question of Slovak national freedom. 15 Husek's talents as editor Father nulik rightfully assessed and appreciated. Moreover, he did not doubt his sincerity, for he regarded Rusek as a true successor of Stefan Furdek in whose footsteps he followed to work in the true interests of the Jednota and the Slovak people. 16 Father nulik, unfortunately, became a victim of circumstances that seem to have plagued all of our great Slovak figures of the time. He suddenly lost his popularity at the very height of his brilliant career. A background to this ironical development is found in the minutes of the First Catholic Slovak Union. There we find a long list of intrigues and prejudices levelled against his person, as he himself outlined before his resignation at the annual executive meeting in 1933.17 Suddenly and unexpectedly a forceful personality was removed from the ranks of the Jednota. Father nulik's vision and dynamic energy were lost with his departure from the office of supreme chaplain. IN RETROSPECT: THE 1928 CONVENTION One of Father Dulik's proposals at the executive meeting in 1928, namely, to have a junior membership convention was immediately endorsed and the first such meeting was held at the Jednota Home in Middletown, Pa. in the summer of that very same year. A total of 170 delegates and more than 2,000 guests convened for this general assembly of our junior membership. As might be expected, the Man of the Hour was Father nulik. In his keynote address he called upon the entire assembly to foster the Slovak language, to cherish the ideals of the Slovak nation and to preserve our ancient national heritage of faith and freedom under God. 18 Hailed throughout the country in Slovak circles and publicized by the Slovak press, Father nulik's program stimulated such interest that the supreme chaplain was invited to speak at a series of programs in various parts of the country. He travelled extensively and created interest SLOVAKIA 77 everywhere in the common cause of our fraternal and national destiny as true sons of the land of our Slovak forefathers. 19 TREASURER OF THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE Slovak priests and laity, as a general rule, from the very beginning worked together in harmony in this country, and that included cooperation in cultural and national affairs. In the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute, for example, under the presidency of the genial Michael Bosak, Sr. the office of secretary was ably filled by the aggressive Joseph Husek, and the treasurer's post was entrusted to the highly respected Father i'.>ulik. This unusual trio did an excellent job of collecting a substantial sum of several hundred thousand dollars despite adverse economic conditions in the country. A nationwide appeal by Father f>ulik aroused the interest of his fellow Slovaks who contributed generously to the project of higher education. A number of American bishops not only endorsed the campaign in their dioceses but contributed financially, too.20 Michael Bosak's generosity and Father f>ulik's personality were a happy combination that won generous support among the clergy and laity. The Slovak press supported the campaign that enabled the Slovak Sisters of St. Cyril and Methodius to build a beautiful new Academy for girls in Danville, Pa. and the Slovak Benedictines to purchase a suitable site for their boys' Benedictine High School in Cleveland, Ohio. Father f>ulik in a brief span of time between two World Wars was a dynamic force in stimulating an active and vigorous interest in the preservation of the Slovak spirit and the enrichment of Slovak culture in America, as well as a tremendous growth of our Slovak fraternal organizations. A TRAGIC ENDING Father Joseph i'.>ulik's life came to a tragic end when he was drawned accidentally while on a routine fishing trip on the Delaware River on August 26, 1936. Although Father f>ulik's life was comparatively brief, 78 SLOVAKIA his highly concentrated energies were instrumental in successfully promoting the highest traditions of Slovak freedom, culture and faith that became intimately interwoven into a beautiful fabric of American Slovak life that bears the unique imprint of his indomitable character and skillful workmanship. Perhaps more than any single individual in the history of the Slovaks in America Father Dulik's influence brought out the primeval elements of our national Slovak Christian heritage, namely, an indestructible faith in God and His Church, an all consuming love of his Slovak brethren and a passionate aspiration for Slovak national freedom, as well as profound appreciation of the richness of our Slovak language, literature and culture. Translated by Andrew Pier, O.S.B. FOOTNOTES 1) "Rev. J. J. 1'.>ulik 20 rokov knazom" (Rev J . J. Dulik 20 years a priest). Slovak v Amerike, June 6, 1929, p. 2. 2) "Za krest'anske a autonomne Slovensko" (For a Christian and autonomous Slovakia). Jednota, November 26, 1919, p. 4. 3) "Uradna zprava schodze katolickych duchovnych a zastupcov kat. organizacil odbyvana dna 19. a 20. novembra 19-19 v Pittsburgh, Pa." ( Official report of the meeting of Catholic clergy and representatives of Catholic organizations on November 19 and 20, 1919 in Pittsburgh, Pa.), Jednota, December 3, 1919, p. 5. Signed by Father !>ullk and A. Pirhalla. 4) "Podrobnosti z konvencie Sdruzenia Slov. Katolikov" (From the report of the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation ), Jednota, November 24, 1919, p. 1. 5) "Vaznejsie uznesenia Sdruz. SI. Katolikov (More important proceedings of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, January 28, 1920, p. 1. 6) The complete text of the Memorandum in the Jednota of May 26, 1920, p. 5. Signatures of Fr. Jozef !>ulik, president, Fr. Stefan Kocis, secretary and Jozef Husek, member of the executive committee. 7) "Konvencia Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 1. Reports from the convention confirmed Fr. !>ulik's principle expressed when he was elected president: "I am not a friend of programmed speeches, or articles. I prefer to do more than I promise." "Sdruzenie Katolikov," Jednota, January 7, 1920, p. 1. Father Klemo Hrtanek was elected president in Chicago. 8) Quote: "The Slovak Catholic Federation today is in favor of autonomous Slovakia and it will continue to support Slovak autonomy SLOVAKIA 79 until the flag of Slovak autonomy waves above the Tatras in the framework of the Czecho-Slovak Republic." ... Rev. G. K. Vaniscak, O.S.B., "Po konvencii Sdruzenia Slovenskych Katolikov" (After the Convention of the Slovak Catholic Federation), Jednota, October 20, 1920, p. 4. 9) "Rev. Moysovi, " Jednota, March 13, 1920, p. 4. 10) Report of his election in the Minutes of the 22nd Convention of the Jednota (First Catholic Slovak Union), p. 254. Data in the minutes about the presence and election of Msgr. Andrej ffiinka. 11 ) Minutes from the 23rd Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 288. 12) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the Jednota, p . 540. 13) "40 rokov" (40 Years) , Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 14) Minutes from the 24th Convention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, p. 17. 15) Matter pertaining to a pro-Magyar Slovak priest, Rev. Dr. Jehli~ka, and his comrades in America. See Minutes from the 24th Conv ention of the First Catholic Slovak Union, pp. 20-21. 16) "40 rokov" (40 Years), Jednota, May 20, 1931, p. 1. 17) Compare the Minutes from the annual meeting of the executive committee of the F.C.S.U. (Jednota), 1932, p. 3 pertaining to Fr. f>ulik's complaints with Husek's editorial "S Bohom . .. do videnia" (Goodbye, until we meet again) in the February 3, 1932, issue of the Jednota weekly. 18) Sermon on July 16, 1928, in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Harrisburg, Pa. Compare the report on the first convention of the young membership (Junior Branch) in the July 18, 1928, p. 1 issue of the Jednota. Details are given in this report. 19) "Rev. Joseph J . Dulik," Jednota issue of May 23, 1934. Contemporary critics agreed that Fr. f>ulik was a good preacher and an eloquent speaker. 20) Bishops Philip McDevitt of Harrisburg, Pa., Joseph Schrembs of Cleveland, Ohio, and T. C. O'Reilly of Scranton, Pa. endorsed the campaign of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute for their Slovak priests. Bishop O'Reilly donated $1,000 and Bishop Thomas Walsh of Trenton gave $250 to the campaign. At a meeting of the Slovaks in T11enton Bishop Walsh recommended that the young Slovaks ought to learn the Slovak language, a language that has been spoken and written for hundreds of years. See Jednota issue of April 11, 1928, p. 4. Bishop Schrembs wrote an official letter in behalf of the Slovak Catholic Educational Institute. See the Jednota issue of April 24, 1929, p.1. SOURCES Minutes of the 22nd, 23rd and 24th Convention of the Jednota, and Minutes of the annual meeting of the executive committee of the First Catholic Slovak Union for the following years: 1928 through 1932. Kalendar Jednota, Middletown, Pa., 1937, p. 91.  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 Pioneers in America: Reverend Gregory Vaniščák, O.S.B. Description An account of the resource Jozef Paučo, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 67-79 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 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/143749d0b4a4e1092a7042332c0bed89.pdf 75ec6b697d890207561ba49f26581f1a PDF Text Text 80 SLOVAKIA Andrew Pi er, O.S.B.: Slovaks Ln Blandburg AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY About a month after school vacations began, we looked forward to the Fourth of July with impatient anticipation of a great and exciting holiday. We were never disappointed, for American Independence Day was traditionally celebrated with great fanfare, noise and fun from early morning to late at night. At first it all seemed strange to us, but it did not take us long to get into the spirit of the day long before we learned the historical significance of the great day in mid-summer. The fervor of patriotism ran high from dawn to mid-night. Explosives of black-powder, gun-fire and dynamite routed everyone out of bed at the first light of day, the sound of fire-crackers continued all day long and a bright display of sparklers and rockets after dark finally climaxed a day of unexcelled excitement. The day's festivities were highlighted by a parade iR which participants of all ages escorted or rode prancing horses and sedate mules that were drafted from the mines or farms to add color and life to the happy event. An added feature was a troop of ex-soldiers and dragoons from the Austro•Hungarian armed forces (mostly Slovaks who had served in the imperial army) who rode on mules borrowed from the mine-owners of the district for the occasion. Gaily attired in their colorful uniforms ( which they had brought with them to this country as souvenirs) they gave a kind of 'foreign legion' picture and atmosphere to the American Fourth of July parade, the like of which will never be seen again. Baseball attracted large crowds before and after lunch as our town's heroes played for glory and victory in a pair of traditional contests against a visiting team. At intermission an abbreviated game between rival teams picked from the mines' department and the brick-yard division of Harbi- �SLOVAKIA 81 -------------------------- son Walker Refractorie s provided no end of entertainm ent as these 'amateurs' never failed to provide hilarious plays in what turned out to be a comedy of errors. The winners were rewarded with great applause and free beer. The children were not neglected, nor were the youthful athletes in their early teens. There were many prizes for them in a series of contests that included running, jumping, throwing the ball, potato-sack races, the three-legged race, the spoon-egg race, etc. Twilight was greeted by an awesome array of rockets and sparklers that lighted up the sky. But this was merely the prelude to a final breath-taki ng outburst of rockets that exploded into beautiful pictorial designs that were greeted exciting 'oh's and ah's' from one end of town to the other. Finally, as if by common agreement when the last sparkler and rocket were reduced to ashes, a sudden silence filled the town. Not even a dog barked as the townspeop le returned to their homes to put their children to sleep before retiring at the end of a perfect day .. . at least for the children who went off to sleep and dream of the happy· days ahead before the school bell would again summon them to resume the perennial struggle in the endless pursuit of learning and knowledge . But for them, at least, that day was far distant as they dozed off into sweet dream after a truly happy and unforgetta ble holiday. A PARADE FOR THE SLOVAK NATION Approxima tely a half century has passed by since the Slovak nation awaited its liberation from political bondage and the American Slovaks gave a helping hand generously in the movement to free their native homeland from foreign rule. I was only a boy but I remember the spirit of the times. July 4, 1917, stands out in my memory as a memorabl e day because it is an American national holiday and because it is so near to the feastday of SS. Cyril and Methodius (it was celebrated on July 5 or July 7 in those days). At any rate a patriotic-m inded group of Slovaks planned to observe a double holiday on July 4 that year. They decided to hold �82 SLOVAKIA a parade throught the main street of our small town of about 2,000 in population. This was, in fact, the only real street we had, and it was a dirt road at that. When it rained it was a muddy thorofare ... and when it was dry it was rather dusty. But we preferred dust to mud and therefore we prayed fervently for a sunny day. Our prayers were answered. July the Fourth was ushered in by a beautiful sunrise and sunny skies prevailed throughout the historic day. Our priest was of Irish descent and he sympathized with the Slovaks, for he knew at firsthand that English oppression was no better than Magyar rule. He agreed to offer up a Mass commemorating the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth century missionary-Apostles who converted the Slovaks to Christianity, approved the singing of Slovak hyms, and promised to read both the Epistle and Gospel in the Slovak language personally ... after all it was like reading Latin. Long before the parade got underway the Slovaks gathered in front of our home on a side-street (if we must give the roadway a dignified name) and the small band of musicians (three amateur accordionists) and a trumpetplayer soon attracted an increasing number of admirers ... even without benefit of modern stereo the music was loud and clear . . . the band performed with great spirit because its members knew they were playing for a cause and the ever-growing appreciative audience encouraged their efforts. Finally, the parade started for the church which was about a mile at the each end of our town. The American Flag and the Slovak Flag (the same colors: White-Blue-Red) were proudly carried at the head of the parade and the marchers waved smaller flags as they followed the major Flag-bearers and the musicians. We all sang both the Star Spangled Banner and My Country Tis of Thee (the youngsters with gusto and their elders, recent arrivals from across the seas, with a muted foreign accent but with more reverence) and the 'Hej, Slovaci' when the elders came into their own ... they sang their heart out. Too bad this scene was not recorded on film and an a sound track. Perhaps �SLOVAKIA 83 it may be re-created as a colorful chapter in American Slovak folklorama that has great historic significance. Half-way to the Church the parade was swelled by groups of youngsters who joined in the march. There were the 'native' Americans, as well as representatives of the Polish, Moravian, Russian, Croatian, Irish, Scotch and English communities ... a veritable United Nations parade on the march for Slovak national freedom. Needless to observe that the Church ceremonies were impressive and the good pastor read the Slovak portions of the Liturgy with unique Latin-Irish pronunciation that was quite understandable and inspiring. And the special Slovak choir that led the Congregational Singing was at its best. Even the regular choir members who were veterans of the Sunday Latin Mass were impressed both by the beautiful Slovak melodies and the singers, too. It was truly a great day for the Slovaks. From that day on the townspeople looked upon the Slovaks with new interest and respect, for they recognized in them a hitherto quality that had been hidden beneath a shy exterior, namely, a vigorous spirit of proud identity as free men who marched and sang in public manifestation of their profound devotion to the ideals of faith and freedom under God in a free country ... and at the same time of fierce pride in their Slovak ancestry and love of their ancient Christian heritage. (A translation from the Slovak book, Nad nami hory - pod nami bane . . . (Woodlands above us-Mines below), by Andrew Pier, 0 .S.B. , 1972.) DR. MARIA KOSOV .A of the Slovak Academy of Science and Art in Bratislava, Slovakia, was the guest speaker last September at the Cleveland Public Library. More than three hundred attended the illustrated slide-lecture on the subject of Slovak folklore and art. � 80 SLOVAKIA Andrew Pi er, O.S.B.: Slovaks Ln Blandburg AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY About a month after school vacations began, we looked forward to the Fourth of July with impatient anticipation of a great and exciting holiday. We were never disappointed, for American Independence Day was traditionally celebrated with great fanfare, noise and fun from early morning to late at night. At first it all seemed strange to us, but it did not take us long to get into the spirit of the day long before we learned the historical significance of the great day in mid-summer. The fervor of patriotism ran high from dawn to mid-night. Explosives of black-powder, gun-fire and dynamite routed everyone out of bed at the first light of day, the sound of fire-crackers continued all day long and a bright display of sparklers and rockets after dark finally climaxed a day of unexcelled excitement. The day's festivities were highlighted by a parade iR which participants of all ages escorted or rode prancing horses and sedate mules that were drafted from the mines or farms to add color and life to the happy event. An added feature was a troop of ex-soldiers and dragoons from the Austro•Hungarian armed forces (mostly Slovaks who had served in the imperial army) who rode on mules borrowed from the mine-owners of the district for the occasion. Gaily attired in their colorful uniforms ( which they had brought with them to this country as souvenirs) they gave a kind of 'foreign legion' picture and atmosphere to the American Fourth of July parade, the like of which will never be seen again. Baseball attracted large crowds before and after lunch as our town's heroes played for glory and victory in a pair of traditional contests against a visiting team. At intermission an abbreviated game between rival teams picked from the mines' department and the brick-yard division of Harbi- �SLOVAKIA 81 -------------------------- son Walker Refractorie s provided no end of entertainm ent as these 'amateurs' never failed to provide hilarious plays in what turned out to be a comedy of errors. The winners were rewarded with great applause and free beer. The children were not neglected, nor were the youthful athletes in their early teens. There were many prizes for them in a series of contests that included running, jumping, throwing the ball, potato-sack races, the three-legged race, the spoon-egg race, etc. Twilight was greeted by an awesome array of rockets and sparklers that lighted up the sky. But this was merely the prelude to a final breath-taki ng outburst of rockets that exploded into beautiful pictorial designs that were greeted exciting 'oh's and ah's' from one end of town to the other. Finally, as if by common agreement when the last sparkler and rocket were reduced to ashes, a sudden silence filled the town. Not even a dog barked as the townspeop le returned to their homes to put their children to sleep before retiring at the end of a perfect day .. . at least for the children who went off to sleep and dream of the happy· days ahead before the school bell would again summon them to resume the perennial struggle in the endless pursuit of learning and knowledge . But for them, at least, that day was far distant as they dozed off into sweet dream after a truly happy and unforgetta ble holiday. A PARADE FOR THE SLOVAK NATION Approxima tely a half century has passed by since the Slovak nation awaited its liberation from political bondage and the American Slovaks gave a helping hand generously in the movement to free their native homeland from foreign rule. I was only a boy but I remember the spirit of the times. July 4, 1917, stands out in my memory as a memorabl e day because it is an American national holiday and because it is so near to the feastday of SS. Cyril and Methodius (it was celebrated on July 5 or July 7 in those days). At any rate a patriotic-m inded group of Slovaks planned to observe a double holiday on July 4 that year. They decided to hold �82 SLOVAKIA a parade throught the main street of our small town of about 2,000 in population. This was, in fact, the only real street we had, and it was a dirt road at that. When it rained it was a muddy thorofare ... and when it was dry it was rather dusty. But we preferred dust to mud and therefore we prayed fervently for a sunny day. Our prayers were answered. July the Fourth was ushered in by a beautiful sunrise and sunny skies prevailed throughout the historic day. Our priest was of Irish descent and he sympathized with the Slovaks, for he knew at firsthand that English oppression was no better than Magyar rule. He agreed to offer up a Mass commemorating the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth century missionary-Apostles who converted the Slovaks to Christianity, approved the singing of Slovak hyms, and promised to read both the Epistle and Gospel in the Slovak language personally ... after all it was like reading Latin. Long before the parade got underway the Slovaks gathered in front of our home on a side-street (if we must give the roadway a dignified name) and the small band of musicians (three amateur accordionists) and a trumpetplayer soon attracted an increasing number of admirers ... even without benefit of modern stereo the music was loud and clear . . . the band performed with great spirit because its members knew they were playing for a cause and the ever-growing appreciative audience encouraged their efforts. Finally, the parade started for the church which was about a mile at the each end of our town. The American Flag and the Slovak Flag (the same colors: White-Blue-Red) were proudly carried at the head of the parade and the marchers waved smaller flags as they followed the major Flag-bearers and the musicians. We all sang both the Star Spangled Banner and My Country Tis of Thee (the youngsters with gusto and their elders, recent arrivals from across the seas, with a muted foreign accent but with more reverence) and the 'Hej, Slovaci' when the elders came into their own ... they sang their heart out. Too bad this scene was not recorded on film and an a sound track. Perhaps �SLOVAKIA 83 it may be re-created as a colorful chapter in American Slovak folklorama that has great historic significance. Half-way to the Church the parade was swelled by groups of youngsters who joined in the march. There were the 'native' Americans, as well as representatives of the Polish, Moravian, Russian, Croatian, Irish, Scotch and English communities ... a veritable United Nations parade on the march for Slovak national freedom. Needless to observe that the Church ceremonies were impressive and the good pastor read the Slovak portions of the Liturgy with unique Latin-Irish pronunciation that was quite understandable and inspiring. And the special Slovak choir that led the Congregational Singing was at its best. Even the regular choir members who were veterans of the Sunday Latin Mass were impressed both by the beautiful Slovak melodies and the singers, too. It was truly a great day for the Slovaks. From that day on the townspeople looked upon the Slovaks with new interest and respect, for they recognized in them a hitherto quality that had been hidden beneath a shy exterior, namely, a vigorous spirit of proud identity as free men who marched and sang in public manifestation of their profound devotion to the ideals of faith and freedom under God in a free country ... and at the same time of fierce pride in their Slovak ancestry and love of their ancient Christian heritage. (A translation from the Slovak book, Nad nami hory - pod nami bane . . . (Woodlands above us-Mines below), by Andrew Pier, 0 .S.B. , 1972.) DR. MARIA KOSOV .A of the Slovak Academy of Science and Art in Bratislava, Slovakia, was the guest speaker last September at the Cleveland Public Library. More than three hundred attended the illustrated slide-lecture on the subject of Slovak folklore and art. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 80 SLOVAKIA Andrew Pi er, O.S.B.: Slovaks Ln Blandburg AN AMERICAN HOLIDAY About a month after school vacations began, we looked forward to the Fourth of July with impatient anticipation of a great and exciting holiday. We were never disappointed, for American Independence Day was traditionally celebrated with great fanfare, noise and fun from early morning to late at night. At first it all seemed strange to us, but it did not take us long to get into the spirit of the day long before we learned the historical significance of the great day in mid-summer. The fervor of patriotism ran high from dawn to mid-night. Explosives of black-powder, gun-fire and dynamite routed everyone out of bed at the first light of day, the sound of fire-crackers continued all day long and a bright display of sparklers and rockets after dark finally climaxed a day of unexcelled excitement. The day's festivities were highlighted by a parade iR which participants of all ages escorted or rode prancing horses and sedate mules that were drafted from the mines or farms to add color and life to the happy event. An added feature was a troop of ex-soldiers and dragoons from the Austro•Hungarian armed forces (mostly Slovaks who had served in the imperial army) who rode on mules borrowed from the mine-owners of the district for the occasion. Gaily attired in their colorful uniforms ( which they had brought with them to this country as souvenirs) they gave a kind of 'foreign legion' picture and atmosphere to the American Fourth of July parade, the like of which will never be seen again. Baseball attracted large crowds before and after lunch as our town's heroes played for glory and victory in a pair of traditional contests against a visiting team. At intermission an abbreviated game between rival teams picked from the mines' department and the brick-yard division of Harbi- SLOVAKIA 81 -------------------------- son Walker Refractorie s provided no end of entertainm ent as these 'amateurs' never failed to provide hilarious plays in what turned out to be a comedy of errors. The winners were rewarded with great applause and free beer. The children were not neglected, nor were the youthful athletes in their early teens. There were many prizes for them in a series of contests that included running, jumping, throwing the ball, potato-sack races, the three-legged race, the spoon-egg race, etc. Twilight was greeted by an awesome array of rockets and sparklers that lighted up the sky. But this was merely the prelude to a final breath-taki ng outburst of rockets that exploded into beautiful pictorial designs that were greeted exciting 'oh's and ah's' from one end of town to the other. Finally, as if by common agreement when the last sparkler and rocket were reduced to ashes, a sudden silence filled the town. Not even a dog barked as the townspeop le returned to their homes to put their children to sleep before retiring at the end of a perfect day .. . at least for the children who went off to sleep and dream of the happy· days ahead before the school bell would again summon them to resume the perennial struggle in the endless pursuit of learning and knowledge . But for them, at least, that day was far distant as they dozed off into sweet dream after a truly happy and unforgetta ble holiday. A PARADE FOR THE SLOVAK NATION Approxima tely a half century has passed by since the Slovak nation awaited its liberation from political bondage and the American Slovaks gave a helping hand generously in the movement to free their native homeland from foreign rule. I was only a boy but I remember the spirit of the times. July 4, 1917, stands out in my memory as a memorabl e day because it is an American national holiday and because it is so near to the feastday of SS. Cyril and Methodius (it was celebrated on July 5 or July 7 in those days). At any rate a patriotic-m inded group of Slovaks planned to observe a double holiday on July 4 that year. They decided to hold 82 SLOVAKIA a parade throught the main street of our small town of about 2,000 in population. This was, in fact, the only real street we had, and it was a dirt road at that. When it rained it was a muddy thorofare ... and when it was dry it was rather dusty. But we preferred dust to mud and therefore we prayed fervently for a sunny day. Our prayers were answered. July the Fourth was ushered in by a beautiful sunrise and sunny skies prevailed throughout the historic day. Our priest was of Irish descent and he sympathized with the Slovaks, for he knew at firsthand that English oppression was no better than Magyar rule. He agreed to offer up a Mass commemorating the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius, the ninth century missionary-Apostles who converted the Slovaks to Christianity, approved the singing of Slovak hyms, and promised to read both the Epistle and Gospel in the Slovak language personally ... after all it was like reading Latin. Long before the parade got underway the Slovaks gathered in front of our home on a side-street (if we must give the roadway a dignified name) and the small band of musicians (three amateur accordionists) and a trumpetplayer soon attracted an increasing number of admirers ... even without benefit of modern stereo the music was loud and clear . . . the band performed with great spirit because its members knew they were playing for a cause and the ever-growing appreciative audience encouraged their efforts. Finally, the parade started for the church which was about a mile at the each end of our town. The American Flag and the Slovak Flag (the same colors: White-Blue-Red) were proudly carried at the head of the parade and the marchers waved smaller flags as they followed the major Flag-bearers and the musicians. We all sang both the Star Spangled Banner and My Country Tis of Thee (the youngsters with gusto and their elders, recent arrivals from across the seas, with a muted foreign accent but with more reverence) and the 'Hej, Slovaci' when the elders came into their own ... they sang their heart out. Too bad this scene was not recorded on film and an a sound track. Perhaps SLOVAKIA 83 it may be re-created as a colorful chapter in American Slovak folklorama that has great historic significance. Half-way to the Church the parade was swelled by groups of youngsters who joined in the march. There were the 'native' Americans, as well as representatives of the Polish, Moravian, Russian, Croatian, Irish, Scotch and English communities ... a veritable United Nations parade on the march for Slovak national freedom. Needless to observe that the Church ceremonies were impressive and the good pastor read the Slovak portions of the Liturgy with unique Latin-Irish pronunciation that was quite understandable and inspiring. And the special Slovak choir that led the Congregational Singing was at its best. Even the regular choir members who were veterans of the Sunday Latin Mass were impressed both by the beautiful Slovak melodies and the singers, too. It was truly a great day for the Slovaks. From that day on the townspeople looked upon the Slovaks with new interest and respect, for they recognized in them a hitherto quality that had been hidden beneath a shy exterior, namely, a vigorous spirit of proud identity as free men who marched and sang in public manifestation of their profound devotion to the ideals of faith and freedom under God in a free country ... and at the same time of fierce pride in their Slovak ancestry and love of their ancient Christian heritage. (A translation from the Slovak book, Nad nami hory - pod nami bane . . . (Woodlands above us-Mines below), by Andrew Pier, 0 .S.B. , 1972.) DR. MARIA KOSOV .A of the Slovak Academy of Science and Art in Bratislava, Slovakia, was the guest speaker last September at the Cleveland Public Library. More than three hundred attended the illustrated slide-lecture on the subject of Slovak folklore and art.  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 Slovaks in Blandburg: An American Holiday Description An account of the resource Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 80-83 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 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/1490e3af0ce4f4bf4e4f464ec8e3e75a.pdf 131c2b78141c60a2a6af799da0952b80 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 51 MARCH 14, 1974: The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day By Andrew Pie r, O.S.B. Personal liberty is a God-given natural right to all men because the Creator bestowed intelligence and a conscience upon every man to whom he gave the power to make his own decisions freely. Every infringement on human freedom, therefore, is contrary to the will of God and a violation of God's natural law. When individuals are deprived of their freedom the inevitable result is oppression, and when the rights of any nation to free development are denied the consequence is tyranny. In 1976 the second centennial of American independence will be commemorated in celebration of the overthrow of British imperial tyranny two hundred years ago. The War of Independence was waged by the thirteen American colonies to establish political freedom in the new world. Their successful revolt marked a historic milestone in the struggle of modern man for human freedom, and the founding of the American republic served as a precedent and pattern for countries around the world. Aspiration to national freedom, democracy, self-government and statehood in regions inhabited by people speaking the same language, having the same or a similar culture, sharing the same religion, having developed a literature of its own, and cherishing a common tradition, are a natural outgrowth of the inner most desires of a kindred people to be free . The path to national sovereignity is not always a rosy one, for it is often bathed with the blood, sweat and tears �52 SLOVAEIA of men forced to wage a constant struggle to win freedom, and having won it, they must be eternally vigilant to maintain it. Untold sacrifices are the price of freedom in every age. At the end of World War I the Slovaks, after a thousand years of virtual serfdom, emerged victoriously on the brink of national freedom that was denied them until they declared their independence on March 14, 1939. For a brief span of six years they enjoyed national freedom in their own free Slovak Republic only to fall victims of the Yalta agreement by which freedom was wrested from them by force and they were incorporated once again in the CzechoSlovak state that was destined to become a satellite in the Soviet sphere of influence in central Europe. Self-appointe d champions of Czecho-Slovakia in which the Slovaks have invariably been treated as colonials, or at best as second-rate citizens, by the Czech politicians in Prague at first hailed the "liberation" of the country in World War II by the Russians, but they were disillusioned quickly when a communist regime was imposed upon what was marked at Teheran and Yalta as a Soviet satellite state in the heart of Europe. More than that, under unrelenting pressure from Moscow postwar Czecho-Slovakia became a communist country in which the citizen as a subject of the state lost his freedom . Six years ago in mid-August the Soviet invasion by five armies (forces of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary) of an allied state reduced CzechoSlovakia virtually to a conquered country in which enemy military forces of occupation continue to enforce the will of Moscow. Liberation, so called, in 1945 led to a communist take over in 1948; and twenty years later (1968) the enslavement of a freedom-lovin g peoples, the Slovaks and Czechs, was completed by the unprovoked invasion of their lands by the self-styled champions of "a people's democracy" from the steppes of Eurasia. Despite the loss of their national freedom to the victorious conquerors of World War II, the Slovaks in their homeland have not ceased to aspire to their God-given �SLOVAKIA 53 right to freedom. Although their passive resistance to the communist system appears futile at the moment, they continue to hope for true liberation from the godless forces of communist tyranny, while their fellow countrymen in the free world keep alive their hope of ultimate liberation from the yoke of tyranny. Probably the most abused and misunderstood word in the English language is the simple word, "independence." And perhaps the least understood by many. All of us are interdependent ... we depend upon each other in so many ways: from infancy, through youth, adulthood and old age ... from the cradle to the grave. That's reality! How can we, therefore, speak of independence at all? In the sense that we have freedom of action, provided it does not encroach upon the freedom of others. Independence rules out subservience to an alien power, and it is exercised by free people who live in a prescribed area within which they rule themselves according to the principles of justice, freedom, truth and self-preservation, as well as under the inspiration of a spirit of esprit-decorps and the ideals of a well-ordered society under the authority of the law. Although in this form of society it is majority rule that dominates, there are provisions for the minority to voice their will-which on occasion has been known to predominate, for better or worse. Nevertheless, independence works in this way, too ... as we know it. Control of their national destiny was long denied the Slovaks, but for a brief period in their history of more than a dozen centuries in central Europe in their own free, Slovak Republic (1939-1945) they proved to themselves and to the whole world they are capable of self-rule if given the opportunity ... which they seized before the outbreak of the second World War and managed rather well in their self-governing state despite the handicaps imposed upon them, namely, the pressure of a powerful neighbor at war, as well as the hardship of a wartime economy since Slovakia was surrounded by nations engaged in a titanic struggle. While there are those who continue to downgrade the aspirations of the freedom-loving Slovaks and their desire for a self-governing state of their own, no true champion of liberty will deny them the right to be free. � SLOVAKIA 51 MARCH 14, 1974: The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day By Andrew Pie r, O.S.B. Personal liberty is a God-given natural right to all men because the Creator bestowed intelligence and a conscience upon every man to whom he gave the power to make his own decisions freely. Every infringement on human freedom, therefore, is contrary to the will of God and a violation of God's natural law. When individuals are deprived of their freedom the inevitable result is oppression, and when the rights of any nation to free development are denied the consequence is tyranny. In 1976 the second centennial of American independence will be commemorated in celebration of the overthrow of British imperial tyranny two hundred years ago. The War of Independence was waged by the thirteen American colonies to establish political freedom in the new world. Their successful revolt marked a historic milestone in the struggle of modern man for human freedom, and the founding of the American republic served as a precedent and pattern for countries around the world. Aspiration to national freedom, democracy, self-government and statehood in regions inhabited by people speaking the same language, having the same or a similar culture, sharing the same religion, having developed a literature of its own, and cherishing a common tradition, are a natural outgrowth of the inner most desires of a kindred people to be free . The path to national sovereignity is not always a rosy one, for it is often bathed with the blood, sweat and tears �52 SLOVAEIA of men forced to wage a constant struggle to win freedom, and having won it, they must be eternally vigilant to maintain it. Untold sacrifices are the price of freedom in every age. At the end of World War I the Slovaks, after a thousand years of virtual serfdom, emerged victoriously on the brink of national freedom that was denied them until they declared their independence on March 14, 1939. For a brief span of six years they enjoyed national freedom in their own free Slovak Republic only to fall victims of the Yalta agreement by which freedom was wrested from them by force and they were incorporated once again in the CzechoSlovak state that was destined to become a satellite in the Soviet sphere of influence in central Europe. Self-appointe d champions of Czecho-Slovakia in which the Slovaks have invariably been treated as colonials, or at best as second-rate citizens, by the Czech politicians in Prague at first hailed the "liberation" of the country in World War II by the Russians, but they were disillusioned quickly when a communist regime was imposed upon what was marked at Teheran and Yalta as a Soviet satellite state in the heart of Europe. More than that, under unrelenting pressure from Moscow postwar Czecho-Slovakia became a communist country in which the citizen as a subject of the state lost his freedom . Six years ago in mid-August the Soviet invasion by five armies (forces of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary) of an allied state reduced CzechoSlovakia virtually to a conquered country in which enemy military forces of occupation continue to enforce the will of Moscow. Liberation, so called, in 1945 led to a communist take over in 1948; and twenty years later (1968) the enslavement of a freedom-lovin g peoples, the Slovaks and Czechs, was completed by the unprovoked invasion of their lands by the self-styled champions of "a people's democracy" from the steppes of Eurasia. Despite the loss of their national freedom to the victorious conquerors of World War II, the Slovaks in their homeland have not ceased to aspire to their God-given �SLOVAKIA 53 right to freedom. Although their passive resistance to the communist system appears futile at the moment, they continue to hope for true liberation from the godless forces of communist tyranny, while their fellow countrymen in the free world keep alive their hope of ultimate liberation from the yoke of tyranny. Probably the most abused and misunderstood word in the English language is the simple word, "independence." And perhaps the least understood by many. All of us are interdependent ... we depend upon each other in so many ways: from infancy, through youth, adulthood and old age ... from the cradle to the grave. That's reality! How can we, therefore, speak of independence at all? In the sense that we have freedom of action, provided it does not encroach upon the freedom of others. Independence rules out subservience to an alien power, and it is exercised by free people who live in a prescribed area within which they rule themselves according to the principles of justice, freedom, truth and self-preservation, as well as under the inspiration of a spirit of esprit-decorps and the ideals of a well-ordered society under the authority of the law. Although in this form of society it is majority rule that dominates, there are provisions for the minority to voice their will-which on occasion has been known to predominate, for better or worse. Nevertheless, independence works in this way, too ... as we know it. Control of their national destiny was long denied the Slovaks, but for a brief period in their history of more than a dozen centuries in central Europe in their own free, Slovak Republic (1939-1945) they proved to themselves and to the whole world they are capable of self-rule if given the opportunity ... which they seized before the outbreak of the second World War and managed rather well in their self-governing state despite the handicaps imposed upon them, namely, the pressure of a powerful neighbor at war, as well as the hardship of a wartime economy since Slovakia was surrounded by nations engaged in a titanic struggle. While there are those who continue to downgrade the aspirations of the freedom-loving Slovaks and their desire for a self-governing state of their own, no true champion of liberty will deny them the right to be free. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Text Any textual data included in the document SLOVAKIA 51 MARCH 14, 1974: The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day By Andrew Pie r, O.S.B. Personal liberty is a God-given natural right to all men because the Creator bestowed intelligence and a conscience upon every man to whom he gave the power to make his own decisions freely. Every infringement on human freedom, therefore, is contrary to the will of God and a violation of God's natural law. When individuals are deprived of their freedom the inevitable result is oppression, and when the rights of any nation to free development are denied the consequence is tyranny. In 1976 the second centennial of American independence will be commemorated in celebration of the overthrow of British imperial tyranny two hundred years ago. The War of Independence was waged by the thirteen American colonies to establish political freedom in the new world. Their successful revolt marked a historic milestone in the struggle of modern man for human freedom, and the founding of the American republic served as a precedent and pattern for countries around the world. Aspiration to national freedom, democracy, self-government and statehood in regions inhabited by people speaking the same language, having the same or a similar culture, sharing the same religion, having developed a literature of its own, and cherishing a common tradition, are a natural outgrowth of the inner most desires of a kindred people to be free . The path to national sovereignity is not always a rosy one, for it is often bathed with the blood, sweat and tears 52 SLOVAEIA of men forced to wage a constant struggle to win freedom, and having won it, they must be eternally vigilant to maintain it. Untold sacrifices are the price of freedom in every age. At the end of World War I the Slovaks, after a thousand years of virtual serfdom, emerged victoriously on the brink of national freedom that was denied them until they declared their independence on March 14, 1939. For a brief span of six years they enjoyed national freedom in their own free Slovak Republic only to fall victims of the Yalta agreement by which freedom was wrested from them by force and they were incorporated once again in the CzechoSlovak state that was destined to become a satellite in the Soviet sphere of influence in central Europe. Self-appointe d champions of Czecho-Slovakia in which the Slovaks have invariably been treated as colonials, or at best as second-rate citizens, by the Czech politicians in Prague at first hailed the "liberation" of the country in World War II by the Russians, but they were disillusioned quickly when a communist regime was imposed upon what was marked at Teheran and Yalta as a Soviet satellite state in the heart of Europe. More than that, under unrelenting pressure from Moscow postwar Czecho-Slovakia became a communist country in which the citizen as a subject of the state lost his freedom . Six years ago in mid-August the Soviet invasion by five armies (forces of the USSR, East Germany, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary) of an allied state reduced CzechoSlovakia virtually to a conquered country in which enemy military forces of occupation continue to enforce the will of Moscow. Liberation, so called, in 1945 led to a communist take over in 1948; and twenty years later (1968) the enslavement of a freedom-lovin g peoples, the Slovaks and Czechs, was completed by the unprovoked invasion of their lands by the self-styled champions of "a people's democracy" from the steppes of Eurasia. Despite the loss of their national freedom to the victorious conquerors of World War II, the Slovaks in their homeland have not ceased to aspire to their God-given SLOVAKIA 53 right to freedom. Although their passive resistance to the communist system appears futile at the moment, they continue to hope for true liberation from the godless forces of communist tyranny, while their fellow countrymen in the free world keep alive their hope of ultimate liberation from the yoke of tyranny. Probably the most abused and misunderstood word in the English language is the simple word, "independence." And perhaps the least understood by many. All of us are interdependent ... we depend upon each other in so many ways: from infancy, through youth, adulthood and old age ... from the cradle to the grave. That's reality! How can we, therefore, speak of independence at all? In the sense that we have freedom of action, provided it does not encroach upon the freedom of others. Independence rules out subservience to an alien power, and it is exercised by free people who live in a prescribed area within which they rule themselves according to the principles of justice, freedom, truth and self-preservation, as well as under the inspiration of a spirit of esprit-decorps and the ideals of a well-ordered society under the authority of the law. Although in this form of society it is majority rule that dominates, there are provisions for the minority to voice their will-which on occasion has been known to predominate, for better or worse. Nevertheless, independence works in this way, too ... as we know it. Control of their national destiny was long denied the Slovaks, but for a brief period in their history of more than a dozen centuries in central Europe in their own free, Slovak Republic (1939-1945) they proved to themselves and to the whole world they are capable of self-rule if given the opportunity ... which they seized before the outbreak of the second World War and managed rather well in their self-governing state despite the handicaps imposed upon them, namely, the pressure of a powerful neighbor at war, as well as the hardship of a wartime economy since Slovakia was surrounded by nations engaged in a titanic struggle. While there are those who continue to downgrade the aspirations of the freedom-loving Slovaks and their desire for a self-governing state of their own, no true champion of liberty will deny them the right to be free.  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 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day Description An account of the resource Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 51-53 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 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/94e009273995fadc75925b7f68a42081.pdf fdb6871601db10592fbe17f31f33f364 PDF Text Text 92 SLOVAKIA Some Personal Observations on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference By Susan Po j er, B .A. In March of 1973 I was asked to participate in the Slovak League of America Conference held on May 19, 1973, as a youth panel member, but was hesitant at first to accept because I felt that I had nothing of any value to contribute to such a gathering. Although I am a young Slovak-American and have a B.A. degree in European history, I must confess that I knew very little about the history and political development of Slovakia. My knowledge of the language and my ability to speak and understand Slovak had dwindled to a few words and phrases over the years. Fortunately for me, I still belong to a predominantly Slovak parish and my parents have maintained many of the Slovak customs and traditions so that I was not totally out of touch with my Slovak heritage. As I researched my own topic for discussion ( Slovak Folk Art) I began to get a glimpse into the nature of the Slovak people - their longing for beauty in the midst of poverty and hardship, their toughness and practicality in their everyday dealings with life and their piety and reverence for God and his creations. I started to experience a new-found pride in my ethnic background and in my ancestors which was strengthened at the Conference where I saw young and old come together to share their own feelings as to what means to be a Slovak-American. During the morning session, we were all separated into two panel groups (the youth and the older members) . During the youth session many areas were discussed covering a wide range of topics - the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act (Sen. Schweiker's Ethnic Studies Act), fraternal societies, a trip to Slovakia, Slovakia in �SLOVAKIA 93 history, and my own on Slovak folk art. After these talks were over, a general discussion ensued in which three major points were emphasized. The role of Slovak youth in educating the public and even re-educating their own parents as well as themselves was a topic heatedly discussed. Groups from many states elaborated on what they, as Slovak-Americans, were doing in their areas to help perpetuate the Slovak heritage and inform the public. Some had formed social clubs, others held language classes, while still others tried to get articles in their local papers on what the Slovaks in the community were doing. Another point discussed was the question of why there exists today so many different fraternal organizations. The concensus was that the unification of all fraternals into one large body with a substantial financial power could be a great new force in Slovak circles. We felt that the days of the dues-paying fraternals were numbered and that only one giant organization could keep the youth involved and interested in the ideals on which those many fraternals were originally founded. The third and most important point stressed throughout those morning discussions was the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act which had been passed by Congress in 1972. To date, however, no governmental funds have as yet been appropriated. Everyone agreed that the establishment of a Slovak ethnic studies center and the further government funding of existing academic, library, and Slovak language facilities was the most constructive way of educating the public and more important of providing our own youth with the educational opportunities (language courses, majors in Slovak studies for college students, a possible central publishing house and extensive monthly magazine or Slovak newspaper on events happening in Slovakia, etc.) to thoroughly investigate all aspects of the Slovak heritage and identity. The youth members present also requested the entire conference and heads of fraternals to support this Act by publishing in their journals, newspapers, and magazines a letter to encourage all readers to write to their legislators �94 SLOVAKIA to put pressure on the executive branch to fund these centers. During lunch, we heard a distinguished guest speaker, State Senator Michael A. O'Pake, of Pennsylvania. He encouraged us all to be proud of our Slovak heritage. Himself half Slovak, he pointed out the qualities in the Slovak people which we should be most proud of and pleaded to the assembly and to all Slovaks to become involved in the governmental system. He stated that, unlike other ethnic groups, the Slovaks never really took an interest in politics and it is high time that they did, as a group and as individuals. He also requested that we support local Slovak candidates for office. After lunch was over, we all assembled for a general meeting in which the youth and the older members informed one another of what had been discussed during their morning session. At the close of business, the Conference adjourned until next year. As I left the Statler Hilton Hotel, where the Conference had taken place, I had a feeling of rejuvenation, as if something inside of me had been reborn. I was also quite ashamed of my lack of knowledge of many aspects of Slovak culture as well as my almost total uncomprehension of the talks given in Slovak in which I could only catch a glimpse of a word here and there. I resolved to rectify both situations immediately. While riding home on the train, many ideas and thoughts for next year's Conference began to form in my mind and I would like to share them here. The major problem among the youth that I found when discussing a topic was the large age difference of the participants. Young people from 15 to 35 years of age were there and many discussions were beyond some. I feel that a Conference should be held for those ranging in age from 14 to 18 (high school level) and supervised by the young adult group. Or, at least next year, there should be separation into three age groups rather than two. As a college student and an M.A. candidate, I would hope to see in the near future a more scholarly symposium lasting perhaps a weekend with guest lecturers and speakers �SLOVAKIA 95 (university professors, Slovak political leaders, from here and from abroad, if possible, authors of books on Slovakia, etc.) in which students, teachers, and other interested parties could meet to discuss problems and topics on Slovak history, politics, language, literature and art. I would also like to see a weekend cultural fair as part of the Conference. It could include displays on all aspects of Slovak art, crafts, costumes, dancing, music as well as many others so that the non-Slovak public could also come and learn. Finally, I would like to see a quarterly or, if possible, monthly newsleter published for the young adult age group of 19 to 35. In it could be articles on what groups throughout the country were doing. This newsletter might also serve as a directory, constantly being up-dated, of, for example, where Slovak could be learned, what universities and colleges give courses in aspects of Slovak culture and ethnic studies, the availability of guest lecturers for groups, any news of trips to Slovakia, news of Slovak arts and crafts exhibits at local museums, etc., as well as language lessons, news items on what is happening in Slovakia from the press, and a listing of the latest books and articles published on Slovakia. I have tried to relate my own experiences at the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference. I have also made suggestions for future Conferences, proposed some new ideas. I would welcome any criticisms or further suggestions regarding the proposals I have presented. In summation I can say that this Conference has only wet my appetite to learn more about my Slovak heritage and my role as a Slovak-American. I look forward to the 1974 Conference with great anticipation and would encourage more youth to attend and voice their opinions. THE NOV .A SCENA dramatic company premiered Ivan Stodola's original ''Diogenes" version on the stage in Bratislava last May to celebrate the Slovak playwright's 85th birthday. � 92 SLOVAKIA Some Personal Observations on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference By Susan Po j er, B .A. In March of 1973 I was asked to participate in the Slovak League of America Conference held on May 19, 1973, as a youth panel member, but was hesitant at first to accept because I felt that I had nothing of any value to contribute to such a gathering. Although I am a young Slovak-American and have a B.A. degree in European history, I must confess that I knew very little about the history and political development of Slovakia. My knowledge of the language and my ability to speak and understand Slovak had dwindled to a few words and phrases over the years. Fortunately for me, I still belong to a predominantly Slovak parish and my parents have maintained many of the Slovak customs and traditions so that I was not totally out of touch with my Slovak heritage. As I researched my own topic for discussion ( Slovak Folk Art) I began to get a glimpse into the nature of the Slovak people - their longing for beauty in the midst of poverty and hardship, their toughness and practicality in their everyday dealings with life and their piety and reverence for God and his creations. I started to experience a new-found pride in my ethnic background and in my ancestors which was strengthened at the Conference where I saw young and old come together to share their own feelings as to what means to be a Slovak-American. During the morning session, we were all separated into two panel groups (the youth and the older members) . During the youth session many areas were discussed covering a wide range of topics - the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act (Sen. Schweiker's Ethnic Studies Act), fraternal societies, a trip to Slovakia, Slovakia in �SLOVAKIA 93 history, and my own on Slovak folk art. After these talks were over, a general discussion ensued in which three major points were emphasized. The role of Slovak youth in educating the public and even re-educating their own parents as well as themselves was a topic heatedly discussed. Groups from many states elaborated on what they, as Slovak-Americans, were doing in their areas to help perpetuate the Slovak heritage and inform the public. Some had formed social clubs, others held language classes, while still others tried to get articles in their local papers on what the Slovaks in the community were doing. Another point discussed was the question of why there exists today so many different fraternal organizations. The concensus was that the unification of all fraternals into one large body with a substantial financial power could be a great new force in Slovak circles. We felt that the days of the dues-paying fraternals were numbered and that only one giant organization could keep the youth involved and interested in the ideals on which those many fraternals were originally founded. The third and most important point stressed throughout those morning discussions was the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act which had been passed by Congress in 1972. To date, however, no governmental funds have as yet been appropriated. Everyone agreed that the establishment of a Slovak ethnic studies center and the further government funding of existing academic, library, and Slovak language facilities was the most constructive way of educating the public and more important of providing our own youth with the educational opportunities (language courses, majors in Slovak studies for college students, a possible central publishing house and extensive monthly magazine or Slovak newspaper on events happening in Slovakia, etc.) to thoroughly investigate all aspects of the Slovak heritage and identity. The youth members present also requested the entire conference and heads of fraternals to support this Act by publishing in their journals, newspapers, and magazines a letter to encourage all readers to write to their legislators �94 SLOVAKIA to put pressure on the executive branch to fund these centers. During lunch, we heard a distinguished guest speaker, State Senator Michael A. O'Pake, of Pennsylvania. He encouraged us all to be proud of our Slovak heritage. Himself half Slovak, he pointed out the qualities in the Slovak people which we should be most proud of and pleaded to the assembly and to all Slovaks to become involved in the governmental system. He stated that, unlike other ethnic groups, the Slovaks never really took an interest in politics and it is high time that they did, as a group and as individuals. He also requested that we support local Slovak candidates for office. After lunch was over, we all assembled for a general meeting in which the youth and the older members informed one another of what had been discussed during their morning session. At the close of business, the Conference adjourned until next year. As I left the Statler Hilton Hotel, where the Conference had taken place, I had a feeling of rejuvenation, as if something inside of me had been reborn. I was also quite ashamed of my lack of knowledge of many aspects of Slovak culture as well as my almost total uncomprehension of the talks given in Slovak in which I could only catch a glimpse of a word here and there. I resolved to rectify both situations immediately. While riding home on the train, many ideas and thoughts for next year's Conference began to form in my mind and I would like to share them here. The major problem among the youth that I found when discussing a topic was the large age difference of the participants. Young people from 15 to 35 years of age were there and many discussions were beyond some. I feel that a Conference should be held for those ranging in age from 14 to 18 (high school level) and supervised by the young adult group. Or, at least next year, there should be separation into three age groups rather than two. As a college student and an M.A. candidate, I would hope to see in the near future a more scholarly symposium lasting perhaps a weekend with guest lecturers and speakers �SLOVAKIA 95 (university professors, Slovak political leaders, from here and from abroad, if possible, authors of books on Slovakia, etc.) in which students, teachers, and other interested parties could meet to discuss problems and topics on Slovak history, politics, language, literature and art. I would also like to see a weekend cultural fair as part of the Conference. It could include displays on all aspects of Slovak art, crafts, costumes, dancing, music as well as many others so that the non-Slovak public could also come and learn. Finally, I would like to see a quarterly or, if possible, monthly newsleter published for the young adult age group of 19 to 35. In it could be articles on what groups throughout the country were doing. This newsletter might also serve as a directory, constantly being up-dated, of, for example, where Slovak could be learned, what universities and colleges give courses in aspects of Slovak culture and ethnic studies, the availability of guest lecturers for groups, any news of trips to Slovakia, news of Slovak arts and crafts exhibits at local museums, etc., as well as language lessons, news items on what is happening in Slovakia from the press, and a listing of the latest books and articles published on Slovakia. I have tried to relate my own experiences at the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference. I have also made suggestions for future Conferences, proposed some new ideas. I would welcome any criticisms or further suggestions regarding the proposals I have presented. In summation I can say that this Conference has only wet my appetite to learn more about my Slovak heritage and my role as a Slovak-American. I look forward to the 1974 Conference with great anticipation and would encourage more youth to attend and voice their opinions. THE NOV .A SCENA dramatic company premiered Ivan Stodola's original ''Diogenes" version on the stage in Bratislava last May to celebrate the Slovak playwright's 85th birthday. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 Some Personal Observations on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference By Susan Po j er, B .A. In March of 1973 I was asked to participate in the Slovak League of America Conference held on May 19, 1973, as a youth panel member, but was hesitant at first to accept because I felt that I had nothing of any value to contribute to such a gathering. Although I am a young Slovak-American and have a B.A. degree in European history, I must confess that I knew very little about the history and political development of Slovakia. My knowledge of the language and my ability to speak and understand Slovak had dwindled to a few words and phrases over the years. Fortunately for me, I still belong to a predominantly Slovak parish and my parents have maintained many of the Slovak customs and traditions so that I was not totally out of touch with my Slovak heritage. As I researched my own topic for discussion ( Slovak Folk Art) I began to get a glimpse into the nature of the Slovak people - their longing for beauty in the midst of poverty and hardship, their toughness and practicality in their everyday dealings with life and their piety and reverence for God and his creations. I started to experience a new-found pride in my ethnic background and in my ancestors which was strengthened at the Conference where I saw young and old come together to share their own feelings as to what means to be a Slovak-American. During the morning session, we were all separated into two panel groups (the youth and the older members) . During the youth session many areas were discussed covering a wide range of topics - the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act (Sen. Schweiker's Ethnic Studies Act), fraternal societies, a trip to Slovakia, Slovakia in SLOVAKIA 93 history, and my own on Slovak folk art. After these talks were over, a general discussion ensued in which three major points were emphasized. The role of Slovak youth in educating the public and even re-educating their own parents as well as themselves was a topic heatedly discussed. Groups from many states elaborated on what they, as Slovak-Americans, were doing in their areas to help perpetuate the Slovak heritage and inform the public. Some had formed social clubs, others held language classes, while still others tried to get articles in their local papers on what the Slovaks in the community were doing. Another point discussed was the question of why there exists today so many different fraternal organizations. The concensus was that the unification of all fraternals into one large body with a substantial financial power could be a great new force in Slovak circles. We felt that the days of the dues-paying fraternals were numbered and that only one giant organization could keep the youth involved and interested in the ideals on which those many fraternals were originally founded. The third and most important point stressed throughout those morning discussions was the new Ethnic Heritage Studies Programs Act which had been passed by Congress in 1972. To date, however, no governmental funds have as yet been appropriated. Everyone agreed that the establishment of a Slovak ethnic studies center and the further government funding of existing academic, library, and Slovak language facilities was the most constructive way of educating the public and more important of providing our own youth with the educational opportunities (language courses, majors in Slovak studies for college students, a possible central publishing house and extensive monthly magazine or Slovak newspaper on events happening in Slovakia, etc.) to thoroughly investigate all aspects of the Slovak heritage and identity. The youth members present also requested the entire conference and heads of fraternals to support this Act by publishing in their journals, newspapers, and magazines a letter to encourage all readers to write to their legislators 94 SLOVAKIA to put pressure on the executive branch to fund these centers. During lunch, we heard a distinguished guest speaker, State Senator Michael A. O'Pake, of Pennsylvania. He encouraged us all to be proud of our Slovak heritage. Himself half Slovak, he pointed out the qualities in the Slovak people which we should be most proud of and pleaded to the assembly and to all Slovaks to become involved in the governmental system. He stated that, unlike other ethnic groups, the Slovaks never really took an interest in politics and it is high time that they did, as a group and as individuals. He also requested that we support local Slovak candidates for office. After lunch was over, we all assembled for a general meeting in which the youth and the older members informed one another of what had been discussed during their morning session. At the close of business, the Conference adjourned until next year. As I left the Statler Hilton Hotel, where the Conference had taken place, I had a feeling of rejuvenation, as if something inside of me had been reborn. I was also quite ashamed of my lack of knowledge of many aspects of Slovak culture as well as my almost total uncomprehension of the talks given in Slovak in which I could only catch a glimpse of a word here and there. I resolved to rectify both situations immediately. While riding home on the train, many ideas and thoughts for next year's Conference began to form in my mind and I would like to share them here. The major problem among the youth that I found when discussing a topic was the large age difference of the participants. Young people from 15 to 35 years of age were there and many discussions were beyond some. I feel that a Conference should be held for those ranging in age from 14 to 18 (high school level) and supervised by the young adult group. Or, at least next year, there should be separation into three age groups rather than two. As a college student and an M.A. candidate, I would hope to see in the near future a more scholarly symposium lasting perhaps a weekend with guest lecturers and speakers SLOVAKIA 95 (university professors, Slovak political leaders, from here and from abroad, if possible, authors of books on Slovakia, etc.) in which students, teachers, and other interested parties could meet to discuss problems and topics on Slovak history, politics, language, literature and art. I would also like to see a weekend cultural fair as part of the Conference. It could include displays on all aspects of Slovak art, crafts, costumes, dancing, music as well as many others so that the non-Slovak public could also come and learn. Finally, I would like to see a quarterly or, if possible, monthly newsleter published for the young adult age group of 19 to 35. In it could be articles on what groups throughout the country were doing. This newsletter might also serve as a directory, constantly being up-dated, of, for example, where Slovak could be learned, what universities and colleges give courses in aspects of Slovak culture and ethnic studies, the availability of guest lecturers for groups, any news of trips to Slovakia, news of Slovak arts and crafts exhibits at local museums, etc., as well as language lessons, news items on what is happening in Slovakia from the press, and a listing of the latest books and articles published on Slovakia. I have tried to relate my own experiences at the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference. I have also made suggestions for future Conferences, proposed some new ideas. I would welcome any criticisms or further suggestions regarding the proposals I have presented. In summation I can say that this Conference has only wet my appetite to learn more about my Slovak heritage and my role as a Slovak-American. I look forward to the 1974 Conference with great anticipation and would encourage more youth to attend and voice their opinions. THE NOV .A SCENA dramatic company premiered Ivan Stodola's original ''Diogenes" version on the stage in Bratislava last May to celebrate the Slovak playwright's 85th birthday.  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 Some Personal Observations on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference Description An account of the resource Susan Pojer, B.A. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 92-95 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Pojer, Susan Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/b69dc446e19c457b5bc9d36fefbc52d5.pdf b3d7f3bfb36c1c412f2a2ee3116fa9e3 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 57 Slovak Destiny Stephen B . R o m a n, President SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS There are moments in the lives of Slovaks when we are very clearly and sometimes very painfully aware of who we are, where we came from, and where we should be going. These intimate perceptions are not frequent. Usually they come when the volume and tempo of persistent cares diminish, or just before the making of a critical decision. At such times we intuitively understand our relationship and responsibility to ourselves, to our immediate and distant relatives and friends, to our nation, to mankind, and to God. Over a long period of time we developed a collective consciousness, a set of intrinsic values which blend together to create a common bond among us. We are products of a nation that has cherished and developed its distinct character over millennia, and which has absorbed a full range of human talents and achievements in that process. Every page of our history bears the imprint of pain and suffering-pain and suffering from which have emerged great values. We are descendants of a nation which was not large in numbers. A nation, which, over a period of time, had to confront wave after wave of stronger and more aggressive neighbors. These attackers conquered our fortresses and burnt down our settlements; but, they never broke our spirit. No wonder then that, in our nation, courage and tenacity have always triumphed over oppression and hardship. What we went through marked our national personality-deepened, and strengthened it. Our earliest forefathers found strength in the soil. This close tie with the land gave our nation its typical characteristics: industry, endurance, faith in ourselves, and faith in God. From a natural reconciliation with nature grew other virtues: the virtues of hospitality, of justice, of judgment, �58 SLOVAKIA and of creativity. The feeling of togetherness brought brotherhood. From oppression and want, we crystalized a sense of fair play. The reality of mortal life brought judgement; and, a growing quality in day-to-day life gave time for the enrichment of the soul. Who are we today? We are no more, and no less. than one generation in the development of this patricular spirit. We have inherited the gift of our history. We are to advance the tradition of our forefathers and, walk a few steps further along the road towards our human destiny, which they marched on over the centuries. We are the custodians of their virtues. We are the ones who were left to aggrandize their tradition; and, this makes us responsible for further progress both as members of our nation, and as part of the commonwealth of mankind. A talent has been passed on to us for which we are responsible, and which we have to return, with interest, in the spirit of the best tradition and trust in Divine Providence. Where do we go? We continue in the footsteps of our fathers, perhaps with greater strides, perhaps with a stronger will, hopefully with an ever higher goal: confident because of the firm steps behind us; responsible for so many steps ahead. Our successes will not be ours alone; they will be shared by the nation; they should penetrate into the consciousness of mankind. Each one of us adds in his own way; each one of us takes credit towards the overall account of this process. Our people have seen many a crisis. The last one seems to have no equal; the strong have seized our nation and our nation is, again, praying and suffering. Yet, though the enemy may take its comforts from it, for a time - silence it - they cannot obliterate our souls. Our nation will survive this current evil. Our task is to surmount this trial; to achieve new successes in the shape and execution of democracy and freedom. We must grow in our humanity, in our unshakeable self-confidence, in our will to enrich what we are. Only then will we have grown under the test-will w-e feel needed-will we have pride that we are judged by �SLOVAKIA 59 measures applicable to all mankind, and that we come out well in the balance. I believe that every nation has a Divine destiny to fulfill. Slovak destiny, although at times obscure, is to improve and enhance that part of the world where its influence can be a positive factor for genuine advancement of humanity. The solid value of the word of a Slovak and the uniquely spiritual warmth of the sons and daughters of Slovakia can be a radiant source of edification to others as they exemplify what can be accomplished by work and good will, for God and country. May the name SLOVAK soon begin to ring out melodiously in the steeples of the Family of Nations and strike a responsive chord of recognition in the hearts of all peoples. DR. STEPHEN LUCAS, associate professor of Elementary Education at Edinboro State College, has been elected President of the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association. A member of the Board of Directors for the past two years, Dr. Lucas has contributed articles and papers to "The Pennsylvania Science Teacher and the Voice of P .S.T .A." The recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree from Clarion State College, Dr. Lucas received his Master of Education in Biology and his Doctor of Education Degree in science education from Pennsylvania State University. He did additional graduate work at Cornell University, University of Vermont, North Caroline State College and Bloomsburg State College. He is an American Slovak. � SLOVAKIA 57 Slovak Destiny Stephen B . R o m a n, President SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS There are moments in the lives of Slovaks when we are very clearly and sometimes very painfully aware of who we are, where we came from, and where we should be going. These intimate perceptions are not frequent. Usually they come when the volume and tempo of persistent cares diminish, or just before the making of a critical decision. At such times we intuitively understand our relationship and responsibility to ourselves, to our immediate and distant relatives and friends, to our nation, to mankind, and to God. Over a long period of time we developed a collective consciousness, a set of intrinsic values which blend together to create a common bond among us. We are products of a nation that has cherished and developed its distinct character over millennia, and which has absorbed a full range of human talents and achievements in that process. Every page of our history bears the imprint of pain and suffering-pain and suffering from which have emerged great values. We are descendants of a nation which was not large in numbers. A nation, which, over a period of time, had to confront wave after wave of stronger and more aggressive neighbors. These attackers conquered our fortresses and burnt down our settlements; but, they never broke our spirit. No wonder then that, in our nation, courage and tenacity have always triumphed over oppression and hardship. What we went through marked our national personality-deepened, and strengthened it. Our earliest forefathers found strength in the soil. This close tie with the land gave our nation its typical characteristics: industry, endurance, faith in ourselves, and faith in God. From a natural reconciliation with nature grew other virtues: the virtues of hospitality, of justice, of judgment, �58 SLOVAKIA and of creativity. The feeling of togetherness brought brotherhood. From oppression and want, we crystalized a sense of fair play. The reality of mortal life brought judgement; and, a growing quality in day-to-day life gave time for the enrichment of the soul. Who are we today? We are no more, and no less. than one generation in the development of this patricular spirit. We have inherited the gift of our history. We are to advance the tradition of our forefathers and, walk a few steps further along the road towards our human destiny, which they marched on over the centuries. We are the custodians of their virtues. We are the ones who were left to aggrandize their tradition; and, this makes us responsible for further progress both as members of our nation, and as part of the commonwealth of mankind. A talent has been passed on to us for which we are responsible, and which we have to return, with interest, in the spirit of the best tradition and trust in Divine Providence. Where do we go? We continue in the footsteps of our fathers, perhaps with greater strides, perhaps with a stronger will, hopefully with an ever higher goal: confident because of the firm steps behind us; responsible for so many steps ahead. Our successes will not be ours alone; they will be shared by the nation; they should penetrate into the consciousness of mankind. Each one of us adds in his own way; each one of us takes credit towards the overall account of this process. Our people have seen many a crisis. The last one seems to have no equal; the strong have seized our nation and our nation is, again, praying and suffering. Yet, though the enemy may take its comforts from it, for a time - silence it - they cannot obliterate our souls. Our nation will survive this current evil. Our task is to surmount this trial; to achieve new successes in the shape and execution of democracy and freedom. We must grow in our humanity, in our unshakeable self-confidence, in our will to enrich what we are. Only then will we have grown under the test-will w-e feel needed-will we have pride that we are judged by �SLOVAKIA 59 measures applicable to all mankind, and that we come out well in the balance. I believe that every nation has a Divine destiny to fulfill. Slovak destiny, although at times obscure, is to improve and enhance that part of the world where its influence can be a positive factor for genuine advancement of humanity. The solid value of the word of a Slovak and the uniquely spiritual warmth of the sons and daughters of Slovakia can be a radiant source of edification to others as they exemplify what can be accomplished by work and good will, for God and country. May the name SLOVAK soon begin to ring out melodiously in the steeples of the Family of Nations and strike a responsive chord of recognition in the hearts of all peoples. DR. STEPHEN LUCAS, associate professor of Elementary Education at Edinboro State College, has been elected President of the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association. A member of the Board of Directors for the past two years, Dr. Lucas has contributed articles and papers to "The Pennsylvania Science Teacher and the Voice of P .S.T .A." The recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree from Clarion State College, Dr. Lucas received his Master of Education in Biology and his Doctor of Education Degree in science education from Pennsylvania State University. He did additional graduate work at Cornell University, University of Vermont, North Caroline State College and Bloomsburg State College. He is an American Slovak. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 Slovak Destiny Stephen B . R o m a n, President SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS There are moments in the lives of Slovaks when we are very clearly and sometimes very painfully aware of who we are, where we came from, and where we should be going. These intimate perceptions are not frequent. Usually they come when the volume and tempo of persistent cares diminish, or just before the making of a critical decision. At such times we intuitively understand our relationship and responsibility to ourselves, to our immediate and distant relatives and friends, to our nation, to mankind, and to God. Over a long period of time we developed a collective consciousness, a set of intrinsic values which blend together to create a common bond among us. We are products of a nation that has cherished and developed its distinct character over millennia, and which has absorbed a full range of human talents and achievements in that process. Every page of our history bears the imprint of pain and suffering-pain and suffering from which have emerged great values. We are descendants of a nation which was not large in numbers. A nation, which, over a period of time, had to confront wave after wave of stronger and more aggressive neighbors. These attackers conquered our fortresses and burnt down our settlements; but, they never broke our spirit. No wonder then that, in our nation, courage and tenacity have always triumphed over oppression and hardship. What we went through marked our national personality-deepened, and strengthened it. Our earliest forefathers found strength in the soil. This close tie with the land gave our nation its typical characteristics: industry, endurance, faith in ourselves, and faith in God. From a natural reconciliation with nature grew other virtues: the virtues of hospitality, of justice, of judgment, 58 SLOVAKIA and of creativity. The feeling of togetherness brought brotherhood. From oppression and want, we crystalized a sense of fair play. The reality of mortal life brought judgement; and, a growing quality in day-to-day life gave time for the enrichment of the soul. Who are we today? We are no more, and no less. than one generation in the development of this patricular spirit. We have inherited the gift of our history. We are to advance the tradition of our forefathers and, walk a few steps further along the road towards our human destiny, which they marched on over the centuries. We are the custodians of their virtues. We are the ones who were left to aggrandize their tradition; and, this makes us responsible for further progress both as members of our nation, and as part of the commonwealth of mankind. A talent has been passed on to us for which we are responsible, and which we have to return, with interest, in the spirit of the best tradition and trust in Divine Providence. Where do we go? We continue in the footsteps of our fathers, perhaps with greater strides, perhaps with a stronger will, hopefully with an ever higher goal: confident because of the firm steps behind us; responsible for so many steps ahead. Our successes will not be ours alone; they will be shared by the nation; they should penetrate into the consciousness of mankind. Each one of us adds in his own way; each one of us takes credit towards the overall account of this process. Our people have seen many a crisis. The last one seems to have no equal; the strong have seized our nation and our nation is, again, praying and suffering. Yet, though the enemy may take its comforts from it, for a time - silence it - they cannot obliterate our souls. Our nation will survive this current evil. Our task is to surmount this trial; to achieve new successes in the shape and execution of democracy and freedom. We must grow in our humanity, in our unshakeable self-confidence, in our will to enrich what we are. Only then will we have grown under the test-will w-e feel needed-will we have pride that we are judged by SLOVAKIA 59 measures applicable to all mankind, and that we come out well in the balance. I believe that every nation has a Divine destiny to fulfill. Slovak destiny, although at times obscure, is to improve and enhance that part of the world where its influence can be a positive factor for genuine advancement of humanity. The solid value of the word of a Slovak and the uniquely spiritual warmth of the sons and daughters of Slovakia can be a radiant source of edification to others as they exemplify what can be accomplished by work and good will, for God and country. May the name SLOVAK soon begin to ring out melodiously in the steeples of the Family of Nations and strike a responsive chord of recognition in the hearts of all peoples. DR. STEPHEN LUCAS, associate professor of Elementary Education at Edinboro State College, has been elected President of the Pennsylvania Science Teachers Association. A member of the Board of Directors for the past two years, Dr. Lucas has contributed articles and papers to "The Pennsylvania Science Teacher and the Voice of P .S.T .A." The recipient of a Bachelor of Science degree from Clarion State College, Dr. Lucas received his Master of Education in Biology and his Doctor of Education Degree in science education from Pennsylvania State University. He did additional graduate work at Cornell University, University of Vermont, North Caroline State College and Bloomsburg State College. He is an American Slovak.  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 Destiny Description An account of the resource Stephen B. Roman, President, Slovak World Congress Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 57-59 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Roman, Stephen, 1921-1988 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/a28a545fdb27eebc30f45d742ea38300.pdf 07206094eaf8fe13e0a91ee9ffad8b4b PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA Stephen S e n t 5 f k , S. J. Maximilian Hell, S.J. SLOVAK SCIENTIST OF WORLD RENOWN 1720-1792 On the occasion of a world-wide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Jesuit Maximilian Hell, which was sponsored by the international organization UNESCO, the Slovak Museum of Mining in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia, published a worthy volume of lectures selected from a learned conference that was convoked in honor of the achievements of this distinguished scientist and remarkable teacher. The fact that a Slovak scholar was rightfully among those who were considered and assigned a place on the calendar of world-wide celebrations and that he was, in fact, universally recognized and honored-even with the liistinction of a commemorative UNESCO postal stampnaturally reflects honor not only on the man but also on his homeland, Slovakia. It likewise brings a degree of prestige of Slovak scholars who are devoted to scientific pursuit and it provides even the average layman with an opportunity to turn attention to the Slovak past and perhaps to catch in it at least a glimpse of some significant features that have long been indistinct or wholly unknown until now. In the thoughtful study titled "Banska Stiavnica-the Natural Environment of Maximilian Hell," (one of the papers published in the above-mentioned volume, cf. pp. 40 ff.) Dr. Jozef Vlachovic writes: "A thoughtful study of that period in the history of Banska Stiavnica brings one many a surprise and prompts frank admiration for the inhabitants of that town in its early days of economic growth. Largely because of their unmitigated effort, which appears to have been almost superhuman at times, and by reason of their remarkable intellectual gifts and physical stamina, they developed their community to an exceptional �6 SLOVAKIA degree of prosperity and progress." Dr. Vlachovic also notes that many aspects of the city's history and its. uniquely flourishing mining industry have not yet been adequately researched and should become the object of proper scholarly investigation. Encouraged by this observation, this writer has undertaken at least a bri~f exploration of the life and times of Maximilian Hell. The main objective · is to examine the highlights of his life and to survey the general environment in which the scientist was shaped, noting the influences that had contributed to the molding of his character and the bent of his scientific activities. FAMILY INFLUENCES The axiomatic principle that the earliest and strongest influences in life come from the home was borne out in the early shaping of the personality of Maximilian Hell who came of a family that was extraordinary in some respects. His father was Matthias Cornelius Hell, born c. 1650. It is very likely that he was of German background although his birthplace was Horny Slavkov near Pribram. He.began his working career in the Czech mining industry. It is generally agreed that he must have been gifted and industrious; this surmise is substantiated by the fact that he rapidly advanced in his working position so that although he was still a very young man, he was soon ranked as a highly qualified mining technician. He was, however, the kind of technician who not only mastered the intricacies of the industrial equipment readily and was able to increase production significantly, but he could also turn his keen perception and deep concern to the welfare and safety of the men who worked in the mines. His sense of responsibility reached out to men as well as to machines. In 1694, when Matthias Hell was in the prime of his manhood and had already enjoyed some recognition for his achievements, Count :Cudovit Thavonath, the chairman of a mining commission and recruiter of highly qualified experts for the mining industry, offered him a position in Banska stiavnica. The offer was attractive to Hell and he decided to accept it. This was the circumstance that brought the Heil family to the stiavnica mining region; Matthias Hell adjusted to the new surroundings easily. �SLOVAKIA 7 His characteristic devotion to duty and scrupulous sense of' responsibility, his competence and skill as well as his f:r1endly and understanding attitude toward his fellow workers and his subordinates soon won him many friends and admirers. These traits also recommended him for early promotion, and before long he was named chief industrial engineer of the stiavnica mining enterprise. In this position he became the promoter of remarkably improved technical prbcedtires. He also won great acciaim for the construction of water works in the vicinity of Banska stiavnica. On three separate occasions it was Hell who saved the stiavnica mines from utter ruin or from closing. Around 1700, the entire stiavnica mining operation was imperiled because the underground water level had risen to a critical high. In the face of this danger, the mines were all but abandoned until Matthias Hell master-minded a practical plan to save them. Harnessing water power drawn from the dikes built in the mine area, he put machinery to work-for pumpirtg out the excess underground water accumulation. In 1703, the revolutionary forces of George Rakoczy II seized central Slovakia and dispossessed Count Thavonath. In these troubled time mine production declined appreciably · and Rakoczy ordered General Berceny to halt all mining operations and to level the entire facility. Matthias Hell knew how very unwise and irresponsible such a procedure would be and he prevailed upon General Berceny not to carry out this order. Later, after the suppression of the Rakoczy uprising and a ret:urn to normalcy, the mines were again threatened because there were insufficient funds for reconstruction and .the proper updating of the plant in order to insure effective and profitable production. An executive order brought work to a standstill and it appeared that the industry was doomed. In this predicament, Hell intervened with a personal appeal made in the course of an interview with Emperor Joseph I of Vienna. He succeeded in prevailing upon the sovereign to realize that the reconstruction and restoration of the mines would bring public benefit and economic prosperity to this part of his realm. After the death of his wife, Matthias Hell lived as a widower for some time, doing his best to bring up his �8 SLOVAKIA children satisfactorily. On September 22, 1707, however, he married Julia Victoria Steindel who came of a GermanSlovak family in $tiavnica. This marriage was blest with four sons, each of whom distinguished himself in some way of life. The eldest, Ignatius Cornelius, became an outstanding engineer engaged in analyzing and assaying the various types of ore that were extracted in the $tiavnica mines. Joseph Charles, the second eldest, earned recognition and a degree of fame for a number of discoveries and inventions related to the mining industry. Some of the scientific and technical principles underlying these devices are still used to advantage throughout the world, even to our day. On May 15, 1720, when Matthias Cornelius Hell was already seventy years old, his third son was born. At his baptism in the Jesuit church in Banska $tiavnica he was given the name Maximilian. The occasion was solemn and significant, and a special aura was added to the ceremonies because the godparents were Count Tavonath and his wife. The fourth son in the family was Michael who distinguished himself in the local community as a chief inspector of the pumping operation in the mines. The Hell family had special regard for religious and intellectual training. The parents were solicitous about providing for their children a solid and wholesome preparation for life, and the children were intellectually gifted and responsive, all of them showing a special aptitude for mathematical and natural sciences. The fact that the mining school center was located at Vindsachta where the Hell family lived, made drawing boards and mapping materials, charts and model of mine working equipment, libraries and many learning aids accessible to the children, and they readily became very familiar with all these resources, deriving an excellent general and broadening education out of this circumstance. The scientific genius of Maximilian Hell found much opportunity for expression in this milieu of central-Slovak mining towns where socio-economic development was at a peak. This factor makes it advisable to pause a bit in order to survey the background with at least cursory interest. HANSKA $TIAVNICA was a leading city in Slovakia. As a matter of fact, it �SLOVAKIA 9 was second in rank, coming right after Bratislava, the capital city, and by actual count it had three hundred buildings more than Bratislava. Very early references to goldsmiths and to metal mining in the area can be traced back to at least the year 1075. In the sixteenth century events so shaped themselves that the city had every assurance of securely laid foundations for its cultural growth and for long-range prosperity of a high order. A large number of outstanding leaders in the field of technology and scientists of established repute came to reside in Banska stiavnica. The success and prosperity of the city were conditioned primarily on the natural underground richness of its mineral deposits and secondarily on other significant factors. In 1587 Banska stiavnica became the seat of the municipal treasury or finance department and the recognized head of seven mining cities in central Slovakia that had formed a partnership for mutual defense in the face of the Turkish menace and for united resistance to John Zapol'sky. Later most of the city's mining interests passed into the hands of affluent citizens so that the industry was not controlled by foreign investors but it developed and thrived on the capital of its own citizens who were characteristically energetic, hard-working and well educated individuals. The increase of mining output and the expansion of the mining industry as a whole were commensurate with the rising level of scholastic standards and academic opportunities, with the remarkable development of the educational system and with the rapidly advancing cultural status of the townspeople in stiavnica. In 1725 Banska stiavnica opened a technical school of mining which later evolved into a school of advanced learning and by 1770 became the Mining Academy for specialized study. It was the first advanced school of its kind in all Europe, attracting widespread attention for its departments of chemistry and physics. It had the unique distinction of being the first school in the history of education to introduce the laboratory method of instruction in chemistry. European technical schools were greatly interested in the outcomes of scientific experiments that were conducted in the innovated laboratory classes at the school. The Polytechnic Institute of Paris adopted the laboratory �10 SLOVAKIA method of instruction in chemistry as it had been introduced in the Academy of Mining in Banska stiavnica. Before long, other European polytechnic schools and universities also did so. Excellently equipped laboratories, an eminently qualified staff of teachers and research scholars as well as an environment and atmosphere conducive to pursuits of learning and research attracted scientists and inventors of established name to come to Banska stiavnica. For example: Volta, Tandi, Lippi, Savarezi, Melograni and a number of experts associated with the Spanish mining endeavors in America had devoted some time to specialized study in the laboratories at Banska stiavnica. The great demand for young engineers who had finished their studies at Banska stiavnica testifies to the high quality of schooling that was offered here. Early in the nineteenth century the sultan Mohammed invited into his service twelve graduates of this school, one of whom-John Knechtel-became the supervisor of mines in the Turkish empire. It was mainly because of the stimulus provided by the Mining Academy that the first world congress of natural scientists, attended largely by metallurgists and chemists, was held in Sklene Teplice in 1786. The International Society of Mining Science was established at this congress. Among its charter members were Anton Ruprecht and the Jesuit Nicholas Poda, both of whom were members of the faculty at the Mining Academy. Banska stiavnica reached the peak of its glory and prosperity in the first half of the eighteenth century. At that time its mining enterprises employed at least eight thousand workers and specialized technicians. The population of the city was always predominantly Slovak. In 1715, for example, its leading families registered these national origins or backgrounds: 424 Slovak, 360 German, and only 20 Magyar. Practically everyone who lived in the city was fluent in three languages: Slovak, German and Magyar. By the close of the eighteenth century, however, the city began to decline because it was no longer able to provide adequate job opportunities in the local mines and foundries. In the nineteenth century mining and �SLOVAKIA 11 metal works were superseded by other industrial interests that were introduced into Banska stiavnica. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Early in his life Maximilian Hell gave every indication of precocious gifts and talents, and the home and family in which he was nurtured greatly contributed to the full development of his natural endowments. Although his health began to fail, the aged father still continued to discharge his responsibilities as chief mining engineer and at the same time, he conscientiously saw to the consistently thorough and sound training of his sons. All four boys acquired their earliest acquaintance with scientific lore and some basic in the study of science from their father right at home. Later they were able to build on these fundamentals when they attended the already famed Mining Academy. Even in his boyhood, Maximilian was strongly influenced by the Jesuit professors in Banska stiavnica who were remarkably dedicated priests and were now involved in vital movement to restore Catholicism in this town which was recovering after the defeat of Rakoczy. These Jesuits had a well established mission in the village Vindsachta where the Hell family lived. One of their principal concerns was the education and proper training of the younger generation. As one measure toward this end they had founded a junior high school in Banska stiavnica and the boys of their school won many accolades for their dramatic presentations and declamations as well as for their performances in public examinations. Later a number of Jesuits also taught at the Mining Academy, especially in the departments of Latin, rhetoric and poetry. Father Nicholas Poda and Father Charles Tierenberger were heads of mathematics, mechanics and physics. They were famed experts in their specialized fields and they were excellent educators as well. Father Poda produced a textbook on mechanical engineering with special reference to the mining industry. It was the first textbook of its kind. For many decades the hand written lecture notes of Father Tierenberger were valued as a kind of mathematics handbook. Much of their substance and method still �12 SLOVAKIA had some value in practical application as late as the beginning of our century. There is no question about the lasting influence of the Jesuits upon the formative years of Maximilian Hell's life. Even from early boyhood he cultivated a strong inclination to develop his talents in their Society. He knew with what devotion the Jesuits promoted science and learning together with profound spirituality, for he had living examples of this kind of life in action and in its full reality as often as he looked about at the inspiration of Jesuit teachers in his midst, men who were effectively combined intensive religious life with specialized skills and scholarship in the natural sciences. On the recommendation of local teachers, the father sent his growing son to schools in Banska Bystrica where he could enroll in humanities courses at the Jesuit senior high school. In 1738 Maximilian Hell entered the Jesuit novitiate in Trencin. He was then a promising young man of eighteen. He devoted two years to the exclusive study of the fundamentals of religious life as it is lived in the Society of Jesus. Marginally, he continued his interest in the natural sciences, principally in mathematics. After his novitiate training was completed in 1740, his superiors sent him to Vienna for further study. This was the first time that he left his native Slovakia but he knew that his absence would be only temporary, that he would return one day with a rich store of enlarged knowledge and new experiences that could be shared with his countrymen. His life and accomplishments prove that this aspiration was no empty dream. Hell began his studies in Vienna by enrolling in the department of philosophy. In his day, this department also offered courses in what was catalogued as natural philoso phy and included the study of mathematics, physics and astronomy. These were the courses that interested Maximilian Hell the most. During the time that he was absorbed in mastering these natural sciences at Vienna, he also published his first book Elementa algebrae. The university at Vienna opened a new phase of life for the aspiring Jesuit. Two outstanding Jesuit educators who took note of this brilliant student were Erasmus Frolich, professor of mathematics, applied science in mechanics and history; and Joseph Franz, lecturer in philosophy, who �SLOVAKIA 13 was also devoted to exploring problems in mmmg and astronomy-subjects from the dark pits in the deep earth to the distant vaults in the skies. Franz already enjoyed an established reputation in the world of science, for he was the founder and the director of the Oriental Institute in Vienna. Both his diplomatic and his study tours in Turkey and in Asia Minor had yielded him a great deal of interesting and useful information, especially in matters of Oriental astronomy, mathematics and physics. He became very fond of Maximilian Hell whom he esteemed mainly because of his grasp in mining technology and his practical understanding of mining machines and equipment. Aware of these qualifications in Hell, Franz chose him to be the recipient of a special fellowship and to serve as an assistant in his department. Later he introduced him to the wonders of astronomy and in time he made him an assistant in the Jesuit observatory. Maximilian became enchanted by this science of the heavens and he discovered that here at least was his greatest prospect for the direct application of his attractions and his natural capacities for natural science and mathematics. It is standard Jesuit practice that after two years of study in philosophy, a candidate devotes a year or two to actual teaching and work in the apostolate in order to benefit from such realistic experience and to test innate capacities. On his personal initiative Maximilian Hell petitioned his superiors to assign him to some work of this nature in his native Slovakia. This reasonable request was honored and he was sent to teach Latin, Greek, history and geography at the high school in Levoca. Later he himself added mathematics to the courses that he taught and in his free time he continued the study of astronomy which fascinated him thoroughly. He proved to be very effective in his work with Slovak high school students as well as in his activities among the local people. They admired him greatly and were impressed by his personality and his intellectual gifts. From Levoca Hell often visited his friend Adam Kollar who taught in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas. He, too, had had Jesuit training in the background but he decided to leave the Society before ordination. After two years of teaching at the high school in Levoca, Hell returned to Vienna for theological studies which lasted �14 SLOVAKIA four years, and finally in 1751 he achieved the most ardent hope of his lifetime when he was ordained priest. In this same year he was also awarded the academic degree Doctor of Philosophy. After ordination he taught for some time at the humanities school in Banska Bystrica which was quite close to his native Banska stiavnica. This made it possible for him to keep in close touch with his brother Joseph who was employed as a mechanical engineer. Pooling his talents with Samuel Makovini he was busily engaged in constructing a new pumping device to control the water level in the mines. The unusual feature of this pumping machine lay in the fact that it was not dependent on motor power or on levers, on pressure valves or pistons, but its operational force was pressurized water power alone. Maximilian was of great help to Joseph in this undertaking, for he worked out sensitive mathematical calculations that were involved in the planning. At the same time he was broadening and deepening his own mastery of physics. Interestingly, 110 years later this ingenious concept of the Hell brothers of using the force of pressurized air to pump liquids was put to practical use for the first time when the United States undertook operations to extract crude oil out of Pennsylvania oil fields. The discovery of the Hell brothers became the common property of all men. While he was in Banska Bystrica, Maximilian successfully completed what is termed the third probationary period in the Jesuit formation program and he became a full-fledged member, dedicated to a lifetime career in the Society. At the request of Count Konigseck, who was very influential in the mining industry and who was well acquainted with the Hell family, and with the sanction of his immediate -superiors, the young Jesuit tutored the Count's son in mathematics and physics for some time, helping to prepare him for a lifetime office in mining supervision. It should be kept in mind that at this time the Mining Academy was not yet founded in Banska stiavnica. The tutorial service that Hell performed for Count Konigseck's son really made of him a pioneer in mining instruction on the secondary level. It was ten years later-specifically on April 3, 1770-that Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of �SLOVAKIA 15 Hungary and Bohemia, granted approbation to the proposal presented by Count Novohradsky after mature deliberation with Professor Hell, for the founding of the Mining Academy which was to be an advanced technical institute of mining in Banska stiavnica. Hell was also commissioned to translate the mining statutes of Hungary (the old multinational state) from German into Latin. This event too indicates what respect Maximilian Hell commanded in scientific circles, for a task of this kind could be entrusted only to one with proven abilities not only in fluent Latin expression but also with a command of clear and precise mining terminology. Though Hell was greatly preoccupied with these activities, his study of astronomy did not suffer in any way. As a matter of fact, he made steady progress in this science and his prestige among astronomers continued to grow. In 1752 Dean Borgias Keri of the University of Trnava approached him about the founding of a university observatory. Hell welcomed the proposition, for if he had a particular ambition, it was to see his native Slovakia advance significantly in scientific scholarship as well as in all branches of learning. After an all-too-brief stay of one year in Trnava, Hell was assigned to Kluz in present-day Rumania where he was to establish a new college and build an observatory. He devoted three years of intensive work to this task. In the course of this time, however, he not only supervised the construction of the college and its observatory but he also taught mathematics and found time for the apostolic work of pastoral service among the Slovaks and Germans who were beginning to settle in Kluz and its vicinity and were in need of priestly ministry. By way of a marginal professional undertaking, he also compiled and published some handbooks in mathematics. In formal professional circles Hell earned not only recognition but even evident regard and esteem for his scholarly proficiency and his achievements in mathematics, physics and astronomy. After the eminent natural scientist and mathematician John Marinoni died in Vienna, Hell was invited to that city and was named director of the new observatory at the University of Vienna. In the discharge of this office he created extraordinary and needful pressure �16 SLOVAKIA in order to provide for the observatory the newest kind of equipment that was available in that day. In line of duty, he devoted meticulous attention to the movement of heavenly bodies, conducted guided tours of the observatory on behalf of noteworthy visitors, collaborated with projects of scientific institutes outside the country, supervised the publication of calendars of astronomic interest and information, and conducted sessions in the practical study of astronomy and observation of heavenly bodies. From 1755 on, Hell undertook very serious efforts to correlate and coordinate the theoretic and the practical aspects of science. He was gratifyingly successful in the endeavor. With a sense of elation he accepted an offer to teach mechanics and to conduct lectures for aspiring builders, construction engineers and artists. In time, Hell found himself constrained to resign his teaching commitments because of the burdens of office. He had become court astronomer and mathematician as well as editor of the learned astronomy annual Ephemerides Astronomicae. The greatest of demands were made on him by this journal which he compiled and edited for 37 years, except for some brief and intermittent periods. It brought its readers pertinent mathematical tables and calculations and almanac-styled articles on heavenly phenomena, primarily the movement of the principal heavenly bodies: the sun, the moon and the stars. Hell also made of this annual the publications vehicle for reports on astronomic observations from many European observatories. His prestigious position as well as his deservedly respected reputation as a remarkable scholar and an accomplished scientist together with his winning disposition and gracious manner all worked to the good in attracting the cooperation of significant men of science and learning in other countries. This editing of a scientific journal of this nature was a pioneering venture. England launched a similar publication only ten years later. The Berlin Academy did not initiate such a publication until two decades later. THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Writing in the periodical The Slovak Jesuits in Canada �SLOVAKIA 17 <1970, p. 48) Dr. Robert Bajcar observes that "It is a challenging and complex task to evaluate the achievements of Maximilian Hell. This is due largely to the fact that the man himself is an impressive personality of uncommon stature and his is a broad spectrum of interests with a markedly varied field of activity. Nor is it a simple matter to do this uniquely versatile scientist justice by appropriate placement in proper historic and generic classifications." Dr. Bajcar feels that Maximilian Hell is first and foremost an astronomer. In this appreciation of Hell, however, we choose to review his contributions to his native land and to speak of his scientific expedition to the polar regions m the company of John ~ajnovic, another Slovak Jesuit scholar. It is an interesting detail of research findings that the first efforts to organize scientific activities and interests in the multinational and polyglot country of Hungary were begun in Slovak lands. In 1763 Adam Kollar, honored by his colleagues with the epithet "The Slovak Socrates," addressed to Hungarian scholars and learned citizens his proposal for founding a Hungarian learned society whose members would concern themselves with active participation in or the support of research into the history, natural science, economics and political science of Hungary. Two years later, Kollar published a Latin document justifying the taxation of properties owned by the Church and the nobility. This offended many sensibilities and the aristocracy retaliated with an official proclamation in parliament by which Kollar was denounced as a traitor and his paper was publicly burned at an open demonstration in the courtyard of the Bratislava townhall. Maria Theresa exonerated Kollar, her official director at the imperial library, but she tabled his proposal for the founding of a learned society. A second endeavor to establish a Hungarian learned society was made in 1771. This one, too, was initiated in Slovakia. This time the proposition was presented to Maria Theresa anonymously although it is generally surmised that is was formulated by Kollar, Trstiansky and Count Teleki. The proposed body was to be called Academia Augusta and was to consist of four departments: philosophy, history, political economy and education. In May, 1774, �18 SLOVAKIA the court counselor authorized Adam Kollar and Maximilian Hell to draft the charter and the by-laws of the projected association. For a long time Hell had given much thought to the prospects of organizing scientific thought and activities. He had his own preconceptions about the nature and objectives of a learned body, and unhappily his ideas did not square with Kalla.r's. Hell envisioned niceties of distinction between the university as a pedagogical institution and the learned academy as a scientific institute. He believed that: It is the function of a lecturer or a professor in a given discipline to present the subject matter of a course within its current context and degree of development together with all available findings that are related to it at that time and in such a manner that it will be readily comprehended and assimilated by the average student in attendance ... An active member of the learned society, on the other hand, is responsible not only for demonstrating professional mastery in his specialized field, but he likewise bears the responsibility of bring,i ng the fruits and findings of personal study, eocperimentation and research, the responsibility of making new contribution to the general store of data already available in that field. Members of a learned institute bring discovery and enrichment to science and learning; professors, by contrast, present to their classes and audiences facts and explanations bearing on the findings made by learned societies in order to enlarge and expand knowledge that is already available. By Hell's definition then, the essential scientist is intrinsically a discoverer of new facts or new ideas. For this reason, Hell was convinced that this unique aspect of science scholarship had to be a characteristic and integral feature of the authentic academy of sciences. There is fundamental truth in the perceptive thinking of Hell but this was thoroughly radical thinking in his day. It was also truly radical, for example, to consider Hell's exclusion of the hwnanities from the academy. His philosophy of thinking out the structure of the academy ruled out history, law, linguistics, the fine arts and related disciplines. It is not surprising then that Hell's plan was vigorously opposed by the humanists. As a matter of fact, Kollar himself came to take a stand against Hell and his unrelenting position. Hell also had ideas of his own concerning the financial �SLOVAKIA 19 security of the proposed academy. He proposed that it be supported by the publication of scientific almanacs that would be promoted throughout all the countries of the Habsburg empire. Officialdom in Hungary did not endorse this plan but offered the counter-proposal that the academy be established with headquarters in Trnava, where the University of Trnava would see to its functioning. This time it was Hell's proposal that was relegated ad acta. But his hopes and his efforts to organize scientific thought and activities in home reasonable way were not entirely in vain. The international science institute which was founded in Sklene Teplice in 1786 never would have been established in Slovakia had its establishment not been proceded by the hopeful plans and efforts of scientists like Hell and Kollar. A significant contribution of Maximilian Hell to the Slovak world of science was his construction of an observatory at the University of Trnava. At this time in the history of learning and education, an observatory had more than scientific value exclusively; it also satisfied academic and practical roles. Hell's peculiar genius lay in his ability to combine scientific theory with practical application. His scientific almanacs were sought not only by specialists in astronomy but by geographers, mariners, travelers and military strategists as well. He was proficient in using scientific knowledge to good purpose for many practical uses. Danish astronomers and sailors were especially eager to have his publications. One year after his accession to the throne, the young King Christian officially invited Hell to come to Denmark and offered him a commission to take charge of astronomic observation on Warde Island in the icy North Sea during the eclipse of the sun on June 3, 1769. With the consent of Maria Theresa, Hell accepted the King's offer and made necessary preparations for the journey and for the observation study. He chose for his companion a fellow-Jesuit John sajnowho was his junior by thirteen years. Sajnovic had experience as an assistant at the Trnava University observatory which Hell had founded. Both men were natives of the same region, they were of compatible disposition and vic �20 SLOVAKIA had many interests in common. The younger man was entrusted with all the details of the journey by land and by sea, and he was to prepare the physical features of the observation station on Warde Island. Hell was to look after the essentially scientific details connected with the task of observation and with the keeping of a scientific diary and official records. A secondary assignment for sajnovic was to study the flora and fauna of Lapland as well as the native Laplanders, the Eskimos and the Finns; their language, customs and culture-truly a formidable and responsible task. Hell added to his main objectives a study of the aurora borealis, the magnetic needle and the Gulf Stream-its influence on storms, etc. On April 28, 1768 Hell and sajnovic set out on the long expedition from Vienna to the Arctic Circle. The journey was long and taxing, requiring all of five months. On October 1, they finally reached their destination, Warde Island in the frozen North Sea. The work to which they set themselves there was even more strenuous than their journey had been. Their new surroundings were utterly strange, strange beyond all expectations. The polar summer was chilling, the sky was usually overcast, and the entire landscape and seascape were shrouded in fog. They set to work energetically building their research station and made eager preparation for June 3, the date of the eclipse when Venus was to pass between the sun and the earth, blotting out the sun's light. Hell's scientific log, his astute observations together with his scientific notations and calculations made in connection with this phenomenon became a substantial contribution to the composite fund of world facts in astronomy. On returning from this expedition, Hell presented himself before a session convoked by the Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen and delivered a thorough report on his journey, his observations and his conclusions. He promised to send a copy of this report to the Danish king. As a token of gratitude, Christian II granted Hell an annual pension of a thousand gulden but Hell graciously declined the bounty of the King. �SLOVAKIA 21 When Hell reached Vienna, he worked out some of his notes in greater detail and an account of his research and observation was published in a 1771 annual devoted to astronomy. Shortly afterwards he prepared another work on this subject. It was published as a French study in Journal des savants in 1776. Hell had set himself the further task of preparing a meticulously detailed account which was to be published in three comprehensive volumes but this scholarly work was never completed because the suppression of the Society of Jesus brought it to a halt. This unfortunate dissolution of the Jesuits also caused Hell to lose all his faithful associates and co-workers of long standing. Besides, he was burdened with an overwhelming multiplicity of pressing duties that prevented his application to the projected volumes. Another obstacle was the lack of financial resources to defray the expenses that would be entailed by such a publication. John sajnovic, Hell's companion and associate on the expedition to the Arctic for the solar eclipse observations, also produced a valuable work. It was published under the sponsorship of the University of Trnava. One feature of it was the linguistic study in which sajnovic pointed out various elements that the Lapp, the Finnish and the Chinese languages have in common with Magyar. Because Hell's long promised three-volume account of the Arctic project with all its scientific implications never went to print, differences of opinion on the merits of Hell's contribution began to appear among some groups of interested scientists. De la Lande and Encke were among the astronomers who cast doubts on Hell's time and date calculations in the researching of the solar eclipse as well as in his data relevant to general observations from this expedition. Much later, however, the American astronomer Newcomb made an exhaustive study of Hell's records in Vienna and he confirmed the findings of the polar expedition as Hell had reported them. Closer to our day the Danish astronomer Nielsen painstakingly reviewed Hell's calculations and reaffirmed their correctness and reliability in the light of modern scientific methods and theories. �22 SLOVAKIA CONCLUDING SUMMARY Maximilian Hell was an outstanding scholar and scientist whom Slovakia gave to the world. His major interest was in astronomy but he was also an authority in related branches of science, mainly in mathematics, physics, meteorology, physical geography, and mining geodesy and geodynamics. As a young man in his prime, he established and conducted astronomic observatories in Trnava, Kluz, Jager and Budapest. When we realize that in Hell's day astronomical observatories were the foremost of scientific institutes, and that physics and natural science laboratories came into being at a later time, we begin to appreciate more fully the fact that Hell's achievements were of prime significance not only within the borders of his own country but in all Europe as well. Hell himself was not-and he did not attempt to be-the kind of scientific research scholar who opens new fields of study on the basis of revolutionary or daring hypothetic premises; he was the characteristically patient, painstaking, persistant scholar whose whole life and achievement was grounded in diligent and unmitigated devotion to work and in dogged perseverance in a task. Too great a portion of Hell's scientific endeavor still remains unexamined and inadequately appraised. Much of his correspondence which deals with scientific interests is practically untouched. Pinzger published a monograph on Hell in which he included some samplings of this correspondence but his sources were not truly representative, for he limited himself to Austrian and Hungarian sources exclusively. The bulk of Hell's corr~spondence is reserved in the Academy of Sciences and in the archives of the observatory at the University of Vienna which is also official guardian of a special fund or trust in Hell's memory. Besides meriting recognition as a research scholar in various branches of science, Hell also deserves to be remembered as an educator of note. He was a renowned teacher and a distinguished lecturer at the University of Vienna. It is generally agreed that in the entire realm there was not at that time a scholar who was his equal, much less any one who could have performed or continued Hell's commit- �SLOVAKIA 23 ments more creditably or more satisfactorily. Because he was always a leader who was greatly involved in the scientific movements and activities of all Europe, he was offered membership in many notable scientific societies and associations. A further achievement of Maximilian Hell was his detailed mapping of the surface of the moon. The International Union of Astronomers recognized the value of this project and honored it by naming one of the moon's craters in honor of Hell. The life and achievements of this Jesuit scholar testify to the fact that Slovakia has much in her past that reflects glory upon the Slovaks as a nation. This should inspire a sense of wholesome pride and ambition in today's generation of descendants of Slovak families at home and .abroad. Translated by Barbara F t ci c n i k and Sister Martina T y b o r THE EASTERN SLOVAK CITY of Presov, historic market-town for centuries, is expanding its industrial facilities . Last year a modern super chicken-farm was established and put into operation. Moreover, a special auto-service with a daily capacity for approximately 500 autos was inaugurated. The center covering an area of 30,000 sq. meters was built at a cost of almost 50 million crowns (about $10,000,000.00). ALTHOUGH EACH YEAR the Slovak shipbuilders in Koma.mo, Slovakia, make scores of vessels for the Soviet Union which employs them on the Danube, Slovak shipping is limited to a pair of ships, the Slavin and Trnava, and three small craft. � SLOVAKIA Stephen S e n t 5 f k , S. J. Maximilian Hell, S.J. SLOVAK SCIENTIST OF WORLD RENOWN 1720-1792 On the occasion of a world-wide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Jesuit Maximilian Hell, which was sponsored by the international organization UNESCO, the Slovak Museum of Mining in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia, published a worthy volume of lectures selected from a learned conference that was convoked in honor of the achievements of this distinguished scientist and remarkable teacher. The fact that a Slovak scholar was rightfully among those who were considered and assigned a place on the calendar of world-wide celebrations and that he was, in fact, universally recognized and honored-even with the liistinction of a commemorative UNESCO postal stampnaturally reflects honor not only on the man but also on his homeland, Slovakia. It likewise brings a degree of prestige of Slovak scholars who are devoted to scientific pursuit and it provides even the average layman with an opportunity to turn attention to the Slovak past and perhaps to catch in it at least a glimpse of some significant features that have long been indistinct or wholly unknown until now. In the thoughtful study titled "Banska Stiavnica-the Natural Environment of Maximilian Hell," (one of the papers published in the above-mentioned volume, cf. pp. 40 ff.) Dr. Jozef Vlachovic writes: "A thoughtful study of that period in the history of Banska Stiavnica brings one many a surprise and prompts frank admiration for the inhabitants of that town in its early days of economic growth. Largely because of their unmitigated effort, which appears to have been almost superhuman at times, and by reason of their remarkable intellectual gifts and physical stamina, they developed their community to an exceptional �6 SLOVAKIA degree of prosperity and progress." Dr. Vlachovic also notes that many aspects of the city's history and its. uniquely flourishing mining industry have not yet been adequately researched and should become the object of proper scholarly investigation. Encouraged by this observation, this writer has undertaken at least a bri~f exploration of the life and times of Maximilian Hell. The main objective · is to examine the highlights of his life and to survey the general environment in which the scientist was shaped, noting the influences that had contributed to the molding of his character and the bent of his scientific activities. FAMILY INFLUENCES The axiomatic principle that the earliest and strongest influences in life come from the home was borne out in the early shaping of the personality of Maximilian Hell who came of a family that was extraordinary in some respects. His father was Matthias Cornelius Hell, born c. 1650. It is very likely that he was of German background although his birthplace was Horny Slavkov near Pribram. He.began his working career in the Czech mining industry. It is generally agreed that he must have been gifted and industrious; this surmise is substantiated by the fact that he rapidly advanced in his working position so that although he was still a very young man, he was soon ranked as a highly qualified mining technician. He was, however, the kind of technician who not only mastered the intricacies of the industrial equipment readily and was able to increase production significantly, but he could also turn his keen perception and deep concern to the welfare and safety of the men who worked in the mines. His sense of responsibility reached out to men as well as to machines. In 1694, when Matthias Hell was in the prime of his manhood and had already enjoyed some recognition for his achievements, Count :Cudovit Thavonath, the chairman of a mining commission and recruiter of highly qualified experts for the mining industry, offered him a position in Banska stiavnica. The offer was attractive to Hell and he decided to accept it. This was the circumstance that brought the Heil family to the stiavnica mining region; Matthias Hell adjusted to the new surroundings easily. �SLOVAKIA 7 His characteristic devotion to duty and scrupulous sense of' responsibility, his competence and skill as well as his f:r1endly and understanding attitude toward his fellow workers and his subordinates soon won him many friends and admirers. These traits also recommended him for early promotion, and before long he was named chief industrial engineer of the stiavnica mining enterprise. In this position he became the promoter of remarkably improved technical prbcedtires. He also won great acciaim for the construction of water works in the vicinity of Banska stiavnica. On three separate occasions it was Hell who saved the stiavnica mines from utter ruin or from closing. Around 1700, the entire stiavnica mining operation was imperiled because the underground water level had risen to a critical high. In the face of this danger, the mines were all but abandoned until Matthias Hell master-minded a practical plan to save them. Harnessing water power drawn from the dikes built in the mine area, he put machinery to work-for pumpirtg out the excess underground water accumulation. In 1703, the revolutionary forces of George Rakoczy II seized central Slovakia and dispossessed Count Thavonath. In these troubled time mine production declined appreciably · and Rakoczy ordered General Berceny to halt all mining operations and to level the entire facility. Matthias Hell knew how very unwise and irresponsible such a procedure would be and he prevailed upon General Berceny not to carry out this order. Later, after the suppression of the Rakoczy uprising and a ret:urn to normalcy, the mines were again threatened because there were insufficient funds for reconstruction and .the proper updating of the plant in order to insure effective and profitable production. An executive order brought work to a standstill and it appeared that the industry was doomed. In this predicament, Hell intervened with a personal appeal made in the course of an interview with Emperor Joseph I of Vienna. He succeeded in prevailing upon the sovereign to realize that the reconstruction and restoration of the mines would bring public benefit and economic prosperity to this part of his realm. After the death of his wife, Matthias Hell lived as a widower for some time, doing his best to bring up his �8 SLOVAKIA children satisfactorily. On September 22, 1707, however, he married Julia Victoria Steindel who came of a GermanSlovak family in $tiavnica. This marriage was blest with four sons, each of whom distinguished himself in some way of life. The eldest, Ignatius Cornelius, became an outstanding engineer engaged in analyzing and assaying the various types of ore that were extracted in the $tiavnica mines. Joseph Charles, the second eldest, earned recognition and a degree of fame for a number of discoveries and inventions related to the mining industry. Some of the scientific and technical principles underlying these devices are still used to advantage throughout the world, even to our day. On May 15, 1720, when Matthias Cornelius Hell was already seventy years old, his third son was born. At his baptism in the Jesuit church in Banska $tiavnica he was given the name Maximilian. The occasion was solemn and significant, and a special aura was added to the ceremonies because the godparents were Count Tavonath and his wife. The fourth son in the family was Michael who distinguished himself in the local community as a chief inspector of the pumping operation in the mines. The Hell family had special regard for religious and intellectual training. The parents were solicitous about providing for their children a solid and wholesome preparation for life, and the children were intellectually gifted and responsive, all of them showing a special aptitude for mathematical and natural sciences. The fact that the mining school center was located at Vindsachta where the Hell family lived, made drawing boards and mapping materials, charts and model of mine working equipment, libraries and many learning aids accessible to the children, and they readily became very familiar with all these resources, deriving an excellent general and broadening education out of this circumstance. The scientific genius of Maximilian Hell found much opportunity for expression in this milieu of central-Slovak mining towns where socio-economic development was at a peak. This factor makes it advisable to pause a bit in order to survey the background with at least cursory interest. HANSKA $TIAVNICA was a leading city in Slovakia. As a matter of fact, it �SLOVAKIA 9 was second in rank, coming right after Bratislava, the capital city, and by actual count it had three hundred buildings more than Bratislava. Very early references to goldsmiths and to metal mining in the area can be traced back to at least the year 1075. In the sixteenth century events so shaped themselves that the city had every assurance of securely laid foundations for its cultural growth and for long-range prosperity of a high order. A large number of outstanding leaders in the field of technology and scientists of established repute came to reside in Banska stiavnica. The success and prosperity of the city were conditioned primarily on the natural underground richness of its mineral deposits and secondarily on other significant factors. In 1587 Banska stiavnica became the seat of the municipal treasury or finance department and the recognized head of seven mining cities in central Slovakia that had formed a partnership for mutual defense in the face of the Turkish menace and for united resistance to John Zapol'sky. Later most of the city's mining interests passed into the hands of affluent citizens so that the industry was not controlled by foreign investors but it developed and thrived on the capital of its own citizens who were characteristically energetic, hard-working and well educated individuals. The increase of mining output and the expansion of the mining industry as a whole were commensurate with the rising level of scholastic standards and academic opportunities, with the remarkable development of the educational system and with the rapidly advancing cultural status of the townspeople in stiavnica. In 1725 Banska stiavnica opened a technical school of mining which later evolved into a school of advanced learning and by 1770 became the Mining Academy for specialized study. It was the first advanced school of its kind in all Europe, attracting widespread attention for its departments of chemistry and physics. It had the unique distinction of being the first school in the history of education to introduce the laboratory method of instruction in chemistry. European technical schools were greatly interested in the outcomes of scientific experiments that were conducted in the innovated laboratory classes at the school. The Polytechnic Institute of Paris adopted the laboratory �10 SLOVAKIA method of instruction in chemistry as it had been introduced in the Academy of Mining in Banska stiavnica. Before long, other European polytechnic schools and universities also did so. Excellently equipped laboratories, an eminently qualified staff of teachers and research scholars as well as an environment and atmosphere conducive to pursuits of learning and research attracted scientists and inventors of established name to come to Banska stiavnica. For example: Volta, Tandi, Lippi, Savarezi, Melograni and a number of experts associated with the Spanish mining endeavors in America had devoted some time to specialized study in the laboratories at Banska stiavnica. The great demand for young engineers who had finished their studies at Banska stiavnica testifies to the high quality of schooling that was offered here. Early in the nineteenth century the sultan Mohammed invited into his service twelve graduates of this school, one of whom-John Knechtel-became the supervisor of mines in the Turkish empire. It was mainly because of the stimulus provided by the Mining Academy that the first world congress of natural scientists, attended largely by metallurgists and chemists, was held in Sklene Teplice in 1786. The International Society of Mining Science was established at this congress. Among its charter members were Anton Ruprecht and the Jesuit Nicholas Poda, both of whom were members of the faculty at the Mining Academy. Banska stiavnica reached the peak of its glory and prosperity in the first half of the eighteenth century. At that time its mining enterprises employed at least eight thousand workers and specialized technicians. The population of the city was always predominantly Slovak. In 1715, for example, its leading families registered these national origins or backgrounds: 424 Slovak, 360 German, and only 20 Magyar. Practically everyone who lived in the city was fluent in three languages: Slovak, German and Magyar. By the close of the eighteenth century, however, the city began to decline because it was no longer able to provide adequate job opportunities in the local mines and foundries. In the nineteenth century mining and �SLOVAKIA 11 metal works were superseded by other industrial interests that were introduced into Banska stiavnica. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Early in his life Maximilian Hell gave every indication of precocious gifts and talents, and the home and family in which he was nurtured greatly contributed to the full development of his natural endowments. Although his health began to fail, the aged father still continued to discharge his responsibilities as chief mining engineer and at the same time, he conscientiously saw to the consistently thorough and sound training of his sons. All four boys acquired their earliest acquaintance with scientific lore and some basic in the study of science from their father right at home. Later they were able to build on these fundamentals when they attended the already famed Mining Academy. Even in his boyhood, Maximilian was strongly influenced by the Jesuit professors in Banska stiavnica who were remarkably dedicated priests and were now involved in vital movement to restore Catholicism in this town which was recovering after the defeat of Rakoczy. These Jesuits had a well established mission in the village Vindsachta where the Hell family lived. One of their principal concerns was the education and proper training of the younger generation. As one measure toward this end they had founded a junior high school in Banska stiavnica and the boys of their school won many accolades for their dramatic presentations and declamations as well as for their performances in public examinations. Later a number of Jesuits also taught at the Mining Academy, especially in the departments of Latin, rhetoric and poetry. Father Nicholas Poda and Father Charles Tierenberger were heads of mathematics, mechanics and physics. They were famed experts in their specialized fields and they were excellent educators as well. Father Poda produced a textbook on mechanical engineering with special reference to the mining industry. It was the first textbook of its kind. For many decades the hand written lecture notes of Father Tierenberger were valued as a kind of mathematics handbook. Much of their substance and method still �12 SLOVAKIA had some value in practical application as late as the beginning of our century. There is no question about the lasting influence of the Jesuits upon the formative years of Maximilian Hell's life. Even from early boyhood he cultivated a strong inclination to develop his talents in their Society. He knew with what devotion the Jesuits promoted science and learning together with profound spirituality, for he had living examples of this kind of life in action and in its full reality as often as he looked about at the inspiration of Jesuit teachers in his midst, men who were effectively combined intensive religious life with specialized skills and scholarship in the natural sciences. On the recommendation of local teachers, the father sent his growing son to schools in Banska Bystrica where he could enroll in humanities courses at the Jesuit senior high school. In 1738 Maximilian Hell entered the Jesuit novitiate in Trencin. He was then a promising young man of eighteen. He devoted two years to the exclusive study of the fundamentals of religious life as it is lived in the Society of Jesus. Marginally, he continued his interest in the natural sciences, principally in mathematics. After his novitiate training was completed in 1740, his superiors sent him to Vienna for further study. This was the first time that he left his native Slovakia but he knew that his absence would be only temporary, that he would return one day with a rich store of enlarged knowledge and new experiences that could be shared with his countrymen. His life and accomplishments prove that this aspiration was no empty dream. Hell began his studies in Vienna by enrolling in the department of philosophy. In his day, this department also offered courses in what was catalogued as natural philoso phy and included the study of mathematics, physics and astronomy. These were the courses that interested Maximilian Hell the most. During the time that he was absorbed in mastering these natural sciences at Vienna, he also published his first book Elementa algebrae. The university at Vienna opened a new phase of life for the aspiring Jesuit. Two outstanding Jesuit educators who took note of this brilliant student were Erasmus Frolich, professor of mathematics, applied science in mechanics and history; and Joseph Franz, lecturer in philosophy, who �SLOVAKIA 13 was also devoted to exploring problems in mmmg and astronomy-subjects from the dark pits in the deep earth to the distant vaults in the skies. Franz already enjoyed an established reputation in the world of science, for he was the founder and the director of the Oriental Institute in Vienna. Both his diplomatic and his study tours in Turkey and in Asia Minor had yielded him a great deal of interesting and useful information, especially in matters of Oriental astronomy, mathematics and physics. He became very fond of Maximilian Hell whom he esteemed mainly because of his grasp in mining technology and his practical understanding of mining machines and equipment. Aware of these qualifications in Hell, Franz chose him to be the recipient of a special fellowship and to serve as an assistant in his department. Later he introduced him to the wonders of astronomy and in time he made him an assistant in the Jesuit observatory. Maximilian became enchanted by this science of the heavens and he discovered that here at least was his greatest prospect for the direct application of his attractions and his natural capacities for natural science and mathematics. It is standard Jesuit practice that after two years of study in philosophy, a candidate devotes a year or two to actual teaching and work in the apostolate in order to benefit from such realistic experience and to test innate capacities. On his personal initiative Maximilian Hell petitioned his superiors to assign him to some work of this nature in his native Slovakia. This reasonable request was honored and he was sent to teach Latin, Greek, history and geography at the high school in Levoca. Later he himself added mathematics to the courses that he taught and in his free time he continued the study of astronomy which fascinated him thoroughly. He proved to be very effective in his work with Slovak high school students as well as in his activities among the local people. They admired him greatly and were impressed by his personality and his intellectual gifts. From Levoca Hell often visited his friend Adam Kollar who taught in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas. He, too, had had Jesuit training in the background but he decided to leave the Society before ordination. After two years of teaching at the high school in Levoca, Hell returned to Vienna for theological studies which lasted �14 SLOVAKIA four years, and finally in 1751 he achieved the most ardent hope of his lifetime when he was ordained priest. In this same year he was also awarded the academic degree Doctor of Philosophy. After ordination he taught for some time at the humanities school in Banska Bystrica which was quite close to his native Banska stiavnica. This made it possible for him to keep in close touch with his brother Joseph who was employed as a mechanical engineer. Pooling his talents with Samuel Makovini he was busily engaged in constructing a new pumping device to control the water level in the mines. The unusual feature of this pumping machine lay in the fact that it was not dependent on motor power or on levers, on pressure valves or pistons, but its operational force was pressurized water power alone. Maximilian was of great help to Joseph in this undertaking, for he worked out sensitive mathematical calculations that were involved in the planning. At the same time he was broadening and deepening his own mastery of physics. Interestingly, 110 years later this ingenious concept of the Hell brothers of using the force of pressurized air to pump liquids was put to practical use for the first time when the United States undertook operations to extract crude oil out of Pennsylvania oil fields. The discovery of the Hell brothers became the common property of all men. While he was in Banska Bystrica, Maximilian successfully completed what is termed the third probationary period in the Jesuit formation program and he became a full-fledged member, dedicated to a lifetime career in the Society. At the request of Count Konigseck, who was very influential in the mining industry and who was well acquainted with the Hell family, and with the sanction of his immediate -superiors, the young Jesuit tutored the Count's son in mathematics and physics for some time, helping to prepare him for a lifetime office in mining supervision. It should be kept in mind that at this time the Mining Academy was not yet founded in Banska stiavnica. The tutorial service that Hell performed for Count Konigseck's son really made of him a pioneer in mining instruction on the secondary level. It was ten years later-specifically on April 3, 1770-that Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of �SLOVAKIA 15 Hungary and Bohemia, granted approbation to the proposal presented by Count Novohradsky after mature deliberation with Professor Hell, for the founding of the Mining Academy which was to be an advanced technical institute of mining in Banska stiavnica. Hell was also commissioned to translate the mining statutes of Hungary (the old multinational state) from German into Latin. This event too indicates what respect Maximilian Hell commanded in scientific circles, for a task of this kind could be entrusted only to one with proven abilities not only in fluent Latin expression but also with a command of clear and precise mining terminology. Though Hell was greatly preoccupied with these activities, his study of astronomy did not suffer in any way. As a matter of fact, he made steady progress in this science and his prestige among astronomers continued to grow. In 1752 Dean Borgias Keri of the University of Trnava approached him about the founding of a university observatory. Hell welcomed the proposition, for if he had a particular ambition, it was to see his native Slovakia advance significantly in scientific scholarship as well as in all branches of learning. After an all-too-brief stay of one year in Trnava, Hell was assigned to Kluz in present-day Rumania where he was to establish a new college and build an observatory. He devoted three years of intensive work to this task. In the course of this time, however, he not only supervised the construction of the college and its observatory but he also taught mathematics and found time for the apostolic work of pastoral service among the Slovaks and Germans who were beginning to settle in Kluz and its vicinity and were in need of priestly ministry. By way of a marginal professional undertaking, he also compiled and published some handbooks in mathematics. In formal professional circles Hell earned not only recognition but even evident regard and esteem for his scholarly proficiency and his achievements in mathematics, physics and astronomy. After the eminent natural scientist and mathematician John Marinoni died in Vienna, Hell was invited to that city and was named director of the new observatory at the University of Vienna. In the discharge of this office he created extraordinary and needful pressure �16 SLOVAKIA in order to provide for the observatory the newest kind of equipment that was available in that day. In line of duty, he devoted meticulous attention to the movement of heavenly bodies, conducted guided tours of the observatory on behalf of noteworthy visitors, collaborated with projects of scientific institutes outside the country, supervised the publication of calendars of astronomic interest and information, and conducted sessions in the practical study of astronomy and observation of heavenly bodies. From 1755 on, Hell undertook very serious efforts to correlate and coordinate the theoretic and the practical aspects of science. He was gratifyingly successful in the endeavor. With a sense of elation he accepted an offer to teach mechanics and to conduct lectures for aspiring builders, construction engineers and artists. In time, Hell found himself constrained to resign his teaching commitments because of the burdens of office. He had become court astronomer and mathematician as well as editor of the learned astronomy annual Ephemerides Astronomicae. The greatest of demands were made on him by this journal which he compiled and edited for 37 years, except for some brief and intermittent periods. It brought its readers pertinent mathematical tables and calculations and almanac-styled articles on heavenly phenomena, primarily the movement of the principal heavenly bodies: the sun, the moon and the stars. Hell also made of this annual the publications vehicle for reports on astronomic observations from many European observatories. His prestigious position as well as his deservedly respected reputation as a remarkable scholar and an accomplished scientist together with his winning disposition and gracious manner all worked to the good in attracting the cooperation of significant men of science and learning in other countries. This editing of a scientific journal of this nature was a pioneering venture. England launched a similar publication only ten years later. The Berlin Academy did not initiate such a publication until two decades later. THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Writing in the periodical The Slovak Jesuits in Canada �SLOVAKIA 17 <1970, p. 48) Dr. Robert Bajcar observes that "It is a challenging and complex task to evaluate the achievements of Maximilian Hell. This is due largely to the fact that the man himself is an impressive personality of uncommon stature and his is a broad spectrum of interests with a markedly varied field of activity. Nor is it a simple matter to do this uniquely versatile scientist justice by appropriate placement in proper historic and generic classifications." Dr. Bajcar feels that Maximilian Hell is first and foremost an astronomer. In this appreciation of Hell, however, we choose to review his contributions to his native land and to speak of his scientific expedition to the polar regions m the company of John ~ajnovic, another Slovak Jesuit scholar. It is an interesting detail of research findings that the first efforts to organize scientific activities and interests in the multinational and polyglot country of Hungary were begun in Slovak lands. In 1763 Adam Kollar, honored by his colleagues with the epithet "The Slovak Socrates," addressed to Hungarian scholars and learned citizens his proposal for founding a Hungarian learned society whose members would concern themselves with active participation in or the support of research into the history, natural science, economics and political science of Hungary. Two years later, Kollar published a Latin document justifying the taxation of properties owned by the Church and the nobility. This offended many sensibilities and the aristocracy retaliated with an official proclamation in parliament by which Kollar was denounced as a traitor and his paper was publicly burned at an open demonstration in the courtyard of the Bratislava townhall. Maria Theresa exonerated Kollar, her official director at the imperial library, but she tabled his proposal for the founding of a learned society. A second endeavor to establish a Hungarian learned society was made in 1771. This one, too, was initiated in Slovakia. This time the proposition was presented to Maria Theresa anonymously although it is generally surmised that is was formulated by Kollar, Trstiansky and Count Teleki. The proposed body was to be called Academia Augusta and was to consist of four departments: philosophy, history, political economy and education. In May, 1774, �18 SLOVAKIA the court counselor authorized Adam Kollar and Maximilian Hell to draft the charter and the by-laws of the projected association. For a long time Hell had given much thought to the prospects of organizing scientific thought and activities. He had his own preconceptions about the nature and objectives of a learned body, and unhappily his ideas did not square with Kalla.r's. Hell envisioned niceties of distinction between the university as a pedagogical institution and the learned academy as a scientific institute. He believed that: It is the function of a lecturer or a professor in a given discipline to present the subject matter of a course within its current context and degree of development together with all available findings that are related to it at that time and in such a manner that it will be readily comprehended and assimilated by the average student in attendance ... An active member of the learned society, on the other hand, is responsible not only for demonstrating professional mastery in his specialized field, but he likewise bears the responsibility of bring,i ng the fruits and findings of personal study, eocperimentation and research, the responsibility of making new contribution to the general store of data already available in that field. Members of a learned institute bring discovery and enrichment to science and learning; professors, by contrast, present to their classes and audiences facts and explanations bearing on the findings made by learned societies in order to enlarge and expand knowledge that is already available. By Hell's definition then, the essential scientist is intrinsically a discoverer of new facts or new ideas. For this reason, Hell was convinced that this unique aspect of science scholarship had to be a characteristic and integral feature of the authentic academy of sciences. There is fundamental truth in the perceptive thinking of Hell but this was thoroughly radical thinking in his day. It was also truly radical, for example, to consider Hell's exclusion of the hwnanities from the academy. His philosophy of thinking out the structure of the academy ruled out history, law, linguistics, the fine arts and related disciplines. It is not surprising then that Hell's plan was vigorously opposed by the humanists. As a matter of fact, Kollar himself came to take a stand against Hell and his unrelenting position. Hell also had ideas of his own concerning the financial �SLOVAKIA 19 security of the proposed academy. He proposed that it be supported by the publication of scientific almanacs that would be promoted throughout all the countries of the Habsburg empire. Officialdom in Hungary did not endorse this plan but offered the counter-proposal that the academy be established with headquarters in Trnava, where the University of Trnava would see to its functioning. This time it was Hell's proposal that was relegated ad acta. But his hopes and his efforts to organize scientific thought and activities in home reasonable way were not entirely in vain. The international science institute which was founded in Sklene Teplice in 1786 never would have been established in Slovakia had its establishment not been proceded by the hopeful plans and efforts of scientists like Hell and Kollar. A significant contribution of Maximilian Hell to the Slovak world of science was his construction of an observatory at the University of Trnava. At this time in the history of learning and education, an observatory had more than scientific value exclusively; it also satisfied academic and practical roles. Hell's peculiar genius lay in his ability to combine scientific theory with practical application. His scientific almanacs were sought not only by specialists in astronomy but by geographers, mariners, travelers and military strategists as well. He was proficient in using scientific knowledge to good purpose for many practical uses. Danish astronomers and sailors were especially eager to have his publications. One year after his accession to the throne, the young King Christian officially invited Hell to come to Denmark and offered him a commission to take charge of astronomic observation on Warde Island in the icy North Sea during the eclipse of the sun on June 3, 1769. With the consent of Maria Theresa, Hell accepted the King's offer and made necessary preparations for the journey and for the observation study. He chose for his companion a fellow-Jesuit John sajnowho was his junior by thirteen years. Sajnovic had experience as an assistant at the Trnava University observatory which Hell had founded. Both men were natives of the same region, they were of compatible disposition and vic �20 SLOVAKIA had many interests in common. The younger man was entrusted with all the details of the journey by land and by sea, and he was to prepare the physical features of the observation station on Warde Island. Hell was to look after the essentially scientific details connected with the task of observation and with the keeping of a scientific diary and official records. A secondary assignment for sajnovic was to study the flora and fauna of Lapland as well as the native Laplanders, the Eskimos and the Finns; their language, customs and culture-truly a formidable and responsible task. Hell added to his main objectives a study of the aurora borealis, the magnetic needle and the Gulf Stream-its influence on storms, etc. On April 28, 1768 Hell and sajnovic set out on the long expedition from Vienna to the Arctic Circle. The journey was long and taxing, requiring all of five months. On October 1, they finally reached their destination, Warde Island in the frozen North Sea. The work to which they set themselves there was even more strenuous than their journey had been. Their new surroundings were utterly strange, strange beyond all expectations. The polar summer was chilling, the sky was usually overcast, and the entire landscape and seascape were shrouded in fog. They set to work energetically building their research station and made eager preparation for June 3, the date of the eclipse when Venus was to pass between the sun and the earth, blotting out the sun's light. Hell's scientific log, his astute observations together with his scientific notations and calculations made in connection with this phenomenon became a substantial contribution to the composite fund of world facts in astronomy. On returning from this expedition, Hell presented himself before a session convoked by the Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen and delivered a thorough report on his journey, his observations and his conclusions. He promised to send a copy of this report to the Danish king. As a token of gratitude, Christian II granted Hell an annual pension of a thousand gulden but Hell graciously declined the bounty of the King. �SLOVAKIA 21 When Hell reached Vienna, he worked out some of his notes in greater detail and an account of his research and observation was published in a 1771 annual devoted to astronomy. Shortly afterwards he prepared another work on this subject. It was published as a French study in Journal des savants in 1776. Hell had set himself the further task of preparing a meticulously detailed account which was to be published in three comprehensive volumes but this scholarly work was never completed because the suppression of the Society of Jesus brought it to a halt. This unfortunate dissolution of the Jesuits also caused Hell to lose all his faithful associates and co-workers of long standing. Besides, he was burdened with an overwhelming multiplicity of pressing duties that prevented his application to the projected volumes. Another obstacle was the lack of financial resources to defray the expenses that would be entailed by such a publication. John sajnovic, Hell's companion and associate on the expedition to the Arctic for the solar eclipse observations, also produced a valuable work. It was published under the sponsorship of the University of Trnava. One feature of it was the linguistic study in which sajnovic pointed out various elements that the Lapp, the Finnish and the Chinese languages have in common with Magyar. Because Hell's long promised three-volume account of the Arctic project with all its scientific implications never went to print, differences of opinion on the merits of Hell's contribution began to appear among some groups of interested scientists. De la Lande and Encke were among the astronomers who cast doubts on Hell's time and date calculations in the researching of the solar eclipse as well as in his data relevant to general observations from this expedition. Much later, however, the American astronomer Newcomb made an exhaustive study of Hell's records in Vienna and he confirmed the findings of the polar expedition as Hell had reported them. Closer to our day the Danish astronomer Nielsen painstakingly reviewed Hell's calculations and reaffirmed their correctness and reliability in the light of modern scientific methods and theories. �22 SLOVAKIA CONCLUDING SUMMARY Maximilian Hell was an outstanding scholar and scientist whom Slovakia gave to the world. His major interest was in astronomy but he was also an authority in related branches of science, mainly in mathematics, physics, meteorology, physical geography, and mining geodesy and geodynamics. As a young man in his prime, he established and conducted astronomic observatories in Trnava, Kluz, Jager and Budapest. When we realize that in Hell's day astronomical observatories were the foremost of scientific institutes, and that physics and natural science laboratories came into being at a later time, we begin to appreciate more fully the fact that Hell's achievements were of prime significance not only within the borders of his own country but in all Europe as well. Hell himself was not-and he did not attempt to be-the kind of scientific research scholar who opens new fields of study on the basis of revolutionary or daring hypothetic premises; he was the characteristically patient, painstaking, persistant scholar whose whole life and achievement was grounded in diligent and unmitigated devotion to work and in dogged perseverance in a task. Too great a portion of Hell's scientific endeavor still remains unexamined and inadequately appraised. Much of his correspondence which deals with scientific interests is practically untouched. Pinzger published a monograph on Hell in which he included some samplings of this correspondence but his sources were not truly representative, for he limited himself to Austrian and Hungarian sources exclusively. The bulk of Hell's corr~spondence is reserved in the Academy of Sciences and in the archives of the observatory at the University of Vienna which is also official guardian of a special fund or trust in Hell's memory. Besides meriting recognition as a research scholar in various branches of science, Hell also deserves to be remembered as an educator of note. He was a renowned teacher and a distinguished lecturer at the University of Vienna. It is generally agreed that in the entire realm there was not at that time a scholar who was his equal, much less any one who could have performed or continued Hell's commit- �SLOVAKIA 23 ments more creditably or more satisfactorily. Because he was always a leader who was greatly involved in the scientific movements and activities of all Europe, he was offered membership in many notable scientific societies and associations. A further achievement of Maximilian Hell was his detailed mapping of the surface of the moon. The International Union of Astronomers recognized the value of this project and honored it by naming one of the moon's craters in honor of Hell. The life and achievements of this Jesuit scholar testify to the fact that Slovakia has much in her past that reflects glory upon the Slovaks as a nation. This should inspire a sense of wholesome pride and ambition in today's generation of descendants of Slovak families at home and .abroad. Translated by Barbara F t ci c n i k and Sister Martina T y b o r THE EASTERN SLOVAK CITY of Presov, historic market-town for centuries, is expanding its industrial facilities . Last year a modern super chicken-farm was established and put into operation. Moreover, a special auto-service with a daily capacity for approximately 500 autos was inaugurated. The center covering an area of 30,000 sq. meters was built at a cost of almost 50 million crowns (about $10,000,000.00). ALTHOUGH EACH YEAR the Slovak shipbuilders in Koma.mo, Slovakia, make scores of vessels for the Soviet Union which employs them on the Danube, Slovak shipping is limited to a pair of ships, the Slavin and Trnava, and three small craft. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 Stephen S e n t 5 f k , S. J. Maximilian Hell, S.J. SLOVAK SCIENTIST OF WORLD RENOWN 1720-1792 On the occasion of a world-wide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Jesuit Maximilian Hell, which was sponsored by the international organization UNESCO, the Slovak Museum of Mining in Banska Stiavnica, Slovakia, published a worthy volume of lectures selected from a learned conference that was convoked in honor of the achievements of this distinguished scientist and remarkable teacher. The fact that a Slovak scholar was rightfully among those who were considered and assigned a place on the calendar of world-wide celebrations and that he was, in fact, universally recognized and honored-even with the liistinction of a commemorative UNESCO postal stampnaturally reflects honor not only on the man but also on his homeland, Slovakia. It likewise brings a degree of prestige of Slovak scholars who are devoted to scientific pursuit and it provides even the average layman with an opportunity to turn attention to the Slovak past and perhaps to catch in it at least a glimpse of some significant features that have long been indistinct or wholly unknown until now. In the thoughtful study titled "Banska Stiavnica-the Natural Environment of Maximilian Hell," (one of the papers published in the above-mentioned volume, cf. pp. 40 ff.) Dr. Jozef Vlachovic writes: "A thoughtful study of that period in the history of Banska Stiavnica brings one many a surprise and prompts frank admiration for the inhabitants of that town in its early days of economic growth. Largely because of their unmitigated effort, which appears to have been almost superhuman at times, and by reason of their remarkable intellectual gifts and physical stamina, they developed their community to an exceptional 6 SLOVAKIA degree of prosperity and progress." Dr. Vlachovic also notes that many aspects of the city's history and its. uniquely flourishing mining industry have not yet been adequately researched and should become the object of proper scholarly investigation. Encouraged by this observation, this writer has undertaken at least a bri~f exploration of the life and times of Maximilian Hell. The main objective · is to examine the highlights of his life and to survey the general environment in which the scientist was shaped, noting the influences that had contributed to the molding of his character and the bent of his scientific activities. FAMILY INFLUENCES The axiomatic principle that the earliest and strongest influences in life come from the home was borne out in the early shaping of the personality of Maximilian Hell who came of a family that was extraordinary in some respects. His father was Matthias Cornelius Hell, born c. 1650. It is very likely that he was of German background although his birthplace was Horny Slavkov near Pribram. He.began his working career in the Czech mining industry. It is generally agreed that he must have been gifted and industrious; this surmise is substantiated by the fact that he rapidly advanced in his working position so that although he was still a very young man, he was soon ranked as a highly qualified mining technician. He was, however, the kind of technician who not only mastered the intricacies of the industrial equipment readily and was able to increase production significantly, but he could also turn his keen perception and deep concern to the welfare and safety of the men who worked in the mines. His sense of responsibility reached out to men as well as to machines. In 1694, when Matthias Hell was in the prime of his manhood and had already enjoyed some recognition for his achievements, Count :Cudovit Thavonath, the chairman of a mining commission and recruiter of highly qualified experts for the mining industry, offered him a position in Banska stiavnica. The offer was attractive to Hell and he decided to accept it. This was the circumstance that brought the Heil family to the stiavnica mining region; Matthias Hell adjusted to the new surroundings easily. SLOVAKIA 7 His characteristic devotion to duty and scrupulous sense of' responsibility, his competence and skill as well as his f:r1endly and understanding attitude toward his fellow workers and his subordinates soon won him many friends and admirers. These traits also recommended him for early promotion, and before long he was named chief industrial engineer of the stiavnica mining enterprise. In this position he became the promoter of remarkably improved technical prbcedtires. He also won great acciaim for the construction of water works in the vicinity of Banska stiavnica. On three separate occasions it was Hell who saved the stiavnica mines from utter ruin or from closing. Around 1700, the entire stiavnica mining operation was imperiled because the underground water level had risen to a critical high. In the face of this danger, the mines were all but abandoned until Matthias Hell master-minded a practical plan to save them. Harnessing water power drawn from the dikes built in the mine area, he put machinery to work-for pumpirtg out the excess underground water accumulation. In 1703, the revolutionary forces of George Rakoczy II seized central Slovakia and dispossessed Count Thavonath. In these troubled time mine production declined appreciably · and Rakoczy ordered General Berceny to halt all mining operations and to level the entire facility. Matthias Hell knew how very unwise and irresponsible such a procedure would be and he prevailed upon General Berceny not to carry out this order. Later, after the suppression of the Rakoczy uprising and a ret:urn to normalcy, the mines were again threatened because there were insufficient funds for reconstruction and .the proper updating of the plant in order to insure effective and profitable production. An executive order brought work to a standstill and it appeared that the industry was doomed. In this predicament, Hell intervened with a personal appeal made in the course of an interview with Emperor Joseph I of Vienna. He succeeded in prevailing upon the sovereign to realize that the reconstruction and restoration of the mines would bring public benefit and economic prosperity to this part of his realm. After the death of his wife, Matthias Hell lived as a widower for some time, doing his best to bring up his 8 SLOVAKIA children satisfactorily. On September 22, 1707, however, he married Julia Victoria Steindel who came of a GermanSlovak family in $tiavnica. This marriage was blest with four sons, each of whom distinguished himself in some way of life. The eldest, Ignatius Cornelius, became an outstanding engineer engaged in analyzing and assaying the various types of ore that were extracted in the $tiavnica mines. Joseph Charles, the second eldest, earned recognition and a degree of fame for a number of discoveries and inventions related to the mining industry. Some of the scientific and technical principles underlying these devices are still used to advantage throughout the world, even to our day. On May 15, 1720, when Matthias Cornelius Hell was already seventy years old, his third son was born. At his baptism in the Jesuit church in Banska $tiavnica he was given the name Maximilian. The occasion was solemn and significant, and a special aura was added to the ceremonies because the godparents were Count Tavonath and his wife. The fourth son in the family was Michael who distinguished himself in the local community as a chief inspector of the pumping operation in the mines. The Hell family had special regard for religious and intellectual training. The parents were solicitous about providing for their children a solid and wholesome preparation for life, and the children were intellectually gifted and responsive, all of them showing a special aptitude for mathematical and natural sciences. The fact that the mining school center was located at Vindsachta where the Hell family lived, made drawing boards and mapping materials, charts and model of mine working equipment, libraries and many learning aids accessible to the children, and they readily became very familiar with all these resources, deriving an excellent general and broadening education out of this circumstance. The scientific genius of Maximilian Hell found much opportunity for expression in this milieu of central-Slovak mining towns where socio-economic development was at a peak. This factor makes it advisable to pause a bit in order to survey the background with at least cursory interest. HANSKA $TIAVNICA was a leading city in Slovakia. As a matter of fact, it SLOVAKIA 9 was second in rank, coming right after Bratislava, the capital city, and by actual count it had three hundred buildings more than Bratislava. Very early references to goldsmiths and to metal mining in the area can be traced back to at least the year 1075. In the sixteenth century events so shaped themselves that the city had every assurance of securely laid foundations for its cultural growth and for long-range prosperity of a high order. A large number of outstanding leaders in the field of technology and scientists of established repute came to reside in Banska stiavnica. The success and prosperity of the city were conditioned primarily on the natural underground richness of its mineral deposits and secondarily on other significant factors. In 1587 Banska stiavnica became the seat of the municipal treasury or finance department and the recognized head of seven mining cities in central Slovakia that had formed a partnership for mutual defense in the face of the Turkish menace and for united resistance to John Zapol'sky. Later most of the city's mining interests passed into the hands of affluent citizens so that the industry was not controlled by foreign investors but it developed and thrived on the capital of its own citizens who were characteristically energetic, hard-working and well educated individuals. The increase of mining output and the expansion of the mining industry as a whole were commensurate with the rising level of scholastic standards and academic opportunities, with the remarkable development of the educational system and with the rapidly advancing cultural status of the townspeople in stiavnica. In 1725 Banska stiavnica opened a technical school of mining which later evolved into a school of advanced learning and by 1770 became the Mining Academy for specialized study. It was the first advanced school of its kind in all Europe, attracting widespread attention for its departments of chemistry and physics. It had the unique distinction of being the first school in the history of education to introduce the laboratory method of instruction in chemistry. European technical schools were greatly interested in the outcomes of scientific experiments that were conducted in the innovated laboratory classes at the school. The Polytechnic Institute of Paris adopted the laboratory 10 SLOVAKIA method of instruction in chemistry as it had been introduced in the Academy of Mining in Banska stiavnica. Before long, other European polytechnic schools and universities also did so. Excellently equipped laboratories, an eminently qualified staff of teachers and research scholars as well as an environment and atmosphere conducive to pursuits of learning and research attracted scientists and inventors of established name to come to Banska stiavnica. For example: Volta, Tandi, Lippi, Savarezi, Melograni and a number of experts associated with the Spanish mining endeavors in America had devoted some time to specialized study in the laboratories at Banska stiavnica. The great demand for young engineers who had finished their studies at Banska stiavnica testifies to the high quality of schooling that was offered here. Early in the nineteenth century the sultan Mohammed invited into his service twelve graduates of this school, one of whom-John Knechtel-became the supervisor of mines in the Turkish empire. It was mainly because of the stimulus provided by the Mining Academy that the first world congress of natural scientists, attended largely by metallurgists and chemists, was held in Sklene Teplice in 1786. The International Society of Mining Science was established at this congress. Among its charter members were Anton Ruprecht and the Jesuit Nicholas Poda, both of whom were members of the faculty at the Mining Academy. Banska stiavnica reached the peak of its glory and prosperity in the first half of the eighteenth century. At that time its mining enterprises employed at least eight thousand workers and specialized technicians. The population of the city was always predominantly Slovak. In 1715, for example, its leading families registered these national origins or backgrounds: 424 Slovak, 360 German, and only 20 Magyar. Practically everyone who lived in the city was fluent in three languages: Slovak, German and Magyar. By the close of the eighteenth century, however, the city began to decline because it was no longer able to provide adequate job opportunities in the local mines and foundries. In the nineteenth century mining and SLOVAKIA 11 metal works were superseded by other industrial interests that were introduced into Banska stiavnica. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Early in his life Maximilian Hell gave every indication of precocious gifts and talents, and the home and family in which he was nurtured greatly contributed to the full development of his natural endowments. Although his health began to fail, the aged father still continued to discharge his responsibilities as chief mining engineer and at the same time, he conscientiously saw to the consistently thorough and sound training of his sons. All four boys acquired their earliest acquaintance with scientific lore and some basic in the study of science from their father right at home. Later they were able to build on these fundamentals when they attended the already famed Mining Academy. Even in his boyhood, Maximilian was strongly influenced by the Jesuit professors in Banska stiavnica who were remarkably dedicated priests and were now involved in vital movement to restore Catholicism in this town which was recovering after the defeat of Rakoczy. These Jesuits had a well established mission in the village Vindsachta where the Hell family lived. One of their principal concerns was the education and proper training of the younger generation. As one measure toward this end they had founded a junior high school in Banska stiavnica and the boys of their school won many accolades for their dramatic presentations and declamations as well as for their performances in public examinations. Later a number of Jesuits also taught at the Mining Academy, especially in the departments of Latin, rhetoric and poetry. Father Nicholas Poda and Father Charles Tierenberger were heads of mathematics, mechanics and physics. They were famed experts in their specialized fields and they were excellent educators as well. Father Poda produced a textbook on mechanical engineering with special reference to the mining industry. It was the first textbook of its kind. For many decades the hand written lecture notes of Father Tierenberger were valued as a kind of mathematics handbook. Much of their substance and method still 12 SLOVAKIA had some value in practical application as late as the beginning of our century. There is no question about the lasting influence of the Jesuits upon the formative years of Maximilian Hell's life. Even from early boyhood he cultivated a strong inclination to develop his talents in their Society. He knew with what devotion the Jesuits promoted science and learning together with profound spirituality, for he had living examples of this kind of life in action and in its full reality as often as he looked about at the inspiration of Jesuit teachers in his midst, men who were effectively combined intensive religious life with specialized skills and scholarship in the natural sciences. On the recommendation of local teachers, the father sent his growing son to schools in Banska Bystrica where he could enroll in humanities courses at the Jesuit senior high school. In 1738 Maximilian Hell entered the Jesuit novitiate in Trencin. He was then a promising young man of eighteen. He devoted two years to the exclusive study of the fundamentals of religious life as it is lived in the Society of Jesus. Marginally, he continued his interest in the natural sciences, principally in mathematics. After his novitiate training was completed in 1740, his superiors sent him to Vienna for further study. This was the first time that he left his native Slovakia but he knew that his absence would be only temporary, that he would return one day with a rich store of enlarged knowledge and new experiences that could be shared with his countrymen. His life and accomplishments prove that this aspiration was no empty dream. Hell began his studies in Vienna by enrolling in the department of philosophy. In his day, this department also offered courses in what was catalogued as natural philoso phy and included the study of mathematics, physics and astronomy. These were the courses that interested Maximilian Hell the most. During the time that he was absorbed in mastering these natural sciences at Vienna, he also published his first book Elementa algebrae. The university at Vienna opened a new phase of life for the aspiring Jesuit. Two outstanding Jesuit educators who took note of this brilliant student were Erasmus Frolich, professor of mathematics, applied science in mechanics and history; and Joseph Franz, lecturer in philosophy, who SLOVAKIA 13 was also devoted to exploring problems in mmmg and astronomy-subjects from the dark pits in the deep earth to the distant vaults in the skies. Franz already enjoyed an established reputation in the world of science, for he was the founder and the director of the Oriental Institute in Vienna. Both his diplomatic and his study tours in Turkey and in Asia Minor had yielded him a great deal of interesting and useful information, especially in matters of Oriental astronomy, mathematics and physics. He became very fond of Maximilian Hell whom he esteemed mainly because of his grasp in mining technology and his practical understanding of mining machines and equipment. Aware of these qualifications in Hell, Franz chose him to be the recipient of a special fellowship and to serve as an assistant in his department. Later he introduced him to the wonders of astronomy and in time he made him an assistant in the Jesuit observatory. Maximilian became enchanted by this science of the heavens and he discovered that here at least was his greatest prospect for the direct application of his attractions and his natural capacities for natural science and mathematics. It is standard Jesuit practice that after two years of study in philosophy, a candidate devotes a year or two to actual teaching and work in the apostolate in order to benefit from such realistic experience and to test innate capacities. On his personal initiative Maximilian Hell petitioned his superiors to assign him to some work of this nature in his native Slovakia. This reasonable request was honored and he was sent to teach Latin, Greek, history and geography at the high school in Levoca. Later he himself added mathematics to the courses that he taught and in his free time he continued the study of astronomy which fascinated him thoroughly. He proved to be very effective in his work with Slovak high school students as well as in his activities among the local people. They admired him greatly and were impressed by his personality and his intellectual gifts. From Levoca Hell often visited his friend Adam Kollar who taught in Liptovsky Sv. Mikulas. He, too, had had Jesuit training in the background but he decided to leave the Society before ordination. After two years of teaching at the high school in Levoca, Hell returned to Vienna for theological studies which lasted 14 SLOVAKIA four years, and finally in 1751 he achieved the most ardent hope of his lifetime when he was ordained priest. In this same year he was also awarded the academic degree Doctor of Philosophy. After ordination he taught for some time at the humanities school in Banska Bystrica which was quite close to his native Banska stiavnica. This made it possible for him to keep in close touch with his brother Joseph who was employed as a mechanical engineer. Pooling his talents with Samuel Makovini he was busily engaged in constructing a new pumping device to control the water level in the mines. The unusual feature of this pumping machine lay in the fact that it was not dependent on motor power or on levers, on pressure valves or pistons, but its operational force was pressurized water power alone. Maximilian was of great help to Joseph in this undertaking, for he worked out sensitive mathematical calculations that were involved in the planning. At the same time he was broadening and deepening his own mastery of physics. Interestingly, 110 years later this ingenious concept of the Hell brothers of using the force of pressurized air to pump liquids was put to practical use for the first time when the United States undertook operations to extract crude oil out of Pennsylvania oil fields. The discovery of the Hell brothers became the common property of all men. While he was in Banska Bystrica, Maximilian successfully completed what is termed the third probationary period in the Jesuit formation program and he became a full-fledged member, dedicated to a lifetime career in the Society. At the request of Count Konigseck, who was very influential in the mining industry and who was well acquainted with the Hell family, and with the sanction of his immediate -superiors, the young Jesuit tutored the Count's son in mathematics and physics for some time, helping to prepare him for a lifetime office in mining supervision. It should be kept in mind that at this time the Mining Academy was not yet founded in Banska stiavnica. The tutorial service that Hell performed for Count Konigseck's son really made of him a pioneer in mining instruction on the secondary level. It was ten years later-specifically on April 3, 1770-that Empress Maria Theresa, Queen of SLOVAKIA 15 Hungary and Bohemia, granted approbation to the proposal presented by Count Novohradsky after mature deliberation with Professor Hell, for the founding of the Mining Academy which was to be an advanced technical institute of mining in Banska stiavnica. Hell was also commissioned to translate the mining statutes of Hungary (the old multinational state) from German into Latin. This event too indicates what respect Maximilian Hell commanded in scientific circles, for a task of this kind could be entrusted only to one with proven abilities not only in fluent Latin expression but also with a command of clear and precise mining terminology. Though Hell was greatly preoccupied with these activities, his study of astronomy did not suffer in any way. As a matter of fact, he made steady progress in this science and his prestige among astronomers continued to grow. In 1752 Dean Borgias Keri of the University of Trnava approached him about the founding of a university observatory. Hell welcomed the proposition, for if he had a particular ambition, it was to see his native Slovakia advance significantly in scientific scholarship as well as in all branches of learning. After an all-too-brief stay of one year in Trnava, Hell was assigned to Kluz in present-day Rumania where he was to establish a new college and build an observatory. He devoted three years of intensive work to this task. In the course of this time, however, he not only supervised the construction of the college and its observatory but he also taught mathematics and found time for the apostolic work of pastoral service among the Slovaks and Germans who were beginning to settle in Kluz and its vicinity and were in need of priestly ministry. By way of a marginal professional undertaking, he also compiled and published some handbooks in mathematics. In formal professional circles Hell earned not only recognition but even evident regard and esteem for his scholarly proficiency and his achievements in mathematics, physics and astronomy. After the eminent natural scientist and mathematician John Marinoni died in Vienna, Hell was invited to that city and was named director of the new observatory at the University of Vienna. In the discharge of this office he created extraordinary and needful pressure 16 SLOVAKIA in order to provide for the observatory the newest kind of equipment that was available in that day. In line of duty, he devoted meticulous attention to the movement of heavenly bodies, conducted guided tours of the observatory on behalf of noteworthy visitors, collaborated with projects of scientific institutes outside the country, supervised the publication of calendars of astronomic interest and information, and conducted sessions in the practical study of astronomy and observation of heavenly bodies. From 1755 on, Hell undertook very serious efforts to correlate and coordinate the theoretic and the practical aspects of science. He was gratifyingly successful in the endeavor. With a sense of elation he accepted an offer to teach mechanics and to conduct lectures for aspiring builders, construction engineers and artists. In time, Hell found himself constrained to resign his teaching commitments because of the burdens of office. He had become court astronomer and mathematician as well as editor of the learned astronomy annual Ephemerides Astronomicae. The greatest of demands were made on him by this journal which he compiled and edited for 37 years, except for some brief and intermittent periods. It brought its readers pertinent mathematical tables and calculations and almanac-styled articles on heavenly phenomena, primarily the movement of the principal heavenly bodies: the sun, the moon and the stars. Hell also made of this annual the publications vehicle for reports on astronomic observations from many European observatories. His prestigious position as well as his deservedly respected reputation as a remarkable scholar and an accomplished scientist together with his winning disposition and gracious manner all worked to the good in attracting the cooperation of significant men of science and learning in other countries. This editing of a scientific journal of this nature was a pioneering venture. England launched a similar publication only ten years later. The Berlin Academy did not initiate such a publication until two decades later. THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MAXIMILIAN HELL Writing in the periodical The Slovak Jesuits in Canada SLOVAKIA 17 <1970, p. 48) Dr. Robert Bajcar observes that "It is a challenging and complex task to evaluate the achievements of Maximilian Hell. This is due largely to the fact that the man himself is an impressive personality of uncommon stature and his is a broad spectrum of interests with a markedly varied field of activity. Nor is it a simple matter to do this uniquely versatile scientist justice by appropriate placement in proper historic and generic classifications." Dr. Bajcar feels that Maximilian Hell is first and foremost an astronomer. In this appreciation of Hell, however, we choose to review his contributions to his native land and to speak of his scientific expedition to the polar regions m the company of John ~ajnovic, another Slovak Jesuit scholar. It is an interesting detail of research findings that the first efforts to organize scientific activities and interests in the multinational and polyglot country of Hungary were begun in Slovak lands. In 1763 Adam Kollar, honored by his colleagues with the epithet "The Slovak Socrates," addressed to Hungarian scholars and learned citizens his proposal for founding a Hungarian learned society whose members would concern themselves with active participation in or the support of research into the history, natural science, economics and political science of Hungary. Two years later, Kollar published a Latin document justifying the taxation of properties owned by the Church and the nobility. This offended many sensibilities and the aristocracy retaliated with an official proclamation in parliament by which Kollar was denounced as a traitor and his paper was publicly burned at an open demonstration in the courtyard of the Bratislava townhall. Maria Theresa exonerated Kollar, her official director at the imperial library, but she tabled his proposal for the founding of a learned society. A second endeavor to establish a Hungarian learned society was made in 1771. This one, too, was initiated in Slovakia. This time the proposition was presented to Maria Theresa anonymously although it is generally surmised that is was formulated by Kollar, Trstiansky and Count Teleki. The proposed body was to be called Academia Augusta and was to consist of four departments: philosophy, history, political economy and education. In May, 1774, 18 SLOVAKIA the court counselor authorized Adam Kollar and Maximilian Hell to draft the charter and the by-laws of the projected association. For a long time Hell had given much thought to the prospects of organizing scientific thought and activities. He had his own preconceptions about the nature and objectives of a learned body, and unhappily his ideas did not square with Kalla.r's. Hell envisioned niceties of distinction between the university as a pedagogical institution and the learned academy as a scientific institute. He believed that: It is the function of a lecturer or a professor in a given discipline to present the subject matter of a course within its current context and degree of development together with all available findings that are related to it at that time and in such a manner that it will be readily comprehended and assimilated by the average student in attendance ... An active member of the learned society, on the other hand, is responsible not only for demonstrating professional mastery in his specialized field, but he likewise bears the responsibility of bring,i ng the fruits and findings of personal study, eocperimentation and research, the responsibility of making new contribution to the general store of data already available in that field. Members of a learned institute bring discovery and enrichment to science and learning; professors, by contrast, present to their classes and audiences facts and explanations bearing on the findings made by learned societies in order to enlarge and expand knowledge that is already available. By Hell's definition then, the essential scientist is intrinsically a discoverer of new facts or new ideas. For this reason, Hell was convinced that this unique aspect of science scholarship had to be a characteristic and integral feature of the authentic academy of sciences. There is fundamental truth in the perceptive thinking of Hell but this was thoroughly radical thinking in his day. It was also truly radical, for example, to consider Hell's exclusion of the hwnanities from the academy. His philosophy of thinking out the structure of the academy ruled out history, law, linguistics, the fine arts and related disciplines. It is not surprising then that Hell's plan was vigorously opposed by the humanists. As a matter of fact, Kollar himself came to take a stand against Hell and his unrelenting position. Hell also had ideas of his own concerning the financial SLOVAKIA 19 security of the proposed academy. He proposed that it be supported by the publication of scientific almanacs that would be promoted throughout all the countries of the Habsburg empire. Officialdom in Hungary did not endorse this plan but offered the counter-proposal that the academy be established with headquarters in Trnava, where the University of Trnava would see to its functioning. This time it was Hell's proposal that was relegated ad acta. But his hopes and his efforts to organize scientific thought and activities in home reasonable way were not entirely in vain. The international science institute which was founded in Sklene Teplice in 1786 never would have been established in Slovakia had its establishment not been proceded by the hopeful plans and efforts of scientists like Hell and Kollar. A significant contribution of Maximilian Hell to the Slovak world of science was his construction of an observatory at the University of Trnava. At this time in the history of learning and education, an observatory had more than scientific value exclusively; it also satisfied academic and practical roles. Hell's peculiar genius lay in his ability to combine scientific theory with practical application. His scientific almanacs were sought not only by specialists in astronomy but by geographers, mariners, travelers and military strategists as well. He was proficient in using scientific knowledge to good purpose for many practical uses. Danish astronomers and sailors were especially eager to have his publications. One year after his accession to the throne, the young King Christian officially invited Hell to come to Denmark and offered him a commission to take charge of astronomic observation on Warde Island in the icy North Sea during the eclipse of the sun on June 3, 1769. With the consent of Maria Theresa, Hell accepted the King's offer and made necessary preparations for the journey and for the observation study. He chose for his companion a fellow-Jesuit John sajnowho was his junior by thirteen years. Sajnovic had experience as an assistant at the Trnava University observatory which Hell had founded. Both men were natives of the same region, they were of compatible disposition and vic 20 SLOVAKIA had many interests in common. The younger man was entrusted with all the details of the journey by land and by sea, and he was to prepare the physical features of the observation station on Warde Island. Hell was to look after the essentially scientific details connected with the task of observation and with the keeping of a scientific diary and official records. A secondary assignment for sajnovic was to study the flora and fauna of Lapland as well as the native Laplanders, the Eskimos and the Finns; their language, customs and culture-truly a formidable and responsible task. Hell added to his main objectives a study of the aurora borealis, the magnetic needle and the Gulf Stream-its influence on storms, etc. On April 28, 1768 Hell and sajnovic set out on the long expedition from Vienna to the Arctic Circle. The journey was long and taxing, requiring all of five months. On October 1, they finally reached their destination, Warde Island in the frozen North Sea. The work to which they set themselves there was even more strenuous than their journey had been. Their new surroundings were utterly strange, strange beyond all expectations. The polar summer was chilling, the sky was usually overcast, and the entire landscape and seascape were shrouded in fog. They set to work energetically building their research station and made eager preparation for June 3, the date of the eclipse when Venus was to pass between the sun and the earth, blotting out the sun's light. Hell's scientific log, his astute observations together with his scientific notations and calculations made in connection with this phenomenon became a substantial contribution to the composite fund of world facts in astronomy. On returning from this expedition, Hell presented himself before a session convoked by the Academy of Sciences at Copenhagen and delivered a thorough report on his journey, his observations and his conclusions. He promised to send a copy of this report to the Danish king. As a token of gratitude, Christian II granted Hell an annual pension of a thousand gulden but Hell graciously declined the bounty of the King. SLOVAKIA 21 When Hell reached Vienna, he worked out some of his notes in greater detail and an account of his research and observation was published in a 1771 annual devoted to astronomy. Shortly afterwards he prepared another work on this subject. It was published as a French study in Journal des savants in 1776. Hell had set himself the further task of preparing a meticulously detailed account which was to be published in three comprehensive volumes but this scholarly work was never completed because the suppression of the Society of Jesus brought it to a halt. This unfortunate dissolution of the Jesuits also caused Hell to lose all his faithful associates and co-workers of long standing. Besides, he was burdened with an overwhelming multiplicity of pressing duties that prevented his application to the projected volumes. Another obstacle was the lack of financial resources to defray the expenses that would be entailed by such a publication. John sajnovic, Hell's companion and associate on the expedition to the Arctic for the solar eclipse observations, also produced a valuable work. It was published under the sponsorship of the University of Trnava. One feature of it was the linguistic study in which sajnovic pointed out various elements that the Lapp, the Finnish and the Chinese languages have in common with Magyar. Because Hell's long promised three-volume account of the Arctic project with all its scientific implications never went to print, differences of opinion on the merits of Hell's contribution began to appear among some groups of interested scientists. De la Lande and Encke were among the astronomers who cast doubts on Hell's time and date calculations in the researching of the solar eclipse as well as in his data relevant to general observations from this expedition. Much later, however, the American astronomer Newcomb made an exhaustive study of Hell's records in Vienna and he confirmed the findings of the polar expedition as Hell had reported them. Closer to our day the Danish astronomer Nielsen painstakingly reviewed Hell's calculations and reaffirmed their correctness and reliability in the light of modern scientific methods and theories. 