1 50 8 https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/97cece137011a186a8e52a1bab6f0d09.pdf e33a180073fe710a002e3637130be3e9 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 1980-81 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUMEXXIX 1980-1981 NUMBERS 53-64 An annual devoted to the history and culture of Slovaks the world over Editor MICHAEL NOVAK American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Managing Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Editorial Board DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA DANIEL F. TANZONE Publisher Slovak League of America c I o John A. Holy, Secretary 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be addressed to John Holy. Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be addressed to M. Mark Stolarik, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown, Pa. 19083. ��Table of Contents A Letter from the Publisher John A . Holy . .. . _"\" . ...... ..... ............... . . . 7 HISTORY The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks Stanislav J . Kirschbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Rusyns and the Slovak State PaulR. Magocsi ...... . ..... . . . . . . .. . . .. ... .. . . . . . .. .. . . 39 Music Schools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Interwar Slovakia Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 An Ethnohistory of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions Howard F. Stein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 LITERATURE Exerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner , 1906-1933 Vasil S. Koban .............. . . . .. . ..................... 105 Babushka Sonya Jason . . . . . . ................. . .... . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. 126 REVIEWS Peter Brock - The Slovak National Awakening (Andrej Cincura) . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . . . 135 Josef Kalvoda - Czechoslovakia 's Role in Soviet Strategy (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum) . . .............................. 138 �Dorothea El Mallakh - The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 (Yeshayahu Jelinek) . . . . . ... . .... .. ............... . .... .. 141 Anthony X. Sutherland - Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia (Josef Kalvoda) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 145 Yeshayahu Jelinek - The Parish Republic (Anthony X. Sutherland) ....... . . .. . . . . .... . . . . . .. . . . .... 147 Andrea Rebichini - Chiesa, societa e stato in Cecoslovachia (Teodorik J. Zubek) . . . . . . . . ....... . . .. . .... . . . .. . . . .. .. . 149 Vsevlad J. Gajdos - Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek - Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike (Gerald J. Sabo) ....... . . . . . . . . .. . . .... .. . .. . . . .. . . . ... . 151 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps . Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, m (JuneGranatirAlexander) . ....... . .. . . . ...... .. . . . . ... . . 153 Vasil S. Kohan - The Sorrows of Marienka (Paul Wilkes) ............ . . . .... .. . . .. ...... . . . 157 Megles, Stolarik & Tybor - Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland (Thomas D. Marzik) .......... .. ... ... . . . . . . . . ....... . .. . 160 Contributors .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. . . ....... . ........ .. . . . . . .. .. . . 163 Guidelines for Manuscripts ......... . . . ... \ . . . . . . . . .... . . ..... 165 �SLOVAKIA 7 A Letter ·From The Publisher With this issue Slovakia marks its thirtieth anniversary. The first volume was published by the Slovak League of America in 1951, with the then President of the League, Philip A. Hrobak, serving as editor. Hrobak was a staunch defender of the rights of the Slovak nation, and issues of Slovakia testified to his beliefs during the twelve years of his editorship. Shortly before his death, Hrobak asked Dr. Joseph Pauco, then Secretary of the Slovak League, to serve as editor. Pauco's strong belief in the right of the Slovak nation to its independence continued to be the philosophy of Slovakia. Under his leadership the journal expanded its scope and attracted a number of scholars who contributed timely articles which mirrored his philosophy. With the untimely death of Dr. Pauco in 1975, the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America asked Michael Novak, noted American scholar, educator, and political analyst of Slovak ancestry, to serv~ as editor of Slovakia. With his vast scholarly resources Novak expanded the scope of the journal and named Dr. M. Mark Stolarik, historian and director of the prestigious Balch Institute of Philadelphia, as managing editor. Over the years several noted American and Canadian scholars of Slovak ancestry have served on the editorial board and, more recently, other scholars who specialize in Slavic and East European studies have been asked to serve on the editorial board. During its thirty years of existence Slovakia has served as a forum for the study of Slovak history, culture, and political science. It has provided the American public with much information in English on Slovakia, a nation that is little known in the West. For all these years Slovakia has been published by the Slovak League of America, a civic and cultural federation of Americans of Slovak ancestry. Through the generosity of an array of dedicated individuals and organizations, the League continues to espouse its basic philosophy - to bring Slovakia, with its rich history, culture, and heritage, to the American public. JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Slovak League of America �� SLOVAKIA 1980-81 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA ����SLOVAKIA VOLUMEXXIX 1980-1981 NUMBERS 53-64 An annual devoted to the history and culture of Slovaks the world over Editor MICHAEL NOVAK American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Managing Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Editorial Board DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA DANIEL F. TANZONE Publisher Slovak League of America c I o John A. Holy, Secretary 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be addressed to John Holy. Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be addressed to M. Mark Stolarik, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown, Pa. 19083. ��Table of Contents A Letter from the Publisher John A . Holy . .. . _"\" . ...... ..... ............... . . . 7 HISTORY The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks Stanislav J . Kirschbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Rusyns and the Slovak State PaulR. Magocsi ...... . ..... . . . . . . .. . . .. ... .. . . . . . .. .. . . 39 Music Schools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Interwar Slovakia Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 An Ethnohistory of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions Howard F. Stein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 LITERATURE Exerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner , 1906-1933 Vasil S. Koban .............. . . . .. . ..................... 105 Babushka Sonya Jason . . . . . . ................. . .... . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. 126 REVIEWS Peter Brock - The Slovak National Awakening (Andrej Cincura) . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . . . 135 Josef Kalvoda - Czechoslovakia 's Role in Soviet Strategy (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum) . . .............................. 138 �Dorothea El Mallakh - The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 (Yeshayahu Jelinek) . . . . . ... . .... .. ............... . .... .. 141 Anthony X. Sutherland - Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia (Josef Kalvoda) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 145 Yeshayahu Jelinek - The Parish Republic (Anthony X. Sutherland) ....... . . .. . . . . .... . . . . . .. . . . .... 147 Andrea Rebichini - Chiesa, societa e stato in Cecoslovachia (Teodorik J. Zubek) . . . . . . . . ....... . . .. . .... . . . .. . . . .. .. . 149 Vsevlad J. Gajdos - Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek - Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike (Gerald J. Sabo) ....... . . . . . . . . .. . . .... .. . .. . . . .. . . . ... . 151 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps . Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, m (JuneGranatirAlexander) . ....... . .. . . . ...... .. . . . . ... . . 153 Vasil S. Kohan - The Sorrows of Marienka (Paul Wilkes) ............ . . . .... .. . . .. ...... . . . 157 Megles, Stolarik & Tybor - Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland (Thomas D. Marzik) .......... .. ... ... . . . . . . . . ....... . .. . 160 Contributors .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. . . ....... . ........ .. . . . . . .. .. . . 163 Guidelines for Manuscripts ......... . . . ... \ . . . . . . . . .... . . ..... 165 �SLOVAKIA 7 A Letter ·From The Publisher With this issue Slovakia marks its thirtieth anniversary. The first volume was published by the Slovak League of America in 1951, with the then President of the League, Philip A. Hrobak, serving as editor. Hrobak was a staunch defender of the rights of the Slovak nation, and issues of Slovakia testified to his beliefs during the twelve years of his editorship. Shortly before his death, Hrobak asked Dr. Joseph Pauco, then Secretary of the Slovak League, to serve as editor. Pauco's strong belief in the right of the Slovak nation to its independence continued to be the philosophy of Slovakia. Under his leadership the journal expanded its scope and attracted a number of scholars who contributed timely articles which mirrored his philosophy. With the untimely death of Dr. Pauco in 1975, the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America asked Michael Novak, noted American scholar, educator, and political analyst of Slovak ancestry, to serv~ as editor of Slovakia. With his vast scholarly resources Novak expanded the scope of the journal and named Dr. M. Mark Stolarik, historian and director of the prestigious Balch Institute of Philadelphia, as managing editor. Over the years several noted American and Canadian scholars of Slovak ancestry have served on the editorial board and, more recently, other scholars who specialize in Slavic and East European studies have been asked to serve on the editorial board. During its thirty years of existence Slovakia has served as a forum for the study of Slovak history, culture, and political science. It has provided the American public with much information in English on Slovakia, a nation that is little known in the West. For all these years Slovakia has been published by the Slovak League of America, a civic and cultural federation of Americans of Slovak ancestry. Through the generosity of an array of dedicated individuals and organizations, the League continues to espouse its basic philosophy - to bring Slovakia, with its rich history, culture, and heritage, to the American public. JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Slovak League 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 1980-81 Published By THE SLOVAK LEAGUE OF AMERICA SLOVAKIA VOLUMEXXIX 1980-1981 NUMBERS 53-64 An annual devoted to the history and culture of Slovaks the world over Editor MICHAEL NOVAK American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research Managing Editor M. MARK STOLARIK The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies Editorial Board DAVID P. DANIEL Concordia Theological Seminary OWEN V. JOHNSON Indiana University THOMAS D. MARZIK Saint Joseph's University STANLEY Z. PECH University of British Columbia Slovak League Advisory Board EDWARD J . BEHUNCIK DRAGA DIVINSKA JOHN A. HOLY JOSEPH C. KRAJSA DANIEL F. TANZONE Publisher Slovak League of America c I o John A. Holy, Secretary 870 Rifle Camp Road West Paterson, N.J. 07424 Inquiries regarding subscriptions should be addressed to John Holy. Manuscripts for possible publication and books for review should be addressed to M. Mark Stolarik, 700 Penfield Ave., Havertown, Pa. 19083. Table of Contents A Letter from the Publisher John A . Holy . .. . _"\" . ...... ..... ............... . . . 7 HISTORY The Slovak Republic and the Slovaks Stanislav J . Kirschbaum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Rusyns and the Slovak State PaulR. Magocsi ...... . ..... . . . . . . .. . . .. ... .. . . . . . .. .. . . 39 Music Schools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Interwar Slovakia Owen V. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 An Ethnohistory of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions Howard F. Stein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 LITERATURE Exerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner , 1906-1933 Vasil S. Koban .............. . . . .. . ..................... 105 Babushka Sonya Jason . . . . . . ................. . .... . .. .. . . . . .. . . .. 126 REVIEWS Peter Brock - The Slovak National Awakening (Andrej Cincura) . . . . . . . . . . . .............. . . . 135 Josef Kalvoda - Czechoslovakia 's Role in Soviet Strategy (Stanislav J. Kirschbaum) . . .............................. 138 Dorothea El Mallakh - The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 (Yeshayahu Jelinek) . . . . . ... . .... .. ............... . .... .. 141 Anthony X. Sutherland - Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia (Josef Kalvoda) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 145 Yeshayahu Jelinek - The Parish Republic (Anthony X. Sutherland) ....... . . .. . . . . .... . . . . . .. . . . .... 147 Andrea Rebichini - Chiesa, societa e stato in Cecoslovachia (Teodorik J. Zubek) . . . . . . . . ....... . . .. . .... . . . .. . . . .. .. . 149 Vsevlad J. Gajdos - Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek - Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike (Gerald J. Sabo) ....... . . . . . . . . .. . . .... .. . .. . . . .. . . . ... . 151 Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps . Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, m (JuneGranatirAlexander) . ....... . .. . . . ...... .. . . . . ... . . 153 Vasil S. Kohan - The Sorrows of Marienka (Paul Wilkes) ............ . . . .... .. . . .. ...... . . . 157 Megles, Stolarik & Tybor - Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland (Thomas D. Marzik) .......... .. ... ... . . . . . . . . ....... . .. . 160 Contributors .. .. . .. . . . . . . . .. . . ....... . ........ .. . . . . . .. .. . . 163 Guidelines for Manuscripts ......... . . . ... \ . . . . . . . . .... . . ..... 165 SLOVAKIA 7 A Letter ·From The Publisher With this issue Slovakia marks its thirtieth anniversary. The first volume was published by the Slovak League of America in 1951, with the then President of the League, Philip A. Hrobak, serving as editor. Hrobak was a staunch defender of the rights of the Slovak nation, and issues of Slovakia testified to his beliefs during the twelve years of his editorship. Shortly before his death, Hrobak asked Dr. Joseph Pauco, then Secretary of the Slovak League, to serve as editor. Pauco's strong belief in the right of the Slovak nation to its independence continued to be the philosophy of Slovakia. Under his leadership the journal expanded its scope and attracted a number of scholars who contributed timely articles which mirrored his philosophy. With the untimely death of Dr. Pauco in 1975, the Executive Committee of the Slovak League of America asked Michael Novak, noted American scholar, educator, and political analyst of Slovak ancestry, to serv~ as editor of Slovakia. With his vast scholarly resources Novak expanded the scope of the journal and named Dr. M. Mark Stolarik, historian and director of the prestigious Balch Institute of Philadelphia, as managing editor. Over the years several noted American and Canadian scholars of Slovak ancestry have served on the editorial board and, more recently, other scholars who specialize in Slavic and East European studies have been asked to serve on the editorial board. During its thirty years of existence Slovakia has served as a forum for the study of Slovak history, culture, and political science. It has provided the American public with much information in English on Slovakia, a nation that is little known in the West. For all these years Slovakia has been published by the Slovak League of America, a civic and cultural federation of Americans of Slovak ancestry. Through the generosity of an array of dedicated individuals and organizations, the League continues to espouse its basic philosophy - to bring Slovakia, with its rich history, culture, and heritage, to the American public. JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer Slovak League 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 Front Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54) Description An account of the resource includes A Letter from the Publisher (John A. Holy) Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Holý, Ján A., 1922-2020 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/65dc1a12000a9236ee24b833ac5ca939.pdf 8fed217fb702ba5847ba8d29b72814d3 PDF Text Text HISTORY ��SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, �SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a �14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from �SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering �16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 �SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed �18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence �SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state �20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the �SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. �22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- �SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life �24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that �SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- �26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, �SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially �28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of �SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- �30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of �SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak �32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. �SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- �34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. �SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long �SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- �SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the �SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48. � HISTORY ��SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. �12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, �SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a �14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from �SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering �16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 �SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed �18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence �SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state �20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the �SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. �22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- �SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life �24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that �SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- �26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, �SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially �28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of �SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- �30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of �SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak �32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. �SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- �34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. �SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long �SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- �SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the �SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48. � 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 HISTORY SLOVAKIA 11 The .Slovak Republic and the Slovaks· . STANISLAV J. KIRSCHBAUM INTRODUCTION There are very few topics in recent history that have been as much avoided, accidentally or deliberately, by Western as well as Communist scholars as the Slovak Republic (1939-1945) . The significance of this state in the period of its existence is certainly not central to an understanding of the more important world events that were taking place at the time, nor was its contribution to those events such that it required the attention of world powers. Historical surveys published in the West in the last forty years have thus not given Slovakia much attention; one can appreciate the reason for this, but one must also note that there are often serious inaccuracies, distortions, and misrepresentations in these works.I The task of writing this history of the Slovak Republic is, therefore, left to a few Western specialists or to Slovak Marxist historians. But here one is also left wanting; ideological preoccupations and problems of documentation explain this unusual state of affairs. The Republic of Slovakia found itself on the side of the vanquished powers at the end of the Second World War. Historians have been understandably more interested in recording the activities of the victorious, often applying ex post facto a devil theory to the defeated. In the wake of an ideological conflict like the Second World War, and with the ideological division of the world in the postwar years, the tendency to simplify in order better to glorify and I or condemn is understandable. It is not to be excused, however. Nevertheless Western, as well as Communist, historians have generally let their engagement get the better of their scholarship, or else they have conveniently cast intractable subjects to the Orwellian memory hole. For example, two Canadians, one of Czech, the other of • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies , New Haven, October, 1979. 