22 SLOVAKIA CONCLUDING SUMMARY Maximilian Hell was an outstanding scholar and scientist whom Slovakia gave to the world. His major interest was in astronomy but he was also an authority in related branches of science, mainly in mathematics, physics, meteorology, physical geography, and mining geodesy and geodynamics. As a young man in his prime, he established and conducted astronomic observatories in Trnava, Kluz, Jager and Budapest. When we realize that in Hell's day astronomical observatories were the foremost of scientific institutes, and that physics and natural science laboratories came into being at a later time, we begin to appreciate more fully the fact that Hell's achievements were of prime significance not only within the borders of his own country but in all Europe as well. Hell himself was not-and he did not attempt to be-the kind of scientific research scholar who opens new fields of study on the basis of revolutionary or daring hypothetic premises; he was the characteristically patient, painstaking, persistant scholar whose whole life and achievement was grounded in diligent and unmitigated devotion to work and in dogged perseverance in a task. Too great a portion of Hell's scientific endeavor still remains unexamined and inadequately appraised. Much of his correspondence which deals with scientific interests is practically untouched. Pinzger published a monograph on Hell in which he included some samplings of this correspondence but his sources were not truly representative, for he limited himself to Austrian and Hungarian sources exclusively. The bulk of Hell's corr~spondence is reserved in the Academy of Sciences and in the archives of the observatory at the University of Vienna which is also official guardian of a special fund or trust in Hell's memory. Besides meriting recognition as a research scholar in various branches of science, Hell also deserves to be remembered as an educator of note. He was a renowned teacher and a distinguished lecturer at the University of Vienna. It is generally agreed that in the entire realm there was not at that time a scholar who was his equal, much less any one who could have performed or continued Hell's commit- SLOVAKIA 23 ments more creditably or more satisfactorily. Because he was always a leader who was greatly involved in the scientific movements and activities of all Europe, he was offered membership in many notable scientific societies and associations. A further achievement of Maximilian Hell was his detailed mapping of the surface of the moon. The International Union of Astronomers recognized the value of this project and honored it by naming one of the moon's craters in honor of Hell. The life and achievements of this Jesuit scholar testify to the fact that Slovakia has much in her past that reflects glory upon the Slovaks as a nation. This should inspire a sense of wholesome pride and ambition in today's generation of descendants of Slovak families at home and .abroad. Translated by Barbara F t ci c n i k and Sister Martina T y b o r THE EASTERN SLOVAK CITY of Presov, historic market-town for centuries, is expanding its industrial facilities . Last year a modern super chicken-farm was established and put into operation. Moreover, a special auto-service with a daily capacity for approximately 500 autos was inaugurated. The center covering an area of 30,000 sq. meters was built at a cost of almost 50 million crowns (about $10,000,000.00). ALTHOUGH EACH YEAR the Slovak shipbuilders in Koma.mo, Slovakia, make scores of vessels for the Soviet Union which employs them on the Danube, Slovak shipping is limited to a pair of ships, the Slavin and Trnava, and three small craft.  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 Maximilian Hell, S.J.: Slovak Scientest of World Renown, 1720-1792 Description An account of the resource Stephen Šenčík, S.J. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 5-23 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Senčík, Štefan, 1920-2001 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/436cfdbe28d3ca6197b94353de0d98d1.pdf bab154704793155f65b6031dabfeeee9 PDF Text Text 24 SLOVAKIA --- -------- Tiso' s Formative Years and Early Political Career Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D. Dr. Jozef Tiso, like most Slovaks who attained national prominence, had very simple, humble beginnings. Tiso was born on October 13, 1887 of peasant stock in the small Slovak town of Vel'ka Bytca. Two days later he was christened a Roman Catholic with the name Jozef Gaspar. With regard to the origin of the name Tiso there is no agreement, but most likely it was derived from the Slavic word, tis, meaning yew tree. The name Tiso in Vel'ka Bytca has been traced back to 1525. Several individuals of that name achieved some distinction in Slovak history. One of them, a priest, Mikulas Tiso, was active in the Slovak national movement during the 19th century. 1 Most of Jozef Tiso's ancestors, however, were simple peasants or tradesmen. His grandfather, Jozef Tiso, also of Vel'ka Bytca, was born on August 11, 1838. In 1860 he married Veronica Fundarek, who bore him a son in 1862; he was Gaspar Tiso, father of the future leader of Slovakia. Gaspar Tiso during most of his adult life operated a butcher business in Vel'ka Bytca. He was a nationally conscious Slovak and active during most of his adult life in Slovak national and political organizations. In 1894 he founded a Catholic Circle in Vel'ka Bytca, which was dissolved by the Hungarian government in 1901 but later revived. Even after 1918 Gaspar Tiso represented the Slovak People's Party in his town. 2 On September 2, 1882 Gaspar married Terezia Budiska, a member of a well-known family of potters from Vel'ka Bytca. From this union seven children were born: Pavol, Jozef, Maria, Jan, Hanna, Jozefka, and Terezia. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso were simple people who instilled in their children the simple peasant virtues: the value of hard work and a firm belief in God. Their family mottos were: "Pray and work," and "Fellow strive and God will bless you." 3 �SLOVAKIA 25 Dr. Jozef Tiso spent most of his formative years in the town of Vel'ka Bytca. Situated in the northwest corner of Slovakia, it was that area which was a traditional stronghold of Slovak nationalism. Vel'ka Bytca had withstood the onslaught of Magyarization and survived as a nationally conscious town. Reminiscing many years later Tiso said of Bytca: I am a Bytcan. If tinkers have a kingdom, well now Bytca would certainly be the chief city of this kingdom. Well, if you will, I am also a descendant of tinkers. Among us there are no differences between artisans and farmers and workers. A tinker is an artisan, but also a worker and the poorest salaried, working on a patch of land which is more rock than soil-in a word also ·a farmer.4 Tiso's family was not especially poor nor was it a rich one: it can be classified as a middle peasant family. Regarding his family's situation Tiso said: We had a decent roof over our heads, we had a clean, nice village home and always a loaf of bread on a table covered with a cloth. Thus we had what a man needs for a decent life. This was our wealth. And what we had was from work.5 Tiso began his formal education in the lower school in Bytca in 1894. At that time the Bytca school was a three language one. During the first year Slovak and Magyar were taught; in the second year, German; and in the third year all three languages were alternated. Subjects included in the curriculum were the natural scie?ces, Hungarian history, and geography. Although the purpose of the curriculum was to Magyarize, there were several nationally conscious Slovak instructors in the Bytca school: one of these, Pavel Trusina, taught Tiso the Slovak language.6 Jozef Tiso during these years of study in Bytca proved to be a good student; therefore in 1898 after the completion of his fourth year he was sent to the middle school in nearby Zilina. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso had originally planned to educate their eldest son, Pavel, but he dropped out after one year at the Zilina school to take up the family butcher trade in Bytca. Jozef Tiso soon proved to be a much better student than his brother. He won the admiration of all his professors. He did well in all his subjects and showed a special talent in mastering foreign languages. Magyar and German were mere playthings to him according to the recollections of one of his classmates.7 One professor named Bicovsky referring to Tiso allegedly told the class, �26 SLOVAKIA "You will see this boy one day will be a great man." 8 Jozef Tiso was also well liked by his fellow classmates. He was remembered as being humble, pleasant, and easygoing, always demonstrating an uncommon interest in helping his classmates with their work. 9 While in zilina Tiso lived with Anton Sturm, a friend of the family, who remembered him as a conscientious student who never had to be forced to prepare his school assignments.10 It was in zilina that Tiso made the decision to enter the priesthood. This was not an uncommon choice for Slovaks peasants. Many Slovak peasant families had a son or daughter in the Church. A clerical career was one of the few ways a Slovak peasant could raise his social status or acquire an education. Having made the decision, Tiso set off in 1902 after the completion of his fourth year at zilina for the Nitra Gymnasium. The Nitra school was much more a Magyar institution than the zilina one had been. The Nitra faculty, moreover, had a low opinion of the zilina school, regarding its curriculum in Magyar subjects particularly inferior to its ow~. Young students there were frequently ridiculed, but Tiso was not for he proved to be an exceptional student. He mastered with little difficulty the most difficult assignments in Latin and German, and remained there four years. 11 The outstanding theological students of the time were sent to Vienna to the Pazmaneum, the leading Catholic seminary in the Habsburg Empire. Tiso in 1906 was one of those chosen to complete his theological studies there. Once at the Pazmaneum, he continued his good scholastic record and came into contact with some of the leading clerics of the Empire. He received lectures from Franz Martin Schindler12 and Ignaz Seipel, leaders of the Austrian Christian Social movement. During Tiso's years of study at the Pazmaneum Pope Leo's social encyclical, Rerum Novarum was receiving wide attention. Many seminars were devoted to it and came to form an important part of Tiso's social philosophy. Tiso's training was otherwise in traditional Catholic theology and Thomistic philosophy. According to the confidential files of the Pazmaneum Tiso was an exemplary seminarian. Concerning Tiso the psychological-moral profile stated: "Natural behavior: serious; morals : exemplary; mode of conversation with superiors: �SLOVAKIA 27 humble, with equals: affable; character: oustanding; application: indefatigable . Observations : behaves with a mature character." 13 The intellectual atmosphere of Vienna was very dif. ferent from what Tiso was accustomed to in Nitra and zilina. There were Socialists, Christian Socials, liberals, and others, some of them hostile to the Catholic world view that Tiso espoused. It was in Vienna in fact that Tiso had his first contact with the progressive wing of the Slovak intelligentsia, the Hlasists. Tiso opposed Hlasists thought even then; he regarded it a threat to the conservative Catholic view. Friction between Tiso and a Hlasist even took place in Tiso's home town of Bytca where he spent the holidays. The medical doctor in Bytca, Minarik, a Hlasist, accused Tiso of not being a real Slovak, when Tiso supported the parish priest, Teselsky, a member of the Hungarian People's Party and a known Magyarone. There were differences between Tiso and Teselsky, but Tiso preferred the Magyarone to the progressive minded Minarik. 14 Dr. Jozef Tiso was ordained a priest on July 14, 1910 by Bishop August Fischer-Colbr ie, and shortly thereafter said his first mass in his home parish church in Vel'ka Bytca. A year later he was awarded a doctorate in theology. Tiso's first assignment as a priest was to the small remote village of Oscadnica, a poor Slovak village. Tiso was not only concerned with the spiritual welfare of the people of Oscadnica, but also became very interested in their economic standard, their health, sanitation, and dietary habits. He organized self-help associations and tackled the problem of alcoholism which was so widespread in Slovak villages. Tiso referred to his experience in Oscadnica as his second university. 15 After about a year in Oscadnica, Tiso was transferred to another village, Rajec, where he continued his work. In Rajec he founded a Slovak peasant bank designed to strengthen the financial resources of the village and free the peasant from debts.16 Dr. Tiso was not in Rajec long before he was again transferred, this time to a larger town, Banovce nad Bebravou, located about 70 miles northwest of Bratislava. He was appointed chaplain there and in 1924 promoted to pastor, a post he held until 1945. Tiso, during the many years of his pastorate in Banovce did much for the improve- �28 SLOVAKIA ment of the town. He undertook the pavement of the town's streets and the regulation of the Bebrava River and Radisla Creek which ran near Banovce. To further the interests of the town's noted cabinet makers he organized a cooperative. He worked, too, with the city council and founded a bank to finance a sewer system and water supply. Tiso formu• lated other plans for the modernization of Banovce, such as electrification and pavement of roads to every village in the district, but these remained only in the planning stage. His primary goal remained the industrialization of Banovce. 17 Alarmed by the spread of secularism and progressive thought, Tiso also set out to strengthen Catholic education in Banovce. He revived the Catholic educational society Orol and he founded both a Catholic teachers' college and a Catholic cultural house. 18 All Tiso's work did much to make him popular in the Banovce area and to make it the center of his political strength. In 1914 Tiso was called up by the government to serve as chaplain in the Austrian army. Toward the end of 1914 he was sent to Maribor in Styria. There he became acquainted with Slovene priests and their work in organizing peasant cooperatives. He later applied some of their ideas in his work for the economic development of Banovce.19 After a year in the military service, Tiso contracted nephritis and had to be recalled from the front. Following his recovery he was appointed spiritual director at the Nitra seminary, later professor of theology, and personal secretary to the Bishop of Nitra. Tiso maintained these posts throughout the reminder of the war. Tiso was later attacked for his activity during the war and during the Slovak National Revolution, when Slovakia seceded from Hungary to join with the Czechs in the new Czecho-Slovakia (1918-19 ). His political opponents charged him with having had pro-Magyar sympathies at the time. These charges resulted from the fact that Tiso contributed to Nytramegyei Szemle, a Magyar journal in Nitra, articles glorifying Hungary's war efforts. Ivan Derer, Social Democratic Minister of Education in Czecho-Slovakia in the 1920's, largely responsible for such charges, also maintained that Tiso before 1918 spelled his Name, Tiszo, in the Magyar fashion, and that Tiso had supported the integrity of the Hungarian state. Derer wrote that Tiso, moreover, was �SLOVAKIA 29 opposed to the Martin Declaration and had even served on the Magyar Nitra Council. 20 Tiso came naturally under suspicion since he served during the war as personal secretary to the Bishop, Viliam Batthanyi, of Nitra, a notorious advocate of Magyarization. Labeling a Populist a Magyarone was a favorite device of Czech and Slovak centralists used to discredit the idea of Slovak autonomy. It was done repeatedly in the twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Sometimes the charges were appropriate while at other times, as with Tiso, they had little basis in fact. Whatever pro-Magyar feelings Tiso may have had before 1918 were gone by the time the Czecho-Slovak army approached Nitra. Before 1918 Tiso belonged to the politically passive Slovak majority. He was active before October, 1918 but mainly with welfare and town improvement projects. Prior to 1918 he had neither planned to enter politics nor was he trained for such a career. 21 Tiso's rather sudden involvement in politics is difficult to explain, but very likely, much like Hlinka, Tiso was drawn into the Populist movement by the revolutionary anti-clerical character of the new state. Indeed soon after the National Revolution Tiso joined the Slovak People's Party and began to work for it in Nitra. He was largely responsible for making the whole south Nitra district a party stronghold.22 Nitra in 1918 was very much a Magyar town with only two educated Slovak leaders, Dr. Eugen Filkorn and Dr. Jozef Tiso. Both worked hard in Nitra to obliterate its Magyar character and make it Slovak once wore. They published a Slovak newspaper entitled, Nitra and organized a Slovak National Council. Meanwhile Slovak Populists under Hlinka's direction prepared themselves for the first legislative election scheduled for April, 1920. In this election Hlinka formed a common front with the Czech Populists, led by Msgr. Jan Sramek; it was known as the "Czechoslovak People's Party." The election was a great disappointment to the Slovak Populists who secured only twelve seats out of fifty-seven assigned to Slovakia in the Prague Parliament.23 The Social Democrats were the big winners there with twenty-three mandates. The revolutionary wave that swept Slovakia after the war was mainly responsible for the Social Democratic victory, though the fact that there was little in the Populist platform to attract the peasant masses of Slovakia also �30 SLOVAKIA partly explains the vote. Hlinka's main concern at the time was the progressive, anti-clerical character of the new government, not the social and economic condition of peasants. This is clear from Hlinka's decision to present a common front with Czech Catholics. Tiso in a newspaper editorial of the time attributed the success of the Social Democrats to the fact that some 200,000 Czech soldiers and officials had voted for the Social Democrats and other Czecho-Slovak parties. This gave the world a false picture of true political feelings of the Slovaks. 24 In that election Tiso won in the Trnava district but turned his post over to another candidate. Tiso remained in Nitra dividing his time between teaching and his work for the Populists. He delivered speeches, organized party activities, and contributed articles to the party's leading organ, Slovak. In 1921 he was appointed personal secretary to the new bishop in Nitra, Karol Kmet'ko, a former member of the Czecho-Slovak Revolutionary Council. For the next few years both worked together in building up the party strength in Nitra. But while Kmet'ko preferred peaceful discussion, Tiso felt the Slovak cause benefited more by demonstrations. As a result, a certain coolness developed between the two men. Even worse, Tiso's inflammatory speeches soon got him into trouble with the authorities. In 1923 Tiso was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment; of which he served two, because he delivered a fiery speech in Nitra, which was said to have incited the people. Following this episode Tiso felt it best to resign his post as secretary to Kmet'ko, knowing the bishop's feeling with regard to such activity. Tiso then in 1924 left Nitra to become pastor of the Catholic Church in Banovce.25 Meanwhile the Slovak Populists were making their recovery from the election disappointment of 1920. The fruitless union with the Czech Lidaks 26 was ended in 1921. A year later the Slovak People's Party name was changed to the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSUS). The Centralistic policies of Prague and the economic problems in Slovakia contributed to the growth of the HSUS. Within three or four years it became a broad-based mass party. By 1923 the party could claim 876 city organiza- �SLOVAKIA 31 tions, 1065 village organizations and nine newspapers. 27 But not all were content with the party's leadership. Many of the radical members in the party were displeased with what they considered Hlinka's conciliatory position toward the government. The party had approved the Constitution of 1920 and supported Masaryk in the first presidential election. But on the other hand Hlinka did keep the party in opposition throughout the first legislature, and in 1922 presented to the Prague Parliament the first proposal for Slovak autonomy. Accordingly, Czecho-Slovakia would be divided into three parts: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthe• nia, each with its own diet having authority over local administration, school, churches, justice, public welfare, and finances. 28 The proposal was rejected. In the next election in 1925 the HS~S scored its greatest success receiving 489,111 votes 29 and 23 seats in Prague. Tiso was elected deputy again and took up his seat in Parliament. At this time Tiso was not yet a leading member of the Populist party, but nevertheless one of the party's rising young stars. Much of the leadership still belonged to the predprevratovd group, those from the pre-1918 era which included besides Hlinka, Ferdis Juriga, Jozef Buday,3° Florian Tomanek to name a few. Tiso belonged to the younger group of party deputies, those between 30 and 40 years of age. Tiso was young and inexperienced when he walked into the Prague Parliament, yet within a few years had gained the reputation of being one of the most skillful representatives in the Slovak Club. Hlinka soon came to appreciate his parliamentary ability and his capacity for long, tedious work. There were considerable differences though between Tiso and Hlinka. Tiso was not as impulsive nor romantically oriented toward politics as was Hlinka; he was more a hard, cold realist when it came to appraising political situations.31 Though Tiso became frequently impassioned while speaking, his ideas always conformed to a logical pattern and were argued from a philosophical or historical point of view. In 1925-1926 the new central government of Anton �32 SLOVAKIA Svehla, in face of a renewed campaign of Hungarian revisionists, set out to broaden the government coalition by bringing in German and Slovak opposition parties. Tiso favored participating in the government. He felt something could be gained by it for Slovakia. At this critical time Hlinka departed for the United States to attend an Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. In his absence a directory of five, including Tiso, ran the party. Also, before Hlinka left he designated Tiso president of the Slovak Club in Prague to manage party affairs in the parliament. Soon after Hlinka was gone a struggle developed between the old predprevratovi Populists and the younger generation. Juriga and Tomanek were offended by Hlinka's passing over them in favor of the younger Tiso to head the Slovak Club.32 The friction, however, was mild since Hlinka's authority was strong enough to prevent such inter-party squabbles from becoming serious. In Hlinka's absence it was left to Tiso to take up the whole question of HSES position with regard to the government coalition. Tiso led the negotiations with Svehla, but felt unqualified to make a final decision alone. In July, 1926 Tiso sent a letter to Hlinka urging him to return quickly from the United States so that a decision could be made.33 Hlinka at first opposed the idea of entering a coalition, but during the course of his visit to the United States he was urged by American Slovaks to try cooperation with the government. Hlinka arrived in Slovakia in October, negotiations were immediately accelerated and an agreement concluded for HSES participation in the coalition. Tiso had hoped to obtain some concessions for Slovakia as a condition for the party's participation in the government, but the party was disappointed, especially the radicals. The hated zupa law of 1923 which had centralized government administration was removed and the country was divided into three administrative units: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, each with krajinsky (regional) president and a council with powers to handle cultural, educational, and humanitarian affairs. The powers of the council were, however, limited, since the krajinsky president, who was nominated by the central government, had power to veto any resolution passed by the council. Furthermore, the �SLOVAKIA 33 central government had powers in the selection of the council's members. 34 Tiso at first spoke out against the law, but after its passage defended it to a degree. At least, he said, with the new law there was recognition of a Slovak krajina and from this, autonomy could be built.35 The People's Party officially entered the government in January, 1927, with Tiso as Minister of Health and Marko Gazik as Minister of Unification. Tiso in his capacity accomplished much. His greatest efforts were turned toward the modernization of the health spas of Polianka, strbske Pleso, Tatranska Lomnica, Cerveny Klastor and Sliac in Slovakia. Due to Tiso's work, Sliac became the most wellknown and most frequented of all Slovak spas.36 Tiso's support of the government during these years was regarded by the radical Populists as a betrayal of party principles. These extremists, moreover, disliked the new administration law of 1928 which had replaced the 1923 one. Tiso at this time together with Jozef Buday belonged to the moderate wing of the party, while the radicals gathered around their leader, Vojtech Tuka. On January 1, 1928 Tuka published a sensational article which claimed that the declaration signed in Martin in 1918 contained a secret clause, (Vacuum Juris) stating that after ten years the Slovaks could reconsider their union with the Czechs. Tuka was subsequently put on trial and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The whole Tuka affair caused great turmoil in the country. To the opponents of Slovak autonomy Tuka was proof that the Slovak People's Party had dangerous Magyarone elements in it. Many Populists, on the other hand, made the Tuka trial into a cause celebre, regarding Tuka a martyr for the Slovak cause. Hlinka refused to condemn Tuka, and, in a gesture of disapproval at Tuka's imprisonment, pulled the party out of the government and once again put it into opposition. It lost some 85,000 votes and five seats in the Parliament in the 1929 elections.37 With the removal of Tuka from the scene, Tiso's importance and influence in the party in the next few years climbed steadily. At a Populist meeting in Ruzomberok in January, 1930, Tiso was chosen, along with Karol Mederly,38 �34 SLOVAKIA one of the party's vice-presidents.39 By this time, too, Tiso had established himself as the leading ideologist in the party and one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Slovak cause. Tiso was well on his way to becoming successor to Andrej Hlinka as leader of the Slovak Populist movement. FOOTNOTES 1) Most of the biographical information on Tiso's family and early life is taken from Konstantin l:ulen Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava (Cleveland: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1947) and "Z bohateho zivota nasho prveho prezidenta": Slovak, XX:1/248 (Bratislava), October 27, 1939. 2) "Smutok pana prezidenta," Katolicke noviny (Bratislava), February 14, 1943. 3) Jozef K. Hrabovsky, "U Tisovcov vo Vel'kej Bytci," Slovak, XXXI/24, January 29, 1939. 4) Quoted in l:ulen, Po Sviitoplukovi • . . , p. 24. 5) Quoted in Ibid. , p. 29. 6) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 7) J., "Za Boha a narod: Spomienky na skolske roky prezidenta Jozefa Tisu," Slovak, XX:1/248, October 27, 1939. 8) Quoted in Ibid. 9) Tido Gaspar, Der Praesident der Slowakischen Repubiik (Pressburg: Johann 0. Petreas, 1943), p. 6. 10) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 11) "Za Boha a narod .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1939. 12) Franz Martin Schindler ( 1847-1922) was professor of moral theology in Vienna. He was one of the ideologists of the Christian Social movement. 13) Quoted in Milan S. f:lurica, Die slowakische Politik 1938/39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tisos (Bonn: Emil Semmel Verlag, 1967), p. 21. 14) l:ulen, Po Svatoplukovi ... , pp. 33-34. 15) Ibid., p. 36. 16) Ibid- , pp. 37-38. 17) Albert Mistina, "Tiso-clovek," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III (Hamilton, Ontario: Franti§ek Fuga, 1967), pp. 9-12. 18) Ibid., Dr. Jan Gleiman, "Tisovo mesto," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III, pp. 20-25. 19) Jozef Tiso, Tiso o sebe, ed. Jozef Pauco (Passaic, New Jersey: Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, 1952), pp. 101-102. 20) Dr. Ivan Derer, Slovensky vyvoj a l'udacka zrada (Praha: Kvasnicka a Hampl, 1946), pp. 347-348. Imrich Stanek, Zrada a pad, Hlinkovsti separatiste a tak zvan11 siovensky stat (Praha, 1956) pp. 387-388. �SLOVAKIA 35 21) Tiso o sebe, p. 122. 22) Gaspar, p. 11. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ••. , pp. 63-66. 23) Joseph Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 16. 24) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka (1864-1926) (Bratislava, 1934), p. 438. 25) Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ... , pp. 66-67. "Z bohateho zivota . . . ," Slovak, October 27, 1939. 26) Lida.ks were the members of Sramek's "Czechoslovak People's Party." 27 ) Juraj Kramer, Slovenske autonomisticke hnutie v rokoch 1918-1929 (Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied, 1962), pp. 263-266. 28) See Karol Sidor, Slovenska politika na pode prazskeho snemu (19181938), Vol. I (Bratislava: 1943), p. 87. 29) C. A. Macar,tney, Hungary and her Successors (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 118. 30) Jozef Buday was born in 1877 in Trencin and ordained a priest in 1899. During Hlinka's imprisonment 1919-1920 he served as acting president of the party. He was deputy and senator in 1920's and 1930's. He was a leader of the Society of St. Adalbert and author of several Catholic books. He died in 1939. Jan Mest'ancik, "Jozef Buday v sluzbach cirkvi a naroda," Literarny Almanach (1970), pp. 89-106. 31) Frantisek Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso (Sidney: The Association of Australian Slovaks, 1967), p. 12. 32) Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, p. 550. 33) Ibid-, pp. 550-551. 34) Sidor, Slovenska politika, I, pp. 303-304. 35) Ibid., p. 314. 36) "Z bohateho zivota .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1929. 37) Macartney, p. 118. Juriga and Tomanek left the party in protest to Hlinka's defense of Tuka and formed their own party, Juriga's People's Party. It got about 5,000 votes in the 1929 election. 38) Karol Mederly (b. 1887) - was the party's legal expert and was responsible for drawing up proposals for autonomy. He was also director of Populist press works. From 1929 he served as a party deputy and senator, and after November, 1938 vice-president of the Slovak Parliament. He was a member of the party Paesidium and the party's central court. On October 18, 1947 he was sentenced by the pro-Communist National Tribunal to six years imprisonment. Jozef Chreno, Maly slovnik slovenskeho st<itu, 1918-1945 (Bratislava, 1965), pp. 122-123. 39) L. G. Fagul'a, Andrej Hlinka (Bratislava : Generalny sekretariat HSUS, 1943) , p. 120. SLOVAKIA'S best known thermal spa (natural mineral springs), Piest'any, dedicated a new summer swimmingpooL � 24 SLOVAKIA --- -------- Tiso' s Formative Years and Early Political Career Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D. Dr. Jozef Tiso, like most Slovaks who attained national prominence, had very simple, humble beginnings. Tiso was born on October 13, 1887 of peasant stock in the small Slovak town of Vel'ka Bytca. Two days later he was christened a Roman Catholic with the name Jozef Gaspar. With regard to the origin of the name Tiso there is no agreement, but most likely it was derived from the Slavic word, tis, meaning yew tree. The name Tiso in Vel'ka Bytca has been traced back to 1525. Several individuals of that name achieved some distinction in Slovak history. One of them, a priest, Mikulas Tiso, was active in the Slovak national movement during the 19th century. 1 Most of Jozef Tiso's ancestors, however, were simple peasants or tradesmen. His grandfather, Jozef Tiso, also of Vel'ka Bytca, was born on August 11, 1838. In 1860 he married Veronica Fundarek, who bore him a son in 1862; he was Gaspar Tiso, father of the future leader of Slovakia. Gaspar Tiso during most of his adult life operated a butcher business in Vel'ka Bytca. He was a nationally conscious Slovak and active during most of his adult life in Slovak national and political organizations. In 1894 he founded a Catholic Circle in Vel'ka Bytca, which was dissolved by the Hungarian government in 1901 but later revived. Even after 1918 Gaspar Tiso represented the Slovak People's Party in his town. 2 On September 2, 1882 Gaspar married Terezia Budiska, a member of a well-known family of potters from Vel'ka Bytca. From this union seven children were born: Pavol, Jozef, Maria, Jan, Hanna, Jozefka, and Terezia. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso were simple people who instilled in their children the simple peasant virtues: the value of hard work and a firm belief in God. Their family mottos were: "Pray and work," and "Fellow strive and God will bless you." 3 �SLOVAKIA 25 Dr. Jozef Tiso spent most of his formative years in the town of Vel'ka Bytca. Situated in the northwest corner of Slovakia, it was that area which was a traditional stronghold of Slovak nationalism. Vel'ka Bytca had withstood the onslaught of Magyarization and survived as a nationally conscious town. Reminiscing many years later Tiso said of Bytca: I am a Bytcan. If tinkers have a kingdom, well now Bytca would certainly be the chief city of this kingdom. Well, if you will, I am also a descendant of tinkers. Among us there are no differences between artisans and farmers and workers. A tinker is an artisan, but also a worker and the poorest salaried, working on a patch of land which is more rock than soil-in a word also ·a farmer.4 Tiso's family was not especially poor nor was it a rich one: it can be classified as a middle peasant family. Regarding his family's situation Tiso said: We had a decent roof over our heads, we had a clean, nice village home and always a loaf of bread on a table covered with a cloth. Thus we had what a man needs for a decent life. This was our wealth. And what we had was from work.5 Tiso began his formal education in the lower school in Bytca in 1894. At that time the Bytca school was a three language one. During the first year Slovak and Magyar were taught; in the second year, German; and in the third year all three languages were alternated. Subjects included in the curriculum were the natural scie?ces, Hungarian history, and geography. Although the purpose of the curriculum was to Magyarize, there were several nationally conscious Slovak instructors in the Bytca school: one of these, Pavel Trusina, taught Tiso the Slovak language.6 Jozef Tiso during these years of study in Bytca proved to be a good student; therefore in 1898 after the completion of his fourth year he was sent to the middle school in nearby Zilina. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso had originally planned to educate their eldest son, Pavel, but he dropped out after one year at the Zilina school to take up the family butcher trade in Bytca. Jozef Tiso soon proved to be a much better student than his brother. He won the admiration of all his professors. He did well in all his subjects and showed a special talent in mastering foreign languages. Magyar and German were mere playthings to him according to the recollections of one of his classmates.7 One professor named Bicovsky referring to Tiso allegedly told the class, �26 SLOVAKIA "You will see this boy one day will be a great man." 8 Jozef Tiso was also well liked by his fellow classmates. He was remembered as being humble, pleasant, and easygoing, always demonstrating an uncommon interest in helping his classmates with their work. 9 While in zilina Tiso lived with Anton Sturm, a friend of the family, who remembered him as a conscientious student who never had to be forced to prepare his school assignments.10 It was in zilina that Tiso made the decision to enter the priesthood. This was not an uncommon choice for Slovaks peasants. Many Slovak peasant families had a son or daughter in the Church. A clerical career was one of the few ways a Slovak peasant could raise his social status or acquire an education. Having made the decision, Tiso set off in 1902 after the completion of his fourth year at zilina for the Nitra Gymnasium. The Nitra school was much more a Magyar institution than the zilina one had been. The Nitra faculty, moreover, had a low opinion of the zilina school, regarding its curriculum in Magyar subjects particularly inferior to its ow~. Young students there were frequently ridiculed, but Tiso was not for he proved to be an exceptional student. He mastered with little difficulty the most difficult assignments in Latin and German, and remained there four years. 11 The outstanding theological students of the time were sent to Vienna to the Pazmaneum, the leading Catholic seminary in the Habsburg Empire. Tiso in 1906 was one of those chosen to complete his theological studies there. Once at the Pazmaneum, he continued his good scholastic record and came into contact with some of the leading clerics of the Empire. He received lectures from Franz Martin Schindler12 and Ignaz Seipel, leaders of the Austrian Christian Social movement. During Tiso's years of study at the Pazmaneum Pope Leo's social encyclical, Rerum Novarum was receiving wide attention. Many seminars were devoted to it and came to form an important part of Tiso's social philosophy. Tiso's training was otherwise in traditional Catholic theology and Thomistic philosophy. According to the confidential files of the Pazmaneum Tiso was an exemplary seminarian. Concerning Tiso the psychological-moral profile stated: "Natural behavior: serious; morals : exemplary; mode of conversation with superiors: �SLOVAKIA 27 humble, with equals: affable; character: oustanding; application: indefatigable . Observations : behaves with a mature character." 13 The intellectual atmosphere of Vienna was very dif. ferent from what Tiso was accustomed to in Nitra and zilina. There were Socialists, Christian Socials, liberals, and others, some of them hostile to the Catholic world view that Tiso espoused. It was in Vienna in fact that Tiso had his first contact with the progressive wing of the Slovak intelligentsia, the Hlasists. Tiso opposed Hlasists thought even then; he regarded it a threat to the conservative Catholic view. Friction between Tiso and a Hlasist even took place in Tiso's home town of Bytca where he spent the holidays. The medical doctor in Bytca, Minarik, a Hlasist, accused Tiso of not being a real Slovak, when Tiso supported the parish priest, Teselsky, a member of the Hungarian People's Party and a known Magyarone. There were differences between Tiso and Teselsky, but Tiso preferred the Magyarone to the progressive minded Minarik. 14 Dr. Jozef Tiso was ordained a priest on July 14, 1910 by Bishop August Fischer-Colbr ie, and shortly thereafter said his first mass in his home parish church in Vel'ka Bytca. A year later he was awarded a doctorate in theology. Tiso's first assignment as a priest was to the small remote village of Oscadnica, a poor Slovak village. Tiso was not only concerned with the spiritual welfare of the people of Oscadnica, but also became very interested in their economic standard, their health, sanitation, and dietary habits. He organized self-help associations and tackled the problem of alcoholism which was so widespread in Slovak villages. Tiso referred to his experience in Oscadnica as his second university. 15 After about a year in Oscadnica, Tiso was transferred to another village, Rajec, where he continued his work. In Rajec he founded a Slovak peasant bank designed to strengthen the financial resources of the village and free the peasant from debts.16 Dr. Tiso was not in Rajec long before he was again transferred, this time to a larger town, Banovce nad Bebravou, located about 70 miles northwest of Bratislava. He was appointed chaplain there and in 1924 promoted to pastor, a post he held until 1945. Tiso, during the many years of his pastorate in Banovce did much for the improve- �28 SLOVAKIA ment of the town. He undertook the pavement of the town's streets and the regulation of the Bebrava River and Radisla Creek which ran near Banovce. To further the interests of the town's noted cabinet makers he organized a cooperative. He worked, too, with the city council and founded a bank to finance a sewer system and water supply. Tiso formu• lated other plans for the modernization of Banovce, such as electrification and pavement of roads to every village in the district, but these remained only in the planning stage. His primary goal remained the industrialization of Banovce. 17 Alarmed by the spread of secularism and progressive thought, Tiso also set out to strengthen Catholic education in Banovce. He revived the Catholic educational society Orol and he founded both a Catholic teachers' college and a Catholic cultural house. 18 All Tiso's work did much to make him popular in the Banovce area and to make it the center of his political strength. In 1914 Tiso was called up by the government to serve as chaplain in the Austrian army. Toward the end of 1914 he was sent to Maribor in Styria. There he became acquainted with Slovene priests and their work in organizing peasant cooperatives. He later applied some of their ideas in his work for the economic development of Banovce.19 After a year in the military service, Tiso contracted nephritis and had to be recalled from the front. Following his recovery he was appointed spiritual director at the Nitra seminary, later professor of theology, and personal secretary to the Bishop of Nitra. Tiso maintained these posts throughout the reminder of the war. Tiso was later attacked for his activity during the war and during the Slovak National Revolution, when Slovakia seceded from Hungary to join with the Czechs in the new Czecho-Slovakia (1918-19 ). His political opponents charged him with having had pro-Magyar sympathies at the time. These charges resulted from the fact that Tiso contributed to Nytramegyei Szemle, a Magyar journal in Nitra, articles glorifying Hungary's war efforts. Ivan Derer, Social Democratic Minister of Education in Czecho-Slovakia in the 1920's, largely responsible for such charges, also maintained that Tiso before 1918 spelled his Name, Tiszo, in the Magyar fashion, and that Tiso had supported the integrity of the Hungarian state. Derer wrote that Tiso, moreover, was �SLOVAKIA 29 opposed to the Martin Declaration and had even served on the Magyar Nitra Council. 20 Tiso came naturally under suspicion since he served during the war as personal secretary to the Bishop, Viliam Batthanyi, of Nitra, a notorious advocate of Magyarization. Labeling a Populist a Magyarone was a favorite device of Czech and Slovak centralists used to discredit the idea of Slovak autonomy. It was done repeatedly in the twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Sometimes the charges were appropriate while at other times, as with Tiso, they had little basis in fact. Whatever pro-Magyar feelings Tiso may have had before 1918 were gone by the time the Czecho-Slovak army approached Nitra. Before 1918 Tiso belonged to the politically passive Slovak majority. He was active before October, 1918 but mainly with welfare and town improvement projects. Prior to 1918 he had neither planned to enter politics nor was he trained for such a career. 21 Tiso's rather sudden involvement in politics is difficult to explain, but very likely, much like Hlinka, Tiso was drawn into the Populist movement by the revolutionary anti-clerical character of the new state. Indeed soon after the National Revolution Tiso joined the Slovak People's Party and began to work for it in Nitra. He was largely responsible for making the whole south Nitra district a party stronghold.22 Nitra in 1918 was very much a Magyar town with only two educated Slovak leaders, Dr. Eugen Filkorn and Dr. Jozef Tiso. Both worked hard in Nitra to obliterate its Magyar character and make it Slovak once wore. They published a Slovak newspaper entitled, Nitra and organized a Slovak National Council. Meanwhile Slovak Populists under Hlinka's direction prepared themselves for the first legislative election scheduled for April, 1920. In this election Hlinka formed a common front with the Czech Populists, led by Msgr. Jan Sramek; it was known as the "Czechoslovak People's Party." The election was a great disappointment to the Slovak Populists who secured only twelve seats out of fifty-seven assigned to Slovakia in the Prague Parliament.23 The Social Democrats were the big winners there with twenty-three mandates. The revolutionary wave that swept Slovakia after the war was mainly responsible for the Social Democratic victory, though the fact that there was little in the Populist platform to attract the peasant masses of Slovakia also �30 SLOVAKIA partly explains the vote. Hlinka's main concern at the time was the progressive, anti-clerical character of the new government, not the social and economic condition of peasants. This is clear from Hlinka's decision to present a common front with Czech Catholics. Tiso in a newspaper editorial of the time attributed the success of the Social Democrats to the fact that some 200,000 Czech soldiers and officials had voted for the Social Democrats and other Czecho-Slovak parties. This gave the world a false picture of true political feelings of the Slovaks. 24 In that election Tiso won in the Trnava district but turned his post over to another candidate. Tiso remained in Nitra dividing his time between teaching and his work for the Populists. He delivered speeches, organized party activities, and contributed articles to the party's leading organ, Slovak. In 1921 he was appointed personal secretary to the new bishop in Nitra, Karol Kmet'ko, a former member of the Czecho-Slovak Revolutionary Council. For the next few years both worked together in building up the party strength in Nitra. But while Kmet'ko preferred peaceful discussion, Tiso felt the Slovak cause benefited more by demonstrations. As a result, a certain coolness developed between the two men. Even worse, Tiso's inflammatory speeches soon got him into trouble with the authorities. In 1923 Tiso was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment; of which he served two, because he delivered a fiery speech in Nitra, which was said to have incited the people. Following this episode Tiso felt it best to resign his post as secretary to Kmet'ko, knowing the bishop's feeling with regard to such activity. Tiso then in 1924 left Nitra to become pastor of the Catholic Church in Banovce.25 Meanwhile the Slovak Populists were making their recovery from the election disappointment of 1920. The fruitless union with the Czech Lidaks 26 was ended in 1921. A year later the Slovak People's Party name was changed to the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSUS). The Centralistic policies of Prague and the economic problems in Slovakia contributed to the growth of the HSUS. Within three or four years it became a broad-based mass party. By 1923 the party could claim 876 city organiza- �SLOVAKIA 31 tions, 1065 village organizations and nine newspapers. 27 But not all were content with the party's leadership. Many of the radical members in the party were displeased with what they considered Hlinka's conciliatory position toward the government. The party had approved the Constitution of 1920 and supported Masaryk in the first presidential election. But on the other hand Hlinka did keep the party in opposition throughout the first legislature, and in 1922 presented to the Prague Parliament the first proposal for Slovak autonomy. Accordingly, Czecho-Slovakia would be divided into three parts: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthe• nia, each with its own diet having authority over local administration, school, churches, justice, public welfare, and finances. 28 The proposal was rejected. In the next election in 1925 the HS~S scored its greatest success receiving 489,111 votes 29 and 23 seats in Prague. Tiso was elected deputy again and took up his seat in Parliament. At this time Tiso was not yet a leading member of the Populist party, but nevertheless one of the party's rising young stars. Much of the leadership still belonged to the predprevratovd group, those from the pre-1918 era which included besides Hlinka, Ferdis Juriga, Jozef Buday,3° Florian Tomanek to name a few. Tiso belonged to the younger group of party deputies, those between 30 and 40 years of age. Tiso was young and inexperienced when he walked into the Prague Parliament, yet within a few years had gained the reputation of being one of the most skillful representatives in the Slovak Club. Hlinka soon came to appreciate his parliamentary ability and his capacity for long, tedious work. There were considerable differences though between Tiso and Hlinka. Tiso was not as impulsive nor romantically oriented toward politics as was Hlinka; he was more a hard, cold realist when it came to appraising political situations.31 Though Tiso became frequently impassioned while speaking, his ideas always conformed to a logical pattern and were argued from a philosophical or historical point of view. In 1925-1926 the new central government of Anton �32 SLOVAKIA Svehla, in face of a renewed campaign of Hungarian revisionists, set out to broaden the government coalition by bringing in German and Slovak opposition parties. Tiso favored participating in the government. He felt something could be gained by it for Slovakia. At this critical time Hlinka departed for the United States to attend an Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. In his absence a directory of five, including Tiso, ran the party. Also, before Hlinka left he designated Tiso president of the Slovak Club in Prague to manage party affairs in the parliament. Soon after Hlinka was gone a struggle developed between the old predprevratovi Populists and the younger generation. Juriga and Tomanek were offended by Hlinka's passing over them in favor of the younger Tiso to head the Slovak Club.32 The friction, however, was mild since Hlinka's authority was strong enough to prevent such inter-party squabbles from becoming serious. In Hlinka's absence it was left to Tiso to take up the whole question of HSES position with regard to the government coalition. Tiso led the negotiations with Svehla, but felt unqualified to make a final decision alone. In July, 1926 Tiso sent a letter to Hlinka urging him to return quickly from the United States so that a decision could be made.33 Hlinka at first opposed the idea of entering a coalition, but during the course of his visit to the United States he was urged by American Slovaks to try cooperation with the government. Hlinka arrived in Slovakia in October, negotiations were immediately accelerated and an agreement concluded for HSES participation in the coalition. Tiso had hoped to obtain some concessions for Slovakia as a condition for the party's participation in the government, but the party was disappointed, especially the radicals. The hated zupa law of 1923 which had centralized government administration was removed and the country was divided into three administrative units: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, each with krajinsky (regional) president and a council with powers to handle cultural, educational, and humanitarian affairs. The powers of the council were, however, limited, since the krajinsky president, who was nominated by the central government, had power to veto any resolution passed by the council. Furthermore, the �SLOVAKIA 33 central government had powers in the selection of the council's members. 34 Tiso at first spoke out against the law, but after its passage defended it to a degree. At least, he said, with the new law there was recognition of a Slovak krajina and from this, autonomy could be built.35 The People's Party officially entered the government in January, 1927, with Tiso as Minister of Health and Marko Gazik as Minister of Unification. Tiso in his capacity accomplished much. His greatest efforts were turned toward the modernization of the health spas of Polianka, strbske Pleso, Tatranska Lomnica, Cerveny Klastor and Sliac in Slovakia. Due to Tiso's work, Sliac became the most wellknown and most frequented of all Slovak spas.36 Tiso's support of the government during these years was regarded by the radical Populists as a betrayal of party principles. These extremists, moreover, disliked the new administration law of 1928 which had replaced the 1923 one. Tiso at this time together with Jozef Buday belonged to the moderate wing of the party, while the radicals gathered around their leader, Vojtech Tuka. On January 1, 1928 Tuka published a sensational article which claimed that the declaration signed in Martin in 1918 contained a secret clause, (Vacuum Juris) stating that after ten years the Slovaks could reconsider their union with the Czechs. Tuka was subsequently put on trial and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The whole Tuka affair caused great turmoil in the country. To the opponents of Slovak autonomy Tuka was proof that the Slovak People's Party had dangerous Magyarone elements in it. Many Populists, on the other hand, made the Tuka trial into a cause celebre, regarding Tuka a martyr for the Slovak cause. Hlinka refused to condemn Tuka, and, in a gesture of disapproval at Tuka's imprisonment, pulled the party out of the government and once again put it into opposition. It lost some 85,000 votes and five seats in the Parliament in the 1929 elections.37 With the removal of Tuka from the scene, Tiso's importance and influence in the party in the next few years climbed steadily. At a Populist meeting in Ruzomberok in January, 1930, Tiso was chosen, along with Karol Mederly,38 �34 SLOVAKIA one of the party's vice-presidents.39 By this time, too, Tiso had established himself as the leading ideologist in the party and one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Slovak cause. Tiso was well on his way to becoming successor to Andrej Hlinka as leader of the Slovak Populist movement. FOOTNOTES 1) Most of the biographical information on Tiso's family and early life is taken from Konstantin l:ulen Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava (Cleveland: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1947) and "Z bohateho zivota nasho prveho prezidenta": Slovak, XX:1/248 (Bratislava), October 27, 1939. 2) "Smutok pana prezidenta," Katolicke noviny (Bratislava), February 14, 1943. 3) Jozef K. Hrabovsky, "U Tisovcov vo Vel'kej Bytci," Slovak, XXXI/24, January 29, 1939. 4) Quoted in l:ulen, Po Sviitoplukovi • . . , p. 24. 5) Quoted in Ibid. , p. 29. 6) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 7) J., "Za Boha a narod: Spomienky na skolske roky prezidenta Jozefa Tisu," Slovak, XX:1/248, October 27, 1939. 8) Quoted in Ibid. 9) Tido Gaspar, Der Praesident der Slowakischen Repubiik (Pressburg: Johann 0. Petreas, 1943), p. 6. 10) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 11) "Za Boha a narod .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1939. 12) Franz Martin Schindler ( 1847-1922) was professor of moral theology in Vienna. He was one of the ideologists of the Christian Social movement. 13) Quoted in Milan S. f:lurica, Die slowakische Politik 1938/39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tisos (Bonn: Emil Semmel Verlag, 1967), p. 21. 14) l:ulen, Po Svatoplukovi ... , pp. 33-34. 15) Ibid., p. 36. 16) Ibid- , pp. 37-38. 17) Albert Mistina, "Tiso-clovek," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III (Hamilton, Ontario: Franti§ek Fuga, 1967), pp. 9-12. 18) Ibid., Dr. Jan Gleiman, "Tisovo mesto," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III, pp. 20-25. 19) Jozef Tiso, Tiso o sebe, ed. Jozef Pauco (Passaic, New Jersey: Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, 1952), pp. 101-102. 20) Dr. Ivan Derer, Slovensky vyvoj a l'udacka zrada (Praha: Kvasnicka a Hampl, 1946), pp. 347-348. Imrich Stanek, Zrada a pad, Hlinkovsti separatiste a tak zvan11 siovensky stat (Praha, 1956) pp. 387-388. �SLOVAKIA 35 21) Tiso o sebe, p. 122. 22) Gaspar, p. 11. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ••. , pp. 63-66. 23) Joseph Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 16. 24) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka (1864-1926) (Bratislava, 1934), p. 438. 25) Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ... , pp. 66-67. "Z bohateho zivota . . . ," Slovak, October 27, 1939. 26) Lida.ks were the members of Sramek's "Czechoslovak People's Party." 27 ) Juraj Kramer, Slovenske autonomisticke hnutie v rokoch 1918-1929 (Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied, 1962), pp. 263-266. 28) See Karol Sidor, Slovenska politika na pode prazskeho snemu (19181938), Vol. I (Bratislava: 1943), p. 87. 29) C. A. Macar,tney, Hungary and her Successors (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 118. 30) Jozef Buday was born in 1877 in Trencin and ordained a priest in 1899. During Hlinka's imprisonment 1919-1920 he served as acting president of the party. He was deputy and senator in 1920's and 1930's. He was a leader of the Society of St. Adalbert and author of several Catholic books. He died in 1939. Jan Mest'ancik, "Jozef Buday v sluzbach cirkvi a naroda," Literarny Almanach (1970), pp. 89-106. 31) Frantisek Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso (Sidney: The Association of Australian Slovaks, 1967), p. 12. 32) Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, p. 550. 33) Ibid-, pp. 550-551. 34) Sidor, Slovenska politika, I, pp. 303-304. 35) Ibid., p. 314. 36) "Z bohateho zivota .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1929. 37) Macartney, p. 118. Juriga and Tomanek left the party in protest to Hlinka's defense of Tuka and formed their own party, Juriga's People's Party. It got about 5,000 votes in the 1929 election. 38) Karol Mederly (b. 1887) - was the party's legal expert and was responsible for drawing up proposals for autonomy. He was also director of Populist press works. From 1929 he served as a party deputy and senator, and after November, 1938 vice-president of the Slovak Parliament. He was a member of the party Paesidium and the party's central court. On October 18, 1947 he was sentenced by the pro-Communist National Tribunal to six years imprisonment. Jozef Chreno, Maly slovnik slovenskeho st<itu, 1918-1945 (Bratislava, 1965), pp. 122-123. 39) L. G. Fagul'a, Andrej Hlinka (Bratislava : Generalny sekretariat HSUS, 1943) , p. 120. SLOVAKIA'S best known thermal spa (natural mineral springs), Piest'any, dedicated a new summer swimmingpooL � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 24 SLOVAKIA --- -------- Tiso' s Formative Years and Early Political Career Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D. Dr. Jozef Tiso, like most Slovaks who attained national prominence, had very simple, humble beginnings. Tiso was born on October 13, 1887 of peasant stock in the small Slovak town of Vel'ka Bytca. Two days later he was christened a Roman Catholic with the name Jozef Gaspar. With regard to the origin of the name Tiso there is no agreement, but most likely it was derived from the Slavic word, tis, meaning yew tree. The name Tiso in Vel'ka Bytca has been traced back to 1525. Several individuals of that name achieved some distinction in Slovak history. One of them, a priest, Mikulas Tiso, was active in the Slovak national movement during the 19th century. 1 Most of Jozef Tiso's ancestors, however, were simple peasants or tradesmen. His grandfather, Jozef Tiso, also of Vel'ka Bytca, was born on August 11, 1838. In 1860 he married Veronica Fundarek, who bore him a son in 1862; he was Gaspar Tiso, father of the future leader of Slovakia. Gaspar Tiso during most of his adult life operated a butcher business in Vel'ka Bytca. He was a nationally conscious Slovak and active during most of his adult life in Slovak national and political organizations. In 1894 he founded a Catholic Circle in Vel'ka Bytca, which was dissolved by the Hungarian government in 1901 but later revived. Even after 1918 Gaspar Tiso represented the Slovak People's Party in his town. 2 On September 2, 1882 Gaspar married Terezia Budiska, a member of a well-known family of potters from Vel'ka Bytca. From this union seven children were born: Pavol, Jozef, Maria, Jan, Hanna, Jozefka, and Terezia. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso were simple people who instilled in their children the simple peasant virtues: the value of hard work and a firm belief in God. Their family mottos were: "Pray and work," and "Fellow strive and God will bless you." 3 SLOVAKIA 25 Dr. Jozef Tiso spent most of his formative years in the town of Vel'ka Bytca. Situated in the northwest corner of Slovakia, it was that area which was a traditional stronghold of Slovak nationalism. Vel'ka Bytca had withstood the onslaught of Magyarization and survived as a nationally conscious town. Reminiscing many years later Tiso said of Bytca: I am a Bytcan. If tinkers have a kingdom, well now Bytca would certainly be the chief city of this kingdom. Well, if you will, I am also a descendant of tinkers. Among us there are no differences between artisans and farmers and workers. A tinker is an artisan, but also a worker and the poorest salaried, working on a patch of land which is more rock than soil-in a word also ·a farmer.4 Tiso's family was not especially poor nor was it a rich one: it can be classified as a middle peasant family. Regarding his family's situation Tiso said: We had a decent roof over our heads, we had a clean, nice village home and always a loaf of bread on a table covered with a cloth. Thus we had what a man needs for a decent life. This was our wealth. And what we had was from work.5 Tiso began his formal education in the lower school in Bytca in 1894. At that time the Bytca school was a three language one. During the first year Slovak and Magyar were taught; in the second year, German; and in the third year all three languages were alternated. Subjects included in the curriculum were the natural scie?ces, Hungarian history, and geography. Although the purpose of the curriculum was to Magyarize, there were several nationally conscious Slovak instructors in the Bytca school: one of these, Pavel Trusina, taught Tiso the Slovak language.6 Jozef Tiso during these years of study in Bytca proved to be a good student; therefore in 1898 after the completion of his fourth year he was sent to the middle school in nearby Zilina. Gaspar and Terezia Tiso had originally planned to educate their eldest son, Pavel, but he dropped out after one year at the Zilina school to take up the family butcher trade in Bytca. Jozef Tiso soon proved to be a much better student than his brother. He won the admiration of all his professors. He did well in all his subjects and showed a special talent in mastering foreign languages. Magyar and German were mere playthings to him according to the recollections of one of his classmates.7 One professor named Bicovsky referring to Tiso allegedly told the class, 26 SLOVAKIA "You will see this boy one day will be a great man." 8 Jozef Tiso was also well liked by his fellow classmates. He was remembered as being humble, pleasant, and easygoing, always demonstrating an uncommon interest in helping his classmates with their work. 9 While in zilina Tiso lived with Anton Sturm, a friend of the family, who remembered him as a conscientious student who never had to be forced to prepare his school assignments.10 It was in zilina that Tiso made the decision to enter the priesthood. This was not an uncommon choice for Slovaks peasants. Many Slovak peasant families had a son or daughter in the Church. A clerical career was one of the few ways a Slovak peasant could raise his social status or acquire an education. Having made the decision, Tiso set off in 1902 after the completion of his fourth year at zilina for the Nitra Gymnasium. The Nitra school was much more a Magyar institution than the zilina one had been. The Nitra faculty, moreover, had a low opinion of the zilina school, regarding its curriculum in Magyar subjects particularly inferior to its ow~. Young students there were frequently ridiculed, but Tiso was not for he proved to be an exceptional student. He mastered with little difficulty the most difficult assignments in Latin and German, and remained there four years. 11 The outstanding theological students of the time were sent to Vienna to the Pazmaneum, the leading Catholic seminary in the Habsburg Empire. Tiso in 1906 was one of those chosen to complete his theological studies there. Once at the Pazmaneum, he continued his good scholastic record and came into contact with some of the leading clerics of the Empire. He received lectures from Franz Martin Schindler12 and Ignaz Seipel, leaders of the Austrian Christian Social movement. During Tiso's years of study at the Pazmaneum Pope Leo's social encyclical, Rerum Novarum was receiving wide attention. Many seminars were devoted to it and came to form an important part of Tiso's social philosophy. Tiso's training was otherwise in traditional Catholic theology and Thomistic philosophy. According to the confidential files of the Pazmaneum Tiso was an exemplary seminarian. Concerning Tiso the psychological-moral profile stated: "Natural behavior: serious; morals : exemplary; mode of conversation with superiors: SLOVAKIA 27 humble, with equals: affable; character: oustanding; application: indefatigable . Observations : behaves with a mature character." 13 The intellectual atmosphere of Vienna was very dif. ferent from what Tiso was accustomed to in Nitra and zilina. There were Socialists, Christian Socials, liberals, and others, some of them hostile to the Catholic world view that Tiso espoused. It was in Vienna in fact that Tiso had his first contact with the progressive wing of the Slovak intelligentsia, the Hlasists. Tiso opposed Hlasists thought even then; he regarded it a threat to the conservative Catholic view. Friction between Tiso and a Hlasist even took place in Tiso's home town of Bytca where he spent the holidays. The medical doctor in Bytca, Minarik, a Hlasist, accused Tiso of not being a real Slovak, when Tiso supported the parish priest, Teselsky, a member of the Hungarian People's Party and a known Magyarone. There were differences between Tiso and Teselsky, but Tiso preferred the Magyarone to the progressive minded Minarik. 14 Dr. Jozef Tiso was ordained a priest on July 14, 1910 by Bishop August Fischer-Colbr ie, and shortly thereafter said his first mass in his home parish church in Vel'ka Bytca. A year later he was awarded a doctorate in theology. Tiso's first assignment as a priest was to the small remote village of Oscadnica, a poor Slovak village. Tiso was not only concerned with the spiritual welfare of the people of Oscadnica, but also became very interested in their economic standard, their health, sanitation, and dietary habits. He organized self-help associations and tackled the problem of alcoholism which was so widespread in Slovak villages. Tiso referred to his experience in Oscadnica as his second university. 15 After about a year in Oscadnica, Tiso was transferred to another village, Rajec, where he continued his work. In Rajec he founded a Slovak peasant bank designed to strengthen the financial resources of the village and free the peasant from debts.16 Dr. Tiso was not in Rajec long before he was again transferred, this time to a larger town, Banovce nad Bebravou, located about 70 miles northwest of Bratislava. He was appointed chaplain there and in 1924 promoted to pastor, a post he held until 1945. Tiso, during the many years of his pastorate in Banovce did much for the improve- 28 SLOVAKIA ment of the town. He undertook the pavement of the town's streets and the regulation of the Bebrava River and Radisla Creek which ran near Banovce. To further the interests of the town's noted cabinet makers he organized a cooperative. He worked, too, with the city council and founded a bank to finance a sewer system and water supply. Tiso formu• lated other plans for the modernization of Banovce, such as electrification and pavement of roads to every village in the district, but these remained only in the planning stage. His primary goal remained the industrialization of Banovce. 17 Alarmed by the spread of secularism and progressive thought, Tiso also set out to strengthen Catholic education in Banovce. He revived the Catholic educational society Orol and he founded both a Catholic teachers' college and a Catholic cultural house. 18 All Tiso's work did much to make him popular in the Banovce area and to make it the center of his political strength. In 1914 Tiso was called up by the government to serve as chaplain in the Austrian army. Toward the end of 1914 he was sent to Maribor in Styria. There he became acquainted with Slovene priests and their work in organizing peasant cooperatives. He later applied some of their ideas in his work for the economic development of Banovce.19 After a year in the military service, Tiso contracted nephritis and had to be recalled from the front. Following his recovery he was appointed spiritual director at the Nitra seminary, later professor of theology, and personal secretary to the Bishop of Nitra. Tiso maintained these posts throughout the reminder of the war. Tiso was later attacked for his activity during the war and during the Slovak National Revolution, when Slovakia seceded from Hungary to join with the Czechs in the new Czecho-Slovakia (1918-19 ). His political opponents charged him with having had pro-Magyar sympathies at the time. These charges resulted from the fact that Tiso contributed to Nytramegyei Szemle, a Magyar journal in Nitra, articles glorifying Hungary's war efforts. Ivan Derer, Social Democratic Minister of Education in Czecho-Slovakia in the 1920's, largely responsible for such charges, also maintained that Tiso before 1918 spelled his Name, Tiszo, in the Magyar fashion, and that Tiso had supported the integrity of the Hungarian state. Derer wrote that Tiso, moreover, was SLOVAKIA 29 opposed to the Martin Declaration and had even served on the Magyar Nitra Council. 20 Tiso came naturally under suspicion since he served during the war as personal secretary to the Bishop, Viliam Batthanyi, of Nitra, a notorious advocate of Magyarization. Labeling a Populist a Magyarone was a favorite device of Czech and Slovak centralists used to discredit the idea of Slovak autonomy. It was done repeatedly in the twenty years of the Czecho-Slovak Republic. Sometimes the charges were appropriate while at other times, as with Tiso, they had little basis in fact. Whatever pro-Magyar feelings Tiso may have had before 1918 were gone by the time the Czecho-Slovak army approached Nitra. Before 1918 Tiso belonged to the politically passive Slovak majority. He was active before October, 1918 but mainly with welfare and town improvement projects. Prior to 1918 he had neither planned to enter politics nor was he trained for such a career. 21 Tiso's rather sudden involvement in politics is difficult to explain, but very likely, much like Hlinka, Tiso was drawn into the Populist movement by the revolutionary anti-clerical character of the new state. Indeed soon after the National Revolution Tiso joined the Slovak People's Party and began to work for it in Nitra. He was largely responsible for making the whole south Nitra district a party stronghold.22 Nitra in 1918 was very much a Magyar town with only two educated Slovak leaders, Dr. Eugen Filkorn and Dr. Jozef Tiso. Both worked hard in Nitra to obliterate its Magyar character and make it Slovak once wore. They published a Slovak newspaper entitled, Nitra and organized a Slovak National Council. Meanwhile Slovak Populists under Hlinka's direction prepared themselves for the first legislative election scheduled for April, 1920. In this election Hlinka formed a common front with the Czech Populists, led by Msgr. Jan Sramek; it was known as the "Czechoslovak People's Party." The election was a great disappointment to the Slovak Populists who secured only twelve seats out of fifty-seven assigned to Slovakia in the Prague Parliament.23 The Social Democrats were the big winners there with twenty-three mandates. The revolutionary wave that swept Slovakia after the war was mainly responsible for the Social Democratic victory, though the fact that there was little in the Populist platform to attract the peasant masses of Slovakia also 30 SLOVAKIA partly explains the vote. Hlinka's main concern at the time was the progressive, anti-clerical character of the new government, not the social and economic condition of peasants. This is clear from Hlinka's decision to present a common front with Czech Catholics. Tiso in a newspaper editorial of the time attributed the success of the Social Democrats to the fact that some 200,000 Czech soldiers and officials had voted for the Social Democrats and other Czecho-Slovak parties. This gave the world a false picture of true political feelings of the Slovaks. 24 In that election Tiso won in the Trnava district but turned his post over to another candidate. Tiso remained in Nitra dividing his time between teaching and his work for the Populists. He delivered speeches, organized party activities, and contributed articles to the party's leading organ, Slovak. In 1921 he was appointed personal secretary to the new bishop in Nitra, Karol Kmet'ko, a former member of the Czecho-Slovak Revolutionary Council. For the next few years both worked together in building up the party strength in Nitra. But while Kmet'ko preferred peaceful discussion, Tiso felt the Slovak cause benefited more by demonstrations. As a result, a certain coolness developed between the two men. Even worse, Tiso's inflammatory speeches soon got him into trouble with the authorities. In 1923 Tiso was sentenced to six weeks imprisonment; of which he served two, because he delivered a fiery speech in Nitra, which was said to have incited the people. Following this episode Tiso felt it best to resign his post as secretary to Kmet'ko, knowing the bishop's feeling with regard to such activity. Tiso then in 1924 left Nitra to become pastor of the Catholic Church in Banovce.25 Meanwhile the Slovak Populists were making their recovery from the election disappointment of 1920. The fruitless union with the Czech Lidaks 26 was ended in 1921. A year later the Slovak People's Party name was changed to the Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSUS). The Centralistic policies of Prague and the economic problems in Slovakia contributed to the growth of the HSUS. Within three or four years it became a broad-based mass party. By 1923 the party could claim 876 city organiza- SLOVAKIA 31 tions, 1065 village organizations and nine newspapers. 27 But not all were content with the party's leadership. Many of the radical members in the party were displeased with what they considered Hlinka's conciliatory position toward the government. The party had approved the Constitution of 1920 and supported Masaryk in the first presidential election. But on the other hand Hlinka did keep the party in opposition throughout the first legislature, and in 1922 presented to the Prague Parliament the first proposal for Slovak autonomy. Accordingly, Czecho-Slovakia would be divided into three parts: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthe• nia, each with its own diet having authority over local administration, school, churches, justice, public welfare, and finances. 28 The proposal was rejected. In the next election in 1925 the HS~S scored its greatest success receiving 489,111 votes 29 and 23 seats in Prague. Tiso was elected deputy again and took up his seat in Parliament. At this time Tiso was not yet a leading member of the Populist party, but nevertheless one of the party's rising young stars. Much of the leadership still belonged to the predprevratovd group, those from the pre-1918 era which included besides Hlinka, Ferdis Juriga, Jozef Buday,3° Florian Tomanek to name a few. Tiso belonged to the younger group of party deputies, those between 30 and 40 years of age. Tiso was young and inexperienced when he walked into the Prague Parliament, yet within a few years had gained the reputation of being one of the most skillful representatives in the Slovak Club. Hlinka soon came to appreciate his parliamentary ability and his capacity for long, tedious work. There were considerable differences though between Tiso and Hlinka. Tiso was not as impulsive nor romantically oriented toward politics as was Hlinka; he was more a hard, cold realist when it came to appraising political situations.31 Though Tiso became frequently impassioned while speaking, his ideas always conformed to a logical pattern and were argued from a philosophical or historical point of view. In 1925-1926 the new central government of Anton 32 SLOVAKIA Svehla, in face of a renewed campaign of Hungarian revisionists, set out to broaden the government coalition by bringing in German and Slovak opposition parties. Tiso favored participating in the government. He felt something could be gained by it for Slovakia. At this critical time Hlinka departed for the United States to attend an Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. In his absence a directory of five, including Tiso, ran the party. Also, before Hlinka left he designated Tiso president of the Slovak Club in Prague to manage party affairs in the parliament. Soon after Hlinka was gone a struggle developed between the old predprevratovi Populists and the younger generation. Juriga and Tomanek were offended by Hlinka's passing over them in favor of the younger Tiso to head the Slovak Club.32 The friction, however, was mild since Hlinka's authority was strong enough to prevent such inter-party squabbles from becoming serious. In Hlinka's absence it was left to Tiso to take up the whole question of HSES position with regard to the government coalition. Tiso led the negotiations with Svehla, but felt unqualified to make a final decision alone. In July, 1926 Tiso sent a letter to Hlinka urging him to return quickly from the United States so that a decision could be made.33 Hlinka at first opposed the idea of entering a coalition, but during the course of his visit to the United States he was urged by American Slovaks to try cooperation with the government. Hlinka arrived in Slovakia in October, negotiations were immediately accelerated and an agreement concluded for HSES participation in the coalition. Tiso had hoped to obtain some concessions for Slovakia as a condition for the party's participation in the government, but the party was disappointed, especially the radicals. The hated zupa law of 1923 which had centralized government administration was removed and the country was divided into three administrative units: Bohemia-Moravia-Silesia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia, each with krajinsky (regional) president and a council with powers to handle cultural, educational, and humanitarian affairs. The powers of the council were, however, limited, since the krajinsky president, who was nominated by the central government, had power to veto any resolution passed by the council. Furthermore, the SLOVAKIA 33 central government had powers in the selection of the council's members. 34 Tiso at first spoke out against the law, but after its passage defended it to a degree. At least, he said, with the new law there was recognition of a Slovak krajina and from this, autonomy could be built.35 The People's Party officially entered the government in January, 1927, with Tiso as Minister of Health and Marko Gazik as Minister of Unification. Tiso in his capacity accomplished much. His greatest efforts were turned toward the modernization of the health spas of Polianka, strbske Pleso, Tatranska Lomnica, Cerveny Klastor and Sliac in Slovakia. Due to Tiso's work, Sliac became the most wellknown and most frequented of all Slovak spas.36 Tiso's support of the government during these years was regarded by the radical Populists as a betrayal of party principles. These extremists, moreover, disliked the new administration law of 1928 which had replaced the 1923 one. Tiso at this time together with Jozef Buday belonged to the moderate wing of the party, while the radicals gathered around their leader, Vojtech Tuka. On January 1, 1928 Tuka published a sensational article which claimed that the declaration signed in Martin in 1918 contained a secret clause, (Vacuum Juris) stating that after ten years the Slovaks could reconsider their union with the Czechs. Tuka was subsequently put on trial and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The whole Tuka affair caused great turmoil in the country. To the opponents of Slovak autonomy Tuka was proof that the Slovak People's Party had dangerous Magyarone elements in it. Many Populists, on the other hand, made the Tuka trial into a cause celebre, regarding Tuka a martyr for the Slovak cause. Hlinka refused to condemn Tuka, and, in a gesture of disapproval at Tuka's imprisonment, pulled the party out of the government and once again put it into opposition. It lost some 85,000 votes and five seats in the Parliament in the 1929 elections.37 With the removal of Tuka from the scene, Tiso's importance and influence in the party in the next few years climbed steadily. At a Populist meeting in Ruzomberok in January, 1930, Tiso was chosen, along with Karol Mederly,38 34 SLOVAKIA one of the party's vice-presidents.39 By this time, too, Tiso had established himself as the leading ideologist in the party and one of the most articulate spokesmen for the Slovak cause. Tiso was well on his way to becoming successor to Andrej Hlinka as leader of the Slovak Populist movement. FOOTNOTES 1) Most of the biographical information on Tiso's family and early life is taken from Konstantin l:ulen Po Sviitoplukovi druha nasa hlava (Cleveland: Prva Katolicka Slovenska Jednota, 1947) and "Z bohateho zivota nasho prveho prezidenta": Slovak, XX:1/248 (Bratislava), October 27, 1939. 2) "Smutok pana prezidenta," Katolicke noviny (Bratislava), February 14, 1943. 3) Jozef K. Hrabovsky, "U Tisovcov vo Vel'kej Bytci," Slovak, XXXI/24, January 29, 1939. 4) Quoted in l:ulen, Po Sviitoplukovi • . . , p. 24. 5) Quoted in Ibid. , p. 29. 6) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 7) J., "Za Boha a narod: Spomienky na skolske roky prezidenta Jozefa Tisu," Slovak, XX:1/248, October 27, 1939. 8) Quoted in Ibid. 9) Tido Gaspar, Der Praesident der Slowakischen Repubiik (Pressburg: Johann 0. Petreas, 1943), p. 6. 10) "Z bohateho zivota . . . " Slovak, October 27, 1939. 11) "Za Boha a narod .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1939. 12) Franz Martin Schindler ( 1847-1922) was professor of moral theology in Vienna. He was one of the ideologists of the Christian Social movement. 13) Quoted in Milan S. f:lurica, Die slowakische Politik 1938/39 im Lichte der Staatslehre Tisos (Bonn: Emil Semmel Verlag, 1967), p. 21. 14) l:ulen, Po Svatoplukovi ... , pp. 33-34. 15) Ibid., p. 36. 16) Ibid- , pp. 37-38. 17) Albert Mistina, "Tiso-clovek," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III (Hamilton, Ontario: Franti§ek Fuga, 1967), pp. 9-12. 18) Ibid., Dr. Jan Gleiman, "Tisovo mesto," Slovenska otcina, Vol. III, pp. 20-25. 19) Jozef Tiso, Tiso o sebe, ed. Jozef Pauco (Passaic, New Jersey: Slovensky Katolicky Sokol, 1952), pp. 101-102. 20) Dr. Ivan Derer, Slovensky vyvoj a l'udacka zrada (Praha: Kvasnicka a Hampl, 1946), pp. 347-348. Imrich Stanek, Zrada a pad, Hlinkovsti separatiste a tak zvan11 siovensky stat (Praha, 1956) pp. 387-388. SLOVAKIA 35 21) Tiso o sebe, p. 122. 22) Gaspar, p. 11. Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ••. , pp. 63-66. 23) Joseph Mikus, Slovakia: A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee: The Marquette University Press, 1963), p. 16. 24) Karol Sidor, Andrej Hlinka (1864-1926) (Bratislava, 1934), p. 438. 25) Culen, Po Sviitoplukovi ... , pp. 66-67. "Z bohateho zivota . . . ," Slovak, October 27, 1939. 26) Lida.ks were the members of Sramek's "Czechoslovak People's Party." 27 ) Juraj Kramer, Slovenske autonomisticke hnutie v rokoch 1918-1929 (Bratislava: Slovenska akademia vied, 1962), pp. 263-266. 28) See Karol Sidor, Slovenska politika na pode prazskeho snemu (19181938), Vol. I (Bratislava: 1943), p. 87. 29) C. A. Macar,tney, Hungary and her Successors (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 118. 30) Jozef Buday was born in 1877 in Trencin and ordained a priest in 1899. During Hlinka's imprisonment 1919-1920 he served as acting president of the party. He was deputy and senator in 1920's and 1930's. He was a leader of the Society of St. Adalbert and author of several Catholic books. He died in 1939. Jan Mest'ancik, "Jozef Buday v sluzbach cirkvi a naroda," Literarny Almanach (1970), pp. 89-106. 31) Frantisek Vnuk, Dr. Jozef Tiso (Sidney: The Association of Australian Slovaks, 1967), p. 12. 32) Sidor, Andrej Hlinka, p. 550. 33) Ibid-, pp. 550-551. 34) Sidor, Slovenska politika, I, pp. 303-304. 35) Ibid., p. 314. 36) "Z bohateho zivota .. ." Slovak, October 27, 1929. 37) Macartney, p. 118. Juriga and Tomanek left the party in protest to Hlinka's defense of Tuka and formed their own party, Juriga's People's Party. It got about 5,000 votes in the 1929 election. 38) Karol Mederly (b. 1887) - was the party's legal expert and was responsible for drawing up proposals for autonomy. He was also director of Populist press works. From 1929 he served as a party deputy and senator, and after November, 1938 vice-president of the Slovak Parliament. He was a member of the party Paesidium and the party's central court. On October 18, 1947 he was sentenced by the pro-Communist National Tribunal to six years imprisonment. Jozef Chreno, Maly slovnik slovenskeho st<itu, 1918-1945 (Bratislava, 1965), pp. 122-123. 39) L. G. Fagul'a, Andrej Hlinka (Bratislava : Generalny sekretariat HSUS, 1943) , p. 120. SLOVAKIA'S best known thermal spa (natural mineral springs), Piest'any, dedicated a new summer swimmingpooL  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 Tiso's Formative Years and Early Political Career Description An account of the resource Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 24-35 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Sutherland, Anthony X. (Anthony Xavier) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/baa86b620a0ddcc8f8f978c58ea65751.pdf eeee6049adb987da89aae71e4b5ae408 PDF Text Text 88 SLOVAKIA The Youth Conference Slovak League of America SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1973, STATLER HILTON HOTEL, NEW YORK, N. Y. The Youth Conference of the Slovak League of America was held on Saturday, May 19, 1973 at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City. The panel was opened by Mr. Daniel F. Tanzone of Yonkers, N. Y. who served in the capacity of chairman of the panel and welcomed the delegates and introduced the members of the panel. Mr. Tanzone gave the opening address of the panel whose theme was 'Cultural Pluralism in contemporary American Society.' Each member of the panel read a brief address of a particular aspect relevant to the general theme of the conference. Members of the panel included: Miss Marilyn Blazek of Yonkers, N. Y. who spoke on the upcoming bill in copgress to establish ethnic centers in various parts of the U:nited States; Miss Susan Pojer of Yonkers, N. Y. who developed a talk within the aspect of Slovak culture and the ~rts; Miss Donna Sromovsky of Edison, N. J. who represented the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association and gave talk on the contribution made by her society to Slovak culture and heritage through its resent national youth . congress held in Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Luby Holy qf West Paterson, N. J. who spoke on her recent visit to Slovakia and developed the idea of the rich natural beauties offered by the land of our ancestors; Mr. Joseph J . Krajsa of Middletown, Pa., who represented the First Catholic Slovak Union, gave a talk on the role played by his society in the past, present and some ideas for the future of Slovak life in America; and finally Mr. John Kovalovsky of Passaic, N. J . who represented the Slovak Catholic Sokol and spoke of the outstanding program offered members of his society in the area of gymnastics and athletics. Various topics were discussed and several weighty �SLOVAKIA 89 questions and observations were made by the participating delegates and panelists. The recommendations and observations were aimed at solving some of the pressing problems facing Slovak organizations and the preservation of the Slovak heritage in general. A general observation made was the evident lack of unity of Slovak fraternal societies in America today. The potential strength both in membership and achievement of one large Slovak fraternal society was discussed. Various programs both educational and cultural were suggested on a mass scale, possible if there were one Slovak fraternal with a membership of some one half million and assets of over one hundred million dollars with twenty or thirty millions of dollars in unassigned funds. The current losses were noted in all existing Slovak fraternals and membership loss is the greatest single factor which will usher the total demise of Slovak fraternalism if something is not done to alter the current trend. The youth present detected the very negative trait of jealousy among the leadership of our societies and advised that unless we can rid our ranks of this hazardous trait very little progress will be made. However a sharp warning was given Slovak fraternals who wish to become mere insurance companies - for then they serve no purpose in the cultural, social and fraternal lives of their memberships . The delegates seriously recommended that the Slovak fraternal societies within the framework of the Slovak League give serious consideration to merging by the end of this decade. The delegates wholeheartedly approved the bill now in congress aimed at establishing ethnic centers in various parts of the United States. The delegates recommended that the Slovak League of America, as the representative of organized Americans of Slovak descent, continue its interest and support for this program. Of major consequence to many delegates was the lack of sufficient research material in English on Slovak topics . The delegates encourage the Slovak League of America and the member societies to establish literary funds to aid in the translating of works from Slovak into English and other Western languages and to encourage young American students of Slovak descent to choose topics from Slovak �90 SLOVAKIA history, culture, and the arts for academic dissertations and to• publish such works as permanent contributions to American Slovakiana. There is a need for a Slovak encyclopedia written in English and also a Slovak Who's Who Unless we of Slovak origin can educate and if necessary re-educate the American public through literature in West• em languages, the Slovak nation will continue to · be misunderstood in historical and political science circles in America and other Western nations. Slovak organizations must not remain provincial in their outlook but must be willing to be innovative and tactful if we are to prove to American historians and political scientists that we are descended from a distinct nation with its own history culture, language and free from any appendage or colonial philosophy which exists in many academic circles in the West. Of paramount importance is to see that the present generations and those of the future born of Slovak parentage know their roots in order to be a contributing segment of American society. The delegates were in agreement that the Slovak nation at home be free of all outside intervention whether it be Prague or Moscow. Political, economic and ideological threats from outside sources must cease and the Slovak nation, like all nations under the sun, must be master of its own destiny and be free to choose the form of government best suited to its culture and traditions. The Slovak nation, like all other nations, is endowed with certain God-given rights of freedom, justice and self-deter• mination to stand among the great family of nations as master of its own destiny. The Slovaks should not be considered as an appendage or colony of any other nation but should stand on its own integrity as a civilized nation with a culture and tradition of over eleven centuries. The people of Slovakia should be afforded the right to choose their future path among the family of nations. A plebiscite should be the vehicle for the Slovak people to choose whether to stay within the federalized Central Europe or rather work for the re-establishment of a completely independent Slovakia free to choose its own destiny and capable to speak for the Slovak nation among the nations of the world. Always to �SLOVAKIA 91 be condemned is chauvinism of the Czech or Russian school as diametrically oposed to true Slovak political expression. The delegates recommend that the Holy Father Pope Paul VI establish Metropolitan provinces for both the Roman and Byzantine Rites in Slovakia and to settle the long overdue question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Slovakia. The Slovak nation must not stand for any ecclesiastical chauvinism on the part of Czech or Magyar ecclesiastics. A Cardinal should be appointed for Slovakia, a staunchy Catholic country for over eleven centuries. In conclusion the Slovak League of America is to be commended for sponsoring a very productive conference of youth and encourages future conferences in various cities of the United States. Daniel F. T a n z o n e, Chairman, Youth Panel THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0 ., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. 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. 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 v1hom it shall be governed. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is interested primarily in promoting the welfare and security of the United States of America. � 88 SLOVAKIA The Youth Conference Slovak League of America SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1973, STATLER HILTON HOTEL, NEW YORK, N. Y. The Youth Conference of the Slovak League of America was held on Saturday, May 19, 1973 at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City. The panel was opened by Mr. Daniel F. Tanzone of Yonkers, N. Y. who served in the capacity of chairman of the panel and welcomed the delegates and introduced the members of the panel. Mr. Tanzone gave the opening address of the panel whose theme was 'Cultural Pluralism in contemporary American Society.' Each member of the panel read a brief address of a particular aspect relevant to the general theme of the conference. Members of the panel included: Miss Marilyn Blazek of Yonkers, N. Y. who spoke on the upcoming bill in copgress to establish ethnic centers in various parts of the U:nited States; Miss Susan Pojer of Yonkers, N. Y. who developed a talk within the aspect of Slovak culture and the ~rts; Miss Donna Sromovsky of Edison, N. J. who represented the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association and gave talk on the contribution made by her society to Slovak culture and heritage through its resent national youth . congress held in Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Luby Holy qf West Paterson, N. J. who spoke on her recent visit to Slovakia and developed the idea of the rich natural beauties offered by the land of our ancestors; Mr. Joseph J . Krajsa of Middletown, Pa., who represented the First Catholic Slovak Union, gave a talk on the role played by his society in the past, present and some ideas for the future of Slovak life in America; and finally Mr. John Kovalovsky of Passaic, N. J . who represented the Slovak Catholic Sokol and spoke of the outstanding program offered members of his society in the area of gymnastics and athletics. Various topics were discussed and several weighty �SLOVAKIA 89 questions and observations were made by the participating delegates and panelists. The recommendations and observations were aimed at solving some of the pressing problems facing Slovak organizations and the preservation of the Slovak heritage in general. A general observation made was the evident lack of unity of Slovak fraternal societies in America today. The potential strength both in membership and achievement of one large Slovak fraternal society was discussed. Various programs both educational and cultural were suggested on a mass scale, possible if there were one Slovak fraternal with a membership of some one half million and assets of over one hundred million dollars with twenty or thirty millions of dollars in unassigned funds. The current losses were noted in all existing Slovak fraternals and membership loss is the greatest single factor which will usher the total demise of Slovak fraternalism if something is not done to alter the current trend. The youth present detected the very negative trait of jealousy among the leadership of our societies and advised that unless we can rid our ranks of this hazardous trait very little progress will be made. However a sharp warning was given Slovak fraternals who wish to become mere insurance companies - for then they serve no purpose in the cultural, social and fraternal lives of their memberships . The delegates seriously recommended that the Slovak fraternal societies within the framework of the Slovak League give serious consideration to merging by the end of this decade. The delegates wholeheartedly approved the bill now in congress aimed at establishing ethnic centers in various parts of the United States. The delegates recommended that the Slovak League of America, as the representative of organized Americans of Slovak descent, continue its interest and support for this program. Of major consequence to many delegates was the lack of sufficient research material in English on Slovak topics . The delegates encourage the Slovak League of America and the member societies to establish literary funds to aid in the translating of works from Slovak into English and other Western languages and to encourage young American students of Slovak descent to choose topics from Slovak �90 SLOVAKIA history, culture, and the arts for academic dissertations and to• publish such works as permanent contributions to American Slovakiana. There is a need for a Slovak encyclopedia written in English and also a Slovak Who's Who Unless we of Slovak origin can educate and if necessary re-educate the American public through literature in West• em languages, the Slovak nation will continue to · be misunderstood in historical and political science circles in America and other Western nations. Slovak organizations must not remain provincial in their outlook but must be willing to be innovative and tactful if we are to prove to American historians and political scientists that we are descended from a distinct nation with its own history culture, language and free from any appendage or colonial philosophy which exists in many academic circles in the West. Of paramount importance is to see that the present generations and those of the future born of Slovak parentage know their roots in order to be a contributing segment of American society. The delegates were in agreement that the Slovak nation at home be free of all outside intervention whether it be Prague or Moscow. Political, economic and ideological threats from outside sources must cease and the Slovak nation, like all nations under the sun, must be master of its own destiny and be free to choose the form of government best suited to its culture and traditions. The Slovak nation, like all other nations, is endowed with certain God-given rights of freedom, justice and self-deter• mination to stand among the great family of nations as master of its own destiny. The Slovaks should not be considered as an appendage or colony of any other nation but should stand on its own integrity as a civilized nation with a culture and tradition of over eleven centuries. The people of Slovakia should be afforded the right to choose their future path among the family of nations. A plebiscite should be the vehicle for the Slovak people to choose whether to stay within the federalized Central Europe or rather work for the re-establishment of a completely independent Slovakia free to choose its own destiny and capable to speak for the Slovak nation among the nations of the world. Always to �SLOVAKIA 91 be condemned is chauvinism of the Czech or Russian school as diametrically oposed to true Slovak political expression. The delegates recommend that the Holy Father Pope Paul VI establish Metropolitan provinces for both the Roman and Byzantine Rites in Slovakia and to settle the long overdue question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Slovakia. The Slovak nation must not stand for any ecclesiastical chauvinism on the part of Czech or Magyar ecclesiastics. A Cardinal should be appointed for Slovakia, a staunchy Catholic country for over eleven centuries. In conclusion the Slovak League of America is to be commended for sponsoring a very productive conference of youth and encourages future conferences in various cities of the United States. Daniel F. T a n z o n e, Chairman, Youth Panel THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0 ., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. 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. 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 v1hom it shall be governed. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is interested primarily in promoting the welfare and security of the United States of America. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 88 SLOVAKIA The Youth Conference Slovak League of America SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1973, STATLER HILTON HOTEL, NEW YORK, N. Y. The Youth Conference of the Slovak League of America was held on Saturday, May 19, 1973 at the Statler Hilton Hotel in New York City. The panel was opened by Mr. Daniel F. Tanzone of Yonkers, N. Y. who served in the capacity of chairman of the panel and welcomed the delegates and introduced the members of the panel. Mr. Tanzone gave the opening address of the panel whose theme was 'Cultural Pluralism in contemporary American Society.' Each member of the panel read a brief address of a particular aspect relevant to the general theme of the conference. Members of the panel included: Miss Marilyn Blazek of Yonkers, N. Y. who spoke on the upcoming bill in copgress to establish ethnic centers in various parts of the U:nited States; Miss Susan Pojer of Yonkers, N. Y. who developed a talk within the aspect of Slovak culture and the ~rts; Miss Donna Sromovsky of Edison, N. J. who represented the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association and gave talk on the contribution made by her society to Slovak culture and heritage through its resent national youth . congress held in Cleveland, Ohio; Miss Luby Holy qf West Paterson, N. J. who spoke on her recent visit to Slovakia and developed the idea of the rich natural beauties offered by the land of our ancestors; Mr. Joseph J . Krajsa of Middletown, Pa., who represented the First Catholic Slovak Union, gave a talk on the role played by his society in the past, present and some ideas for the future of Slovak life in America; and finally Mr. John Kovalovsky of Passaic, N. J . who represented the Slovak Catholic Sokol and spoke of the outstanding program offered members of his society in the area of gymnastics and athletics. Various topics were discussed and several weighty SLOVAKIA 89 questions and observations were made by the participating delegates and panelists. The recommendations and observations were aimed at solving some of the pressing problems facing Slovak organizations and the preservation of the Slovak heritage in general. A general observation made was the evident lack of unity of Slovak fraternal societies in America today. The potential strength both in membership and achievement of one large Slovak fraternal society was discussed. Various programs both educational and cultural were suggested on a mass scale, possible if there were one Slovak fraternal with a membership of some one half million and assets of over one hundred million dollars with twenty or thirty millions of dollars in unassigned funds. The current losses were noted in all existing Slovak fraternals and membership loss is the greatest single factor which will usher the total demise of Slovak fraternalism if something is not done to alter the current trend. The youth present detected the very negative trait of jealousy among the leadership of our societies and advised that unless we can rid our ranks of this hazardous trait very little progress will be made. However a sharp warning was given Slovak fraternals who wish to become mere insurance companies - for then they serve no purpose in the cultural, social and fraternal lives of their memberships . The delegates seriously recommended that the Slovak fraternal societies within the framework of the Slovak League give serious consideration to merging by the end of this decade. The delegates wholeheartedly approved the bill now in congress aimed at establishing ethnic centers in various parts of the United States. The delegates recommended that the Slovak League of America, as the representative of organized Americans of Slovak descent, continue its interest and support for this program. Of major consequence to many delegates was the lack of sufficient research material in English on Slovak topics . The delegates encourage the Slovak League of America and the member societies to establish literary funds to aid in the translating of works from Slovak into English and other Western languages and to encourage young American students of Slovak descent to choose topics from Slovak 90 SLOVAKIA history, culture, and the arts for academic dissertations and to• publish such works as permanent contributions to American Slovakiana. There is a need for a Slovak encyclopedia written in English and also a Slovak Who's Who Unless we of Slovak origin can educate and if necessary re-educate the American public through literature in West• em languages, the Slovak nation will continue to · be misunderstood in historical and political science circles in America and other Western nations. Slovak organizations must not remain provincial in their outlook but must be willing to be innovative and tactful if we are to prove to American historians and political scientists that we are descended from a distinct nation with its own history culture, language and free from any appendage or colonial philosophy which exists in many academic circles in the West. Of paramount importance is to see that the present generations and those of the future born of Slovak parentage know their roots in order to be a contributing segment of American society. The delegates were in agreement that the Slovak nation at home be free of all outside intervention whether it be Prague or Moscow. Political, economic and ideological threats from outside sources must cease and the Slovak nation, like all nations under the sun, must be master of its own destiny and be free to choose the form of government best suited to its culture and traditions. The Slovak nation, like all other nations, is endowed with certain God-given rights of freedom, justice and self-deter• mination to stand among the great family of nations as master of its own destiny. The Slovaks should not be considered as an appendage or colony of any other nation but should stand on its own integrity as a civilized nation with a culture and tradition of over eleven centuries. The people of Slovakia should be afforded the right to choose their future path among the family of nations. A plebiscite should be the vehicle for the Slovak people to choose whether to stay within the federalized Central Europe or rather work for the re-establishment of a completely independent Slovakia free to choose its own destiny and capable to speak for the Slovak nation among the nations of the world. Always to SLOVAKIA 91 be condemned is chauvinism of the Czech or Russian school as diametrically oposed to true Slovak political expression. The delegates recommend that the Holy Father Pope Paul VI establish Metropolitan provinces for both the Roman and Byzantine Rites in Slovakia and to settle the long overdue question of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in Slovakia. The Slovak nation must not stand for any ecclesiastical chauvinism on the part of Czech or Magyar ecclesiastics. A Cardinal should be appointed for Slovakia, a staunchy Catholic country for over eleven centuries. In conclusion the Slovak League of America is to be commended for sponsoring a very productive conference of youth and encourages future conferences in various cities of the United States. Daniel F. T a n z o n e, Chairman, Youth Panel THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is an AMERICAN INSTITUTION; it was organized May 26, 1907, at Cleveland, 0 ., by the Rev. Stephen Furdek. 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. 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 v1hom it shall be governed. THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA is interested primarily in promoting the welfare and security of the United States of America.  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 Youth Conference - Slovak League of America Description An account of the resource Daniel F. Tanzone Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 88-91 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 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/17b7ca1d231920a27cc633036a53e854.pdf 299806ede12f42cac45ebfcebe34b2b3 PDF Text Text 36 SLOVAKIA Phiiip A. Hrobak (1904-1964) Generally the biographical facts of a man's life can be assembled without great difficulty. Cold facts of this kind, however, do not give us the complete or satisfying image of an individual. They lack the true lineaments of his character, the appreciable measure of his stature and the contributions of his lifetime of striving and achieving. Simplistically we can gather the key dates that marked the life span of Philip A. Hrobak, one of our American Slovak "greats" who would have reached his seventieth birthday in 1974 had not death cut him down in his life's prime. The bare data would include these statistics: Philip Anthony Hrobak was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 1, 1904. Michael and Mary Hrobak, his parents, were Slovak immigrants from the Spis region who had sought and found a kindlier way of life in the American mid-West. On May 6, 1914, just a few days after Philip's tenth birthday, his widowed mother brought Philip and his four year old sister Mary to the Immaculate Conception Home in Middletown, Pa. They were the first children received into the newly established home for children which the Jednota organization founded under the guiding spirit of Father Furdek. The children had lost their father in February of that year and their mother was concerned about providing for their care, for she too was in poor health. When a merciless blood malady ended her life a few months later, the Hrobak children had no one to look after them but the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius to whose care the Jednota had entrusted this home. Philip continued the studies that he had begun in St. Wendelin's parochial school in Cleveland and as soon as she was ready for school, Mary also attended classes. On completing his elementary education at Jednota Home, Philip went on to high school and college at St. �SLOVAKIA 37 Procopius in Lisle, Ill. From 1924 to 1927 he taught at St. Procopius and then accepted an assistantship as he pursued advanced studies in the department of chemistry at New York University. By the fall of 1929 he was again in his native city Cleveland where he taught a varied program of classes and coached the football team at the flourishing Benedictine High. For nine years he was a very successful teacher here, distinguishing himself especially in his chemistry, history and language classes as well as in his relationship with high school students. From all appearances, he seemed to be destined for a brilliant carrer as an educator. In August 1931 he married Rose Jasko and they became the devoted parents of nine children. His school work and parental cares could have absorbed all his time and talent yet his eager mind together with his vital interest in life and in his fellow man prompted him to cultivate an active concern in the issues and problems of those around him as well as the world at large. From time to time he gave expression to some of his thinking through contributions to various publications. Problems of youth and education as well as Slovak history ranked among his prime interests. In the matter of Slovak history he found not merely a static record of the past but also an on-going chain of direction and a development of history in his own day. He could not look upon man's interaction with man or nation with nation and remain a detached spectator. He was both an observer and a maker of history. Out of his experiences as a teacher, Philip Hrobak came to the realization that he could do more than just use books as tools of learning; he authored a practical and comprehensive Slovak grammar for the use of English speaking persons. He also compiled a sizable English-Slovak dictionary. Both served as important adjuncts in learning the Slovak language. Even today there are many who value his revised dictionary as a very useful reference. In 1937 when Joseph Husek yielded his Jednota editorship in order to seek the presidency of the Jednota organization, Philip Hrobak was elected editor of the weekly organ. No better replacement could have been made. From �38 SLOVAKIA this time on, Hrobak became a formidable force in Slovak and Slovak-American public life. His position was further strengthened when he became vice president of the Slovak League of America in 1949, and it was additionally confirmed when he assumed the presidency of Slovak League of America in 1950. For twelve years he gave this office distinctively dynamic force and singular meaningfulness. Hrobak's role in public life as well as the magnetism of his gifts and personality brought him into close contact and association with distinguished expatriated Slovak leaders and intellectuals. One of his closest co-workers was Dr. Joseph Pauco who continues to work in the same editorial office that he once shared with Philip Hrobak. Among other notable associates from abroad were Constantine Culen, Francis Hrusovsky, Joseph Kirschbaum, Joseph Mikus and Karol Sidor. An outstanding achievement of Hrobak's career in the Slovak League of America was the establishment of a highly desirable and eminently successful Office of Information functioning in Washington, D. C. under the distinguished chairmanship of the Slovak diplomat Dr. Joseph Mikus. This professional department became a vital public relations center as well as a liason agency in American-Slovak life. The journalistic genius of Philip Hrobak expressed itself not only through the Jednota weekly and the Jednota annual almanac which are the official publications of the Jednota organization and which even then served the need for both information and inspiration on behalf of its membership but he further initiated and sponsored other valuable publications as well. In 1949, for example, he began the Slovak Newsletter, a bulletin for public information. In 1951 he undertook a Slovak politico-cultural quarterly Slovakia, the voice of the Slovak League of America. In 1961 he launched another project, Furdek, an annual which became an English counterpart to the long established Jednota Kalendar. He gave this new work a content and style of its own, directing its appeal largely to readers who were not able to read the Slovak Kalendar. When Father Lach entrusted in 1959 the newspaper Slovak v Amerike to Philip Hrobak, the new publisher �39 SLOVAKIA collaborated on this weekly with Dr. Joseph Pauco and expanded his publishing scope to include the annual Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike as well as an affiliated series of book publications through which he often provided a public to well seasoned writers as well as to capable aspiring novices in journalism. With unbounded vigor and zeal Philip Hrobak worked from his Middletown office, serving the cause of God and man to his dying day. When illness struck him down it was hard to accept the fact that this was a mortal ailment. Although those who were close to him hoped against hope that he would recover, he ended his life on January 10, 1964 in Harrisburg, Pa. and was buried in Cleveland, Ohio. These are some of the essential facts in the life story of Philip Hrobak. * * When one undertakes the task of evaluating the stature of this leader Philip Hrobak and his literary output, the impressive factor becomes not only the quantity of his excellent published writings but also the quality of the man that shows through his works and the temper of his thought. Hrobak was above all a writer with a message. He was purposeful and dedicated, for he had a cause that was rooted in conscience. His personal integrity and Christian philosophy of life inspired him with a profound sense of honesty and justice which could not be confined to private life but clamored for redress even in the market place and public forum. With him morality and the full impact of the Ten Commandments had a place before God and man. For this reason he was intolerant of oppression and he championed the rights of man. This included basic justice and freedom in private life, within all levels of the social structure and within national and international relationships. Hrobak was gifted with a clarity of inner vision that penetrated surface appearances and subtle diplomatic maneuverings. He had an inborn alertness that was adroit and discriminating in dealing with political smooth talk, long standing inequities that tried to stay covered up, and outward niceties. He was not one to be easily deceived. And he had the courage of his convictions as well as the �40 SLOVAKIA ability to deal incisively with critical issues and difficult problems. He not only propagated the slogan Za Boha a ndrod! he lived the ideal, for all his life and energy, all his purpose and dedication was to translate into real life the spirit of devotion to God and abiding patriotism to the United States as well as to Slovakia, the ancestral homeland of American Slovaks. And as he set himself to these tasks, he was fully conscious of the duty that, as an officer and a leader in American Slovak fraternalism, he was to inspire others with a zeal for truth and right action. Circumscribi ng this study to a close review of the first fourteen volumes of Slovakia (1951-1964) which Philip Hrobak compiled and edited, we find even within this representativ e range of his work enough tangibles to assess the caliber of Hrobak's journalism, Christian philosophy and leadership. Like much of his journalistic output, these volumes of Hrobak's Slovakia were devoted largely to political content. We see in them Philip Hrobak the American patriot, the champion of Slovak statehood and a first class editor. His objective is truth and justice. For this reason he is a persistent and merciless fact-finder and incidentally he becomes an ideal publicist. He does not avoid issues or pretend that he does not see them and he does not feel that he can afford to be an overly fastidious respecter of persons. He was not an unfeeling individual and he knew how to cherish and express profound deference for constituted authority and public office but when he sensed that "Something is rotten in the state ... " he was relentless in uncovering the festering realities that were lurking under misleading outward appearances. His Christian uprightness, his idealism and sense of fairness bound him to flay inequity and to denounce oppression of every kind. Hrobak did not produce his 35 issues of Slovakia singlehandedl y. He opened his colums to Slovak diplomats, statesmen, historians and leaders as well as to thinking Americans who also championed the cause of freedom, justice and truth, especially the concept of historical truth. His formal objective was openly published in a number of issues of Slovakia: �SLOVAKIA 41 The chief purpose of Slovakia is to promote a better under standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. As Americans, members of the Slovak League of America believe that the Slovak nation, like all nations, has an interest and God-given right to freedom and independence. They are dedicated to the cause of the American way of life, Slovak freedom and world peace, and are determined to oppose the plague of communism and all other totalitarian political systems. Because this periodical was a vehicle of information to both a Slovak and a non-Slovak readership of serious intent, especially to American scholars, public officials, diplomats and university people, Hrobak made every effort to give it the widest possible dissemination into the homes and offices of American and foreign diplomats, politicians and public leaders as well as the libraries and departments of history and political science in many American colleges and universities. Of course, many average readers who sought to be well-informed also subscribed to it. Under Hrobak's gifted editorship and management, the circulation of Slovakia increased steadily. To provide the information and understanding that he had in mind, Hrobak attracted the most highly qualified of contributors to bring their works to Slovakia. Some of them were expatriated Slovak leaders and makers of Slovak history; some of them were scholars and historians of Slovak as well as non-Slovak origin; some were critics and analysts of political thought and nationalism; some were American legislators. Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, a Slavistic scholar who taught and lectured at the University of Montreal in Canada produced a substantial article for practically every issue (30 articles in 37 issues, to be precise) . In the main, he examines the historical theses that warrant the existence of an autonomous Slovak state, basic principles and circumstances on which federation could be structured in central Europe, the subject of Slovakia and international relationships, the underlying causes of incompatability with Czech pretensions, the matter of Czech duplicity and oppressive arrogance, and Slovak politics past and present. His gifts, however, are multifaceted and out of the diversity of his �42 SLOVAKIA broad interests he also prepared papers on cultural topics such as: Slovak literature under the Soviet impact (VI, 2/ 19, pp. 34-51) , Mickiewicz in Slovak poetry and translations (VII, 1/22, pp. 32-41) , Universi ty traditions in Slovakia (VIII, 2/ 27, pp. 18-30), Contemporary tendencies in Slovak philology (X, 7/ 32, pp. 25-32) , The Canadian translator of Slovak poetry: Professor Watson Kirkconnell (XIV, 37, pp. 9-18). Dr. Kirschbaum consistently provided book reviews as well. Dr. Joseph Pauco has always been a faithful contributor also. He is a professional writer with a rich background in publishing and journalism. For a number of years he was editor-in-chief of the daily Slovak published in Bratislava. He lived through many a promising and too many a tragic experience in Slovak national life. He has tasted prosperity and good fortune as well as much disappointment at home and abroad. He is a journalist with the conviction that the editor, the reporter, the columnist is called to serve the people by illuminating facts, defending truth, and inspiring to action. These principles are embodied throughout his articles in Slovakia, most of which are devoted to political analysis and historical report; e.g. The practical aspect of federation (III, 2, pp. 26-36), The failures of communist politics in Slovakia (V, 4/ 17, pp. 3-20), The 1944 communist rebellion in Slovakia (VII, 3-4, 24/ 25, pp. 28-34) , and Slovakia under communism--which was serialized in three issues (IX, 30; X, 31 ; XI, 33 ). Among other significant contributors who brought enrichment to the early issues of Slovakia these must be mentioned: culen, Hrusovsky, Vnuk, Mikus, Sidor, Grebert, Cieker, t>urcansky, Murin, Rekem and Kruzliak. Their works are marked with the authority of those who had witnessed this history of Slovakia in the making and with the conviction of those who knew only too well what absolutes and what cause they were defending. Contributions on the scholarly level are thoroughly researched and documented; they are singularly important for their cultural value. With the aid of national figures like these, Philip Hrobak made of Slovakia a unique journal that analyzed �SLOVAKIA 43 Slovak and Czech politics and exposed the truth and the falsity behind the facade of the Czecho-Slovak state. Still other contributors also expressed themselves in Slovakia. We meet on its pages, for example, a critical examination which Kurt Glaser made of Radio Free Europe: How free is Radio Free Europe-The Voice of Doubletalk? (II, 2, pp. 25-28) and The " Russia First" Boys in Radio Free Europe. (III, I, pp. 31-38) as well as several of his other articles. Edward L. Delaney also wrote incisively and perceptively on The Betrayal of Slovakia (I, 2, pp. 1-7), on Tiso, Horthy and Benes as well as his personal experiences I was in Slovakia (II, 1, pp. 25-45). Hrobak further drew upon American public officials to express their views in Slovakia also. He published their patriotic addresses and expressions of concern and sympathy for minority groups as well as related matters from diplomatic circles for the interest of readers of Slovakia. As one reviews back issues, one cannot help noting the contributions of congressmen and persons like Michael A. Feighan, Edward J. Bonin, Charles J. Kersten, B. Carroll Reece, Lieut. Col. F. 0. Miksche, Ray J. Madden. In volume one, no. two, we find some thoughts of Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of the oldest families of Bohemia. Interestingly, his contribution is on Czech Double Dealing. By way of balancing this heavy concentration on political fare, Hrobak took pains to offer other reading matter too. Occasionally he would publish something as different as the English translation of a treasured Slovak folk tale. He also ran a series on castles in Slovakia as well as occasional articles on other cultural topics like Slovak museums, the natural beauty of the Slovak countryside, the national folk hero Janosik, a study in contrasting ~vejk vs. Janosik, the natural springs and the spas of Slovakia, considerations on semantics and philology, Slovak university life and traditions, insights into Slovak church music, various types of Slovak customs, historical essays, thumbnail biographies. He also presented a serialization of Slovak history that he himself wrote and a serious study Slovak Nationalism which was researched by B. S. Bue. Applicable excerpts from American journalism were �SLOVAKIA 44 intended to provoke thought or reaction, and for this kind of prodding Hrobak quoted from The Washington Post, New York Times, the Cleveland Press, The Chicago Sun, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Slavonic Monthly. He also culled from the Osservatore Romano, the Eudovy dennik of Chicago, cas (the official organ of Lettrich's Democratic Party and the Benes mouthpiece) as well as from other likely and unlikely sources. The personal trademark of Hrobak in these earlier issues of Slovakia was the filler feature titled Who Said It? Invariably these items were either ironic or revealing or they were couched in the full glow of patriotic ardor, depending on their portent. Hrobak felt that as a journalist he could not afford to be blandly genteel. He was dealing with subject matter that made demands on him to be ruthless rather that ineffectively mild. He knew that he had to be uncompromising rather than deferential. He was committed to the consideration of callous inequities and rank duplicity, and he needed the keenest of scalpels directed to the root of the issue. The Who Said It? feature was especially effective in quoting from Masaryk and Benes, Stransky and Lettrich, Peroutka and Ripka, Sramek and Gottwald. It held a full beam of light up to their pronouncements and exposed their ideas to re-evaluation. On the other hand, Hrobak also featured positive thinking from persons like Senator Robert A. Taft, Edward R. Murrow, H. W. Kaltenborn as well as from Dean Acheson, R. W. Seton-Watson, Congressman Daniel Flood and Alvin E. O'Konski. Readers found the material quoted in these fillers very apt, rather questionable, witty, thought-provoking or bitter. It was meant to be entertaining although an element of entertainment might sometimes develop out of it as a kind of byproduct. We present some samplings: "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticize the treaty between Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russians except protection from the Germans, and the Russians want nothing whatsoever from us." - Jan Masaryk in Business Week, May 13, 1944. (Slovakia vn, 2, p. 64). "The Slovak nation, one of the oldest Christian nations in �SLOVAKIA 45 central Europe is distinct ethnic unit. Just as the Czechs are and want to remain Czechs, just so the Slovaks are and want to remain Slovaks. The history, culture and national traditions of the Slovak nation are distinct from the history, culture and national traditions of the Czechs. The Slovaks never were, nor are they now, a part of the Czech nation. Slovaks here and abroad resent being called Czechoslovaks." - P.A. Hrobak, Detroit, Mich., November 18, 1951 ( Slovakia IV, 3-4, p. 58) . RED GEOGRAPHY: The news service of the Central Slovak Catholic Bureau in Rome recently published a story about a certain school inspector of the Trnava district in Slovakia who gave directives to teachers on how to teach. Among other things he said that if nuns we:re able to interest children in a non-existe nt being, God, then the teachers certainly should be able to interest children in Stalin who actually exists. "The Marx-Lenin doctrines of our Stalin," he continued, "must be applied in all classes. For example, in geog:raphy you teach the children about the East and the West. Now you could say: The sun rises in the East; there is our g:reat Stalin, the sun of all the nations which enlightens all nations with his knowledge. The sun sets in the West; thel'le you find decayed capitalism, the treacherous bourgeoisie and murderous imperialism." -But most of the Slovak teachers and pupils prefer the advice of Horace Gre eley: Go West, young man! (Slovakia II, 2, p. 19) . No assignment that came to Philip Hrobak was too demanding or time consuming. As a journalist and as an American Slovak leader, Philip Hrobak was a fully committed person. After the University of California Press released a new printing of a 504 page book Czechoslovakia, edited by Robert J . Kerner, which was represented as "an honest, unprejudiced, and frank appraisal of the important contribution which the Czechoslovak nation made to the history of our time in its two decades of independence between two world wars," Philip Hrobak took the book under close scrutiny in order to examine its merits. Characteristically, he read it with balanced judgment and undertook a detailed search into the allegations that were made in the volume by the twenty collaborators who wrote their ideas into it. He made pertinent notes, comments and a record of his explanations and refutations. Subsequently, every issue of Slovakia from v. V., 2-3 (15-16) June-Sept. 1955 to v. VII, 3-4 (24-25) Sept.-Dec 1957 carried part of Hrobak's chapter by chapter analysis (through all 23 chapters) under the heading: "Professor �46 SLOVAKIA Kerner's CZECHOSLOVAKIA: History or Propaganda?" He granted, in all fairness, that the twenty writers who had contributed to the composite work were not necessarily dishonest or prejudiced but he did not yield the point that they had become Czech propagandists exporting established Masaryk-Benes theories at the expense of the Slovaks and their national history. In pointing out the errors and misconceptions of these writers and in refuting their specious theses, Hrobak could hardly help becoming occasionally vehement. It was in his very nature to be less than tolerant of that long standing tendency to relegate the Slovaks to second place or to no place at all, and this bias had again appeared through the pages of Kerner's work. It was part of Hrobak's scholarly conditioning that made him at least impatient with inept history that distorted authentic records and shaped a narrative fashioned to its own devising. In his refutations of error, both in this case and on other occasions, Hrobak set the record right by controverting claims that were all too easily made for an easy and ready acceptance. He did this by tracing his facts to prime sources for reference and documentation: He was especially skillful in drawing upon arguments and statements from Czech sources and authorities and he was often able to use this matter in order to substantiate his arguments and to confound some contemporary writers of history who had a way of misrepresentating facts. Nor was he above ridicule when the conditions were patently offered to invite ridicule. He had an instinct for examining promises made and conditions underscoring events that transpired in order to contrast them with promises honored and promises forgotten as well as with the aftermath of events that were shaped by the hard realities of circumstances. Summing it all up, he was a fearless and formidable adversary in the arena of fact vs. fiction, truth vs. deception. And in this encounter he did not shrink from handling the rhetoric and the claims of an entire collective force of writers not merely a single author. This was his consistent line of action. When it came to dealing with a denial of truth or with historic distortions, he did not stop to assess the odds. With him there were no �SLOVAKIA 47 prohibitive odds when truth and justice were to be vindicated. There was only a matter of conscience and professional ethics to be heeded. Fired with this spirit and singlemindedness of purpose, Hrobak worked on tirelessly. From his editorial office in Middletown he steadfastly waged his crusade in the press. One can see why he indefatigably set out to flay injustice and denounce "the synthetic Czechoslovak state," why he castigated the execution of President Tiso as political murder and judicial murder, why he was preoccupied with the cause "history or propaganda?" as well as with the futility of efforts to fuse the Slovak and the Czech nations into one impossible amalgam, why he was concerned with matters of Church and state. Very often the choice of expression that appears either in his own work or in the writing of his contributors reflects the depth of his own feeling and betrays its real measure of intensity. Note these phrases by way of example: Benes "King of political cheats;" the " Russia first" boys in RFE; how the Czechs deceived us; intrigues and t he entrapment of individuals; Czechoslovak pseudo-democracy; the machinations of Czech Socialists . . . But Hrobak was by no means a hidden away recluse of some kind bound to his editorial desk. Besides being a gifted journalist and editor, he was also a dynamic fraternalist and a forceful lecturer. Through outstanding personal participation he became the soul of many a significant national movement especially through the Slovak League of America, the Matica Skolskd (Foundation to promote schooling and education) and the Priatelia slovenskej slobody (Friends of Slovak freedom). He distinguished himself as the motivating force in the Slovak League and, if figures are telling indicators of any kind, it is worth noting that within two years after he accepted the presidency of this organization, its membership increased by two thousand. After the guiding leadership of Hrobak had succeeded in establishing the Washington Office of Information, Dr. Joseph Mikus, the talented diplomat who headed this agency, made of it an invaluable department for public relations. Further, a notable program of sixty film showings �48 SLOVAKIA was received with widespread appreciation. More importantly still, various committees of the U.S. Congress charged with investigating the denial of rights under totalitarian aggression heard the testimony and an exposition of Slovak history from Philip Hrobak and gave attentive hearing to the testimony.of a number of Slovak witnesses who appealed against the situation behind the iron curtain. This series of sessions gave American officials in Washington a realistic representation of the sufferings to which a number of countries were being subjected in central Europe. It also provided a formal documentation of tactics that were enslaving the Slovak people. There was a special American subcommittee before which depositions were made about conditions in Slovakia and after these hearings, the full reports were printed in a publication titled Investigation of Communist Takeover and Occupation of Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. Through the Washington Office of Information and the dynamism of Philip Hrobak excellent rapport was established with a number of American congressmen and statesmen who came to understand and feel for the plight of the Slovak people in their homeland. In 1954 Congressmen Kersten and Bentley openly manifested their interest in the Slovak cause. In 1955 Vice President Nixon expressed the sympathetic feeling of the administration in a written message that was addressed to the 34th congress of the Slovak League of America. In 1956 Secretary of State Dulles received an eight-member delegation of the Slovak League led by Philip Hrobak and engaged in animated discussion of vital topics with them. Philip Hrobak worked on and on with boundless devotion. It was very fitting then, that this dedication and wholehearted service was recognized when a public presentation of honor was made to him in 1957 in the course of the golden jubilee of the founding of the League. A special committee of Slovak leaders singled him out for the award designated as the Hlinka Cup. This was an unusually high honor, for the Hlinka Cup was a trophy which had never before been bestowed upon American soil. The address of presentation was made by Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum in recognition of Hrobak's merits as president �SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak League of America, as an eminent and intrepid editor of Jednota and Slovakia, as an outstanding champion in American Slovak life, as the compiler of a grammar and a dictionary and "because with his aggressive elan, his perseverance and fearlessness both as a journalist and as an organizer, he personifies the finest qualities that had endowed not only :Cudovit stur (a leading patriot), but also the first recipient of the cup, Andrew Hlinka." In 1961 another public honor was conferred on Philip Hrobak. This was the Charles IV Award or Karl's Prize that was presented to him by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany. It is a recognition that is awarded annually to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. The ceremonies were held in Cologne on Sudeten German Day, May 20, with over 200,000 Sudeten German expellees participating. Mr. Hrobak responded to the honor with a glowing address titled "Self Determination for All." His words bespoke the aspirations and the innermost feelings of Sudeten Germans as well as of the Slovak people and other victims of self-rule denied under the crushing force of communism. Among other Americans who participated in this observance were U.S. Congressmen Morgan D. Moulder, Gordon H. Scherer, Roy A. Taylor, and Henry C. Schadeberg. Willy Brandt, the mayor of Berlin, and several other Sudeten German leaders also delivered addresses. In these numberless events and situations we cannot fail to see the greatness of Philip Hrobak as an American and Slovak patriot, as a man of ideals and of forceful action, as a fraternalist and an organizer but we must not overlook his stature as a man of God also. It must never be forgotten that Hrobak served God at least as well as he served his nation and his fellow man. Religious principles and obligations had first place in his life and his life style. All his zeal and purpose was rooted in the law and the love of God; his spending of self on behalf of others was within the Christian concept. He was as ready to promote and defend Christian virtue and idealism as he was to crusade for national honor and welfare. Although his days were incredibly crowded with constant activity, �50 SLOVAKIA he did not put God in second place in his personal life. As a teacher and educator, he was aware of the importance of Catholic schools. As a parent, he was solicitous about a genuinely Christian atmosphere in the home and true religious training in the family. As a journalist, he faithfully promoted the interests of the Church and ethical principles. That was the reason why he combated the atheistic and the Away-from-Rome! attitude that was being sponsored by some leaders in Czecho-Slovakia. As 1963 was moving in on the calendar, Philip Hrobak prepared copy for a special issue of Slovakia and for the Jednota publications that he managed and edited. Out of regard for the Christian heritage of the Slovak people, he began to prepare to honor the 1100th anniversary of the mission of SS. Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia and the Christianization of the Slovak nation. The annuals that he prepared for this occasion became a kind of crown of excellence that climaxed his literary and scholarly output and gave singular expression to his religious devotion as well. Truly, as we review the life and the accomplishments of Philip Hrobak who would have been seventy years old this year, we have reason to thank God for his idealism and example, and we are impressed and inspired by this great man's patriotism, his scholarship, his leadership and his personal dynamism. Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. THE FAMOUS Slovak folk-dance group, "Lucnica," from Bratislava returned from a 6-weeks' tour of several South American. countries. The 47-member company represented the current silver jubilee ensemble. Lucnica was organized in 1948. THE HIGH TATRAS in Slovakia last year attracted 2 and ½ million tourists. An even larger number was expected in 1974. � 36 SLOVAKIA Phiiip A. Hrobak (1904-1964) Generally the biographical facts of a man's life can be assembled without great difficulty. Cold facts of this kind, however, do not give us the complete or satisfying image of an individual. They lack the true lineaments of his character, the appreciable measure of his stature and the contributions of his lifetime of striving and achieving. Simplistically we can gather the key dates that marked the life span of Philip A. Hrobak, one of our American Slovak "greats" who would have reached his seventieth birthday in 1974 had not death cut him down in his life's prime. The bare data would include these statistics: Philip Anthony Hrobak was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 1, 1904. Michael and Mary Hrobak, his parents, were Slovak immigrants from the Spis region who had sought and found a kindlier way of life in the American mid-West. On May 6, 1914, just a few days after Philip's tenth birthday, his widowed mother brought Philip and his four year old sister Mary to the Immaculate Conception Home in Middletown, Pa. They were the first children received into the newly established home for children which the Jednota organization founded under the guiding spirit of Father Furdek. The children had lost their father in February of that year and their mother was concerned about providing for their care, for she too was in poor health. When a merciless blood malady ended her life a few months later, the Hrobak children had no one to look after them but the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius to whose care the Jednota had entrusted this home. Philip continued the studies that he had begun in St. Wendelin's parochial school in Cleveland and as soon as she was ready for school, Mary also attended classes. On completing his elementary education at Jednota Home, Philip went on to high school and college at St. �SLOVAKIA 37 Procopius in Lisle, Ill. From 1924 to 1927 he taught at St. Procopius and then accepted an assistantship as he pursued advanced studies in the department of chemistry at New York University. By the fall of 1929 he was again in his native city Cleveland where he taught a varied program of classes and coached the football team at the flourishing Benedictine High. For nine years he was a very successful teacher here, distinguishing himself especially in his chemistry, history and language classes as well as in his relationship with high school students. From all appearances, he seemed to be destined for a brilliant carrer as an educator. In August 1931 he married Rose Jasko and they became the devoted parents of nine children. His school work and parental cares could have absorbed all his time and talent yet his eager mind together with his vital interest in life and in his fellow man prompted him to cultivate an active concern in the issues and problems of those around him as well as the world at large. From time to time he gave expression to some of his thinking through contributions to various publications. Problems of youth and education as well as Slovak history ranked among his prime interests. In the matter of Slovak history he found not merely a static record of the past but also an on-going chain of direction and a development of history in his own day. He could not look upon man's interaction with man or nation with nation and remain a detached spectator. He was both an observer and a maker of history. Out of his experiences as a teacher, Philip Hrobak came to the realization that he could do more than just use books as tools of learning; he authored a practical and comprehensive Slovak grammar for the use of English speaking persons. He also compiled a sizable English-Slovak dictionary. Both served as important adjuncts in learning the Slovak language. Even today there are many who value his revised dictionary as a very useful reference. In 1937 when Joseph Husek yielded his Jednota editorship in order to seek the presidency of the Jednota organization, Philip Hrobak was elected editor of the weekly organ. No better replacement could have been made. From �38 SLOVAKIA this time on, Hrobak became a formidable force in Slovak and Slovak-American public life. His position was further strengthened when he became vice president of the Slovak League of America in 1949, and it was additionally confirmed when he assumed the presidency of Slovak League of America in 1950. For twelve years he gave this office distinctively dynamic force and singular meaningfulness. Hrobak's role in public life as well as the magnetism of his gifts and personality brought him into close contact and association with distinguished expatriated Slovak leaders and intellectuals. One of his closest co-workers was Dr. Joseph Pauco who continues to work in the same editorial office that he once shared with Philip Hrobak. Among other notable associates from abroad were Constantine Culen, Francis Hrusovsky, Joseph Kirschbaum, Joseph Mikus and Karol Sidor. An outstanding achievement of Hrobak's career in the Slovak League of America was the establishment of a highly desirable and eminently successful Office of Information functioning in Washington, D. C. under the distinguished chairmanship of the Slovak diplomat Dr. Joseph Mikus. This professional department became a vital public relations center as well as a liason agency in American-Slovak life. The journalistic genius of Philip Hrobak expressed itself not only through the Jednota weekly and the Jednota annual almanac which are the official publications of the Jednota organization and which even then served the need for both information and inspiration on behalf of its membership but he further initiated and sponsored other valuable publications as well. In 1949, for example, he began the Slovak Newsletter, a bulletin for public information. In 1951 he undertook a Slovak politico-cultural quarterly Slovakia, the voice of the Slovak League of America. In 1961 he launched another project, Furdek, an annual which became an English counterpart to the long established Jednota Kalendar. He gave this new work a content and style of its own, directing its appeal largely to readers who were not able to read the Slovak Kalendar. When Father Lach entrusted in 1959 the newspaper Slovak v Amerike to Philip Hrobak, the new publisher �39 SLOVAKIA collaborated on this weekly with Dr. Joseph Pauco and expanded his publishing scope to include the annual Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike as well as an affiliated series of book publications through which he often provided a public to well seasoned writers as well as to capable aspiring novices in journalism. With unbounded vigor and zeal Philip Hrobak worked from his Middletown office, serving the cause of God and man to his dying day. When illness struck him down it was hard to accept the fact that this was a mortal ailment. Although those who were close to him hoped against hope that he would recover, he ended his life on January 10, 1964 in Harrisburg, Pa. and was buried in Cleveland, Ohio. These are some of the essential facts in the life story of Philip Hrobak. * * When one undertakes the task of evaluating the stature of this leader Philip Hrobak and his literary output, the impressive factor becomes not only the quantity of his excellent published writings but also the quality of the man that shows through his works and the temper of his thought. Hrobak was above all a writer with a message. He was purposeful and dedicated, for he had a cause that was rooted in conscience. His personal integrity and Christian philosophy of life inspired him with a profound sense of honesty and justice which could not be confined to private life but clamored for redress even in the market place and public forum. With him morality and the full impact of the Ten Commandments had a place before God and man. For this reason he was intolerant of oppression and he championed the rights of man. This included basic justice and freedom in private life, within all levels of the social structure and within national and international relationships. Hrobak was gifted with a clarity of inner vision that penetrated surface appearances and subtle diplomatic maneuverings. He had an inborn alertness that was adroit and discriminating in dealing with political smooth talk, long standing inequities that tried to stay covered up, and outward niceties. He was not one to be easily deceived. And he had the courage of his convictions as well as the �40 SLOVAKIA ability to deal incisively with critical issues and difficult problems. He not only propagated the slogan Za Boha a ndrod! he lived the ideal, for all his life and energy, all his purpose and dedication was to translate into real life the spirit of devotion to God and abiding patriotism to the United States as well as to Slovakia, the ancestral homeland of American Slovaks. And as he set himself to these tasks, he was fully conscious of the duty that, as an officer and a leader in American Slovak fraternalism, he was to inspire others with a zeal for truth and right action. Circumscribi ng this study to a close review of the first fourteen volumes of Slovakia (1951-1964) which Philip Hrobak compiled and edited, we find even within this representativ e range of his work enough tangibles to assess the caliber of Hrobak's journalism, Christian philosophy and leadership. Like much of his journalistic output, these volumes of Hrobak's Slovakia were devoted largely to political content. We see in them Philip Hrobak the American patriot, the champion of Slovak statehood and a first class editor. His objective is truth and justice. For this reason he is a persistent and merciless fact-finder and incidentally he becomes an ideal publicist. He does not avoid issues or pretend that he does not see them and he does not feel that he can afford to be an overly fastidious respecter of persons. He was not an unfeeling individual and he knew how to cherish and express profound deference for constituted authority and public office but when he sensed that "Something is rotten in the state ... " he was relentless in uncovering the festering realities that were lurking under misleading outward appearances. His Christian uprightness, his idealism and sense of fairness bound him to flay inequity and to denounce oppression of every kind. Hrobak did not produce his 35 issues of Slovakia singlehandedl y. He opened his colums to Slovak diplomats, statesmen, historians and leaders as well as to thinking Americans who also championed the cause of freedom, justice and truth, especially the concept of historical truth. His formal objective was openly published in a number of issues of Slovakia: �SLOVAKIA 41 The chief purpose of Slovakia is to promote a better under standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. As Americans, members of the Slovak League of America believe that the Slovak nation, like all nations, has an interest and God-given right to freedom and independence. They are dedicated to the cause of the American way of life, Slovak freedom and world peace, and are determined to oppose the plague of communism and all other totalitarian political systems. Because this periodical was a vehicle of information to both a Slovak and a non-Slovak readership of serious intent, especially to American scholars, public officials, diplomats and university people, Hrobak made every effort to give it the widest possible dissemination into the homes and offices of American and foreign diplomats, politicians and public leaders as well as the libraries and departments of history and political science in many American colleges and universities. Of course, many average readers who sought to be well-informed also subscribed to it. Under Hrobak's gifted editorship and management, the circulation of Slovakia increased steadily. To provide the information and understanding that he had in mind, Hrobak attracted the most highly qualified of contributors to bring their works to Slovakia. Some of them were expatriated Slovak leaders and makers of Slovak history; some of them were scholars and historians of Slovak as well as non-Slovak origin; some were critics and analysts of political thought and nationalism; some were American legislators. Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, a Slavistic scholar who taught and lectured at the University of Montreal in Canada produced a substantial article for practically every issue (30 articles in 37 issues, to be precise) . In the main, he examines the historical theses that warrant the existence of an autonomous Slovak state, basic principles and circumstances on which federation could be structured in central Europe, the subject of Slovakia and international relationships, the underlying causes of incompatability with Czech pretensions, the matter of Czech duplicity and oppressive arrogance, and Slovak politics past and present. His gifts, however, are multifaceted and out of the diversity of his �42 SLOVAKIA broad interests he also prepared papers on cultural topics such as: Slovak literature under the Soviet impact (VI, 2/ 19, pp. 34-51) , Mickiewicz in Slovak poetry and translations (VII, 1/22, pp. 32-41) , Universi ty traditions in Slovakia (VIII, 2/ 27, pp. 18-30), Contemporary tendencies in Slovak philology (X, 7/ 32, pp. 25-32) , The Canadian translator of Slovak poetry: Professor Watson Kirkconnell (XIV, 37, pp. 9-18). Dr. Kirschbaum consistently provided book reviews as well. Dr. Joseph Pauco has always been a faithful contributor also. He is a professional writer with a rich background in publishing and journalism. For a number of years he was editor-in-chief of the daily Slovak published in Bratislava. He lived through many a promising and too many a tragic experience in Slovak national life. He has tasted prosperity and good fortune as well as much disappointment at home and abroad. He is a journalist with the conviction that the editor, the reporter, the columnist is called to serve the people by illuminating facts, defending truth, and inspiring to action. These principles are embodied throughout his articles in Slovakia, most of which are devoted to political analysis and historical report; e.g. The practical aspect of federation (III, 2, pp. 26-36), The failures of communist politics in Slovakia (V, 4/ 17, pp. 3-20), The 1944 communist rebellion in Slovakia (VII, 3-4, 24/ 25, pp. 28-34) , and Slovakia under communism--which was serialized in three issues (IX, 30; X, 31 ; XI, 33 ). Among other significant contributors who brought enrichment to the early issues of Slovakia these must be mentioned: culen, Hrusovsky, Vnuk, Mikus, Sidor, Grebert, Cieker, t>urcansky, Murin, Rekem and Kruzliak. Their works are marked with the authority of those who had witnessed this history of Slovakia in the making and with the conviction of those who knew only too well what absolutes and what cause they were defending. Contributions on the scholarly level are thoroughly researched and documented; they are singularly important for their cultural value. With the aid of national figures like these, Philip Hrobak made of Slovakia a unique journal that analyzed �SLOVAKIA 43 Slovak and Czech politics and exposed the truth and the falsity behind the facade of the Czecho-Slovak state. Still other contributors also expressed themselves in Slovakia. We meet on its pages, for example, a critical examination which Kurt Glaser made of Radio Free Europe: How free is Radio Free Europe-The Voice of Doubletalk? (II, 2, pp. 25-28) and The " Russia First" Boys in Radio Free Europe. (III, I, pp. 31-38) as well as several of his other articles. Edward L. Delaney also wrote incisively and perceptively on The Betrayal of Slovakia (I, 2, pp. 1-7), on Tiso, Horthy and Benes as well as his personal experiences I was in Slovakia (II, 1, pp. 25-45). Hrobak further drew upon American public officials to express their views in Slovakia also. He published their patriotic addresses and expressions of concern and sympathy for minority groups as well as related matters from diplomatic circles for the interest of readers of Slovakia. As one reviews back issues, one cannot help noting the contributions of congressmen and persons like Michael A. Feighan, Edward J. Bonin, Charles J. Kersten, B. Carroll Reece, Lieut. Col. F. 0. Miksche, Ray J. Madden. In volume one, no. two, we find some thoughts of Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of the oldest families of Bohemia. Interestingly, his contribution is on Czech Double Dealing. By way of balancing this heavy concentration on political fare, Hrobak took pains to offer other reading matter too. Occasionally he would publish something as different as the English translation of a treasured Slovak folk tale. He also ran a series on castles in Slovakia as well as occasional articles on other cultural topics like Slovak museums, the natural beauty of the Slovak countryside, the national folk hero Janosik, a study in contrasting ~vejk vs. Janosik, the natural springs and the spas of Slovakia, considerations on semantics and philology, Slovak university life and traditions, insights into Slovak church music, various types of Slovak customs, historical essays, thumbnail biographies. He also presented a serialization of Slovak history that he himself wrote and a serious study Slovak Nationalism which was researched by B. S. Bue. Applicable excerpts from American journalism were �SLOVAKIA 44 intended to provoke thought or reaction, and for this kind of prodding Hrobak quoted from The Washington Post, New York Times, the Cleveland Press, The Chicago Sun, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Slavonic Monthly. He also culled from the Osservatore Romano, the Eudovy dennik of Chicago, cas (the official organ of Lettrich's Democratic Party and the Benes mouthpiece) as well as from other likely and unlikely sources. The personal trademark of Hrobak in these earlier issues of Slovakia was the filler feature titled Who Said It? Invariably these items were either ironic or revealing or they were couched in the full glow of patriotic ardor, depending on their portent. Hrobak felt that as a journalist he could not afford to be blandly genteel. He was dealing with subject matter that made demands on him to be ruthless rather that ineffectively mild. He knew that he had to be uncompromising rather than deferential. He was committed to the consideration of callous inequities and rank duplicity, and he needed the keenest of scalpels directed to the root of the issue. The Who Said It? feature was especially effective in quoting from Masaryk and Benes, Stransky and Lettrich, Peroutka and Ripka, Sramek and Gottwald. It held a full beam of light up to their pronouncements and exposed their ideas to re-evaluation. On the other hand, Hrobak also featured positive thinking from persons like Senator Robert A. Taft, Edward R. Murrow, H. W. Kaltenborn as well as from Dean Acheson, R. W. Seton-Watson, Congressman Daniel Flood and Alvin E. O'Konski. Readers found the material quoted in these fillers very apt, rather questionable, witty, thought-provoking or bitter. It was meant to be entertaining although an element of entertainment might sometimes develop out of it as a kind of byproduct. We present some samplings: "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticize the treaty between Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russians except protection from the Germans, and the Russians want nothing whatsoever from us." - Jan Masaryk in Business Week, May 13, 1944. (Slovakia vn, 2, p. 64). "The Slovak nation, one of the oldest Christian nations in �SLOVAKIA 45 central Europe is distinct ethnic unit. Just as the Czechs are and want to remain Czechs, just so the Slovaks are and want to remain Slovaks. The history, culture and national traditions of the Slovak nation are distinct from the history, culture and national traditions of the Czechs. The Slovaks never were, nor are they now, a part of the Czech nation. Slovaks here and abroad resent being called Czechoslovaks." - P.A. Hrobak, Detroit, Mich., November 18, 1951 ( Slovakia IV, 3-4, p. 58) . RED GEOGRAPHY: The news service of the Central Slovak Catholic Bureau in Rome recently published a story about a certain school inspector of the Trnava district in Slovakia who gave directives to teachers on how to teach. Among other things he said that if nuns we:re able to interest children in a non-existe nt being, God, then the teachers certainly should be able to interest children in Stalin who actually exists. "The Marx-Lenin doctrines of our Stalin," he continued, "must be applied in all classes. For example, in geog:raphy you teach the children about the East and the West. Now you could say: The sun rises in the East; there is our g:reat Stalin, the sun of all the nations which enlightens all nations with his knowledge. The sun sets in the West; thel'le you find decayed capitalism, the treacherous bourgeoisie and murderous imperialism." -But most of the Slovak teachers and pupils prefer the advice of Horace Gre eley: Go West, young man! (Slovakia II, 2, p. 19) . No assignment that came to Philip Hrobak was too demanding or time consuming. As a journalist and as an American Slovak leader, Philip Hrobak was a fully committed person. After the University of California Press released a new printing of a 504 page book Czechoslovakia, edited by Robert J . Kerner, which was represented as "an honest, unprejudiced, and frank appraisal of the important contribution which the Czechoslovak nation made to the history of our time in its two decades of independence between two world wars," Philip Hrobak took the book under close scrutiny in order to examine its merits. Characteristically, he read it with balanced judgment and undertook a detailed search into the allegations that were made in the volume by the twenty collaborators who wrote their ideas into it. He made pertinent notes, comments and a record of his explanations and refutations. Subsequently, every issue of Slovakia from v. V., 2-3 (15-16) June-Sept. 1955 to v. VII, 3-4 (24-25) Sept.-Dec 1957 carried part of Hrobak's chapter by chapter analysis (through all 23 chapters) under the heading: "Professor �46 SLOVAKIA Kerner's CZECHOSLOVAKIA: History or Propaganda?" He granted, in all fairness, that the twenty writers who had contributed to the composite work were not necessarily dishonest or prejudiced but he did not yield the point that they had become Czech propagandists exporting established Masaryk-Benes theories at the expense of the Slovaks and their national history. In pointing out the errors and misconceptions of these writers and in refuting their specious theses, Hrobak could hardly help becoming occasionally vehement. It was in his very nature to be less than tolerant of that long standing tendency to relegate the Slovaks to second place or to no place at all, and this bias had again appeared through the pages of Kerner's work. It was part of Hrobak's scholarly conditioning that made him at least impatient with inept history that distorted authentic records and shaped a narrative fashioned to its own devising. In his refutations of error, both in this case and on other occasions, Hrobak set the record right by controverting claims that were all too easily made for an easy and ready acceptance. He did this by tracing his facts to prime sources for reference and documentation: He was especially skillful in drawing upon arguments and statements from Czech sources and authorities and he was often able to use this matter in order to substantiate his arguments and to confound some contemporary writers of history who had a way of misrepresentating facts. Nor was he above ridicule when the conditions were patently offered to invite ridicule. He had an instinct for examining promises made and conditions underscoring events that transpired in order to contrast them with promises honored and promises forgotten as well as with the aftermath of events that were shaped by the hard realities of circumstances. Summing it all up, he was a fearless and formidable adversary in the arena of fact vs. fiction, truth vs. deception. And in this encounter he did not shrink from handling the rhetoric and the claims of an entire collective force of writers not merely a single author. This was his consistent line of action. When it came to dealing with a denial of truth or with historic distortions, he did not stop to assess the odds. With him there were no �SLOVAKIA 47 prohibitive odds when truth and justice were to be vindicated. There was only a matter of conscience and professional ethics to be heeded. Fired with this spirit and singlemindedness of purpose, Hrobak worked on tirelessly. From his editorial office in Middletown he steadfastly waged his crusade in the press. One can see why he indefatigably set out to flay injustice and denounce "the synthetic Czechoslovak state," why he castigated the execution of President Tiso as political murder and judicial murder, why he was preoccupied with the cause "history or propaganda?" as well as with the futility of efforts to fuse the Slovak and the Czech nations into one impossible amalgam, why he was concerned with matters of Church and state. Very often the choice of expression that appears either in his own work or in the writing of his contributors reflects the depth of his own feeling and betrays its real measure of intensity. Note these phrases by way of example: Benes "King of political cheats;" the " Russia first" boys in RFE; how the Czechs deceived us; intrigues and t he entrapment of individuals; Czechoslovak pseudo-democracy; the machinations of Czech Socialists . . . But Hrobak was by no means a hidden away recluse of some kind bound to his editorial desk. Besides being a gifted journalist and editor, he was also a dynamic fraternalist and a forceful lecturer. Through outstanding personal participation he became the soul of many a significant national movement especially through the Slovak League of America, the Matica Skolskd (Foundation to promote schooling and education) and the Priatelia slovenskej slobody (Friends of Slovak freedom). He distinguished himself as the motivating force in the Slovak League and, if figures are telling indicators of any kind, it is worth noting that within two years after he accepted the presidency of this organization, its membership increased by two thousand. After the guiding leadership of Hrobak had succeeded in establishing the Washington Office of Information, Dr. Joseph Mikus, the talented diplomat who headed this agency, made of it an invaluable department for public relations. Further, a notable program of sixty film showings �48 SLOVAKIA was received with widespread appreciation. More importantly still, various committees of the U.S. Congress charged with investigating the denial of rights under totalitarian aggression heard the testimony and an exposition of Slovak history from Philip Hrobak and gave attentive hearing to the testimony.of a number of Slovak witnesses who appealed against the situation behind the iron curtain. This series of sessions gave American officials in Washington a realistic representation of the sufferings to which a number of countries were being subjected in central Europe. It also provided a formal documentation of tactics that were enslaving the Slovak people. There was a special American subcommittee before which depositions were made about conditions in Slovakia and after these hearings, the full reports were printed in a publication titled Investigation of Communist Takeover and Occupation of Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. Through the Washington Office of Information and the dynamism of Philip Hrobak excellent rapport was established with a number of American congressmen and statesmen who came to understand and feel for the plight of the Slovak people in their homeland. In 1954 Congressmen Kersten and Bentley openly manifested their interest in the Slovak cause. In 1955 Vice President Nixon expressed the sympathetic feeling of the administration in a written message that was addressed to the 34th congress of the Slovak League of America. In 1956 Secretary of State Dulles received an eight-member delegation of the Slovak League led by Philip Hrobak and engaged in animated discussion of vital topics with them. Philip Hrobak worked on and on with boundless devotion. It was very fitting then, that this dedication and wholehearted service was recognized when a public presentation of honor was made to him in 1957 in the course of the golden jubilee of the founding of the League. A special committee of Slovak leaders singled him out for the award designated as the Hlinka Cup. This was an unusually high honor, for the Hlinka Cup was a trophy which had never before been bestowed upon American soil. The address of presentation was made by Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum in recognition of Hrobak's merits as president �SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak League of America, as an eminent and intrepid editor of Jednota and Slovakia, as an outstanding champion in American Slovak life, as the compiler of a grammar and a dictionary and "because with his aggressive elan, his perseverance and fearlessness both as a journalist and as an organizer, he personifies the finest qualities that had endowed not only :Cudovit stur (a leading patriot), but also the first recipient of the cup, Andrew Hlinka." In 1961 another public honor was conferred on Philip Hrobak. This was the Charles IV Award or Karl's Prize that was presented to him by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany. It is a recognition that is awarded annually to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. The ceremonies were held in Cologne on Sudeten German Day, May 20, with over 200,000 Sudeten German expellees participating. Mr. Hrobak responded to the honor with a glowing address titled "Self Determination for All." His words bespoke the aspirations and the innermost feelings of Sudeten Germans as well as of the Slovak people and other victims of self-rule denied under the crushing force of communism. Among other Americans who participated in this observance were U.S. Congressmen Morgan D. Moulder, Gordon H. Scherer, Roy A. Taylor, and Henry C. Schadeberg. Willy Brandt, the mayor of Berlin, and several other Sudeten German leaders also delivered addresses. In these numberless events and situations we cannot fail to see the greatness of Philip Hrobak as an American and Slovak patriot, as a man of ideals and of forceful action, as a fraternalist and an organizer but we must not overlook his stature as a man of God also. It must never be forgotten that Hrobak served God at least as well as he served his nation and his fellow man. Religious principles and obligations had first place in his life and his life style. All his zeal and purpose was rooted in the law and the love of God; his spending of self on behalf of others was within the Christian concept. He was as ready to promote and defend Christian virtue and idealism as he was to crusade for national honor and welfare. Although his days were incredibly crowded with constant activity, �50 SLOVAKIA he did not put God in second place in his personal life. As a teacher and educator, he was aware of the importance of Catholic schools. As a parent, he was solicitous about a genuinely Christian atmosphere in the home and true religious training in the family. As a journalist, he faithfully promoted the interests of the Church and ethical principles. That was the reason why he combated the atheistic and the Away-from-Rome! attitude that was being sponsored by some leaders in Czecho-Slovakia. As 1963 was moving in on the calendar, Philip Hrobak prepared copy for a special issue of Slovakia and for the Jednota publications that he managed and edited. Out of regard for the Christian heritage of the Slovak people, he began to prepare to honor the 1100th anniversary of the mission of SS. Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia and the Christianization of the Slovak nation. The annuals that he prepared for this occasion became a kind of crown of excellence that climaxed his literary and scholarly output and gave singular expression to his religious devotion as well. Truly, as we review the life and the accomplishments of Philip Hrobak who would have been seventy years old this year, we have reason to thank God for his idealism and example, and we are impressed and inspired by this great man's patriotism, his scholarship, his leadership and his personal dynamism. Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. THE FAMOUS Slovak folk-dance group, "Lucnica," from Bratislava returned from a 6-weeks' tour of several South American. countries. The 47-member company represented the current silver jubilee ensemble. Lucnica was organized in 1948. THE HIGH TATRAS in Slovakia last year attracted 2 and ½ million tourists. An even larger number was expected in 1974. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 Phiiip A. Hrobak (1904-1964) Generally the biographical facts of a man's life can be assembled without great difficulty. Cold facts of this kind, however, do not give us the complete or satisfying image of an individual. They lack the true lineaments of his character, the appreciable measure of his stature and the contributions of his lifetime of striving and achieving. Simplistically we can gather the key dates that marked the life span of Philip A. Hrobak, one of our American Slovak "greats" who would have reached his seventieth birthday in 1974 had not death cut him down in his life's prime. The bare data would include these statistics: Philip Anthony Hrobak was born in Cleveland, Ohio on May 1, 1904. Michael and Mary Hrobak, his parents, were Slovak immigrants from the Spis region who had sought and found a kindlier way of life in the American mid-West. On May 6, 1914, just a few days after Philip's tenth birthday, his widowed mother brought Philip and his four year old sister Mary to the Immaculate Conception Home in Middletown, Pa. They were the first children received into the newly established home for children which the Jednota organization founded under the guiding spirit of Father Furdek. The children had lost their father in February of that year and their mother was concerned about providing for their care, for she too was in poor health. When a merciless blood malady ended her life a few months later, the Hrobak children had no one to look after them but the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius to whose care the Jednota had entrusted this home. Philip continued the studies that he had begun in St. Wendelin's parochial school in Cleveland and as soon as she was ready for school, Mary also attended classes. On completing his elementary education at Jednota Home, Philip went on to high school and college at St. SLOVAKIA 37 Procopius in Lisle, Ill. From 1924 to 1927 he taught at St. Procopius and then accepted an assistantship as he pursued advanced studies in the department of chemistry at New York University. By the fall of 1929 he was again in his native city Cleveland where he taught a varied program of classes and coached the football team at the flourishing Benedictine High. For nine years he was a very successful teacher here, distinguishing himself especially in his chemistry, history and language classes as well as in his relationship with high school students. From all appearances, he seemed to be destined for a brilliant carrer as an educator. In August 1931 he married Rose Jasko and they became the devoted parents of nine children. His school work and parental cares could have absorbed all his time and talent yet his eager mind together with his vital interest in life and in his fellow man prompted him to cultivate an active concern in the issues and problems of those around him as well as the world at large. From time to time he gave expression to some of his thinking through contributions to various publications. Problems of youth and education as well as Slovak history ranked among his prime interests. In the matter of Slovak history he found not merely a static record of the past but also an on-going chain of direction and a development of history in his own day. He could not look upon man's interaction with man or nation with nation and remain a detached spectator. He was both an observer and a maker of history. Out of his experiences as a teacher, Philip Hrobak came to the realization that he could do more than just use books as tools of learning; he authored a practical and comprehensive Slovak grammar for the use of English speaking persons. He also compiled a sizable English-Slovak dictionary. Both served as important adjuncts in learning the Slovak language. Even today there are many who value his revised dictionary as a very useful reference. In 1937 when Joseph Husek yielded his Jednota editorship in order to seek the presidency of the Jednota organization, Philip Hrobak was elected editor of the weekly organ. No better replacement could have been made. From 38 SLOVAKIA this time on, Hrobak became a formidable force in Slovak and Slovak-American public life. His position was further strengthened when he became vice president of the Slovak League of America in 1949, and it was additionally confirmed when he assumed the presidency of Slovak League of America in 1950. For twelve years he gave this office distinctively dynamic force and singular meaningfulness. Hrobak's role in public life as well as the magnetism of his gifts and personality brought him into close contact and association with distinguished expatriated Slovak leaders and intellectuals. One of his closest co-workers was Dr. Joseph Pauco who continues to work in the same editorial office that he once shared with Philip Hrobak. Among other notable associates from abroad were Constantine Culen, Francis Hrusovsky, Joseph Kirschbaum, Joseph Mikus and Karol Sidor. An outstanding achievement of Hrobak's career in the Slovak League of America was the establishment of a highly desirable and eminently successful Office of Information functioning in Washington, D. C. under the distinguished chairmanship of the Slovak diplomat Dr. Joseph Mikus. This professional department became a vital public relations center as well as a liason agency in American-Slovak life. The journalistic genius of Philip Hrobak expressed itself not only through the Jednota weekly and the Jednota annual almanac which are the official publications of the Jednota organization and which even then served the need for both information and inspiration on behalf of its membership but he further initiated and sponsored other valuable publications as well. In 1949, for example, he began the Slovak Newsletter, a bulletin for public information. In 1951 he undertook a Slovak politico-cultural quarterly Slovakia, the voice of the Slovak League of America. In 1961 he launched another project, Furdek, an annual which became an English counterpart to the long established Jednota Kalendar. He gave this new work a content and style of its own, directing its appeal largely to readers who were not able to read the Slovak Kalendar. When Father Lach entrusted in 1959 the newspaper Slovak v Amerike to Philip Hrobak, the new publisher 39 SLOVAKIA collaborated on this weekly with Dr. Joseph Pauco and expanded his publishing scope to include the annual Literdrny Almanach Slovdka v Amerike as well as an affiliated series of book publications through which he often provided a public to well seasoned writers as well as to capable aspiring novices in journalism. With unbounded vigor and zeal Philip Hrobak worked from his Middletown office, serving the cause of God and man to his dying day. When illness struck him down it was hard to accept the fact that this was a mortal ailment. Although those who were close to him hoped against hope that he would recover, he ended his life on January 10, 1964 in Harrisburg, Pa. and was buried in Cleveland, Ohio. These are some of the essential facts in the life story of Philip Hrobak. * * When one undertakes the task of evaluating the stature of this leader Philip Hrobak and his literary output, the impressive factor becomes not only the quantity of his excellent published writings but also the quality of the man that shows through his works and the temper of his thought. Hrobak was above all a writer with a message. He was purposeful and dedicated, for he had a cause that was rooted in conscience. His personal integrity and Christian philosophy of life inspired him with a profound sense of honesty and justice which could not be confined to private life but clamored for redress even in the market place and public forum. With him morality and the full impact of the Ten Commandments had a place before God and man. For this reason he was intolerant of oppression and he championed the rights of man. This included basic justice and freedom in private life, within all levels of the social structure and within national and international relationships. Hrobak was gifted with a clarity of inner vision that penetrated surface appearances and subtle diplomatic maneuverings. He had an inborn alertness that was adroit and discriminating in dealing with political smooth talk, long standing inequities that tried to stay covered up, and outward niceties. He was not one to be easily deceived. And he had the courage of his convictions as well as the 40 SLOVAKIA ability to deal incisively with critical issues and difficult problems. He not only propagated the slogan Za Boha a ndrod! he lived the ideal, for all his life and energy, all his purpose and dedication was to translate into real life the spirit of devotion to God and abiding patriotism to the United States as well as to Slovakia, the ancestral homeland of American Slovaks. And as he set himself to these tasks, he was fully conscious of the duty that, as an officer and a leader in American Slovak fraternalism, he was to inspire others with a zeal for truth and right action. Circumscribi ng this study to a close review of the first fourteen volumes of Slovakia (1951-1964) which Philip Hrobak compiled and edited, we find even within this representativ e range of his work enough tangibles to assess the caliber of Hrobak's journalism, Christian philosophy and leadership. Like much of his journalistic output, these volumes of Hrobak's Slovakia were devoted largely to political content. We see in them Philip Hrobak the American patriot, the champion of Slovak statehood and a first class editor. His objective is truth and justice. For this reason he is a persistent and merciless fact-finder and incidentally he becomes an ideal publicist. He does not avoid issues or pretend that he does not see them and he does not feel that he can afford to be an overly fastidious respecter of persons. He was not an unfeeling individual and he knew how to cherish and express profound deference for constituted authority and public office but when he sensed that "Something is rotten in the state ... " he was relentless in uncovering the festering realities that were lurking under misleading outward appearances. His Christian uprightness, his idealism and sense of fairness bound him to flay inequity and to denounce oppression of every kind. Hrobak did not produce his 35 issues of Slovakia singlehandedl y. He opened his colums to Slovak diplomats, statesmen, historians and leaders as well as to thinking Americans who also championed the cause of freedom, justice and truth, especially the concept of historical truth. His formal objective was openly published in a number of issues of Slovakia: SLOVAKIA 41 The chief purpose of Slovakia is to promote a better under standing and appreciation of the Slovak nation and its long struggle for freedom and independence. As Americans, members of the Slovak League of America believe that the Slovak nation, like all nations, has an interest and God-given right to freedom and independence. They are dedicated to the cause of the American way of life, Slovak freedom and world peace, and are determined to oppose the plague of communism and all other totalitarian political systems. Because this periodical was a vehicle of information to both a Slovak and a non-Slovak readership of serious intent, especially to American scholars, public officials, diplomats and university people, Hrobak made every effort to give it the widest possible dissemination into the homes and offices of American and foreign diplomats, politicians and public leaders as well as the libraries and departments of history and political science in many American colleges and universities. Of course, many average readers who sought to be well-informed also subscribed to it. Under Hrobak's gifted editorship and management, the circulation of Slovakia increased steadily. To provide the information and understanding that he had in mind, Hrobak attracted the most highly qualified of contributors to bring their works to Slovakia. Some of them were expatriated Slovak leaders and makers of Slovak history; some of them were scholars and historians of Slovak as well as non-Slovak origin; some were critics and analysts of political thought and nationalism; some were American legislators. Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum, a Slavistic scholar who taught and lectured at the University of Montreal in Canada produced a substantial article for practically every issue (30 articles in 37 issues, to be precise) . In the main, he examines the historical theses that warrant the existence of an autonomous Slovak state, basic principles and circumstances on which federation could be structured in central Europe, the subject of Slovakia and international relationships, the underlying causes of incompatability with Czech pretensions, the matter of Czech duplicity and oppressive arrogance, and Slovak politics past and present. His gifts, however, are multifaceted and out of the diversity of his 42 SLOVAKIA broad interests he also prepared papers on cultural topics such as: Slovak literature under the Soviet impact (VI, 2/ 19, pp. 34-51) , Mickiewicz in Slovak poetry and translations (VII, 1/22, pp. 32-41) , Universi ty traditions in Slovakia (VIII, 2/ 27, pp. 18-30), Contemporary tendencies in Slovak philology (X, 7/ 32, pp. 25-32) , The Canadian translator of Slovak poetry: Professor Watson Kirkconnell (XIV, 37, pp. 9-18). Dr. Kirschbaum consistently provided book reviews as well. Dr. Joseph Pauco has always been a faithful contributor also. He is a professional writer with a rich background in publishing and journalism. For a number of years he was editor-in-chief of the daily Slovak published in Bratislava. He lived through many a promising and too many a tragic experience in Slovak national life. He has tasted prosperity and good fortune as well as much disappointment at home and abroad. He is a journalist with the conviction that the editor, the reporter, the columnist is called to serve the people by illuminating facts, defending truth, and inspiring to action. These principles are embodied throughout his articles in Slovakia, most of which are devoted to political analysis and historical report; e.g. The practical aspect of federation (III, 2, pp. 26-36), The failures of communist politics in Slovakia (V, 4/ 17, pp. 3-20), The 1944 communist rebellion in Slovakia (VII, 3-4, 24/ 25, pp. 28-34) , and Slovakia under communism--which was serialized in three issues (IX, 30; X, 31 ; XI, 33 ). Among other significant contributors who brought enrichment to the early issues of Slovakia these must be mentioned: culen, Hrusovsky, Vnuk, Mikus, Sidor, Grebert, Cieker, t>urcansky, Murin, Rekem and Kruzliak. Their works are marked with the authority of those who had witnessed this history of Slovakia in the making and with the conviction of those who knew only too well what absolutes and what cause they were defending. Contributions on the scholarly level are thoroughly researched and documented; they are singularly important for their cultural value. With the aid of national figures like these, Philip Hrobak made of Slovakia a unique journal that analyzed SLOVAKIA 43 Slovak and Czech politics and exposed the truth and the falsity behind the facade of the Czecho-Slovak state. Still other contributors also expressed themselves in Slovakia. We meet on its pages, for example, a critical examination which Kurt Glaser made of Radio Free Europe: How free is Radio Free Europe-The Voice of Doubletalk? (II, 2, pp. 25-28) and The " Russia First" Boys in Radio Free Europe. (III, I, pp. 31-38) as well as several of his other articles. Edward L. Delaney also wrote incisively and perceptively on The Betrayal of Slovakia (I, 2, pp. 1-7), on Tiso, Horthy and Benes as well as his personal experiences I was in Slovakia (II, 1, pp. 25-45). Hrobak further drew upon American public officials to express their views in Slovakia also. He published their patriotic addresses and expressions of concern and sympathy for minority groups as well as related matters from diplomatic circles for the interest of readers of Slovakia. As one reviews back issues, one cannot help noting the contributions of congressmen and persons like Michael A. Feighan, Edward J. Bonin, Charles J. Kersten, B. Carroll Reece, Lieut. Col. F. 0. Miksche, Ray J. Madden. In volume one, no. two, we find some thoughts of Prince Adolf zu Schwarzenberg, head of one of the oldest families of Bohemia. Interestingly, his contribution is on Czech Double Dealing. By way of balancing this heavy concentration on political fare, Hrobak took pains to offer other reading matter too. Occasionally he would publish something as different as the English translation of a treasured Slovak folk tale. He also ran a series on castles in Slovakia as well as occasional articles on other cultural topics like Slovak museums, the natural beauty of the Slovak countryside, the national folk hero Janosik, a study in contrasting ~vejk vs. Janosik, the natural springs and the spas of Slovakia, considerations on semantics and philology, Slovak university life and traditions, insights into Slovak church music, various types of Slovak customs, historical essays, thumbnail biographies. He also presented a serialization of Slovak history that he himself wrote and a serious study Slovak Nationalism which was researched by B. S. Bue. Applicable excerpts from American journalism were SLOVAKIA 44 intended to provoke thought or reaction, and for this kind of prodding Hrobak quoted from The Washington Post, New York Times, the Cleveland Press, The Chicago Sun, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, The Slavonic Monthly. He also culled from the Osservatore Romano, the Eudovy dennik of Chicago, cas (the official organ of Lettrich's Democratic Party and the Benes mouthpiece) as well as from other likely and unlikely sources. The personal trademark of Hrobak in these earlier issues of Slovakia was the filler feature titled Who Said It? Invariably these items were either ironic or revealing or they were couched in the full glow of patriotic ardor, depending on their portent. Hrobak felt that as a journalist he could not afford to be blandly genteel. He was dealing with subject matter that made demands on him to be ruthless rather that ineffectively mild. He knew that he had to be uncompromising rather than deferential. He was committed to the consideration of callous inequities and rank duplicity, and he needed the keenest of scalpels directed to the root of the issue. The Who Said It? feature was especially effective in quoting from Masaryk and Benes, Stransky and Lettrich, Peroutka and Ripka, Sramek and Gottwald. It held a full beam of light up to their pronouncements and exposed their ideas to re-evaluation. On the other hand, Hrobak also featured positive thinking from persons like Senator Robert A. Taft, Edward R. Murrow, H. W. Kaltenborn as well as from Dean Acheson, R. W. Seton-Watson, Congressman Daniel Flood and Alvin E. O'Konski. Readers found the material quoted in these fillers very apt, rather questionable, witty, thought-provoking or bitter. It was meant to be entertaining although an element of entertainment might sometimes develop out of it as a kind of byproduct. We present some samplings: "Some pussy-footing ostriches criticize the treaty between Soviet Russia and Czechoslovakia. Our close collaboration with the Soviet Union needs no explanation. We do not want anything from the Russians except protection from the Germans, and the Russians want nothing whatsoever from us." - Jan Masaryk in Business Week, May 13, 1944. (Slovakia vn, 2, p. 64). "The Slovak nation, one of the oldest Christian nations in SLOVAKIA 45 central Europe is distinct ethnic unit. Just as the Czechs are and want to remain Czechs, just so the Slovaks are and want to remain Slovaks. The history, culture and national traditions of the Slovak nation are distinct from the history, culture and national traditions of the Czechs. The Slovaks never were, nor are they now, a part of the Czech nation. Slovaks here and abroad resent being called Czechoslovaks." - P.A. Hrobak, Detroit, Mich., November 18, 1951 ( Slovakia IV, 3-4, p. 58) . RED GEOGRAPHY: The news service of the Central Slovak Catholic Bureau in Rome recently published a story about a certain school inspector of the Trnava district in Slovakia who gave directives to teachers on how to teach. Among other things he said that if nuns we:re able to interest children in a non-existe nt being, God, then the teachers certainly should be able to interest children in Stalin who actually exists. "The Marx-Lenin doctrines of our Stalin," he continued, "must be applied in all classes. For example, in geog:raphy you teach the children about the East and the West. Now you could say: The sun rises in the East; there is our g:reat Stalin, the sun of all the nations which enlightens all nations with his knowledge. The sun sets in the West; thel'le you find decayed capitalism, the treacherous bourgeoisie and murderous imperialism." -But most of the Slovak teachers and pupils prefer the advice of Horace Gre eley: Go West, young man! (Slovakia II, 2, p. 19) . No assignment that came to Philip Hrobak was too demanding or time consuming. As a journalist and as an American Slovak leader, Philip Hrobak was a fully committed person. After the University of California Press released a new printing of a 504 page book Czechoslovakia, edited by Robert J . Kerner, which was represented as "an honest, unprejudiced, and frank appraisal of the important contribution which the Czechoslovak nation made to the history of our time in its two decades of independence between two world wars," Philip Hrobak took the book under close scrutiny in order to examine its merits. Characteristically, he read it with balanced judgment and undertook a detailed search into the allegations that were made in the volume by the twenty collaborators who wrote their ideas into it. He made pertinent notes, comments and a record of his explanations and refutations. Subsequently, every issue of Slovakia from v. V., 2-3 (15-16) June-Sept. 1955 to v. VII, 3-4 (24-25) Sept.-Dec 1957 carried part of Hrobak's chapter by chapter analysis (through all 23 chapters) under the heading: "Professor 46 SLOVAKIA Kerner's CZECHOSLOVAKIA: History or Propaganda?" He granted, in all fairness, that the twenty writers who had contributed to the composite work were not necessarily dishonest or prejudiced but he did not yield the point that they had become Czech propagandists exporting established Masaryk-Benes theories at the expense of the Slovaks and their national history. In pointing out the errors and misconceptions of these writers and in refuting their specious theses, Hrobak could hardly help becoming occasionally vehement. It was in his very nature to be less than tolerant of that long standing tendency to relegate the Slovaks to second place or to no place at all, and this bias had again appeared through the pages of Kerner's work. It was part of Hrobak's scholarly conditioning that made him at least impatient with inept history that distorted authentic records and shaped a narrative fashioned to its own devising. In his refutations of error, both in this case and on other occasions, Hrobak set the record right by controverting claims that were all too easily made for an easy and ready acceptance. He did this by tracing his facts to prime sources for reference and documentation: He was especially skillful in drawing upon arguments and statements from Czech sources and authorities and he was often able to use this matter in order to substantiate his arguments and to confound some contemporary writers of history who had a way of misrepresentating facts. Nor was he above ridicule when the conditions were patently offered to invite ridicule. He had an instinct for examining promises made and conditions underscoring events that transpired in order to contrast them with promises honored and promises forgotten as well as with the aftermath of events that were shaped by the hard realities of circumstances. Summing it all up, he was a fearless and formidable adversary in the arena of fact vs. fiction, truth vs. deception. And in this encounter he did not shrink from handling the rhetoric and the claims of an entire collective force of writers not merely a single author. This was his consistent line of action. When it came to dealing with a denial of truth or with historic distortions, he did not stop to assess the odds. With him there were no SLOVAKIA 47 prohibitive odds when truth and justice were to be vindicated. There was only a matter of conscience and professional ethics to be heeded. Fired with this spirit and singlemindedness of purpose, Hrobak worked on tirelessly. From his editorial office in Middletown he steadfastly waged his crusade in the press. One can see why he indefatigably set out to flay injustice and denounce "the synthetic Czechoslovak state," why he castigated the execution of President Tiso as political murder and judicial murder, why he was preoccupied with the cause "history or propaganda?" as well as with the futility of efforts to fuse the Slovak and the Czech nations into one impossible amalgam, why he was concerned with matters of Church and state. Very often the choice of expression that appears either in his own work or in the writing of his contributors reflects the depth of his own feeling and betrays its real measure of intensity. Note these phrases by way of example: Benes "King of political cheats;" the " Russia first" boys in RFE; how the Czechs deceived us; intrigues and t he entrapment of individuals; Czechoslovak pseudo-democracy; the machinations of Czech Socialists . . . But Hrobak was by no means a hidden away recluse of some kind bound to his editorial desk. Besides being a gifted journalist and editor, he was also a dynamic fraternalist and a forceful lecturer. Through outstanding personal participation he became the soul of many a significant national movement especially through the Slovak League of America, the Matica Skolskd (Foundation to promote schooling and education) and the Priatelia slovenskej slobody (Friends of Slovak freedom). He distinguished himself as the motivating force in the Slovak League and, if figures are telling indicators of any kind, it is worth noting that within two years after he accepted the presidency of this organization, its membership increased by two thousand. After the guiding leadership of Hrobak had succeeded in establishing the Washington Office of Information, Dr. Joseph Mikus, the talented diplomat who headed this agency, made of it an invaluable department for public relations. Further, a notable program of sixty film showings 48 SLOVAKIA was received with widespread appreciation. More importantly still, various committees of the U.S. Congress charged with investigating the denial of rights under totalitarian aggression heard the testimony and an exposition of Slovak history from Philip Hrobak and gave attentive hearing to the testimony.of a number of Slovak witnesses who appealed against the situation behind the iron curtain. This series of sessions gave American officials in Washington a realistic representation of the sufferings to which a number of countries were being subjected in central Europe. It also provided a formal documentation of tactics that were enslaving the Slovak people. There was a special American subcommittee before which depositions were made about conditions in Slovakia and after these hearings, the full reports were printed in a publication titled Investigation of Communist Takeover and Occupation of Poland, Lithuania and Slovakia. Through the Washington Office of Information and the dynamism of Philip Hrobak excellent rapport was established with a number of American congressmen and statesmen who came to understand and feel for the plight of the Slovak people in their homeland. In 1954 Congressmen Kersten and Bentley openly manifested their interest in the Slovak cause. In 1955 Vice President Nixon expressed the sympathetic feeling of the administration in a written message that was addressed to the 34th congress of the Slovak League of America. In 1956 Secretary of State Dulles received an eight-member delegation of the Slovak League led by Philip Hrobak and engaged in animated discussion of vital topics with them. Philip Hrobak worked on and on with boundless devotion. It was very fitting then, that this dedication and wholehearted service was recognized when a public presentation of honor was made to him in 1957 in the course of the golden jubilee of the founding of the League. A special committee of Slovak leaders singled him out for the award designated as the Hlinka Cup. This was an unusually high honor, for the Hlinka Cup was a trophy which had never before been bestowed upon American soil. The address of presentation was made by Dr. Joseph M. Kirschbaum in recognition of Hrobak's merits as president SLOVAKIA 49 of the Slovak League of America, as an eminent and intrepid editor of Jednota and Slovakia, as an outstanding champion in American Slovak life, as the compiler of a grammar and a dictionary and "because with his aggressive elan, his perseverance and fearlessness both as a journalist and as an organizer, he personifies the finest qualities that had endowed not only :Cudovit stur (a leading patriot), but also the first recipient of the cup, Andrew Hlinka." In 1961 another public honor was conferred on Philip Hrobak. This was the Charles IV Award or Karl's Prize that was presented to him by the Sudeten German Council of West Germany. It is a recognition that is awarded annually to a political leader, scientist or publicist who has made an outstanding contribution to the concept of a United Europe. The ceremonies were held in Cologne on Sudeten German Day, May 20, with over 200,000 Sudeten German expellees participating. Mr. Hrobak responded to the honor with a glowing address titled "Self Determination for All." His words bespoke the aspirations and the innermost feelings of Sudeten Germans as well as of the Slovak people and other victims of self-rule denied under the crushing force of communism. Among other Americans who participated in this observance were U.S. Congressmen Morgan D. Moulder, Gordon H. Scherer, Roy A. Taylor, and Henry C. Schadeberg. Willy Brandt, the mayor of Berlin, and several other Sudeten German leaders also delivered addresses. In these numberless events and situations we cannot fail to see the greatness of Philip Hrobak as an American and Slovak patriot, as a man of ideals and of forceful action, as a fraternalist and an organizer but we must not overlook his stature as a man of God also. It must never be forgotten that Hrobak served God at least as well as he served his nation and his fellow man. Religious principles and obligations had first place in his life and his life style. All his zeal and purpose was rooted in the law and the love of God; his spending of self on behalf of others was within the Christian concept. He was as ready to promote and defend Christian virtue and idealism as he was to crusade for national honor and welfare. Although his days were incredibly crowded with constant activity, 50 SLOVAKIA he did not put God in second place in his personal life. As a teacher and educator, he was aware of the importance of Catholic schools. As a parent, he was solicitous about a genuinely Christian atmosphere in the home and true religious training in the family. As a journalist, he faithfully promoted the interests of the Church and ethical principles. That was the reason why he combated the atheistic and the Away-from-Rome! attitude that was being sponsored by some leaders in Czecho-Slovakia. As 1963 was moving in on the calendar, Philip Hrobak prepared copy for a special issue of Slovakia and for the Jednota publications that he managed and edited. Out of regard for the Christian heritage of the Slovak people, he began to prepare to honor the 1100th anniversary of the mission of SS. Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia and the Christianization of the Slovak nation. The annuals that he prepared for this occasion became a kind of crown of excellence that climaxed his literary and scholarly output and gave singular expression to his religious devotion as well. Truly, as we review the life and the accomplishments of Philip Hrobak who would have been seventy years old this year, we have reason to thank God for his idealism and example, and we are impressed and inspired by this great man's patriotism, his scholarship, his leadership and his personal dynamism. Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. THE FAMOUS Slovak folk-dance group, "Lucnica," from Bratislava returned from a 6-weeks' tour of several South American. countries. The 47-member company represented the current silver jubilee ensemble. Lucnica was organized in 1948. THE HIGH TATRAS in Slovakia last year attracted 2 and ½ million tourists. An even larger number was expected in 1974.  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 Philip A. Hrobak (1907-1964) Description An account of the resource Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 36-50 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 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6376f63cc018b9fe9d80cf8807fc3bfc.pdf 1fa2404f2402048916991549b5b05250 PDF Text Text 203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent �204 SLOVAKIA lack of success. In all its history - and especially in the last 200 years - the Slovak nation has always had selfless and dedicated sons who in the struggle for national independence - not unlike Tennyson's Ulysses - were "strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." One of these indefatigable fighters is Dr. Jozef Pauco who on February 26th was celebrating his 60th birthday. This memorable occasion makes one pause a moment and look into the past in order to reconstruct a brief outline of his life-career with all its notable moments and achievements. As a man in the forefront of Slovak public activities Dr. Pauco has many friends and admirers and not a few enemies. But - no matter what their feeling towards him are - they would all be unanimous in admitting that the name of Dr. Pauco has become a synonym of hard and continuous work in the cause of his nation. The beginnings of his involvement in this kind of work go back to his student days; the seeds, however, were sown much earlier, in the years of his childhood. Born on February 26th, 1914 (at Pila, near Lucenec) of Slovak peasant stock, young Pauco grew up in a typical Central European village environment where life was harsh, shortages common and rewards only very modest. This situation was further aggravated by the outbreak of World War I, when all able-bodied men were called up and the heavy burden of daily life had.to be carried by the women and old people. Pauco's father had to go too and he never came back. He died as a conscript in the service of those who denied the very existence of the Slovak nation and were seeking its physical extinction. This powerful traumatic experience, combined with the gentle influence of his widowed mother, imbued the young boy with a strong sense of justice, and with a fighting spirit to undo wrongs and to see that one received what was due to him. In Czecho-Slovakia which came into being in October 1918 the Slovaks were faring much better than in the prewar Hungary, but they still were treated by their Czech brethren as minor partners in an unequal Czecho-Slovak partnership. As a young high school student at Nitra (where �SLOVAKIA 205 - according to his mother's wishes - he was preparing for the priesthood) J. Pauco could see this inequality which was both humiliating and insulting. His teachers (as well as other public servants and State employees) were Czechs, while Slovaks were without jobs. Not only did these Czechs occupy jobs and posts which belonged to the Slovaks but they also abused their positions by denigrating the Slovak language, culture, history and way of life. The outcome of this haughty and unsparing attitude towards the Slovak people was quite predictible. A general disenchantment soon gave way to discontent and these sentiments eventually crystallized out as a massive opposition movement led by Andrej Hlinka. Under Hlinka's charismatic leadership Slovakia launched a campaign for administrative self-government (autonomy) which- incidentallyhad been guaranteed to Slovaks back in 1918 by President T. G. Masaryk in the well-known Pittsburgh Agreement. · Hlinka's massive following came from all strata of Slovak society but the most significant support came from the enthusiastic followers among the young people. They provided the Hlinka People's Party with the most convincing arguments vis-a-vis Prague's centralist "Czechoslovak" policies. The young Slovak generation was autonomist in its outlook almost to a man, as was demonstrated at Trencianske Teplice in 1932. J. Pauco soon translated into action his admiration for Hlinka's valiant struggle for Slovak autonomy. His contributions to this common national effort were more and more substantial as he grew older and when in 1936 he came to Bratislava to study Philosophy at the Slovak University he was already a fully-fledged and highly-valued activist within the ranks of the Slovak autonomist movement. In Bratislava he became involved in the affairs of the busy campus life, where at that time the political issues were fought and argued in the most radical manner. (One of Dr. Pauco's ideological opponents was a fellow-student from the Law Faculty, G. Husak, today's Communist boss of Czecho-Slovakia). In addition to the campus activities J . Pauco was a regular contributor to the People's Party dailies and periodicals. This part-time collaboration with �206 SLOVAKIA the press was destined to become the enduring attachmen t of his life. In 1938 the struggle for Slovak autonomy took on a dramatic turn. The artificial facade of "Czechoslo vak" unity could not withstand the combined pressure of internal and external factors and collapsed completely , as predicted by those Slovak politicians whose warnings were never heeded. In the hectic three months September -November 1938 the Czecho-Slovakia of Masaryk and Benes changed beyond recognition . It had to cede the Sudeten territories to Germany, Southern Slovakia to the Magyars, the Teschen region to Poland and internally to grant autonomy to Slovaks and Ruthenians . Slovak autonomy, declared by all the Slovak political parties ( except the Socialists and Communis ts) on October 6th, 1938, was long overdue, but its arrival at this critical time (as an aftermath of the Munich crisis) made its realization easily misinterpr eted. For the Slovaks, however, it was a most welcome developme nt in which they saw the culminatio n of their long political struggle. For the Slovak People's Party (led since the death of A. Hlinka - in August 1938 - by Dr. Jozef Tiso, who became Premier of the Slovak autonomou s governmen t) autonomy was a challenge to show the world around us that we could manage our affairs with skill and responsibil ity. In communic ating its aims and ideals to the people the governmen t required a reliable and prompt press service. Consequen tly J. Pauco was asked to concentrat e his activities mainly in this direction. In March 1939 the Slovaks declared their independen ce and a new state appeared on the map of Europe: the Slovak Republic. The transition from autonomy to independence was rapid and the road to independen ce was somewhat steep. But the Slovaks knew that in the given situation theirs was not to argue and ponder about the road behind, but to do something about the road ahead. They grasped eagerly the historic opportunit y which independence offered and set out to make Slovakia as happy and prosperous a place for all Slovaks as was possible under the given circumstan ces. In this challenging and unique period of Slovak history �SLOVAKIA 207 Dr. Jozef Pauco played a major and politically significant role. Apart from administrative responsibilities (he was acting as a district secretary of the People's Party at Nitra) he steadily maintained his journalistic and editorial connections with numerous political dailies and weeklies. In 1942 Dr. Jozef Tiso, the President of the Slovak Republic, appointed him as Editor-in-Chief of the principal national daily, Slovak. Slovak was the official press organ of the People's Party and of the Slovak government. It is an eloquent testimony to Pauco's journalistic abilities and political maturity that President Tiso placed such an important function on the shoulders of such a youthful (28 years old ) man. Dr. J . Pauco reciprocated this trust and served Dr. Tiso faithfully in the subsequent years. It was his concern to explain and popularize the current governmental policies, to provide ideological guidance, to maintain and foster proud nationalistic sentiments among the people and to instil hope and optimism when the situation became grim and critical. It is a tragic aspect of Slovak history that during the global conflict of 1939-45 Slovakia - unable to escape its geography - was politically under German protection and influence. The enemies of Slovak independence exploited this unfortunate situation and persuaded both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union that in the post-war settlement Slovakia should be again annexed to the Czech lands and that the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia should be restored. The Slovak patriots who had fought for and defended the independent Slovak state were branded as fascists, traitors and even criminals and were threatened with severe punishments and retribution. To escape the advancing Red Army Slovak political leaders, administrators, intellectuals and even ordinary citizens fled in thousands to the West where they hoped to find sympathy and understanding for their cause. Dr. J. Pauco and his family (his wife Draga whom he had married in 1942 and infant-son Svatopluk) were among them. The last issue of the daily, Slovak was published in Bratislava on April 1st, 1945 and it sadly signified the end of an era. The bulk of Slovak political refugees eventually sur· �208 SLOVAKIA rendered to the Americans. But the American military, starry-eyed about "the gallant Soviet ally," and having swallowed all the Communist lies about the refugees unthinkingly handed them over to their Communist jailers and executioners. To escape death or a fate worse than death the refugees had to scatter and go into hiding in the hope the West would soon wake up and cease this inhuman practice. Gradually the Western statesmen realized their folly and refused to comply with the bloodthirsty Soviet wishes. The refugees could now breathe relief, but their troubles were far from over. And what was even more tragic for hundreds and thousands of them it was already too late. Dr. J. Pauco was among the lucky ones. Moving from place to place in Austria and Bavaria he finally settled in Munich. During this trying period his son Svatopluk died and many of his close friends and colleagues were forcibly "repatriated" to Slovakia where they faced the vengeance of the so-called "people's tribunals." President Tiso and most of the members of the Slovak government were among them. But these tremendous losses and blows failed to break Pauco's spirit. Believing in justice and convinced that truth would ultimately triumph, he refused to accept defeat. As soon as it was possible (in April 1946) he started the publication of Slobodne Slovensko (Free Slovakia) in war-torn Munich. Though modest in appearance this mimeographed journal was the very embodiment of ardent Slovak nationalism. The journal was a great moral and psychological boost for the hard-pressed and frightened Slovak refugees . To explain the Slovak position to foreigners Dr. Paufo published bulletins in the German and Ukrainian languages. Dr. Pauco's stay in West Germany lasted five years. They were years of extreme hardship and at the same time years of very intense activity. Many events and happenings of this period are recorded in his autobiographical novel The Flight to Wonderland. The "Wonderland" to him was America which since the 1870's has become the adopted country to almost one million Slovaks. He settled in a small provincial township, Middletown, Pa., where a major Slovak fraternalistic society has its printery and where the largest Slovak-English weekly, Jednota is published. He took up the position of �SLOVAKIA 209 associate editor of this paper and has remained there till now. But the editorial work could not possibly absorb all his energies. Soon after his arrival in the USA he was deeply involved in all the aspects of Slovak communal activities. One cannot go through them in detail, but even a simple enumeration of them is impressive enough to confirm what was said at the beginning, i.e . that Pauco's name is synonymous with continuous work in the service of his nation. He participates actively in several Slovak associations and societies: in the Slovak League of America (where he serves as secretary-general and editor of its English language annual, Slovakia) , in the First Catholic Slovak Union, in the Slovak Catholic Federation, etc. He plays a leading role in Slovak political organizations such as the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovak Liberation Council, Slovak World Congress (as the chairman of its Information Committee. ) He takes a keen interest in the history of the Slovak immigrants in the USA and in this field he has produced five books (including a comprehensive history of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1890-1965) and a large number of articles. He is owner-publisher of a popular weekly Slovak v Amerike and editor of its prestigious annual Literdrny Almanach. As a writer Dr. Pauco has to his credit two books of fictionalized autobiography (Unconquerables, 1958 and The Flight to Wonderland , 1963), a volume of reminiscences concerning famous people he met ( Tak sme sa poznali, 1966) and several books and pamphlets of political writing (e.g. Slovdci a komunizmus, 1957; co po komunizme?, 1952; Tisov odkaz, 1953; etc.). It is indeed a life rich in achievements and, what is more, one can say without fear of contradiction that - as in the past so in the future - Dr. J. Pauco will certainly enrich it further with many valuable additions in every sphere of his many-sided activity. We, his friends and colleagues, greet him warmly at this momentous milestone of his life and ask the Almighty to grant him health and strength not only to continue in his work but also to reap a justly deserved reward for his efforts. Ad multos annos! � 203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent �204 SLOVAKIA lack of success. In all its history - and especially in the last 200 years - the Slovak nation has always had selfless and dedicated sons who in the struggle for national independence - not unlike Tennyson's Ulysses - were "strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." One of these indefatigable fighters is Dr. Jozef Pauco who on February 26th was celebrating his 60th birthday. This memorable occasion makes one pause a moment and look into the past in order to reconstruct a brief outline of his life-career with all its notable moments and achievements. As a man in the forefront of Slovak public activities Dr. Pauco has many friends and admirers and not a few enemies. But - no matter what their feeling towards him are - they would all be unanimous in admitting that the name of Dr. Pauco has become a synonym of hard and continuous work in the cause of his nation. The beginnings of his involvement in this kind of work go back to his student days; the seeds, however, were sown much earlier, in the years of his childhood. Born on February 26th, 1914 (at Pila, near Lucenec) of Slovak peasant stock, young Pauco grew up in a typical Central European village environment where life was harsh, shortages common and rewards only very modest. This situation was further aggravated by the outbreak of World War I, when all able-bodied men were called up and the heavy burden of daily life had.to be carried by the women and old people. Pauco's father had to go too and he never came back. He died as a conscript in the service of those who denied the very existence of the Slovak nation and were seeking its physical extinction. This powerful traumatic experience, combined with the gentle influence of his widowed mother, imbued the young boy with a strong sense of justice, and with a fighting spirit to undo wrongs and to see that one received what was due to him. In Czecho-Slovakia which came into being in October 1918 the Slovaks were faring much better than in the prewar Hungary, but they still were treated by their Czech brethren as minor partners in an unequal Czecho-Slovak partnership. As a young high school student at Nitra (where �SLOVAKIA 205 - according to his mother's wishes - he was preparing for the priesthood) J. Pauco could see this inequality which was both humiliating and insulting. His teachers (as well as other public servants and State employees) were Czechs, while Slovaks were without jobs. Not only did these Czechs occupy jobs and posts which belonged to the Slovaks but they also abused their positions by denigrating the Slovak language, culture, history and way of life. The outcome of this haughty and unsparing attitude towards the Slovak people was quite predictible. A general disenchantment soon gave way to discontent and these sentiments eventually crystallized out as a massive opposition movement led by Andrej Hlinka. Under Hlinka's charismatic leadership Slovakia launched a campaign for administrative self-government (autonomy) which- incidentallyhad been guaranteed to Slovaks back in 1918 by President T. G. Masaryk in the well-known Pittsburgh Agreement. · Hlinka's massive following came from all strata of Slovak society but the most significant support came from the enthusiastic followers among the young people. They provided the Hlinka People's Party with the most convincing arguments vis-a-vis Prague's centralist "Czechoslovak" policies. The young Slovak generation was autonomist in its outlook almost to a man, as was demonstrated at Trencianske Teplice in 1932. J. Pauco soon translated into action his admiration for Hlinka's valiant struggle for Slovak autonomy. His contributions to this common national effort were more and more substantial as he grew older and when in 1936 he came to Bratislava to study Philosophy at the Slovak University he was already a fully-fledged and highly-valued activist within the ranks of the Slovak autonomist movement. In Bratislava he became involved in the affairs of the busy campus life, where at that time the political issues were fought and argued in the most radical manner. (One of Dr. Pauco's ideological opponents was a fellow-student from the Law Faculty, G. Husak, today's Communist boss of Czecho-Slovakia). In addition to the campus activities J . Pauco was a regular contributor to the People's Party dailies and periodicals. This part-time collaboration with �206 SLOVAKIA the press was destined to become the enduring attachmen t of his life. In 1938 the struggle for Slovak autonomy took on a dramatic turn. The artificial facade of "Czechoslo vak" unity could not withstand the combined pressure of internal and external factors and collapsed completely , as predicted by those Slovak politicians whose warnings were never heeded. In the hectic three months September -November 1938 the Czecho-Slovakia of Masaryk and Benes changed beyond recognition . It had to cede the Sudeten territories to Germany, Southern Slovakia to the Magyars, the Teschen region to Poland and internally to grant autonomy to Slovaks and Ruthenians . Slovak autonomy, declared by all the Slovak political parties ( except the Socialists and Communis ts) on October 6th, 1938, was long overdue, but its arrival at this critical time (as an aftermath of the Munich crisis) made its realization easily misinterpr eted. For the Slovaks, however, it was a most welcome developme nt in which they saw the culminatio n of their long political struggle. For the Slovak People's Party (led since the death of A. Hlinka - in August 1938 - by Dr. Jozef Tiso, who became Premier of the Slovak autonomou s governmen t) autonomy was a challenge to show the world around us that we could manage our affairs with skill and responsibil ity. In communic ating its aims and ideals to the people the governmen t required a reliable and prompt press service. Consequen tly J. Pauco was asked to concentrat e his activities mainly in this direction. In March 1939 the Slovaks declared their independen ce and a new state appeared on the map of Europe: the Slovak Republic. The transition from autonomy to independence was rapid and the road to independen ce was somewhat steep. But the Slovaks knew that in the given situation theirs was not to argue and ponder about the road behind, but to do something about the road ahead. They grasped eagerly the historic opportunit y which independence offered and set out to make Slovakia as happy and prosperous a place for all Slovaks as was possible under the given circumstan ces. In this challenging and unique period of Slovak history �SLOVAKIA 207 Dr. Jozef Pauco played a major and politically significant role. Apart from administrative responsibilities (he was acting as a district secretary of the People's Party at Nitra) he steadily maintained his journalistic and editorial connections with numerous political dailies and weeklies. In 1942 Dr. Jozef Tiso, the President of the Slovak Republic, appointed him as Editor-in-Chief of the principal national daily, Slovak. Slovak was the official press organ of the People's Party and of the Slovak government. It is an eloquent testimony to Pauco's journalistic abilities and political maturity that President Tiso placed such an important function on the shoulders of such a youthful (28 years old ) man. Dr. J . Pauco reciprocated this trust and served Dr. Tiso faithfully in the subsequent years. It was his concern to explain and popularize the current governmental policies, to provide ideological guidance, to maintain and foster proud nationalistic sentiments among the people and to instil hope and optimism when the situation became grim and critical. It is a tragic aspect of Slovak history that during the global conflict of 1939-45 Slovakia - unable to escape its geography - was politically under German protection and influence. The enemies of Slovak independence exploited this unfortunate situation and persuaded both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union that in the post-war settlement Slovakia should be again annexed to the Czech lands and that the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia should be restored. The Slovak patriots who had fought for and defended the independent Slovak state were branded as fascists, traitors and even criminals and were threatened with severe punishments and retribution. To escape the advancing Red Army Slovak political leaders, administrators, intellectuals and even ordinary citizens fled in thousands to the West where they hoped to find sympathy and understanding for their cause. Dr. J. Pauco and his family (his wife Draga whom he had married in 1942 and infant-son Svatopluk) were among them. The last issue of the daily, Slovak was published in Bratislava on April 1st, 1945 and it sadly signified the end of an era. The bulk of Slovak political refugees eventually sur· �208 SLOVAKIA rendered to the Americans. But the American military, starry-eyed about "the gallant Soviet ally," and having swallowed all the Communist lies about the refugees unthinkingly handed them over to their Communist jailers and executioners. To escape death or a fate worse than death the refugees had to scatter and go into hiding in the hope the West would soon wake up and cease this inhuman practice. Gradually the Western statesmen realized their folly and refused to comply with the bloodthirsty Soviet wishes. The refugees could now breathe relief, but their troubles were far from over. And what was even more tragic for hundreds and thousands of them it was already too late. Dr. J. Pauco was among the lucky ones. Moving from place to place in Austria and Bavaria he finally settled in Munich. During this trying period his son Svatopluk died and many of his close friends and colleagues were forcibly "repatriated" to Slovakia where they faced the vengeance of the so-called "people's tribunals." President Tiso and most of the members of the Slovak government were among them. But these tremendous losses and blows failed to break Pauco's spirit. Believing in justice and convinced that truth would ultimately triumph, he refused to accept defeat. As soon as it was possible (in April 1946) he started the publication of Slobodne Slovensko (Free Slovakia) in war-torn Munich. Though modest in appearance this mimeographed journal was the very embodiment of ardent Slovak nationalism. The journal was a great moral and psychological boost for the hard-pressed and frightened Slovak refugees . To explain the Slovak position to foreigners Dr. Paufo published bulletins in the German and Ukrainian languages. Dr. Pauco's stay in West Germany lasted five years. They were years of extreme hardship and at the same time years of very intense activity. Many events and happenings of this period are recorded in his autobiographical novel The Flight to Wonderland. The "Wonderland" to him was America which since the 1870's has become the adopted country to almost one million Slovaks. He settled in a small provincial township, Middletown, Pa., where a major Slovak fraternalistic society has its printery and where the largest Slovak-English weekly, Jednota is published. He took up the position of �SLOVAKIA 209 associate editor of this paper and has remained there till now. But the editorial work could not possibly absorb all his energies. Soon after his arrival in the USA he was deeply involved in all the aspects of Slovak communal activities. One cannot go through them in detail, but even a simple enumeration of them is impressive enough to confirm what was said at the beginning, i.e . that Pauco's name is synonymous with continuous work in the service of his nation. He participates actively in several Slovak associations and societies: in the Slovak League of America (where he serves as secretary-general and editor of its English language annual, Slovakia) , in the First Catholic Slovak Union, in the Slovak Catholic Federation, etc. He plays a leading role in Slovak political organizations such as the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovak Liberation Council, Slovak World Congress (as the chairman of its Information Committee. ) He takes a keen interest in the history of the Slovak immigrants in the USA and in this field he has produced five books (including a comprehensive history of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1890-1965) and a large number of articles. He is owner-publisher of a popular weekly Slovak v Amerike and editor of its prestigious annual Literdrny Almanach. As a writer Dr. Pauco has to his credit two books of fictionalized autobiography (Unconquerables, 1958 and The Flight to Wonderland , 1963), a volume of reminiscences concerning famous people he met ( Tak sme sa poznali, 1966) and several books and pamphlets of political writing (e.g. Slovdci a komunizmus, 1957; co po komunizme?, 1952; Tisov odkaz, 1953; etc.). It is indeed a life rich in achievements and, what is more, one can say without fear of contradiction that - as in the past so in the future - Dr. J. Pauco will certainly enrich it further with many valuable additions in every sphere of his many-sided activity. We, his friends and colleagues, greet him warmly at this momentous milestone of his life and ask the Almighty to grant him health and strength not only to continue in his work but also to reap a justly deserved reward for his efforts. Ad multos annos! � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 203 SLOVAKIA REVIEWS OF PAUCO'S WRITINGS IN LEADING PERIODICALS MOST co po komunizme? (I, 1, 1954, p . 44) Tisov odkaz (I, 2, 1954, p. 39-40. Dr. Karol Murin) Dr. Jozef Tiso o sebe (I, 3, 1954, p. 41-43. F. Hrusovsky) Stefan Furdek a slovenske prist'ahovalectvo (II, 2, 1955, p. 136-137) Mest'ancik) Slovcici a komunizmus (IV, 3, 1957, p. 132-133. Unconquerables (VI, 1-2, 1959, p. 83-85. Andrew Pier, O.S.B.) Christian Slovakia Under Communism (VI, 3, 1959, p. 186-187. Andrew Jan Pier, O.S.B. ) Pi:it'desiatnik Dr. Jozef Kirschbaum (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 181) Slovakia (XI, 3-4, 1964, p. 182-183) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike na rok 1965 (XII, 1-2, 1965, p. 82-83) Slovakia (XII, 3-4, 1965, p. 189) SLOVAKIA 75 rokov Prvej Katolickej Slovenskej Jednoty (XV, 38, 1965, p . 152-155. Mother M. Emerentia, SS.C.M.) Litercirny Almanach Slovcika v Amerike 1967 (XVII, 40, 1967, p. 190-192. Sister M. Tarcisia Gregorovic, SS.C.M.) Tak sme sa poznali (XVIII, 41, 1968, p . 159-164. Sister M. Tarcisia, SS. C.M.) Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike ( XXIII , 46, 1973, p. 196-197. Joseph C. Krajsa) F URD EK All writings by Dr. Pauco on the history of American Slovaks are evaluated by J . M. Kirschbaum in his article Dr. Pauco' s W ritings and the History of American Slovaks (Furdek, 1974, p. 75-80) . Francis V n u k : A BIOGRAPHICAL VALEDICTION In spite of the fact that the Slovaks are among the oldest inhabitants of the Central European region their efforts to secure a fully independent life has been seldom appreciated and rarely understood. But frustrations and disappointments can never deter a nation from its ultimate aim, and where one generation fails another will rise to continue the struggle. The natural aspirations of a nature and self-respecting nation cannot be suppressed by terror, nor silenced by bribes, nor extinguished by an apparent 204 SLOVAKIA lack of success. In all its history - and especially in the last 200 years - the Slovak nation has always had selfless and dedicated sons who in the struggle for national independence - not unlike Tennyson's Ulysses - were "strong in will to strive, to seek, to find and not to yield." One of these indefatigable fighters is Dr. Jozef Pauco who on February 26th was celebrating his 60th birthday. This memorable occasion makes one pause a moment and look into the past in order to reconstruct a brief outline of his life-career with all its notable moments and achievements. As a man in the forefront of Slovak public activities Dr. Pauco has many friends and admirers and not a few enemies. But - no matter what their feeling towards him are - they would all be unanimous in admitting that the name of Dr. Pauco has become a synonym of hard and continuous work in the cause of his nation. The beginnings of his involvement in this kind of work go back to his student days; the seeds, however, were sown much earlier, in the years of his childhood. Born on February 26th, 1914 (at Pila, near Lucenec) of Slovak peasant stock, young Pauco grew up in a typical Central European village environment where life was harsh, shortages common and rewards only very modest. This situation was further aggravated by the outbreak of World War I, when all able-bodied men were called up and the heavy burden of daily life had.to be carried by the women and old people. Pauco's father had to go too and he never came back. He died as a conscript in the service of those who denied the very existence of the Slovak nation and were seeking its physical extinction. This powerful traumatic experience, combined with the gentle influence of his widowed mother, imbued the young boy with a strong sense of justice, and with a fighting spirit to undo wrongs and to see that one received what was due to him. In Czecho-Slovakia which came into being in October 1918 the Slovaks were faring much better than in the prewar Hungary, but they still were treated by their Czech brethren as minor partners in an unequal Czecho-Slovak partnership. As a young high school student at Nitra (where SLOVAKIA 205 - according to his mother's wishes - he was preparing for the priesthood) J. Pauco could see this inequality which was both humiliating and insulting. His teachers (as well as other public servants and State employees) were Czechs, while Slovaks were without jobs. Not only did these Czechs occupy jobs and posts which belonged to the Slovaks but they also abused their positions by denigrating the Slovak language, culture, history and way of life. The outcome of this haughty and unsparing attitude towards the Slovak people was quite predictible. A general disenchantment soon gave way to discontent and these sentiments eventually crystallized out as a massive opposition movement led by Andrej Hlinka. Under Hlinka's charismatic leadership Slovakia launched a campaign for administrative self-government (autonomy) which- incidentallyhad been guaranteed to Slovaks back in 1918 by President T. G. Masaryk in the well-known Pittsburgh Agreement. · Hlinka's massive following came from all strata of Slovak society but the most significant support came from the enthusiastic followers among the young people. They provided the Hlinka People's Party with the most convincing arguments vis-a-vis Prague's centralist "Czechoslovak" policies. The young Slovak generation was autonomist in its outlook almost to a man, as was demonstrated at Trencianske Teplice in 1932. J. Pauco soon translated into action his admiration for Hlinka's valiant struggle for Slovak autonomy. His contributions to this common national effort were more and more substantial as he grew older and when in 1936 he came to Bratislava to study Philosophy at the Slovak University he was already a fully-fledged and highly-valued activist within the ranks of the Slovak autonomist movement. In Bratislava he became involved in the affairs of the busy campus life, where at that time the political issues were fought and argued in the most radical manner. (One of Dr. Pauco's ideological opponents was a fellow-student from the Law Faculty, G. Husak, today's Communist boss of Czecho-Slovakia). In addition to the campus activities J . Pauco was a regular contributor to the People's Party dailies and periodicals. This part-time collaboration with 206 SLOVAKIA the press was destined to become the enduring attachmen t of his life. In 1938 the struggle for Slovak autonomy took on a dramatic turn. The artificial facade of "Czechoslo vak" unity could not withstand the combined pressure of internal and external factors and collapsed completely , as predicted by those Slovak politicians whose warnings were never heeded. In the hectic three months September -November 1938 the Czecho-Slovakia of Masaryk and Benes changed beyond recognition . It had to cede the Sudeten territories to Germany, Southern Slovakia to the Magyars, the Teschen region to Poland and internally to grant autonomy to Slovaks and Ruthenians . Slovak autonomy, declared by all the Slovak political parties ( except the Socialists and Communis ts) on October 6th, 1938, was long overdue, but its arrival at this critical time (as an aftermath of the Munich crisis) made its realization easily misinterpr eted. For the Slovaks, however, it was a most welcome developme nt in which they saw the culminatio n of their long political struggle. For the Slovak People's Party (led since the death of A. Hlinka - in August 1938 - by Dr. Jozef Tiso, who became Premier of the Slovak autonomou s governmen t) autonomy was a challenge to show the world around us that we could manage our affairs with skill and responsibil ity. In communic ating its aims and ideals to the people the governmen t required a reliable and prompt press service. Consequen tly J. Pauco was asked to concentrat e his activities mainly in this direction. In March 1939 the Slovaks declared their independen ce and a new state appeared on the map of Europe: the Slovak Republic. The transition from autonomy to independence was rapid and the road to independen ce was somewhat steep. But the Slovaks knew that in the given situation theirs was not to argue and ponder about the road behind, but to do something about the road ahead. They grasped eagerly the historic opportunit y which independence offered and set out to make Slovakia as happy and prosperous a place for all Slovaks as was possible under the given circumstan ces. In this challenging and unique period of Slovak history SLOVAKIA 207 Dr. Jozef Pauco played a major and politically significant role. Apart from administrative responsibilities (he was acting as a district secretary of the People's Party at Nitra) he steadily maintained his journalistic and editorial connections with numerous political dailies and weeklies. In 1942 Dr. Jozef Tiso, the President of the Slovak Republic, appointed him as Editor-in-Chief of the principal national daily, Slovak. Slovak was the official press organ of the People's Party and of the Slovak government. It is an eloquent testimony to Pauco's journalistic abilities and political maturity that President Tiso placed such an important function on the shoulders of such a youthful (28 years old ) man. Dr. J . Pauco reciprocated this trust and served Dr. Tiso faithfully in the subsequent years. It was his concern to explain and popularize the current governmental policies, to provide ideological guidance, to maintain and foster proud nationalistic sentiments among the people and to instil hope and optimism when the situation became grim and critical. It is a tragic aspect of Slovak history that during the global conflict of 1939-45 Slovakia - unable to escape its geography - was politically under German protection and influence. The enemies of Slovak independence exploited this unfortunate situation and persuaded both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union that in the post-war settlement Slovakia should be again annexed to the Czech lands and that the pre-Munich Czecho-Slovakia should be restored. The Slovak patriots who had fought for and defended the independent Slovak state were branded as fascists, traitors and even criminals and were threatened with severe punishments and retribution. To escape the advancing Red Army Slovak political leaders, administrators, intellectuals and even ordinary citizens fled in thousands to the West where they hoped to find sympathy and understanding for their cause. Dr. J. Pauco and his family (his wife Draga whom he had married in 1942 and infant-son Svatopluk) were among them. The last issue of the daily, Slovak was published in Bratislava on April 1st, 1945 and it sadly signified the end of an era. The bulk of Slovak political refugees eventually sur· 208 SLOVAKIA rendered to the Americans. But the American military, starry-eyed about "the gallant Soviet ally," and having swallowed all the Communist lies about the refugees unthinkingly handed them over to their Communist jailers and executioners. To escape death or a fate worse than death the refugees had to scatter and go into hiding in the hope the West would soon wake up and cease this inhuman practice. Gradually the Western statesmen realized their folly and refused to comply with the bloodthirsty Soviet wishes. The refugees could now breathe relief, but their troubles were far from over. And what was even more tragic for hundreds and thousands of them it was already too late. Dr. J. Pauco was among the lucky ones. Moving from place to place in Austria and Bavaria he finally settled in Munich. During this trying period his son Svatopluk died and many of his close friends and colleagues were forcibly "repatriated" to Slovakia where they faced the vengeance of the so-called "people's tribunals." President Tiso and most of the members of the Slovak government were among them. But these tremendous losses and blows failed to break Pauco's spirit. Believing in justice and convinced that truth would ultimately triumph, he refused to accept defeat. As soon as it was possible (in April 1946) he started the publication of Slobodne Slovensko (Free Slovakia) in war-torn Munich. Though modest in appearance this mimeographed journal was the very embodiment of ardent Slovak nationalism. The journal was a great moral and psychological boost for the hard-pressed and frightened Slovak refugees . To explain the Slovak position to foreigners Dr. Paufo published bulletins in the German and Ukrainian languages. Dr. Pauco's stay in West Germany lasted five years. They were years of extreme hardship and at the same time years of very intense activity. Many events and happenings of this period are recorded in his autobiographical novel The Flight to Wonderland. The "Wonderland" to him was America which since the 1870's has become the adopted country to almost one million Slovaks. He settled in a small provincial township, Middletown, Pa., where a major Slovak fraternalistic society has its printery and where the largest Slovak-English weekly, Jednota is published. He took up the position of SLOVAKIA 209 associate editor of this paper and has remained there till now. But the editorial work could not possibly absorb all his energies. Soon after his arrival in the USA he was deeply involved in all the aspects of Slovak communal activities. One cannot go through them in detail, but even a simple enumeration of them is impressive enough to confirm what was said at the beginning, i.e . that Pauco's name is synonymous with continuous work in the service of his nation. He participates actively in several Slovak associations and societies: in the Slovak League of America (where he serves as secretary-general and editor of its English language annual, Slovakia) , in the First Catholic Slovak Union, in the Slovak Catholic Federation, etc. He plays a leading role in Slovak political organizations such as the Slovak National Council Abroad, Slovak Liberation Council, Slovak World Congress (as the chairman of its Information Committee. ) He takes a keen interest in the history of the Slovak immigrants in the USA and in this field he has produced five books (including a comprehensive history of the First Catholic Slovak Union, 1890-1965) and a large number of articles. He is owner-publisher of a popular weekly Slovak v Amerike and editor of its prestigious annual Literdrny Almanach. As a writer Dr. Pauco has to his credit two books of fictionalized autobiography (Unconquerables, 1958 and The Flight to Wonderland , 1963), a volume of reminiscences concerning famous people he met ( Tak sme sa poznali, 1966) and several books and pamphlets of political writing (e.g. Slovdci a komunizmus, 1957; co po komunizme?, 1952; Tisov odkaz, 1953; etc.). It is indeed a life rich in achievements and, what is more, one can say without fear of contradiction that - as in the past so in the future - Dr. J. Pauco will certainly enrich it further with many valuable additions in every sphere of his many-sided activity. We, his friends and colleagues, greet him warmly at this momentous milestone of his life and ask the Almighty to grant him health and strength not only to continue in his work but also to reap a justly deserved reward for his efforts. Ad multos annos!  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource A Biographical Valediction Description An account of the resource Francis Vnuk Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 203-209 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 1974 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/8f351efb370a1007cadd2031f7e772b0.pdf 764e880de0cf3d7b93aa2c077163b3f3 PDF Text Text 132 SLOVAKIA William W a g n e r : The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America The research involved in writing the history of an ethnic teaching community presented me with two problems. First, there are relatively few works completed on American ethnic groups, including the Slovak Americans. Secondly, the past of this particular teaching Community, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, has been largely recorded only by the Sisters of that Community. Therefore, my research on the Slovak past ( still predominantly written in the Slovak tongue) and my compiling of the Community's history were very dependent on the writings of the Sisters of the Community. I believe my work is objective, because of the limitation of my knowledge of the Community's religious life, thus removing me from a biased influence. All in all, I attempted to deal with this subject in such a manner as to present an honest view of the history and purpose surrounding the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. My appreciation is extended to Reverend Mother M. Valeria Romanchek and special thanks are expressed to the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for their helpful cooperation and endless assistance and guidance throughout the researching of this paper. I dedicate this history to Reverend Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, former Community historian, upon whose research of the Slovak past and the tracing of the Community's growth I so heavily relied. THE ROOTS OF SLOVAK CULTURE ARE CENTURIES OLD The United States is the most important immigrant receiving country in the world. Between 1850 and 1930 no less than thirty-eight million people settled within our borders. 1 Although early in this immigration period many �SLOVAKIA 133 newcomers strove to sever ties with the old world, a sizeable portion continued to look reverently upon their past. The Slovak American, who journeyed to this country primarily in the later wave of European immigration, were such a group. The Slovaks feared the loss of their native culture to a new growing American culture because their past history consisted of repeated attempts at such assimilation. But also in America the Slovak hoped for the chance and the right to have his own life. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are a teaching community dedicated to preserving and promoting this American Slovak culture. Because one-third of all Slovaks live in America,2 the Sisters' preservation of their culture is extremely important to the overall existence of the Slovak people as a national entity. The Slovak people are a small part of the Slavic family found on the European continent. Ethnologists place the Slovaks in the Western Slavic group, which also includes Poles, Czechs and Moravians. Commonly but erroneously the Slovaks are considered only a part of the "Czechoslovak Nation," but during the ten centuries of Slovak history, the Slovaks did not live in a common state with the Czechs until 1918. Little is known of the early Slavs. Ancient Greeks and Romans made contact, but left few records. Early recorded Slovak history tells of struggles with Asiatic tribes, particularly the Avari to whom the Slovaks were subjected for almost a century. The subjection was followed by the influence and reign of the Franks. 3 The early Slovak was pagan and war-like. He had many customs but few laws. He was chiefly agricultural and believed in various superstitions. This type of religion held fast until the ninth century when Prince Pribina, the first direct Slovak ruler of Slavic birth, established the first Slavic Christian church. Pribina's efforts to christianize his people met with little success, largely because he was dependent on Frankish missionaries whose language his people could not understand. 4 In 846 Pribina's court surrendered to Rastislav, a skillful warrior, who succeeded in winning independence from the Franks. Rastislav sought religious as well as political freedom. In the year 863 Prince Rastislav invited the two �134 SLOVAKIA holy brothers, Constantine and Methodius, to come from Constantinople and work among the Slovak people. These Byzantine missionaries found it necessary to invent an alphabet for the Slavs, so that the Holy Scriptures could be given to them in their own tongue. After having the use of the Slavonic tongue in Western Liturgy sanctioned by the Roman Pope, Methodius returned to Slovakia as a bishop. Constantine meanwhile had died in Rome in 869 , after entering a monastery there and assuming the name of Cyril. By means of their translations of the Holy Scriptures Constantine and Methodius laid the foundations of Slavic literature. The introduction of schools went hand in hand with this introduction and spread of Christianity in Slovakia.5 Archbishop Methodius continued his teaching and missionary activity until his death in 885. That period of political independence for Slovakia lasted but a short time. Slovakia was soon incorporated into the State of Hungary, which during medieval times consisted of various nations. During this period known as 'The Thousand Years of Oppression', the Slovaks' civil life declined and thus their national consciousness was under a cloud. The Lutheran Reformation, the Turkish invasion of Hungary in 1526 and the Counter-Reformation led by the Jesuits all had varying effects on Slovak education. But it was not until the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the state control of education under Empress Maria Theresa, that the Slovak education was directed by any one source. The State of Hungary considered it its duty to provide for the education of its people, hoping to make the power of the state felt in every phase of life.6 The reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph II saw an expansion of education and also an attempt at Germanization of the Slovaks. Joseph's attempt at Germanization was significantly challenged in 1847 and replaced by Hungarian Magyarization. Whether Germanization or Magyarization the NonHungarian Nationalities' interests were ignored. In 1867 the 'Austro-Hungarian Compromise' touched off rapid action to create a unitary Hungary by Magyarizing all departments of public life, especially the schools. The aim of this policy was the complete assimilation and �SLOVAKIA 135 conversion of Slovakia into a purely Magyar Province of Hungary. Since language is the chief symbol of nationality, the Slovak language was suppressed. Poor economically and having their national ideals and traditions submerged, the Slovaks began seeking a new way to improve their life. U.S. SHINES WITH HOPE FOR SLOVAK IMMIGRANTS Immigration held the dream of a better life. The heaviest immigration of the Slovaks occurred between 1890 and 1900.7 It must be stressed that the majority of immigrants came to America for economic reasons, few peasants ever left East Europe during this period due to political reasons, though politics did cause many not to return. 8 The first immigrants were usually the fathers of the Slovak families, hoping for quick economic gain, and a subsequent return to their native land and families. But once in America few immigrants returned. They found employment that significantly raised their living standard. Though in a strange, sometimes hostile land, the immigrant recognized the ideals of freedom that he was denied in his homeland. As thoughts of returning to their native land diminished, the pioneering immigrants sent for their families to join them in their adopted country. 9 Once the immigrant families had situated themselves in this new land, they were faced with problems of adjustment. The majority of the Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial East, seeking employment with the mining industries, particularly in Pennsylvania. Since the closing of the American frontier the greatest means of livelihood for new immigrants was in these rising industrial areas.10 As the economic necessity of making a living diminished, the new Americans turned to their social needs. Subsequently as the new settlements became more permanent, these Slovak immigrants turned to their religious needs. They began by building community parishes, while searching for Slovak priests who were few in number in this time of early immigration.11 The churches provided a common bond upon which were built beneficial organizations, such as the organizations of the First Catholic Slovak Union known as Jednota. It was the purpose of these beneficial groups to locate and unite the scattered elements �136 SLOVAKIA of American Slovaks. Unity was usually provided through the weekly Slovak newspapers. EDUCATION AL ASPIRATIONS OF AMERICAN SLOVAKS Upon completion of the drive to build parishes the Slovaks had finished with what they call the Church Age of their settlement in America. 12 Having established themselves within their own community, they were faced with the task of joining the larger American community. Obviously, they needed to learn the English language and familiarize themselves with American customs. It was over this need for education that friction developed. On the one hand the immigrant desired to be accepted in this new environment; yet on the other, he also desired to preserve his own cultural past. The first generation immigrant was taught English usually by his employer and did not have his culture challenged, thus resisting assimilation. 13 It was the education of successive generations that presented the problem of cultural alienation. The apparent choice in education was to enroll their offsprings in public schools in order to help them adjust to this new American Life. But education in the public schools posed severe cultural hazards. The public school taught American subjects with American values. The foreign children were judged by American cultural standards of conduct. In this position the foreign children were caught between their old culture and the new American culture. This had definite results: A limited number abandoned their embarrassing heritage-to accept American standards; a larger number sought to forget their traditional background regarding them as inferior-lead ing to family disruption and disintegration . Finally, the largest group failed to adjust to school and left feeling disregarded, discouraged and inferior .14 The public school encouraged the disintegration of Slovak families. The Slovaks had successfully resisted attempts of assimilation by stronger cultures in the past, but now they faced the task of resisting assimilation in a foreign land. To be assimilated meant the destruction of their culture. The chief means of assimilation was through education, as was attempted in their past history. Though it was largely an unconscious process by which America imposed its own standard of ideals on the new- �SLOVAKIA 137 comers, the public schools were succeeding in imposing a common English culture upon the children of many nationalities. 15 By treating the immigrant as a native the public school disregarded his culture and background. What was needed was a means to hand down a suitable portion of his native culture in order to provide a past, thus avoiding an identity crisis. The public school system could not provide this necessity in full. What was needed was a new system that could teach their children good American citizenship and preserve in them a profitable appreciation of the language, culture and tradition of their forefathers, while still providing a sufficient academic education. Fearing further disintegration of their culture, the Slovaks began searching and discussing alternatives in the development of Slovak America. REV. MATTHEW JANKOLA ASSUMES LEADERSHIP A leader in this search for a solution to the American Slovak's educational needs was Father Matthew Jankola. He spent much time studying his fellow Slovaks in their new surroundings. Early in his life he wrote: "We have a serious problem, the problem of educating our children according to American methods, and for American citizenship, without, however, destroying their cultural character and their cultural traditions." 16 With this attitude Father Jankola formed an Association of Priests in 1903 to consider the question of providing for the Catholic education of Slovak youth. Father Jankola began his studies for the priesthood in his native Slovakia. But under pressure from both the Hungarian civil and ecclesiastical authorities, which frowned apon Slovak devotion to Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the fostering of Slovak nationalism, Father Jankola sought refuge in America. 17 He arrived in 1893, and finished his studies at Saint Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. As a priest Father Jankola dedicated himself to the problem of cultural disintegration of his people, begun in Hungary and now continuing in America. It was on behalf of this couse that Father Jankola directed his early writings. When considering education, Father Jankola looked to its broader meaning of culture, rather than its narrow sense of formal schooling. He felt �138 SLOVAKIA that next to the parish church must be a school, because without Catholic schools the Catholic Church had no future, no assured existence. Father Jankola saw the parish church alone and unaided by a Catholic school as but a "feeble barrier" against the rapid onrush of worldliness and a too sudden Americanization for Slovak youth. Further, to preserve the Slovak national character, the children must be educated in Slovak schools with religious principles. Father Jankola held the schools as helpful for religious training, and necessary also to preserve nationality. In Father Jankola's mind the church directed religion, not language; for the teaching of language, which fosters the national spirit, teachers and schools were needed.18 In this spirit Father Jankola called for the establishment of schools, staffed by Slovak Sisters. His initial contact with the Slovak people on this project was done through the newspapers, such as the weekly Jednota. Many attempts were made · to secure Slavic Sisters, but to no avail. This was a time of heavy immigration causing the demand for Sisters in America to be very great. Confronted with the problem of no available Sisters for his project, Father Jankola suggested the possibility of founding a Religious Community for the education of Slovak youth. The suggestion was received favorably, so Father Jankola sought Slovak candidates to train in an American Sisterhood, which would later branch off into an independent congregation as their numbers grew. A Czech Benedictine Community of Sisters expressed willingness to receive and educate Slovak girls. Father Jankola secured three aspirants who were sent to the Czech Sisters in Chicago. But this project failed when the girls became discontented and wished to return to Pennsylvania. Their return was hard on Father Jankola, but their young age and the great distances they had traveled made him sympathetic. 19 Father Jankola did not abandon his project. Instead, upon further study he came in contact with Mother Mary Cyril at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton, Penna. After considering Father Jankola's plan for a parochial school system under Slovak Sisters, Mother Mary Cyril agreed to accept the young girls. The girls entered Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in November of 1903, to learn the �SLOVAKIA 139 principles of religious life and live according to its Rules. 20 While preparing the Slovak girls for religious teaching and guidance under Mother Mary Cyril and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Jankola began a fund to further his project. He established "St. Anthony's Treasury" which received donations from parishes, societies and individuals. A TEACHING COMMUNITY OF SLOVAK SISTERS IS BORN On September 11, 1909, the first Slovak girls pronounced their religious vows, 21 marking the birth of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, honoring the Saints who gave Slovakia its faith and culture. Father Jankola noted that this was the founding of the first Slovak religious sisterhood that the Slovaks ever had, either in Europe or America. At the birth of this new Order Father Jankola set down four principal reasons for its conception: 1) Educate Slovak children 2) Care for Slovak orphans and aged 3) Preserve Slovak culture 4) Pray for the return of Slav schismatics.22 Father Jankola's first principle has been the primary apostolate of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. The parish school has always constituted the particular vocation of the Sisters. The Sisters set themselves the traditional objective of education in a Christian spirit to develop and train to the fullest the powers and capacities of a young student's mind and body. They also strove to inculcate principles of true patriotism and citizenship in order to develop enlightened, conscientious American citizens, imbued with Christian attitudes of justice and charity, peace and order, which they feel are the main components for social living. As Slovak American teachers, they endeavored to preserve some of the traditions and the cultural heritage of the Slovak people among the students of Slovak parentage, and to foster in all students an interest and respect for the varied cultures and attitudes that make up the Brotherhood of Man. 23 Through such recognition and acceptance of foreign natures, characteristics, and personalities built from a different culture, the Sisters sought to achieve cultural democracy. To accept cultural democracy means to accept �140 SLOVAKIA a technique of social adjustment that will make possible the preservation of the best of all cultures. 24 This was the desire of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. To accept, as well as to be accepted, is the condition for effective pluralism in a nation. Cultural pluralism in the American educational system has existed because we are a multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-lingual nation. It was thought that the public school system would Americanize these foreign elements into the melting pot of uniform American culture. The concept of American culture as a mosaic has been the reason for, and the challenge of, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. For six years this newly established Community of Sisters continued under the guidance of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was on August 4, 1915, that the Community had its first elections in which Sister Mary (Mihalik) was elected the first Superior General. During this period the Sisters opened their first school to educate children in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, marking the beginning of the educational work of the Community. Before this group could be firmly established Mother Mary died in 1916. Her successor was Mother M. Emmanuel whose greatest achievement involved the establishment of a suitable, permanent Motherhouse.25 MOTHER M. EMMANUEL, SS.C.M. (1916-1922) The Sisters had been temporarily situated in Middletown, Pennsylvania. While in this location, Mother M. Emmanuel sought a permanent Motherhouse. She was informed by Reverend Julius Foin about a large tract of land with an old mansion in Danville. Through Bishop Philip R. McDevitt, Mother M. Emmanuel made contact with a local attorney, Ralph Kisner, and was informed that the 'Castle Grove' property was for sale. The Mansion site proper, containing thirteen acres-forty rooms, eleven bathrooms-finished throughout with hardwood, was a relic of the passing iron industry in Danville. There was also an adjoining farm with one hundred thirty-three acres and numerous outbuildings. This enormous dwelling was perfect for Mother M. Emmanuel's aims, but the price was beyond the Community's ability to pay. Upon inspection of this property, Mother M. Emmanuel found that the Mansion had stood �SLOVAKIA 141 vacant for fourteen years, needing numerous repairs. With this in mind she made a meager offer. The actual owner was in France, causing slow communication. Price remained the hindrance as Mother M. Emmanuel would not raise her offer. In March of 1919, Attorney Kisner informed the Sisters that the owner had agreed to drastically reduce his price to meet the Community's needs. Now that the Community's prayers for a Motherhouse had been answered, only the necessary funds for purchase remained an obstacle. The Sisters had saved about half of the required amount, but had discouraging experiences in acquiring the rest. This was the critical period during World War I, causing excess funds to be scarce.26 After futile appeals to the citizens and banks of the Wilkes-Barre area, a heavily populated Slovak community, Mother M. Emmanuel turned to the Danville National Bank for a loan. This bank considered the risk minimal and granted the loan at low interest. With payment secured, the Sisters concluded the 'Castle Grove' deal in June of 1919, and began preparations for the transfer of the Motherhouse from Middletown to its permanent home in Danville. Throughout the summer months in 1919, the Sisters worked to put the house and grounds in order. Within this new convent the Community prepared for the continuance of religious training for its Sisters and converted one of the two ballrooms into a chapel. Holy Mass was first celebrated on Sunday morning, July 6, 1919. With the approach of Autumn all but the Sisters in training took leave of 'Sacred Heart Villa,' as the grounds had been named, to resume their duties in the parish schools. During the War Years the demand for Sisters in parochial schools became very great. The war and the influenza epidemic strongly limited the work of the Sisters.27 As this situation relaxed in the summer of 1920, Mother M. Emmanuel arranged classes for the Sisters to improve their educational resources. The educational progress of the Community was under the direction of the Sisters from Marywood. This was being continued by Mother M. Emmanuel who sought also to further the Community's material progress. She was engaged in soliciting funds from the homes of Slovaks to pay off the Sister's bank loan. Mother M. Emmanuel promoted thrift within her �142 SLOVAKIA Community because she felt the Community would be more secure in the American culture when free from debt. Mother M. Emmanuel's term expired in 1922. She had directed this young Sisterhood through its pioneering days, giving it shelter, resources and existence through the war years. Mother M. Emmanuel's main contribution was, of course, the establishment of the Motherhouse that was to become the center of Slovak culture in America. MOTHER M. PIUS, SS.C.M. OPENS ST. CYRIL ACADEMY IN 1922 By the choice of the Sisters, Sister M. Pius was elected the third Superior General. Bishop McDevitt, who supervised the election, also commented on the importance of the Sisters' studies because someday the civil authorities would require that every teacher must be certified by the State of Pennsylvania. Certification would be important in having the Community accepted as a competent educational institution in American society. Now that they had an established center, the Sisters could begin to focus their educational mission with greater assurance. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had always wished for the establishment of a high school and boarding school for girls. Presently, they were only employed in elementary education. This idea for an institution of higher education for their own children was popular among the Slovaks. In addition to the regularly prescribed American branches, they wanted their offsprings to be taught the mother tongue and trained to appreciate the historical and cultural traditions of their nation. 28 To this wish Mother M. Pius responded. Mother M. Pius expressed a desire to have an official from the Department of Public Instruction in Harrisburg come to Danville to give a lecture on the requirements of the State, regarding the equipment and function of a high school and its accreditation. In August of 1922, Doctor Edward Hoban arrived from Harrisburg and explained such subjects as extension courses, summer school, teacher certificates, teaching of foreign languages, importance of teaching citizenship, the teaching of historical and social studies, and the necessity of physical education. This lecture assured the commencement of preparation for a high school on American terms. �SLOVAKIA 143 The following week an advertisement appeared in the Slovak newspapers stating that the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had equipped part of their convent at Danville as a boarding school for girls. To conform to American standards the equipment of the high school called for two very important departments -the Library and the Laboratory for the Sciences. Both of these were begun with the opening of the school. Books acquired were those recommended by the Department o! Education. Also a large selection of Catholic and Slovak books supplemented the Community's aim of a multicultural education. In all, nineteen pupils attended the first year of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School, indicating a desire on the part of the Slovaks to have their children educated in a Slovak, as well as an American atmosphere. Towards the close of the first year in the spring of 1923, a small group of students ventured into the school's first extra-curricular activity. These girls formed a Literary Society in which they compiled a little booklet of essays, stories, and poems. Under Mother M. Pius' encouragement this activity continued, resulting in the first issue of the bi-lingual (Slovak and American) school magazine, Fialky (Violets). The Fialky were thereafter issued semi-annually until 1940 and then annually until 1970, when it ceased publication. During the summer vacation Mother M. Pius encouraged the Sisters toward further studies, hoping to improve their competence as teachers. She was anxious to secure state certification for as many Sisters as could qualify. Now that the Community was engaged in all levels of education, Mother M. Pius wished to secure them within the American educational system through accreditation. The Academy's opening in the second year exposed space problems as enrollment grew. Mother Pius expressed the need for a strong building fund and enacted new collection drives among the Slovak people. The number of students steadily increased into the third and fourth year.• With the fourth year the need for accredition increased as the first graduation approached. The school was informed that the State Representatives would make an official inspection at the school year's end. That June, just a week before graduation, the State �144 SLOVAKIA Inspector arrived and spent a day inspecting the school, interviewing both the staff and the students. The State Representative, Doctor Pentz, found the Slovak students being educated and trained in all that the modern high schools offered, and in their Religion and mother tongue as well. To this he expressed his satisfaction, commenting on the orderly and methodological way in which the different departments were being conducted. 29 After Dr. Pentz reported the Academy as "first class" in both arrangement and curriculum, the school received a telegram, congratulating teachers and students on receiving accreditation from the State. This good news arrived just days before the first graduation, much to the Sisters' delight. While preparations for this first commencement progressed, another great event was in prospect, namely, the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. This event made a great impact on the first commencement of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School. Accreditation from the State of Pennsylvania proved the Sisters' ability to provide their students with a fitting education in their new society, but what remained to be seen was whether or not the Sisters could live up to the task of preserving Slovak culture in America. Slovak American culture was to receive a fresh impetus by the Eucharistic Congress held in Chicago. Due to attend the Congress were four bishops from Slovakia. The presence of these Slovak bishops greatly excited the Slovak Americans and especially the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, since through the influence of Bishop McDevitt arrangements were made to have these four bishops attend the Academy's first graduation. The date of the festivity was June 14, 1926. Under the guidance of Bishop McDevitt, who presided at the First Graduation ceremony, the entire Community and students assembled at the Convent's gate to welcome the visiting bishops. Upon the arrival of the Slovak bishops, who were traveling in European fashion, clad in cassock and purple cincture, the commencement proceeded with prayers, songs, and speeches. The speeches were delivered in Slovak, calling for a continuance of Catholic education. Bishop McDevitt's address underscored the advantages which the �SLOVAKIA 145 Slovak people can derive from a solid Catholic education. He also pointed out that this could be done because the American government stood to protect the religious rights of all American citizens. The theme of religious pluralism in America was carried further by the Senior Bishop from Slovakia in a speech that noted how this American government respects, upholds, and protects the religious liberty of the people who found refuge under her banner. Bishop Marian Blaha further cited the great accomplishments of the American Slovaks. Their ability to provide a Catholic education while preserving their mother tongue greatly impressed him. Then as an old Slovak proverb states, "Every perfect day must end even as the sweetest song" -this first commencement was no exception; it was concluded by a student chorale of inspirational Slovak songs.30 The first graduation was a significant milestone in the history of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It was their first public manifestation of their educational standards and traditions. The graduation exercise presented a new phase in the mission of the Slovak Sisters. Their people realized that Danville would not only house a Convent and an Academy, but would be the center of genuine culture for the Slovaks in America. To attain a status combining a true Americanism with an appreciation of the spirit and traditions of their native land was the Community's desire.31 With this spirit of appreciation, encouraged by the sharp increase of applicants, new thoughts of building were entertained. But unlike before, the Slovak people, organizations and individuals alike, urged this step. These groups advised a general benefit drive for funds, alleging the time was ripe for such a movement since industrial conditions were favorable and the people were willing to donate.32 In the spring of 1927 Mother M. Pius presented a letter of the officers of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies' Union, another element of Slovak-American culture, announcing the drive for a building fund. When Mother M. Pius asked for their contribution, she was immediately promised five thousand dollars. The response elsewhere was the same. The Slovak newspapers pushed the drive and local groups competed in fund raising. This favorable reaction illustrates the Slovak-Americans' desire for an enlarged Slovak cultural center in America. �146 SLOVAKIA With the building fund well under way, Mother M. Pius contracted Architect Bernard Starr of Harrisburg, who in turn sought the assistance of Harry Sternfeld of Philadelphia. A spot for the new building was selected on the Villa Sacred Heart campus, and Mr. Sternfeld sketched a building dominated by a central tower. This initial plan brought eriticism for its "needless extravagance," but Mother M. Pius retained the plan as the answer to the needs of the Community, plus the cultural, educational and religious needs of the Slovak-American people. The Community wasted no time in beginning the new building. Ground was broken on May 23, 1929, in a ceremony which the local Danville Morning News described as an event to go down in Slovak history. 33 The speakers' program included representatives of the church, state, and Slovak national life. As the building progressed, the country entered the depression of the 1930's. By the time the building was completed, economic tension was beginning to be felt everywhere.34 With this in mind, Mother M. Pius avoided any elaborate dedication ceremony. This new building was made to catch the spirit of the past and to intepret it with a contemporaneous point of view in order to make it fit actual conditions.35 Its design was in accord with the ideals of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, who hoped to blend the past into a new, usable present. In a more practical manner the new building provided an institution solely devoted to the education of the Slovak people and the preserving of their culture. It was viewed as a national work, one that provided b roader limits and better accommodations which would produce greater results. 36 The local paper saw the building as a monument to the Slovak people of America, and considered it one of the local community's finest aspects.37 The Sisters moved into their new building in September of 1931. The following three years were quiet, filled with earnest activity toward the educational goals of the Community. This period ended with the significant year of 1934, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Community's existence. In those twenty-five years the Community developed and established itself in a permanent Motherhouse, which in turn had developed the First Catholic Slovak Girls' High �SLOVAKIA 147 School, crowned by the magnificent new building. This had been done under three Superiors General-Mother Mary, Mother M. Emmanuel, Mother M. Pius-all of whom promoted the cultivation of the Slovak language and history, which, with religion, constitute the two outstanding characteristics of the Slovak Academy. Extra-curricular activities, like Fialky and Cyrilika-a society for fostering interest in Slovak journalism-as well as customs established for the practical study of Slovak, such as speaking Slovak all day every Saturday, and the annual observance of Slovak Week, acquired notice and approval. The observance of Slovak tradition gave this Academy a unique position in the field of American education.38 With a high spirit of celebration the Silver Jubilee of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius commenced. The Jubilee marked still another turning point in the Community's history as it came at the close of Mother M. Pius' long administration. Her work finished laying a firm foundation which became the base for a promising era of new growth. MOTHER M. EMERENTIA, SS.C.M. (1934-1946) In this new period of the Community's history the work of the Academy advanced quietly, with gratifying results in the field of Slovak-American culture. When Mother M. Emerentia was elected Superior General in 1934, she encouraged Slovak interests and cultural projects like formal programs, dramatic productions, Slovak readings, folk song festivals and, above all, research and creative writing on Slovak topics. Mother M. Emerentia was also responsible for the compilation of Slovak language texts and hymnals used widely in Slovak elementary schools and parishes in America. The early years of Mother M. Emerentia's administration coincided with the greatest period of the depression. Though there was no drop in student enrollment, neither was there the marked increase that would have normally been the case.• These drawbacks, however, had advantages. The subdued quiet of the interval was conducive to a greater concentration on school work, both regular and extracurricular. Correspondence with students in Slovakia '' See enrollment figures; Table I. �148 SLOVAKIA was an activity greatly enjoyed by the students of St. Cyril Academy. It was also during these years that the school was favored by a number of distinguished visitors from Slovakia, including a delegation from the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, a group of students from the Slovak unit of Pax Romana, plus numerous distinguished scholars, writers, and statesmen, including the Slovak martyr, Msgr. Joseph Tiso.39 When our country was drawn into war on December 8, 1941, the first care of the Motherhouse was directed toward the Sisters and their pupils in the parish schools. The Community placed its trust in God and His care of our country, and classes went on as usual. However, extracurricular activities were directed toward war needs. Beyond the prayers for peace, the Community and its students turned out quantities of knitted sweaters and helmets. They experienced the value of thrift by rationing food and collected all scraps such as fats, iron and paper. The Sisters also joined in relief efforts for their native land. An extensive relief project for the war sufferers in Slovakia was aided by the Community, which sent abroad numerous packages of relief materials. The motherhouse was a center for this organized relief work. The relief project continued in action even after the war, when Slovakia again was suppressed by a stronger force. Following a remarkably successful and flourishing six-year period of self-rule under the Presidency of Tiso, the Slovak government collapsed when victory came to Russia and the Allies. 40 With this victory Slovakia was overrun by the Communists. Their occupation of the country led to the execution of Msgr. Tiso, plus the silencing of many bishops and priests. The people of Slovakia remained in destitution; hence, the necessity for relief work to continue until the Iron Curtain cut off all communication. 41 The Communist occupation caused more refugees to seek freedom and sanctuary from Slovakia. As thousands came to America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and their students enjoyed fresh contacts with persons of their fatherland. Priests and professional people willingly gave lectures to both the Sisters and the students, chiefly on conditions in Slovakia and on topics of Slovak history. �SLOVAKIA 149 Several high school students from Slovakia enrolled in the Academy, thus enriching the Slovak-American culture. MOTHER M. CRESCENTIA, SS.C.M. (1946-1958) While the Slovak-American tradition was being enriched during these post-war years, a new Superior General was elected, placing renewed importance on the educational aspects of the Academy. Mother M. Crescentia realized that during the earlier years the educational objectives could not be pursued as fully as desired since more urgent activities were at hand. In time, however, conditions improved, so that more and better organized work could be done in the field of teacher education. Mother M. Crescentia took advantage of this situation, arranging for more Sisters to take college courses in a greater variety of fields. With this renewed progress in the Sisters' personal educational ventures, activities in the Academy moved apace. The student enrollment at the Academy, which increased only to a minor extent after the depression, now began rapid growth. This growth of the Academy advanced steadily into the fifties, causing every available space within the Academy to be filled. It necessitated the building of Saint Philomena Hall to be used for students' living and classrooms. Also in the fifties, the Community worked for the founding of Father Jankola. They are Villa Saint Cyril in Highland Park, Illinois, and Maria Joseph Manor in Danville, Pennsylvania. By 1958 the Community had a new Superior General in the person of Mother M. Bernard. MOTHER M. BERNARD, SS.C.M. (1958-1970) The highlight of this decade was the observance of the Community's Golden Jubilee. It was climaxed by the celebration of a Roman-Slavonic Mass on the Villa campus in the presence of five thousand visitors from all parts of the country.42 It was the first Roman rite vernacular Mass ever offered on this continent. The increased enrollment and the large turnout for the Roman-Slavonic Mass indicates the strong support the Academy received from the Slovak-American people in its preserving of Slovak culture. The early sixties were also highlighted by a large celebration honoring another aspect of the Comunity's Slovak heritage. The year 1963 marked the eleven hundredth �150 SLOVAKIA anniversary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among the Slovaks. In addition to the Community celebration in America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius participated in a week-long observance in Rome, involving numerous Slovak pilgrims, who had assembled there for the dedication of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a seminary for the training of priests for Slovakia. THE JANKOLA LIBRARY The latter sixties and early seventies for St. Cyril Academy had been dominated by two cherished Slovak projects. First was the active cooperation with the Apostolate of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, begun during the 1963 pilgrimage. Second was the professional development of the Jankola Library at the Academy. This Library is a center of Slovak culture and learning for St. Cyril Academy and Slovak America. It is called Jankola Library in honor of the founder of the Community and promoter of Slovak-American culture, Father Matthew Jankola. The Library provides invaluable resources for study and research purposes, as well as literary works to enrich the Slovak spirit. Jankola Library contains over six thousand (6,000) fully catalogued items on its shelves with several hundred more reserved for further processing.43 Beyond just Slovak books this Library also promotes Slovak-American culture with its large collection of Slovak art. Included among its treasures are a large unusual map of Czecho-Slovakia, an artistically costumed mannequin representing the Slovak tradition, and a large, valuable collection of Slovak ceramic art, some embroidery and sizeable pieces of cutglass sent from Slovakia. This Library with its vast assortment of Slovak art is truly a tribute to Slovakia's culture. With Jankola Library as its Slovak center, SS. Cyril Academy still provides an excellent American education. It offers a wide range of courses, including four foreign languages.* Besides educating students for social living in America, the Academy can also train girls for a religious teaching life within its own Community. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are presently teaching in parish schools and eight (8) high schools, including a boarding * Source listing of St. Cyril Academy. Table II. �151 SLOVAKIA school for girls. 0 Education of Slovak children continues to be the principal vocation of a Sister of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It is to these children that a Sister dedicates herseJf and hopes to preserve Slovakia's heritage. Today, the St. Cyril Academy is justifiably proud of tts accomplishments during the past fifty ( 50) years. Both the teaching Sisters and their students are fully educated in, and cognizant of, their dual heritage. The traditions and artifacts of Slovak culture have been preserved; while at the same time, each graduate is proud to be an American. St. Cyril Academy continues to revere its Slovak past. The Sisters continue to aid the suppressed people of Slovakia, but now this is done indirectly to the extent possible. It is the desire of the Sisters of the Academy to provide their countrymen with new hope of cultural freedom by showing them the accomplishments that have been possible in America. This Academy is rightly considered the center of Slovak culture in America. "" List of schools staffed by Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Table III. TABLE I Enrollment figures of St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Year 1925-26 1926-27 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37 1937-38 1938-39 1939-40 1940-41 Total Number of Students 38 39 44 47 42 61 75 69 60 58 52 58 54 50 60 70 Year 1941-42 1942-43 1943-44 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 1954-55 1955-56 1956-57 Total Number of Students 66 55 55 69 91 96 90 107 112 109 123 138 148 153 157 180 Total Number Year of Students 1957-58 1958-59 1959-60 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 181 175 162 182 202 195 202 171 156 178 120 108 104 101 108 106 �SLOVAKIA 152 TABLE II Curriculum of St. Cyril Academy FIRST YEAR Religion I English I Algebra I Intr. Physical Science Physical Education Chorus World Culture I Latin I Spanish I French I Slovak I Foods Art I Art Appreciation Music Appreciation Health Education Piano Interpretive Dance SECOND YEAR Religion II English II Geometry Biology Physical Education Chorus World Culture II Latin II French II Spanish II Slovak II Foods Clothing I Art II Piano Interpretive Dance THIRD YEAR Religion III English III Algebra II Chemistry Physical Education Chorus American Culture I Latin III Spanish III French III Slovak III Foods Advanced Clothing Art III Piano Interpretive Dance Typing I Stenography I �SLOVAKIA 153 FOURTH YEAR Religion IV English IV Business English Math 12 Advanced Biology Physical Education Chorus American Culture II Latin IV Spanish IV French IV Slovak IV Advanced Clothing Art IV Speech Piano Interpretive Dance Typing II Stenography II Bookkeeping Business Law TABLE III SCHOOLS STAFFED BY SIS'llEIBS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Berwick, Pa. Bloomsburg, Pa. Binghamton, N. Y. Binghamton, N. Y. Bridgeport, Conn. Bridgeport, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Charleston, S. C. Chicago, Ill. East Vandergrift, Pa. Endicott, N. Y. Gary, Indiana Hazleton, Pa. Jessup, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Luzerne, Pa. Nanticoke, Pa. New York, N. Y. Olyphant, Pa. Perth Amboy, N. J. Phoenixville, Pa. Pittston, Pa. Plymouth, Pa. Stratford, Conn. Swoyersville, Pa. Torrington, Conn. St. Mary's School St. Columba School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. Ann's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School Mother of Sorrows School Blessed Sacrament School Nativity School SS. Simon and Jude School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School St. Michael's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. John Nepomucene School St. Joseph School St. John Nepomucene School Holy Ghost School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School St. John Baptist School St. Stephen School Sacred Name of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School �SLOVAKIA 154 Immaculate Conception School Sacred Heart of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Whiting, Ind. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. IDGH SCHOOLS Andrean High School Dunmore Catholic High School Lourdes H. S. Lebanon Catholic H. S. Kingston Catholic Central Catholic Central H. S. Catholic Central (St. Pius X) Blessed Sacrament Academy St. Cyril Academy 1. Gary, Ind. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Dunmore, Pa. Shamokin, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Kingston, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Pottstown, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. Danville, Pa. FOOTNOTES 1) David F . Bowers, "Social and Cultural Impact" in For eign Influences in American Life (Princeton, 1944) , p. 1. 2) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1969), p. 86. 3) The Slovak Nation, Manuscript in Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius Community Archives, Danville, Pennsylvania. 4 ) Ibid. 5) Education in Slovakia, Manuscript in SS. C. M Community Archives, composition by M . I. Angelovic, pp. 88. 6) Ibid. 7) Ear liest Immigration, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 8 ) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, p . 108. 9 ) Earliest Immigration Ms. 10) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, "Czechoslovak American" in One America (New York, 1946), p. 147. 11) In 1899, there were eight Slovak priests in America. Earliest Immigration Ms. 12) The Slovaks divide their settlement in America into three Ages: Church Age, School Age, and Institution Age. Ibid. 13) Daniel Tanzone, "The Slovak Experience in Contemporary America" in Slovakia (Middletown, Pa., 1972), p. 129. 14) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our Racial and National Minorities (New York, 1937), p. 602. 15) Timothy Smith, "New Approaches to the History of Immigration in 20th Century America", in The America Historical Review LXXI, (July 1966), p. 127. �155 SLOVAKIA 16) Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Sister M. Consuela Gregorovic, p. 14. 17) Ibid. , p. 3. 18 ) Earliest Plans, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 19) Ibid . 20) Ibid. 21) The girls wer,e Mary Mihalik, Mary Bartek and Mary Pauly. 22) Father Jankola, Ms., pp. 38-46. 23) Philosophy of Saint Cyril Academy, Ms. 24) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our America, p. 501. 25) The Educational Activities of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. C-Ommunity Archives, composition by Sister Maria Berchmans Teplicky, p. 4. 26) Danville, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 27) Ibid. 28) Educational Expansion, Ms. in SS. C.M. Community Archives. 29) Josephine M. Marcinko, "A Little Historical Sketch" in Fialky (Danville, 1927), p. 23. 30) Edttcational Expansion, Ms. 31) Preparing to Build, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 32) Ibid. 33) Morning News, (Danville, May 23, 1929), p. 6. 34 ) Brief History of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, p. 85. 35) Fialky, (Danville, 1931), p. 82. 36) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 85. 37) Morning News, (Danville, June 8, 1931), p. 4. 38) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, pp. 88-90. 39 ) Ibid. , p. 108. 40 ) Joseph Pauco, Slovakia, pp. 26-28. 41) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 125. 42) Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Jankola Book, (Danville, 1972) , p. 90. 43) SS. C. M., Jankola Book, p. 108. � 132 SLOVAKIA William W a g n e r : The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America The research involved in writing the history of an ethnic teaching community presented me with two problems. First, there are relatively few works completed on American ethnic groups, including the Slovak Americans. Secondly, the past of this particular teaching Community, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, has been largely recorded only by the Sisters of that Community. Therefore, my research on the Slovak past ( still predominantly written in the Slovak tongue) and my compiling of the Community's history were very dependent on the writings of the Sisters of the Community. I believe my work is objective, because of the limitation of my knowledge of the Community's religious life, thus removing me from a biased influence. All in all, I attempted to deal with this subject in such a manner as to present an honest view of the history and purpose surrounding the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. My appreciation is extended to Reverend Mother M. Valeria Romanchek and special thanks are expressed to the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for their helpful cooperation and endless assistance and guidance throughout the researching of this paper. I dedicate this history to Reverend Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, former Community historian, upon whose research of the Slovak past and the tracing of the Community's growth I so heavily relied. THE ROOTS OF SLOVAK CULTURE ARE CENTURIES OLD The United States is the most important immigrant receiving country in the world. Between 1850 and 1930 no less than thirty-eight million people settled within our borders. 1 Although early in this immigration period many �SLOVAKIA 133 newcomers strove to sever ties with the old world, a sizeable portion continued to look reverently upon their past. The Slovak American, who journeyed to this country primarily in the later wave of European immigration, were such a group. The Slovaks feared the loss of their native culture to a new growing American culture because their past history consisted of repeated attempts at such assimilation. But also in America the Slovak hoped for the chance and the right to have his own life. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are a teaching community dedicated to preserving and promoting this American Slovak culture. Because one-third of all Slovaks live in America,2 the Sisters' preservation of their culture is extremely important to the overall existence of the Slovak people as a national entity. The Slovak people are a small part of the Slavic family found on the European continent. Ethnologists place the Slovaks in the Western Slavic group, which also includes Poles, Czechs and Moravians. Commonly but erroneously the Slovaks are considered only a part of the "Czechoslovak Nation," but during the ten centuries of Slovak history, the Slovaks did not live in a common state with the Czechs until 1918. Little is known of the early Slavs. Ancient Greeks and Romans made contact, but left few records. Early recorded Slovak history tells of struggles with Asiatic tribes, particularly the Avari to whom the Slovaks were subjected for almost a century. The subjection was followed by the influence and reign of the Franks. 3 The early Slovak was pagan and war-like. He had many customs but few laws. He was chiefly agricultural and believed in various superstitions. This type of religion held fast until the ninth century when Prince Pribina, the first direct Slovak ruler of Slavic birth, established the first Slavic Christian church. Pribina's efforts to christianize his people met with little success, largely because he was dependent on Frankish missionaries whose language his people could not understand. 4 In 846 Pribina's court surrendered to Rastislav, a skillful warrior, who succeeded in winning independence from the Franks. Rastislav sought religious as well as political freedom. In the year 863 Prince Rastislav invited the two �134 SLOVAKIA holy brothers, Constantine and Methodius, to come from Constantinople and work among the Slovak people. These Byzantine missionaries found it necessary to invent an alphabet for the Slavs, so that the Holy Scriptures could be given to them in their own tongue. After having the use of the Slavonic tongue in Western Liturgy sanctioned by the Roman Pope, Methodius returned to Slovakia as a bishop. Constantine meanwhile had died in Rome in 869 , after entering a monastery there and assuming the name of Cyril. By means of their translations of the Holy Scriptures Constantine and Methodius laid the foundations of Slavic literature. The introduction of schools went hand in hand with this introduction and spread of Christianity in Slovakia.5 Archbishop Methodius continued his teaching and missionary activity until his death in 885. That period of political independence for Slovakia lasted but a short time. Slovakia was soon incorporated into the State of Hungary, which during medieval times consisted of various nations. During this period known as 'The Thousand Years of Oppression', the Slovaks' civil life declined and thus their national consciousness was under a cloud. The Lutheran Reformation, the Turkish invasion of Hungary in 1526 and the Counter-Reformation led by the Jesuits all had varying effects on Slovak education. But it was not until the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the state control of education under Empress Maria Theresa, that the Slovak education was directed by any one source. The State of Hungary considered it its duty to provide for the education of its people, hoping to make the power of the state felt in every phase of life.6 The reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph II saw an expansion of education and also an attempt at Germanization of the Slovaks. Joseph's attempt at Germanization was significantly challenged in 1847 and replaced by Hungarian Magyarization. Whether Germanization or Magyarization the NonHungarian Nationalities' interests were ignored. In 1867 the 'Austro-Hungarian Compromise' touched off rapid action to create a unitary Hungary by Magyarizing all departments of public life, especially the schools. The aim of this policy was the complete assimilation and �SLOVAKIA 135 conversion of Slovakia into a purely Magyar Province of Hungary. Since language is the chief symbol of nationality, the Slovak language was suppressed. Poor economically and having their national ideals and traditions submerged, the Slovaks began seeking a new way to improve their life. U.S. SHINES WITH HOPE FOR SLOVAK IMMIGRANTS Immigration held the dream of a better life. The heaviest immigration of the Slovaks occurred between 1890 and 1900.7 It must be stressed that the majority of immigrants came to America for economic reasons, few peasants ever left East Europe during this period due to political reasons, though politics did cause many not to return. 8 The first immigrants were usually the fathers of the Slovak families, hoping for quick economic gain, and a subsequent return to their native land and families. But once in America few immigrants returned. They found employment that significantly raised their living standard. Though in a strange, sometimes hostile land, the immigrant recognized the ideals of freedom that he was denied in his homeland. As thoughts of returning to their native land diminished, the pioneering immigrants sent for their families to join them in their adopted country. 9 Once the immigrant families had situated themselves in this new land, they were faced with problems of adjustment. The majority of the Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial East, seeking employment with the mining industries, particularly in Pennsylvania. Since the closing of the American frontier the greatest means of livelihood for new immigrants was in these rising industrial areas.10 As the economic necessity of making a living diminished, the new Americans turned to their social needs. Subsequently as the new settlements became more permanent, these Slovak immigrants turned to their religious needs. They began by building community parishes, while searching for Slovak priests who were few in number in this time of early immigration.11 The churches provided a common bond upon which were built beneficial organizations, such as the organizations of the First Catholic Slovak Union known as Jednota. It was the purpose of these beneficial groups to locate and unite the scattered elements �136 SLOVAKIA of American Slovaks. Unity was usually provided through the weekly Slovak newspapers. EDUCATION AL ASPIRATIONS OF AMERICAN SLOVAKS Upon completion of the drive to build parishes the Slovaks had finished with what they call the Church Age of their settlement in America. 12 Having established themselves within their own community, they were faced with the task of joining the larger American community. Obviously, they needed to learn the English language and familiarize themselves with American customs. It was over this need for education that friction developed. On the one hand the immigrant desired to be accepted in this new environment; yet on the other, he also desired to preserve his own cultural past. The first generation immigrant was taught English usually by his employer and did not have his culture challenged, thus resisting assimilation. 13 It was the education of successive generations that presented the problem of cultural alienation. The apparent choice in education was to enroll their offsprings in public schools in order to help them adjust to this new American Life. But education in the public schools posed severe cultural hazards. The public school taught American subjects with American values. The foreign children were judged by American cultural standards of conduct. In this position the foreign children were caught between their old culture and the new American culture. This had definite results: A limited number abandoned their embarrassing heritage-to accept American standards; a larger number sought to forget their traditional background regarding them as inferior-lead ing to family disruption and disintegration . Finally, the largest group failed to adjust to school and left feeling disregarded, discouraged and inferior .14 The public school encouraged the disintegration of Slovak families. The Slovaks had successfully resisted attempts of assimilation by stronger cultures in the past, but now they faced the task of resisting assimilation in a foreign land. To be assimilated meant the destruction of their culture. The chief means of assimilation was through education, as was attempted in their past history. Though it was largely an unconscious process by which America imposed its own standard of ideals on the new- �SLOVAKIA 137 comers, the public schools were succeeding in imposing a common English culture upon the children of many nationalities. 15 By treating the immigrant as a native the public school disregarded his culture and background. What was needed was a means to hand down a suitable portion of his native culture in order to provide a past, thus avoiding an identity crisis. The public school system could not provide this necessity in full. What was needed was a new system that could teach their children good American citizenship and preserve in them a profitable appreciation of the language, culture and tradition of their forefathers, while still providing a sufficient academic education. Fearing further disintegration of their culture, the Slovaks began searching and discussing alternatives in the development of Slovak America. REV. MATTHEW JANKOLA ASSUMES LEADERSHIP A leader in this search for a solution to the American Slovak's educational needs was Father Matthew Jankola. He spent much time studying his fellow Slovaks in their new surroundings. Early in his life he wrote: "We have a serious problem, the problem of educating our children according to American methods, and for American citizenship, without, however, destroying their cultural character and their cultural traditions." 