12 SLOVAKIA Slovak origin, purporting to write the history of the Czechs and Slovaks in Canada, have actually suggested that Slovak separatism is " an aberration of the past , excusable perhaps under the circumstances of the day , but otherwise the sooner forgotten the better.' ' 2 Communist scholars have also generally avoided the Slovak Republic, with the only two works published in the 1950s3 followed by a few articles in the 1960s.4 Writing from their Marxist perspective , they have, however, shown a shift in accent and interpretation in their later writings.5 This shift corresponds to greater access to the documentation on the Slovak Republic for scholars in Slovakia. However, this documentation is not necessarily accessible to Western scholars . Access to original documents and other primary sources is in fact the greatest problem that Western scholars studying Slovakia face. All of the works on the period of the Slovak Republic published in the West show a minimal reliance on original Slovak documentation . At best, they have used three newspapers published in Slovakia that are available , namely Slovak , Gardista , and Grenzbote.6 Monographs which were published during the war and which found their way into Western European or American libraries are also available; but their number, as well as their importance , is limited. None gives a total picture of the Slovak Republic ; most were written during the war, and generally before the 1944 revolt. Finally, none of the political leaders or officials of the state has made public any documents in his possession 7 that cast additional light. With some exceptions, there are no detailed memoirs or diaries that one can draw upon.8 Finally, there is no indication that Prague or Bratislava is presently disposed to open Slovak archives to Western scholars, except perhaps for earlier periods and less explosive subjects like education. 9 There is , on the other hand, one documentary source that Western and Communist IO scholars have used widely, namely German documentation. The Allies published soon after the war the series Documents on German Foreign Policy ; those documents not found in this series are now available in Bonn at the\ Politisches Archiv des auswiirtigen Amtes . Also available are SS documents, namely from Himmler's Sicherheitsdienst, which John Conway has prudently characterized as "conscientious, though obviously one-sided. " 11 Conway's comments are indeed pertinent for much of German documentation ; it must be used with great care when applied to Slovakia. The scholar must remember that they are addressed to and written by people serving the Third Reich. A third, but unfortunately rather unreliable source of information, SLOVAKIA 13 is the files of the British Foreign Office. These were at first composed of British diplomatic reports, especially from Consul to Slovakia Peter Pares, which are useful because of their detachment and scope. Pares, however, left Slovakia after the outbreak of the Second World War, and thereupon the reports fo'll{ld in the files of the Foreign Office ceased to come from agents in diplomatic representation abroad. Bruce Lockhart12 then set into motion the gathering of intelligence not only on Slovak, but also on Czech, affairs in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia and thus thickened Foreign Office files with weekly and sundry reports. With the British de facto and later de jure recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government-in-exile in London, headed by Edvard Bene§, the task of gathering intelligence and preparing situation reports fell on the Czech and Slovak exiles in London. The information in this documentation is rarely accurate, and to its discredit, extremely selective.13 The documents show quite plainly that Bene§ and his people used only information that damaged the Slovak Republic, especially Slovak politicians. Likewise, the weekly summaries of the Political Intelligence Department are not very useful because they were based upon reports emanating from Bene§'s people. However, the Foreign Office files also contain occasional letters or reports from other sources that paint a totally different picture; but they are too few and, unfortunately, rarely comprehensive enough to give scholars something concrete. This problem of inadequate documentary evidence makes the task of studying the Slovak Republic an extremely difficult one.14 Nevertheless a beginning must be made, if only to ask questions, examine existing interpretations, and seek to understand the motives and actions of the men at the center of events; there is indeed a real challenge of intellectual and documentary detection in this case. The documentation used in this article is neither specialized nor all-encompassing. I have examined closely most available secondary sources, both Western and Communist, read the memoir-like contributions of Slovaks in SlovakCanadian and Slovak-American newspapers and periodicals, and studied carefully the documents of the Foreign Office. Furthermore, I accept the writings of exiled Slovak scholars as those most likely to help us understand the Slovak Republic and the actions of its leaders, while taking note of their often defensive and apologetic nature. I am also aware of the fact that there exist many works disposed in an unfriendly, if not outright inimical, way to the Slovak Republic; I have sought to understand the arguments presented and have accepted at face value the facts given. But one should be skeptical toward them; a state where the President could walk on the streets of the capital city without a 14 SLOVAKIA bodyguard to protect him and where no attempt was ever made on his life is not a state where everything was evil and against the interests of the Slovak people, as some works suggest. The full history of the Slovak Republic will, however, not be written until all archival material is made available. Until then the present debate is likely to continue. Before examining the various aspects of this topic, a few words should be said about the broader perspective within which the Slovak Republic found itself. In his study of the impact of education in Slovakia in the 1920s and 1930s, Owen Johnson has shown that by the end of the second decade of the existence of the first Czechoslovak Republic not only had Prague's policy of Czechoslovak nation-building failed, but indeed its "program of Czechoslovak state building had turned into one of Slovak nation building."15 There is some irony in the fact that Prague's policies had the opposite effect of what had been expected; in this respect then, the activities of the Slovak Republic would be merely the continuation and the prolongation of this process with the difference that all decisions affecting the Slovaks would be taken by Slovaks in Bratislava and not in Prague. The fact that the Slovaks took their national life into their own hands, notwithstanding the circumstances that had led to this step, also reflected the problems created by the selective application of the policy of national self-determination in Central Europe. While recognizing on the one hand the right of nations to selfdetermination on the morrow of the Great War, the victorious powers were selective on the other in their granting of this right to the various nations of the Habsburg Empire. The Slovaks were not unaware of this discrepancy, and when the deleterious geopolitical arrangements of the Versailles settlement finally succumbed to German expansionism, Slovak independence was as much an act of nati~al self-determination as one of self-preservation. The ultimate tragedy of the Slovaks is that by 1945 the victorious powers once again applied in a selective fashion the principles of national self-determination as embodied in the Atlantic Charter. THE ACCEPTANCE OF SLOVAK INDEPENDENCE The declaration of Slovak independence was greeted with rejoicing by a great many Slovaks, although in Bratislava, as British Consul Peter Pares reported, there had not been many manifestations of that joy. The capital city of Slovakia was yet to become a primarily Slovak city, and its non-Slovak population did not show much enthusiasm. Pares sensed apathy or pessimism.16 Slovakia's declaration of independence had in fact come about under circumstances that differentiate it from SLOVAKIA 15 similar events for other nations in recent times. Consul Pares's report not only singles out this ~ct, but it underlines one of the major tasks that the leaders of the new'state had to face. Slovakia's declaration of independence cannot be disassociated from the two previous decades when neither the political individuality of Slovakia nor the nationhood of its people had been acknowledged by the Czechoslovak Republic. Belatedly and grudgingly, Prague had granted Slovakia autonomy on October 6, 1938, under conditions that did not indicate the total and willing abandonment by the Czech elite of the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism. '' But for the Slovak people, autonomy represented the successful outcome of a twenty-year struggle, a hope that Slovak national development could now be carried out by the Slovak people. Autonomy brought about manifestations of popular gladness in the cities, towns, and villages of Slovakia. The Hlinka Slovak People's Party and the Slovak National Party, headed by Martin Razus, had been the main political forces not only behind autonomy, but above all, in the educational campaign that was essential for the Slovak people in order to handle their own affairs. After two decades of Czech local, as well as state administration, a policy that had brought about much bitterness in Slovakia, 17 the Slovaks looked upon autonomy as the fulfillment not only of original promises, but also of national aspirations. Independence and statehood had not been an alternative openly discussed and contemplated by Slovak leaders in the two decades before autonomy. This is not to say that they might not one day have considered it. Indeed, as Samo Falt'an, a Slovak Commwiist historian, has written: "Statehood as an expression of national liberty cannot be rejected and qualified as treason to the nation.'' He went on to add that independence was a logical outcome in the light of the Slovaks' status in the CSR: ''The creation of the Slovak State is not in conflict with national interests and efforts, all the more so, because in the twenty-year existence of the CSR there had been no successful attempt to reach a Czech-Slovak constitutional arrangement. "18 Nevertheless - and this is important in order to understand the problems that faced th,e new state - when independence was declared, it had not been the object of wide public discussion but rather came rapidly on the heels of autonomy when Slovakia had barely begun to enjoy its new status in Czecho-Slovakia. However, within the Hlinka party, reorganized since November 8, 1938 as the Slovak Party of National Unity, which other Slovak parties had been invited to join except for Slovak Communists and Social Democrats, there were elements that had been considering 16 SLOVAKIA independence, especially in the light of the changing international situation in Europe. The predominance of Germany and the fear that Prague might not be able to defend the integrity and existence of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks concerned them. In fact, from the very beginnings of Czecho-Slovakia, the Hlinka party had given Prague notice that the survival and interests of the Slovak nation were uppermost in its policy stand and actions.19 But in 1938-1939 the need to explore all avenues was paramount, for as Churchill declared in the House of Commons on October 5, 1938: "I venture to think that in the future the Czechoslovak state cannot be maintained as an independent entity. You will find that in a period of time which may be measured by years, but may be measured only by months, Czechoslovakia will be engulfed in the Nazi regime. "20 The Slovak elite was aware of this danger of engulfment and of the necessity to maneuver in such a way as to avoid it. As events would show and the history of the Slovak Republic would confirm, Slovak independence was the one solution that enabled Slovakia to avoid the total absorption that befell other Central European peoples and states. The events leading to independence need not he recounted here, since they have been examined elsewhere.21 Suffice it to say that in the light of European developments and the rapidity with which they were unfolding, the decision to opt for independence and the manner in which it was done showed courage on the part of the Slovak leaders. It was also the best solution, not only under the circumstances, but also for the Slovak nation.22 But at the moment of independence, and for the immediate future, this decision by the Slovak leaders had to be explained and shown to be viable both to the Slovak people and to the world at large. The Hlinka Party23 embarked on this task, calling upon all Slovaks to join it, as the Communist historian I:ubomir Liptak has written. The new regime in Slovakia did not exclude its political opponents from positions in the new state.24 In fact he pointed out: The populists did not come to power after an extreme collision of political trends in Slovakia, in the wake of a moderate civil war as was the case for example in Italy and Germany, but during an international crisis, when all existing political conceptions and currents failed, or did not have an oppottunity to influence developments. In this kind of internal political vacuum, when political opponents are eliminated, or do not have clear goals, or are isolated in the nation, the populists could get the support or at least the passive help of yesterday's political opponents.25 SLOVAKIA 17 Although there was a single Slovak party (there was, however, also a Slovak German, and a small Slovak Hungarian, party) and the regime manifested certain visible authoritarian characteristics, the appearance of factions and policy directions in the Blinka Party, the division between the legislative and executive branches of government, and the role of the churches in the political life of the state26 were all factors that would influence Slovak political life and help the Blinka Party to carry out its program. In the words of Liptak, in the Slovak Republic there was a "certain 'liberalism' and carefulness in the introduction of authoritarian arrangements.' •27 This moderate liberalism was, however, not to be enjoyed by all citizens, and many individuals suffered, although on the whole there was none of the totalitarianism, terror, and ideological dogmatism that later befell the Slovaks under the Communist regime. These conditions also made it possible for opposing views to coexist and later influence events in Slovakia. For there existed three factors which had heavily mortgaged the viability of the Slovak Republic and which would in time take their place in the political life of the state and ultimately seal its fate; they were the activities of opposition groups, Slovak-German relations, and the world war. The appearance of a group opposing the Slovak Republic is something that British Consul Pares soon took notice of. In his July report on the Constitution of Slovakia, where he noted the unique position of the Blinka Party in the political system, he pointed out that the Catholic origin of this party probably meant the virtual exclusion of Slovak Protestants within it, as well as their relegation to the background of public affairs. He concluded from this that the ''insignificant position into which they have been thrust is sure to arouse their bitter resentment. "28 By mid-November he reported the "active revolt ... of a section of the Lutheran Community, which was the greatest source of strength of the former centralists or ''Czechoslovaks'' and has suffered with their eclipse. In this case, it is sectarian feeling rather than loss of political power which has created bitter antagonism to the existing government .... "29 Despite the fact that a number of Protestant personalities occupied key positions in the state, that their economic influence in Slovakia did not diminish but in fact increased, and that their leaders publicly proclaimed their adherence and loyalty to the Slovak Republic, the Slovak Protestant community did indeed form an opposition group, whether for sectarian or political reasons, especially after Benes began to regroup his political partisans in London. As Pares noted in his last dispatch on Slovakia to London, the Protestants formed 18 SLOVAKIA at home and abroad an opposition link to the Slovak Republic and lent Benes support for his goal of recreating the first Czechoslovak Republic.30 By 1943 they would be actively involved in the restoration of Czechoslovak authority in Slovakia and would help a second main opposition group, the Communists, in preparing an armed revolt in Central Slovakia. The role of the Communists in Slovakia mirrored well the turgidity of their movement until the German attack on the Soviet Union in June of 1941. Soviet diplomatic recognition of Slovakia invalidated the slogans of national self-determination they propagated in 1939, while the leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, by then resident in Moscow, ordered the abandonment of the slogan of a '' Soviet Slovak Republic,'' which began to appear in 1940. The Communist Party had been declared illegal in Slovakia so that its activities and organization were clandestine. The security services of the Slovak Republic occasionally rounded up Communists, but as both Falt'an and Liptak pointed out, not only were they quickly released from prison, but they were allowed to resume their positions in economic and state institutions. 31 In was not until late 1943 and 1944 that Communist activity became a major factor in Slovak political life, in part because the Communists were in touch with Soviet partisan units operating out of Kiev, and in part because they had worked out a new political program for Slovakia in the future of Czechoslovak Republic.32 Together with Slovak non-Communists, primarily Lutherans, they began to prepare the revolt of 1944, which I will examine below. The existence and activity of opposition groups to the Slovak Republic were enhanced by the nature of Slovak-German relations. The role of Germany in the destruction of Czechoslovakia had been a major factor in Slovakia's declaration of independence and as British Consul Pares noted, ''from the moment when indeflendence was declared the Slovaks never had any illusions about the difficulties and risks of their situation as a nation of two million people in the centre of Europe. ,,33 Attempts to pursue an independent foreign policy by the Minister of External Affairs, Ferdinand Durcansky, resulted in his removal in July 1940 under German pressure and thereafter Germany made sure that Slovak political life did not go beyond certain limits, which for the most part were, however, not clearly defined; on the other hand Germany did not encourage Slovak pro-Nazi elements to take power, nor did Hitler back the attempted coup in 1941 against President Tiso, in which the German ambassador, M. von Killinger, was himself involved. Slovakia was nevertheless in the German sphere of interest; its existence SLOVAKIA 19 was in fact tied to German political and economic activities, and despite the diplomatic recognition it had been granted by twenty-seven states, its juridical status did not\in fact extend much beyond Europe. British de facto and later de jure ·recognition of the provisional Czechoslovak government in London, followed by Soviet and American recognition,34 as well as the Hungarian claims on Slovakia, further strengthened the ties between Slovakia and Germany which were not broken until the war's end. The outbreak of the Second World War was the third factor that heavily influenced the politics and the viability of the Slovak Republic. Although Slovakia would not experience the horrors of war until 1944, the fact that there was a war all around it enabled opposition groups to get involved in military activities on Slovak soil and do just what the Slovak leaders had so successfully avoided doing, namely bring the war into Slovakia with their 1944 revolt. Also, the war forced Slovakia into much closer cooperation with Germany, especially in the economic sphere, and brought about the deportation into Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jews. In the end Slovakia's existence became tied to the outcome of a war that Germany had begun. In spite of the weight of these three factors on the Slovak Republic, its political leaders determined to carry out policies that would enable the Slovak people to develop further their national life, or put in other terms, that would embark them upon a program of modernization that would dispel any doubts about Slovak political maturity. 35 In this respect, as the available evidence shows, the Slovak Republic represented a singular achievement that had not been equalled in the Czechoslovak state. THE POLICIES OF THE REGIME It was the misfortune of the Slovak Republic that it had to fight throughout its existence the battle of statehood. International law notwithstanding, the Slovaks came to realize that the international existence of their state was shaky, a situation which resulted in the blurring of the boundary lines between state and regime for many Slovaks and most observers.36 This blurring grew as the war developed and became prevalent by the time it became clear that the Allies, who by then had recognized the Czechoslovak government in London, were going to win the war. But in 1939 and for the next four years, until the German army was defeated at Stalingrad, and despite the need after July 1940 for Slovakia to align itself closer to Germany, the lines between state 20 SLOVAKIA and regime were quite closer. The notion of statehood was indeed understood by the Slovaks, as Peter Pares quite accurately reported to London in his last dispatch in January 1940: One solid cause for satisfaction still remains in spite of Slovakia' s need for dependence on one or other of the stronger neighbouring nations and that is the fact that after one thousand years the internal political administration has at last passed exclusively into the hands of Slovaks. Economic and political dependence on either Germany, the Czechs or Hungary is inevitable so long as Slovakia remains an independent state but the right of full self-administration is a pure gain which is entirely due to the establishment of the republic and goes far toward reconciling the Slovaks with the drawbacks of their political position.37 The Slovaks lost in fact very little time in setting up a constitution for their state. They proclaimed on July 21, 1939 a republic, drawing upon the constitutions of Austria, Portugal, and Czechoslovakia, to determine the balance between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.38 The constitutional text is divided into thirteen chapters of 103 articles forming "a comprehensive set of fundamental principles and laws concerning the whole field of government and making provisions for the exercise of political power.' •39 Worthy of note are also the articles dealing with the duties and general rights of the citizens, including the right of assembly and freedom of speech and the protection of the workers. As students of the Slovak constitution have noted, the social provisions were greatly influenced by Papal encyclicals, particularly Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno.40 The main authoritarian feature is to be found in the role of the Hlinka Party. As Pares pointed out in his description of the constitution to the Foreign Office, ''in spite of the mul~plication of the organs of government, it is easy to see that the Hlinka party itself will, under the new Constitution, be the most powerful factor"in the government of the country." 41 Changes in the Hlinka Party further enhanced the authoritarian character of the regime, as some features of the German and Italian party systems were adopted. The Hlinka Party did not, however, have a fascist or national-socialist program, although attempts were made to give it one, and it sought to direct political life along Slovak national traditions. 42 Like all political parties, the Hlinka Party was divided into factions. Throughout the six years of the Slovak Republic, the main faction, headed by Jozef Tiso, President of the Party and also President of the Republic from October 26, 1939, dominated the political life of the SLOVAKIA 21 country. It was composed not only of long-standing members of the party, but also of representatives of other Slovak parties who had consented to run on the single ticket for the Diet during the elections of December 18, 1938.43 Th.is faction exercised its influence not only in the Presidency, but'also in ~he Slovak Parliament. 44 For the better part of the life of the Slovak Republic, the Tiso faction also had to make every effort to curb the pro-Nazi faction which sought indeed to give Slovakia a Slovak national-socialist regime. It was headed by Vojtech Tuka, who after July 1940 became Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs until the 1944 revolt. Tuka owed his position to Hitler who had summoned Tiso to Salzburg on July 28, 1940 to impose a closer alignment with Germany. Hitler also forced the dismissal of Durcansky, Minister of External Affairs. The Secretary-General of the Party, Jozef Kirschbaum, was also removed from his position shortly afterwards. Slovakia had lost some of the freedom it had enjoyed in the first seventeen months of its existence. Still, the Hlinka Party, whose main organizational opponent was the pro-Tuka Hlinka Guard, managed to carry through a series of policies that, with one exception, one can hardly qualify as Nazi or fascist.45 Likewise much of the posturing and outward imitation of Italian and German uniforms was more a matter of form to please Germany than an integral part of Slovak political culture. It would have been a different story if Tuka and Alexander Mach, the Minister of the Interior, had succeeded in overthrowing Tiso. The country would most likely have been ruled by the Hlinka Guard, whose membership was not composed of the most enlightened segments of the population. 46 Of all the policies the regime of the Slovak Republic proposed and carried out, the most unfortunate and tragic were the confiscation of Slovak Jewish property, known as the policy of aryanization, and in 1942 on German urging, the deportation to Poland of more than half of Slovakia's Jewish population. These policies found both support and opposition in Slovakia. The aryanization policy was introduced shortly after independence and was voted on by the Slovak Parliament in response to a mood that existed in public circles.47 The deportation policy, advocated by the Tuka faction, however, met with serious opposition, 48 and although it could be stopped only belatedly, Tiso and his supporters in Parliament were still able to limit its scope and save the lives of thousands of Slovak Jews.49 Nevertheless, one of the darkest chapters in Slovak history had been written, and it went a long way toward damaging the record of the Slovak Republic50 and the aspirations of the Slovak people for independence. 22 SLOVAKIA Foreign policy was another area where room for maneuver was limited. The Communist historian Liptak has argued that the Slovak Republic was a mere pawn in a German game in Europe, especially in the period following independence; it was not possible, he concluded, for Slovakia to pursue an independent foreign policy.51 The measure of the success or failure of Slovakia's foreign policy lies in the degree to which it could resist German dominance and obtain for itself some freedom of action and protection of its own interests. The test came early with the Hungarian attack on Eastern Slovakia in March 1939 and, as Milan Durica has shown, the Slovaks, led by Durcansky, were reasonably successful in minimizing the damage and protecting Slovak interests. 52 The Treaty of Protection (Schuetzvertrag) between Slovakia and Germany set the limits of Slovakia's room for maneuver in foreign relations, military, and economic affairs. With the outbreak of the war, Slovakia joined Germany in invading Poland but only to recapture Slovak territory lost in 1920 and 1938. Nevertheless, Durcansky attempted to widen his freedom of action, and one of his attempts to pursue an independent course failed due to an indiscretion by a Slovak diplomat53 and brought about his downfall in July of 1940.54 Thereafter, Prime Minister Tuka, who was also External Affairs Minister, aligned Slovakia closer to German foreign policy by joining the Anti-Comintern Pact in 1940 and by participating in the war against the Soviet Union. There is no indication in the documentation that there were military engagements between Slovak and British or American forces.55 The measure of the success of Durcansky' s foreign policy may perhaps best be gauged by the fact that he set parameters on German interference which enabled the regime to carry out a wide range of domestic policies. Even after his ouster in 1940, German interference was felt primarily in foreign, military, and economic policy and in the Jewish question. As Communist leader Gustav Husak, an eyewitness to the politics and policies of the Slovak Republic, pointed out in July 1944: ''German influence is great, but not\so great for independence to be a stupid mask. "56 The major achievements of the Slovak Republic were in the economic and socio-cultural fields. If adequate research is ever possible in these two areas, the results are likely to show that the regime was quite successful in taking the Slovak people far down the road of modernization and that, until the revolt of 1944, the Slovak government looked after its non-Jewish citizens through planned economic and social development. The Slovak Republic was the framework within which the Slovak people could and did attain a good measure of national and so- SLOVAKIA 23 cial development even under the stringent diplomatic and military conditions their government found itself. As Gustav Husak wrote in 1944, distinguishing between regime and state: "If this state had another content and were l~d by another regime, not to say anything about a change of ally, there would be nothing to say against it from a Slovak point of view." 57 Husak, a Communist, was understandably not in favor of the regime; but he acknowledged the importance and benefits of statehood for the Slovaks. Certainly by 1944 there was no doubt about that anymore. There had been doubts, however, at the time of independence. They had arisen from some of the intitial difficulties the autonomous Slovak government had experienced in late 1938 and early 1939. As Peter Pares wrote in February 1939, there were difficulties in a series of sectors, especially in the economic, educational, and administrative ones, from which he concluded that the result ''must inevitably be the economic stagnation of Slovakia and might even mean a disastrous impoverishment." 58 But by April 1939, Pares reported that "the present state of affairs in Slovakia, after nearly a month of independence, seems to indicate that, in spite of the manner in which the declaration of independence was brought about and of the disturbing effects of the Hungarian invasion of Eastern Slovakia, conditions are more stable than anybody expected. "59 The situation in fact continued to improve so much that Husak could write in 1944 that there had been a definite improvement to what the situation had been in Czechoslovakia. He went on to add that in the first seventeen months of the Slovak Republic ''it also became evident that Slovakia could take care of itself economically, there was neither economic nor currency chaos, the standard of living did not go down, quite the contrary, a good number of people, especially the intelligentsia, got ahead .... '•60 A report in the Foreign Office files dated August 1943 also confirms the progress made with the following eyewitness account: '' A traveller who has recently returned from Slovakia was amazed to find how normal things were, not only in Bratislava, but also in other towns. There was no blackout and practically no restrictions. Food and clothing were plentiful and prices reasonable. There was little war talk. Life went on as usual everywhere, but there was a shortage of servants and indeed a general shortage of labour. "61 Before outlining the various aspects of socio-economic and cultural development that the documentation and the literature have permitted me to put together, a few words should be said about the parameters I am using to evaluate the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the life 24 SLOVAKIA of the Slovak people. Ideally, when a nation has acquired statehood it should be totally free to handle its own affairs; for small nations, however, reality is generally far removed from theory, especially when there are powerful neighboring states. Depending on the pressures the powerful put on a small state, the measure of realism must be not only the degree to which policies allow the people to enjoy a standard of living comparable to that of the neighboring nations, but also the perceivable cost, in the short and longer run of resistance and opposition to the pressure of the powerful neighbor. For example, the failure of Canadian nationalists to persuade the Canadian people to have their government limit the American domination of the Canadian economy - over 60 percent of Canadian industry is owned by Americans - is due to the refusal of the Canadian people to give up the standard of living this situation has brought them and to accept the cost of a policy of greater independence. There is little public discussion in Canada on American domination; it is a topic that is debated primarily in certain academic, intellectual, and political circles with hardly any echo elsewhere. The Canadian people do not hesitate, furthermore, to vote out a government which they perceive has not done enough not only to maintain, but to improve, their standard of living. These are the acceptable parameters of political realism in the second half of the twentieth century, not only for Canada, but for quite a few states, in the Western, as well as in the Communist, world. It is clear that the Slovak people found themselves in a similar situation until the revolt of 1944; it is my contention that the Slovak government was successful, especially in a war situation, in giving the Slovak people a good standard of living. Communist scholars do not hesitate to point out that the Slovak economy was dominated by Germany because of the secret protocol in the Treaty of Protection, which called for close economic cooperation and the increase of Slovakia's industrial and agriculture output. Other treaties followed to spell out in detail economic arrangements between Slovakia and Germany, and the Reich also sent advisers to help in various ministries. Liptak calculated that in 1938 the share of German and Austrian capital totaled only 5 percent in Sloyakia; by 1944 it had grown to 64 percent. This phenomenal growth is ~xplained by the fact that Germany took over the shares of Czech and foreign capital in Slovakia as they occupied the various financial centers of Europe. 62 At the same time Slovak capital grew from 2 percent in 1938 to 6 percent in 1944,63 and the number of companies in which Slovaks held a controlling interest rose from 40 to 74. Furthermore, from 1942 on, Slovak banks were successful in obtaining additional shares, especially in industry, that SLOVAKIA 25 enabled them to operate a number of transfers of controlling interest from Germany to Slovakia. 64 It was this capital inflow which allowed for the development of Slovak industry. Some 4,855 million ks. were invested in five years, allowing for the creation of 250 new enterprises and the enlargement of SO-existing ones. The railways benefited from 95 km. of new tracks , while i 84 km. were rebuilt or repaired. Road paving, repair, and reconstruction were done on 1,100 km. , with 282 km. of new roads laid; telephone links, under and above ground, were greatly improved, adding 291 communities to the existing network, while 470 villages acquired electrification.65 The 12 ,000 kw. of hydroelectric power built between 1918 and 1939 was increased to 90,000 kw. between 1939 and 1945.66 Foreign Office files also give some statistics worthy of note. In 1942 the investment in chemical, textile, mining, metallurgy, and electrical industries represented close to half of that year's investment. The National Bank net profit in 1941 was 21.86 million ks. and 30.83 m. ks. in 1942.67 Trade statistics also show that Slovakia was by no means restricting the variety of goods and services available; in January-February 1942 Slovakia exported 400 m. ks. worth of goods while it imported 575 m. ks. For the same period in 1943, exports increased to 570 m. ks., and imports rose to 730 m. ks. A Slovak-Italian agreement valued at 800 m. ks. , with 60 m. ks. in Slovakia's favor, was signed in 1943. 68 There are very few agricultural statistics available; it seems that this was not a sector that encountered too many problems, even though the promised land reform of 1939 was not carried out. British reports note good fruit crops in 1942 and 1943 . The year 1943 was also reported as a good vintage year for Slovak wines. Communist authors indicate without hesitation that the social groups that benefited most from the economic expansion and growth in Slovakia were the middle and upper middle classes. The lot of workers also seems to have been satisfactory, except perhaps early on when worker discontent culminated in a strike fomented by Communists in Handlova in October 1940.69 The Slovak Parliament passed a number of bills to improve the social conditions of the working class, and salaries and wages showed a steady increase, 70 while unemployment disappeared. The autonomy and later independence of Slovakia brought about the availability of positions in the state as well as tertiary sectors which until then had been occupied primarily by Czechs. Education was another area which showed considerable activity and enabled educated Slovaks to move ahead. The University of Bratislava added two new fa- 26 SLOVAKIA culties , and a technical university was created in July 1939, taking up from the one created in Kosice in 1937 (but then under Magyar control). A school of economics was also founded, and by 1943 there were more than twice as many students enrolled in Slovak institutions of higher learning than there had been in 1938. An educational reform was also announced in July 1939, and Church-controlled schools were re-established. 71 These educational policies and reforms remedied in fact a major defect in Prague's educational program in Slovakia during the interwar years. As Owen Johnson has written: "What the Czechoslovak Republic / had / failed to do was to institutionalize in Slovakia a system of education which would provide the specialized skills and training requisite for the broad range of cadres - bureaucratic, managerial, technical and professional - that are required to conduct a modem nation."72 The founding of the Slovak Academy of Arts and Sciences and the modernization of the publication facilities of the Matica slovenska gave additional impetus to scientific and literary work. For the period 19391944, literary output, for example, totaled 709 works of which 437 were for prose, 169 for poetry, and 103 for plays. 73 Access to such works was made possible by a chain of bookstores operated by the Matica across the country. The statistics at my disposal are too incomplete to enable me to give an accurate survey of achievements but also of problems and failures. Nevertheless the picture that comes out is a positive one showing that"in five of the six years of the existence of the Slovak Republic, the Slovaks moved far down the road of modernization, dispelling any doubts about their ability to handle their own affairs. There is no better testimony to this fact than the report Gustav Husak prepared in July 1944 on the eve of the revolt he would lead as a member of the two opposition groups to the Slovak Republic. It is worthwhile to quote at length from it: In Slovakia today, there is sufficient merchandise, the system of distribution generally works well, and in comparison to adjacent territories (the Czech lands, Hungary, Germany, Poland) the situation is best in Slovakia for the level of real salaries and their purchasing power. The salaries of employees and workers were raised many times, enterprises have all kinds of supply privileges and there cannot be any talk of a lack of basic commodities for consumers. The Slovak crown is the strongest currency in Central Europe , there is full confidence in it at home, SLOVAKIA 27 people continue to save . . . and inflationary tendencies are sooner the result of German pressure on the economy than of internal conditions . . . : Problems are created by German demands, as a result of w}Uch Germany owes Slovakia today 6 billion ks ..... Slovak industry, given the circumstances of this war, was greatly modernized and some 2 billion ks. were invested in equipment (within 2 years), which in Slovakia is a huge sum .... In general one can say that on the basis of the experience of six years, Slovakia is able to exist as an independent unit economically and financially, can hold out on its own, has even today the necessary forces (including technical ones) and conditions of production for international competition . . . . The Slovaks are an independent nation, they have the same rights and expectations as any other nation. Today Slovak is the exclusive language of administration, all the formal attributes of a nation are there, and for this reason anyone who would like to return to the old conception of a united Czechoslovak nation will meet with opposition . . . . It is to be regretted that / the creation of the Slovak Republic / took place in combination with the worst political regime; still nothing will change the fact that on the national level there is a certain self-consciousness ''that we can take care of our own affairs" in political and economic affairs, that we can have our own army, our own administration, that one's own language is not inferior to that of former dominating nations, that Slovakia was a partner with whom states (the USSR and others) had relations, and to some degree still have today, in short that the Slovak nation can be the subject and not only the object of politics and other / activities / ... In these last six years, the development of a national consciousness and the completion of this development on the formal level are the most remarkable achievements that will not disappear with the fall of the regime . . . . It is a fact that this state is independent and has as much independence as a small state can have especially in time of war. 74 THE REVOLT OF 1944 Husak 's 1944 report on the conditions in Slovakia is in stark contrast with the twenty-seven page, top secret report ''The Revolt in Slovakia' ' found in Foreign Office files outlining the consequences of the fighting . 75 Likewise, one is struck by the difference between the provisional Czechoslovak government London broadcasts, especially 28 SLOVAKIA throughout 1944, inciting the Slovaks to acts of sabotage and destruction of life and property, and the Slovak press and media, when shorn of their ideological jargon and Germanophile phraseology, encouraging the population to ignore this incitement to violence. There was, in fact, partisan activity taking place sporadically throughout 1944; and, by the end of August the Slovaks found themselves almost overnight plunged into an abyss of violence and death which meant the end of their independence. One has to ask what brought about this shift from a relatively calm and stable situation to organized hostilities which resulted in German occupation and the inclusion of Slovakia in the European war. Was it a "Slovak National Uprising," as Communist historiography claims?76 Was it "an uprising for Czechoslovakia," as Wolfgang Venohr has suggested?77 Or was it an "incredible conspiracy," as Frantisek Vnuk has contended?78 The events of 1944 have already found their place in many versions in Slovak historiography, and they need not be recounted here at length. 