16 With this attitude Father Jankola formed an Association of Priests in 1903 to consider the question of providing for the Catholic education of Slovak youth. Father Jankola began his studies for the priesthood in his native Slovakia. But under pressure from both the Hungarian civil and ecclesiastical authorities, which frowned apon Slovak devotion to Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the fostering of Slovak nationalism, Father Jankola sought refuge in America. 17 He arrived in 1893, and finished his studies at Saint Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. As a priest Father Jankola dedicated himself to the problem of cultural disintegration of his people, begun in Hungary and now continuing in America. It was on behalf of this couse that Father Jankola directed his early writings. When considering education, Father Jankola looked to its broader meaning of culture, rather than its narrow sense of formal schooling. He felt �138 SLOVAKIA that next to the parish church must be a school, because without Catholic schools the Catholic Church had no future, no assured existence. Father Jankola saw the parish church alone and unaided by a Catholic school as but a "feeble barrier" against the rapid onrush of worldliness and a too sudden Americanization for Slovak youth. Further, to preserve the Slovak national character, the children must be educated in Slovak schools with religious principles. Father Jankola held the schools as helpful for religious training, and necessary also to preserve nationality. In Father Jankola's mind the church directed religion, not language; for the teaching of language, which fosters the national spirit, teachers and schools were needed.18 In this spirit Father Jankola called for the establishment of schools, staffed by Slovak Sisters. His initial contact with the Slovak people on this project was done through the newspapers, such as the weekly Jednota. Many attempts were made · to secure Slavic Sisters, but to no avail. This was a time of heavy immigration causing the demand for Sisters in America to be very great. Confronted with the problem of no available Sisters for his project, Father Jankola suggested the possibility of founding a Religious Community for the education of Slovak youth. The suggestion was received favorably, so Father Jankola sought Slovak candidates to train in an American Sisterhood, which would later branch off into an independent congregation as their numbers grew. A Czech Benedictine Community of Sisters expressed willingness to receive and educate Slovak girls. Father Jankola secured three aspirants who were sent to the Czech Sisters in Chicago. But this project failed when the girls became discontented and wished to return to Pennsylvania. Their return was hard on Father Jankola, but their young age and the great distances they had traveled made him sympathetic. 19 Father Jankola did not abandon his project. Instead, upon further study he came in contact with Mother Mary Cyril at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton, Penna. After considering Father Jankola's plan for a parochial school system under Slovak Sisters, Mother Mary Cyril agreed to accept the young girls. The girls entered Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in November of 1903, to learn the �SLOVAKIA 139 principles of religious life and live according to its Rules. 20 While preparing the Slovak girls for religious teaching and guidance under Mother Mary Cyril and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Jankola began a fund to further his project. He established "St. Anthony's Treasury" which received donations from parishes, societies and individuals. A TEACHING COMMUNITY OF SLOVAK SISTERS IS BORN On September 11, 1909, the first Slovak girls pronounced their religious vows, 21 marking the birth of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, honoring the Saints who gave Slovakia its faith and culture. Father Jankola noted that this was the founding of the first Slovak religious sisterhood that the Slovaks ever had, either in Europe or America. At the birth of this new Order Father Jankola set down four principal reasons for its conception: 1) Educate Slovak children 2) Care for Slovak orphans and aged 3) Preserve Slovak culture 4) Pray for the return of Slav schismatics.22 Father Jankola's first principle has been the primary apostolate of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. The parish school has always constituted the particular vocation of the Sisters. The Sisters set themselves the traditional objective of education in a Christian spirit to develop and train to the fullest the powers and capacities of a young student's mind and body. They also strove to inculcate principles of true patriotism and citizenship in order to develop enlightened, conscientious American citizens, imbued with Christian attitudes of justice and charity, peace and order, which they feel are the main components for social living. As Slovak American teachers, they endeavored to preserve some of the traditions and the cultural heritage of the Slovak people among the students of Slovak parentage, and to foster in all students an interest and respect for the varied cultures and attitudes that make up the Brotherhood of Man. 23 Through such recognition and acceptance of foreign natures, characteristics, and personalities built from a different culture, the Sisters sought to achieve cultural democracy. To accept cultural democracy means to accept �140 SLOVAKIA a technique of social adjustment that will make possible the preservation of the best of all cultures. 24 This was the desire of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. To accept, as well as to be accepted, is the condition for effective pluralism in a nation. Cultural pluralism in the American educational system has existed because we are a multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-lingual nation. It was thought that the public school system would Americanize these foreign elements into the melting pot of uniform American culture. The concept of American culture as a mosaic has been the reason for, and the challenge of, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. For six years this newly established Community of Sisters continued under the guidance of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was on August 4, 1915, that the Community had its first elections in which Sister Mary (Mihalik) was elected the first Superior General. During this period the Sisters opened their first school to educate children in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, marking the beginning of the educational work of the Community. Before this group could be firmly established Mother Mary died in 1916. Her successor was Mother M. Emmanuel whose greatest achievement involved the establishment of a suitable, permanent Motherhouse.25 MOTHER M. EMMANUEL, SS.C.M. (1916-1922) The Sisters had been temporarily situated in Middletown, Pennsylvania. While in this location, Mother M. Emmanuel sought a permanent Motherhouse. She was informed by Reverend Julius Foin about a large tract of land with an old mansion in Danville. Through Bishop Philip R. McDevitt, Mother M. Emmanuel made contact with a local attorney, Ralph Kisner, and was informed that the 'Castle Grove' property was for sale. The Mansion site proper, containing thirteen acres-forty rooms, eleven bathrooms-finished throughout with hardwood, was a relic of the passing iron industry in Danville. There was also an adjoining farm with one hundred thirty-three acres and numerous outbuildings. This enormous dwelling was perfect for Mother M. Emmanuel's aims, but the price was beyond the Community's ability to pay. Upon inspection of this property, Mother M. Emmanuel found that the Mansion had stood �SLOVAKIA 141 vacant for fourteen years, needing numerous repairs. With this in mind she made a meager offer. The actual owner was in France, causing slow communication. Price remained the hindrance as Mother M. Emmanuel would not raise her offer. In March of 1919, Attorney Kisner informed the Sisters that the owner had agreed to drastically reduce his price to meet the Community's needs. Now that the Community's prayers for a Motherhouse had been answered, only the necessary funds for purchase remained an obstacle. The Sisters had saved about half of the required amount, but had discouraging experiences in acquiring the rest. This was the critical period during World War I, causing excess funds to be scarce.26 After futile appeals to the citizens and banks of the Wilkes-Barre area, a heavily populated Slovak community, Mother M. Emmanuel turned to the Danville National Bank for a loan. This bank considered the risk minimal and granted the loan at low interest. With payment secured, the Sisters concluded the 'Castle Grove' deal in June of 1919, and began preparations for the transfer of the Motherhouse from Middletown to its permanent home in Danville. Throughout the summer months in 1919, the Sisters worked to put the house and grounds in order. Within this new convent the Community prepared for the continuance of religious training for its Sisters and converted one of the two ballrooms into a chapel. Holy Mass was first celebrated on Sunday morning, July 6, 1919. With the approach of Autumn all but the Sisters in training took leave of 'Sacred Heart Villa,' as the grounds had been named, to resume their duties in the parish schools. During the War Years the demand for Sisters in parochial schools became very great. The war and the influenza epidemic strongly limited the work of the Sisters.27 As this situation relaxed in the summer of 1920, Mother M. Emmanuel arranged classes for the Sisters to improve their educational resources. The educational progress of the Community was under the direction of the Sisters from Marywood. This was being continued by Mother M. Emmanuel who sought also to further the Community's material progress. She was engaged in soliciting funds from the homes of Slovaks to pay off the Sister's bank loan. Mother M. Emmanuel promoted thrift within her �142 SLOVAKIA Community because she felt the Community would be more secure in the American culture when free from debt. Mother M. Emmanuel's term expired in 1922. She had directed this young Sisterhood through its pioneering days, giving it shelter, resources and existence through the war years. Mother M. Emmanuel's main contribution was, of course, the establishment of the Motherhouse that was to become the center of Slovak culture in America. MOTHER M. PIUS, SS.C.M. OPENS ST. CYRIL ACADEMY IN 1922 By the choice of the Sisters, Sister M. Pius was elected the third Superior General. Bishop McDevitt, who supervised the election, also commented on the importance of the Sisters' studies because someday the civil authorities would require that every teacher must be certified by the State of Pennsylvania. Certification would be important in having the Community accepted as a competent educational institution in American society. Now that they had an established center, the Sisters could begin to focus their educational mission with greater assurance. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had always wished for the establishment of a high school and boarding school for girls. Presently, they were only employed in elementary education. This idea for an institution of higher education for their own children was popular among the Slovaks. In addition to the regularly prescribed American branches, they wanted their offsprings to be taught the mother tongue and trained to appreciate the historical and cultural traditions of their nation. 28 To this wish Mother M. Pius responded. Mother M. Pius expressed a desire to have an official from the Department of Public Instruction in Harrisburg come to Danville to give a lecture on the requirements of the State, regarding the equipment and function of a high school and its accreditation. In August of 1922, Doctor Edward Hoban arrived from Harrisburg and explained such subjects as extension courses, summer school, teacher certificates, teaching of foreign languages, importance of teaching citizenship, the teaching of historical and social studies, and the necessity of physical education. This lecture assured the commencement of preparation for a high school on American terms. �SLOVAKIA 143 The following week an advertisement appeared in the Slovak newspapers stating that the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had equipped part of their convent at Danville as a boarding school for girls. To conform to American standards the equipment of the high school called for two very important departments -the Library and the Laboratory for the Sciences. Both of these were begun with the opening of the school. Books acquired were those recommended by the Department o! Education. Also a large selection of Catholic and Slovak books supplemented the Community's aim of a multicultural education. In all, nineteen pupils attended the first year of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School, indicating a desire on the part of the Slovaks to have their children educated in a Slovak, as well as an American atmosphere. Towards the close of the first year in the spring of 1923, a small group of students ventured into the school's first extra-curricular activity. These girls formed a Literary Society in which they compiled a little booklet of essays, stories, and poems. Under Mother M. Pius' encouragement this activity continued, resulting in the first issue of the bi-lingual (Slovak and American) school magazine, Fialky (Violets). The Fialky were thereafter issued semi-annually until 1940 and then annually until 1970, when it ceased publication. During the summer vacation Mother M. Pius encouraged the Sisters toward further studies, hoping to improve their competence as teachers. She was anxious to secure state certification for as many Sisters as could qualify. Now that the Community was engaged in all levels of education, Mother M. Pius wished to secure them within the American educational system through accreditation. The Academy's opening in the second year exposed space problems as enrollment grew. Mother Pius expressed the need for a strong building fund and enacted new collection drives among the Slovak people. The number of students steadily increased into the third and fourth year.• With the fourth year the need for accredition increased as the first graduation approached. The school was informed that the State Representatives would make an official inspection at the school year's end. That June, just a week before graduation, the State �144 SLOVAKIA Inspector arrived and spent a day inspecting the school, interviewing both the staff and the students. The State Representative, Doctor Pentz, found the Slovak students being educated and trained in all that the modern high schools offered, and in their Religion and mother tongue as well. To this he expressed his satisfaction, commenting on the orderly and methodological way in which the different departments were being conducted. 29 After Dr. Pentz reported the Academy as "first class" in both arrangement and curriculum, the school received a telegram, congratulating teachers and students on receiving accreditation from the State. This good news arrived just days before the first graduation, much to the Sisters' delight. While preparations for this first commencement progressed, another great event was in prospect, namely, the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. This event made a great impact on the first commencement of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School. Accreditation from the State of Pennsylvania proved the Sisters' ability to provide their students with a fitting education in their new society, but what remained to be seen was whether or not the Sisters could live up to the task of preserving Slovak culture in America. Slovak American culture was to receive a fresh impetus by the Eucharistic Congress held in Chicago. Due to attend the Congress were four bishops from Slovakia. The presence of these Slovak bishops greatly excited the Slovak Americans and especially the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, since through the influence of Bishop McDevitt arrangements were made to have these four bishops attend the Academy's first graduation. The date of the festivity was June 14, 1926. Under the guidance of Bishop McDevitt, who presided at the First Graduation ceremony, the entire Community and students assembled at the Convent's gate to welcome the visiting bishops. Upon the arrival of the Slovak bishops, who were traveling in European fashion, clad in cassock and purple cincture, the commencement proceeded with prayers, songs, and speeches. The speeches were delivered in Slovak, calling for a continuance of Catholic education. Bishop McDevitt's address underscored the advantages which the �SLOVAKIA 145 Slovak people can derive from a solid Catholic education. He also pointed out that this could be done because the American government stood to protect the religious rights of all American citizens. The theme of religious pluralism in America was carried further by the Senior Bishop from Slovakia in a speech that noted how this American government respects, upholds, and protects the religious liberty of the people who found refuge under her banner. Bishop Marian Blaha further cited the great accomplishments of the American Slovaks. Their ability to provide a Catholic education while preserving their mother tongue greatly impressed him. Then as an old Slovak proverb states, "Every perfect day must end even as the sweetest song" -this first commencement was no exception; it was concluded by a student chorale of inspirational Slovak songs.30 The first graduation was a significant milestone in the history of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It was their first public manifestation of their educational standards and traditions. The graduation exercise presented a new phase in the mission of the Slovak Sisters. Their people realized that Danville would not only house a Convent and an Academy, but would be the center of genuine culture for the Slovaks in America. To attain a status combining a true Americanism with an appreciation of the spirit and traditions of their native land was the Community's desire.31 With this spirit of appreciation, encouraged by the sharp increase of applicants, new thoughts of building were entertained. But unlike before, the Slovak people, organizations and individuals alike, urged this step. These groups advised a general benefit drive for funds, alleging the time was ripe for such a movement since industrial conditions were favorable and the people were willing to donate.32 In the spring of 1927 Mother M. Pius presented a letter of the officers of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies' Union, another element of Slovak-American culture, announcing the drive for a building fund. When Mother M. Pius asked for their contribution, she was immediately promised five thousand dollars. The response elsewhere was the same. The Slovak newspapers pushed the drive and local groups competed in fund raising. This favorable reaction illustrates the Slovak-Americans' desire for an enlarged Slovak cultural center in America. �146 SLOVAKIA With the building fund well under way, Mother M. Pius contracted Architect Bernard Starr of Harrisburg, who in turn sought the assistance of Harry Sternfeld of Philadelphia. A spot for the new building was selected on the Villa Sacred Heart campus, and Mr. Sternfeld sketched a building dominated by a central tower. This initial plan brought eriticism for its "needless extravagance," but Mother M. Pius retained the plan as the answer to the needs of the Community, plus the cultural, educational and religious needs of the Slovak-American people. The Community wasted no time in beginning the new building. Ground was broken on May 23, 1929, in a ceremony which the local Danville Morning News described as an event to go down in Slovak history. 33 The speakers' program included representatives of the church, state, and Slovak national life. As the building progressed, the country entered the depression of the 1930's. By the time the building was completed, economic tension was beginning to be felt everywhere.34 With this in mind, Mother M. Pius avoided any elaborate dedication ceremony. This new building was made to catch the spirit of the past and to intepret it with a contemporaneous point of view in order to make it fit actual conditions.35 Its design was in accord with the ideals of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, who hoped to blend the past into a new, usable present. In a more practical manner the new building provided an institution solely devoted to the education of the Slovak people and the preserving of their culture. It was viewed as a national work, one that provided b roader limits and better accommodations which would produce greater results. 36 The local paper saw the building as a monument to the Slovak people of America, and considered it one of the local community's finest aspects.37 The Sisters moved into their new building in September of 1931. The following three years were quiet, filled with earnest activity toward the educational goals of the Community. This period ended with the significant year of 1934, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Community's existence. In those twenty-five years the Community developed and established itself in a permanent Motherhouse, which in turn had developed the First Catholic Slovak Girls' High �SLOVAKIA 147 School, crowned by the magnificent new building. This had been done under three Superiors General-Mother Mary, Mother M. Emmanuel, Mother M. Pius-all of whom promoted the cultivation of the Slovak language and history, which, with religion, constitute the two outstanding characteristics of the Slovak Academy. Extra-curricular activities, like Fialky and Cyrilika-a society for fostering interest in Slovak journalism-as well as customs established for the practical study of Slovak, such as speaking Slovak all day every Saturday, and the annual observance of Slovak Week, acquired notice and approval. The observance of Slovak tradition gave this Academy a unique position in the field of American education.38 With a high spirit of celebration the Silver Jubilee of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius commenced. The Jubilee marked still another turning point in the Community's history as it came at the close of Mother M. Pius' long administration. Her work finished laying a firm foundation which became the base for a promising era of new growth. MOTHER M. EMERENTIA, SS.C.M. (1934-1946) In this new period of the Community's history the work of the Academy advanced quietly, with gratifying results in the field of Slovak-American culture. When Mother M. Emerentia was elected Superior General in 1934, she encouraged Slovak interests and cultural projects like formal programs, dramatic productions, Slovak readings, folk song festivals and, above all, research and creative writing on Slovak topics. Mother M. Emerentia was also responsible for the compilation of Slovak language texts and hymnals used widely in Slovak elementary schools and parishes in America. The early years of Mother M. Emerentia's administration coincided with the greatest period of the depression. Though there was no drop in student enrollment, neither was there the marked increase that would have normally been the case.• These drawbacks, however, had advantages. The subdued quiet of the interval was conducive to a greater concentration on school work, both regular and extracurricular. Correspondence with students in Slovakia '' See enrollment figures; Table I. �148 SLOVAKIA was an activity greatly enjoyed by the students of St. Cyril Academy. It was also during these years that the school was favored by a number of distinguished visitors from Slovakia, including a delegation from the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, a group of students from the Slovak unit of Pax Romana, plus numerous distinguished scholars, writers, and statesmen, including the Slovak martyr, Msgr. Joseph Tiso.39 When our country was drawn into war on December 8, 1941, the first care of the Motherhouse was directed toward the Sisters and their pupils in the parish schools. The Community placed its trust in God and His care of our country, and classes went on as usual. However, extracurricular activities were directed toward war needs. Beyond the prayers for peace, the Community and its students turned out quantities of knitted sweaters and helmets. They experienced the value of thrift by rationing food and collected all scraps such as fats, iron and paper. The Sisters also joined in relief efforts for their native land. An extensive relief project for the war sufferers in Slovakia was aided by the Community, which sent abroad numerous packages of relief materials. The motherhouse was a center for this organized relief work. The relief project continued in action even after the war, when Slovakia again was suppressed by a stronger force. Following a remarkably successful and flourishing six-year period of self-rule under the Presidency of Tiso, the Slovak government collapsed when victory came to Russia and the Allies. 40 With this victory Slovakia was overrun by the Communists. Their occupation of the country led to the execution of Msgr. Tiso, plus the silencing of many bishops and priests. The people of Slovakia remained in destitution; hence, the necessity for relief work to continue until the Iron Curtain cut off all communication. 41 The Communist occupation caused more refugees to seek freedom and sanctuary from Slovakia. As thousands came to America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and their students enjoyed fresh contacts with persons of their fatherland. Priests and professional people willingly gave lectures to both the Sisters and the students, chiefly on conditions in Slovakia and on topics of Slovak history. �SLOVAKIA 149 Several high school students from Slovakia enrolled in the Academy, thus enriching the Slovak-American culture. MOTHER M. CRESCENTIA, SS.C.M. (1946-1958) While the Slovak-American tradition was being enriched during these post-war years, a new Superior General was elected, placing renewed importance on the educational aspects of the Academy. Mother M. Crescentia realized that during the earlier years the educational objectives could not be pursued as fully as desired since more urgent activities were at hand. In time, however, conditions improved, so that more and better organized work could be done in the field of teacher education. Mother M. Crescentia took advantage of this situation, arranging for more Sisters to take college courses in a greater variety of fields. With this renewed progress in the Sisters' personal educational ventures, activities in the Academy moved apace. The student enrollment at the Academy, which increased only to a minor extent after the depression, now began rapid growth. This growth of the Academy advanced steadily into the fifties, causing every available space within the Academy to be filled. It necessitated the building of Saint Philomena Hall to be used for students' living and classrooms. Also in the fifties, the Community worked for the founding of Father Jankola. They are Villa Saint Cyril in Highland Park, Illinois, and Maria Joseph Manor in Danville, Pennsylvania. By 1958 the Community had a new Superior General in the person of Mother M. Bernard. MOTHER M. BERNARD, SS.C.M. (1958-1970) The highlight of this decade was the observance of the Community's Golden Jubilee. It was climaxed by the celebration of a Roman-Slavonic Mass on the Villa campus in the presence of five thousand visitors from all parts of the country.42 It was the first Roman rite vernacular Mass ever offered on this continent. The increased enrollment and the large turnout for the Roman-Slavonic Mass indicates the strong support the Academy received from the Slovak-American people in its preserving of Slovak culture. The early sixties were also highlighted by a large celebration honoring another aspect of the Comunity's Slovak heritage. The year 1963 marked the eleven hundredth �150 SLOVAKIA anniversary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among the Slovaks. In addition to the Community celebration in America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius participated in a week-long observance in Rome, involving numerous Slovak pilgrims, who had assembled there for the dedication of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a seminary for the training of priests for Slovakia. THE JANKOLA LIBRARY The latter sixties and early seventies for St. Cyril Academy had been dominated by two cherished Slovak projects. First was the active cooperation with the Apostolate of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, begun during the 1963 pilgrimage. Second was the professional development of the Jankola Library at the Academy. This Library is a center of Slovak culture and learning for St. Cyril Academy and Slovak America. It is called Jankola Library in honor of the founder of the Community and promoter of Slovak-American culture, Father Matthew Jankola. The Library provides invaluable resources for study and research purposes, as well as literary works to enrich the Slovak spirit. Jankola Library contains over six thousand (6,000) fully catalogued items on its shelves with several hundred more reserved for further processing.43 Beyond just Slovak books this Library also promotes Slovak-American culture with its large collection of Slovak art. Included among its treasures are a large unusual map of Czecho-Slovakia, an artistically costumed mannequin representing the Slovak tradition, and a large, valuable collection of Slovak ceramic art, some embroidery and sizeable pieces of cutglass sent from Slovakia. This Library with its vast assortment of Slovak art is truly a tribute to Slovakia's culture. With Jankola Library as its Slovak center, SS. Cyril Academy still provides an excellent American education. It offers a wide range of courses, including four foreign languages.* Besides educating students for social living in America, the Academy can also train girls for a religious teaching life within its own Community. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are presently teaching in parish schools and eight (8) high schools, including a boarding * Source listing of St. Cyril Academy. Table II. �151 SLOVAKIA school for girls. 0 Education of Slovak children continues to be the principal vocation of a Sister of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It is to these children that a Sister dedicates herseJf and hopes to preserve Slovakia's heritage. Today, the St. Cyril Academy is justifiably proud of tts accomplishments during the past fifty ( 50) years. Both the teaching Sisters and their students are fully educated in, and cognizant of, their dual heritage. The traditions and artifacts of Slovak culture have been preserved; while at the same time, each graduate is proud to be an American. St. Cyril Academy continues to revere its Slovak past. The Sisters continue to aid the suppressed people of Slovakia, but now this is done indirectly to the extent possible. It is the desire of the Sisters of the Academy to provide their countrymen with new hope of cultural freedom by showing them the accomplishments that have been possible in America. This Academy is rightly considered the center of Slovak culture in America. "" List of schools staffed by Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Table III. TABLE I Enrollment figures of St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Year 1925-26 1926-27 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37 1937-38 1938-39 1939-40 1940-41 Total Number of Students 38 39 44 47 42 61 75 69 60 58 52 58 54 50 60 70 Year 1941-42 1942-43 1943-44 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 1954-55 1955-56 1956-57 Total Number of Students 66 55 55 69 91 96 90 107 112 109 123 138 148 153 157 180 Total Number Year of Students 1957-58 1958-59 1959-60 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 181 175 162 182 202 195 202 171 156 178 120 108 104 101 108 106 �SLOVAKIA 152 TABLE II Curriculum of St. Cyril Academy FIRST YEAR Religion I English I Algebra I Intr. Physical Science Physical Education Chorus World Culture I Latin I Spanish I French I Slovak I Foods Art I Art Appreciation Music Appreciation Health Education Piano Interpretive Dance SECOND YEAR Religion II English II Geometry Biology Physical Education Chorus World Culture II Latin II French II Spanish II Slovak II Foods Clothing I Art II Piano Interpretive Dance THIRD YEAR Religion III English III Algebra II Chemistry Physical Education Chorus American Culture I Latin III Spanish III French III Slovak III Foods Advanced Clothing Art III Piano Interpretive Dance Typing I Stenography I �SLOVAKIA 153 FOURTH YEAR Religion IV English IV Business English Math 12 Advanced Biology Physical Education Chorus American Culture II Latin IV Spanish IV French IV Slovak IV Advanced Clothing Art IV Speech Piano Interpretive Dance Typing II Stenography II Bookkeeping Business Law TABLE III SCHOOLS STAFFED BY SIS'llEIBS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Berwick, Pa. Bloomsburg, Pa. Binghamton, N. Y. Binghamton, N. Y. Bridgeport, Conn. Bridgeport, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Charleston, S. C. Chicago, Ill. East Vandergrift, Pa. Endicott, N. Y. Gary, Indiana Hazleton, Pa. Jessup, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Luzerne, Pa. Nanticoke, Pa. New York, N. Y. Olyphant, Pa. Perth Amboy, N. J. Phoenixville, Pa. Pittston, Pa. Plymouth, Pa. Stratford, Conn. Swoyersville, Pa. Torrington, Conn. St. Mary's School St. Columba School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. Ann's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School Mother of Sorrows School Blessed Sacrament School Nativity School SS. Simon and Jude School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School St. Michael's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. John Nepomucene School St. Joseph School St. John Nepomucene School Holy Ghost School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School St. John Baptist School St. Stephen School Sacred Name of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School �SLOVAKIA 154 Immaculate Conception School Sacred Heart of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Whiting, Ind. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. IDGH SCHOOLS Andrean High School Dunmore Catholic High School Lourdes H. S. Lebanon Catholic H. S. Kingston Catholic Central Catholic Central H. S. Catholic Central (St. Pius X) Blessed Sacrament Academy St. Cyril Academy 1. Gary, Ind. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Dunmore, Pa. Shamokin, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Kingston, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Pottstown, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. Danville, Pa. FOOTNOTES 1) David F . Bowers, "Social and Cultural Impact" in For eign Influences in American Life (Princeton, 1944) , p. 1. 2) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1969), p. 86. 3) The Slovak Nation, Manuscript in Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius Community Archives, Danville, Pennsylvania. 4 ) Ibid. 5) Education in Slovakia, Manuscript in SS. C. M Community Archives, composition by M . I. Angelovic, pp. 88. 6) Ibid. 7) Ear liest Immigration, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 8 ) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, p . 108. 9 ) Earliest Immigration Ms. 10) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, "Czechoslovak American" in One America (New York, 1946), p. 147. 11) In 1899, there were eight Slovak priests in America. Earliest Immigration Ms. 12) The Slovaks divide their settlement in America into three Ages: Church Age, School Age, and Institution Age. Ibid. 13) Daniel Tanzone, "The Slovak Experience in Contemporary America" in Slovakia (Middletown, Pa., 1972), p. 129. 14) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our Racial and National Minorities (New York, 1937), p. 602. 15) Timothy Smith, "New Approaches to the History of Immigration in 20th Century America", in The America Historical Review LXXI, (July 1966), p. 127. �155 SLOVAKIA 16) Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Sister M. Consuela Gregorovic, p. 14. 17) Ibid. , p. 3. 18 ) Earliest Plans, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 19) Ibid . 20) Ibid. 21) The girls wer,e Mary Mihalik, Mary Bartek and Mary Pauly. 22) Father Jankola, Ms., pp. 38-46. 23) Philosophy of Saint Cyril Academy, Ms. 24) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our America, p. 501. 25) The Educational Activities of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. C-Ommunity Archives, composition by Sister Maria Berchmans Teplicky, p. 4. 26) Danville, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 27) Ibid. 28) Educational Expansion, Ms. in SS. C.M. Community Archives. 29) Josephine M. Marcinko, "A Little Historical Sketch" in Fialky (Danville, 1927), p. 23. 30) Edttcational Expansion, Ms. 31) Preparing to Build, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 32) Ibid. 33) Morning News, (Danville, May 23, 1929), p. 6. 34 ) Brief History of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, p. 85. 35) Fialky, (Danville, 1931), p. 82. 36) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 85. 37) Morning News, (Danville, June 8, 1931), p. 4. 38) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, pp. 88-90. 39 ) Ibid. , p. 108. 40 ) Joseph Pauco, Slovakia, pp. 26-28. 41) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 125. 42) Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Jankola Book, (Danville, 1972) , p. 90. 43) SS. C. M., Jankola Book, p. 108. � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 132 SLOVAKIA William W a g n e r : The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America The research involved in writing the history of an ethnic teaching community presented me with two problems. First, there are relatively few works completed on American ethnic groups, including the Slovak Americans. Secondly, the past of this particular teaching Community, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, has been largely recorded only by the Sisters of that Community. Therefore, my research on the Slovak past ( still predominantly written in the Slovak tongue) and my compiling of the Community's history were very dependent on the writings of the Sisters of the Community. I believe my work is objective, because of the limitation of my knowledge of the Community's religious life, thus removing me from a biased influence. All in all, I attempted to deal with this subject in such a manner as to present an honest view of the history and purpose surrounding the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. My appreciation is extended to Reverend Mother M. Valeria Romanchek and special thanks are expressed to the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius for their helpful cooperation and endless assistance and guidance throughout the researching of this paper. I dedicate this history to Reverend Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, former Community historian, upon whose research of the Slovak past and the tracing of the Community's growth I so heavily relied. THE ROOTS OF SLOVAK CULTURE ARE CENTURIES OLD The United States is the most important immigrant receiving country in the world. Between 1850 and 1930 no less than thirty-eight million people settled within our borders. 1 Although early in this immigration period many SLOVAKIA 133 newcomers strove to sever ties with the old world, a sizeable portion continued to look reverently upon their past. The Slovak American, who journeyed to this country primarily in the later wave of European immigration, were such a group. The Slovaks feared the loss of their native culture to a new growing American culture because their past history consisted of repeated attempts at such assimilation. But also in America the Slovak hoped for the chance and the right to have his own life. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are a teaching community dedicated to preserving and promoting this American Slovak culture. Because one-third of all Slovaks live in America,2 the Sisters' preservation of their culture is extremely important to the overall existence of the Slovak people as a national entity. The Slovak people are a small part of the Slavic family found on the European continent. Ethnologists place the Slovaks in the Western Slavic group, which also includes Poles, Czechs and Moravians. Commonly but erroneously the Slovaks are considered only a part of the "Czechoslovak Nation," but during the ten centuries of Slovak history, the Slovaks did not live in a common state with the Czechs until 1918. Little is known of the early Slavs. Ancient Greeks and Romans made contact, but left few records. Early recorded Slovak history tells of struggles with Asiatic tribes, particularly the Avari to whom the Slovaks were subjected for almost a century. The subjection was followed by the influence and reign of the Franks. 3 The early Slovak was pagan and war-like. He had many customs but few laws. He was chiefly agricultural and believed in various superstitions. This type of religion held fast until the ninth century when Prince Pribina, the first direct Slovak ruler of Slavic birth, established the first Slavic Christian church. Pribina's efforts to christianize his people met with little success, largely because he was dependent on Frankish missionaries whose language his people could not understand. 4 In 846 Pribina's court surrendered to Rastislav, a skillful warrior, who succeeded in winning independence from the Franks. Rastislav sought religious as well as political freedom. In the year 863 Prince Rastislav invited the two 134 SLOVAKIA holy brothers, Constantine and Methodius, to come from Constantinople and work among the Slovak people. These Byzantine missionaries found it necessary to invent an alphabet for the Slavs, so that the Holy Scriptures could be given to them in their own tongue. After having the use of the Slavonic tongue in Western Liturgy sanctioned by the Roman Pope, Methodius returned to Slovakia as a bishop. Constantine meanwhile had died in Rome in 869 , after entering a monastery there and assuming the name of Cyril. By means of their translations of the Holy Scriptures Constantine and Methodius laid the foundations of Slavic literature. The introduction of schools went hand in hand with this introduction and spread of Christianity in Slovakia.5 Archbishop Methodius continued his teaching and missionary activity until his death in 885. That period of political independence for Slovakia lasted but a short time. Slovakia was soon incorporated into the State of Hungary, which during medieval times consisted of various nations. During this period known as 'The Thousand Years of Oppression', the Slovaks' civil life declined and thus their national consciousness was under a cloud. The Lutheran Reformation, the Turkish invasion of Hungary in 1526 and the Counter-Reformation led by the Jesuits all had varying effects on Slovak education. But it was not until the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the state control of education under Empress Maria Theresa, that the Slovak education was directed by any one source. The State of Hungary considered it its duty to provide for the education of its people, hoping to make the power of the state felt in every phase of life.6 The reigns of Maria Theresa and Joseph II saw an expansion of education and also an attempt at Germanization of the Slovaks. Joseph's attempt at Germanization was significantly challenged in 1847 and replaced by Hungarian Magyarization. Whether Germanization or Magyarization the NonHungarian Nationalities' interests were ignored. In 1867 the 'Austro-Hungarian Compromise' touched off rapid action to create a unitary Hungary by Magyarizing all departments of public life, especially the schools. The aim of this policy was the complete assimilation and SLOVAKIA 135 conversion of Slovakia into a purely Magyar Province of Hungary. Since language is the chief symbol of nationality, the Slovak language was suppressed. Poor economically and having their national ideals and traditions submerged, the Slovaks began seeking a new way to improve their life. U.S. SHINES WITH HOPE FOR SLOVAK IMMIGRANTS Immigration held the dream of a better life. The heaviest immigration of the Slovaks occurred between 1890 and 1900.7 It must be stressed that the majority of immigrants came to America for economic reasons, few peasants ever left East Europe during this period due to political reasons, though politics did cause many not to return. 8 The first immigrants were usually the fathers of the Slovak families, hoping for quick economic gain, and a subsequent return to their native land and families. But once in America few immigrants returned. They found employment that significantly raised their living standard. Though in a strange, sometimes hostile land, the immigrant recognized the ideals of freedom that he was denied in his homeland. As thoughts of returning to their native land diminished, the pioneering immigrants sent for their families to join them in their adopted country. 9 Once the immigrant families had situated themselves in this new land, they were faced with problems of adjustment. The majority of the Slovak immigrants settled in the industrial East, seeking employment with the mining industries, particularly in Pennsylvania. Since the closing of the American frontier the greatest means of livelihood for new immigrants was in these rising industrial areas.10 As the economic necessity of making a living diminished, the new Americans turned to their social needs. Subsequently as the new settlements became more permanent, these Slovak immigrants turned to their religious needs. They began by building community parishes, while searching for Slovak priests who were few in number in this time of early immigration.11 The churches provided a common bond upon which were built beneficial organizations, such as the organizations of the First Catholic Slovak Union known as Jednota. It was the purpose of these beneficial groups to locate and unite the scattered elements 136 SLOVAKIA of American Slovaks. Unity was usually provided through the weekly Slovak newspapers. EDUCATION AL ASPIRATIONS OF AMERICAN SLOVAKS Upon completion of the drive to build parishes the Slovaks had finished with what they call the Church Age of their settlement in America. 12 Having established themselves within their own community, they were faced with the task of joining the larger American community. Obviously, they needed to learn the English language and familiarize themselves with American customs. It was over this need for education that friction developed. On the one hand the immigrant desired to be accepted in this new environment; yet on the other, he also desired to preserve his own cultural past. The first generation immigrant was taught English usually by his employer and did not have his culture challenged, thus resisting assimilation. 13 It was the education of successive generations that presented the problem of cultural alienation. The apparent choice in education was to enroll their offsprings in public schools in order to help them adjust to this new American Life. But education in the public schools posed severe cultural hazards. The public school taught American subjects with American values. The foreign children were judged by American cultural standards of conduct. In this position the foreign children were caught between their old culture and the new American culture. This had definite results: A limited number abandoned their embarrassing heritage-to accept American standards; a larger number sought to forget their traditional background regarding them as inferior-lead ing to family disruption and disintegration . Finally, the largest group failed to adjust to school and left feeling disregarded, discouraged and inferior .14 The public school encouraged the disintegration of Slovak families. The Slovaks had successfully resisted attempts of assimilation by stronger cultures in the past, but now they faced the task of resisting assimilation in a foreign land. To be assimilated meant the destruction of their culture. The chief means of assimilation was through education, as was attempted in their past history. Though it was largely an unconscious process by which America imposed its own standard of ideals on the new- SLOVAKIA 137 comers, the public schools were succeeding in imposing a common English culture upon the children of many nationalities. 15 By treating the immigrant as a native the public school disregarded his culture and background. What was needed was a means to hand down a suitable portion of his native culture in order to provide a past, thus avoiding an identity crisis. The public school system could not provide this necessity in full. What was needed was a new system that could teach their children good American citizenship and preserve in them a profitable appreciation of the language, culture and tradition of their forefathers, while still providing a sufficient academic education. Fearing further disintegration of their culture, the Slovaks began searching and discussing alternatives in the development of Slovak America. REV. MATTHEW JANKOLA ASSUMES LEADERSHIP A leader in this search for a solution to the American Slovak's educational needs was Father Matthew Jankola. He spent much time studying his fellow Slovaks in their new surroundings. Early in his life he wrote: "We have a serious problem, the problem of educating our children according to American methods, and for American citizenship, without, however, destroying their cultural character and their cultural traditions." 16 With this attitude Father Jankola formed an Association of Priests in 1903 to consider the question of providing for the Catholic education of Slovak youth. Father Jankola began his studies for the priesthood in his native Slovakia. But under pressure from both the Hungarian civil and ecclesiastical authorities, which frowned apon Slovak devotion to Saints Cyril and Methodius, and the fostering of Slovak nationalism, Father Jankola sought refuge in America. 17 He arrived in 1893, and finished his studies at Saint Bonaventure's Seminary in Allegheny, New York. As a priest Father Jankola dedicated himself to the problem of cultural disintegration of his people, begun in Hungary and now continuing in America. It was on behalf of this couse that Father Jankola directed his early writings. When considering education, Father Jankola looked to its broader meaning of culture, rather than its narrow sense of formal schooling. He felt 138 SLOVAKIA that next to the parish church must be a school, because without Catholic schools the Catholic Church had no future, no assured existence. Father Jankola saw the parish church alone and unaided by a Catholic school as but a "feeble barrier" against the rapid onrush of worldliness and a too sudden Americanization for Slovak youth. Further, to preserve the Slovak national character, the children must be educated in Slovak schools with religious principles. Father Jankola held the schools as helpful for religious training, and necessary also to preserve nationality. In Father Jankola's mind the church directed religion, not language; for the teaching of language, which fosters the national spirit, teachers and schools were needed.18 In this spirit Father Jankola called for the establishment of schools, staffed by Slovak Sisters. His initial contact with the Slovak people on this project was done through the newspapers, such as the weekly Jednota. Many attempts were made · to secure Slavic Sisters, but to no avail. This was a time of heavy immigration causing the demand for Sisters in America to be very great. Confronted with the problem of no available Sisters for his project, Father Jankola suggested the possibility of founding a Religious Community for the education of Slovak youth. The suggestion was received favorably, so Father Jankola sought Slovak candidates to train in an American Sisterhood, which would later branch off into an independent congregation as their numbers grew. A Czech Benedictine Community of Sisters expressed willingness to receive and educate Slovak girls. Father Jankola secured three aspirants who were sent to the Czech Sisters in Chicago. But this project failed when the girls became discontented and wished to return to Pennsylvania. Their return was hard on Father Jankola, but their young age and the great distances they had traveled made him sympathetic. 19 Father Jankola did not abandon his project. Instead, upon further study he came in contact with Mother Mary Cyril at Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Scranton, Penna. After considering Father Jankola's plan for a parochial school system under Slovak Sisters, Mother Mary Cyril agreed to accept the young girls. The girls entered Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in November of 1903, to learn the SLOVAKIA 139 principles of religious life and live according to its Rules. 20 While preparing the Slovak girls for religious teaching and guidance under Mother Mary Cyril and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Father Jankola began a fund to further his project. He established "St. Anthony's Treasury" which received donations from parishes, societies and individuals. A TEACHING COMMUNITY OF SLOVAK SISTERS IS BORN On September 11, 1909, the first Slovak girls pronounced their religious vows, 21 marking the birth of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, honoring the Saints who gave Slovakia its faith and culture. Father Jankola noted that this was the founding of the first Slovak religious sisterhood that the Slovaks ever had, either in Europe or America. At the birth of this new Order Father Jankola set down four principal reasons for its conception: 1) Educate Slovak children 2) Care for Slovak orphans and aged 3) Preserve Slovak culture 4) Pray for the return of Slav schismatics.22 Father Jankola's first principle has been the primary apostolate of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. The parish school has always constituted the particular vocation of the Sisters. The Sisters set themselves the traditional objective of education in a Christian spirit to develop and train to the fullest the powers and capacities of a young student's mind and body. They also strove to inculcate principles of true patriotism and citizenship in order to develop enlightened, conscientious American citizens, imbued with Christian attitudes of justice and charity, peace and order, which they feel are the main components for social living. As Slovak American teachers, they endeavored to preserve some of the traditions and the cultural heritage of the Slovak people among the students of Slovak parentage, and to foster in all students an interest and respect for the varied cultures and attitudes that make up the Brotherhood of Man. 23 Through such recognition and acceptance of foreign natures, characteristics, and personalities built from a different culture, the Sisters sought to achieve cultural democracy. To accept cultural democracy means to accept 140 SLOVAKIA a technique of social adjustment that will make possible the preservation of the best of all cultures. 24 This was the desire of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. To accept, as well as to be accepted, is the condition for effective pluralism in a nation. Cultural pluralism in the American educational system has existed because we are a multi-cultural, multi-racial, and multi-lingual nation. It was thought that the public school system would Americanize these foreign elements into the melting pot of uniform American culture. The concept of American culture as a mosaic has been the reason for, and the challenge of, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. For six years this newly established Community of Sisters continued under the guidance of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was on August 4, 1915, that the Community had its first elections in which Sister Mary (Mihalik) was elected the first Superior General. During this period the Sisters opened their first school to educate children in the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, marking the beginning of the educational work of the Community. Before this group could be firmly established Mother Mary died in 1916. Her successor was Mother M. Emmanuel whose greatest achievement involved the establishment of a suitable, permanent Motherhouse.25 MOTHER M. EMMANUEL, SS.C.M. (1916-1922) The Sisters had been temporarily situated in Middletown, Pennsylvania. While in this location, Mother M. Emmanuel sought a permanent Motherhouse. She was informed by Reverend Julius Foin about a large tract of land with an old mansion in Danville. Through Bishop Philip R. McDevitt, Mother M. Emmanuel made contact with a local attorney, Ralph Kisner, and was informed that the 'Castle Grove' property was for sale. The Mansion site proper, containing thirteen acres-forty rooms, eleven bathrooms-finished throughout with hardwood, was a relic of the passing iron industry in Danville. There was also an adjoining farm with one hundred thirty-three acres and numerous outbuildings. This enormous dwelling was perfect for Mother M. Emmanuel's aims, but the price was beyond the Community's ability to pay. Upon inspection of this property, Mother M. Emmanuel found that the Mansion had stood SLOVAKIA 141 vacant for fourteen years, needing numerous repairs. With this in mind she made a meager offer. The actual owner was in France, causing slow communication. Price remained the hindrance as Mother M. Emmanuel would not raise her offer. In March of 1919, Attorney Kisner informed the Sisters that the owner had agreed to drastically reduce his price to meet the Community's needs. Now that the Community's prayers for a Motherhouse had been answered, only the necessary funds for purchase remained an obstacle. The Sisters had saved about half of the required amount, but had discouraging experiences in acquiring the rest. This was the critical period during World War I, causing excess funds to be scarce.26 After futile appeals to the citizens and banks of the Wilkes-Barre area, a heavily populated Slovak community, Mother M. Emmanuel turned to the Danville National Bank for a loan. This bank considered the risk minimal and granted the loan at low interest. With payment secured, the Sisters concluded the 'Castle Grove' deal in June of 1919, and began preparations for the transfer of the Motherhouse from Middletown to its permanent home in Danville. Throughout the summer months in 1919, the Sisters worked to put the house and grounds in order. Within this new convent the Community prepared for the continuance of religious training for its Sisters and converted one of the two ballrooms into a chapel. Holy Mass was first celebrated on Sunday morning, July 6, 1919. With the approach of Autumn all but the Sisters in training took leave of 'Sacred Heart Villa,' as the grounds had been named, to resume their duties in the parish schools. During the War Years the demand for Sisters in parochial schools became very great. The war and the influenza epidemic strongly limited the work of the Sisters.27 As this situation relaxed in the summer of 1920, Mother M. Emmanuel arranged classes for the Sisters to improve their educational resources. The educational progress of the Community was under the direction of the Sisters from Marywood. This was being continued by Mother M. Emmanuel who sought also to further the Community's material progress. She was engaged in soliciting funds from the homes of Slovaks to pay off the Sister's bank loan. Mother M. Emmanuel promoted thrift within her 142 SLOVAKIA Community because she felt the Community would be more secure in the American culture when free from debt. Mother M. Emmanuel's term expired in 1922. She had directed this young Sisterhood through its pioneering days, giving it shelter, resources and existence through the war years. Mother M. Emmanuel's main contribution was, of course, the establishment of the Motherhouse that was to become the center of Slovak culture in America. MOTHER M. PIUS, SS.C.M. OPENS ST. CYRIL ACADEMY IN 1922 By the choice of the Sisters, Sister M. Pius was elected the third Superior General. Bishop McDevitt, who supervised the election, also commented on the importance of the Sisters' studies because someday the civil authorities would require that every teacher must be certified by the State of Pennsylvania. Certification would be important in having the Community accepted as a competent educational institution in American society. Now that they had an established center, the Sisters could begin to focus their educational mission with greater assurance. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had always wished for the establishment of a high school and boarding school for girls. Presently, they were only employed in elementary education. This idea for an institution of higher education for their own children was popular among the Slovaks. In addition to the regularly prescribed American branches, they wanted their offsprings to be taught the mother tongue and trained to appreciate the historical and cultural traditions of their nation. 28 To this wish Mother M. Pius responded. Mother M. Pius expressed a desire to have an official from the Department of Public Instruction in Harrisburg come to Danville to give a lecture on the requirements of the State, regarding the equipment and function of a high school and its accreditation. In August of 1922, Doctor Edward Hoban arrived from Harrisburg and explained such subjects as extension courses, summer school, teacher certificates, teaching of foreign languages, importance of teaching citizenship, the teaching of historical and social studies, and the necessity of physical education. This lecture assured the commencement of preparation for a high school on American terms. SLOVAKIA 143 The following week an advertisement appeared in the Slovak newspapers stating that the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius had equipped part of their convent at Danville as a boarding school for girls. To conform to American standards the equipment of the high school called for two very important departments -the Library and the Laboratory for the Sciences. Both of these were begun with the opening of the school. Books acquired were those recommended by the Department o! Education. Also a large selection of Catholic and Slovak books supplemented the Community's aim of a multicultural education. In all, nineteen pupils attended the first year of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School, indicating a desire on the part of the Slovaks to have their children educated in a Slovak, as well as an American atmosphere. Towards the close of the first year in the spring of 1923, a small group of students ventured into the school's first extra-curricular activity. These girls formed a Literary Society in which they compiled a little booklet of essays, stories, and poems. Under Mother M. Pius' encouragement this activity continued, resulting in the first issue of the bi-lingual (Slovak and American) school magazine, Fialky (Violets). The Fialky were thereafter issued semi-annually until 1940 and then annually until 1970, when it ceased publication. During the summer vacation Mother M. Pius encouraged the Sisters toward further studies, hoping to improve their competence as teachers. She was anxious to secure state certification for as many Sisters as could qualify. Now that the Community was engaged in all levels of education, Mother M. Pius wished to secure them within the American educational system through accreditation. The Academy's opening in the second year exposed space problems as enrollment grew. Mother Pius expressed the need for a strong building fund and enacted new collection drives among the Slovak people. The number of students steadily increased into the third and fourth year.• With the fourth year the need for accredition increased as the first graduation approached. The school was informed that the State Representatives would make an official inspection at the school year's end. That June, just a week before graduation, the State 144 SLOVAKIA Inspector arrived and spent a day inspecting the school, interviewing both the staff and the students. The State Representative, Doctor Pentz, found the Slovak students being educated and trained in all that the modern high schools offered, and in their Religion and mother tongue as well. To this he expressed his satisfaction, commenting on the orderly and methodological way in which the different departments were being conducted. 29 After Dr. Pentz reported the Academy as "first class" in both arrangement and curriculum, the school received a telegram, congratulating teachers and students on receiving accreditation from the State. This good news arrived just days before the first graduation, much to the Sisters' delight. While preparations for this first commencement progressed, another great event was in prospect, namely, the Eucharistic Congress in Chicago. This event made a great impact on the first commencement of the First Catholic Slovak Girls High School. Accreditation from the State of Pennsylvania proved the Sisters' ability to provide their students with a fitting education in their new society, but what remained to be seen was whether or not the Sisters could live up to the task of preserving Slovak culture in America. Slovak American culture was to receive a fresh impetus by the Eucharistic Congress held in Chicago. Due to attend the Congress were four bishops from Slovakia. The presence of these Slovak bishops greatly excited the Slovak Americans and especially the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, since through the influence of Bishop McDevitt arrangements were made to have these four bishops attend the Academy's first graduation. The date of the festivity was June 14, 1926. Under the guidance of Bishop McDevitt, who presided at the First Graduation ceremony, the entire Community and students assembled at the Convent's gate to welcome the visiting bishops. Upon the arrival of the Slovak bishops, who were traveling in European fashion, clad in cassock and purple cincture, the commencement proceeded with prayers, songs, and speeches. The speeches were delivered in Slovak, calling for a continuance of Catholic education. Bishop McDevitt's address underscored the advantages which the SLOVAKIA 145 Slovak people can derive from a solid Catholic education. He also pointed out that this could be done because the American government stood to protect the religious rights of all American citizens. The theme of religious pluralism in America was carried further by the Senior Bishop from Slovakia in a speech that noted how this American government respects, upholds, and protects the religious liberty of the people who found refuge under her banner. Bishop Marian Blaha further cited the great accomplishments of the American Slovaks. Their ability to provide a Catholic education while preserving their mother tongue greatly impressed him. Then as an old Slovak proverb states, "Every perfect day must end even as the sweetest song" -this first commencement was no exception; it was concluded by a student chorale of inspirational Slovak songs.30 The first graduation was a significant milestone in the history of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It was their first public manifestation of their educational standards and traditions. The graduation exercise presented a new phase in the mission of the Slovak Sisters. Their people realized that Danville would not only house a Convent and an Academy, but would be the center of genuine culture for the Slovaks in America. To attain a status combining a true Americanism with an appreciation of the spirit and traditions of their native land was the Community's desire.31 With this spirit of appreciation, encouraged by the sharp increase of applicants, new thoughts of building were entertained. But unlike before, the Slovak people, organizations and individuals alike, urged this step. These groups advised a general benefit drive for funds, alleging the time was ripe for such a movement since industrial conditions were favorable and the people were willing to donate.32 In the spring of 1927 Mother M. Pius presented a letter of the officers of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies' Union, another element of Slovak-American culture, announcing the drive for a building fund. When Mother M. Pius asked for their contribution, she was immediately promised five thousand dollars. The response elsewhere was the same. The Slovak newspapers pushed the drive and local groups competed in fund raising. This favorable reaction illustrates the Slovak-Americans' desire for an enlarged Slovak cultural center in America. 146 SLOVAKIA With the building fund well under way, Mother M. Pius contracted Architect Bernard Starr of Harrisburg, who in turn sought the assistance of Harry Sternfeld of Philadelphia. A spot for the new building was selected on the Villa Sacred Heart campus, and Mr. Sternfeld sketched a building dominated by a central tower. This initial plan brought eriticism for its "needless extravagance," but Mother M. Pius retained the plan as the answer to the needs of the Community, plus the cultural, educational and religious needs of the Slovak-American people. The Community wasted no time in beginning the new building. Ground was broken on May 23, 1929, in a ceremony which the local Danville Morning News described as an event to go down in Slovak history. 33 The speakers' program included representatives of the church, state, and Slovak national life. As the building progressed, the country entered the depression of the 1930's. By the time the building was completed, economic tension was beginning to be felt everywhere.34 With this in mind, Mother M. Pius avoided any elaborate dedication ceremony. This new building was made to catch the spirit of the past and to intepret it with a contemporaneous point of view in order to make it fit actual conditions.35 Its design was in accord with the ideals of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius, who hoped to blend the past into a new, usable present. In a more practical manner the new building provided an institution solely devoted to the education of the Slovak people and the preserving of their culture. It was viewed as a national work, one that provided b roader limits and better accommodations which would produce greater results. 36 The local paper saw the building as a monument to the Slovak people of America, and considered it one of the local community's finest aspects.37 The Sisters moved into their new building in September of 1931. The following three years were quiet, filled with earnest activity toward the educational goals of the Community. This period ended with the significant year of 1934, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Community's existence. In those twenty-five years the Community developed and established itself in a permanent Motherhouse, which in turn had developed the First Catholic Slovak Girls' High SLOVAKIA 147 School, crowned by the magnificent new building. This had been done under three Superiors General-Mother Mary, Mother M. Emmanuel, Mother M. Pius-all of whom promoted the cultivation of the Slovak language and history, which, with religion, constitute the two outstanding characteristics of the Slovak Academy. Extra-curricular activities, like Fialky and Cyrilika-a society for fostering interest in Slovak journalism-as well as customs established for the practical study of Slovak, such as speaking Slovak all day every Saturday, and the annual observance of Slovak Week, acquired notice and approval. The observance of Slovak tradition gave this Academy a unique position in the field of American education.38 With a high spirit of celebration the Silver Jubilee of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius commenced. The Jubilee marked still another turning point in the Community's history as it came at the close of Mother M. Pius' long administration. Her work finished laying a firm foundation which became the base for a promising era of new growth. MOTHER M. EMERENTIA, SS.C.M. (1934-1946) In this new period of the Community's history the work of the Academy advanced quietly, with gratifying results in the field of Slovak-American culture. When Mother M. Emerentia was elected Superior General in 1934, she encouraged Slovak interests and cultural projects like formal programs, dramatic productions, Slovak readings, folk song festivals and, above all, research and creative writing on Slovak topics. Mother M. Emerentia was also responsible for the compilation of Slovak language texts and hymnals used widely in Slovak elementary schools and parishes in America. The early years of Mother M. Emerentia's administration coincided with the greatest period of the depression. Though there was no drop in student enrollment, neither was there the marked increase that would have normally been the case.• These drawbacks, however, had advantages. The subdued quiet of the interval was conducive to a greater concentration on school work, both regular and extracurricular. Correspondence with students in Slovakia '' See enrollment figures; Table I. 148 SLOVAKIA was an activity greatly enjoyed by the students of St. Cyril Academy. It was also during these years that the school was favored by a number of distinguished visitors from Slovakia, including a delegation from the Slovak Institute of Arts and Sciences, a group of students from the Slovak unit of Pax Romana, plus numerous distinguished scholars, writers, and statesmen, including the Slovak martyr, Msgr. Joseph Tiso.39 When our country was drawn into war on December 8, 1941, the first care of the Motherhouse was directed toward the Sisters and their pupils in the parish schools. The Community placed its trust in God and His care of our country, and classes went on as usual. However, extracurricular activities were directed toward war needs. Beyond the prayers for peace, the Community and its students turned out quantities of knitted sweaters and helmets. They experienced the value of thrift by rationing food and collected all scraps such as fats, iron and paper. The Sisters also joined in relief efforts for their native land. An extensive relief project for the war sufferers in Slovakia was aided by the Community, which sent abroad numerous packages of relief materials. The motherhouse was a center for this organized relief work. The relief project continued in action even after the war, when Slovakia again was suppressed by a stronger force. Following a remarkably successful and flourishing six-year period of self-rule under the Presidency of Tiso, the Slovak government collapsed when victory came to Russia and the Allies. 40 With this victory Slovakia was overrun by the Communists. Their occupation of the country led to the execution of Msgr. Tiso, plus the silencing of many bishops and priests. The people of Slovakia remained in destitution; hence, the necessity for relief work to continue until the Iron Curtain cut off all communication. 41 The Communist occupation caused more refugees to seek freedom and sanctuary from Slovakia. As thousands came to America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and their students enjoyed fresh contacts with persons of their fatherland. Priests and professional people willingly gave lectures to both the Sisters and the students, chiefly on conditions in Slovakia and on topics of Slovak history. SLOVAKIA 149 Several high school students from Slovakia enrolled in the Academy, thus enriching the Slovak-American culture. MOTHER M. CRESCENTIA, SS.C.M. (1946-1958) While the Slovak-American tradition was being enriched during these post-war years, a new Superior General was elected, placing renewed importance on the educational aspects of the Academy. Mother M. Crescentia realized that during the earlier years the educational objectives could not be pursued as fully as desired since more urgent activities were at hand. In time, however, conditions improved, so that more and better organized work could be done in the field of teacher education. Mother M. Crescentia took advantage of this situation, arranging for more Sisters to take college courses in a greater variety of fields. With this renewed progress in the Sisters' personal educational ventures, activities in the Academy moved apace. The student enrollment at the Academy, which increased only to a minor extent after the depression, now began rapid growth. This growth of the Academy advanced steadily into the fifties, causing every available space within the Academy to be filled. It necessitated the building of Saint Philomena Hall to be used for students' living and classrooms. Also in the fifties, the Community worked for the founding of Father Jankola. They are Villa Saint Cyril in Highland Park, Illinois, and Maria Joseph Manor in Danville, Pennsylvania. By 1958 the Community had a new Superior General in the person of Mother M. Bernard. MOTHER M. BERNARD, SS.C.M. (1958-1970) The highlight of this decade was the observance of the Community's Golden Jubilee. It was climaxed by the celebration of a Roman-Slavonic Mass on the Villa campus in the presence of five thousand visitors from all parts of the country.42 It was the first Roman rite vernacular Mass ever offered on this continent. The increased enrollment and the large turnout for the Roman-Slavonic Mass indicates the strong support the Academy received from the Slovak-American people in its preserving of Slovak culture. The early sixties were also highlighted by a large celebration honoring another aspect of the Comunity's Slovak heritage. The year 1963 marked the eleven hundredth 150 SLOVAKIA anniversary of the arrival of SS. Cyril and Methodius among the Slovaks. In addition to the Community celebration in America, the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius participated in a week-long observance in Rome, involving numerous Slovak pilgrims, who had assembled there for the dedication of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius, a seminary for the training of priests for Slovakia. THE JANKOLA LIBRARY The latter sixties and early seventies for St. Cyril Academy had been dominated by two cherished Slovak projects. First was the active cooperation with the Apostolate of the Slovak Institute of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Rome, begun during the 1963 pilgrimage. Second was the professional development of the Jankola Library at the Academy. This Library is a center of Slovak culture and learning for St. Cyril Academy and Slovak America. It is called Jankola Library in honor of the founder of the Community and promoter of Slovak-American culture, Father Matthew Jankola. The Library provides invaluable resources for study and research purposes, as well as literary works to enrich the Slovak spirit. Jankola Library contains over six thousand (6,000) fully catalogued items on its shelves with several hundred more reserved for further processing.43 Beyond just Slovak books this Library also promotes Slovak-American culture with its large collection of Slovak art. Included among its treasures are a large unusual map of Czecho-Slovakia, an artistically costumed mannequin representing the Slovak tradition, and a large, valuable collection of Slovak ceramic art, some embroidery and sizeable pieces of cutglass sent from Slovakia. This Library with its vast assortment of Slovak art is truly a tribute to Slovakia's culture. With Jankola Library as its Slovak center, SS. Cyril Academy still provides an excellent American education. It offers a wide range of courses, including four foreign languages.* Besides educating students for social living in America, the Academy can also train girls for a religious teaching life within its own Community. The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius are presently teaching in parish schools and eight (8) high schools, including a boarding * Source listing of St. Cyril Academy. Table II. 151 SLOVAKIA school for girls. 0 Education of Slovak children continues to be the principal vocation of a Sister of SS. Cyril and Methodius. It is to these children that a Sister dedicates herseJf and hopes to preserve Slovakia's heritage. Today, the St. Cyril Academy is justifiably proud of tts accomplishments during the past fifty ( 50) years. Both the teaching Sisters and their students are fully educated in, and cognizant of, their dual heritage. The traditions and artifacts of Slovak culture have been preserved; while at the same time, each graduate is proud to be an American. St. Cyril Academy continues to revere its Slovak past. The Sisters continue to aid the suppressed people of Slovakia, but now this is done indirectly to the extent possible. It is the desire of the Sisters of the Academy to provide their countrymen with new hope of cultural freedom by showing them the accomplishments that have been possible in America. This Academy is rightly considered the center of Slovak culture in America. "" List of schools staffed by Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Table III. TABLE I Enrollment figures of St. Cyril Academy, Danville, Pa. Year 1925-26 1926-27 1927-28 1928-29 1929-30 1930-31 1931-32 1932-33 1933-34 1934-35 1935-36 1936-37 1937-38 1938-39 1939-40 1940-41 Total Number of Students 38 39 44 47 42 61 75 69 60 58 52 58 54 50 60 70 Year 1941-42 1942-43 1943-44 1944-45 1945-46 1946-47 1947-48 1948-49 1949-50 1950-51 1951-52 1952-53 1953-54 1954-55 1955-56 1956-57 Total Number of Students 66 55 55 69 91 96 90 107 112 109 123 138 148 153 157 180 Total Number Year of Students 1957-58 1958-59 1959-60 1960-61 1961-62 1962-63 1963-64 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 1967-68 1968-69 1969-70 1970-71 1971-72 1972-73 181 175 162 182 202 195 202 171 156 178 120 108 104 101 108 106 SLOVAKIA 152 TABLE II Curriculum of St. Cyril Academy FIRST YEAR Religion I English I Algebra I Intr. Physical Science Physical Education Chorus World Culture I Latin I Spanish I French I Slovak I Foods Art I Art Appreciation Music Appreciation Health Education Piano Interpretive Dance SECOND YEAR Religion II English II Geometry Biology Physical Education Chorus World Culture II Latin II French II Spanish II Slovak II Foods Clothing I Art II Piano Interpretive Dance THIRD YEAR Religion III English III Algebra II Chemistry Physical Education Chorus American Culture I Latin III Spanish III French III Slovak III Foods Advanced Clothing Art III Piano Interpretive Dance Typing I Stenography I SLOVAKIA 153 FOURTH YEAR Religion IV English IV Business English Math 12 Advanced Biology Physical Education Chorus American Culture II Latin IV Spanish IV French IV Slovak IV Advanced Clothing Art IV Speech Piano Interpretive Dance Typing II Stenography II Bookkeeping Business Law TABLE III SCHOOLS STAFFED BY SIS'llEIBS OF SS. CYRIL AND METHODIUS Berwick, Pa. Bloomsburg, Pa. Binghamton, N. Y. Binghamton, N. Y. Bridgeport, Conn. Bridgeport, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Charleston, S. C. Chicago, Ill. East Vandergrift, Pa. Endicott, N. Y. Gary, Indiana Hazleton, Pa. Jessup, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Luzerne, Pa. Nanticoke, Pa. New York, N. Y. Olyphant, Pa. Perth Amboy, N. J. Phoenixville, Pa. Pittston, Pa. Plymouth, Pa. Stratford, Conn. Swoyersville, Pa. Torrington, Conn. St. Mary's School St. Columba School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. Ann's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School Mother of Sorrows School Blessed Sacrament School Nativity School SS. Simon and Jude School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School Holy Trinity School St. Joseph School St. Michael's School SS. Cyril and Methodius School St. John Nepomucene School St. Joseph School St. John Nepomucene School Holy Ghost School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School St. John Baptist School St. Stephen School Sacred Name of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Sacred Heart of Jesus School SLOVAKIA 154 Immaculate Conception School Sacred Heart of Jesus School Holy Trinity School Whiting, Ind. Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. IDGH SCHOOLS Andrean High School Dunmore Catholic High School Lourdes H. S. Lebanon Catholic H. S. Kingston Catholic Central Catholic Central H. S. Catholic Central (St. Pius X) Blessed Sacrament Academy St. Cyril Academy 1. Gary, Ind. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Dunmore, Pa. Shamokin, Pa. Lebanon, Pa. Kingston, Pa. Charleston, S. C. Pottstown, Pa. Yonkers, N. Y. Danville, Pa. FOOTNOTES 1) David F . Bowers, "Social and Cultural Impact" in For eign Influences in American Life (Princeton, 1944) , p. 1. 2) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens (New York, 1969), p. 86. 3) The Slovak Nation, Manuscript in Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius Community Archives, Danville, Pennsylvania. 4 ) Ibid. 5) Education in Slovakia, Manuscript in SS. C. M Community Archives, composition by M . I. Angelovic, pp. 88. 6) Ibid. 7) Ear liest Immigration, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 8 ) Emily Balch, Our Slavic Fellow Citizens, p . 108. 9 ) Earliest Immigration Ms. 10) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, "Czechoslovak American" in One America (New York, 1946), p. 147. 11) In 1899, there were eight Slovak priests in America. Earliest Immigration Ms. 12) The Slovaks divide their settlement in America into three Ages: Church Age, School Age, and Institution Age. Ibid. 13) Daniel Tanzone, "The Slovak Experience in Contemporary America" in Slovakia (Middletown, Pa., 1972), p. 129. 14) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our Racial and National Minorities (New York, 1937), p. 602. 15) Timothy Smith, "New Approaches to the History of Immigration in 20th Century America", in The America Historical Review LXXI, (July 1966), p. 127. 155 SLOVAKIA 16) Contributions of Reverend Matthew Jankola to Slovak Catholic Education in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Sister M. Consuela Gregorovic, p. 14. 17) Ibid. , p. 3. 18 ) Earliest Plans, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 19) Ibid . 20) Ibid. 21) The girls wer,e Mary Mihalik, Mary Bartek and Mary Pauly. 22) Father Jankola, Ms., pp. 38-46. 23) Philosophy of Saint Cyril Academy, Ms. 24) Francis Brown and Joseph Roucek, Our America, p. 501. 25) The Educational Activities of the Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius in the United States, Ms. in SS. C. M. C-Ommunity Archives, composition by Sister Maria Berchmans Teplicky, p. 4. 26) Danville, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 27) Ibid. 28) Educational Expansion, Ms. in SS. C.M. Community Archives. 29) Josephine M. Marcinko, "A Little Historical Sketch" in Fialky (Danville, 1927), p. 23. 30) Edttcational Expansion, Ms. 31) Preparing to Build, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives. 32) Ibid. 33) Morning News, (Danville, May 23, 1929), p. 6. 34 ) Brief History of the Congregation of the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Ms. in SS. C. M. Community Archives, composition by Mother M. Emerentia Petrasek, p. 85. 35) Fialky, (Danville, 1931), p. 82. 36) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 85. 37) Morning News, (Danville, June 8, 1931), p. 4. 38) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, pp. 88-90. 39 ) Ibid. , p. 108. 40 ) Joseph Pauco, Slovakia, pp. 26-28. 41) Brief History, Ms., Petrasek, p. 125. 42) Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Jankola Book, (Danville, 1972) , p. 90. 43) SS. C. M., Jankola Book, p. 108.  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 Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America Description An account of the resource William Wagner Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 132-155 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Wagner, William Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/5c84ba193349ca8be719af99811dfa73.pdf 026bfe83c00414990c13fcfa434d188c PDF Text Text 210 SLOVAKIA CURRENT ISSUES RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT CONFERENCE OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA IN NEW YORK CITY, MAY 19, 1973 Your Holiness: In the name of more than 350,000 American-Slovaks, the greater majority Catholic, and supporting the Slovak League of America and its cultural and civic programs, we extend cordial greetings. We appreciate your efforts and dedication to obtain equal rights for all Catholics and to continue the ecumenical co-operation with all Christians and believers throughout the whole world. We also present to you a petition asking that you give particular attention to the land of our forefathers-Slovakia -cradle in 833 of Christianity in Central Europe and ever devotedly loyal to the Holy See. Notwithstanding this historic fact, Slovakia, oppressed by the atheistic Soviet regime in civil affairs, lacks, in the spiritual domain, its own province, does not have a single archbishop and for so long a time, no Slovak has achieved cardinalhood. Of course, Slovak Catholics share their sufferings with their Lutheran and Greek Catholic brethren. We respectfully suggest that Slovakia be accorded similar recognition as Bohemia, Moravia, Slovenia, Croatia and many other countries in Africa and Asia. We are confident that among dedicated and oppressed Slovak clergy can be found an archbishop to lead a Slovak ;irovince as in days gone by. Such a magnanimous gesture would invigorate all Slovaks at home as well as here in America. We believe that your Holiness by such a decision will strengthen us and thus fortify our fidelity to the Vatican and reverence to the throne of St. Peter. Very respectfully and sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary Dear Mr. President: The Slovak League of America on the occasion of its 1973 Conference here in New York extends cordial greetings. We hope you will continue to enjoy good health and achieve even greater success in your efforts on behalf of all citizens of whatever origin. We unequivocally endorse your stand in Vietnam and welcome your policy in Europe and Asia. As you are well aware, our origins are in Central Europe, in �SLOVAKIA 211 Slovakia, which has a more than 1100 year Christian history and which for many centuries, excepting a brief period, has lived in subjugation. Now, Slovakia is in its fifth year of Soviet occupation and deprivation by the communists of all human, spiritual and political rights. So, today, we again respectfully request that you, individually as our leader, as well as your entire administration, continue to remember Slovakia and the other oppressed nations behind the Iron Curtain. All thes•e subjugated peoples seek and des·erve statehood and democratic freedom such as we in the United States are so fortunate to enjoy. In your discussions with the leaders of the totalitarian world, we ask that you give high priority to this humane cause. W!! are confident that if permitted free elections, our brethren in Slovakia would officially confirm their dedication and devotion to the United States of America as the stalwart guardian of human freedoms . Most Sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS HELD IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 30TH 1973 The representatives of Slovaks abroad gathered at the General Assembly of the Slovak World Congress, held in Chicago on June 28-30th, 1973, adopted the following Declaration: (1) We consider ourselves an integral part of the Slovak people. We are conscious of our co-responsibility for their destiny and for their contribution to the overall culture of humanity. (2) We claim for the Slovak nation, on the basis of its national individuality, recognition for an equal status with other sovereign nations of the world. (3) We deny any Great Power the right to interfere with the destiny of the Slovak people and to integrate Slovakia in other states or zones of influence which are opposed to the will of the Slovak people and their national interests. We consider such actions, condemned as they are by all civilized people of the world, to be a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. (4) We demand the departure of all occupation forces from Central Europe in order that, after more than a quarter �212 SLOVAKIA of a century since the end of the War, the nations of that area can finally govern themselves. (5) As representatives of a nation conscious of its responsibility towards others, we consider the principles of democracy and humanism the basis for peace and co-operation among the peoples of the world. (6) On these principles alone, life in freedom and a free culture can develop in Slovakia according to the traditions of the Slovak people and in harmony with the progress of the world. PHILIP A. HROBAK YEAR January 10, 1974 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Philip A. Hrobak, and on May 1, 1974 we will mark the seventieth anniversary of his birth. These special dates impel us to honor his memory in a special way. He was one of the most deserving of our cultural and civic workers from among the many American-born Slovaks and one who dedicated himself to the Slovak cause since early manhoJd. Philip A. Hrobak, as a newspaperman, writer, histocian, linguist, fraternalist and organizer rose to heights in American Slovak life. His contributions to the Slovak cause in both English and Slovak are most noteworthy and memorable in Slovak history. Therefore, the Slovak League of America deems it a special honor to be able to lend itself to the legacy of Philip A. Hrobak. Not only did he honorably serve as a long time editor of JEDNOTA, as the founder and editor of "Slovak Newsletters," "Jednota Annual Furdek" and "Slo·v akia", but also as a distinguished President and member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America-all this is his eternal monument. Bowing before his genius, we turn to our Slovak people and we seek recognition in 1974 of the unfinished dreams of Philip A. Hrobak and so-licit continued help in proving that we i>..re all worthy followers of this g,r eat son of our people. For the Slovak League of America, the year 1974 will be the time of increased activity, as he idealized and set by his example. In tribute to his linguistic talents, we can have the opportunity to help build a strong scholarship fund for the League, because the main purpose of this fund is to preserve and enhance, as he desired, the Slovak conscience in America. Surely, there cannot be any American Slovak who would not make his or her contribution to our scholarship fund in memory of Philip .A. Hirobak. The Slovak League of America also feels compelled to follow the �SLOVAKIA 213 footsteps of Philip A. Hrobak in other fields. In the firat place, we must preserve and continue with the annual "Slovakia", we must daily and fairly continue to inform the American public of the ideals and accomplishments of the American Slovaks, and we must continue our cl-forts to renew the rightful place of the Slovak nation as an independent unit in the family of nations. These were the goals of Philip A. Hrobak, and our Slovak League has so proceeded in the last ten years since we with heavy hearts bid a sad farewell to our never-forgotten leader. With prayer, with labor, and with sacrifices we thus honor this meritocious Slovak son. May the memory of Philip A. Hrobak be perpetual. Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary As the others see it represented. What to me is more worse, is the attempt to sublimate the Slovaks into the Czech people. That's why we hear about a 'Czechoslovak nation'. It does not exists! Czecho-Slovakia is a political entity of two nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. I never think of myself as Czech. I am Slovak and nothing else."- Rev. John Zornan, President of the Slovak Zion Synod, "What kind of man is Alex Del- National News, Pittsburgh, Pa., vecchio? (Playing for Detroit Red August 1, 1973. Wings.) He's middle aged, 41. A guy who you can't get in an "Despite the courage and per• argument with. His salt-and-pepper severance the Slovaks and other gray hair is impeccably coiffured peoples of Eastern Europe have around round Eastern European displayed time and again in their face (his late mother was a Slovak; relentless search for internal liberhis father Italian.)" - Bob Naylor, ties and external sovereignty, they Detroit Free Press, December 9, cannot achieve their goals without 1973. outside help. It is our duty, and only in keeping with our own "The idea of 'Slovak Heritage' is to extend our support. The ideals, quite intriguing to me. It implies world will not know genuine that we have one. Looking at hisevery country enjoys tory books, however, you might peace until freedom and can exercise the right have doubts. Even when discussing to self-determination. Central Europe, the Slovaks as a "The history of Slovakia is one nation are often forgotten or mis- "Call a Slovak Czechoslovak and you plant a burr under his skin. To a Slovak, named for a geograph• ic region divided by the wars and politics, that frequent error is more than just misnomer; it conveys a complete historical misunderstanding of who he is." - Sue Morse, The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N. Y., November 30, 1973. �214 SLOVAKIA of turmoil, frustration, and heroic struggle. Your continued devotion to the cause of a free and independent Slovakia - despite hundreds of years of oppression - is an inspiration to those of us who cherish freedom as you do. These are the characteristics that help us, in maintaining a better and stronger America. "The existence of the World Congress is an important step in achieving your long delayed place among the family of the free naRobert P. Hanrahan, tions." Member of Congress. U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson. "I am sure all of the American Slovaks sincerely wish to acknowledge the plight of their brethren under Communist oppression. The Slovak people strongly pursue the course that someday freedom will reign in all corners of the world. People of America need to be remainded of the severe repressing of Communist-held nations of the world endure." - U.S. Senator Hugh Scott. "Slovaks of Cleveland brought many Christmas customs from the old country, notably the custom of caroling. Among the most cherished Slovak folk songs are those sung at Christmas time. These carols are sung not only in churches, but also in the homes of the faithful, no matter how many generations they have lived here." - Sun Herald, Cleveland, 0., December 20, 1973. "We must re-dedicate ourselves to cause of all captives of Communism. Recognizing that the world cannot enjoy peace until all peoples are free from yoke of Communism. Please continue your dedication to the traditions, cultural life, religious beliefs, and desire for independence on behalf of Slo"There is a strong feeling of vak people everywhere."- Edward awareness among some ethnic J. Derwinski, Member of Congress. members of the younger generation. "I do want you to know I share There are also strong indications your commitment to the Slovak that the melting pot concept can people and to strengthening the no longer be maintained and that ties with their sons and daughters America is beginning to recognize throughout the world. I know we and appreciate the diversity of its will not falter in our efforts to ethnic populations in terms of a insure that no people need face re- new cultural pluralism."