79 But in the context of this study, two questions must be asked: Why did the revolt take place? and what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people? The reasons that were given after the fact by the leaders of the revolt, both Communist and non-Communist, seem like romanticized self-justifications in the light of the situation in Slovakia and the activities the partisans launched and the results they achieved.80 This is not to suggest that these men did not believe they were doing what they later claimed they had done. There is indeed a tragic irony in the fact that this was the way which insured that the Slovak people in the about-tobe restored Czechoslovak Republic would not be under a military dictatorship as Benes wanted,81 nor subjected to a renewed assimilation as had been attempted in the first CSR.82 Even the leaders of the Slovak Republic were also not unaware of the political situation of the Slovaks and the horns of the dilemma on which they found themselves. This is well illustrated by the following report that found its way into the files 11 of the Foreign Office; it was written by Kuhl de Borososhat, Hungarian Minister in Bratislava, a year before the revolt: Slovak politicians have held a conference at Rezsahegt I sic I (Ruzomberok) under the leadership of Blahos / sic I . Af- ter negotiations which lasted several days the opinion crystallized .that the Slovak people must, under all conditions, remain independent. As, after an Anglosaxon victory, the opinion of the politicians of today will no longer apply, the political leaders of SLOVAKIA 29 Slovakia are entrusting the fate of their country to the hands of the American Slovaks. \ I asked the Minister of the Interior, Sano Mach, if the government adhered to the decision. He replied that the government had knowledge of it and would agree with it, but can neither adhere to it nor sanction it as this would imply that they had renounced belief in a German victozy - _a n open confession which Slovakia cannot and may not make. 83 The expectation of help from American Slovaks was, however, unrealistic; the resolution. of the Slovak dilemma lay in Europe. Thus, to answer the question why the revolt took place, one must go back to the three factors which had mortgaged the existence of the Republic of Slovakia. By 1944 they had come together in a way that made it impossible for the Slovak government to defend the integrity of the state and avoid the destruction that resulted. Germany was losing the war and progressively retreating from conquered territories, though not without resistance. German resistance was in fact dictated by strategic factors, and Slovakia played in this respect a major role on the Eastern front; for the Germans, Slovakia, with its mountains, barred the road to the Danubian plain for the Red Army, thus protecting the retreat of German armies from the Balkans; for the Soviet Union, the control of Slovakia meant access not only to the valley of the Danube, but also to Vienna and Prague. Also, the alliance with Germany, the second factor, had to be maintained in part because of the first factor but also because of the recognition of the Czechoslovak government in London by the Allies. To turn against Germany meant to be occupied by the Wehrmacht with no guarantee that help would be forthcoming in such a case either from the Soviet Union or the Western Allies. The Slovak government was, furthermore, anxious to avoid any Soviet involvement in Slovak affairs for the simple reason that Bolshevism ran against the Christian Slovak national traditions they upheld. Anti-German feeling had nevertheless begun to grow in Slovakia, and the government's pro-German policy was one of many arguments used to persuade Slovaks to go into opposition. 84 It was the activities of the Communist and non-Communist opposition groups, the third factor, which brought about the armed revolt in Central Slovakia that resulted in the German occupation of the country. The Germans then ordered the deportation of the majority of the Slovak Jews who had been spared the 1942 deportation, and there were sum- 30 SLOVAKIA mary executions on both sides as well as wanton destruction and violence. An additional tragic aspect to the entire episode is the fact that the revolt did not take place at a moment when it could benefit the Allied war effort and also scuttled the secret plans of the Slovak Army, prepared by the Minister of National Defense, General Ferdinand Catlos, and sent to Moscow, to help the Allied effort in Central Europe. Slovak army divisions would have been made available to partake in the sweep of the Red Army toward Budapest and Vienna.85 Catlos's plan, aside from its possible military usefulness, would have maintained the integrity of the Slovak Republic; this was unacceptable to the two opposition groups, the Communist Party of Slovakia and the Democratic Party, who in signing the Christmas Agreement of 1943 had agreed to work toward the restoration of Czechoslovakia. 86 The answer to the second question, namely what were the attitude and response of the Slovak people, is a little more complex. The revolt involved at first thousands of Slovaks, civilians and soldiers, because of the tremendous confusion that arose when it broke out. Apart from the German occupation, which had been the result of the shooting of a German military mission going through the Slovak town of Turciansky Sviity Martin, the most determining factor was the rumor that Tiso had been murdered by the Germans.87 But there were also Slovaks who had become disenchanted with the regime and joined the partisans for this reason. Husak indicated in his pre-revolt report that many Slovaks were ready to change the regime but to keep the state.88 The knowledge that the Allies had recognized Benes's Czechoslovak government - London broadcasts w~re frequently listened to89 - had helped to blur the line between regime and state to the point that in the proverbial sense , the baby was thrown out with the bath water. Except for those who had been working for the restoration of Czechoslovakia, it is not clear that many of those who joined the partisans realized that they were in a revolt not only against the regime, but also against the state. However, one must note that many Slovaks did not participate in the revolt and were even opposed to it because of their allegiance to the Slovak Republic. They realized that the revolt meant a return to the status quo antebellum . London broadcasts were making it perfectly clear that this was what awaited the Slovaks at the end of the war. But as Husak pointed out in a 1946 report, the Slovaks, both in government and in opposition, considered such a proposition to be ' 'rather ridiculous. " 90 The writer, Tido J. Gaspar, Head of the Propaganda Office of SLOVAKIA 31 the Slovak government, expressed his opposition to the revolt as follows: It wasn't fear of the future, but fear of a renewed past. A return to the disgusting " Benesiada. " We were afraid of it. Benes was threatening us with revenge and promised to renew everything which had previously oppressed us Slovaks .. .. He did not recognize for us any n~tional rights . In fact he did not even recognize us as a nation. We were afraid of that. For this reason we did not see the Uprising as a liberation from the path of fascism , but rather as an unenticing overture to a new process of enslavement. 91 The revolt was basically put down within three months by German forces. 92 But Slovakia could not return to the normalcy of the pre-revolt years. The country was occupied. And even though the Slovak government continued to carry on with its policies both during and after the revolt,93 the link between the governing and the governed was not the same anymore . The end of the war was near. And, as members of the Slovak government fled to Austria in April 1946, the Slovak National Council, created out of the wartime collaboration between the Communists and the Democrats , took power in Slovakia on behalf of the restored Czechoslovak Republic. THE LEGACY OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC In the aftermath of the Second World War, Slovakia found itself caught in a double maelstrom of postwar politics. Czechoslovakia was in the Soviet military sphere of interest; within three years the Czechs and Slovaks would become part of the Soviet bloc. Secondly, Slovakia was granted a form of autonomy in the new Czechoslovak Republic; by the time the constitution became law in May 1948, only the formal attributes of autonomy remained. Thus the atmosphere and the politics of the postwar and the Communist period were ripe to give the Slovak Republic an historical blow. Its high officials, from the President of the Republic to members of Parliament and Department heads, were tried, often in absentia, and in the majority of cases convicted on various counts of treason against the Czechoslovak Republic. President Tiso and Prime Minister Tuka were condemned to death and executed in April 1947. Others were sent to serve long prison terms . The vengeance of Czechoslovak officials that Gaspar had feared was given free rein. In this way, a chapter in Slovak 32 SLOVAKIA history was closed and in the Communist period deliberately relegated to oblivion, or at best selectively examined to condemn it better. The situation is only slightly different in the Western world. Former officials of the Slovak Republic who found exile in the West have made an effort to explain the why and wherefore of Slovakia's first modern state. Their works have found only a limited audience, due in part to the vigilence of pro-Czechoslovak groups, both Czech and Slovak, who refuse to recognize that something positive might be said about the wartime period in Slovakia, especially about the Slovak Republic. No Western learned society, such as the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, held a study session on this topic until 1979. It is, therefore, difficult to determine the legacy of the Slovak Republic. The idea of statehood that it represents has been accepted by most Slovak organizations in the West, such as the Slovak League of America and the Slovak World Congress; in their newspapers and periodicals, anniversaries and events are regularly mentioned and celebrated. Western scholarship has, unfortunately, not kept pace to give greater substance to the idea of statehood, for reasons I outlined at the beginning. Thus the pride hundreds of thousands of Slovaks have in this chapter of their history does not overflow into the world around them. More important, of course, is the legacy to the Slovaks in Slovakia. A perusal of Communist literature of the mid and late sixties suggests a tacit acceptance of the legacy of statehood; Slovak newpapers and periodicals often referred to the wartime period, especially as the drive to federalization became more pronounced. The publication of excerpts from Tido J . Gaspar's memoirs must also be seen as an important step in that direction . But the selective scholarship on the subject suggests that the Communist regime is still incapable of coming to terms with it. Time will undoubtedly cool passions, and curiosity will begin to take over. It is my belief that when Slovak archives become accessible to all scholars without restrictions, the record will show, as I have suggested in this article , that the Slovak Republic served the Slovaks well, especially in the social and cultural field, and that it played an extremely important role in the development of the national consciousness of the Slovak people. The federalization of Czechoslovakia, proposed at first in 1944 and made into law in 1968, could not have taken place if the Slovak Republic had been a dismal failure in the life of the Slovak people. But more research will have to be done, not only for scholarly reasons , but above all, to paraphrase the national motto of Slovakia's western neighbor, so that the truth might prevail. SLOVAKIA 33 NOTES . 1 Of fourteen general histories puqlished since 1941 taken at random, the creation of the Slovak Republic has been presen\ed as follows : (1) no mention at all - J .B. Duroselle , L'Europe de 1815 a nosjours (Paris , 1970); Walter P. Hall and William G. Davis , The Course of Europe Since Waterloo (New York, 1941) ; and George Lichtheim, Europe in the Tw entieth Century (New York, 1972); (2) serious errors of presentation and interpretation - Martin Gilbert, The European Powers 1900-1945 (New York, 1965), p . 220 ; Carleton J .H . Hayes , Contemporary Europe Since 1870 (New York, 1953) , p . 631; Walter C. Langsam, The World Since 1914 (New York , 1943), p. 517 ; J .M . Roberts, Europe 1880-1945 (New York, 1972), p. 516; D.C . Watt, "Diplomatic History" in The New Cambridge Modern History , Vol. XIl: The Shifting Balances of 'World Forces, 1898-1945, edited by C.L. Mowat (Cambridge , 1968), p . 725; (3) minor errors of presentation and interpretation - Rene Albrecht-Carrie, A Dilpomatic History of Europe Since the Congress of Vienna (New York, 1958), pp . 529-30 ; C.E . Black and E .C. Helmreich, Twentieth Century Europe (New York, 1959), p . 529 ; James Joli, Europe Since 1870: An Introductory H istory (London, 1973), pp. 373 and 441; (4) reasonably accurate - A.J . Grant and H. Temperley , Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (1789-1950) (London, 1952), p. 529; H . Stuart Hughes, Contemporary Europe: A History (Englewood Cliffs , 1966) , p . 318 ; and Elizabeth Wiskemann in Survey of International Affairs 1939-1946 - Hitler 's Europe , edited by Arnold Toynbee and Veronica M . Toynbee (London, 1954) , pp . 597-604 . 2 John Gellner and John Smerek, The Czechs and Slovaks in Canada (Toronto, 1968), p. viii. 3 Bohuslav Graca, 14. Maree 1939 (Bratislava, 1955) and lmrich Stanek , Zrada a pad, (Praha, 1958) . 4 See , for example, I.:ubomir Liptak, "Mad'arsko v politike Slovenskeho statu v rokoch 1939-1943," Historicky tasopis XI (1), 1967, pp . 1-35 ; --- , "Slovensky stat a protifasisticke hnutie v rokoch 1939-1943 ," Historicky tasopis XIV (2) , 1966, pp . 161-218; ---, "Priprava a priebeh salzburskych rokovani roku 1940 medzi predstavitefmi Nemecka a Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky fosopis XIII (3), 1965, pp. 329-65; --- , "Politicky rezim na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945" in Slovenske narodne povstanie roku 1944 (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 20-49 ; --- , Slovensko v 20, storoti (Bratislava, 1968), pp. 175265; Martin Vietor, " Prispevok k objasneniu fasistickeho charakteru tzv . Slovenskeho statu ," Historicky tasop is VIlI (4 ), 1960, pp , 483-508. 5 The two noticeable examples are : Samo Falt'an, Slovenskd otdka v Ceskoslovensku (Bratislava, 1968), pp . 92-103 and Ivan Kamenec, "Snem Slovenskej Republiky a jeho postoj k problemu zidovskeho obyvatefstva na Slovensku v rokoch 1939-1945," Historicky fosopis XVII (3) , 1969, pp , 329-62 , 6 There is a problem of availability ; the Library of Congress does not have the complete sets, nor does the British Library , 7 The late Ferdinand Durcansky once told me that he himself had destroyed documents because of the physical impossibility of taking them with him, especially to South America. 8 Many former Slovak politicians and officials have published vignettes of their activities in various Slovak publications in the West ; at present only two have published de- 34 SLOVAKIA tailed memoirs: Jozef Miku§, Pamliti slovenskeho diplomata (Middletown, 1978) and Karol Sidor, Sest'rokov pri Vatikane (Scranton, 1947), which also contains documents concerning Slovak foreign policy and diplomacy. The diary of Stefan Tiso, Prime Minister from September 1944 to April 1946, is presently at Stanford University, Hoover Institution on War and Peace ; access to it is however restricted. Excerpts from the diary were published by Yeshayahu Jelinek, " Dennfk Dr . Stefana Tisu," Historickj tasopis XVIIl (2), 1970, pp. 270-87. 9 Such an example is Owen Verne Johnson, Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 1918-1938: Education and Its Impact , unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 1978. A recent exception is that of Dorothea El Mallakh, who succeeded in obtaining access to unpublished documents covering the years 1936 through October 1938 from the Ministry of the Interior archives in Prague. She had expected to fail in obtaining access to these documents when she visited Prague in January 1969. But as she writes: " Luck in timing and the helpfulness of individuals all coalesced to bring me almost 2600 frames of microfilms." Dorothea H. El Mallakh, The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939: A Study in Unrelenting Nationalism (Boulder, '1970) , p. xiv. 10 See Hans Dress, Slowakei und faschistische Neuordnung Eurpoas 1939-1941 (Berlin, 1972) . 11 John S. Conway, "The Churches, the Slovak State and the Jews 1939-1946," Slavonic Review Lil (126), 1974, p . 87. 12 In his autobiography, Lockhart makes it perfectly clear that he was devoted to Bene§ and that he had no qualms in working for him. See R.H. Bruce Lockhart, Comes the Reckoning (London, 1947), pp. 64ff. 13 In response to a request from the Central Department of the Foreign Office to comment on reports that Bruce Lockhart had put together from information he received from Czech and Slovak sources in London, Peter Pares foresaw from the very beginning the direction this information would go: " Many of the reports reaching London directly may come through the Slovak political emigrants who are nearly all Protestants and not only opposed to the present Slovak regime themselves but draw their information from Protestant sources in Slovakia which are also in bitter opposition.' ' FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-68-12. Public Record Office, London. 14 This problem is compounded by the fact that there are very few general studies on the Slovak Republic published in a Western language, and none is detailed and comprehensive in scope. See Milan S. :C>urica, "Slovakia During World War II - the Slovak Republic' ' in Joseph M. Kirschbaum, ed., Slovakia in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Toronto, 1973), pp. 161-94; Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Central Europe (New York, 1961) , pp . 111\76; Jozef Lettrich, History of Modem Slovakia (New York, 1966), pp. 123-91; Josepli A. Mikus, Slovakia - A Political History, 1918-1950 (Milwaukee , 1963), pp. 67-164; 'and Anthony X. Sutherland, Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modem Slovakia (Middletown, 1978), pp. 81-102. Additional titles, particularly of specialized topics in Western and Slovak languages, may be found in Yeshayahu Jelinek, " The Slovak State in Post-war Historiography (An Annotated Bibliography) ," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, pp. 17-24. 16 Johnson, p . 466. 16 FO 417-39 , Doc. 3973-19-18. SLOVAKIA 35 17 This is noted in a report by Pares to the Foreign Office. FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-712. 18 Falt'an, pp . 106-06. \ 19 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, "Die Stellung der Slowakischen Volkspartei zur Aussenpolitik Prags'' in Karl Bos!, ed., Gleichgewicht - Revision - Restauration. Die Aussenpolitik der Ersten Tschechoslowakischen Republik im Europasystem der Pariser Vorortsvertrtige (Muenchen, 1976), pp. 316-66. 20 House of Commons, Parliamentary Debates, 339 H.C. Deb. 6 s., pp. 366-6. 21 See especially FrantiAek Vnuk, "Slovakia's Six Eventful Months (October 1938 March 1939), " Slovak Studies IV, 1968, pp . 7-164; Joseph Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 98-146; Mikus , pp . 67-91 ; El Mallakh, pp. 113-44. A somewhat different version is found in Joerg K. Hoensch, Die Slowakei undHitlers Ostpolitik (Koeln, 1966). 22 The Slovak struggle for autonomy in the First Czechoslovak Republic was a variation on the theme of national self-determination which was ultimately denied the Slovaks by the ideology of ''Czechoslovakism'' of the Prague government. Independence, if it could be achieved, was not only the logical outcome, but in the light of the "Czechoslovak" ideology of Prague, the only way for the Slovak nation to assert itself. Other solutions were not excluded so long as the Slovaks were recognized as a nation independent of the Czechs ; a Central European federation is often mentioned in this context. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia, pp. 223-30 . 23 Though the Hlinka Party had become the Party of Slovak National Unity on October 6, 1938, the literature still refers to it as the Hlinka Party . I will conform to this usage. 24 Liptak, "Politicky rezim ... , " p . 24. See Also Joseph M. Kirschbaum, pp. 169-73. 26 Liptak, Slovensko, p . 210. 26 Conway, p. 96. 27 Liptak, " Politicky rezim ... ," p. 26 . 28 FO 417-40 , Doc. C10876-7-12 . 29 FO 371-22900, Doc . C18636-7-12 . 30 See note 13 . 31 Falt'an, p . 114 and Liptak, " Politicky rezim . .. , "p. 36. 32 See Stanislav J . Kirschbaum, ''Federalism in Slovak Communist Politics,' ' Canadian Slavonic Papers XIX (4) , 1977, pp . 446-9. 33 FO 371-24290, Doc . C612-68-12 . 34 The British Government recognized Benes 's national committee as the " Provisional Czechoslovak Government" on July 21 , 1940. Full de jure recognition was granted on July 18, 1941 , the same day the Soviet Union granted de facto and de jure recognition. The United States followed suit on July 31 , 1941 . 36 In a report on conditions in Slovakia written in January 1939, George Kennan expressed the following opinion, which was widely held at that time: "Its (Slovakia's) native leaders are so sadly lacking in experience, in imagination, in breadth of view, and in depth of purpose that they cannot hope to maneuver successfully for very long SLOVAKIA 36 amid the powerful national and ideological currents which are playing all around them in Central Europe. " George P. Kennan, From Prague After Munich: Diplomatic Papers 1938-1940 (Princeton, 1968), p. 27. 36 This is best illustrated by the fact that not only in the literature but also during the war, Slovakia was referred to as a " fascist state, " not in a descriptive but in a normative sense. 37 FO 371-24290, Doc. C612-58-12. 38 Joseph M . Kirschbaum , p . 163. 39 Ibid. , p. 159. 40 Ibid. , p . 168; Mikus, p. 94 ; Jan F . Gleiman, "Duch ustavy SR" in Mikulas Sprinc, ed., Slouenska Republika 1939-1949 (Scranton, 1949), p. 120. 41 FO 417-40, Doc. Cl0876-7-12. 42 The most comprehensive analysis of the program is found in Stefan Polakovit, Tisoua nauka (Bratislava, 1941). An English outline appears in Joseph M . Kirschbaum, Slouakia, pp. 170-3; a critical approach was taken by Yeshayahu Jelinek in The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slouak People's Party 1939-1945 (Boulder, 1976) . 43 Of the 63 deputies elected, 48 were from the Hlinka Party; 12 represented the Agrarian Party, the Slovak National Party, the Artisan Party, and the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party. See above, Kirschbaum, p . 169. 44 Kamenec, passim . 46 The Fuehrer principle was introduced in Slovak political life on October 22, 1942. It enabled President Tiso to consolidate his power and that of the Hlinka Party against Tuka and Mach and the Hlinka Guard. 46 According to Liptak, the Hlinka Guard represented the lumpenproletariat and the radical small bourgeoisie. Liptak, "Politicky reiim ... , "p. 26. 47 Some authors refer to a tradition of anti-Semitism as well as the activities of Slovak Jews in Slovak life to explain the early anti-Jewish policies. Mikus, pp. 96-6.; Sutherland, pp. 88-9. See also Kennan, pp. 22-3. 48 Conway, passim. 49 Kamenec, p . 363. 60 This is made quite clear by one of the leaders of the 1944 revolt. See Lettrich, passim . 61 Liptak, Slouensko , pp. 177-180. For a description of Slovak foreign policy, see Mikus, pp. 116-138. 62 Milan S. Ourica, La Slouaccia e le sue relazioni politiche con la Germania, 1938-1945 , (Padova, 1964), Vol. I, p . 107. 53 Mikus, pp. 135-6 and Ourica, p . 107. 64 The situation and events leading to the Salzburg' meeting Jlre described at length in Liptak, "Priprava a priebeh . . . . " 66 As to th~ question whether Slovakia declared war on the U.K. and the United States, there is also no documentary evidence that this did take place according to postwar re- SLOVAKIA 37 search into the matter by State Ikpartment officials . The suggestion that Slovakia did declare war is based on a New York Times report of December 13, 1941 of a German broadcast from Bratislava that stated that Slovakia had declared war. See Joseph M. Kirschbaum, Slovakia , pp. 318-21. 66 Gustav Husak , " O vyvoji a situacii na Slovensku," Svedectvi XV (68) , 1979, p . 377. 67 Ibid. 68 FO 371-22896, Doc. C1872-7-12. 69 FO 417-39, Doc. C5201-7-12 . 60 Husak, p. 369. 61 FO 371-34337, Doc. C9206-372-12 . In his pre-revolt report, Husak indicates that some 60,000 Slovaks also worked in Germany. Husak, p. 373. 62 Liptak, Slovensko , p. 194. 63 I.:ubomir Liptak, Ovlddnutie slovenskeho priemyslu nemeckym kapitdlom (Bratislava, 1960), p . 66. 64 Liptak, Slovensko, pp. 201-2. 65 Falt'an, pp. 108-9. See also FO 371-39121 , Doc. C877-877-18. 66 Sutherland, p. 87 . 67 FO 371-34446, Doc. C1066-160-18. 68 FO 371-34446, Doc . C6626-160-18. 69 Dress , p. 119. 70 Ibid ., p. 117. 71 It is interesting that the Slovaks met with no opposition from the Germans. As Conway writes: ''It should be noted that the abolition of religious instruction and the removal of crucifixes from the schools were two notable features of the Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church." Conway, p . 89 , note 11. 72 Owen V. Johnson, "The Slovak Intelligentsia, 1918-1938," Slovakia XXVIII (61-62) , 1978-79, p . 42 . 73 Frantisek Vnuk, Sedemnast' neurodnych rokov (Middletown, 1965), p. 12. 74 Husak, pp. 376-77. 76 FO 371-38942, Doc. C13551-1343-12 . 76 Husak's memoirs are entitled: " Testimony on the Slovak National Uprising." See Gustav Husak , Svedectvo o slovenskom narodnom povstani (Bratislava, 1964). A revised and amended version was published in 1969. 77 Wolfgang Venohr, Au/stand fuer die Tschechoslowakei (Hamburg, 1969). 78 Frantisek Vnuk, Neuveritefne sprisahanie (Middletown, 1964). 79 The most complete account in a Western language is by Venohr. 80 ' 'The political motive for an uprising was the desire to liberate Slovakia by its own efforts as soon as possible, to throw out the Germans , to destroy the dictatorship of the SLOVAKIA 38 Slovak People's Party, reintroduce Czechoslovak democratic institutions, spare Slovakia the suffering of the war and assure its just place in a free Czechoslovakia.'' Lettrich, p. 200. 81 A. Benl!ik and J. Pivovarl!i, " Problemes militaires de llnsurrection nationale slovaque," Studia historica slovaca IV, 1966, p. 166. 82 Upon the restoration of Czechoslovakia, the Czechoslovak National Socialist Party (Bene§'s party) prepared a document for the party faithful outlining how the Czechoslovak Government should go about successfully assimilating the Slovaks. It was published for the first time in 1968. See Pravda (Bratislava), March 29, 1968. 83 FO 371-34337, Doc. 9786-372-12. 84 According to Husak, some other arguments were "the class content of this state, its undemocratic fascist regime, its vassal link to Nazi Germany and its policies against the people." Husak, Svedectvo, p . 129. 85 There is a full German translation of Catlo§'s plan in Venohr, pp. 119-21. 86 See Stanislav J. Kirschbaum, "Federalism .. . ," pp. 446-49. 87 M. Kuhar, a former communications officer in the Slovak Army, explained to me recently in an interview in Toronto, Canada, that his unit had been mobilized when the rumor of Tiso's death had reached it with the understanding that the Slovak Army would engage the Germans to defend Slovak independence. When the rumor proved to be untrue, his unit returned to its barracks . 88 Husak, "O vyvoji ... ," p. 377. 89 In 1942, at a ceremony for a new extension of the electrical network, President Tiso remarked: "You see, how, with more electricity we are giving you an opportunity to hear London and Moscow. In Russia they do not have such an opportunity, because there they give them a record player and thus they can hear only Moscow. The Slovak Republic is not afraid to hear foreign stations, because we know the truth and we are not afraid of the lies that London broadcasts.•• Slovak, May 19, 1942, quoted in Milan Stanislav l'>urica, "Slovensko za druhej svetovej vojny - Slovenska Republika" in Jozef M. Rydlo, ed., Slovensko v retrospektive dej£n (Lausanne, 1976), p. 143, note 127. 90 Vilem Prel!an, Slovenske ntirodne povstanie (Bratislava, 1965), document 576, p. 950. 91 Tido J. Ga§par, "Z pamiiti, " Slovenske pohfady LXXXIV (12), 1968, p. 79. 92 At a meeting of the Chiefs of Staff in London on November 15, 1944, it was acknowledged that the revolt had collapsed. FO 371-38944, Doc. C15945-1343-12. \ 93 Liptak, "Politicky re!im . . . , " p. 48.  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 Republic and the Slovaks Description An account of the resource Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 11-38 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kirschbaum, Stanislav J., 1942- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/0b6c68ad0818ec5fc3a9c1430d5a48e6.pdf fbaea4ee445f3de9f46cda610c0c5e13 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 39 Rusyns a'\d the Slovak State· PAULR. MAGOCSI The status of Rusyns living within the boundaries of the Slovak state between the years 1939 and 1944 was greatly influenced by developments during the interwar period and most especially during the period of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic in late 1938 and early 1939. The Rusyns, or as they are known today, Ukrainians, who inhabit the so-called Presov Region of present-day northeastern Slovakia, 1 had lived for centuries in harmony with neighboring Slovaks. Both groups were ruled by Hungary and both groups were characterized by general economic and social backwardness. 2 This situation changed after 1918 when Rusyns and Slovaks found themselves within the first Czechoslovak Republic. Both groups now had the opportunity to function as a political as well as cultural force whose demands had to be taken into consideration by the Czechoslovak state. This, however, led to friction between these otherwise friendly Slavic groups. Already toward the end of World War I Rusyn immigrants in the United States began to talk about autonomy, or even statehood, which they hoped to obtain for their Carpatho-Rusyn homeland at the close of the war. These leaders spoke of uniting all Rusyn-inhabited areas, including the northern portions of the old Hungarian counties of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin. This demand was opposed, however, by Slovak leaders who felt that all three of these counties should belong to Slovakia. 3 When the Rusyn province of Subcarpathian Rus' (Podkarpatska Rus) was established in 1919, its western border with Slovakia (along the Uz River) was initially only a provisional one, and Rusyn politicians both in Subcarpathian Rus' as well as in the Presov Region called upon the Prague administration to unite all Rusyn-inhabited areas into one autonomous province. But Slovaks adamantly opposed any proposed cession of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin counties. Finally in 1929, the • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. �40 SLOVAKIA boundary of Subcarpathian Rus' was moved slightly westward, still leaving more than 90,000 Rusyns as a minority within the province of Slovakia.4 Rusyn leaders in Subcarpathian Rus' continued to lay claim to what became their Presov Region irredenta, but it was not until late 1938 that a new drive toward Rusyn unification was undertaken in earnest. After the Munich Crisis and the establishment of a federalized Czecho-Slovakia in October 1938, Presov Region Rusyn parliamentary deputies Ivan P 'escak and Petr Zidovskij supported the demands of the Rusyn National Committee in Presov (est. 1937) , which called for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rus'. These efforts lasted barely a month, however, because in November, after a Ukrainophile government led by Avhustyn Volosyn came to power in Subcarpathian Rl,ls', Presov Region Rusyns, who were traditionally Russophile in national orientation, wanted nothing to do with the Carpatho-Ukrainian government farther east. Instead, the Rusyn National Committee in Presov supported elections to the Slovak Provincial Diet (to which two Rusyns were chosen) in December.5 Within a few months the question of unity with Subcarpathian Rus' became a moot issue. On March 15, 1939, Hitler decided to liquidate what remained of Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia and Moravia were incorporated into the Third Reich; Slovakia (without its southern region annexed by Hungary in November, 1938) was allowed to become an independent but German-oriented state; and Subcarpathian Rus' was taken by Hungary. In late March, the anxious Hungarians sliced off a piece of land in eastern Slovakia leaving 36 Rusyn villages (20,000 people from the Presov Region) under Hungary for the duration of the war. As a result of these political changes, most Presov Region Rusyns were now under the control of a state governed by Slovaks in Bratislava. The Slovaks had struggled for more than two decades to gain greater autonomy from the Czech-dominated centralized Prague government. Now they finally had their own state, even if its existence depended on the good will of Hitler's German~. The new government in Bratislava was dominated by patriots whose goal was to Slovakize all aspects of the country. The Rusyns of the Presov Region were especially a target for discrimination, because just after the Munich Crisis they expressed a desire to unite with Subcarpathian Rus ' . Consequently, the Greek Catholic Church and especially its Bishop, Pavel Gojdic, were accused of disloyalty and pro-Hungarian feelings . For instance, in 1939 the President of Slovakia, Dr. Jozef Tiso, and in 1940 the Minister of Propaganda, Sano Mach, visited Presov and on two �SLOVAKIA 41 separate occasions sligh_ted the Bishop in public and questioned his loyalty.6 Also in 1940, Apdrej Dudas was appointed to head the administrative district (Saris:.Zemplin iupa) for all of eastern Slovakia, a post he was to hold for the remainder of the war. Dudas was convinced that the idea of a Rusyn nationality was created by the Hungarians, and in 1943 he wrote a book on the subject and concluded that the "socalled Rusyn people (rusinsky l 'ud) in the Carpathian Basin are by origin and character Slovak. "7 It was in such an atmosphere that Presov Region Rusyns now found themselves. In early 1939, the Rusyn National Committee and Carpatho-Rusyn National Council were banned, the newspaper Prja~evskaja Rus' (Presov, 1938-39) was closed, and the activity of the local Rusyn cultural Duchnovyc Society was restricted. Rusyns were allowed one more deputy, Mychal Bon'ko, who was appointed to the Slovak Diet in 1941, but like his elected predecessors (Simko and Hornjak), he was expected to support the government's policy.8 Only the Greek Catholic Church led by Bishop Gojdic could effectively defend Rusyn national interests. As a result of Gojdic' s efforts, the Slovak government passed a decree in 1940 making all Rusyn elementary schools the responsibility of the Greek Catholic Church. This allowed for the maintenance of Rusyn teaching, and for that purpose four new textbooks were published. Other cultural activity was limited. The Slovaks wanted to remove Presov as the cultural center for Rusyns, and in that regard tried, though unsuccessfully, to have Bishop Gojdic' s residence transferred from Presov northward to Medzilaborce. One newspaper was permitted, Novoe vremja (Medzilaborce, 1940-44), which like the Greek Catholic school system used the so-called ''traditional Carpatho-Rusyn language" (i.e., Russian with local dialectisms) and propagated a Russophile national orientation.9 Presov Region authors were generally isolated from each other during the war years, although some cultural activity took place among Rusyn university students in Bratislava through their student club, the Dobrianskij Society (Obscestvo Dobrianskogo) and publications: Studenfeskij iurnal (Bratislava, 194041) and Jar' (Bratislava, 1942-43).10 The economic situation of the mass of Rusyn peasantry did not change from what it was during the interwar years, even though a few thousand went to Germany to work and some who remained home were able to take advantage of the aryanization laws (September, 1941) and receive proprietorship over former Jewish land and shops. Moreover, Slovakia suffered little destruction until the last months of the war, and �42 SLOVAKIA some improvements, especially in roads and communications, took place. It is beyond the scope of this presentation to discuss the partisan movement in any detail. Suffice it to say that the first partisan unit in the Presov Region was organized already in 1943, and an underground movement, the Carpatho-Russian Autonomous Union for National Liberation (Karpatorusskij Avtonomnyj Sojuz Nacionafnogo Osvobozdenija - KRASNO), was formed in 1944. The latter maintained contacts both with the Slovak underground movement and with the Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Soviet Union. KRASNO was dedicated to the principle of a liberated Chzechoslovakia, and it welcomed the October, 1944 declaration of the underground Slovak National Council that the ''new republic must be ... a fraternal republic of three equal nations - Czechs, Slovaks, and Carpatho-Rusyns. "11 In summary, the close and often supportive relations that existed for centuries between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns were replaced in the twentieth century by friction often caused by the opposed political and cultural goals of the two groups. Neither the First nor Second Czechoslovak Republic, nor the Slovak state contributed in any way to a lessening of political friction between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns, a situation, I might add, which has only worsened since World War II.12 NOTES 1 Rusyns living south of the Carpathian Mountains (i.e. , in the present-day Transcarpathian Oblast' of the Ukrainian SSR as well as the Pre§ov Region) have been known by various names , such as Carpatho-Ruthenian, Carpatho-Russian, and CarpathoUkrainian. It was not until the twentieth century that the name Ukrainian came to be accepted by certain segments of the population; and with regard specifically to the inhabitants of the Pre§ov Region, this did not occur until as late as the 1960s. The historic name of the group has always been Rusyn (o~ Rusnak in the Pre§ov Region), and this is the term that will be used here. The Pre§ov Region takes its name from the city of Pre§ov, the traditional religious and cultural center of the group, which is, however, located outside of Rusyn ethnographic territory. For a discussion of nomenclature, see Paul R. Magocsi, The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus', 1848-1948 (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 277-281. 2 For a survey of socioeconomic and cultural developments in the nineteenth century among Rusyns, see Magocsi, ibid, pp. 9-76 ; I. G. Kolomiets, Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskie otnosheniia i obshchestvennoe dvizhenie v Zakarpat'e vo vtoroi polovine XIX, 2 vols. (Tomsk: lzd. Tomskogo universiteta, 1961-62) ; and Ivan Zeguc, Die national- �SLOVAKIA 43 politischem Bestrebungen der Karpato-Ruthenen 1848-1914 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1965). On the Slovaks, see R. W .~Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (London, 1908); and Franti§ek Bokes, Dejiny Slovdkov a Slovenska od najstarJfch i!ias al po oslobodenie; Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. IV (Bratislava, 1946), esp. pp. 130-339. On Slovak-Rusyn relations before 1918, see Mykhailo Mofnar, Slovaky i Ukraintsi (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1966); and Helen Rudlovi!akova, " K otazkam vzajomnych kultumych stykov Slovakov a zakarpatskych Ukrajincov v polovici minuleho storocia,'' Sbomtk Sevi!enskovskj Filozoficky fakulty Univ. P. J. Safdrika, V (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 149-166. 3 For further details on the immediate post-World War I developments, see Magocsi, Shaping of a National Identity , pp. 76-102 ; and Marian Mark Stolarik, " The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918, " Slovakia, VIIl (Cleveland and Rome, 1968), pp. 7-82 . 4 For details on the problem of the Slovak-Rusyn border during the interwar period, see the comprehensive recent monograph by Ivan Vanat, Narysy novitn 'oi istorii ukrain· tsiv Skhidnoi Slovachchyny , Vol. I: 1918-1988 (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1979), pp. 103135 and 272-287. 5 There is controversy over the extent to which Rusyn leaders in the Pre§ov Region supported the call for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rue'. Ukrainian writers in Pre§ov today, in an attempt to show that Rusyns in 1938 were in opposition to Slovak political activity at the same time that they were anxious to express solidarity with their " Carpatho-Ukrainian" brethren just to the east, argue that contemporary Slovak police reports revealed that support for unity with Subcarpathian Rue ' was widespread. Cf. Stefan Pazur, ''O vyvoji narodnostnych pomerov na vychodnom Slovensku v jesennych mesiacoch roku 1938," Nove obzory, X (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 13-25. Indeed, this is true for the month of October and very early November. But I have read these same police reports (in the Statny Slovensky Ostredny Archiv - SSOA - in Bratislava), and they indicate by November a clear change in Pre§ov Region Rusyn public opinion against the idea of unity, because the "Ukrainian orientation is alien and in the end they (Pre§ov Region Rusyns) reject any kind of revision of borders in favor of Carpatho-Ukraine. " Prezidium Policajneho riaditel'stva v Pre§ove, January 11 , 1939 (SSOA , Fond Prezidium Krajinskeho uradu, carton 297, folder 310-1938). See · also carton 298, folder 62212-38. 6 These incidents are based on an unnamed eyewitness report and are given in Atanasii V. Pekar, Narysy istorii tserkvy Zakarpattia , Analecta OSBM, Series II, Sectio I (Rome , 1967) , pp. 144-146; and Julius Kubinyi, The History of PrjaJiv Eparchy, Editiones Universitatis Catholicae Ucrainorum S. Clementia Papae, Vol. XXXII (Rome, 1970) , pp . 161-163. 7 Andrej DudltA,Rustnskaotdzkaajej uzadie (Buenos Aires: Zahranii!na Matica slovenska, 1971) , p. 25. The Slovak denial of the existence of Rusyns in the Pre§ov Region was widespread already during the interwar period: ''These people (in northern Sari§ and Zemplin counties) are our Slovaks, who only because of the Greek Catholic faith inadvertently call themselves Rusnaks or of the Rusnak faith . But teachenJ infect them by saying that they are also of Rusyn nationality. This is ridiculous, but it is happening .... There are no Rusyns up there, nor Rusnaks, only Slovaks of the Greek Catholic faith. " Slovenska politika (Bratislava), September 2, 1928 - cited in Ivan Baji!ura, Ukrajinskaotdzka v CSSR (Ko§ice : Vychodoslovenske vyd. , 1967) , p. 44. The politically and emotionally charged questions of whether all Greek Catholics in eastern Slovakia are Rusyns or whether all or most are Slovaks has acquired an exten- �44 SLOVAKIA sive polemical and scholarly literature. Among the better works which present opposing views are: Volodymyr Hnatiuk, " Rusyny Priashivs'koi eparkhii i ikh hovory," Zapysky Nau.kouoho Touarystua im. Sheuchenka, XXXV (L'viv, 1900), pp. 1-25; and Ondrej R. Halaga, Slouanske osfdlenie potisia a uychodoslouenski greckokatolici (Ko§ice , 1947) . 8 For details on the policy of the Slovak autonomous government and later the Slovak state vis-a-vis the Pre§ov Region Rusyns, see Andrii Kovach, " Stanovyshche zakarpatis'kykh ukraintsiv (rusyniv) i zanepad pershoi ChSR," Nau.kouyi zbirnyk , VI, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Bratislava, and Pre§ov, 1972), esp. pp. 23-30 ; and his " Natsional'na polityka Slovats'koi Respubliky po vidnoshenniu do rusyniv-ukraintsiv (1939-1945 r.r.)," in Zhouten ' i ukrains'ka kul'tura (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 132-143 . 9 Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century and continuing down to as recently as the early 1950s, most members of the Pre§ov Region Rusyn intelligentsia considered themselves part of one Russian nationality which lived from the Carpathian Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. 10 On cultural developments during the war years, see Andrii Kovach, ''Ukraintsi Priashivshchyny i deiaki pytannia kul 'turnoi polityky Slovats'koi Respubliky," Naukouyi zbirnyk, IV, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1969), pp . 401-412; and his " Ukraintsi Skhidnoi Slovachchyny naperedodni slovats'koho narodnoho povstannia, " Z mynuloho i suchasnoho ukraintsiu Chekhoslouachchyny, Pedahohichnyi zbirnyk, No. 3 (Bratislava, 1973), pp . 196-215. 11 Cited in Edo Fri§ , My§lienka a tin: uuahy o Ceskoslouensku 1938-1948 (Bratislava, 1968) , p. 104. For details on the Rusyn underground and partisan movement, see the studies by Stepan Pazhur, Vasyl' Horkovych, Andrii Kovach, as well as several eyewitness recollections from the period contained in Shliakh do uoli , in Naukouyi zbirnyk , II (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1966) . 12 For a discussion of Slovak-Rusyn relations between 1945 and the mid-1960s, see Baj<'!ura , Ukrajinska. ota.zka u CSSR; on the worsening of those relations after the Dubrek era in 1968-69, see Pavel Maro, " National Assimilation: The Case of the RusynUkrainians of Czechoslovakia," East Central Europe, II, 2 (Pittsburgh, 1975), pp . 101132. � SLOVAKIA 39 Rusyns a'\d the Slovak State· PAULR. MAGOCSI The status of Rusyns living within the boundaries of the Slovak state between the years 1939 and 1944 was greatly influenced by developments during the interwar period and most especially during the period of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic in late 1938 and early 1939. The Rusyns, or as they are known today, Ukrainians, who inhabit the so-called Presov Region of present-day northeastern Slovakia, 1 had lived for centuries in harmony with neighboring Slovaks. Both groups were ruled by Hungary and both groups were characterized by general economic and social backwardness. 2 This situation changed after 1918 when Rusyns and Slovaks found themselves within the first Czechoslovak Republic. Both groups now had the opportunity to function as a political as well as cultural force whose demands had to be taken into consideration by the Czechoslovak state. This, however, led to friction between these otherwise friendly Slavic groups. Already toward the end of World War I Rusyn immigrants in the United States began to talk about autonomy, or even statehood, which they hoped to obtain for their Carpatho-Rusyn homeland at the close of the war. These leaders spoke of uniting all Rusyn-inhabited areas, including the northern portions of the old Hungarian counties of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin. This demand was opposed, however, by Slovak leaders who felt that all three of these counties should belong to Slovakia. 