- Dr. Goy, pression and indignity as a result a member of City College's library of their yearning to be free." - faculty, New York, N. Y. �SLOVAKIA 215 -------------- WHO'S WHO Among American Slovaks JOSEPH C. K RAJ SA It was a mark of social maturity when the Chamber of Commerce of the Greater Harrisburg Area decided to have "Slovak power" for its presidency. Such is progress that it is hardly news anymore when a second-generation American of ethnic background and working-class origins becomes the leader of the town's top capitalists. Pardon us, Karl Marx. Joseph Charles Krajsa is the 60th president of the Harrisburg Chamber. He is so ethnic that more than half the Chamber's members can't pronounce his name correctly: It is "Crysa," and Anglicized it would mean "nicer." Well beyond his own physical size - 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds Krajsa is a big man. He was manager of the Allentown Finance Co. for 14 years, which is owned by his older brother, John. He has the equivalent of two college degrees and has a speaking knowledge of seven languages. He was an outstanding football, baseball and basketball coach for 11 years. And, lastly, he served as auditor and vice president of the First Catholic Slovak Union, and is now the editor of its bilingual weekly, Jednota, and manager of the Jednota home, farm and printery. Very much a Slovak as a warm convivial person, Krajsa also is a Rotarian, Elk, Legionaire and democrat. He once was a topflight golfer who won country-club trophies. "I find more businessmen in this Chamber, for example, wanting to be more human, wanting to share their good fortune," he said. "The single-minded emphasis on economics has diminished. A person must be involved politically, socially and religiously, as well as economically, to be well-rounded, and more and more businessmen understand that." Krajsa, 56, grew up in Allentown. His father was a wire-worker from Skalica in Slovakia and emigrated to America in 1906. Old Joe Krajsa married a girl living here, Agnes Baranek, a native of Horna Krupa, Slovakia. He built his own home and started a corner grocery. Everybody knew and loved the Krajsas. "Put it on the book," or "na knizku," they said as Father Krajsa had a credit book, so the neighborhood could have its groceries. One of the articles in Krajsa's published Furdek 1974 is entitled "Slovaks Are Lovers." The author asserts, "Slovak mothers can equally match the 'Good Jewish Mother' of book fame." A Slovak mother will say to her daughter, "Ja som t'a nevychovala, aby si behala za muzami," or "I didn'-t raise you to go chasing after men." Many Slovaks came to America between 1880 and 1920, with most of them settling here between 1900 and 1910. Thousands settled in Pennsylvania, and the men became the muscle of this commonwealth's steel, coal and railroading indus- �216 SLOVAKIA tries. Of Slovak descent are Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Penn State's great lineman, Mark Markovich; Will Hartack, Chuck Bednarik, Johnny Bucha and George Blanda. Stan Musial is half-Polish and half-Slovak. Blanda's mother is president of the Jednota lodge in Youngwood. There were 277 scattered Slovak fraternal organizations and widoworphan funds when in 1890 the Rev. Stephen Furdek, of Cleveland, organized the national union called Jednota (the word means union, or united). Nineteen years later the Middletown property of the aristocrat Simon Cameron Young was purchased for $38,000. What originally was 298 acres is now 255 acres, but worth well over one million dollars. The old orphanage, now phased out, cared for 4,000 children in its history. The newspaper Krajsa edits and writes for has a circulation of 40,000. Jednota also publishes 15 book titles annually. It is building a million dollar printery. Krajsa was elected editor for a three-year term in 1964, and he keeps being re-elected. He arrived in Middletown when Olmsted Air Force Base was closing, so immediately he plunged into civic activity. It got him involved in Chamber of Commerce work, and he did so well that the Chamber named him president last October. Krajsa had a typical Americanimmigrant family upbringing. He did well in his studies. He captained Allentown Central Catholic High School's basketball team, was center on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. He went on to East Stroudsburg State College, where he was a stellar athlete, and then was a Navy chief petty officer in World War II. After the war, he married Romanza Fairman, from Kansas City, and settled in Allentown. He put in 11 years at Central Catholic High lurning in several state championship teams and ending up as athletic director. Meanwhile, he was in the finance business, too. The Krajsas have four children: Joe, in insurance, Mike, administrative assistant in the Agriculture Department; Maryagnes, assistant to the Dauphin County Democratic chairman, and George, an athlete at Middletown High. Krajsa's desire for the Chamber of Commerce is a Slovak's wish for more unity, more strength of purpose and more aggressiveness for the community. "We can get unity and not take a thing away from anybody," he said looking toward the West Shore. He believes that the county line should be easier to cross than the ethnic line over which his presidency already has triumphed. Paul B. Beers, Associated Editor The Evening News Harrisburg, Pa. THE SLOVAK 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. �SLOVAKIA - 217 Book Reviews Books on Slovakia and Slovaks Reviewed by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum writes about the Czech l.'esistance during the last years of the War. Three contributions deal with the Slovak problem. Hans Kaiser writes about integration of Slovakia into national socialist war economy; In this carefully edited volume, Ladislav Lipscher examines the in12 German scholars and specialists fluence of the Third Reich on the in Czecho-Slovak affairs analyze the policy of the Slovak government eventful year of 1945 in Czecho- with regard to the Jewish problem, Slovakia. Some of the contributors and Jorg K. Hoensch gives a generare known as experts in the prob- al survey of the situation in Slovalems of Eastern Europe. Others kia in 1945. specialized in the German-Czech The remaining contributions deal relations or in the Slovak problem. with the transfer of the Sudeten Since until recently the German Germans and its consequences (Pescholars avoided publishing the re- ter Burian); with rebuilding of the sults of their research on Czecho- Communist Party of Czecho-SlovaSlovakia, their views will be of lda in 1945 (Heinrich Kuhn); with interest for schoiars in the West. the constitutional problems in The volume gives a survey of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 (Helmut international, national and socio- Slapnicka); and with the integraeconomic problems in Czecho-Slova- tion of the Sudeten German expelkia in 1945, but two contributions, lees in Germany. The book provides abundant inone by Ferdinand Seibt, and the other by Karl Bosl, outline the formation on each topic and referhistorical background of boundary ences to sources used indicate that problems and basic information on German scholars weve dealing with the division of Germany by the their subjects with great effort to present an objective picture of Allies. Further contributions deal with Czecho-Slovakia in 1945. Their Czecho-Slovakia itself during the views and conclusions will, thereWar and her l'estoration in 1945. fore, be at variance with some Peter Kruger gives a survey of the Western specialists in East Central views of the Allies on Czecho-Slo- ; Europe, including the emigre Czech vakia from the Atlantic Charter to j historians. Czecho-Slovakia has the Potsdam Conference; Martin K. been presented in the West during Bachstein outlines the policy of I the past decades with evident relithe social democratic exiles from ance on Czech sources and favoring Czecho-Slovakia and Detlef Brandes I the Czechs. Especially Slovakia was Karl Bosl: Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei, Vortrag,e der wissenschaftlichen Tagung des Collegium Carolinum, R. Oldenbourg, Mlinchen-Wien, 1971, 316 p. �218 SLOVAKIA treated with bias, mostly as a "postscriptum" to Czech history, and the cruel and often inhuman treatment of minorities or political adversaries was overlooked. German scholars endeavored to be factual and objective and since some of them were born or raised in Czecho-Slovakia, their knowledge of the prob!ems discussed in their contribution cannot be doubted. Nevertheless, they present a German view, because nobody can separate himself fr.om his own background and personal or national experience. · And the manner in which Prague solved the Sudeten German problem in 1945 was bound to create deep resentiment and animosity, which is not easy to overcome. Slovakia is treated in the book with more understanding and impa.rtiality than is the usual case in Western historiography; there is nevertheless certain bias in all three contributors "with regard to the Slovak republic, including the article ·by Jorg Hoensch. Hoensch published two well researched books on Slovakia in the past but, in many instances, adopted the Czech or the Slovak Marxist view of the wartime Slovakia. This also occurred in his present contribution which is well researched and refers also to Slovak emigre political literature. Nevertheless, some conclusions were made by Hoensch on assumptions and not on facts. For instance, his view that "the majority of the Slovak leading strata and, even more, the large masses of the population believed during the war that their social ,i nterest and political rights would be better preserved in the restored Czechoslovakia" and that the Slovak Republic "could not give proof -of its viability (Lebensfiihigkeit)" is a part of Czech and Communist propaganda which was recen_tly contradicted and abandoned even by Slovak Marxist historians (see books by L. Liptak and S. Falt'an). Likewise is disputable his statement that the "Slovak population accepted with equal passivity the introduction of the peoples democracy and the declaration of the Slovak Republic." The enthusiastic manifestations in Slovakia in 1939 can hardly be compared with the fear from rape, confiscation, deportation and hiding in cellars which ·could be witness in Slovakia ' during the first months of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. Also treated in the volume are two important problems for Slovakia during the war years: the integration of Slovakia into the German war economy and the policy of the Slovak government with regard to the Jewish problem. Hans Kaiser deals with the first topic and gives a well researched survey of the impact of Germany on Slovak economy, and of the pressures used by Berlin on the Slovak government. Kaiser's contribution is the first one in the West to deal expertly · with the subject. So far, only the Marxist historians or economists published studies on the economic situation in Slovakia during th e War and their approach was a priori hostile. The views of the members of the Slovak government and Slovak economists who did not side with the regime imposed upon Slovakia in 1945, are buried in the archives of the "people's courts" and only in part were published by Slovak emigre politicians and writers. The picture of Slovak :war economy presented by Kaiser cannot, therefore, be without flaws. It is, in any case, a useful basis for further research and full presentation of the economic development of Slovakia during the Second , World War. �SLOVAKIA · 219 The third contributio n dealing I Horst Glass!: Die slowakische Geschichtswis senschaft nach 1945 with Slovakia touches on the prob(Slovak Historiogra phy After !em which harmed Slovaks and 1945), Otto Harrassowi tz, Wies their reputation in the world, but baden, 1971, 166 pages, Register. the11e were only a few attempts to put the policy of the Slovak governThe author and the publisher of ment towa!'ds Jews into a proper this book deserve recognition for perspective. making available to Western scholars and students of history an Lipscher's contributio n analyzes objective survey of Slovak historithe influence of the Third Reich on ography after 1945. Except for that policy on the basis of G€rman short summaries in one or two archives and partly also on the foreign languages, writings of Slohave been published Slovak sources. In comparison vak historians 1945 exclusively in Slovak since with many articles published on and, as such, they have remained this subject in the West, Lipscher's inaccessible to most of foreign hiscontributio n is marked by an effort torians. Glassl's book provides at to present the policy of the Slovak least those Western historians who impartial governmen t more objectively and read German with an phy and historiogra Slovak at look with considerab le restraint from during blaming only the Slovak govern- its remarkable developme nt decades. two past the ment in harsh terms, as has been the case until now. Lipscher does The book is the result of a thornot make any reference to sources ough research in Slovakia itself. of Slovak emigre historians and The author compiled considerab le political writers who dealt with the knowledge of writings on Slovak subject and he recognized that the history by both the old traditionalproblem would require further ist and the recent Marxist historistudy. This indicates that he enIn his attempt to give an obans. deJvored to approach the problem pictul'e he points to the jective wi th impartiality and, as a result, and ideological interrestrictions his contributio n may be a beginwhich Slovak histounder ference ning of dealing with the tragedy or remain silent write to had rians of Jews in Slovakia with more "It lasted 1956. until 1948 after understand ing of the circumstan ces "before Glassl, says years," several and pressures under which the developthe that possible was it Slovaks could not save more Jewment of Slovak historiogra phy and ish citizens than they did. research could come up with noA complete review of this volume ticeable results. Under the pressure would, of course, require to deal of the circumstan ces in those years with all the other contributio ns (Slovak) histo1ians had to take into which give a survey of many prob- considerati on the political goals lems in the Czech part of Czecho- and requiremen ts. The Communist Slovakia, and analyze the relations Party which took over power in between Czechs and G€rmans in- Czecho-Slovakia required complete cluding the expulsion, often under re-writing of the whole historiinhuman circumstan ces, of the Su- ography acco11ding to Marxist crideten Germans. teria ... many historians were fired �220 SLOVAKIA from their positions, and some of works on Slovakia. The author made undoubtedly a very thorough th,em were even sent to jails." On the other hand, the author research into the writings and publications of Slovak historians and underlines that there was a remarkable development of Slovak produced a standard work on a historiography since the War either high academic level. in the number of books published or in the number of institutes and people involved in research. Unlike Marxist or some Western historians, Glass! also states that "during the period of the Slovak Republic (]939-1945) , there was a fruitful development in the field of historical research even though the war was not the right time for a successful build-up of this discipline." He considers it as wrong and unjust of the Marxist historians to belittle the results of this period in research into the history of Slovakia. Glass! also refers to the writings of Slovak scholars in Western countries but for some reason he became acquainted only with the works published by Prof. M. Lacko and with one book and one essay by this reviewer. Writings of other Slovak historians, especially those pertaining to the period of the 18th and 19th centuries, escaped the author, which is regrettable, because they shed a different light on Slovak national awakening from that of Marxist historiography. The book stops at the year 1918 and leaves out the past 60 years during which Slovakia, as well as Slovak historiography, experienced an unexpected development. The explanation for this is given by the author in the Preface by one sentence: "For understandable political reasons, the inclusion in this survey of the writings dealing exclusive,l y with the period 1918-1960 was abandoned." Even in the present form the book is a very valuable scholarly addition to the foreign language MORE ABOUT BOOKS Slov akia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Edited by Prof. Joseph M. Kirschbaum ; Preface by S. B. Roman, published by the Slovak World Congress, Toronto, Ont. , 1973, 368 p., bibl., $12.50. The Slovak World Congress published for the General Meeting held in Chicago on June 28th-July 1st, 1973, another English book on Slovakia which deserves special attention. While the first publication by the Congress outlined the historical and cultural background of Slovakia, this new voluminous work will give the readers an insight into the political and literary developments in Slovakia in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his Preface to the book, the President of the Slovak World Congress, Stephen B. Roman, explains that the Slovak World Congress "undertook to publish this book with the desire to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-oper ation and only if each recognizes the equal rights to independence that each has." One cannot but agree with such aim and the contents of the book confirm that it was also the intention of the editor and contributors. The book is composed of contributions by 20 authors, four of �221 SLOVAKIA whom are of non-Slovak origin, and it is divided into four parts. The first part deals with Slovak national philosophy and the subject is treated by two known Slovak professors, Charles Murin from the University of Montreal, and Stefan Polakovic, former professor at the University of Bratislava. The second part deals with Slovak politics and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries and contains contributions by Prof. J. A. Mikus, Msgr. J. Rekem, Dr. Stefan Osusky, Prof. F . Vnuk, Dr. F. f>urcansky, Prof. E. Loebl, Prof. Stefan Glejdura, Dr. lmrich Kruzliak and Rev. Mikulas Sprinc. Part three deals with the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors and among the contributors are mostly authors of non-Slovak origin. On Slovakia under the Habsburg rule, an interesting survey was written by a members of the Jlabsburg dynasty, Archduke Robert of Austria while Slovak-Hungarian relations are treated by Prof. George Perenyi-Lukacs with comments by Dr. Arved Grebert and Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum. Prof. Thaddeus Gromada contributed an excellent essay on Slovak-Polish relations and Slovak-Russian relations are analyzed and evaluated by Prof. Stefan Glejdura and Miroslav Licko. Prof. Kurt Glaser, author of the book, Czecho-Slovakia - A Critical History, closed this chapter with a scholarly treatise on "National States Versus Federalism in Central European Future," commented upon by Prof J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum. In the last part, the book deals with Slovaks abroad and their attitude towards Slovakia. It contains two essays, one by Dr. Joseph Pauro and another by Dr. F . Braxator. An extensive Select Bibliography on Slovakia completes the contents of this standard work. We cannot but welcome this new English book on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad. It fills an important gap which existed for a long time in presenting Slovakia's political and cultural development in the 19th and 20th centuries to the Western world in an objective manner. For the first time 20 experts are expressing their opinions on various subjects pertaining to Slovakia. They belong not only to two generations, as the editor of the book observed, but "also represent two schools of thought and, therefore, the book presents a confrontation of views on the Slovak p:i.st and present." In form and contents, the book is a scholarly work. The editor, Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum, took his task seriously and enhanced the volume by an extensive bibliography in several languages. He also paid tribute to American Slovaks by stating that "at the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced." It would be desirable that this volume be followed by a book on Slovak culture, especially arts and literature of the past two hundred years. A conference on these topics, at the next general meeting of the Congress could help to achieve this goal. Joseph P a u co �222 SLOVAKIA TWO PUBLICATIONS BY l\'lATICA SLOVENSKA Matica slovenska was degraded by the Communist regime and went through several periods of regimentation and persecution of her leading representatives and cultural workers. Independent of political pressure and refusing to serve political parties or ideologies, Matica slovenska was, before 1945, a cultural institution which belonged to the nation and represented the highest aspirations of all Slovaks. The Communist Party made Matica slovenska a subservient tool of the regimes imposed upon S'lovakia since 1945. In spite of this nefarious situation, Matica slovenska succeeded in developing Slovak culture at least in some sectors. Among these sectors, literary history and philology deserve our consideration. vakia from literary to musical. This was a neglected sector in the past mainly due to the lack of experts and, therefore, we have to welcome this publication. Of special interest for elucidating some periods of Slovak history is, however, the essay by Jozef Kuzmik : Book Culture Among the Slova/c Slavs in the Years 863-1000. The period of Great Moravia became a favored subject for Slovak intellectuals during the past two decades. In Kuzmik's contribution we find some interesting information about the territorial extent of the ancestors of today's Slovaks, as well as about their book culture which were in the past hardly known or were insufficiently explored. Unfortunately, the publication has only a Russian and German summary and, therefore, it is accessible to a very limited number For several years, Matica has of scholars in the Anglo-Saxon published a series of publications world where there are still many dealing with Slovak literary life misconceptions about the Slovak entitled:Letopis pamiitnika sloven- past. A new confusion was created s/cej literatury and Literarny ar- even recently by scholars of Magchiv. We have revi,ewed some issues yar background who tried to deny in the past in Slovakia, underlying the cultural heritage of the Great their significance for Slovak litera- Moravian period to Slovaks. Li t erarny archiv 8/ 71 is a valuture. We have now received Litercirny archiv 8/ 71, edited by Michal able source for literary history on Elias, and Letopis 19 72 , edited by several Slovak poets and writers Juraj Chovan-Rehak, and some not only of the 19th century but comments would perhaps be ap- also of the 20th century. The publication deals mostly with archive propriate. Letopis 1972 contains a number of materials, unknown manuscripts, or contributions dealing with various correspondence among leading Slosubjects from book culture (kniz- vak literary figures and cultural na kultura) among Slovak Slavs in workers. Even though the Commuthe years 863-1000 to several in- nist regime tried to regiment Sloteresting contributions on the de- vak literary history and endeavorvelopment of museums in Slovakia ed to impose Marxist criteria, Sloand the idiomatic vocabulary in vak intellectuals display more or the writing of Martin Kukucin. The less equal interest in the literary main part of the book is dedicated life of poets and writers who were to the history and development of I neglected in the past because of various types of museums in Slo- their religion or ideological orien- �SLOVAKIA 223 Literature, government, law, education, etc. Even though hardly complete, the Bibliography shows that Canadian Slavists were not idle during the twenty post-war years. In spite of the fact that Slavic studies had to start in Canada from scratch, the Bibliography contains many titles of books, essays, studies and articles, which have given Canadian students a new picture of the history, culture and civilization of the Slavic peoples. From the Slovak point of view, we have many reasons to welcome this Bibliography. Similar American or European bibliographies either overlooked books, publicaJ.M. Kirschbaum tions and essays on Slovak history, Daniel Dorotich (ed.) : A Bibliogra- Language and literature by Slovak phy of Canadian Slavists 1951- authors, or made selection of writ1971 , University of Saskatchewan ings which presented Slovakia and Publications, Saskatoon, Sask., Slovak culture in the light of ad1972. verse propaganda and Czech linAfter the Second World War, a guistic and literary theses. The misnumber of Canadian universities conceptions about the Slovak people added to their usual curricular and their culture were cultivated courses on Slavic languages, litera- especially by the older generations ture and civilization. At some uni- of Slavists who studied at the Universities special Centres or Depart- versity of Prague and use as their ments of Slavic Studies were organ- source of information books pubized, while at other universities lished by Czech scholars before Slavic languages, literature and and during the Second World War. The new generation of Slavists history were taught within Departm ents of Modern Languages and at American and Canadian univerLiteratures and in History Depart- sities gradually detached itself from the old school. Using source ments. In Canada, professors of Slavic materials published in today's Slostudies were soon organized in the vakia and other socialist countries Ca nadian Association of Slavists ' as well as in Western countries' which held every year an annual they have no more any doubt that meeting within the framework of Slovaks are a distinct nation and Canadian Learned Societies. The their language and literature have present Bibliography gives an in- developed independently of the sight into the writings and pub- Czechs or other Slavs. The Bibliography compiled and lications of the members of the edited by Prof. Dorotich reflects Association. Prof. Dorotich, in compiling and this new trend in Slavic studies editing the Bibliography, followed with regard to Slovakia. By inlhe •usual division of subject mat- eluding over 50 titles (books, monoters _into general history, languages, graphs, essays, articles) published talion and those who were closer to the socialist outlook. As a result, Literarny archiv contains interesting information on Bernolak, Stur, Vajansky and Radlinsky, as well as on Janko Kral', Roy, Hamuljak and others. It is regrettable that also in this publication the summary is only in Russian and German. For Slovak literary history, both publications are nevertheless of importance and unveil to a great degree some periods of Slovak cultural development which were intentionally neglected before 1938 as well as during the Stalinist period. �224 SLOVAKIA by Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum in five languages, the Bibliography presents a new picture of Slovak history, culture, language and literature. Not only the main works on Slovakia in English are recorded, but also one book published in Slovak, monographs and essays in French, English, German and Spanish. In fact, the Bibliography is more complete in this respect that the Slovak Bibliography Abroad compiled by Prof. M. Lacko and published by the Slovak Institute (Rome, 1967). Since the Bibliography will go into the hands of many Slavists and into university libraries, we welcome this publication as a very useful guide for students and professors of Slavic studies. Joseph Pauco Joseph Pauco: Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America), The First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, English Introduction by J. C. Krajsa, Ill., 360 pages. Slovaks in the United States played an important role in the history of the Slovak people, but a complete story of their endeavors on behalf of Slovakia, their struggle for preserving national consciousness and cultural heritage has not yet been published. Due to political circumstances in Slovakia, historians either were not allowed or had no possibility to carry out research in order to compile a standard work which would present Slovaks in the United States in an objective light. It was only during the Second World War that two volumes: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of Slovaks in America) by Konstantin Culen were published in Slovakia. Since that time, only Slovak exiled intellectuals, including Culen, carried out a research and published monographs on the life and achievements of the large Slovak ethnic group in the United States. Historians in Slovakia were either not allowed by ,t he Communist regime or for ideological reasons avoided recording their struggle for survival and the many contributions of American Slovaks not only to their own national life but also to the fight for freedom and independence of the Slovak people. After Prof. F . Hrusovsky and K. Culen, Dr. Joseph Pauco deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. For the past 20 years he published monographs on individual Slovak leaders and organizations of which the voluminous history of the First Catholic Slovak union deserves particular mention. In the present book he deals with 55 outstanding Slovak leaders who did the pioneering organizational, cultural and religious work among American Slovaks. The importance of this book should be, however, measured not only according to its literary value, but also against the fact that there are no organized archives and many printed documents are perishing. In spite of this, Dr. Pauco gathered many valuable facts about the individual leaders among whom there are clergymen of both denominations - Catholic and Lutheran - outstanding organizers of Slovak fraternal and cultural life, men and women of great dedication to the cause of preservation of Slovak cultural heritage. The author approached his subjects with great abjectivity and painted their profiles in a fluent, uncomplicated style to make the book readab1e to the general public and, at the same time, by many references to printed sources, useful to historians and researchers. �SLOVAKIA Some of the chapters are shorter and contain only the most important data. Others present a full life story and evaluation of the activities and of the role the individual leaders played in the Slovak organizational, religious and cultural life in America. The reason for the uneven treatment of some pioneers was given by the author in the introduction to the book. As he says he was sometimes unable to gather, even the most neces~ary information, because there was no organization and no individuals in the past who would have preserved old newpapers, almanacs, minutes of meetings, or other archive materials. Since the Second World War the Slovak Institute in Cleveland and the recently organized Jankola Library have made an effort to gather and preserve archive materials pertaining to the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. In these circumstances, Pauco's present work, as well as his book on the First Catholic Slovak Union and numerous monographs, deserve special recognition. The book has, however, also its own value due to its composition, contents and style. Dr. Pauco produced a standard work comparable with writings of this kind on any other ethnic groups in America. The book also has a useful introduction by Joseph C. Krajsa, but it lack an English summary which would have given to the younger generations of American Slovaks and researchers at least the basic information on Slovak pioneers in America. Unless the author and the publisher intend to publish this work in English, it would be a useful thing to attach to the second edition an extensive English summary. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m 225 Joseph L. Dieska: "Faith and Reason" in the Life and Philosophy of Jacques Maritain, An Offprint from Most, Vol. XIX, No. 3-4, Cleveland, Ohio, 1973. Shortly before the death of the famous French philosopher, Jacques Maritain, Slovaks paid his tribute on the occasion of his 90th birthday in a commemorative study by Prof. Joseph L. Dieska under the title The Religious and Philo sophical Profile of Jacques Maritain. The scholarly essay was pub- lished in Slovak but the author prepared also an English version under the above title. Prof. Dieska was one of the known adherents of Maritain's philosophy already in Slovakia, and pursued his interests in the great Catholic philosopher's concepts also as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton, Ohio, where he has taught for the past several years. The present essay is one of his numerous articles on the subjects. The Slovak and English texts contain a well written and well documented insight and analysis of Maritain's religious and philosophical profile. Dieska approached Maritain's philosophy from the position of "Faith and Reason" and explains the role of reason as well as the mystery of faith in Maritain's philosophy which became a part of the Catholic doctrine and influenced the thinking of several generations in Europe and elsewhere. His theories of creative evolution and his ability to find basic reality through intuition ,e xalted the spirit of man in many parts of the world. Known as neo-Thomism Maritain's philosophy anchors in the works and philosophical concepts of St. Thomas Aquinas. As Dieska explains, Maritain became adherent to the philosophy of St. Thomas as a result of his own independent reflections and �226 SLOVAKIA studies of various philosophers and ing tribute to Maritain also on because of the comparison he made behalf of Slovak intellectuals who between them. He found the truth are silenced in their native counhe was searching for in the an- try where Maritain's philosophy had a strong influence before Marxswers of St. Thomas. However, if it is true that Mari- ism was imposed as the only philotain followed the logic and argu- sophical concept tolerated by the mentation of St. Thomas, he put regime. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m both, in the view of Prof. Dieska, in a " new, modern, and contemporary setting. His language was ad- Encydopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and P eriodicals in justed to the philosophical expresthe United States. By Lubomyr sions used today. His arguments R. Wynar. 260 pp. Libraries Unare aimed at and against modern limited, Inc., Littleton, Colorado, and recent objectors and critics. 1972. $12.50. And above all, when he speaks of For those interested in ethnic the necessity of taking faith and supernatural, revealed truths into studies a valuable tool has recentconsiderations while solving the ly been published to aid in learning political, social, ethical and estheti- 1 about the complex mosaic that is cal difficulties and 'crises' of our ' the United States of America. time, Maritain must transcend Tho- Whereas in the past the student mas and go much farther not, of of ethnic Americana had to wade course, in essential immutable, and through Ulrich's directories, or universally valid principles but in through state manuals, or specialtheir applications to the new, dif- ized histories, facility in locating Icrent and more complex situations data about 903 ethnic publications and issues. In these new approach- can now be had by utilizing Luboes lie the tremendous responsibility myr R. Wynar's Encyclopedic Diand significance of Maritain's Tho- rectory of Ethnic Newspapers and mistic solutions, proposals and Periodicals in the United States. often even sharp and merciless Included in this directory are escriticisms of the 'evils of time'"- scntials about 53 ethnic presses, ranging from the Albanian Press, concludes Dieska. As St. Thomas had found in Assyrian Press, Italian Press, JaAristotle a philosophical basis for panese Pr,ess, Slovak Press, Ukrainreconciling man's reason and ian Press, etc. , to some not poChristian faith, so Maritain, in half pular enough presses such as the a lifetime of philosophical study, Cossack, Cax,patho-Ruthenian, Flembrought a rejuvenated Thomism ish, Swiss, and Welsh. In cases such as Croatian, Sloveinto a modern age of scepticism and science. After the Second nian, and Serbian, there is a generWorld War, Maritain's vision and al heading as Yugoslav, which in philosophy helped lend strength effect increases the number of also to the whole Christian demo- presses substantially beyond the cratic movement which stood as a figure of 53. Data cited for pub1.Julwark against Communism and lications are: title translations, year founded, complete address to the Catholic Church. The author and the editor of (including ZIP), name of editor, Most deserve recognition for pub- language(s) , sponsor, circulation, Jishing both versions and for pay- frequency of publication, and sub- �SLOVAKIA scription rate. In additions commentaries aid in explaining the scope of publications., e.g., the following for "The Handbook Ilbo'' (The Korea Times): "This publication, the only Korean daily in the United States, carries international, national, and local news of interest of the Korean community. Jllustrated. " Professor Wynar of Kent State University, both a librarian and an ethnic specialist, includes a very interesting Appendix of Statistical Analysis for each ethnic group, summarizing the number of publications, weekly circulation totals, monthly circulation totals, totals for native language publications, bi-lingual totals, and English language totals. An index to the publications completes the book. An interesting addendum to the book would have been an analysis of ethnic publications in each of the fifty states. This directory truly is the first comprehensive annotated guide to the current ethnic press in the United States and with its clear type and excellent alphabetical format clearly rates an A. Paul F e n c h a k Panorama: A H i storical Review of the Czechs and Slovaks i n the United States of America. Pub- lished by the Czechoslovak National Council of America, Cicero, Ill., U.S.A. Cicero-Berwyn Press, 1970, pp. 328, index. It is quite evident that there exists today in America a need for authorative works on the histories of the various ethnic groups which have contributed to the development of America. Objective, factual and concise histories of the various groups is essential. This volume of the dual histories of the Czech 227 and Slovak immigrations to America, unfortunately from a viewpoint of abjective Slovak history, seems to lack sufficient factual data to be accepted as a history of the Slovak immigration to America. From the standpoint of the history of the Czech immigration it is factu al, unbiased history but even then much is amiss particularly in the area of the religious development of the Czech community in the United States. Two basic criticisms can be found in the basic format of the work. The single most important error in the work is the fact that the various writers of Slovak topics are weak in objective reporting, so necessary in a historical work of this kind . Unfortunately the writers, who are of the " Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion, would wa nt the reader to actually believe that only those Slovak organizations which support that philosophy have contributed to the development of the Slovak American community. In fact it must be remembered that over eighty per cent of the organized Slovak American community does not support the '· Czechoslovak" philosophy but ra ther a distinct Slovak philosophy within the family of nations. The authors seem to infer that the staunch Catholic mass of Slovak immigrants contributed little if anything at all to the development of the Slovak community in Am erica. It appears that such notables as Father Stephen Furdek, founder of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the co-founder of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies. Association and the founder of the Slovak League of America played a very minor role in the development of the Slovak community. Other prominent leaders such as Father Matthew Jankola, Joseph Rusek, �228 SLOVAKIA Anna Hurban and Philip Hrobak are not even mentioned. The second most important ingredient which is lacking in this work is organization. Various bits and pieces are scattered throughout the work on both the Czech and Slovak development in America and from an academic journalistic point of view it is quite primitive in its presentation. Too many writers cover certain geographical areas of the Slovak immigration but much is ignored and almost always repetitious. Too often the writers are offering opinionated biased reporting which is not acc-eptable by the vast majority of the Slovak community today. There exists a certain disorganization present in the work and most often it effects an objective Slovak history. In one area in particular the work is both factually deficient and openly opinionated, that is the area of the Slovak organization" in the United States. Such organizations as "Catholic Slovak Unity, Catholic Slovak Women's Unity. Unity of Catholic Sokols" are not acceptable as Slovak organizations, as such do not exist. Again faulty research is evidenced in the presentation of Slovak organizations. One area lists "all" the Czech and Slovak organizations in America and the largest and most important Slovak societies are not listed. Subjective reporting would lead one to believe that indeed the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol is the most importa nt and influential organization of Americans of Slovak descent. However factual research will reveal to the alert writer that in fact the above named organization has a membership of less than 24,000 while the First Catholic Slovak Union, the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, the Pennsyl- vania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and the First Slovak Wreath of the Free Eagle have a combined membership of over 300,000. The informed reader will at once note that Sokol U.S.A., as it is commonly associated and pubblicised in the America press is of the "Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion while the other Catholic Slovak organizations representing the overwhelming majority of organized Americans of Slovak descent are not of the appendage philosophy but rather support a distinct Slovak path completely free of Czech domination. Another noteworthy fact is that the Sokol U.S.A. is the only Slovak organization of any magnitude which is a member of the Czechoslovak National Council of America. Included in the work is a Who's Who among Americans of Czech and Slovak ancestry. Again only those Slovaks who support the idea of a "Czechoslovak" culture, language and heritage are included. Not only are the above mentioned Slovaks notably absent but such luminary as Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, D.D., the Roman Catholic Bishop of Gary, Indiana and countless others who have contributed to the growth and development of the Slovak American Community. In the final analysis the work offers little insight into the history and development of the Slovaks in America. The history of the Czechs in America is acceptable but no t commendable since again the underlining theme is to discredit any theistic organizational development. The work in general is primitive in the Slovak sense and therefore can not be accepted as a factual history of the Slovaks in America. This work is a prime example of Czech and "Czechoslovak" chauvin- �SLOVAKIA 229 ism in the interpretation of Slovak suring Czech hegemony in CzechoSlovakia, regardless of the fact history. Daniel F. Tanzone that the Communist movement is discredited by their policy. In some Eugen Steiner: The Slovak Dilem- ways Czech Communists resemble ma, Cambridge, at the University to Czech non-Communists or antiPress, 1973, 229 pages. Series Communists who used and still are International Studies, Published using democracy, socialism, liberalfor the Centre for International ism or Catholicism for imposing or Studies, London School of Eco- maintaining Czech hegemony over nomics and Political Sciences. others, especially Slovaks. The situation in Czecho-Slovakia between inthe in writes author the As troduction his aim was "to trace 1918-1938 attests to it sufficiently. the Communist attitude to national- The policy of Prague Governments ism, and to define the effects of from 1918 to this day proved that this attitude as far as the Slovaks Czechs are not capable to fulfill the arc concerned." Or in other words mission which the victorious Powhe "deals in microcosm with a ers entrusted to them in 1918 or major problem which lies at the again in 1945. Czecho-Slovalda did heart of the Soviet Union's policies, not become a barrier against German expansion or a bridge between internal and external." (p. 3) and West. Czech governments East Dr. Steiner uses the case of Slovakia to show how Communism forced into opposition against the fa iled to solve nationality problems. European block which created Not only in the Soviet Union was Czecho-Slovakia, not only the mithis problem hidden behind slogans norities but also Slovaks. Czech on the equality of nations, while politicians did not honor any agreethe Russians are the rulers, but ment, promise or pledge given to also in restored and by Communists Slovaks. They practiced such a policy regoverned Czecho-Slovakia. Steiner's book leaves no doubt that the Marx- gardless of the danger for the Leninist thesis on the problems of existence of the state or the misnationalities did not bring a satis- sion Czecho-Slovakia was to fulfill factory solution to the relations according to its friends and creabetween the Czechs and Slovaks; tors. After occupying Slovakia with on the contrary, since 1945 when the help of French and Italian Czecho-Slovakia was restored (a- military units in 1918, and with the gainst the will of majority of Slo- help of the Soviet armies in 1945, vaks) the Czech rule was imposed they disregarded their promises on Slovaks step by step, brutally and the rights of Slovaks to selfand without regard to promises and government. About the period of agreements. Up to 1948, the Czech 1918-1938 there is in Western lanCommunists found accomplices in guages comparatively large literanon-Communists. After 1948, they ture dealing with this subject. The imposed their rule on Slovaks with book by Dr. Steiner gives to Westthe help of a handful of collabora- ern readers sufficient information tors from Slovakia, mostly of non- and documentary evidence for the Slovak origin (Bacilek, Bil'ak, Mos- period of 1945-1968. Dr. Steiner writes in the introkovic, Daubner, Siroky and others). Czech Communists are using Com- duction to his book that he has munism as an instrument for as- "chosen exile as a Jew, as a Com- �230 SLOVAK.IA On the cover of Steiner's book munist and as a Slovak." He wrote his book from this point of view, there are reproductions of pictures which makes his work more inter- from demonstrations of Slovak esting and more valuable. It is a youth in Bratislava against the testimony of a "Jew, Communist Soviet occupation in August 1968. and Slovak" about the political On the posters we can read: "Slodevelopments in Slovakia in this vaks stand firm, they won't pass! Occupa nts go home!" These slogans century. His background and ideological o- express the feelings of Slovaks in rientation explain to a great degree Slovakia as well as abroad not only not only his favorable attitude to- against the So·,iet occupants, but wards regimes in 1918-1938 (though any occupants, including the Czechs. Czech Statistics can easily prove This conclusion can be found, if the opposite) but his negative stand carefully read, also in Dr. Steiner's towards the Slovak republic of book: The Slovak Dilemma. Dr. A. Gr eb er t, 1939-1945 as well. We understand Geneva, Switzerland that the anti-communist and antijewish measures of the Slovak Government could not meet with Slovak Studies, Historica 7 and 8, Vol. X and XI, Slovak Institute, his approval. It is, however, hard Rome-Cleveland, Editor Prof. M. to understand his attitude towards Lacko, S. J . Dr. Benes and his Government-inBoth volumes of Slovak Studies exile. Even such adherents of "Czechoslovakism" as were Dr. M. deal with history of Slovakia and Hodfu and Dr. S. Osusky disagreed except for the contribution by Dr. and at the end fought against Be- S. Nahalka, with the events of our nes and his anti-Slovak policy which century. Since the Marxist historihe later (after 1945) also practiced ans not only avoid certain subjects in co-operation with Czech Commu- but also write with prejudice and nists and non-Communists. Unfor- strictly from the Marxist point of tunately, Dr. Steiner deals with view, these volumes perform specific this rather superficially and un- role in historiography on Slovakia. convincingly. The post-war develop- In addition, their value is enhanced ments in Czecho-Slovakia prove by the fact that they are published that the Slovak-Czech antagonism in foreign language and two of the is not a matter of temporary politi - contributors were educated abroad. Students of modern Slovak hiscal situation but a fundamental and lasting feature of Slovak-Czech tory will welcome especially the relations. It is impossible to solve Ph.D. thesis by Sister M. E. Lubek, this problem within the "Czecho- "An Inquiry into the United States Slovak" framework. The successive _ Czechoslovak Relations between a_bolition, ~~er 1969, _of C~nstitu- I 1918-1948." There were many myths t10nal prov1S1ons dealing with the published on this subjects, but to federalization of Czecho-Slovakia, my knowledge, no scholarly work. mentioned in Dr. Steiner's book, Some years ago Prof. M. Mamatey prove convincingly the validity of shed some light on the period of the First World War, later years the above conclusions. In spite of some shortcomings, Dr. remained, however, unresearched. Steiner's book is a valuable contri- Yet, this is an interesting topic, bution to the historiography on since the United States played an important role in the emergence Eastern Europe. �231 SLOVAKIA of Czecho-Slovakia in 1918 and in her re-emergence in 1945. Needless to say that the treatise by M. E. Lubek does not cover all the aspects of the inter-state relations, remaining mostly in the field of politics and diplomacy. The study is nevertheless of the importance and will be useful for further research. For foreign historians dealing with Slovakia of special interest will also be the contributions by Prof. M. S. :l'.>urica, who researched Italian Military Documents in order to shed a new light on the tragic death of M. R. Stefanik, one of the founders of Czecho-Slovakia, and German biography of President Dr. J. Tiso by F. H. Schneider. We commented on the value of Prof. Durica's study when it was first published in Italian language (Slovalcia, Vol. XXIII, 1973) , and cannot but welcome the English version. Schneider's essay on the life and historical role of Dr. J . Tiso in Slovak politics is of importance for more than one reason. The adversaries of Slovak aspirations for independence - Communists and non-Communists - succeeded in presenting Dr. Tiso and his policies in Western countries in a distorted light. Even though, Dr. Tiso mostly suffered for his forced cooperation with Germany, there was a long silence about him and Slovakia among German historians. Schneider's contribution does not exhaust the subject and shows gaps, but it was high time to draw a little differe nt picture of President Tiso in ♦ ♦ German language than it was done by Prague and Slovak Communists. Unfortunately, Schneider overlooked some books and articles which contain substantial information on Dr. Tiso's life and politics, such as Prof. Murin's articles, one of Dr. Polakovic's books, many articles in Sl.ovakia and other sources. Dr. S. Nahalka's istructive article on "Holy Scripture among Slovaks" is a valuable contribution to the religious and cultural history of Slovaks. Religious history of Slovakia is one of the completely neglected fields in today's historiography in Slovakia, even though Slova ks survived as a nation mostly due to the fact that clergy (Catholic and Protestant) took over the cultural leadership and national struggle. Professor Lacko in his contributions presents the synthesis of the studies on Great-Moravian and Cyrillo-Methodian period and a survey of events which led to the reestablishment of the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia. The latter study would deserve to be completed by documents and names of people who in Slovakia and abroad helped the re-establishment. Both contributions are timely and instructive. Prof. Lacko deserves recognition also for his efforts to continue publishing the Slovak Studies. Slovak cultural activities abroad would be much poorer without this series. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m ♦ Life Membership in the Slovak League of America is $100.00 - join us! Write to: Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. �SLOVAKlA 232 Our Contributor s theologian, author, Cambridge, Ontario Stephen Sencik, S.J. - Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D ., Columbus, Ohio Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - author, Director, Slovak Institute, Cleveland, 0 . Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Joseph C. Krajsa - teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Editor, Jednota, Middletown, Pa. industrialist, Toronto, Ontario Stephen B. Roman - attorney-at-law, Stratford, Conn. Edward J. Behuncik - Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D . Jozef Pauco, Ph.D. - historian, author, Toronto, Ont. author, historian, Middletown, Pa. Michael O'Pake, Esq. - State Senator, Reading, Pa. Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A. - teacher, Yonkers, N. Y. Susan Pojer, B.A., Yonkers, N. Y. professor, author, consultant for Rockefeller Foundation, New York, N. Y. Michael Novak, Ph.D. Paul Fenchak - teacher, Baltimore, Md. Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. - assistant professor, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois Junior history major, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. William Wagner Francis Vnuk - historian; professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia Dr. Arved Grebert - former Slovak diplomat, now in Switzerland Jane Noonan, Marlene Bartos, Stephen J. Knoblock - America Scholarship Winners Slovak League of �OFFICERS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Honorary President : EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President 2385 Main Street Stratford, Conn. 06497 Stephen J. Tkach , DR. JOSEPH PAUCO Secretary 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057 Vice Presidents: Milan V. Blazek, Stephen Suhajcik, Mary Piroch ' Executive Committee : Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Paul C. Kazimer, Tibor Kovalovsky, Joseph R. Kristotik, Dr. Joseph Pauco, John A. Sabol SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership: 104,500 ·-:i THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio .;_ Membership: 96,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N. J. - Membership: 53,000 PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa: - Membership: 18,000 LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership: 16,500 SLOVAK NEWSPAPER'S JOURNALISTS' ASSOCI.A.TION (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of Americ,a) BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. ZENSKA JEDNOTA Cleveland, Ohio KATOLICKY SOKOL Passaic, N. J. ZORNICK_A Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAKIA $4.00 per annum in the U.S.A. - $5.00 elsewhere PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 � 210 SLOVAKIA CURRENT ISSUES RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT CONFERENCE OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA IN NEW YORK CITY, MAY 19, 1973 Your Holiness: In the name of more than 350,000 American-Slovaks, the greater majority Catholic, and supporting the Slovak League of America and its cultural and civic programs, we extend cordial greetings. We appreciate your efforts and dedication to obtain equal rights for all Catholics and to continue the ecumenical co-operation with all Christians and believers throughout the whole world. We also present to you a petition asking that you give particular attention to the land of our forefathers-Slovakia -cradle in 833 of Christianity in Central Europe and ever devotedly loyal to the Holy See. Notwithstanding this historic fact, Slovakia, oppressed by the atheistic Soviet regime in civil affairs, lacks, in the spiritual domain, its own province, does not have a single archbishop and for so long a time, no Slovak has achieved cardinalhood. Of course, Slovak Catholics share their sufferings with their Lutheran and Greek Catholic brethren. We respectfully suggest that Slovakia be accorded similar recognition as Bohemia, Moravia, Slovenia, Croatia and many other countries in Africa and Asia. We are confident that among dedicated and oppressed Slovak clergy can be found an archbishop to lead a Slovak ;irovince as in days gone by. Such a magnanimous gesture would invigorate all Slovaks at home as well as here in America. We believe that your Holiness by such a decision will strengthen us and thus fortify our fidelity to the Vatican and reverence to the throne of St. Peter. Very respectfully and sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary Dear Mr. President: The Slovak League of America on the occasion of its 1973 Conference here in New York extends cordial greetings. We hope you will continue to enjoy good health and achieve even greater success in your efforts on behalf of all citizens of whatever origin. We unequivocally endorse your stand in Vietnam and welcome your policy in Europe and Asia. As you are well aware, our origins are in Central Europe, in �SLOVAKIA 211 Slovakia, which has a more than 1100 year Christian history and which for many centuries, excepting a brief period, has lived in subjugation. Now, Slovakia is in its fifth year of Soviet occupation and deprivation by the communists of all human, spiritual and political rights. So, today, we again respectfully request that you, individually as our leader, as well as your entire administration, continue to remember Slovakia and the other oppressed nations behind the Iron Curtain. All thes•e subjugated peoples seek and des·erve statehood and democratic freedom such as we in the United States are so fortunate to enjoy. In your discussions with the leaders of the totalitarian world, we ask that you give high priority to this humane cause. W!! are confident that if permitted free elections, our brethren in Slovakia would officially confirm their dedication and devotion to the United States of America as the stalwart guardian of human freedoms . Most Sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS HELD IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 30TH 1973 The representatives of Slovaks abroad gathered at the General Assembly of the Slovak World Congress, held in Chicago on June 28-30th, 1973, adopted the following Declaration: (1) We consider ourselves an integral part of the Slovak people. We are conscious of our co-responsibility for their destiny and for their contribution to the overall culture of humanity. (2) We claim for the Slovak nation, on the basis of its national individuality, recognition for an equal status with other sovereign nations of the world. (3) We deny any Great Power the right to interfere with the destiny of the Slovak people and to integrate Slovakia in other states or zones of influence which are opposed to the will of the Slovak people and their national interests. We consider such actions, condemned as they are by all civilized people of the world, to be a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. (4) We demand the departure of all occupation forces from Central Europe in order that, after more than a quarter �212 SLOVAKIA of a century since the end of the War, the nations of that area can finally govern themselves. (5) As representatives of a nation conscious of its responsibility towards others, we consider the principles of democracy and humanism the basis for peace and co-operation among the peoples of the world. (6) On these principles alone, life in freedom and a free culture can develop in Slovakia according to the traditions of the Slovak people and in harmony with the progress of the world. PHILIP A. HROBAK YEAR January 10, 1974 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Philip A. Hrobak, and on May 1, 1974 we will mark the seventieth anniversary of his birth. These special dates impel us to honor his memory in a special way. He was one of the most deserving of our cultural and civic workers from among the many American-born Slovaks and one who dedicated himself to the Slovak cause since early manhoJd. Philip A. Hrobak, as a newspaperman, writer, histocian, linguist, fraternalist and organizer rose to heights in American Slovak life. His contributions to the Slovak cause in both English and Slovak are most noteworthy and memorable in Slovak history. Therefore, the Slovak League of America deems it a special honor to be able to lend itself to the legacy of Philip A. Hrobak. Not only did he honorably serve as a long time editor of JEDNOTA, as the founder and editor of "Slovak Newsletters," "Jednota Annual Furdek" and "Slo·v akia", but also as a distinguished President and member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America-all this is his eternal monument. Bowing before his genius, we turn to our Slovak people and we seek recognition in 1974 of the unfinished dreams of Philip A. Hrobak and so-licit continued help in proving that we i>..re all worthy followers of this g,r eat son of our people. For the Slovak League of America, the year 1974 will be the time of increased activity, as he idealized and set by his example. In tribute to his linguistic talents, we can have the opportunity to help build a strong scholarship fund for the League, because the main purpose of this fund is to preserve and enhance, as he desired, the Slovak conscience in America. Surely, there cannot be any American Slovak who would not make his or her contribution to our scholarship fund in memory of Philip .A. Hirobak. The Slovak League of America also feels compelled to follow the �SLOVAKIA 213 footsteps of Philip A. Hrobak in other fields. In the firat place, we must preserve and continue with the annual "Slovakia", we must daily and fairly continue to inform the American public of the ideals and accomplishments of the American Slovaks, and we must continue our cl-forts to renew the rightful place of the Slovak nation as an independent unit in the family of nations. These were the goals of Philip A. Hrobak, and our Slovak League has so proceeded in the last ten years since we with heavy hearts bid a sad farewell to our never-forgotten leader. With prayer, with labor, and with sacrifices we thus honor this meritocious Slovak son. May the memory of Philip A. Hrobak be perpetual. Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary As the others see it represented. What to me is more worse, is the attempt to sublimate the Slovaks into the Czech people. That's why we hear about a 'Czechoslovak nation'. It does not exists! Czecho-Slovakia is a political entity of two nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. I never think of myself as Czech. I am Slovak and nothing else."- Rev. John Zornan, President of the Slovak Zion Synod, "What kind of man is Alex Del- National News, Pittsburgh, Pa., vecchio? (Playing for Detroit Red August 1, 1973. Wings.) He's middle aged, 41. A guy who you can't get in an "Despite the courage and per• argument with. His salt-and-pepper severance the Slovaks and other gray hair is impeccably coiffured peoples of Eastern Europe have around round Eastern European displayed time and again in their face (his late mother was a Slovak; relentless search for internal liberhis father Italian.)" - Bob Naylor, ties and external sovereignty, they Detroit Free Press, December 9, cannot achieve their goals without 1973. outside help. It is our duty, and only in keeping with our own "The idea of 'Slovak Heritage' is to extend our support. The ideals, quite intriguing to me. It implies world will not know genuine that we have one. Looking at hisevery country enjoys tory books, however, you might peace until freedom and can exercise the right have doubts. Even when discussing to self-determination. Central Europe, the Slovaks as a "The history of Slovakia is one nation are often forgotten or mis- "Call a Slovak Czechoslovak and you plant a burr under his skin. To a Slovak, named for a geograph• ic region divided by the wars and politics, that frequent error is more than just misnomer; it conveys a complete historical misunderstanding of who he is." - Sue Morse, The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N. Y., November 30, 1973. �214 SLOVAKIA of turmoil, frustration, and heroic struggle. Your continued devotion to the cause of a free and independent Slovakia - despite hundreds of years of oppression - is an inspiration to those of us who cherish freedom as you do. These are the characteristics that help us, in maintaining a better and stronger America. "The existence of the World Congress is an important step in achieving your long delayed place among the family of the free naRobert P. Hanrahan, tions." Member of Congress. U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson. "I am sure all of the American Slovaks sincerely wish to acknowledge the plight of their brethren under Communist oppression. The Slovak people strongly pursue the course that someday freedom will reign in all corners of the world. People of America need to be remainded of the severe repressing of Communist-held nations of the world endure." - U.S. Senator Hugh Scott. "Slovaks of Cleveland brought many Christmas customs from the old country, notably the custom of caroling. Among the most cherished Slovak folk songs are those sung at Christmas time. These carols are sung not only in churches, but also in the homes of the faithful, no matter how many generations they have lived here." - Sun Herald, Cleveland, 0., December 20, 1973. "We must re-dedicate ourselves to cause of all captives of Communism. Recognizing that the world cannot enjoy peace until all peoples are free from yoke of Communism. Please continue your dedication to the traditions, cultural life, religious beliefs, and desire for independence on behalf of Slo"There is a strong feeling of vak people everywhere."- Edward awareness among some ethnic J. Derwinski, Member of Congress. members of the younger generation. "I do want you to know I share There are also strong indications your commitment to the Slovak that the melting pot concept can people and to strengthening the no longer be maintained and that ties with their sons and daughters America is beginning to recognize throughout the world. I know we and appreciate the diversity of its will not falter in our efforts to ethnic populations in terms of a insure that no people need face re- new cultural pluralism."- Dr. Goy, pression and indignity as a result a member of City College's library of their yearning to be free." - faculty, New York, N. Y. �SLOVAKIA 215 -------------- WHO'S WHO Among American Slovaks JOSEPH C. K RAJ SA It was a mark of social maturity when the Chamber of Commerce of the Greater Harrisburg Area decided to have "Slovak power" for its presidency. Such is progress that it is hardly news anymore when a second-generation American of ethnic background and working-class origins becomes the leader of the town's top capitalists. Pardon us, Karl Marx. Joseph Charles Krajsa is the 60th president of the Harrisburg Chamber. He is so ethnic that more than half the Chamber's members can't pronounce his name correctly: It is "Crysa," and Anglicized it would mean "nicer." Well beyond his own physical size - 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds Krajsa is a big man. He was manager of the Allentown Finance Co. for 14 years, which is owned by his older brother, John. He has the equivalent of two college degrees and has a speaking knowledge of seven languages. He was an outstanding football, baseball and basketball coach for 11 years. And, lastly, he served as auditor and vice president of the First Catholic Slovak Union, and is now the editor of its bilingual weekly, Jednota, and manager of the Jednota home, farm and printery. Very much a Slovak as a warm convivial person, Krajsa also is a Rotarian, Elk, Legionaire and democrat. He once was a topflight golfer who won country-club trophies. "I find more businessmen in this Chamber, for example, wanting to be more human, wanting to share their good fortune," he said. "The single-minded emphasis on economics has diminished. A person must be involved politically, socially and religiously, as well as economically, to be well-rounded, and more and more businessmen understand that." Krajsa, 56, grew up in Allentown. His father was a wire-worker from Skalica in Slovakia and emigrated to America in 1906. Old Joe Krajsa married a girl living here, Agnes Baranek, a native of Horna Krupa, Slovakia. He built his own home and started a corner grocery. Everybody knew and loved the Krajsas. "Put it on the book," or "na knizku," they said as Father Krajsa had a credit book, so the neighborhood could have its groceries. One of the articles in Krajsa's published Furdek 1974 is entitled "Slovaks Are Lovers." The author asserts, "Slovak mothers can equally match the 'Good Jewish Mother' of book fame." A Slovak mother will say to her daughter, "Ja som t'a nevychovala, aby si behala za muzami," or "I didn'-t raise you to go chasing after men." Many Slovaks came to America between 1880 and 1920, with most of them settling here between 1900 and 1910. Thousands settled in Pennsylvania, and the men became the muscle of this commonwealth's steel, coal and railroading indus- �216 SLOVAKIA tries. Of Slovak descent are Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Penn State's great lineman, Mark Markovich; Will Hartack, Chuck Bednarik, Johnny Bucha and George Blanda. Stan Musial is half-Polish and half-Slovak. Blanda's mother is president of the Jednota lodge in Youngwood. There were 277 scattered Slovak fraternal organizations and widoworphan funds when in 1890 the Rev. Stephen Furdek, of Cleveland, organized the national union called Jednota (the word means union, or united). Nineteen years later the Middletown property of the aristocrat Simon Cameron Young was purchased for $38,000. What originally was 298 acres is now 255 acres, but worth well over one million dollars. The old orphanage, now phased out, cared for 4,000 children in its history. The newspaper Krajsa edits and writes for has a circulation of 40,000. Jednota also publishes 15 book titles annually. It is building a million dollar printery. Krajsa was elected editor for a three-year term in 1964, and he keeps being re-elected. He arrived in Middletown when Olmsted Air Force Base was closing, so immediately he plunged into civic activity. It got him involved in Chamber of Commerce work, and he did so well that the Chamber named him president last October. Krajsa had a typical Americanimmigrant family upbringing. He did well in his studies. He captained Allentown Central Catholic High School's basketball team, was center on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. He went on to East Stroudsburg State College, where he was a stellar athlete, and then was a Navy chief petty officer in World War II. After the war, he married Romanza Fairman, from Kansas City, and settled in Allentown. He put in 11 years at Central Catholic High lurning in several state championship teams and ending up as athletic director. Meanwhile, he was in the finance business, too. The Krajsas have four children: Joe, in insurance, Mike, administrative assistant in the Agriculture Department; Maryagnes, assistant to the Dauphin County Democratic chairman, and George, an athlete at Middletown High. Krajsa's desire for the Chamber of Commerce is a Slovak's wish for more unity, more strength of purpose and more aggressiveness for the community. "We can get unity and not take a thing away from anybody," he said looking toward the West Shore. He believes that the county line should be easier to cross than the ethnic line over which his presidency already has triumphed. Paul B. Beers, Associated Editor The Evening News Harrisburg, Pa. THE SLOVAK 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. �SLOVAKIA - 217 Book Reviews Books on Slovakia and Slovaks Reviewed by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum writes about the Czech l.'esistance during the last years of the War. Three contributions deal with the Slovak problem. Hans Kaiser writes about integration of Slovakia into national socialist war economy; In this carefully edited volume, Ladislav Lipscher examines the in12 German scholars and specialists fluence of the Third Reich on the in Czecho-Slovak affairs analyze the policy of the Slovak government eventful year of 1945 in Czecho- with regard to the Jewish problem, Slovakia. Some of the contributors and Jorg K. Hoensch gives a generare known as experts in the prob- al survey of the situation in Slovalems of Eastern Europe. Others kia in 1945. specialized in the German-Czech The remaining contributions deal relations or in the Slovak problem. with the transfer of the Sudeten Since until recently the German Germans and its consequences (Pescholars avoided publishing the re- ter Burian); with rebuilding of the sults of their research on Czecho- Communist Party of Czecho-SlovaSlovakia, their views will be of lda in 1945 (Heinrich Kuhn); with interest for schoiars in the West. the constitutional problems in The volume gives a survey of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 (Helmut international, national and socio- Slapnicka); and with the integraeconomic problems in Czecho-Slova- tion of the Sudeten German expelkia in 1945, but two contributions, lees in Germany. The book provides abundant inone by Ferdinand Seibt, and the other by Karl Bosl, outline the formation on each topic and referhistorical background of boundary ences to sources used indicate that problems and basic information on German scholars weve dealing with the division of Germany by the their subjects with great effort to present an objective picture of Allies. Further contributions deal with Czecho-Slovakia in 1945. Their Czecho-Slovakia itself during the views and conclusions will, thereWar and her l'estoration in 1945. fore, be at variance with some Peter Kruger gives a survey of the Western specialists in East Central views of the Allies on Czecho-Slo- ; Europe, including the emigre Czech vakia from the Atlantic Charter to j historians. Czecho-Slovakia has the Potsdam Conference; Martin K. been presented in the West during Bachstein outlines the policy of I the past decades with evident relithe social democratic exiles from ance on Czech sources and favoring Czecho-Slovakia and Detlef Brandes I the Czechs. Especially Slovakia was Karl Bosl: Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei, Vortrag,e der wissenschaftlichen Tagung des Collegium Carolinum, R. Oldenbourg, Mlinchen-Wien, 1971, 316 p. �218 SLOVAKIA treated with bias, mostly as a "postscriptum" to Czech history, and the cruel and often inhuman treatment of minorities or political adversaries was overlooked. German scholars endeavored to be factual and objective and since some of them were born or raised in Czecho-Slovakia, their knowledge of the prob!ems discussed in their contribution cannot be doubted. Nevertheless, they present a German view, because nobody can separate himself fr.om his own background and personal or national experience. · And the manner in which Prague solved the Sudeten German problem in 1945 was bound to create deep resentiment and animosity, which is not easy to overcome. Slovakia is treated in the book with more understanding and impa.rtiality than is the usual case in Western historiography; there is nevertheless certain bias in all three contributors "with regard to the Slovak republic, including the article ·by Jorg Hoensch. Hoensch published two well researched books on Slovakia in the past but, in many instances, adopted the Czech or the Slovak Marxist view of the wartime Slovakia. This also occurred in his present contribution which is well researched and refers also to Slovak emigre political literature. Nevertheless, some conclusions were made by Hoensch on assumptions and not on facts. For instance, his view that "the majority of the Slovak leading strata and, even more, the large masses of the population believed during the war that their social ,i nterest and political rights would be better preserved in the restored Czechoslovakia" and that the Slovak Republic "could not give proof -of its viability (Lebensfiihigkeit)" is a part of Czech and Communist propaganda which was recen_tly contradicted and abandoned even by Slovak Marxist historians (see books by L. Liptak and S. Falt'an). Likewise is disputable his statement that the "Slovak population accepted with equal passivity the introduction of the peoples democracy and the declaration of the Slovak Republic." The enthusiastic manifestations in Slovakia in 1939 can hardly be compared with the fear from rape, confiscation, deportation and hiding in cellars which ·could be witness in Slovakia ' during the first months of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. Also treated in the volume are two important problems for Slovakia during the war years: the integration of Slovakia into the German war economy and the policy of the Slovak government with regard to the Jewish problem. Hans Kaiser deals with the first topic and gives a well researched survey of the impact of Germany on Slovak economy, and of the pressures used by Berlin on the Slovak government. Kaiser's contribution is the first one in the West to deal expertly · with the subject. So far, only the Marxist historians or economists published studies on the economic situation in Slovakia during th e War and their approach was a priori hostile. The views of the members of the Slovak government and Slovak economists who did not side with the regime imposed upon Slovakia in 1945, are buried in the archives of the "people's courts" and only in part were published by Slovak emigre politicians and writers. The picture of Slovak :war economy presented by Kaiser cannot, therefore, be without flaws. It is, in any case, a useful basis for further research and full presentation of the economic development of Slovakia during the Second , World War. �SLOVAKIA · 219 The third contributio n dealing I Horst Glass!: Die slowakische Geschichtswis senschaft nach 1945 with Slovakia touches on the prob(Slovak Historiogra phy After !em which harmed Slovaks and 1945), Otto Harrassowi tz, Wies their reputation in the world, but baden, 1971, 166 pages, Register. the11e were only a few attempts to put the policy of the Slovak governThe author and the publisher of ment towa!'ds Jews into a proper this book deserve recognition for perspective. making available to Western scholars and students of history an Lipscher's contributio n analyzes objective survey of Slovak historithe influence of the Third Reich on ography after 1945. Except for that policy on the basis of G€rman short summaries in one or two archives and partly also on the foreign languages, writings of Slohave been published Slovak sources. In comparison vak historians 1945 exclusively in Slovak since with many articles published on and, as such, they have remained this subject in the West, Lipscher's inaccessible to most of foreign hiscontributio n is marked by an effort torians. Glassl's book provides at to present the policy of the Slovak least those Western historians who impartial governmen t more objectively and read German with an phy and historiogra Slovak at look with considerab le restraint from during blaming only the Slovak govern- its remarkable developme nt decades. two past the ment in harsh terms, as has been the case until now. Lipscher does The book is the result of a thornot make any reference to sources ough research in Slovakia itself. of Slovak emigre historians and The author compiled considerab le political writers who dealt with the knowledge of writings on Slovak subject and he recognized that the history by both the old traditionalproblem would require further ist and the recent Marxist historistudy. This indicates that he enIn his attempt to give an obans. deJvored to approach the problem pictul'e he points to the jective wi th impartiality and, as a result, and ideological interrestrictions his contributio n may be a beginwhich Slovak histounder ference ning of dealing with the tragedy or remain silent write to had rians of Jews in Slovakia with more "It lasted 1956. until 1948 after understand ing of the circumstan ces "before Glassl, says years," several and pressures under which the developthe that possible was it Slovaks could not save more Jewment of Slovak historiogra phy and ish citizens than they did. research could come up with noA complete review of this volume ticeable results. Under the pressure would, of course, require to deal of the circumstan ces in those years with all the other contributio ns (Slovak) histo1ians had to take into which give a survey of many prob- considerati on the political goals lems in the Czech part of Czecho- and requiremen ts. The Communist Slovakia, and analyze the relations Party which took over power in between Czechs and G€rmans in- Czecho-Slovakia required complete cluding the expulsion, often under re-writing of the whole historiinhuman circumstan ces, of the Su- ography acco11ding to Marxist crideten Germans. teria ... many historians were fired �220 SLOVAKIA from their positions, and some of works on Slovakia. The author made undoubtedly a very thorough th,em were even sent to jails." On the other hand, the author research into the writings and publications of Slovak historians and underlines that there was a remarkable development of Slovak produced a standard work on a historiography since the War either high academic level. in the number of books published or in the number of institutes and people involved in research. Unlike Marxist or some Western historians, Glass! also states that "during the period of the Slovak Republic (]939-1945) , there was a fruitful development in the field of historical research even though the war was not the right time for a successful build-up of this discipline." He considers it as wrong and unjust of the Marxist historians to belittle the results of this period in research into the history of Slovakia. Glass! also refers to the writings of Slovak scholars in Western countries but for some reason he became acquainted only with the works published by Prof. M. Lacko and with one book and one essay by this reviewer. Writings of other Slovak historians, especially those pertaining to the period of the 18th and 19th centuries, escaped the author, which is regrettable, because they shed a different light on Slovak national awakening from that of Marxist historiography. The book stops at the year 1918 and leaves out the past 60 years during which Slovakia, as well as Slovak historiography, experienced an unexpected development. The explanation for this is given by the author in the Preface by one sentence: "For understandable political reasons, the inclusion in this survey of the writings dealing exclusive,l y with the period 1918-1960 was abandoned." Even in the present form the book is a very valuable scholarly addition to the foreign language MORE ABOUT BOOKS Slov akia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Edited by Prof. Joseph M. Kirschbaum ; Preface by S. B. Roman, published by the Slovak World Congress, Toronto, Ont. , 1973, 368 p., bibl., $12.50. The Slovak World Congress published for the General Meeting held in Chicago on June 28th-July 1st, 1973, another English book on Slovakia which deserves special attention. While the first publication by the Congress outlined the historical and cultural background of Slovakia, this new voluminous work will give the readers an insight into the political and literary developments in Slovakia in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his Preface to the book, the President of the Slovak World Congress, Stephen B. Roman, explains that the Slovak World Congress "undertook to publish this book with the desire to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-oper ation and only if each recognizes the equal rights to independence that each has." One cannot but agree with such aim and the contents of the book confirm that it was also the intention of the editor and contributors. The book is composed of contributions by 20 authors, four of �221 SLOVAKIA whom are of non-Slovak origin, and it is divided into four parts. The first part deals with Slovak national philosophy and the subject is treated by two known Slovak professors, Charles Murin from the University of Montreal, and Stefan Polakovic, former professor at the University of Bratislava. The second part deals with Slovak politics and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries and contains contributions by Prof. J. A. Mikus, Msgr. J. Rekem, Dr. Stefan Osusky, Prof. F . Vnuk, Dr. F. f>urcansky, Prof. E. Loebl, Prof. Stefan Glejdura, Dr. lmrich Kruzliak and Rev. Mikulas Sprinc. Part three deals with the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors and among the contributors are mostly authors of non-Slovak origin. On Slovakia under the Habsburg rule, an interesting survey was written by a members of the Jlabsburg dynasty, Archduke Robert of Austria while Slovak-Hungarian relations are treated by Prof. George Perenyi-Lukacs with comments by Dr. Arved Grebert and Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum. Prof. Thaddeus Gromada contributed an excellent essay on Slovak-Polish relations and Slovak-Russian relations are analyzed and evaluated by Prof. Stefan Glejdura and Miroslav Licko. Prof. Kurt Glaser, author of the book, Czecho-Slovakia - A Critical History, closed this chapter with a scholarly treatise on "National States Versus Federalism in Central European Future," commented upon by Prof J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum. In the last part, the book deals with Slovaks abroad and their attitude towards Slovakia. It contains two essays, one by Dr. Joseph Pauro and another by Dr. F . Braxator. An extensive Select Bibliography on Slovakia completes the contents of this standard work. We cannot but welcome this new English book on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad. It fills an important gap which existed for a long time in presenting Slovakia's political and cultural development in the 19th and 20th centuries to the Western world in an objective manner. For the first time 20 experts are expressing their opinions on various subjects pertaining to Slovakia. They belong not only to two generations, as the editor of the book observed, but "also represent two schools of thought and, therefore, the book presents a confrontation of views on the Slovak p:i.st and present." In form and contents, the book is a scholarly work. The editor, Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum, took his task seriously and enhanced the volume by an extensive bibliography in several languages. He also paid tribute to American Slovaks by stating that "at the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced." It would be desirable that this volume be followed by a book on Slovak culture, especially arts and literature of the past two hundred years. A conference on these topics, at the next general meeting of the Congress could help to achieve this goal. Joseph P a u co �222 SLOVAKIA TWO PUBLICATIONS BY l\'lATICA SLOVENSKA Matica slovenska was degraded by the Communist regime and went through several periods of regimentation and persecution of her leading representatives and cultural workers. Independent of political pressure and refusing to serve political parties or ideologies, Matica slovenska was, before 1945, a cultural institution which belonged to the nation and represented the highest aspirations of all Slovaks. The Communist Party made Matica slovenska a subservient tool of the regimes imposed upon S'lovakia since 1945. In spite of this nefarious situation, Matica slovenska succeeded in developing Slovak culture at least in some sectors. Among these sectors, literary history and philology deserve our consideration. vakia from literary to musical. This was a neglected sector in the past mainly due to the lack of experts and, therefore, we have to welcome this publication. Of special interest for elucidating some periods of Slovak history is, however, the essay by Jozef Kuzmik : Book Culture Among the Slova/c Slavs in the Years 863-1000. The period of Great Moravia became a favored subject for Slovak intellectuals during the past two decades. In Kuzmik's contribution we find some interesting information about the territorial extent of the ancestors of today's Slovaks, as well as about their book culture which were in the past hardly known or were insufficiently explored. Unfortunately, the publication has only a Russian and German summary and, therefore, it is accessible to a very limited number For several years, Matica has of scholars in the Anglo-Saxon published a series of publications world where there are still many dealing with Slovak literary life misconceptions about the Slovak entitled:Letopis pamiitnika sloven- past. A new confusion was created s/cej literatury and Literarny ar- even recently by scholars of Magchiv. We have revi,ewed some issues yar background who tried to deny in the past in Slovakia, underlying the cultural heritage of the Great their significance for Slovak litera- Moravian period to Slovaks. Li t erarny archiv 8/ 71 is a valuture. We have now received Litercirny archiv 8/ 71, edited by Michal able source for literary history on Elias, and Letopis 19 72 , edited by several Slovak poets and writers Juraj Chovan-Rehak, and some not only of the 19th century but comments would perhaps be ap- also of the 20th century. The publication deals mostly with archive propriate. Letopis 1972 contains a number of materials, unknown manuscripts, or contributions dealing with various correspondence among leading Slosubjects from book culture (kniz- vak literary figures and cultural na kultura) among Slovak Slavs in workers. Even though the Commuthe years 863-1000 to several in- nist regime tried to regiment Sloteresting contributions on the de- vak literary history and endeavorvelopment of museums in Slovakia ed to impose Marxist criteria, Sloand the idiomatic vocabulary in vak intellectuals display more or the writing of Martin Kukucin. The less equal interest in the literary main part of the book is dedicated life of poets and writers who were to the history and development of I neglected in the past because of various types of museums in Slo- their religion or ideological orien- �SLOVAKIA 223 Literature, government, law, education, etc. Even though hardly complete, the Bibliography shows that Canadian Slavists were not idle during the twenty post-war years. In spite of the fact that Slavic studies had to start in Canada from scratch, the Bibliography contains many titles of books, essays, studies and articles, which have given Canadian students a new picture of the history, culture and civilization of the Slavic peoples. From the Slovak point of view, we have many reasons to welcome this Bibliography. Similar American or European bibliographies either overlooked books, publicaJ.M. Kirschbaum tions and essays on Slovak history, Daniel Dorotich (ed.) : A Bibliogra- Language and literature by Slovak phy of Canadian Slavists 1951- authors, or made selection of writ1971 , University of Saskatchewan ings which presented Slovakia and Publications, Saskatoon, Sask., Slovak culture in the light of ad1972. verse propaganda and Czech linAfter the Second World War, a guistic and literary theses. The misnumber of Canadian universities conceptions about the Slovak people added to their usual curricular and their culture were cultivated courses on Slavic languages, litera- especially by the older generations ture and civilization. At some uni- of Slavists who studied at the Universities special Centres or Depart- versity of Prague and use as their ments of Slavic Studies were organ- source of information books pubized, while at other universities lished by Czech scholars before Slavic languages, literature and and during the Second World War. The new generation of Slavists history were taught within Departm ents of Modern Languages and at American and Canadian univerLiteratures and in History Depart- sities gradually detached itself from the old school. Using source ments. In Canada, professors of Slavic materials published in today's Slostudies were soon organized in the vakia and other socialist countries Ca nadian Association of Slavists ' as well as in Western countries' which held every year an annual they have no more any doubt that meeting within the framework of Slovaks are a distinct nation and Canadian Learned Societies. The their language and literature have present Bibliography gives an in- developed independently of the sight into the writings and pub- Czechs or other Slavs. The Bibliography compiled and lications of the members of the edited by Prof. Dorotich reflects Association. Prof. Dorotich, in compiling and this new trend in Slavic studies editing the Bibliography, followed with regard to Slovakia. By inlhe •usual division of subject mat- eluding over 50 titles (books, monoters _into general history, languages, graphs, essays, articles) published talion and those who were closer to the socialist outlook. As a result, Literarny archiv contains interesting information on Bernolak, Stur, Vajansky and Radlinsky, as well as on Janko Kral', Roy, Hamuljak and others. It is regrettable that also in this publication the summary is only in Russian and German. For Slovak literary history, both publications are nevertheless of importance and unveil to a great degree some periods of Slovak cultural development which were intentionally neglected before 1938 as well as during the Stalinist period. �224 SLOVAKIA by Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum in five languages, the Bibliography presents a new picture of Slovak history, culture, language and literature. Not only the main works on Slovakia in English are recorded, but also one book published in Slovak, monographs and essays in French, English, German and Spanish. In fact, the Bibliography is more complete in this respect that the Slovak Bibliography Abroad compiled by Prof. M. Lacko and published by the Slovak Institute (Rome, 1967). Since the Bibliography will go into the hands of many Slavists and into university libraries, we welcome this publication as a very useful guide for students and professors of Slavic studies. Joseph Pauco Joseph Pauco: Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America), The First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, English Introduction by J. C. Krajsa, Ill., 360 pages. Slovaks in the United States played an important role in the history of the Slovak people, but a complete story of their endeavors on behalf of Slovakia, their struggle for preserving national consciousness and cultural heritage has not yet been published. Due to political circumstances in Slovakia, historians either were not allowed or had no possibility to carry out research in order to compile a standard work which would present Slovaks in the United States in an objective light. It was only during the Second World War that two volumes: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of Slovaks in America) by Konstantin Culen were published in Slovakia. Since that time, only Slovak exiled intellectuals, including Culen, carried out a research and published monographs on the life and achievements of the large Slovak ethnic group in the United States. Historians in Slovakia were either not allowed by ,t he Communist regime or for ideological reasons avoided recording their struggle for survival and the many contributions of American Slovaks not only to their own national life but also to the fight for freedom and independence of the Slovak people. After Prof. F . Hrusovsky and K. Culen, Dr. Joseph Pauco deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. For the past 20 years he published monographs on individual Slovak leaders and organizations of which the voluminous history of the First Catholic Slovak union deserves particular mention. In the present book he deals with 55 outstanding Slovak leaders who did the pioneering organizational, cultural and religious work among American Slovaks. The importance of this book should be, however, measured not only according to its literary value, but also against the fact that there are no organized archives and many printed documents are perishing. In spite of this, Dr. Pauco gathered many valuable facts about the individual leaders among whom there are clergymen of both denominations - Catholic and Lutheran - outstanding organizers of Slovak fraternal and cultural life, men and women of great dedication to the cause of preservation of Slovak cultural heritage. The author approached his subjects with great abjectivity and painted their profiles in a fluent, uncomplicated style to make the book readab1e to the general public and, at the same time, by many references to printed sources, useful to historians and researchers. �SLOVAKIA Some of the chapters are shorter and contain only the most important data. Others present a full life story and evaluation of the activities and of the role the individual leaders played in the Slovak organizational, religious and cultural life in America. The reason for the uneven treatment of some pioneers was given by the author in the introduction to the book. As he says he was sometimes unable to gather, even the most neces~ary information, because there was no organization and no individuals in the past who would have preserved old newpapers, almanacs, minutes of meetings, or other archive materials. Since the Second World War the Slovak Institute in Cleveland and the recently organized Jankola Library have made an effort to gather and preserve archive materials pertaining to the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. In these circumstances, Pauco's present work, as well as his book on the First Catholic Slovak Union and numerous monographs, deserve special recognition. The book has, however, also its own value due to its composition, contents and style. Dr. Pauco produced a standard work comparable with writings of this kind on any other ethnic groups in America. The book also has a useful introduction by Joseph C. Krajsa, but it lack an English summary which would have given to the younger generations of American Slovaks and researchers at least the basic information on Slovak pioneers in America. Unless the author and the publisher intend to publish this work in English, it would be a useful thing to attach to the second edition an extensive English summary. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m 225 Joseph L. Dieska: "Faith and Reason" in the Life and Philosophy of Jacques Maritain, An Offprint from Most, Vol. XIX, No. 3-4, Cleveland, Ohio, 1973. Shortly before the death of the famous French philosopher, Jacques Maritain, Slovaks paid his tribute on the occasion of his 90th birthday in a commemorative study by Prof. Joseph L. Dieska under the title The Religious and Philo sophical Profile of Jacques Maritain. The scholarly essay was pub- lished in Slovak but the author prepared also an English version under the above title. Prof. Dieska was one of the known adherents of Maritain's philosophy already in Slovakia, and pursued his interests in the great Catholic philosopher's concepts also as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton, Ohio, where he has taught for the past several years. The present essay is one of his numerous articles on the subjects. The Slovak and English texts contain a well written and well documented insight and analysis of Maritain's religious and philosophical profile. Dieska approached Maritain's philosophy from the position of "Faith and Reason" and explains the role of reason as well as the mystery of faith in Maritain's philosophy which became a part of the Catholic doctrine and influenced the thinking of several generations in Europe and elsewhere. His theories of creative evolution and his ability to find basic reality through intuition ,e xalted the spirit of man in many parts of the world. Known as neo-Thomism Maritain's philosophy anchors in the works and philosophical concepts of St. Thomas Aquinas. As Dieska explains, Maritain became adherent to the philosophy of St. Thomas as a result of his own independent reflections and �226 SLOVAKIA studies of various philosophers and ing tribute to Maritain also on because of the comparison he made behalf of Slovak intellectuals who between them. He found the truth are silenced in their native counhe was searching for in the an- try where Maritain's philosophy had a strong influence before Marxswers of St. Thomas. However, if it is true that Mari- ism was imposed as the only philotain followed the logic and argu- sophical concept tolerated by the mentation of St. Thomas, he put regime. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m both, in the view of Prof. Dieska, in a " new, modern, and contemporary setting. His language was ad- Encydopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and P eriodicals in justed to the philosophical expresthe United States. By Lubomyr sions used today. His arguments R. Wynar. 260 pp. Libraries Unare aimed at and against modern limited, Inc., Littleton, Colorado, and recent objectors and critics. 1972. $12.50. And above all, when he speaks of For those interested in ethnic the necessity of taking faith and supernatural, revealed truths into studies a valuable tool has recentconsiderations while solving the ly been published to aid in learning political, social, ethical and estheti- 1 about the complex mosaic that is cal difficulties and 'crises' of our ' the United States of America. time, Maritain must transcend Tho- Whereas in the past the student mas and go much farther not, of of ethnic Americana had to wade course, in essential immutable, and through Ulrich's directories, or universally valid principles but in through state manuals, or specialtheir applications to the new, dif- ized histories, facility in locating Icrent and more complex situations data about 903 ethnic publications and issues. In these new approach- can now be had by utilizing Luboes lie the tremendous responsibility myr R. Wynar's Encyclopedic Diand significance of Maritain's Tho- rectory of Ethnic Newspapers and mistic solutions, proposals and Periodicals in the United States. often even sharp and merciless Included in this directory are escriticisms of the 'evils of time'"- scntials about 53 ethnic presses, ranging from the Albanian Press, concludes Dieska. As St. Thomas had found in Assyrian Press, Italian Press, JaAristotle a philosophical basis for panese Pr,ess, Slovak Press, Ukrainreconciling man's reason and ian Press, etc. , to some not poChristian faith, so Maritain, in half pular enough presses such as the a lifetime of philosophical study, Cossack, Cax,patho-Ruthenian, Flembrought a rejuvenated Thomism ish, Swiss, and Welsh. In cases such as Croatian, Sloveinto a modern age of scepticism and science. After the Second nian, and Serbian, there is a generWorld War, Maritain's vision and al heading as Yugoslav, which in philosophy helped lend strength effect increases the number of also to the whole Christian demo- presses substantially beyond the cratic movement which stood as a figure of 53. Data cited for pub1.Julwark against Communism and lications are: title translations, year founded, complete address to the Catholic Church. The author and the editor of (including ZIP), name of editor, Most deserve recognition for pub- language(s) , sponsor, circulation, Jishing both versions and for pay- frequency of publication, and sub- �SLOVAKIA scription rate. In additions commentaries aid in explaining the scope of publications., e.g., the following for "The Handbook Ilbo'' (The Korea Times): "This publication, the only Korean daily in the United States, carries international, national, and local news of interest of the Korean community. Jllustrated. " Professor Wynar of Kent State University, both a librarian and an ethnic specialist, includes a very interesting Appendix of Statistical Analysis for each ethnic group, summarizing the number of publications, weekly circulation totals, monthly circulation totals, totals for native language publications, bi-lingual totals, and English language totals. An index to the publications completes the book. An interesting addendum to the book would have been an analysis of ethnic publications in each of the fifty states. This directory truly is the first comprehensive annotated guide to the current ethnic press in the United States and with its clear type and excellent alphabetical format clearly rates an A. Paul F e n c h a k Panorama: A H i storical Review of the Czechs and Slovaks i n the United States of America. Pub- lished by the Czechoslovak National Council of America, Cicero, Ill., U.S.A. Cicero-Berwyn Press, 1970, pp. 328, index. It is quite evident that there exists today in America a need for authorative works on the histories of the various ethnic groups which have contributed to the development of America. Objective, factual and concise histories of the various groups is essential. This volume of the dual histories of the Czech 227 and Slovak immigrations to America, unfortunately from a viewpoint of abjective Slovak history, seems to lack sufficient factual data to be accepted as a history of the Slovak immigration to America. From the standpoint of the history of the Czech immigration it is factu al, unbiased history but even then much is amiss particularly in the area of the religious development of the Czech community in the United States. Two basic criticisms can be found in the basic format of the work. The single most important error in the work is the fact that the various writers of Slovak topics are weak in objective reporting, so necessary in a historical work of this kind . Unfortunately the writers, who are of the " Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion, would wa nt the reader to actually believe that only those Slovak organizations which support that philosophy have contributed to the development of the Slovak American community. In fact it must be remembered that over eighty per cent of the organized Slovak American community does not support the '· Czechoslovak" philosophy but ra ther a distinct Slovak philosophy within the family of nations. The authors seem to infer that the staunch Catholic mass of Slovak immigrants contributed little if anything at all to the development of the Slovak community in Am erica. It appears that such notables as Father Stephen Furdek, founder of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the co-founder of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies. Association and the founder of the Slovak League of America played a very minor role in the development of the Slovak community. Other prominent leaders such as Father Matthew Jankola, Joseph Rusek, �228 SLOVAKIA Anna Hurban and Philip Hrobak are not even mentioned. The second most important ingredient which is lacking in this work is organization. Various bits and pieces are scattered throughout the work on both the Czech and Slovak development in America and from an academic journalistic point of view it is quite primitive in its presentation. Too many writers cover certain geographical areas of the Slovak immigration but much is ignored and almost always repetitious. Too often the writers are offering opinionated biased reporting which is not acc-eptable by the vast majority of the Slovak community today. There exists a certain disorganization present in the work and most often it effects an objective Slovak history. In one area in particular the work is both factually deficient and openly opinionated, that is the area of the Slovak organization" in the United States. Such organizations as "Catholic Slovak Unity, Catholic Slovak Women's Unity. Unity of Catholic Sokols" are not acceptable as Slovak organizations, as such do not exist. Again faulty research is evidenced in the presentation of Slovak organizations. One area lists "all" the Czech and Slovak organizations in America and the largest and most important Slovak societies are not listed. Subjective reporting would lead one to believe that indeed the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol is the most importa nt and influential organization of Americans of Slovak descent. However factual research will reveal to the alert writer that in fact the above named organization has a membership of less than 24,000 while the First Catholic Slovak Union, the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, the Pennsyl- vania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and the First Slovak Wreath of the Free Eagle have a combined membership of over 300,000. The informed reader will at once note that Sokol U.S.A., as it is commonly associated and pubblicised in the America press is of the "Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion while the other Catholic Slovak organizations representing the overwhelming majority of organized Americans of Slovak descent are not of the appendage philosophy but rather support a distinct Slovak path completely free of Czech domination. Another noteworthy fact is that the Sokol U.S.A. is the only Slovak organization of any magnitude which is a member of the Czechoslovak National Council of America. Included in the work is a Who's Who among Americans of Czech and Slovak ancestry. Again only those Slovaks who support the idea of a "Czechoslovak" culture, language and heritage are included. Not only are the above mentioned Slovaks notably absent but such luminary as Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, D.D., the Roman Catholic Bishop of Gary, Indiana and countless others who have contributed to the growth and development of the Slovak American Community. In the final analysis the work offers little insight into the history and development of the Slovaks in America. The history of the Czechs in America is acceptable but no t commendable since again the underlining theme is to discredit any theistic organizational development. The work in general is primitive in the Slovak sense and therefore can not be accepted as a factual history of the Slovaks in America. This work is a prime example of Czech and "Czechoslovak" chauvin- �SLOVAKIA 229 ism in the interpretation of Slovak suring Czech hegemony in CzechoSlovakia, regardless of the fact history. Daniel F. Tanzone that the Communist movement is discredited by their policy. In some Eugen Steiner: The Slovak Dilem- ways Czech Communists resemble ma, Cambridge, at the University to Czech non-Communists or antiPress, 1973, 229 pages. Series Communists who used and still are International Studies, Published using democracy, socialism, liberalfor the Centre for International ism or Catholicism for imposing or Studies, London School of Eco- maintaining Czech hegemony over nomics and Political Sciences. others, especially Slovaks. The situation in Czecho-Slovakia between inthe in writes author the As troduction his aim was "to trace 1918-1938 attests to it sufficiently. the Communist attitude to national- The policy of Prague Governments ism, and to define the effects of from 1918 to this day proved that this attitude as far as the Slovaks Czechs are not capable to fulfill the arc concerned." Or in other words mission which the victorious Powhe "deals in microcosm with a ers entrusted to them in 1918 or major problem which lies at the again in 1945. Czecho-Slovalda did heart of the Soviet Union's policies, not become a barrier against German expansion or a bridge between internal and external." (p. 3) and West. Czech governments East Dr. Steiner uses the case of Slovakia to show how Communism forced into opposition against the fa iled to solve nationality problems. European block which created Not only in the Soviet Union was Czecho-Slovakia, not only the mithis problem hidden behind slogans norities but also Slovaks. Czech on the equality of nations, while politicians did not honor any agreethe Russians are the rulers, but ment, promise or pledge given to also in restored and by Communists Slovaks. They practiced such a policy regoverned Czecho-Slovakia. Steiner's book leaves no doubt that the Marx- gardless of the danger for the Leninist thesis on the problems of existence of the state or the misnationalities did not bring a satis- sion Czecho-Slovakia was to fulfill factory solution to the relations according to its friends and creabetween the Czechs and Slovaks; tors. After occupying Slovakia with on the contrary, since 1945 when the help of French and Italian Czecho-Slovakia was restored (a- military units in 1918, and with the gainst the will of majority of Slo- help of the Soviet armies in 1945, vaks) the Czech rule was imposed they disregarded their promises on Slovaks step by step, brutally and the rights of Slovaks to selfand without regard to promises and government. About the period of agreements. Up to 1948, the Czech 1918-1938 there is in Western lanCommunists found accomplices in guages comparatively large literanon-Communists. After 1948, they ture dealing with this subject. The imposed their rule on Slovaks with book by Dr. Steiner gives to Westthe help of a handful of collabora- ern readers sufficient information tors from Slovakia, mostly of non- and documentary evidence for the Slovak origin (Bacilek, Bil'ak, Mos- period of 1945-1968. Dr. Steiner writes in the introkovic, Daubner, Siroky and others). Czech Communists are using Com- duction to his book that he has munism as an instrument for as- "chosen exile as a Jew, as a Com- �230 SLOVAK.IA On the cover of Steiner's book munist and as a Slovak." He wrote his book from this point of view, there are reproductions of pictures which makes his work more inter- from demonstrations of Slovak esting and more valuable. It is a youth in Bratislava against the testimony of a "Jew, Communist Soviet occupation in August 1968. and Slovak" about the political On the posters we can read: "Slodevelopments in Slovakia in this vaks stand firm, they won't pass! Occupa nts go home!" These slogans century. His background and ideological o- express the feelings of Slovaks in rientation explain to a great degree Slovakia as well as abroad not only not only his favorable attitude to- against the So·,iet occupants, but wards regimes in 1918-1938 (though any occupants, including the Czechs. Czech Statistics can easily prove This conclusion can be found, if the opposite) but his negative stand carefully read, also in Dr. Steiner's towards the Slovak republic of book: The Slovak Dilemma. Dr. A. Gr eb er t, 1939-1945 as well. We understand Geneva, Switzerland that the anti-communist and antijewish measures of the Slovak Government could not meet with Slovak Studies, Historica 7 and 8, Vol. X and XI, Slovak Institute, his approval. It is, however, hard Rome-Cleveland, Editor Prof. M. to understand his attitude towards Lacko, S. J . Dr. Benes and his Government-inBoth volumes of Slovak Studies exile. Even such adherents of "Czechoslovakism" as were Dr. M. deal with history of Slovakia and Hodfu and Dr. S. Osusky disagreed except for the contribution by Dr. and at the end fought against Be- S. Nahalka, with the events of our nes and his anti-Slovak policy which century. Since the Marxist historihe later (after 1945) also practiced ans not only avoid certain subjects in co-operation with Czech Commu- but also write with prejudice and nists and non-Communists. Unfor- strictly from the Marxist point of tunately, Dr. Steiner deals with view, these volumes perform specific this rather superficially and un- role in historiography on Slovakia. convincingly. The post-war develop- In addition, their value is enhanced ments in Czecho-Slovakia prove by the fact that they are published that the Slovak-Czech antagonism in foreign language and two of the is not a matter of temporary politi - contributors were educated abroad. Students of modern Slovak hiscal situation but a fundamental and lasting feature of Slovak-Czech tory will welcome especially the relations. It is impossible to solve Ph.D. thesis by Sister M. E. Lubek, this problem within the "Czecho- "An Inquiry into the United States Slovak" framework. The successive _ Czechoslovak Relations between a_bolition, ~~er 1969, _of C~nstitu- I 1918-1948." There were many myths t10nal prov1S1ons dealing with the published on this subjects, but to federalization of Czecho-Slovakia, my knowledge, no scholarly work. mentioned in Dr. Steiner's book, Some years ago Prof. M. Mamatey prove convincingly the validity of shed some light on the period of the First World War, later years the above conclusions. In spite of some shortcomings, Dr. remained, however, unresearched. Steiner's book is a valuable contri- Yet, this is an interesting topic, bution to the historiography on since the United States played an important role in the emergence Eastern Europe. �231 SLOVAKIA of Czecho-Slovakia in 1918 and in her re-emergence in 1945. Needless to say that the treatise by M. E. Lubek does not cover all the aspects of the inter-state relations, remaining mostly in the field of politics and diplomacy. The study is nevertheless of the importance and will be useful for further research. For foreign historians dealing with Slovakia of special interest will also be the contributions by Prof. M. S. :l'.