3 When the Rusyn province of Subcarpathian Rus' (Podkarpatska Rus) was established in 1919, its western border with Slovakia (along the Uz River) was initially only a provisional one, and Rusyn politicians both in Subcarpathian Rus' as well as in the Presov Region called upon the Prague administration to unite all Rusyn-inhabited areas into one autonomous province. But Slovaks adamantly opposed any proposed cession of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin counties. Finally in 1929, the • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. �40 SLOVAKIA boundary of Subcarpathian Rus' was moved slightly westward, still leaving more than 90,000 Rusyns as a minority within the province of Slovakia.4 Rusyn leaders in Subcarpathian Rus' continued to lay claim to what became their Presov Region irredenta, but it was not until late 1938 that a new drive toward Rusyn unification was undertaken in earnest. After the Munich Crisis and the establishment of a federalized Czecho-Slovakia in October 1938, Presov Region Rusyn parliamentary deputies Ivan P 'escak and Petr Zidovskij supported the demands of the Rusyn National Committee in Presov (est. 1937) , which called for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rus'. These efforts lasted barely a month, however, because in November, after a Ukrainophile government led by Avhustyn Volosyn came to power in Subcarpathian Rl,ls', Presov Region Rusyns, who were traditionally Russophile in national orientation, wanted nothing to do with the Carpatho-Ukrainian government farther east. Instead, the Rusyn National Committee in Presov supported elections to the Slovak Provincial Diet (to which two Rusyns were chosen) in December.5 Within a few months the question of unity with Subcarpathian Rus' became a moot issue. On March 15, 1939, Hitler decided to liquidate what remained of Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia and Moravia were incorporated into the Third Reich; Slovakia (without its southern region annexed by Hungary in November, 1938) was allowed to become an independent but German-oriented state; and Subcarpathian Rus' was taken by Hungary. In late March, the anxious Hungarians sliced off a piece of land in eastern Slovakia leaving 36 Rusyn villages (20,000 people from the Presov Region) under Hungary for the duration of the war. As a result of these political changes, most Presov Region Rusyns were now under the control of a state governed by Slovaks in Bratislava. The Slovaks had struggled for more than two decades to gain greater autonomy from the Czech-dominated centralized Prague government. Now they finally had their own state, even if its existence depended on the good will of Hitler's German~. The new government in Bratislava was dominated by patriots whose goal was to Slovakize all aspects of the country. The Rusyns of the Presov Region were especially a target for discrimination, because just after the Munich Crisis they expressed a desire to unite with Subcarpathian Rus ' . Consequently, the Greek Catholic Church and especially its Bishop, Pavel Gojdic, were accused of disloyalty and pro-Hungarian feelings . For instance, in 1939 the President of Slovakia, Dr. Jozef Tiso, and in 1940 the Minister of Propaganda, Sano Mach, visited Presov and on two �SLOVAKIA 41 separate occasions sligh_ted the Bishop in public and questioned his loyalty.6 Also in 1940, Apdrej Dudas was appointed to head the administrative district (Saris:.Zemplin iupa) for all of eastern Slovakia, a post he was to hold for the remainder of the war. Dudas was convinced that the idea of a Rusyn nationality was created by the Hungarians, and in 1943 he wrote a book on the subject and concluded that the "socalled Rusyn people (rusinsky l 'ud) in the Carpathian Basin are by origin and character Slovak. "7 It was in such an atmosphere that Presov Region Rusyns now found themselves. In early 1939, the Rusyn National Committee and Carpatho-Rusyn National Council were banned, the newspaper Prja~evskaja Rus' (Presov, 1938-39) was closed, and the activity of the local Rusyn cultural Duchnovyc Society was restricted. Rusyns were allowed one more deputy, Mychal Bon'ko, who was appointed to the Slovak Diet in 1941, but like his elected predecessors (Simko and Hornjak), he was expected to support the government's policy.8 Only the Greek Catholic Church led by Bishop Gojdic could effectively defend Rusyn national interests. As a result of Gojdic' s efforts, the Slovak government passed a decree in 1940 making all Rusyn elementary schools the responsibility of the Greek Catholic Church. This allowed for the maintenance of Rusyn teaching, and for that purpose four new textbooks were published. Other cultural activity was limited. The Slovaks wanted to remove Presov as the cultural center for Rusyns, and in that regard tried, though unsuccessfully, to have Bishop Gojdic' s residence transferred from Presov northward to Medzilaborce. One newspaper was permitted, Novoe vremja (Medzilaborce, 1940-44), which like the Greek Catholic school system used the so-called ''traditional Carpatho-Rusyn language" (i.e., Russian with local dialectisms) and propagated a Russophile national orientation.9 Presov Region authors were generally isolated from each other during the war years, although some cultural activity took place among Rusyn university students in Bratislava through their student club, the Dobrianskij Society (Obscestvo Dobrianskogo) and publications: Studenfeskij iurnal (Bratislava, 194041) and Jar' (Bratislava, 1942-43).10 The economic situation of the mass of Rusyn peasantry did not change from what it was during the interwar years, even though a few thousand went to Germany to work and some who remained home were able to take advantage of the aryanization laws (September, 1941) and receive proprietorship over former Jewish land and shops. Moreover, Slovakia suffered little destruction until the last months of the war, and �42 SLOVAKIA some improvements, especially in roads and communications, took place. It is beyond the scope of this presentation to discuss the partisan movement in any detail. Suffice it to say that the first partisan unit in the Presov Region was organized already in 1943, and an underground movement, the Carpatho-Russian Autonomous Union for National Liberation (Karpatorusskij Avtonomnyj Sojuz Nacionafnogo Osvobozdenija - KRASNO), was formed in 1944. The latter maintained contacts both with the Slovak underground movement and with the Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Soviet Union. KRASNO was dedicated to the principle of a liberated Chzechoslovakia, and it welcomed the October, 1944 declaration of the underground Slovak National Council that the ''new republic must be ... a fraternal republic of three equal nations - Czechs, Slovaks, and Carpatho-Rusyns. "11 In summary, the close and often supportive relations that existed for centuries between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns were replaced in the twentieth century by friction often caused by the opposed political and cultural goals of the two groups. Neither the First nor Second Czechoslovak Republic, nor the Slovak state contributed in any way to a lessening of political friction between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns, a situation, I might add, which has only worsened since World War II.12 NOTES 1 Rusyns living south of the Carpathian Mountains (i.e. , in the present-day Transcarpathian Oblast' of the Ukrainian SSR as well as the Pre§ov Region) have been known by various names , such as Carpatho-Ruthenian, Carpatho-Russian, and CarpathoUkrainian. It was not until the twentieth century that the name Ukrainian came to be accepted by certain segments of the population; and with regard specifically to the inhabitants of the Pre§ov Region, this did not occur until as late as the 1960s. The historic name of the group has always been Rusyn (o~ Rusnak in the Pre§ov Region), and this is the term that will be used here. The Pre§ov Region takes its name from the city of Pre§ov, the traditional religious and cultural center of the group, which is, however, located outside of Rusyn ethnographic territory. For a discussion of nomenclature, see Paul R. Magocsi, The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus', 1848-1948 (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 277-281. 2 For a survey of socioeconomic and cultural developments in the nineteenth century among Rusyns, see Magocsi, ibid, pp. 9-76 ; I. G. Kolomiets, Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskie otnosheniia i obshchestvennoe dvizhenie v Zakarpat'e vo vtoroi polovine XIX, 2 vols. (Tomsk: lzd. Tomskogo universiteta, 1961-62) ; and Ivan Zeguc, Die national- �SLOVAKIA 43 politischem Bestrebungen der Karpato-Ruthenen 1848-1914 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1965). On the Slovaks, see R. W .~Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (London, 1908); and Franti§ek Bokes, Dejiny Slovdkov a Slovenska od najstarJfch i!ias al po oslobodenie; Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. IV (Bratislava, 1946), esp. pp. 130-339. On Slovak-Rusyn relations before 1918, see Mykhailo Mofnar, Slovaky i Ukraintsi (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1966); and Helen Rudlovi!akova, " K otazkam vzajomnych kultumych stykov Slovakov a zakarpatskych Ukrajincov v polovici minuleho storocia,'' Sbomtk Sevi!enskovskj Filozoficky fakulty Univ. P. J. Safdrika, V (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 149-166. 3 For further details on the immediate post-World War I developments, see Magocsi, Shaping of a National Identity , pp. 76-102 ; and Marian Mark Stolarik, " The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918, " Slovakia, VIIl (Cleveland and Rome, 1968), pp. 7-82 . 4 For details on the problem of the Slovak-Rusyn border during the interwar period, see the comprehensive recent monograph by Ivan Vanat, Narysy novitn 'oi istorii ukrain· tsiv Skhidnoi Slovachchyny , Vol. I: 1918-1988 (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1979), pp. 103135 and 272-287. 5 There is controversy over the extent to which Rusyn leaders in the Pre§ov Region supported the call for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rue'. Ukrainian writers in Pre§ov today, in an attempt to show that Rusyns in 1938 were in opposition to Slovak political activity at the same time that they were anxious to express solidarity with their " Carpatho-Ukrainian" brethren just to the east, argue that contemporary Slovak police reports revealed that support for unity with Subcarpathian Rue ' was widespread. Cf. Stefan Pazur, ''O vyvoji narodnostnych pomerov na vychodnom Slovensku v jesennych mesiacoch roku 1938," Nove obzory, X (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 13-25. Indeed, this is true for the month of October and very early November. But I have read these same police reports (in the Statny Slovensky Ostredny Archiv - SSOA - in Bratislava), and they indicate by November a clear change in Pre§ov Region Rusyn public opinion against the idea of unity, because the "Ukrainian orientation is alien and in the end they (Pre§ov Region Rusyns) reject any kind of revision of borders in favor of Carpatho-Ukraine. " Prezidium Policajneho riaditel'stva v Pre§ove, January 11 , 1939 (SSOA , Fond Prezidium Krajinskeho uradu, carton 297, folder 310-1938). See · also carton 298, folder 62212-38. 6 These incidents are based on an unnamed eyewitness report and are given in Atanasii V. Pekar, Narysy istorii tserkvy Zakarpattia , Analecta OSBM, Series II, Sectio I (Rome , 1967) , pp. 144-146; and Julius Kubinyi, The History of PrjaJiv Eparchy, Editiones Universitatis Catholicae Ucrainorum S. Clementia Papae, Vol. XXXII (Rome, 1970) , pp . 161-163. 7 Andrej DudltA,Rustnskaotdzkaajej uzadie (Buenos Aires: Zahranii!na Matica slovenska, 1971) , p. 25. The Slovak denial of the existence of Rusyns in the Pre§ov Region was widespread already during the interwar period: ''These people (in northern Sari§ and Zemplin counties) are our Slovaks, who only because of the Greek Catholic faith inadvertently call themselves Rusnaks or of the Rusnak faith . But teachenJ infect them by saying that they are also of Rusyn nationality. This is ridiculous, but it is happening .... There are no Rusyns up there, nor Rusnaks, only Slovaks of the Greek Catholic faith. " Slovenska politika (Bratislava), September 2, 1928 - cited in Ivan Baji!ura, Ukrajinskaotdzka v CSSR (Ko§ice : Vychodoslovenske vyd. , 1967) , p. 44. The politically and emotionally charged questions of whether all Greek Catholics in eastern Slovakia are Rusyns or whether all or most are Slovaks has acquired an exten- �44 SLOVAKIA sive polemical and scholarly literature. Among the better works which present opposing views are: Volodymyr Hnatiuk, " Rusyny Priashivs'koi eparkhii i ikh hovory," Zapysky Nau.kouoho Touarystua im. Sheuchenka, XXXV (L'viv, 1900), pp. 1-25; and Ondrej R. Halaga, Slouanske osfdlenie potisia a uychodoslouenski greckokatolici (Ko§ice , 1947) . 8 For details on the policy of the Slovak autonomous government and later the Slovak state vis-a-vis the Pre§ov Region Rusyns, see Andrii Kovach, " Stanovyshche zakarpatis'kykh ukraintsiv (rusyniv) i zanepad pershoi ChSR," Nau.kouyi zbirnyk , VI, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Bratislava, and Pre§ov, 1972), esp. pp. 23-30 ; and his " Natsional'na polityka Slovats'koi Respubliky po vidnoshenniu do rusyniv-ukraintsiv (1939-1945 r.r.)," in Zhouten ' i ukrains'ka kul'tura (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 132-143 . 9 Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century and continuing down to as recently as the early 1950s, most members of the Pre§ov Region Rusyn intelligentsia considered themselves part of one Russian nationality which lived from the Carpathian Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. 10 On cultural developments during the war years, see Andrii Kovach, ''Ukraintsi Priashivshchyny i deiaki pytannia kul 'turnoi polityky Slovats'koi Respubliky," Naukouyi zbirnyk, IV, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1969), pp . 401-412; and his " Ukraintsi Skhidnoi Slovachchyny naperedodni slovats'koho narodnoho povstannia, " Z mynuloho i suchasnoho ukraintsiu Chekhoslouachchyny, Pedahohichnyi zbirnyk, No. 3 (Bratislava, 1973), pp . 196-215. 11 Cited in Edo Fri§ , My§lienka a tin: uuahy o Ceskoslouensku 1938-1948 (Bratislava, 1968) , p. 104. For details on the Rusyn underground and partisan movement, see the studies by Stepan Pazhur, Vasyl' Horkovych, Andrii Kovach, as well as several eyewitness recollections from the period contained in Shliakh do uoli , in Naukouyi zbirnyk , II (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1966) . 12 For a discussion of Slovak-Rusyn relations between 1945 and the mid-1960s, see Baj<'!ura , Ukrajinska. ota.zka u CSSR; on the worsening of those relations after the Dubrek era in 1968-69, see Pavel Maro, " National Assimilation: The Case of the RusynUkrainians of Czechoslovakia," East Central Europe, II, 2 (Pittsburgh, 1975), pp . 101132. � 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 39 Rusyns a'\d the Slovak State· PAULR. MAGOCSI The status of Rusyns living within the boundaries of the Slovak state between the years 1939 and 1944 was greatly influenced by developments during the interwar period and most especially during the period of the Second Czecho-Slovak Republic in late 1938 and early 1939. The Rusyns, or as they are known today, Ukrainians, who inhabit the so-called Presov Region of present-day northeastern Slovakia, 1 had lived for centuries in harmony with neighboring Slovaks. Both groups were ruled by Hungary and both groups were characterized by general economic and social backwardness. 2 This situation changed after 1918 when Rusyns and Slovaks found themselves within the first Czechoslovak Republic. Both groups now had the opportunity to function as a political as well as cultural force whose demands had to be taken into consideration by the Czechoslovak state. This, however, led to friction between these otherwise friendly Slavic groups. Already toward the end of World War I Rusyn immigrants in the United States began to talk about autonomy, or even statehood, which they hoped to obtain for their Carpatho-Rusyn homeland at the close of the war. These leaders spoke of uniting all Rusyn-inhabited areas, including the northern portions of the old Hungarian counties of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin. This demand was opposed, however, by Slovak leaders who felt that all three of these counties should belong to Slovakia. 3 When the Rusyn province of Subcarpathian Rus' (Podkarpatska Rus) was established in 1919, its western border with Slovakia (along the Uz River) was initially only a provisional one, and Rusyn politicians both in Subcarpathian Rus' as well as in the Presov Region called upon the Prague administration to unite all Rusyn-inhabited areas into one autonomous province. But Slovaks adamantly opposed any proposed cession of Spis, Saris, and Zemplin counties. Finally in 1929, the • Paper presented as part of a panel on "14 March 1939 and the Slovak State," sponsored by the Slovak Studies Association in conjunction with the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. 40 SLOVAKIA boundary of Subcarpathian Rus' was moved slightly westward, still leaving more than 90,000 Rusyns as a minority within the province of Slovakia.4 Rusyn leaders in Subcarpathian Rus' continued to lay claim to what became their Presov Region irredenta, but it was not until late 1938 that a new drive toward Rusyn unification was undertaken in earnest. After the Munich Crisis and the establishment of a federalized Czecho-Slovakia in October 1938, Presov Region Rusyn parliamentary deputies Ivan P 'escak and Petr Zidovskij supported the demands of the Rusyn National Committee in Presov (est. 1937) , which called for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rus'. These efforts lasted barely a month, however, because in November, after a Ukrainophile government led by Avhustyn Volosyn came to power in Subcarpathian Rl,ls', Presov Region Rusyns, who were traditionally Russophile in national orientation, wanted nothing to do with the Carpatho-Ukrainian government farther east. Instead, the Rusyn National Committee in Presov supported elections to the Slovak Provincial Diet (to which two Rusyns were chosen) in December.5 Within a few months the question of unity with Subcarpathian Rus' became a moot issue. On March 15, 1939, Hitler decided to liquidate what remained of Czecho-Slovakia. Bohemia and Moravia were incorporated into the Third Reich; Slovakia (without its southern region annexed by Hungary in November, 1938) was allowed to become an independent but German-oriented state; and Subcarpathian Rus' was taken by Hungary. In late March, the anxious Hungarians sliced off a piece of land in eastern Slovakia leaving 36 Rusyn villages (20,000 people from the Presov Region) under Hungary for the duration of the war. As a result of these political changes, most Presov Region Rusyns were now under the control of a state governed by Slovaks in Bratislava. The Slovaks had struggled for more than two decades to gain greater autonomy from the Czech-dominated centralized Prague government. Now they finally had their own state, even if its existence depended on the good will of Hitler's German~. The new government in Bratislava was dominated by patriots whose goal was to Slovakize all aspects of the country. The Rusyns of the Presov Region were especially a target for discrimination, because just after the Munich Crisis they expressed a desire to unite with Subcarpathian Rus ' . Consequently, the Greek Catholic Church and especially its Bishop, Pavel Gojdic, were accused of disloyalty and pro-Hungarian feelings . For instance, in 1939 the President of Slovakia, Dr. Jozef Tiso, and in 1940 the Minister of Propaganda, Sano Mach, visited Presov and on two SLOVAKIA 41 separate occasions sligh_ted the Bishop in public and questioned his loyalty.6 Also in 1940, Apdrej Dudas was appointed to head the administrative district (Saris:.Zemplin iupa) for all of eastern Slovakia, a post he was to hold for the remainder of the war. Dudas was convinced that the idea of a Rusyn nationality was created by the Hungarians, and in 1943 he wrote a book on the subject and concluded that the "socalled Rusyn people (rusinsky l 'ud) in the Carpathian Basin are by origin and character Slovak. "7 It was in such an atmosphere that Presov Region Rusyns now found themselves. In early 1939, the Rusyn National Committee and Carpatho-Rusyn National Council were banned, the newspaper Prja~evskaja Rus' (Presov, 1938-39) was closed, and the activity of the local Rusyn cultural Duchnovyc Society was restricted. Rusyns were allowed one more deputy, Mychal Bon'ko, who was appointed to the Slovak Diet in 1941, but like his elected predecessors (Simko and Hornjak), he was expected to support the government's policy.8 Only the Greek Catholic Church led by Bishop Gojdic could effectively defend Rusyn national interests. As a result of Gojdic' s efforts, the Slovak government passed a decree in 1940 making all Rusyn elementary schools the responsibility of the Greek Catholic Church. This allowed for the maintenance of Rusyn teaching, and for that purpose four new textbooks were published. Other cultural activity was limited. The Slovaks wanted to remove Presov as the cultural center for Rusyns, and in that regard tried, though unsuccessfully, to have Bishop Gojdic' s residence transferred from Presov northward to Medzilaborce. One newspaper was permitted, Novoe vremja (Medzilaborce, 1940-44), which like the Greek Catholic school system used the so-called ''traditional Carpatho-Rusyn language" (i.e., Russian with local dialectisms) and propagated a Russophile national orientation.9 Presov Region authors were generally isolated from each other during the war years, although some cultural activity took place among Rusyn university students in Bratislava through their student club, the Dobrianskij Society (Obscestvo Dobrianskogo) and publications: Studenfeskij iurnal (Bratislava, 194041) and Jar' (Bratislava, 1942-43).10 The economic situation of the mass of Rusyn peasantry did not change from what it was during the interwar years, even though a few thousand went to Germany to work and some who remained home were able to take advantage of the aryanization laws (September, 1941) and receive proprietorship over former Jewish land and shops. Moreover, Slovakia suffered little destruction until the last months of the war, and 42 SLOVAKIA some improvements, especially in roads and communications, took place. It is beyond the scope of this presentation to discuss the partisan movement in any detail. Suffice it to say that the first partisan unit in the Presov Region was organized already in 1943, and an underground movement, the Carpatho-Russian Autonomous Union for National Liberation (Karpatorusskij Avtonomnyj Sojuz Nacionafnogo Osvobozdenija - KRASNO), was formed in 1944. The latter maintained contacts both with the Slovak underground movement and with the Czechoslovak Army Corps in the Soviet Union. KRASNO was dedicated to the principle of a liberated Chzechoslovakia, and it welcomed the October, 1944 declaration of the underground Slovak National Council that the ''new republic must be ... a fraternal republic of three equal nations - Czechs, Slovaks, and Carpatho-Rusyns. "11 In summary, the close and often supportive relations that existed for centuries between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns were replaced in the twentieth century by friction often caused by the opposed political and cultural goals of the two groups. Neither the First nor Second Czechoslovak Republic, nor the Slovak state contributed in any way to a lessening of political friction between Slovaks and Presov Region Rusyns, a situation, I might add, which has only worsened since World War II.12 NOTES 1 Rusyns living south of the Carpathian Mountains (i.e. , in the present-day Transcarpathian Oblast' of the Ukrainian SSR as well as the Pre§ov Region) have been known by various names , such as Carpatho-Ruthenian, Carpatho-Russian, and CarpathoUkrainian. It was not until the twentieth century that the name Ukrainian came to be accepted by certain segments of the population; and with regard specifically to the inhabitants of the Pre§ov Region, this did not occur until as late as the 1960s. The historic name of the group has always been Rusyn (o~ Rusnak in the Pre§ov Region), and this is the term that will be used here. The Pre§ov Region takes its name from the city of Pre§ov, the traditional religious and cultural center of the group, which is, however, located outside of Rusyn ethnographic territory. For a discussion of nomenclature, see Paul R. Magocsi, The Shaping of a National Identity: Subcarpathian Rus', 1848-1948 (Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press, 1978), pp. 277-281. 