>urica, who researched Italian Military Documents in order to shed a new light on the tragic death of M. R. Stefanik, one of the founders of Czecho-Slovakia, and German biography of President Dr. J. Tiso by F. H. Schneider. We commented on the value of Prof. Durica's study when it was first published in Italian language (Slovalcia, Vol. XXIII, 1973) , and cannot but welcome the English version. Schneider's essay on the life and historical role of Dr. J . Tiso in Slovak politics is of importance for more than one reason. The adversaries of Slovak aspirations for independence - Communists and non-Communists - succeeded in presenting Dr. Tiso and his policies in Western countries in a distorted light. Even though, Dr. Tiso mostly suffered for his forced cooperation with Germany, there was a long silence about him and Slovakia among German historians. Schneider's contribution does not exhaust the subject and shows gaps, but it was high time to draw a little differe nt picture of President Tiso in ♦ ♦ German language than it was done by Prague and Slovak Communists. Unfortunately, Schneider overlooked some books and articles which contain substantial information on Dr. Tiso's life and politics, such as Prof. Murin's articles, one of Dr. Polakovic's books, many articles in Sl.ovakia and other sources. Dr. S. Nahalka's istructive article on "Holy Scripture among Slovaks" is a valuable contribution to the religious and cultural history of Slovaks. Religious history of Slovakia is one of the completely neglected fields in today's historiography in Slovakia, even though Slova ks survived as a nation mostly due to the fact that clergy (Catholic and Protestant) took over the cultural leadership and national struggle. Professor Lacko in his contributions presents the synthesis of the studies on Great-Moravian and Cyrillo-Methodian period and a survey of events which led to the reestablishment of the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia. The latter study would deserve to be completed by documents and names of people who in Slovakia and abroad helped the re-establishment. Both contributions are timely and instructive. Prof. Lacko deserves recognition also for his efforts to continue publishing the Slovak Studies. Slovak cultural activities abroad would be much poorer without this series. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m ♦ Life Membership in the Slovak League of America is $100.00 - join us! Write to: Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. �SLOVAKlA 232 Our Contributor s theologian, author, Cambridge, Ontario Stephen Sencik, S.J. - Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D ., Columbus, Ohio Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - author, Director, Slovak Institute, Cleveland, 0 . Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Joseph C. Krajsa - teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Editor, Jednota, Middletown, Pa. industrialist, Toronto, Ontario Stephen B. Roman - attorney-at-law, Stratford, Conn. Edward J. Behuncik - Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D . Jozef Pauco, Ph.D. - historian, author, Toronto, Ont. author, historian, Middletown, Pa. Michael O'Pake, Esq. - State Senator, Reading, Pa. Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A. - teacher, Yonkers, N. Y. Susan Pojer, B.A., Yonkers, N. Y. professor, author, consultant for Rockefeller Foundation, New York, N. Y. Michael Novak, Ph.D. Paul Fenchak - teacher, Baltimore, Md. Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. - assistant professor, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois Junior history major, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. William Wagner Francis Vnuk - historian; professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia Dr. Arved Grebert - former Slovak diplomat, now in Switzerland Jane Noonan, Marlene Bartos, Stephen J. Knoblock - America Scholarship Winners Slovak League of �OFFICERS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Honorary President : EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President 2385 Main Street Stratford, Conn. 06497 Stephen J. Tkach , DR. JOSEPH PAUCO Secretary 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057 Vice Presidents: Milan V. Blazek, Stephen Suhajcik, Mary Piroch ' Executive Committee : Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Paul C. Kazimer, Tibor Kovalovsky, Joseph R. Kristotik, Dr. Joseph Pauco, John A. Sabol SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership: 104,500 ·-:i THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio .;_ Membership: 96,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N. J. - Membership: 53,000 PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa: - Membership: 18,000 LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership: 16,500 SLOVAK NEWSPAPER'S JOURNALISTS' ASSOCI.A.TION (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of Americ,a) BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. ZENSKA JEDNOTA Cleveland, Ohio KATOLICKY SOKOL Passaic, N. J. ZORNICK_A Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAKIA $4.00 per annum in the U.S.A. - $5.00 elsewhere PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pennsylvania 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 210 SLOVAKIA CURRENT ISSUES RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED AT CONFERENCE OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA IN NEW YORK CITY, MAY 19, 1973 Your Holiness: In the name of more than 350,000 American-Slovaks, the greater majority Catholic, and supporting the Slovak League of America and its cultural and civic programs, we extend cordial greetings. We appreciate your efforts and dedication to obtain equal rights for all Catholics and to continue the ecumenical co-operation with all Christians and believers throughout the whole world. We also present to you a petition asking that you give particular attention to the land of our forefathers-Slovakia -cradle in 833 of Christianity in Central Europe and ever devotedly loyal to the Holy See. Notwithstanding this historic fact, Slovakia, oppressed by the atheistic Soviet regime in civil affairs, lacks, in the spiritual domain, its own province, does not have a single archbishop and for so long a time, no Slovak has achieved cardinalhood. Of course, Slovak Catholics share their sufferings with their Lutheran and Greek Catholic brethren. We respectfully suggest that Slovakia be accorded similar recognition as Bohemia, Moravia, Slovenia, Croatia and many other countries in Africa and Asia. We are confident that among dedicated and oppressed Slovak clergy can be found an archbishop to lead a Slovak ;irovince as in days gone by. Such a magnanimous gesture would invigorate all Slovaks at home as well as here in America. We believe that your Holiness by such a decision will strengthen us and thus fortify our fidelity to the Vatican and reverence to the throne of St. Peter. Very respectfully and sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary Dear Mr. President: The Slovak League of America on the occasion of its 1973 Conference here in New York extends cordial greetings. We hope you will continue to enjoy good health and achieve even greater success in your efforts on behalf of all citizens of whatever origin. We unequivocally endorse your stand in Vietnam and welcome your policy in Europe and Asia. As you are well aware, our origins are in Central Europe, in SLOVAKIA 211 Slovakia, which has a more than 1100 year Christian history and which for many centuries, excepting a brief period, has lived in subjugation. Now, Slovakia is in its fifth year of Soviet occupation and deprivation by the communists of all human, spiritual and political rights. So, today, we again respectfully request that you, individually as our leader, as well as your entire administration, continue to remember Slovakia and the other oppressed nations behind the Iron Curtain. All thes•e subjugated peoples seek and des·erve statehood and democratic freedom such as we in the United States are so fortunate to enjoy. In your discussions with the leaders of the totalitarian world, we ask that you give high priority to this humane cause. W!! are confident that if permitted free elections, our brethren in Slovakia would officially confirm their dedication and devotion to the United States of America as the stalwart guardian of human freedoms . Most Sincerely, Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE SLOVAK WORLD CONGRESS HELD IN CHICAGO ON JUNE 30TH 1973 The representatives of Slovaks abroad gathered at the General Assembly of the Slovak World Congress, held in Chicago on June 28-30th, 1973, adopted the following Declaration: (1) We consider ourselves an integral part of the Slovak people. We are conscious of our co-responsibility for their destiny and for their contribution to the overall culture of humanity. (2) We claim for the Slovak nation, on the basis of its national individuality, recognition for an equal status with other sovereign nations of the world. (3) We deny any Great Power the right to interfere with the destiny of the Slovak people and to integrate Slovakia in other states or zones of influence which are opposed to the will of the Slovak people and their national interests. We consider such actions, condemned as they are by all civilized people of the world, to be a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. (4) We demand the departure of all occupation forces from Central Europe in order that, after more than a quarter 212 SLOVAKIA of a century since the end of the War, the nations of that area can finally govern themselves. (5) As representatives of a nation conscious of its responsibility towards others, we consider the principles of democracy and humanism the basis for peace and co-operation among the peoples of the world. (6) On these principles alone, life in freedom and a free culture can develop in Slovakia according to the traditions of the Slovak people and in harmony with the progress of the world. PHILIP A. HROBAK YEAR January 10, 1974 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Philip A. Hrobak, and on May 1, 1974 we will mark the seventieth anniversary of his birth. These special dates impel us to honor his memory in a special way. He was one of the most deserving of our cultural and civic workers from among the many American-born Slovaks and one who dedicated himself to the Slovak cause since early manhoJd. Philip A. Hrobak, as a newspaperman, writer, histocian, linguist, fraternalist and organizer rose to heights in American Slovak life. His contributions to the Slovak cause in both English and Slovak are most noteworthy and memorable in Slovak history. Therefore, the Slovak League of America deems it a special honor to be able to lend itself to the legacy of Philip A. Hrobak. Not only did he honorably serve as a long time editor of JEDNOTA, as the founder and editor of "Slovak Newsletters," "Jednota Annual Furdek" and "Slo·v akia", but also as a distinguished President and member of the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America-all this is his eternal monument. Bowing before his genius, we turn to our Slovak people and we seek recognition in 1974 of the unfinished dreams of Philip A. Hrobak and so-licit continued help in proving that we i>..re all worthy followers of this g,r eat son of our people. For the Slovak League of America, the year 1974 will be the time of increased activity, as he idealized and set by his example. In tribute to his linguistic talents, we can have the opportunity to help build a strong scholarship fund for the League, because the main purpose of this fund is to preserve and enhance, as he desired, the Slovak conscience in America. Surely, there cannot be any American Slovak who would not make his or her contribution to our scholarship fund in memory of Philip .A. Hirobak. The Slovak League of America also feels compelled to follow the SLOVAKIA 213 footsteps of Philip A. Hrobak in other fields. In the firat place, we must preserve and continue with the annual "Slovakia", we must daily and fairly continue to inform the American public of the ideals and accomplishments of the American Slovaks, and we must continue our cl-forts to renew the rightful place of the Slovak nation as an independent unit in the family of nations. These were the goals of Philip A. Hrobak, and our Slovak League has so proceeded in the last ten years since we with heavy hearts bid a sad farewell to our never-forgotten leader. With prayer, with labor, and with sacrifices we thus honor this meritocious Slovak son. May the memory of Philip A. Hrobak be perpetual. Edward J. Behuncik, President Dr. Joseph Pauco, Secretary As the others see it represented. What to me is more worse, is the attempt to sublimate the Slovaks into the Czech people. That's why we hear about a 'Czechoslovak nation'. It does not exists! Czecho-Slovakia is a political entity of two nations - the Czechs and the Slovaks. I never think of myself as Czech. I am Slovak and nothing else."- Rev. John Zornan, President of the Slovak Zion Synod, "What kind of man is Alex Del- National News, Pittsburgh, Pa., vecchio? (Playing for Detroit Red August 1, 1973. Wings.) He's middle aged, 41. A guy who you can't get in an "Despite the courage and per• argument with. His salt-and-pepper severance the Slovaks and other gray hair is impeccably coiffured peoples of Eastern Europe have around round Eastern European displayed time and again in their face (his late mother was a Slovak; relentless search for internal liberhis father Italian.)" - Bob Naylor, ties and external sovereignty, they Detroit Free Press, December 9, cannot achieve their goals without 1973. outside help. It is our duty, and only in keeping with our own "The idea of 'Slovak Heritage' is to extend our support. The ideals, quite intriguing to me. It implies world will not know genuine that we have one. Looking at hisevery country enjoys tory books, however, you might peace until freedom and can exercise the right have doubts. Even when discussing to self-determination. Central Europe, the Slovaks as a "The history of Slovakia is one nation are often forgotten or mis- "Call a Slovak Czechoslovak and you plant a burr under his skin. To a Slovak, named for a geograph• ic region divided by the wars and politics, that frequent error is more than just misnomer; it conveys a complete historical misunderstanding of who he is." - Sue Morse, The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N. Y., November 30, 1973. 214 SLOVAKIA of turmoil, frustration, and heroic struggle. Your continued devotion to the cause of a free and independent Slovakia - despite hundreds of years of oppression - is an inspiration to those of us who cherish freedom as you do. These are the characteristics that help us, in maintaining a better and stronger America. "The existence of the World Congress is an important step in achieving your long delayed place among the family of the free naRobert P. Hanrahan, tions." Member of Congress. U.S. Senator Adlai E. Stevenson. "I am sure all of the American Slovaks sincerely wish to acknowledge the plight of their brethren under Communist oppression. The Slovak people strongly pursue the course that someday freedom will reign in all corners of the world. People of America need to be remainded of the severe repressing of Communist-held nations of the world endure." - U.S. Senator Hugh Scott. "Slovaks of Cleveland brought many Christmas customs from the old country, notably the custom of caroling. Among the most cherished Slovak folk songs are those sung at Christmas time. These carols are sung not only in churches, but also in the homes of the faithful, no matter how many generations they have lived here." - Sun Herald, Cleveland, 0., December 20, 1973. "We must re-dedicate ourselves to cause of all captives of Communism. Recognizing that the world cannot enjoy peace until all peoples are free from yoke of Communism. Please continue your dedication to the traditions, cultural life, religious beliefs, and desire for independence on behalf of Slo"There is a strong feeling of vak people everywhere."- Edward awareness among some ethnic J. Derwinski, Member of Congress. members of the younger generation. "I do want you to know I share There are also strong indications your commitment to the Slovak that the melting pot concept can people and to strengthening the no longer be maintained and that ties with their sons and daughters America is beginning to recognize throughout the world. I know we and appreciate the diversity of its will not falter in our efforts to ethnic populations in terms of a insure that no people need face re- new cultural pluralism."- Dr. Goy, pression and indignity as a result a member of City College's library of their yearning to be free." - faculty, New York, N. Y. SLOVAKIA 215 -------------- WHO'S WHO Among American Slovaks JOSEPH C. K RAJ SA It was a mark of social maturity when the Chamber of Commerce of the Greater Harrisburg Area decided to have "Slovak power" for its presidency. Such is progress that it is hardly news anymore when a second-generation American of ethnic background and working-class origins becomes the leader of the town's top capitalists. Pardon us, Karl Marx. Joseph Charles Krajsa is the 60th president of the Harrisburg Chamber. He is so ethnic that more than half the Chamber's members can't pronounce his name correctly: It is "Crysa," and Anglicized it would mean "nicer." Well beyond his own physical size - 6-foot-1 and 240 pounds Krajsa is a big man. He was manager of the Allentown Finance Co. for 14 years, which is owned by his older brother, John. He has the equivalent of two college degrees and has a speaking knowledge of seven languages. He was an outstanding football, baseball and basketball coach for 11 years. And, lastly, he served as auditor and vice president of the First Catholic Slovak Union, and is now the editor of its bilingual weekly, Jednota, and manager of the Jednota home, farm and printery. Very much a Slovak as a warm convivial person, Krajsa also is a Rotarian, Elk, Legionaire and democrat. He once was a topflight golfer who won country-club trophies. "I find more businessmen in this Chamber, for example, wanting to be more human, wanting to share their good fortune," he said. "The single-minded emphasis on economics has diminished. A person must be involved politically, socially and religiously, as well as economically, to be well-rounded, and more and more businessmen understand that." Krajsa, 56, grew up in Allentown. His father was a wire-worker from Skalica in Slovakia and emigrated to America in 1906. Old Joe Krajsa married a girl living here, Agnes Baranek, a native of Horna Krupa, Slovakia. He built his own home and started a corner grocery. Everybody knew and loved the Krajsas. "Put it on the book," or "na knizku," they said as Father Krajsa had a credit book, so the neighborhood could have its groceries. One of the articles in Krajsa's published Furdek 1974 is entitled "Slovaks Are Lovers." The author asserts, "Slovak mothers can equally match the 'Good Jewish Mother' of book fame." A Slovak mother will say to her daughter, "Ja som t'a nevychovala, aby si behala za muzami," or "I didn'-t raise you to go chasing after men." Many Slovaks came to America between 1880 and 1920, with most of them settling here between 1900 and 1910. Thousands settled in Pennsylvania, and the men became the muscle of this commonwealth's steel, coal and railroading indus- 216 SLOVAKIA tries. Of Slovak descent are Astronaut Eugene A. Cernan, Penn State's great lineman, Mark Markovich; Will Hartack, Chuck Bednarik, Johnny Bucha and George Blanda. Stan Musial is half-Polish and half-Slovak. Blanda's mother is president of the Jednota lodge in Youngwood. There were 277 scattered Slovak fraternal organizations and widoworphan funds when in 1890 the Rev. Stephen Furdek, of Cleveland, organized the national union called Jednota (the word means union, or united). Nineteen years later the Middletown property of the aristocrat Simon Cameron Young was purchased for $38,000. What originally was 298 acres is now 255 acres, but worth well over one million dollars. The old orphanage, now phased out, cared for 4,000 children in its history. The newspaper Krajsa edits and writes for has a circulation of 40,000. Jednota also publishes 15 book titles annually. It is building a million dollar printery. Krajsa was elected editor for a three-year term in 1964, and he keeps being re-elected. He arrived in Middletown when Olmsted Air Force Base was closing, so immediately he plunged into civic activity. It got him involved in Chamber of Commerce work, and he did so well that the Chamber named him president last October. Krajsa had a typical Americanimmigrant family upbringing. He did well in his studies. He captained Allentown Central Catholic High School's basketball team, was center on the football team and pitched for the baseball team. He went on to East Stroudsburg State College, where he was a stellar athlete, and then was a Navy chief petty officer in World War II. After the war, he married Romanza Fairman, from Kansas City, and settled in Allentown. He put in 11 years at Central Catholic High lurning in several state championship teams and ending up as athletic director. Meanwhile, he was in the finance business, too. The Krajsas have four children: Joe, in insurance, Mike, administrative assistant in the Agriculture Department; Maryagnes, assistant to the Dauphin County Democratic chairman, and George, an athlete at Middletown High. Krajsa's desire for the Chamber of Commerce is a Slovak's wish for more unity, more strength of purpose and more aggressiveness for the community. "We can get unity and not take a thing away from anybody," he said looking toward the West Shore. He believes that the county line should be easier to cross than the ethnic line over which his presidency already has triumphed. Paul B. Beers, Associated Editor The Evening News Harrisburg, Pa. THE SLOVAK 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. SLOVAKIA - 217 Book Reviews Books on Slovakia and Slovaks Reviewed by Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum writes about the Czech l.'esistance during the last years of the War. Three contributions deal with the Slovak problem. Hans Kaiser writes about integration of Slovakia into national socialist war economy; In this carefully edited volume, Ladislav Lipscher examines the in12 German scholars and specialists fluence of the Third Reich on the in Czecho-Slovak affairs analyze the policy of the Slovak government eventful year of 1945 in Czecho- with regard to the Jewish problem, Slovakia. Some of the contributors and Jorg K. Hoensch gives a generare known as experts in the prob- al survey of the situation in Slovalems of Eastern Europe. Others kia in 1945. specialized in the German-Czech The remaining contributions deal relations or in the Slovak problem. with the transfer of the Sudeten Since until recently the German Germans and its consequences (Pescholars avoided publishing the re- ter Burian); with rebuilding of the sults of their research on Czecho- Communist Party of Czecho-SlovaSlovakia, their views will be of lda in 1945 (Heinrich Kuhn); with interest for schoiars in the West. the constitutional problems in The volume gives a survey of Czecho-Slovakia in 1945 (Helmut international, national and socio- Slapnicka); and with the integraeconomic problems in Czecho-Slova- tion of the Sudeten German expelkia in 1945, but two contributions, lees in Germany. The book provides abundant inone by Ferdinand Seibt, and the other by Karl Bosl, outline the formation on each topic and referhistorical background of boundary ences to sources used indicate that problems and basic information on German scholars weve dealing with the division of Germany by the their subjects with great effort to present an objective picture of Allies. Further contributions deal with Czecho-Slovakia in 1945. Their Czecho-Slovakia itself during the views and conclusions will, thereWar and her l'estoration in 1945. fore, be at variance with some Peter Kruger gives a survey of the Western specialists in East Central views of the Allies on Czecho-Slo- ; Europe, including the emigre Czech vakia from the Atlantic Charter to j historians. Czecho-Slovakia has the Potsdam Conference; Martin K. been presented in the West during Bachstein outlines the policy of I the past decades with evident relithe social democratic exiles from ance on Czech sources and favoring Czecho-Slovakia and Detlef Brandes I the Czechs. Especially Slovakia was Karl Bosl: Das Jahr 1945 in der Tschechoslowakei, Vortrag,e der wissenschaftlichen Tagung des Collegium Carolinum, R. Oldenbourg, Mlinchen-Wien, 1971, 316 p. 218 SLOVAKIA treated with bias, mostly as a "postscriptum" to Czech history, and the cruel and often inhuman treatment of minorities or political adversaries was overlooked. German scholars endeavored to be factual and objective and since some of them were born or raised in Czecho-Slovakia, their knowledge of the prob!ems discussed in their contribution cannot be doubted. Nevertheless, they present a German view, because nobody can separate himself fr.om his own background and personal or national experience. · And the manner in which Prague solved the Sudeten German problem in 1945 was bound to create deep resentiment and animosity, which is not easy to overcome. Slovakia is treated in the book with more understanding and impa.rtiality than is the usual case in Western historiography; there is nevertheless certain bias in all three contributors "with regard to the Slovak republic, including the article ·by Jorg Hoensch. Hoensch published two well researched books on Slovakia in the past but, in many instances, adopted the Czech or the Slovak Marxist view of the wartime Slovakia. This also occurred in his present contribution which is well researched and refers also to Slovak emigre political literature. Nevertheless, some conclusions were made by Hoensch on assumptions and not on facts. For instance, his view that "the majority of the Slovak leading strata and, even more, the large masses of the population believed during the war that their social ,i nterest and political rights would be better preserved in the restored Czechoslovakia" and that the Slovak Republic "could not give proof -of its viability (Lebensfiihigkeit)" is a part of Czech and Communist propaganda which was recen_tly contradicted and abandoned even by Slovak Marxist historians (see books by L. Liptak and S. Falt'an). Likewise is disputable his statement that the "Slovak population accepted with equal passivity the introduction of the peoples democracy and the declaration of the Slovak Republic." The enthusiastic manifestations in Slovakia in 1939 can hardly be compared with the fear from rape, confiscation, deportation and hiding in cellars which ·could be witness in Slovakia ' during the first months of the restoration of Czecho-Slovakia. Also treated in the volume are two important problems for Slovakia during the war years: the integration of Slovakia into the German war economy and the policy of the Slovak government with regard to the Jewish problem. Hans Kaiser deals with the first topic and gives a well researched survey of the impact of Germany on Slovak economy, and of the pressures used by Berlin on the Slovak government. Kaiser's contribution is the first one in the West to deal expertly · with the subject. So far, only the Marxist historians or economists published studies on the economic situation in Slovakia during th e War and their approach was a priori hostile. The views of the members of the Slovak government and Slovak economists who did not side with the regime imposed upon Slovakia in 1945, are buried in the archives of the "people's courts" and only in part were published by Slovak emigre politicians and writers. The picture of Slovak :war economy presented by Kaiser cannot, therefore, be without flaws. It is, in any case, a useful basis for further research and full presentation of the economic development of Slovakia during the Second , World War. SLOVAKIA · 219 The third contributio n dealing I Horst Glass!: Die slowakische Geschichtswis senschaft nach 1945 with Slovakia touches on the prob(Slovak Historiogra phy After !em which harmed Slovaks and 1945), Otto Harrassowi tz, Wies their reputation in the world, but baden, 1971, 166 pages, Register. the11e were only a few attempts to put the policy of the Slovak governThe author and the publisher of ment towa!'ds Jews into a proper this book deserve recognition for perspective. making available to Western scholars and students of history an Lipscher's contributio n analyzes objective survey of Slovak historithe influence of the Third Reich on ography after 1945. Except for that policy on the basis of G€rman short summaries in one or two archives and partly also on the foreign languages, writings of Slohave been published Slovak sources. In comparison vak historians 1945 exclusively in Slovak since with many articles published on and, as such, they have remained this subject in the West, Lipscher's inaccessible to most of foreign hiscontributio n is marked by an effort torians. Glassl's book provides at to present the policy of the Slovak least those Western historians who impartial governmen t more objectively and read German with an phy and historiogra Slovak at look with considerab le restraint from during blaming only the Slovak govern- its remarkable developme nt decades. two past the ment in harsh terms, as has been the case until now. Lipscher does The book is the result of a thornot make any reference to sources ough research in Slovakia itself. of Slovak emigre historians and The author compiled considerab le political writers who dealt with the knowledge of writings on Slovak subject and he recognized that the history by both the old traditionalproblem would require further ist and the recent Marxist historistudy. This indicates that he enIn his attempt to give an obans. deJvored to approach the problem pictul'e he points to the jective wi th impartiality and, as a result, and ideological interrestrictions his contributio n may be a beginwhich Slovak histounder ference ning of dealing with the tragedy or remain silent write to had rians of Jews in Slovakia with more "It lasted 1956. until 1948 after understand ing of the circumstan ces "before Glassl, says years," several and pressures under which the developthe that possible was it Slovaks could not save more Jewment of Slovak historiogra phy and ish citizens than they did. research could come up with noA complete review of this volume ticeable results. Under the pressure would, of course, require to deal of the circumstan ces in those years with all the other contributio ns (Slovak) histo1ians had to take into which give a survey of many prob- considerati on the political goals lems in the Czech part of Czecho- and requiremen ts. The Communist Slovakia, and analyze the relations Party which took over power in between Czechs and G€rmans in- Czecho-Slovakia required complete cluding the expulsion, often under re-writing of the whole historiinhuman circumstan ces, of the Su- ography acco11ding to Marxist crideten Germans. teria ... many historians were fired 220 SLOVAKIA from their positions, and some of works on Slovakia. The author made undoubtedly a very thorough th,em were even sent to jails." On the other hand, the author research into the writings and publications of Slovak historians and underlines that there was a remarkable development of Slovak produced a standard work on a historiography since the War either high academic level. in the number of books published or in the number of institutes and people involved in research. Unlike Marxist or some Western historians, Glass! also states that "during the period of the Slovak Republic (]939-1945) , there was a fruitful development in the field of historical research even though the war was not the right time for a successful build-up of this discipline." He considers it as wrong and unjust of the Marxist historians to belittle the results of this period in research into the history of Slovakia. Glass! also refers to the writings of Slovak scholars in Western countries but for some reason he became acquainted only with the works published by Prof. M. Lacko and with one book and one essay by this reviewer. Writings of other Slovak historians, especially those pertaining to the period of the 18th and 19th centuries, escaped the author, which is regrettable, because they shed a different light on Slovak national awakening from that of Marxist historiography. The book stops at the year 1918 and leaves out the past 60 years during which Slovakia, as well as Slovak historiography, experienced an unexpected development. The explanation for this is given by the author in the Preface by one sentence: "For understandable political reasons, the inclusion in this survey of the writings dealing exclusive,l y with the period 1918-1960 was abandoned." Even in the present form the book is a very valuable scholarly addition to the foreign language MORE ABOUT BOOKS Slov akia in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Edited by Prof. Joseph M. Kirschbaum ; Preface by S. B. Roman, published by the Slovak World Congress, Toronto, Ont. , 1973, 368 p., bibl., $12.50. The Slovak World Congress published for the General Meeting held in Chicago on June 28th-July 1st, 1973, another English book on Slovakia which deserves special attention. While the first publication by the Congress outlined the historical and cultural background of Slovakia, this new voluminous work will give the readers an insight into the political and literary developments in Slovakia in the 19th and 20th centuries. In his Preface to the book, the President of the Slovak World Congress, Stephen B. Roman, explains that the Slovak World Congress "undertook to publish this book with the desire to contribute to the search for historical truth about Slovaks and thereby to help better understanding and co-operation among the nations of Central Europe. It is our firm belief that peoples of that vital area can regain their political freedom and build their future only in close co-oper ation and only if each recognizes the equal rights to independence that each has." One cannot but agree with such aim and the contents of the book confirm that it was also the intention of the editor and contributors. The book is composed of contributions by 20 authors, four of 221 SLOVAKIA whom are of non-Slovak origin, and it is divided into four parts. The first part deals with Slovak national philosophy and the subject is treated by two known Slovak professors, Charles Murin from the University of Montreal, and Stefan Polakovic, former professor at the University of Bratislava. The second part deals with Slovak politics and culture in the 19th and 20th centuries and contains contributions by Prof. J. A. Mikus, Msgr. J. Rekem, Dr. Stefan Osusky, Prof. F . Vnuk, Dr. F. f>urcansky, Prof. E. Loebl, Prof. Stefan Glejdura, Dr. lmrich Kruzliak and Rev. Mikulas Sprinc. Part three deals with the relations of Slovakia with her neighbors and among the contributors are mostly authors of non-Slovak origin. On Slovakia under the Habsburg rule, an interesting survey was written by a members of the Jlabsburg dynasty, Archduke Robert of Austria while Slovak-Hungarian relations are treated by Prof. George Perenyi-Lukacs with comments by Dr. Arved Grebert and Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum. Prof. Thaddeus Gromada contributed an excellent essay on Slovak-Polish relations and Slovak-Russian relations are analyzed and evaluated by Prof. Stefan Glejdura and Miroslav Licko. Prof. Kurt Glaser, author of the book, Czecho-Slovakia - A Critical History, closed this chapter with a scholarly treatise on "National States Versus Federalism in Central European Future," commented upon by Prof J. A. Mikus and Prof. J. M. Kirschbaum. In the last part, the book deals with Slovaks abroad and their attitude towards Slovakia. It contains two essays, one by Dr. Joseph Pauro and another by Dr. F . Braxator. An extensive Select Bibliography on Slovakia completes the contents of this standard work. We cannot but welcome this new English book on Slovakia and Slovaks abroad. It fills an important gap which existed for a long time in presenting Slovakia's political and cultural development in the 19th and 20th centuries to the Western world in an objective manner. For the first time 20 experts are expressing their opinions on various subjects pertaining to Slovakia. They belong not only to two generations, as the editor of the book observed, but "also represent two schools of thought and, therefore, the book presents a confrontation of views on the Slovak p:i.st and present." In form and contents, the book is a scholarly work. The editor, Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum, took his task seriously and enhanced the volume by an extensive bibliography in several languages. He also paid tribute to American Slovaks by stating that "at the end of the First World War, Slovakia was freed from Hungarian rule above all by the efforts of Slovaks who settled in the United States and by Slovak legionaries fighting on the side of the victorious powers. This gave American Slovaks and all Slovaks abroad not only recognition and a new sense of patriotism but also a consciousness of their mission to speak on behalf of the Slovak people when they are silenced." It would be desirable that this volume be followed by a book on Slovak culture, especially arts and literature of the past two hundred years. A conference on these topics, at the next general meeting of the Congress could help to achieve this goal. Joseph P a u co 222 SLOVAKIA TWO PUBLICATIONS BY l\'lATICA SLOVENSKA Matica slovenska was degraded by the Communist regime and went through several periods of regimentation and persecution of her leading representatives and cultural workers. Independent of political pressure and refusing to serve political parties or ideologies, Matica slovenska was, before 1945, a cultural institution which belonged to the nation and represented the highest aspirations of all Slovaks. The Communist Party made Matica slovenska a subservient tool of the regimes imposed upon S'lovakia since 1945. In spite of this nefarious situation, Matica slovenska succeeded in developing Slovak culture at least in some sectors. Among these sectors, literary history and philology deserve our consideration. vakia from literary to musical. This was a neglected sector in the past mainly due to the lack of experts and, therefore, we have to welcome this publication. Of special interest for elucidating some periods of Slovak history is, however, the essay by Jozef Kuzmik : Book Culture Among the Slova/c Slavs in the Years 863-1000. The period of Great Moravia became a favored subject for Slovak intellectuals during the past two decades. In Kuzmik's contribution we find some interesting information about the territorial extent of the ancestors of today's Slovaks, as well as about their book culture which were in the past hardly known or were insufficiently explored. Unfortunately, the publication has only a Russian and German summary and, therefore, it is accessible to a very limited number For several years, Matica has of scholars in the Anglo-Saxon published a series of publications world where there are still many dealing with Slovak literary life misconceptions about the Slovak entitled:Letopis pamiitnika sloven- past. A new confusion was created s/cej literatury and Literarny ar- even recently by scholars of Magchiv. We have revi,ewed some issues yar background who tried to deny in the past in Slovakia, underlying the cultural heritage of the Great their significance for Slovak litera- Moravian period to Slovaks. Li t erarny archiv 8/ 71 is a valuture. We have now received Litercirny archiv 8/ 71, edited by Michal able source for literary history on Elias, and Letopis 19 72 , edited by several Slovak poets and writers Juraj Chovan-Rehak, and some not only of the 19th century but comments would perhaps be ap- also of the 20th century. The publication deals mostly with archive propriate. Letopis 1972 contains a number of materials, unknown manuscripts, or contributions dealing with various correspondence among leading Slosubjects from book culture (kniz- vak literary figures and cultural na kultura) among Slovak Slavs in workers. Even though the Commuthe years 863-1000 to several in- nist regime tried to regiment Sloteresting contributions on the de- vak literary history and endeavorvelopment of museums in Slovakia ed to impose Marxist criteria, Sloand the idiomatic vocabulary in vak intellectuals display more or the writing of Martin Kukucin. The less equal interest in the literary main part of the book is dedicated life of poets and writers who were to the history and development of I neglected in the past because of various types of museums in Slo- their religion or ideological orien- SLOVAKIA 223 Literature, government, law, education, etc. Even though hardly complete, the Bibliography shows that Canadian Slavists were not idle during the twenty post-war years. In spite of the fact that Slavic studies had to start in Canada from scratch, the Bibliography contains many titles of books, essays, studies and articles, which have given Canadian students a new picture of the history, culture and civilization of the Slavic peoples. From the Slovak point of view, we have many reasons to welcome this Bibliography. Similar American or European bibliographies either overlooked books, publicaJ.M. Kirschbaum tions and essays on Slovak history, Daniel Dorotich (ed.) : A Bibliogra- Language and literature by Slovak phy of Canadian Slavists 1951- authors, or made selection of writ1971 , University of Saskatchewan ings which presented Slovakia and Publications, Saskatoon, Sask., Slovak culture in the light of ad1972. verse propaganda and Czech linAfter the Second World War, a guistic and literary theses. The misnumber of Canadian universities conceptions about the Slovak people added to their usual curricular and their culture were cultivated courses on Slavic languages, litera- especially by the older generations ture and civilization. At some uni- of Slavists who studied at the Universities special Centres or Depart- versity of Prague and use as their ments of Slavic Studies were organ- source of information books pubized, while at other universities lished by Czech scholars before Slavic languages, literature and and during the Second World War. The new generation of Slavists history were taught within Departm ents of Modern Languages and at American and Canadian univerLiteratures and in History Depart- sities gradually detached itself from the old school. Using source ments. In Canada, professors of Slavic materials published in today's Slostudies were soon organized in the vakia and other socialist countries Ca nadian Association of Slavists ' as well as in Western countries' which held every year an annual they have no more any doubt that meeting within the framework of Slovaks are a distinct nation and Canadian Learned Societies. The their language and literature have present Bibliography gives an in- developed independently of the sight into the writings and pub- Czechs or other Slavs. The Bibliography compiled and lications of the members of the edited by Prof. Dorotich reflects Association. Prof. Dorotich, in compiling and this new trend in Slavic studies editing the Bibliography, followed with regard to Slovakia. By inlhe •usual division of subject mat- eluding over 50 titles (books, monoters _into general history, languages, graphs, essays, articles) published talion and those who were closer to the socialist outlook. As a result, Literarny archiv contains interesting information on Bernolak, Stur, Vajansky and Radlinsky, as well as on Janko Kral', Roy, Hamuljak and others. It is regrettable that also in this publication the summary is only in Russian and German. For Slovak literary history, both publications are nevertheless of importance and unveil to a great degree some periods of Slovak cultural development which were intentionally neglected before 1938 as well as during the Stalinist period. 224 SLOVAKIA by Prof. J . M. Kirschbaum in five languages, the Bibliography presents a new picture of Slovak history, culture, language and literature. Not only the main works on Slovakia in English are recorded, but also one book published in Slovak, monographs and essays in French, English, German and Spanish. In fact, the Bibliography is more complete in this respect that the Slovak Bibliography Abroad compiled by Prof. M. Lacko and published by the Slovak Institute (Rome, 1967). Since the Bibliography will go into the hands of many Slavists and into university libraries, we welcome this publication as a very useful guide for students and professors of Slavic studies. Joseph Pauco Joseph Pauco: Slovenski priekopnici v Amerike (Slovak Pioneers in America), The First Catholic Slovak Union, Cleveland, Ohio, 1972, English Introduction by J. C. Krajsa, Ill., 360 pages. Slovaks in the United States played an important role in the history of the Slovak people, but a complete story of their endeavors on behalf of Slovakia, their struggle for preserving national consciousness and cultural heritage has not yet been published. Due to political circumstances in Slovakia, historians either were not allowed or had no possibility to carry out research in order to compile a standard work which would present Slovaks in the United States in an objective light. It was only during the Second World War that two volumes: Dejiny Slovakov v Amerike (History of Slovaks in America) by Konstantin Culen were published in Slovakia. Since that time, only Slovak exiled intellectuals, including Culen, carried out a research and published monographs on the life and achievements of the large Slovak ethnic group in the United States. Historians in Slovakia were either not allowed by ,t he Communist regime or for ideological reasons avoided recording their struggle for survival and the many contributions of American Slovaks not only to their own national life but also to the fight for freedom and independence of the Slovak people. After Prof. F . Hrusovsky and K. Culen, Dr. Joseph Pauco deserves main credit for systematic research into the past and present of American Slovaks. For the past 20 years he published monographs on individual Slovak leaders and organizations of which the voluminous history of the First Catholic Slovak union deserves particular mention. In the present book he deals with 55 outstanding Slovak leaders who did the pioneering organizational, cultural and religious work among American Slovaks. The importance of this book should be, however, measured not only according to its literary value, but also against the fact that there are no organized archives and many printed documents are perishing. In spite of this, Dr. Pauco gathered many valuable facts about the individual leaders among whom there are clergymen of both denominations - Catholic and Lutheran - outstanding organizers of Slovak fraternal and cultural life, men and women of great dedication to the cause of preservation of Slovak cultural heritage. The author approached his subjects with great abjectivity and painted their profiles in a fluent, uncomplicated style to make the book readab1e to the general public and, at the same time, by many references to printed sources, useful to historians and researchers. SLOVAKIA Some of the chapters are shorter and contain only the most important data. Others present a full life story and evaluation of the activities and of the role the individual leaders played in the Slovak organizational, religious and cultural life in America. The reason for the uneven treatment of some pioneers was given by the author in the introduction to the book. As he says he was sometimes unable to gather, even the most neces~ary information, because there was no organization and no individuals in the past who would have preserved old newpapers, almanacs, minutes of meetings, or other archive materials. Since the Second World War the Slovak Institute in Cleveland and the recently organized Jankola Library have made an effort to gather and preserve archive materials pertaining to the Slovak ethnic group in the United States. In these circumstances, Pauco's present work, as well as his book on the First Catholic Slovak Union and numerous monographs, deserve special recognition. The book has, however, also its own value due to its composition, contents and style. Dr. Pauco produced a standard work comparable with writings of this kind on any other ethnic groups in America. The book also has a useful introduction by Joseph C. Krajsa, but it lack an English summary which would have given to the younger generations of American Slovaks and researchers at least the basic information on Slovak pioneers in America. Unless the author and the publisher intend to publish this work in English, it would be a useful thing to attach to the second edition an extensive English summary. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m 225 Joseph L. Dieska: "Faith and Reason" in the Life and Philosophy of Jacques Maritain, An Offprint from Most, Vol. XIX, No. 3-4, Cleveland, Ohio, 1973. Shortly before the death of the famous French philosopher, Jacques Maritain, Slovaks paid his tribute on the occasion of his 90th birthday in a commemorative study by Prof. Joseph L. Dieska under the title The Religious and Philo sophical Profile of Jacques Maritain. The scholarly essay was pub- lished in Slovak but the author prepared also an English version under the above title. Prof. Dieska was one of the known adherents of Maritain's philosophy already in Slovakia, and pursued his interests in the great Catholic philosopher's concepts also as Professor of Philosophy at the University of Dayton, Ohio, where he has taught for the past several years. The present essay is one of his numerous articles on the subjects. The Slovak and English texts contain a well written and well documented insight and analysis of Maritain's religious and philosophical profile. Dieska approached Maritain's philosophy from the position of "Faith and Reason" and explains the role of reason as well as the mystery of faith in Maritain's philosophy which became a part of the Catholic doctrine and influenced the thinking of several generations in Europe and elsewhere. His theories of creative evolution and his ability to find basic reality through intuition ,e xalted the spirit of man in many parts of the world. Known as neo-Thomism Maritain's philosophy anchors in the works and philosophical concepts of St. Thomas Aquinas. As Dieska explains, Maritain became adherent to the philosophy of St. Thomas as a result of his own independent reflections and 226 SLOVAKIA studies of various philosophers and ing tribute to Maritain also on because of the comparison he made behalf of Slovak intellectuals who between them. He found the truth are silenced in their native counhe was searching for in the an- try where Maritain's philosophy had a strong influence before Marxswers of St. Thomas. However, if it is true that Mari- ism was imposed as the only philotain followed the logic and argu- sophical concept tolerated by the mentation of St. Thomas, he put regime. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m both, in the view of Prof. Dieska, in a " new, modern, and contemporary setting. His language was ad- Encydopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and P eriodicals in justed to the philosophical expresthe United States. By Lubomyr sions used today. His arguments R. Wynar. 260 pp. Libraries Unare aimed at and against modern limited, Inc., Littleton, Colorado, and recent objectors and critics. 1972. $12.50. And above all, when he speaks of For those interested in ethnic the necessity of taking faith and supernatural, revealed truths into studies a valuable tool has recentconsiderations while solving the ly been published to aid in learning political, social, ethical and estheti- 1 about the complex mosaic that is cal difficulties and 'crises' of our ' the United States of America. time, Maritain must transcend Tho- Whereas in the past the student mas and go much farther not, of of ethnic Americana had to wade course, in essential immutable, and through Ulrich's directories, or universally valid principles but in through state manuals, or specialtheir applications to the new, dif- ized histories, facility in locating Icrent and more complex situations data about 903 ethnic publications and issues. In these new approach- can now be had by utilizing Luboes lie the tremendous responsibility myr R. Wynar's Encyclopedic Diand significance of Maritain's Tho- rectory of Ethnic Newspapers and mistic solutions, proposals and Periodicals in the United States. often even sharp and merciless Included in this directory are escriticisms of the 'evils of time'"- scntials about 53 ethnic presses, ranging from the Albanian Press, concludes Dieska. As St. Thomas had found in Assyrian Press, Italian Press, JaAristotle a philosophical basis for panese Pr,ess, Slovak Press, Ukrainreconciling man's reason and ian Press, etc. , to some not poChristian faith, so Maritain, in half pular enough presses such as the a lifetime of philosophical study, Cossack, Cax,patho-Ruthenian, Flembrought a rejuvenated Thomism ish, Swiss, and Welsh. In cases such as Croatian, Sloveinto a modern age of scepticism and science. After the Second nian, and Serbian, there is a generWorld War, Maritain's vision and al heading as Yugoslav, which in philosophy helped lend strength effect increases the number of also to the whole Christian demo- presses substantially beyond the cratic movement which stood as a figure of 53. Data cited for pub1.Julwark against Communism and lications are: title translations, year founded, complete address to the Catholic Church. The author and the editor of (including ZIP), name of editor, Most deserve recognition for pub- language(s) , sponsor, circulation, Jishing both versions and for pay- frequency of publication, and sub- SLOVAKIA scription rate. In additions commentaries aid in explaining the scope of publications., e.g., the following for "The Handbook Ilbo'' (The Korea Times): "This publication, the only Korean daily in the United States, carries international, national, and local news of interest of the Korean community. Jllustrated. " Professor Wynar of Kent State University, both a librarian and an ethnic specialist, includes a very interesting Appendix of Statistical Analysis for each ethnic group, summarizing the number of publications, weekly circulation totals, monthly circulation totals, totals for native language publications, bi-lingual totals, and English language totals. An index to the publications completes the book. An interesting addendum to the book would have been an analysis of ethnic publications in each of the fifty states. This directory truly is the first comprehensive annotated guide to the current ethnic press in the United States and with its clear type and excellent alphabetical format clearly rates an A. Paul F e n c h a k Panorama: A H i storical Review of the Czechs and Slovaks i n the United States of America. Pub- lished by the Czechoslovak National Council of America, Cicero, Ill., U.S.A. Cicero-Berwyn Press, 1970, pp. 328, index. It is quite evident that there exists today in America a need for authorative works on the histories of the various ethnic groups which have contributed to the development of America. Objective, factual and concise histories of the various groups is essential. This volume of the dual histories of the Czech 227 and Slovak immigrations to America, unfortunately from a viewpoint of abjective Slovak history, seems to lack sufficient factual data to be accepted as a history of the Slovak immigration to America. From the standpoint of the history of the Czech immigration it is factu al, unbiased history but even then much is amiss particularly in the area of the religious development of the Czech community in the United States. Two basic criticisms can be found in the basic format of the work. The single most important error in the work is the fact that the various writers of Slovak topics are weak in objective reporting, so necessary in a historical work of this kind . Unfortunately the writers, who are of the " Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion, would wa nt the reader to actually believe that only those Slovak organizations which support that philosophy have contributed to the development of the Slovak American community. In fact it must be remembered that over eighty per cent of the organized Slovak American community does not support the '· Czechoslovak" philosophy but ra ther a distinct Slovak philosophy within the family of nations. The authors seem to infer that the staunch Catholic mass of Slovak immigrants contributed little if anything at all to the development of the Slovak community in Am erica. It appears that such notables as Father Stephen Furdek, founder of the First Catholic Slovak Union, the co-founder of the First Catholic Slovak Ladies. Association and the founder of the Slovak League of America played a very minor role in the development of the Slovak community. Other prominent leaders such as Father Matthew Jankola, Joseph Rusek, 228 SLOVAKIA Anna Hurban and Philip Hrobak are not even mentioned. The second most important ingredient which is lacking in this work is organization. Various bits and pieces are scattered throughout the work on both the Czech and Slovak development in America and from an academic journalistic point of view it is quite primitive in its presentation. Too many writers cover certain geographical areas of the Slovak immigration but much is ignored and almost always repetitious. Too often the writers are offering opinionated biased reporting which is not acc-eptable by the vast majority of the Slovak community today. There exists a certain disorganization present in the work and most often it effects an objective Slovak history. In one area in particular the work is both factually deficient and openly opinionated, that is the area of the Slovak organization" in the United States. Such organizations as "Catholic Slovak Unity, Catholic Slovak Women's Unity. Unity of Catholic Sokols" are not acceptable as Slovak organizations, as such do not exist. Again faulty research is evidenced in the presentation of Slovak organizations. One area lists "all" the Czech and Slovak organizations in America and the largest and most important Slovak societies are not listed. Subjective reporting would lead one to believe that indeed the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol is the most importa nt and influential organization of Americans of Slovak descent. However factual research will reveal to the alert writer that in fact the above named organization has a membership of less than 24,000 while the First Catholic Slovak Union, the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association, the Slovak Catholic Sokol, the Pennsyl- vania Slovak Catholic Union, the Ladies Pennsylvania Slovak Catholic Union and the First Slovak Wreath of the Free Eagle have a combined membership of over 300,000. The informed reader will at once note that Sokol U.S.A., as it is commonly associated and pubblicised in the America press is of the "Czechoslovak" philosophical persuasion while the other Catholic Slovak organizations representing the overwhelming majority of organized Americans of Slovak descent are not of the appendage philosophy but rather support a distinct Slovak path completely free of Czech domination. Another noteworthy fact is that the Sokol U.S.A. is the only Slovak organization of any magnitude which is a member of the Czechoslovak National Council of America. Included in the work is a Who's Who among Americans of Czech and Slovak ancestry. Again only those Slovaks who support the idea of a "Czechoslovak" culture, language and heritage are included. Not only are the above mentioned Slovaks notably absent but such luminary as Bishop Andrew G. Grutka, D.D., the Roman Catholic Bishop of Gary, Indiana and countless others who have contributed to the growth and development of the Slovak American Community. In the final analysis the work offers little insight into the history and development of the Slovaks in America. The history of the Czechs in America is acceptable but no t commendable since again the underlining theme is to discredit any theistic organizational development. The work in general is primitive in the Slovak sense and therefore can not be accepted as a factual history of the Slovaks in America. This work is a prime example of Czech and "Czechoslovak" chauvin- SLOVAKIA 229 ism in the interpretation of Slovak suring Czech hegemony in CzechoSlovakia, regardless of the fact history. Daniel F. Tanzone that the Communist movement is discredited by their policy. In some Eugen Steiner: The Slovak Dilem- ways Czech Communists resemble ma, Cambridge, at the University to Czech non-Communists or antiPress, 1973, 229 pages. Series Communists who used and still are International Studies, Published using democracy, socialism, liberalfor the Centre for International ism or Catholicism for imposing or Studies, London School of Eco- maintaining Czech hegemony over nomics and Political Sciences. others, especially Slovaks. The situation in Czecho-Slovakia between inthe in writes author the As troduction his aim was "to trace 1918-1938 attests to it sufficiently. the Communist attitude to national- The policy of Prague Governments ism, and to define the effects of from 1918 to this day proved that this attitude as far as the Slovaks Czechs are not capable to fulfill the arc concerned." Or in other words mission which the victorious Powhe "deals in microcosm with a ers entrusted to them in 1918 or major problem which lies at the again in 1945. Czecho-Slovalda did heart of the Soviet Union's policies, not become a barrier against German expansion or a bridge between internal and external." (p. 3) and West. Czech governments East Dr. Steiner uses the case of Slovakia to show how Communism forced into opposition against the fa iled to solve nationality problems. European block which created Not only in the Soviet Union was Czecho-Slovakia, not only the mithis problem hidden behind slogans norities but also Slovaks. Czech on the equality of nations, while politicians did not honor any agreethe Russians are the rulers, but ment, promise or pledge given to also in restored and by Communists Slovaks. They practiced such a policy regoverned Czecho-Slovakia. Steiner's book leaves no doubt that the Marx- gardless of the danger for the Leninist thesis on the problems of existence of the state or the misnationalities did not bring a satis- sion Czecho-Slovakia was to fulfill factory solution to the relations according to its friends and creabetween the Czechs and Slovaks; tors. After occupying Slovakia with on the contrary, since 1945 when the help of French and Italian Czecho-Slovakia was restored (a- military units in 1918, and with the gainst the will of majority of Slo- help of the Soviet armies in 1945, vaks) the Czech rule was imposed they disregarded their promises on Slovaks step by step, brutally and the rights of Slovaks to selfand without regard to promises and government. About the period of agreements. Up to 1948, the Czech 1918-1938 there is in Western lanCommunists found accomplices in guages comparatively large literanon-Communists. After 1948, they ture dealing with this subject. The imposed their rule on Slovaks with book by Dr. Steiner gives to Westthe help of a handful of collabora- ern readers sufficient information tors from Slovakia, mostly of non- and documentary evidence for the Slovak origin (Bacilek, Bil'ak, Mos- period of 1945-1968. Dr. Steiner writes in the introkovic, Daubner, Siroky and others). Czech Communists are using Com- duction to his book that he has munism as an instrument for as- "chosen exile as a Jew, as a Com- 230 SLOVAK.IA On the cover of Steiner's book munist and as a Slovak." He wrote his book from this point of view, there are reproductions of pictures which makes his work more inter- from demonstrations of Slovak esting and more valuable. It is a youth in Bratislava against the testimony of a "Jew, Communist Soviet occupation in August 1968. and Slovak" about the political On the posters we can read: "Slodevelopments in Slovakia in this vaks stand firm, they won't pass! Occupa nts go home!" These slogans century. His background and ideological o- express the feelings of Slovaks in rientation explain to a great degree Slovakia as well as abroad not only not only his favorable attitude to- against the So·,iet occupants, but wards regimes in 1918-1938 (though any occupants, including the Czechs. Czech Statistics can easily prove This conclusion can be found, if the opposite) but his negative stand carefully read, also in Dr. Steiner's towards the Slovak republic of book: The Slovak Dilemma. Dr. A. Gr eb er t, 1939-1945 as well. We understand Geneva, Switzerland that the anti-communist and antijewish measures of the Slovak Government could not meet with Slovak Studies, Historica 7 and 8, Vol. X and XI, Slovak Institute, his approval. It is, however, hard Rome-Cleveland, Editor Prof. M. to understand his attitude towards Lacko, S. J . Dr. Benes and his Government-inBoth volumes of Slovak Studies exile. Even such adherents of "Czechoslovakism" as were Dr. M. deal with history of Slovakia and Hodfu and Dr. S. Osusky disagreed except for the contribution by Dr. and at the end fought against Be- S. Nahalka, with the events of our nes and his anti-Slovak policy which century. Since the Marxist historihe later (after 1945) also practiced ans not only avoid certain subjects in co-operation with Czech Commu- but also write with prejudice and nists and non-Communists. Unfor- strictly from the Marxist point of tunately, Dr. Steiner deals with view, these volumes perform specific this rather superficially and un- role in historiography on Slovakia. convincingly. The post-war develop- In addition, their value is enhanced ments in Czecho-Slovakia prove by the fact that they are published that the Slovak-Czech antagonism in foreign language and two of the is not a matter of temporary politi - contributors were educated abroad. Students of modern Slovak hiscal situation but a fundamental and lasting feature of Slovak-Czech tory will welcome especially the relations. It is impossible to solve Ph.D. thesis by Sister M. E. Lubek, this problem within the "Czecho- "An Inquiry into the United States Slovak" framework. The successive _ Czechoslovak Relations between a_bolition, ~~er 1969, _of C~nstitu- I 1918-1948." There were many myths t10nal prov1S1ons dealing with the published on this subjects, but to federalization of Czecho-Slovakia, my knowledge, no scholarly work. mentioned in Dr. Steiner's book, Some years ago Prof. M. Mamatey prove convincingly the validity of shed some light on the period of the First World War, later years the above conclusions. In spite of some shortcomings, Dr. remained, however, unresearched. Steiner's book is a valuable contri- Yet, this is an interesting topic, bution to the historiography on since the United States played an important role in the emergence Eastern Europe. 231 SLOVAKIA of Czecho-Slovakia in 1918 and in her re-emergence in 1945. Needless to say that the treatise by M. E. Lubek does not cover all the aspects of the inter-state relations, remaining mostly in the field of politics and diplomacy. The study is nevertheless of the importance and will be useful for further research. For foreign historians dealing with Slovakia of special interest will also be the contributions by Prof. M. S. :l'.>urica, who researched Italian Military Documents in order to shed a new light on the tragic death of M. R. Stefanik, one of the founders of Czecho-Slovakia, and German biography of President Dr. J. Tiso by F. H. Schneider. We commented on the value of Prof. Durica's study when it was first published in Italian language (Slovalcia, Vol. XXIII, 1973) , and cannot but welcome the English version. Schneider's essay on the life and historical role of Dr. J . Tiso in Slovak politics is of importance for more than one reason. The adversaries of Slovak aspirations for independence - Communists and non-Communists - succeeded in presenting Dr. Tiso and his policies in Western countries in a distorted light. Even though, Dr. Tiso mostly suffered for his forced cooperation with Germany, there was a long silence about him and Slovakia among German historians. Schneider's contribution does not exhaust the subject and shows gaps, but it was high time to draw a little differe nt picture of President Tiso in ♦ ♦ German language than it was done by Prague and Slovak Communists. Unfortunately, Schneider overlooked some books and articles which contain substantial information on Dr. Tiso's life and politics, such as Prof. Murin's articles, one of Dr. Polakovic's books, many articles in Sl.ovakia and other sources. Dr. S. Nahalka's istructive article on "Holy Scripture among Slovaks" is a valuable contribution to the religious and cultural history of Slovaks. Religious history of Slovakia is one of the completely neglected fields in today's historiography in Slovakia, even though Slova ks survived as a nation mostly due to the fact that clergy (Catholic and Protestant) took over the cultural leadership and national struggle. Professor Lacko in his contributions presents the synthesis of the studies on Great-Moravian and Cyrillo-Methodian period and a survey of events which led to the reestablishment of the Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia. The latter study would deserve to be completed by documents and names of people who in Slovakia and abroad helped the re-establishment. Both contributions are timely and instructive. Prof. Lacko deserves recognition also for his efforts to continue publishing the Slovak Studies. Slovak cultural activities abroad would be much poorer without this series. J. M. Ki rs c h b au m ♦ Life Membership in the Slovak League of America is $100.00 - join us! Write to: Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. SLOVAKlA 232 Our Contributor s theologian, author, Cambridge, Ontario Stephen Sencik, S.J. - Anthony X. Sutherland, Ph.D ., Columbus, Ohio Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - author, Director, Slovak Institute, Cleveland, 0 . Andrew Pier, O.S.B. Joseph C. Krajsa - teacher, author, Danville, Pa. Editor, Jednota, Middletown, Pa. industrialist, Toronto, Ontario Stephen B. Roman - attorney-at-law, Stratford, Conn. Edward J. Behuncik - Joseph M. Kirschbaum, LL.D., Ph.D . Jozef Pauco, Ph.D. - historian, author, Toronto, Ont. author, historian, Middletown, Pa. Michael O'Pake, Esq. - State Senator, Reading, Pa. Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A. - teacher, Yonkers, N. Y. Susan Pojer, B.A., Yonkers, N. Y. professor, author, consultant for Rockefeller Foundation, New York, N. Y. Michael Novak, Ph.D. Paul Fenchak - teacher, Baltimore, Md. Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. - assistant professor, Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois Junior history major, Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, Pa. William Wagner Francis Vnuk - historian; professor, Institute of Technology, Adelaide, Australia Dr. Arved Grebert - former Slovak diplomat, now in Switzerland Jane Noonan, Marlene Bartos, Stephen J. Knoblock - America Scholarship Winners Slovak League of OFFICERS OF THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA Honorary President : EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK President 2385 Main Street Stratford, Conn. 06497 Stephen J. Tkach , DR. JOSEPH PAUCO Secretary 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pa. 17057 Vice Presidents: Milan V. Blazek, Stephen Suhajcik, Mary Piroch ' Executive Committee : Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Paul C. Kazimer, Tibor Kovalovsky, Joseph R. Kristotik, Dr. Joseph Pauco, John A. Sabol SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership: 104,500 ·-:i THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio .;_ Membership: 96,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N. J. - Membership: 53,000 PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa: - Membership: 18,000 LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership: 16,500 SLOVAK NEWSPAPER'S JOURNALISTS' ASSOCI.A.TION (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) SLOVAK NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of Americ,a) BRATSTVO Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAK V AMERIKE Middletown, Pa. JEDNOTA Middletown, Pa. ZENSKA JEDNOTA Cleveland, Ohio KATOLICKY SOKOL Passaic, N. J. ZORNICK_A Wilkes-Barre, Pa. SLOVAKIA $4.00 per annum in the U.S.A. - $5.00 elsewhere PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. JEDNOTA PRESS Middletown, Pennsylvania 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 Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47) Description An account of the resource includes Current Issues; As the Others See It; Who's Who Among American Slovaks; Book Reviews; Our Contributors Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/df353948399f5034df14401db3114502.pdf ad9b12e7af62c4acb9b45cf9bc721e8e PDF Text Text 60 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress Edward J . B e h u n c i k President of the Slovak League of America Remarks at the closing banque t - Slovak World Congress Saturday, June 30, 1973, Pick-Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois Tonight, as you did two years ago at Toronto, you do me the honor of having me as President of the Slovak League of America speak on behalf of the Slovak American organizations and societies. It is a great pleasure to join this assemblage where we find a greater amount of Slovak cultivation of mind, of natural genius, of everything which constitutes the development of Slovak intelligence than undoubtedly ever has assembled within the same space anywhere else except perhaps at another Slovak World Congress. Three years ago, week before last, we free men of Slovak origin made a great decision. With an unanimity so complete that it absolutely silenced opposition, we took our place formally against the schemes and purposes of the temporary oppressors of our brethren in subjugated Slovakia. We have a peculiar satisfaction today in the reflection that when we made the decision we made no reservation. We cast in all we had; we asked nothing for ourselves for, even if we had, our oppressed brethren could not, however they might wish, give us anything. But, we made no terms with anyone but ourselves. Our newly formed organization was to be, and is, open to all men af good will, freedom loving and God fearing, whether they be Protestant or Catholic, Gentile or Jew, irrespective of color or creed - only so long as they be Slovak, by origin or marriage. Immediately after that great decision, and largely as a result of that great decision, we soon became the target of the Communist dominated governments in the subjugated �SLOVAKIA 61 states of Eastern Europe, especially that of Prague. This action, however, merely proved that we had become a recognizable enemy, worthy of the attention of, and of interest to, the Prague stooges of Moscow. Today, I venture to say, that deep in the heart of every Slovak everywhere throughout the globe, - and even for a brief time on the moon when Slovak Astronaut Ceman was aloft - there is a feeling of pride, pride about which we grow more certain everyday; pride over something we did that we believe will be endorsed absolutely by history, and vrill be the richest heritage we can leave to our children; pride not merely because we were able, at this time of crisis in Slovak history, to strike a giant blow in the interests of humanity but pride primarily because we struck that blow unselfishly. Your very presence at this Chicago Congress reinvigorates and revives all the impulses which earlier gripped and drove us on and made us worthy morally and with dedication to undertake to germinate the noble idea of a Slovak World Congress. We are now in a time of progress - that means advancement not retrogression, improvement not decay; it means accomplishment not failure, it means onward and forward. And so we must go or we will merely be making the Congress a factor only inside our small parochial circles. This we must not do! For if we regress instead of progress, if our drift is away from and not toward its highest ideals and traditions, slowly but surely the vitality which sustains the Slovak World Congress will slip away, and I say, without hesitation, that our Congress and the Slovak cause will cease to appeal to intelligent men. It will become nothing but an empty shell, a jargon of titles and platitudes - for we will be following the shadow and not the substance. That we must not permit it to become. And I am confident that we will not. No matter what previous opinions we have entertained, �62 SLOVAKIA no matter what we may charge to the past lack of cooperation between our various groups, no matter what our own ideas of the future relations of these groups - our paramount duty for the present and future is, as I said at Toronto, and again here repeat - to rise above all selfish contributions , all jealousies, all prejudices and give the Slovak people the true Slovak ideals - the best there is in us. This is the day of test for free Slovaks everywhere, but it is also the day of priceless opportunity. And those who today spend their treasure and give of their blood and energy in this sacred cause will have their memory perpetuated for all time. First, as the true defenders of freedom, then as the true children of our institutions those who learned from our fathers and retained the simple lessons of trust. This trust is the sincere trust in Almighty God and in the principles of justice that He has put in the hearts of men. Let us then look and move forward and onward as we fight and struggle not only for ourselves and our brethren in Slovakia but for future generations as well. Because if we do, then those who come after us will enjoy the freedom which will have been bought by our contributions of time, energy, money and dedicated devotion. Thus, we will be fully carrying out our duties as energetic and inspired members of our Slovak World Congress. Thus, I am fully confident, we will move forward in peace and harmony. And thus, we will help our subjugated brothers and sisters in oppressed Slovakia to approach the dream of Milton, where he says: Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youU and kindling her un<lazzled eyes at the full midday beam . . . � 60 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress Edward J . B e h u n c i k President of the Slovak League of America Remarks at the closing banque t - Slovak World Congress Saturday, June 30, 1973, Pick-Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois Tonight, as you did two years ago at Toronto, you do me the honor of having me as President of the Slovak League of America speak on behalf of the Slovak American organizations and societies. It is a great pleasure to join this assemblage where we find a greater amount of Slovak cultivation of mind, of natural genius, of everything which constitutes the development of Slovak intelligence than undoubtedly ever has assembled within the same space anywhere else except perhaps at another Slovak World Congress. Three years ago, week before last, we free men of Slovak origin made a great decision. With an unanimity so complete that it absolutely silenced opposition, we took our place formally against the schemes and purposes of the temporary oppressors of our brethren in subjugated Slovakia. We have a peculiar satisfaction today in the reflection that when we made the decision we made no reservation. We cast in all we had; we asked nothing for ourselves for, even if we had, our oppressed brethren could not, however they might wish, give us anything. But, we made no terms with anyone but ourselves. Our newly formed organization was to be, and is, open to all men af good will, freedom loving and God fearing, whether they be Protestant or Catholic, Gentile or Jew, irrespective of color or creed - only so long as they be Slovak, by origin or marriage. Immediately after that great decision, and largely as a result of that great decision, we soon became the target of the Communist dominated governments in the subjugated �SLOVAKIA 61 states of Eastern Europe, especially that of Prague. This action, however, merely proved that we had become a recognizable enemy, worthy of the attention of, and of interest to, the Prague stooges of Moscow. Today, I venture to say, that deep in the heart of every Slovak everywhere throughout the globe, - and even for a brief time on the moon when Slovak Astronaut Ceman was aloft - there is a feeling of pride, pride about which we grow more certain everyday; pride over something we did that we believe will be endorsed absolutely by history, and vrill be the richest heritage we can leave to our children; pride not merely because we were able, at this time of crisis in Slovak history, to strike a giant blow in the interests of humanity but pride primarily because we struck that blow unselfishly. Your very presence at this Chicago Congress reinvigorates and revives all the impulses which earlier gripped and drove us on and made us worthy morally and with dedication to undertake to germinate the noble idea of a Slovak World Congress. We are now in a time of progress - that means advancement not retrogression, improvement not decay; it means accomplishment not failure, it means onward and forward. And so we must go or we will merely be making the Congress a factor only inside our small parochial circles. This we must not do! For if we regress instead of progress, if our drift is away from and not toward its highest ideals and traditions, slowly but surely the vitality which sustains the Slovak World Congress will slip away, and I say, without hesitation, that our Congress and the Slovak cause will cease to appeal to intelligent men. It will become nothing but an empty shell, a jargon of titles and platitudes - for we will be following the shadow and not the substance. That we must not permit it to become. And I am confident that we will not. No matter what previous opinions we have entertained, �62 SLOVAKIA no matter what we may charge to the past lack of cooperation between our various groups, no matter what our own ideas of the future relations of these groups - our paramount duty for the present and future is, as I said at Toronto, and again here repeat - to rise above all selfish contributions , all jealousies, all prejudices and give the Slovak people the true Slovak ideals - the best there is in us. This is the day of test for free Slovaks everywhere, but it is also the day of priceless opportunity. And those who today spend their treasure and give of their blood and energy in this sacred cause will have their memory perpetuated for all time. First, as the true defenders of freedom, then as the true children of our institutions those who learned from our fathers and retained the simple lessons of trust. This trust is the sincere trust in Almighty God and in the principles of justice that He has put in the hearts of men. Let us then look and move forward and onward as we fight and struggle not only for ourselves and our brethren in Slovakia but for future generations as well. Because if we do, then those who come after us will enjoy the freedom which will have been bought by our contributions of time, energy, money and dedicated devotion. Thus, we will be fully carrying out our duties as energetic and inspired members of our Slovak World Congress. Thus, I am fully confident, we will move forward in peace and harmony. And thus, we will help our subjugated brothers and sisters in oppressed Slovakia to approach the dream of Milton, where he says: Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youU and kindling her un<lazzled eyes at the full midday beam . . . � 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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 SLOVAKIA Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress Edward J . B e h u n c i k President of the Slovak League of America Remarks at the closing banque t - Slovak World Congress Saturday, June 30, 1973, Pick-Congress Hotel, Chicago, Illinois Tonight, as you did two years ago at Toronto, you do me the honor of having me as President of the Slovak League of America speak on behalf of the Slovak American organizations and societies. It is a great pleasure to join this assemblage where we find a greater amount of Slovak cultivation of mind, of natural genius, of everything which constitutes the development of Slovak intelligence than undoubtedly ever has assembled within the same space anywhere else except perhaps at another Slovak World Congress. Three years ago, week before last, we free men of Slovak origin made a great decision. With an unanimity so complete that it absolutely silenced opposition, we took our place formally against the schemes and purposes of the temporary oppressors of our brethren in subjugated Slovakia. We have a peculiar satisfaction today in the reflection that when we made the decision we made no reservation. We cast in all we had; we asked nothing for ourselves for, even if we had, our oppressed brethren could not, however they might wish, give us anything. But, we made no terms with anyone but ourselves. Our newly formed organization was to be, and is, open to all men af good will, freedom loving and God fearing, whether they be Protestant or Catholic, Gentile or Jew, irrespective of color or creed - only so long as they be Slovak, by origin or marriage. Immediately after that great decision, and largely as a result of that great decision, we soon became the target of the Communist dominated governments in the subjugated SLOVAKIA 61 states of Eastern Europe, especially that of Prague. This action, however, merely proved that we had become a recognizable enemy, worthy of the attention of, and of interest to, the Prague stooges of Moscow. Today, I venture to say, that deep in the heart of every Slovak everywhere throughout the globe, - and even for a brief time on the moon when Slovak Astronaut Ceman was aloft - there is a feeling of pride, pride about which we grow more certain everyday; pride over something we did that we believe will be endorsed absolutely by history, and vrill be the richest heritage we can leave to our children; pride not merely because we were able, at this time of crisis in Slovak history, to strike a giant blow in the interests of humanity but pride primarily because we struck that blow unselfishly. Your very presence at this Chicago Congress reinvigorates and revives all the impulses which earlier gripped and drove us on and made us worthy morally and with dedication to undertake to germinate the noble idea of a Slovak World Congress. We are now in a time of progress - that means advancement not retrogression, improvement not decay; it means accomplishment not failure, it means onward and forward. And so we must go or we will merely be making the Congress a factor only inside our small parochial circles. This we must not do! For if we regress instead of progress, if our drift is away from and not toward its highest ideals and traditions, slowly but surely the vitality which sustains the Slovak World Congress will slip away, and I say, without hesitation, that our Congress and the Slovak cause will cease to appeal to intelligent men. It will become nothing but an empty shell, a jargon of titles and platitudes - for we will be following the shadow and not the substance. That we must not permit it to become. And I am confident that we will not. No matter what previous opinions we have entertained, 62 SLOVAKIA no matter what we may charge to the past lack of cooperation between our various groups, no matter what our own ideas of the future relations of these groups - our paramount duty for the present and future is, as I said at Toronto, and again here repeat - to rise above all selfish contributions , all jealousies, all prejudices and give the Slovak people the true Slovak ideals - the best there is in us. This is the day of test for free Slovaks everywhere, but it is also the day of priceless opportunity. And those who today spend their treasure and give of their blood and energy in this sacred cause will have their memory perpetuated for all time. First, as the true defenders of freedom, then as the true children of our institutions those who learned from our fathers and retained the simple lessons of trust. This trust is the sincere trust in Almighty God and in the principles of justice that He has put in the hearts of men. Let us then look and move forward and onward as we fight and struggle not only for ourselves and our brethren in Slovakia but for future generations as well. Because if we do, then those who come after us will enjoy the freedom which will have been bought by our contributions of time, energy, money and dedicated devotion. Thus, we will be fully carrying out our duties as energetic and inspired members of our Slovak World Congress. Thus, I am fully confident, we will move forward in peace and harmony. And thus, we will help our subjugated brothers and sisters in oppressed Slovakia to approach the dream of Milton, where he says: Methinks I see in my mind a noble and puissant nation rousing herself like a strong man after sleep, and shaking her invincible locks; Methinks I see her as an eagle mewing her mighty youU and kindling her un<lazzled eyes at the full midday beam . . .  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 League of America and Slovak World Congress Description An account of the resource Edward J. Behuncik, President of the Slovak League of America Slovakia, Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974 pp. 60-62 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Behuncik, Edward J. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974 name https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c30f945dcf2daf44efdb7612fa4a4bf6.pdf bdd1e80a5e2b6d03615aa8421a4c8c36 PDF Text Text Editor JOSEPH PAU C 0, Ph.D. Published by: THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 Volume XXIV Number 47 �SLOVAKIA • VOLUME XXIV 1974 • NO. 47 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. �s SLOVAKIA Contents Ma:i:imilian Hell, S. J. - Stephen Sencik, S. J. - 5 Anthony X. Suther- Tiso's Formative Years and Early Political Career - land, Ph.D. - 24 Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - Philip A . Hrobak - 36 Andrew Pier, The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day - O.S.B. - 51 American Sl.ovaks Lost a Great Man - Stephen B. Roman - Slovak Destiny - Joseph C. Krajsa - 54 57 Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress - Behuncik - Edward J. 60 Slovaks Abr,oad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle for Freedom - J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovak Pioneers in America Slovaks in Blandburg - 63 Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - Andrew Pier, O.S.B. - · 80 . . • Michael O'Pake, Esq. - Slovak Heritage - The Youth Conference - Tanzone - 67 84 Slovak League of America - Daniel F. 88 Some Personal Observations • on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference - Susan Pojer, B.A. 92 One Species, Many Cultures - Michael Novak - 96 The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs Fenchak - Paul 112 Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Great Slovak Talent - Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. 120 130 The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America - William Wagner 132 156 Famous Slovak Inve'ntors - Slovak Background of Events Through the Soviet Takeover in 1968 Jane Noonan - 162 The Slovak Arts in Perspective Slovak som ja - Marlene Bartos - Stephen John Knoblock - Noted Slovak Jubilarians - J. M. Kirschbaum - 210 Current Issues - As the Others See It - 213 Who's Who Among American Slovaks Book Reviews - 217 Our Contributors - 232 169 177 215 Francis Vnuk - 181 �SLOVAKIA Annual S L O V A K I A is published by the Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. Subscription $4.00. Editor: Joseph Pa u co, Ph .D. Editorial Board: Draga Divinska, Louis Kandra , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D., Susan Mikula, M.A., Joseph A. Mikus, Ph .D., Fr. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., M.A. , Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A., Sister Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., M.A. � Editor JOSEPH PAU C 0, Ph.D. Published by: THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 Volume XXIV Number 47 �SLOVAKIA • VOLUME XXIV 1974 • NO. 47 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. �s SLOVAKIA Contents Ma:i:imilian Hell, S. J. - Stephen Sencik, S. J. - 5 Anthony X. Suther- Tiso's Formative Years and Early Political Career - land, Ph.D. - 24 Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - Philip A . Hrobak - 36 Andrew Pier, The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day - O.S.B. - 51 American Sl.ovaks Lost a Great Man - Stephen B. Roman - Slovak Destiny - Joseph C. Krajsa - 54 57 Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress - Behuncik - Edward J. 60 Slovaks Abr,oad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle for Freedom - J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovak Pioneers in America Slovaks in Blandburg - 63 Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - Andrew Pier, O.S.B. - · 80 . . • Michael O'Pake, Esq. - Slovak Heritage - The Youth Conference - Tanzone - 67 84 Slovak League of America - Daniel F. 88 Some Personal Observations • on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference - Susan Pojer, B.A. 92 One Species, Many Cultures - Michael Novak - 96 The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs Fenchak - Paul 112 Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Great Slovak Talent - Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. 120 130 The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America - William Wagner 132 156 Famous Slovak Inve'ntors - Slovak Background of Events Through the Soviet Takeover in 1968 Jane Noonan - 162 The Slovak Arts in Perspective Slovak som ja - Marlene Bartos - Stephen John Knoblock - Noted Slovak Jubilarians - J. M. Kirschbaum - 210 Current Issues - As the Others See It - 213 Who's Who Among American Slovaks Book Reviews - 217 Our Contributors - 232 169 177 215 Francis Vnuk - 181 �SLOVAKIA Annual S L O V A K I A is published by the Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. Subscription $4.00. Editor: Joseph Pa u co, Ph .D. Editorial Board: Draga Divinska, Louis Kandra , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D., Susan Mikula, M.A., Joseph A. Mikus, Ph .D., Fr. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., M.A. , Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A., Sister Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., M.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 1974, Vol. 24 Description An account of the resource Vol. 24 (No. 47), 1974. 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 1974 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 Editor JOSEPH PAU C 0, Ph.D. Published by: THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA 313 Ridge Avenue Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 Volume XXIV Number 47 SLOVAKIA • VOLUME XXIV 1974 • NO. 47 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. s SLOVAKIA Contents Ma:i:imilian Hell, S. J. - Stephen Sencik, S. J. - 5 Anthony X. Suther- Tiso's Formative Years and Early Political Career - land, Ph.D. - 24 Sr. Martina Tybor, SS.C.M. - Philip A . Hrobak - 36 Andrew Pier, The 35th Anniversary of Slovak Independence Day - O.S.B. - 51 American Sl.ovaks Lost a Great Man - Stephen B. Roman - Slovak Destiny - Joseph C. Krajsa - 54 57 Slovak League of America and Slovak World Congress - Behuncik - Edward J. 60 Slovaks Abr,oad and Their Role in Slovakia's Struggle for Freedom - J. M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D. Slovak Pioneers in America Slovaks in Blandburg - 63 Joseph Pauco, Ph.D. - Andrew Pier, O.S.B. - · 80 . . • Michael O'Pake, Esq. - Slovak Heritage - The Youth Conference - Tanzone - 67 84 Slovak League of America - Daniel F. 88 Some Personal Observations • on the 1973 Slovak League of America Conference - Susan Pojer, B.A. 92 One Species, Many Cultures - Michael Novak - 96 The Artful Dodgers: Directors of Ethnic Studies Programs Fenchak - Paul 112 Survey Research and Ethnic Studies Great Slovak Talent - Steven I. Miller, Ph.D. 120 130 The Sisters of SS. Cyril and Methodius and the Preservation of Slovak Culture in America - William Wagner 132 156 Famous Slovak Inve'ntors - Slovak Background of Events Through the Soviet Takeover in 1968 Jane Noonan - 162 The Slovak Arts in Perspective Slovak som ja - Marlene Bartos - Stephen John Knoblock - Noted Slovak Jubilarians - J. M. Kirschbaum - 210 Current Issues - As the Others See It - 213 Who's Who Among American Slovaks Book Reviews - 217 Our Contributors - 232 169 177 215 Francis Vnuk - 181 SLOVAKIA Annual S L O V A K I A is published by the Slovak League of America, 313 Ridge Avenue, Middletown, Pa. 17057. Subscription $4.00. Editor: Joseph Pa u co, Ph .D. Editorial Board: Draga Divinska, Louis Kandra , Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Ph.D., Susan Mikula, M.A., Joseph A. Mikus, Ph .D., Fr. Andrew Pier, O.S.B., M.A. , Daniel F. Tanzone, M.A., Sister Martina Tybor, SS.C.M., M.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. 24 (No. 47) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1974