2 For a survey of socioeconomic and cultural developments in the nineteenth century among Rusyns, see Magocsi, ibid, pp. 9-76 ; I. G. Kolomiets, Sotsial'no-ekonomicheskie otnosheniia i obshchestvennoe dvizhenie v Zakarpat'e vo vtoroi polovine XIX, 2 vols. (Tomsk: lzd. Tomskogo universiteta, 1961-62) ; and Ivan Zeguc, Die national- SLOVAKIA 43 politischem Bestrebungen der Karpato-Ruthenen 1848-1914 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1965). On the Slovaks, see R. W .~Seton-Watson, Racial Problems in Hungary (London, 1908); and Franti§ek Bokes, Dejiny Slovdkov a Slovenska od najstarJfch i!ias al po oslobodenie; Slovenska vlastiveda , Vol. IV (Bratislava, 1946), esp. pp. 130-339. On Slovak-Rusyn relations before 1918, see Mykhailo Mofnar, Slovaky i Ukraintsi (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1966); and Helen Rudlovi!akova, " K otazkam vzajomnych kultumych stykov Slovakov a zakarpatskych Ukrajincov v polovici minuleho storocia,'' Sbomtk Sevi!enskovskj Filozoficky fakulty Univ. P. J. Safdrika, V (Bratislava, 1965) , pp. 149-166. 3 For further details on the immediate post-World War I developments, see Magocsi, Shaping of a National Identity , pp. 76-102 ; and Marian Mark Stolarik, " The Role of American Slovaks in the Creation of Czecho-Slovakia, 1914-1918, " Slovakia, VIIl (Cleveland and Rome, 1968), pp. 7-82 . 4 For details on the problem of the Slovak-Rusyn border during the interwar period, see the comprehensive recent monograph by Ivan Vanat, Narysy novitn 'oi istorii ukrain· tsiv Skhidnoi Slovachchyny , Vol. I: 1918-1988 (Bratislava and Pre§ov, 1979), pp. 103135 and 272-287. 5 There is controversy over the extent to which Rusyn leaders in the Pre§ov Region supported the call for unification with the autonomous Subcarpathian Rue'. Ukrainian writers in Pre§ov today, in an attempt to show that Rusyns in 1938 were in opposition to Slovak political activity at the same time that they were anxious to express solidarity with their " Carpatho-Ukrainian" brethren just to the east, argue that contemporary Slovak police reports revealed that support for unity with Subcarpathian Rue ' was widespread. Cf. Stefan Pazur, ''O vyvoji narodnostnych pomerov na vychodnom Slovensku v jesennych mesiacoch roku 1938," Nove obzory, X (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 13-25. Indeed, this is true for the month of October and very early November. But I have read these same police reports (in the Statny Slovensky Ostredny Archiv - SSOA - in Bratislava), and they indicate by November a clear change in Pre§ov Region Rusyn public opinion against the idea of unity, because the "Ukrainian orientation is alien and in the end they (Pre§ov Region Rusyns) reject any kind of revision of borders in favor of Carpatho-Ukraine. " Prezidium Policajneho riaditel'stva v Pre§ove, January 11 , 1939 (SSOA , Fond Prezidium Krajinskeho uradu, carton 297, folder 310-1938). See · also carton 298, folder 62212-38. 6 These incidents are based on an unnamed eyewitness report and are given in Atanasii V. Pekar, Narysy istorii tserkvy Zakarpattia , Analecta OSBM, Series II, Sectio I (Rome , 1967) , pp. 144-146; and Julius Kubinyi, The History of PrjaJiv Eparchy, Editiones Universitatis Catholicae Ucrainorum S. Clementia Papae, Vol. XXXII (Rome, 1970) , pp . 161-163. 7 Andrej DudltA,Rustnskaotdzkaajej uzadie (Buenos Aires: Zahranii!na Matica slovenska, 1971) , p. 25. The Slovak denial of the existence of Rusyns in the Pre§ov Region was widespread already during the interwar period: ''These people (in northern Sari§ and Zemplin counties) are our Slovaks, who only because of the Greek Catholic faith inadvertently call themselves Rusnaks or of the Rusnak faith . But teachenJ infect them by saying that they are also of Rusyn nationality. This is ridiculous, but it is happening .... There are no Rusyns up there, nor Rusnaks, only Slovaks of the Greek Catholic faith. " Slovenska politika (Bratislava), September 2, 1928 - cited in Ivan Baji!ura, Ukrajinskaotdzka v CSSR (Ko§ice : Vychodoslovenske vyd. , 1967) , p. 44. The politically and emotionally charged questions of whether all Greek Catholics in eastern Slovakia are Rusyns or whether all or most are Slovaks has acquired an exten- 44 SLOVAKIA sive polemical and scholarly literature. Among the better works which present opposing views are: Volodymyr Hnatiuk, " Rusyny Priashivs'koi eparkhii i ikh hovory," Zapysky Nau.kouoho Touarystua im. Sheuchenka, XXXV (L'viv, 1900), pp. 1-25; and Ondrej R. Halaga, Slouanske osfdlenie potisia a uychodoslouenski greckokatolici (Ko§ice , 1947) . 8 For details on the policy of the Slovak autonomous government and later the Slovak state vis-a-vis the Pre§ov Region Rusyns, see Andrii Kovach, " Stanovyshche zakarpatis'kykh ukraintsiv (rusyniv) i zanepad pershoi ChSR," Nau.kouyi zbirnyk , VI, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Bratislava, and Pre§ov, 1972), esp. pp. 23-30 ; and his " Natsional'na polityka Slovats'koi Respubliky po vidnoshenniu do rusyniv-ukraintsiv (1939-1945 r.r.)," in Zhouten ' i ukrains'ka kul'tura (Pre§ov, 1968), pp. 132-143 . 9 Beginning in the second half of the nineteenth century and continuing down to as recently as the early 1950s, most members of the Pre§ov Region Rusyn intelligentsia considered themselves part of one Russian nationality which lived from the Carpathian Mountains to the Pacific Ocean. 10 On cultural developments during the war years, see Andrii Kovach, ''Ukraintsi Priashivshchyny i deiaki pytannia kul 'turnoi polityky Slovats'koi Respubliky," Naukouyi zbirnyk, IV, pt. 1 (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1969), pp . 401-412; and his " Ukraintsi Skhidnoi Slovachchyny naperedodni slovats'koho narodnoho povstannia, " Z mynuloho i suchasnoho ukraintsiu Chekhoslouachchyny, Pedahohichnyi zbirnyk, No. 3 (Bratislava, 1973), pp . 196-215. 11 Cited in Edo Fri§ , My§lienka a tin: uuahy o Ceskoslouensku 1938-1948 (Bratislava, 1968) , p. 104. For details on the Rusyn underground and partisan movement, see the studies by Stepan Pazhur, Vasyl' Horkovych, Andrii Kovach, as well as several eyewitness recollections from the period contained in Shliakh do uoli , in Naukouyi zbirnyk , II (Svidnik, Pre§ov, and Bratislava, 1966) . 12 For a discussion of Slovak-Rusyn relations between 1945 and the mid-1960s, see Baj<'!ura , Ukrajinska. ota.zka u CSSR; on the worsening of those relations after the Dubrek era in 1968-69, see Pavel Maro, " National Assimilation: The Case of the RusynUkrainians of Czechoslovakia," East Central Europe, II, 2 (Pittsburgh, 1975), pp . 101132.  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 Rusyns and the Slovak State Description An account of the resource Paul R. Magocsi Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 39-44 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Magocsi, Paul Robert, 1945- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 SNK https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/c2ccecd0d7d53397979426c363fe5b0e.pdf beeb45e1f1c66541021756a65dc22283 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." �46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the �Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 �48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, �SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. �50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. �SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a �52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28. � SLOVAKIA 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." �46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the �Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 �48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, �SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. �50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. �SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a �52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28. � 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 45 Music S~hools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of lnterwar Slovakia* OWEN V. JOHNSON One of the blankest pages in the history of Slovak education between the First and Second World Wars belongs to the area of music education. Although the Ministry of Education had supervisory control over these schools, it was not involved with day to day inspections and other such activities. Even now, no one is sure exactly how many music schools there were. This article will summarize present knowledge about them and attempt to evaluate their importance. One thing is certain: the Slovak people had no tradition of professional music schools and had no resources to begin establishing them after World War I. The authors of one of the few books or articles about the subject, after noting the meager research output, point out, " ... (M)usic education in Slovakia in the period of the first Czechoslovak Republic was fully in the hands of Czech music pedagogues."! Teachers in Slovakia wishing to obtain qualification to teach music in the middle schools had to pass a test in music and singing before the State Examination Commissions in Prague (established 1919) or Brno (established 1920) or at the conservatory in Prague. Examination commissions for singing were finally set up in Slovakia in 1935 at Bratislava, Banska Bystrica, and Presov, but music exams could only be taken at Bratislava.2 The most important music institution in Slovakia was located in Bratislava. It grew out of discussions held at Matica slovenska and at the General Assembly of the Union of Music Professionals (Jednota hudebnich stavov), which gathered in August 19193 in Zilina to consider a proposal (originally made in Moscow in 1915) by Milos Ruppeldt • Financial support from a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant and the James and Helen Hovorka Foundation assisted the preparation of this article. The research was also facilitated by my recognition by the International Research and Exchanges Board as a "Scholar-without-Stipend." 46 SLOVAKIA for the establishment of a ''Music School for Slovakia'' with the rank of a conservatory. By November, the school was a reality and Ruppeldt had become its first director. More than two-fifths of the first year's enrollment was Czech, one-quarter Slovak, one-fifth German, and oneseventh Hungarian (See Table 1).4 Although the state made a modest subvention to the school, Gustav Habrman, the Minister of Education at the time of its founding, decided it would be essentially a private institution. Its finances and legal obligations were handled by the curia of the Music Association (Hudobny spolok) for Slovakia, on which sat two government representatives, the composer Dobroslav Orel and Moravian high school principal Alojs Kolisek. In 1922, the school divided into two divisions: the conservatory, for persons planning professional careers; and a music school, for expected amateurs. The latter had instrumental, piano, and singing sections. We will return to it later. After a lengthy struggle (in which the public took little interest) and the establishment in 1924 of a drama section, the conservatory was changed in 1926 to a public institution, called the Music and Drama Academy for Slovakia. Two years later it gained conservatory rank, a recognition which boosted the school's standing across Slovakia. By 1931-32, the number of students from outside Bratislava had exceeded the number from within the city.5 Temporarily the school was financially secure, but the Depression restored its precarious state, partially because the populace could not afford to stay interested. Enrollment remained constant at just over 200 persons . Although in many ways a small operation, the Academy 's accomplishments are one of the most distinct in the post World War II era. Many of Slovakia's composers and concert artists of the quarter century after the war were graduates of the school. In spite of enormous efforts by the public and by school officials, however, the Academy remained largely a private institution during the First Republic, a condition which a number of Slovaks considered an affront since both the conservatories in Brno and Prague were operated by the state. 6 The female students at the Academy \Were concentrated in two of the three major sections - piano and singing, where they made up about eighty percent of the student body. The males were largely in the instrumental section. The other sections - organ, composition, and drama - each had only a handful of students. As long as Czech and Slovak were considered as separate categories (until 1926-27), the number of Czechs exceeded the number of Slovaks. Other aspects of interest concerning the composition of the student body were the relative absence of Hungarians and Germans in the singing division, the Year : 149 2 25 1 3 21 6 133 2 25 1 6 27 12 8 7 2 7 1 1 8 22 7 5 6 22 21 135 3 23 2 U2 28 25 6 201 56.2 1931 -32 147 1 25 2 1 5 U3 37 2, 55 .7 210 1930-31 153 2 32 U9 42 27 5 53.-4 223 1929-30 1 7 1.48 4 23 2 8 18 5 156 2, 26 211 53.6 1932-33 1 7 18 7 19 3 5 1.40 1 153 21 23 3 201 -45.3 1933-3.4 1.40 3 22 2 6 17 6 7 150 15 . 26 198 "8 .5 193-4-35 153 20 32_ _., 1 1 1 2 210 "8.1 1935-36 Slovaks Czechs 1919-20 61 100 55 1924-25 34 56 63 1925-26 63 1926-27 53 Source : Official government publications. According to the yearly repcrts of the Academy, the following figures delineate the numbers of Czechs and Slovaks: None Orthodox Other Jewish Roman Catholic Czech Brethren Lutheran Reformed Czechoslovak 159 2 27 1 6 25 1 1 3 35 1 60 7 203 9 228 5"-8 1928-29 18 19 121 206 55 .3 1927-28 Ul 45 35 98 46 59 58 .0 207 1926-27 "° 301 47 .2 1921 -22 215 46.3 309 1920-21 German 61 Hungar ian 8 Jewish 25 Russian, Ruthen ian , Ukrainian Polish Other Religion Czechoslovak Nationality Total students Pct . women TABLE 1 Musical and Dramatic Academy- Bratislava . 0 1 0 2 28 156 30 46.5 217 1936-37 'I "' > > i\ < Vl r 0 48 SLOVAKIA heavy concentration of Jewish students in the piano division, and the not infrequent attendance by students in their thirties and forties. Efforts to establish an institution for the study of creative arts which would operate on the same level as the Music and Drama Academy were unsuccessful. It is the city music schools in Slovakia about which very little is known. According to Gregor and Sedlicky, there were six in existence in 1921, and by the end of the First Republic's existence, "about" ten. The first was established in November 1919 at Zvolen as a three-year school, with a three-year preparatory attached. 7 There were also schools at Brezno, Bardejov, Kosice, Presov, Nitra, Zilina, and Martin (which had a branch in Vrutky).8 The Zilina school might be considered typical for all these schools. Established in 1927, it had three sections - for violin, piano, and solo singing. It was supported in part by tuition, and in part by a subvention from the city. 9 A new school in Bratislava assumed responsibility for the musical education of those who could not devote full time to such studies at the Academy, either because they were attending another secondary school or they already had jobs. Plans to establish a school at Nitra were first reported in the local press in November 1927, but it was not until two years later that a governing curatorium was set up by the city and teaching was begun. The Ministry of Education gave its official approval to the school a year later. Nitra 's first two teachers, who were graduates of the Bratislava Academy, began by offering piano, violin, and solo singing, then later added cello. In 1935, music theory and history, as well as composition, were added to the curriculum. In-house concerts were given during the year with a public concert at year's end serving as the graduation recital for students in their final year .10 In addition to functioning as centers of cultural enrichment, until 1928 the music schools could provide teacher candidates with an education adequate for passing the examination for competence in music instruction.11 After that date, they developed. their role as "feeders" for the Academy. \ The school at Presov was a more specia1 case, because a similar school had existed during the reign of the Hungarians. After the establishment of Czechoslovak control over the city in 1919, the composer Mikulas Moyzes was commissioned with the administration of the school. However, for two years his actions were hindered by the fact that the Szechenyi Circle, on which the school was organizationally dependent, was not allowed to operate because of its pro-Hungarian bias . In late 1919, Pavel Gallo, the school inspector for the Presov area, SLOVAKIA 49 asked the Ministry of Edu ation under what conditions the school could obtain direct state aid: the archives are silent on the Ministry's response.12 In 1920, the Presov City Council, in an effort to breach the impasse , contacted the city of Zvolen to gain budget and organizational information about the school there. Meanwhile , the establishment of the Music School for Slovakia in Bratislava dealt the efforts in Presov a setback. Even though Presov was thinking more in terms of establishing a conservatory only for eastern Slovakia, the concept that Bratislava was serving the whole of Slovakia dampened such hopes. Some hope was still entertained in Presov that an arrangement in which Bratislava would serve the west, Zvolen the central territories, and Presov the east, could be arranged. But it did not materialize. Presov was also engaged in a rivalry with Kosice to the south over who had the greater right to establish a music school for eastern Slovakia. The far more Hungarian nature of the school in Kosice strengthened Presov' s argument for a Czechoslovak school. The contention that the Kosice school remained Hungarian is verified by the continued presence of a majority of Hungarians in the upper professional grades (IX-XIl), as Table 2 covering the period 1920-21-1935 shows: TABLE2 Kosice Music School: Nationality of Upper Division Students (1920-21-1935) Hungarians 6-4-2-2-2-2-9-8-9-10-9-9-16-13-12-8 Czechoslovaks 1 1-1-1- 2-.2-2- 5- 5- 6-6 Jews 1-1- 3- 3- 1-1 A declaration of 1924 said all teachers in Kosice were Hungarian.13 The classes were composed almost entirely of girls. In the latter years there was a significant portion of the student body which was Jewish (by religion). In the first years, most of the students hailed from the city, then for a period of six years, students from rural homes predominated, with a return to the original domination by the city in 1935-36.14 The first shift to rural dominance took place in 1928-29, which indicates these were students who had begun their training after the founding of the Republic and took advantage of the suddenly greater access to the city. The shift back again in 1935-36 would reflect the reduced flow from the countryside to the city which began in the mid-twenties. This pattern parallels the similar trend in the regular secondary schools.15 An article in Slovensky vychod, the only daily newspaper in eastern Slovakia, in November 1919 downplayed the national question in the Presov-Kosice controversy, stressing rather the centrality of Kosice and the need to make it a vital center. 50 SLOVAKIA " It's obvious to everyone that Kosice is and will be the center of Eastern Slovakia, and thus must be so equipped .... It must concentrate all offices and schools.'' 16 The partisans of Presov were proved somewhat correct in their assertions about the non-Czechoslovak strength of the city of Kosice since the cultural representatives of Kosice were unable to organize adequately to combat the Presov campaign. Eventually the Presov school solved its problem of state recognition when the City Council offered to detach the school from the Szechenyi Circle and attach it to the Local Branch of Matica slovenska (Miestny odbor Matice slovenskej MOMS) . According to an agreement of May 1921, the teaching language of the school was to be Slovak, although Hungarian could be used temporarily as an "assisting understanding language" for students who were attending the Hungarian classes at the local Lutheran gymnasium. The national importance of the school is clear from its new mission, which included: - the propagation of music culture in Slovakia - the education of Slovak youth in music in all its valuable and serious cultural-historical direction - the development of Slovak, or Slavic, vocal and instrumental music - the education of the Slovak music public in greater dimensions , and later the education of Slovak artists and specialists.17 · Teachers either had to be graduates of a state conservatory or to have passed the relevant exams before the State Examination Commission. Although Kosice had a more complete curriculum, the more pronounced Hungarian involvement remained . Presov offered five divisions: violin, piano, solo singing, theory, and composition. All qualified students had to be accepted, paying an average fee of 40 Kc per month. There was no age limitation. Temporary problems arose when a state inspection in 1925 recommended certain reforms. When these reforms were not instituted, the Ministry of Education temporarily suspended the school's subsidy. Things were turned around in Presov by the arrival of the capable Stanislav Treybal, who became the new Pri\lcipal of one of the city's gymnazium. By 1935-36, the school had qu~fied to give state exams for private (but not public) music teachers. It also opened two branches, one about 1936 in Bardejov, which gave instruction in piano and violin and which seems to have become independent in February 1939, and another in Sabinov, which seems to have lasted for two or three months. SLOVAKIA 51 ' The school did not produce any great number of composers, soloists, or teachers, or at least it had less success in that regard than other schools in Slovakia. The most important fact concerning the school was its existence as a Slovak cultural center, attaining an importance in the period 1926-38 which has not since been equalled.18 Little scholarship aid was available to students in the music schools. After all, the music schools were a supplementary specialized form of education. The 229 students at Presov in 1936-37 shared only 4,550 Kc in fee reductions.19 This combination of factors - the lack of scholarships, the monthly tuition fees, and the requirement of at least modest talent made these music schools into institutions for the "better situated. "20 And like so much of the rest of the cultural history of interwar Slovakia, they were an investment in the future.* • The author would welcome comments and recollections on this subject from readers. NOTES 1 Vladimir Gregor & Tibor Sedlicky, Dejiny hudebn{ vychovy v teskych zemtch a na Slcvensku (Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1973), p. 162. 2 Jbid. , pp. 167-8. 3 Masaryk, Anton Stefanek, Karol Medvecky (Secretary of Slovak National Council) , and two other politicians, Milan Ivanka and Komel Stodola, had already indicated their support for the idea. Yearly report, Hudobna §kola pre Slovensko, 1919-20, p . 3. 4 Literamy archiv Matice slovenskej ('LAMS) 42 XIV 91, "Skoly hudobne," p. 1. 6 Jan Strelec, " Hudobna a dramaticka akademia pre Slovensko v Bratislava, " in A.S. 2itavsky, Pamatnik slcvenskeho Akolstva za u.tinkovania Prezidenta T. G. Masaryka (Bratislava: Vydvatel'stvo pamii.tnika slovenskeho §kolstva, 1936-7), Vol. I, p. 100. 6 Gregor & Sedlicky, Dejiny , p. 168. This also made study more expensive, shutting out those from lower social and economic levels. Strelec, "Hudobna, " p . 104. The 192627 school budget of 868,000 Kt included grants of 226,000 Kt from the state and 210,000 Kt from Bratislava County. The rest had to be raised privately or from governments of other counties or districts . This helps to explain the increasing number of students from outside Bratislava. Based on school's letter of 26 February 1927 in Podtatranska zupa 9043-1927 adm. If-Statny archiv (SA)-Bytta. 7 LAMS 42 XIV 91 , "Skoly hudobne," p . 4. 8 Adolf Cmiral, "Hudebni §koly v Ceskoslovenske Republice," Ceskoslcvenskci vlastiveda-Vol. 8-Umeni (Prague : Sfinx, 1936), p. 666 . The Zvolen school's existence is confirmed as early as November 1919. Zvolen zupa 72-1920 adm.-SA-Banska Bystrica. 9 Gregor & Sedlicky , Dejiny , p . 168. 10 Helena Stantekova & Richard Rybarit, " Z hudobneho iivota Nitry v minulosti a 52 SLOVAKIA sucasnosti ," in Alexander Csanda, ed ., Kapitoly z dejln Nitry (Bratislava: SPN, 1963) , p. 26. 11 Povazska zupa 9766-28-SA-Bytca. From this time on, seven semesters of conservatory attendance were required for credentialing. 12 The discussion is based on Maria Potemrova, '' Prispevok k dejinam hudobnej §koly v Pre§ove ," Nove obzory, Vol. 10 (1968) , pp. 119-43. 13 Odbo&a spravodajskej ustredne v Kosiciach. ZUS-66, SA-Ko§ice. 14 Yearly reports, Ko§ice Mestska hudobna skola, 1920-21-1935-36. 15 See Owen V. Johnson , "Sociocultural and National Development in Slovakia, 19181938: Education and Its Impact," Unpublished Ph.D . dissertation , University of Michigan, 1978, pp. 251-7. 16 Slovensky vyckod, 18 November 1919, as quoted by Potemrova, " Prispevok, " p . 124. 17 Potemrova, " Prlspevok, " p. 127. 18 Ibid., p. 142. 19 Yearly report, Pre§ov Mestska hudobna §kola, 1936-37, p. 10. 20 Gustav Valkovit, '' Skolstvo v Nitre ,'' Sbomik pedagogickeho in§titutu v Nitre-Spolo~enske vedy 2 (1963), p. 28.  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 Music Schools: A Chapter in the Cultural History of Interwar Slovakia Description An account of the resource Owen V. Johnson Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 45-52 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Johnson, Owen V. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/cce40f336fa5744281963e827ceff3c1.pdf 9741a26422942b4466966d650bd97947 PDF Text Text SLOVAKIA 53 An Ethnohistqry of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions HOW ARD F. STEIN INTRODUCTION: ETHNICITY, INSTITUTIONS AND THE STUDY OF MEANING The study of ethnicity is necessarily a study of systems of meaning and how that meaning is communicated. Ethnicity is far more than a matter of social mobility, group competition for scarce resources, acculturation, and the like. This paper focuses on what might be called the "life histories" of Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations as institutionalized expressors of a century of changing groupidentity and those meanings that represent the underlying group-identity. Special emphasis is placed on identifying precisely what about ethnic identity is communicated by these institutions. The central argument is that Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations perform important psychosocial functions - not merely social structural ones. Indeed, I propose that the former determines and sustains, and explains, the revitalization or atrophy of the latter. Another way of putting it is that the ''expressive'' dimension of ethnicity is inherent in the "instrumental" roles performed by fraternal and religious organizations. The world of the symbolic is never separated from the world of the practical. The term "ethnic fraternal" is used here in the sense of mutual benefit, self-help, voluntary associations (see Anderson 1971) that trace to diverse mid-nineteenth century immigrant populations to the U.S. However, the meaning of ethnic fraternalism should not be ac• A paper presented as part of a panel on ''Ethnicity as Communication in Southeastern Europe: A Comparative Approach,'' at the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. �54 SLOVAKIA cepted as self-evident, since ethnic voluntary associations, like the religious institutions which they founded, have undergone considerable change of function, and indeed have served multiple, often contradictory functions. In both instances it will be necessary to specify the meaning of persistance and change alike. Elsewhere I have addressed issues of Slovak-American cultural continuity and change in identity at the levels of personality structure, family dynamics, child-rearing patterns, kinship structure, projective system, health and illness attitudes, psychopathology, and ethos (Stein _1973, 1974, 1975,_1976, 1978a; _Stein and Hill 197~, _19~_). No attempt~ here made at a comprehensive history of Slovaks in Europe or the United States. The reader is referred to two groups of works on Slovaks and Slovak-Americans. One genre can be regarded as "official histories," and includes works by Yurchak (1946), Kirschbaum (1960), O~do (1960), Zatko (1966), and Krajsa (1978); and the journals Slovak Studies and Slovakia. The second group consists of disparate studies whose common denominator is the absence of adherence to any prevailing ideology. Representatives of this genre include Balch (1910); Macartney (1937); Kerner (1940); Bue (1957); Roucek (1932-33, 1933-34, 1937); Stolarik (1974); Barton (1975); and Stein (1972). The sources in the first group reflect a particular point of view, namely, the alliance of Slovak Roman Catholicism with political nationalism (i.e., the First Catholic Slovak Union, the Slovak League of America). This also reminds us that traditionally among the majority of Slovaks, ethnicity and religion were fused. Slovak Studies is the publication of the Slovak Institute, Rome, and Slovakia has long been the official publication of the Slovak League. One could legitimately see the Slovak Republic as an expansion onto the level of the state of what had long been a fact at the local level: namely, the political importance of the clergy. Many past and present Slovak League leaders, scholars, and political activists on behalf of Slovak national autonomy in Europe are former leaders and intelligentsia of the short-lived Slovak Republic (1939-1945). That their genre of historiography would be ethno-national apologia is to be expected. However, the visibility of the Slovak League on the American scene in official American political circles has more to do with their anti-communism and their courtship by American political leaders than with cultural, political, or demographic fa~s intrinsic to the League. This highlights the oft neglected fact that American sociopolitical factors often heighten ethnicity, even help preserve it - through a not particularly laudable duplicitous manipulation of loyalties and fears. Among Slovak-Americans, as among all peoples, official histories �SLOVAKIA 55 are those sacred myths of the past held and recorded by the putative leadership. Throughout this essay, I shall emphasize whose perspective on the past is being stated as I discuss those institutions that have been deeply concerned v,:ith the cultural sense of time. This leads to a final word of warning: jus\ as ''culture'' is inseparable from the people who constitute it, likewise for social "institutions." An "institution" is only a conventional shorthand. What this paper is about is the history of group consensus and conflict, continuity and change. The very inclusion of this essay in Slovakia attests to changes not only in ''editorial policy" or editorship, but to a more pervasive change in Slovak ethnicity itself in which there is greater openness to self-scrutiny. It is less necessary, shall I say, to toe a "party line." Neither Slovakia, nor Slovak ethnicity, is static. The focus of this paper is on large-scale social institutions as vehicles of continuity and change in meaning systems. Among SlovakAmericans, religious and fraternal organizations have served for nearly a century as articulators of cultural meaning, first reflecting the relatively uniform cultural system brought from Slovakia, later becoming increasingly removed from the very real pluralism of the Slovak-American population for whom they claim to speak. Both ethnographic research in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania (conducted intensively 1970-1972, and intermittently through the present) and documentary study have provided both an understanding of the dynamics within local churches and fraternal society lodges, and a picture of Slovak-American religion and voluntary association on the national scale. Ethnographic study in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania, especially the mill-cities of McKeesport and Duquesne, include participant obsevation at, and interviews with members of, the following religious and fraternal groups: parishes of Slovak Roman Catholic Latin Rite, Slovak and Ruthenian Roman Catholic Byzantine Rite, Slovak Independent Catholic Rite, Slovak Lutheran Rite; the First Catholic Slovak Union, Zivena, the Slovak League, Slovak Catholic Sokol, Sokol USA, National Slovak Society, Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Evangelical Union. I obtained valuable ethnographic and demographic data from interviews and documentary sources at the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, and with officers of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Zion Synod-Lutheran Church of America. A careful study of old and recent fraternal newspapers and annual Kalendars, often stored not in official archives but in cabinets and basements, permitted comparison of ethnohistory recon- �56 SLOVAKIA structed from informants' current memory and self-presentation, with cultural meanings preserved in print.* Finally, actuarial data provided by the national offices of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and United Societies of USA permitted a comparison to be made between a necessarily selected sample in which values, attitudes, expectations, criteria and policies of admission and exclusion, and the like were expressed; and statistics of actual participation in or withdrawal from fraternal associations based on trends in membership as reflected in the purchasing and cashing-in of life insurance policies. Ethnographic research both at the local and supra-level simultaneously complemented, explained, and tested the data obtained from tables of parish and fraternal society membership. The reader is referred to the following Tables 1-4 which identify both on the national level and in the region of ethnographic study the major Slovak-American religious and fraternal institutions. ETHNOGRAPHIC BASE LINE The Slovak-American institutions discussed here stem from the migration of over some half-million Slovak peasants and landless peasants from 1880 until the mid-1920's (Zatko 1966: 45), that is, from the period of the Magyar development of a monetary, technologized, labor intensive economy in the 1870's, to the exclusionary American Emergency Quota Laws of 1921-24 and the Immigration Act of 1924, and the National Origins Act of 1929. Roughly 85 percent of the immigrants were Latin or Byzantine Rite Catholics, and 15 percent were Lutherans and Calvinists. The highest rate of migration was from the most impoverished and overpopulated regions of Slovakia, namely, the foothills of the Tatra and Carpathian Mountains (Jansak 1930). As an overall pattern, the earliest Slovaks came to the anthracite coal mining district of eastern Pennsylvania, while later Slovaks came to the mill towns in the "Steel Valley" of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and westward (Cleveland, Gary, Chicago). The greater Pittsburgh region remains the highest concentration of Slovak-Americans in the U.S. (some 29,000 immigrants; 35,000 foreign stock in 1930 Censu~ Klein 1938: 288; Roucek 1933-34: 614) . It is the location of the national offices of the National • These include Narodne Noviny, Jednota, The Greek Catholic Union Messenger, Prosvita, Katolicky Sokol, Sokol USA Times; annual fraternal yearbooks or Kalenddrs ; and the journals Slovakia (Slovak League) and Slovak Studies (Slovak Institute, Cleveland and Rome). �SLOVAKIA 57 TABLE 1 THE FOUNDING OF SOOVAK-AMERICAN RELIGION IN AMERICA I. Early Slovak Catholic Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Church in the Western Hemisphere, Hazleton, Penna., 1885 St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church* . .......... . (Cornerstone) Early Slovak Roman Catholic Churches in the Allentown, Penna. Diocese (anthracite coal mining area)* ................ . . . Bethlehem, Penna., 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius Saint Michael Archangel ... . .... . . . . .. . ..... Summit Hill, Langsford, Penna. , 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius .... . .. .... ....... . .Reading, Penna., 1896 First Slovak Catholic parish school ............ .. . . .Chicago, ID., 1900 Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak Sisterhood: Motherhouse established .................... ... Danville, Pa., 1901 High School for Girls established ........... . .... Danville, Pa., 1922 First Vincentian Sisters of Charity arrived from Slovakia to serve St. Michael's Parish ........ Braddock, Pa., 1902 Priests' Society of St. Anthony's Burse in the USA (to support students interested in teaching and Slovak girls preparing to be teaching nuns) .... Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1903 Benedictine High School for Boys . .. . . .... . . . ...... Cleveland, 1927 II. Early Slovak Lutheran Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Lutheran Church in the Western Hemisphere: Saints Peter and Paul .............. Freeland, Penna., first services: 1883; Church built: 1886. • Slovak Lutheran Synod (Missouri Synod) ............ 1902 Slovak Zion Synod (left Missouri Synod, joined United Lutheran Church of America founded in 1919) . . ......... . . .. . . . . ..... .. 1920 • Source: Katolicky Sokol, July 21, 1971 (published in Passaic, New Jersey) . Evidently, the founding of the first Slovak church in the western hemisphere is a matter of considerable controversy - and competition. Professor M. Mark Stolarik kindly informed me of the feud between St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and St. Stephen's in Streator, Illinois for the honor of being "the first" (which, incidentally, is a very American preoccupation!) . Professor Stolarik found the St. Stephen records several years ago and deposited them at the Immigrant Archives in Minnesota. Thus St. Stephen's can document its claim to having been founded in 1884. On the other hand, St. Joseph's burned down at the tum of the century, and its records were lost. Thus its claim to having been founded in 1884 cannot be documented . Professor Stolarik suggests that the editor of Katolicky Sokol, John Sciranka, my original source for the 1886 date , tended to favor the Hazleton parish since he was from Pennsylvania (again , ethnicity in a meta-context, this time localism) (personal communication, 9 September 1979) . �Passaic, N.J ., 1906 Cleveland, 1907 Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1911 Slovak Catholic Sokol Slovak League of America Slovak Catholic Federation in America McKeesport, Pa ., 1902 Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1892 Freeland, Pa., 1893 New York, 1896 Greek Catholic Union Slovak Evangelical Union (since 1960: United Lut9eran Society) Sokol USA (orig.: Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA) United Societies of USA (Sobranije) Cleveland, 1892 Cleveland, 1890 Cleveland ? Passaic, N.J . McKeesport Perth Amboy, N.J. Ligonier, Pa. Pittsburgh Cleveland Cleveiand Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious , political, fraternal Insurance, religious , cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, cultural, insurance, political, fraternal Insurance, religious (Greek Catholic), cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, religious (Roman Catholic), cultural, fraternal , insurance Political, cultural, religious Religious, political, cultural MAJOR NATIONALLY-BASED SLOVAK INSTITUTIONS Headquarters Place and Year Functions Pittsburgh, 1890 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal New York, 1891 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 2ivena Beneficial Society (women's equivalent to National Slovak Society, last joint convention with NSS, 1901) First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) Name National Slovak Society TABLE2 > 7' > ~ r I.I) CX) V, �Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church, McKeesport, founded 1922; name originally Saints Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church ; changed name to present in the late 1930's for legal purposes due to loss of church building during the Depression; affiliated throughout its history with the Polish National Catholic Church, and in the 1940's with the Congregational Church. St. Mark Lutheran Church, Duquesne, Pa. (serving Duquesne and McKeesport), founded 1913 ; name originally: Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Congregation of Duquesne; church bought 1920; joined Slovak Zion Synod of the United Lutheran Church of America 1934; Sunday school founded, use of English in teaching confirmation class 1940; earlier schism over non-use of English by acculturated families ; name changed to present in the 1950's, accompanied by change in by-laws to open church to Lutherans of all nationalities . St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church , founded 1901 ; name originally "Greek Catholic," changed to " Byzantine" in the 1960's; schism in 1939. SWVAK CHURCHES SERVING THE McKEESPORT AREA Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church, founded 1892; the name "Slovak" officially dropped in the 1960's; first church building purchased and enlarged 1895 ; schism in 1922. ., TABLE3 '° u, 7' > > ~ r Vl �SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS SERVING THE McKEESPORT PENNSYLVANIA AREA IN '' STEEL VALLEY'' Name Year Founded Membership, other comments Slovenskeho N. P. Spolok (Slovak December 16, 1888 Protestant or Catholic, but Slavic Sick Benefit Soc.) preceded the local lodge of the National Slovak Society, with which it merged in 1890 National Slovak Society, Lodge 31 1890 Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic mostly Slovak Jednota (First Catholic Slovak 1892 (women's lodge, Roman Catholic, Slovak Union) , Lodge 60 276 , formed later) Greek Catholic Union, Lodge 2 1892 Mostly Greek Catholic, but also Roman Catholic, Rusin, and Slovak United Societies of USA (Sobranije) , 1902 Schism within the Greek Catholic Union headquarters and Lodge 1 Sokol USA (Slovensky Sokol), Lodge 1903 (ladies assembly Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic 46 11, formed later) mostly Slovak Slovak Evangelical Union, Assembly 1899 Slovak Lutheran 63 (Duquesne , Pa. , serv~g McKeesport as well) Slovak Club , White Street Hall, 1896, sold to Catholic Fellowship, men's club , social, drinking McKeesport War Veterans 1970 activities First Federal Savings and Loan 1914 Association formed to assist Slovak workers Association of Homestead in obtaining funds to purchase a home ; Federal Charter 1937 ; branch offices in McKeesport (1964), Clairton (1969) ; and Braddock (1969) ; serves Monongahela Valley Communities; (originally names: First Slovak Building and Loan Association) TABLE4 > ;;,;; < > l/1 r 0 ~ �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies of USA. The town of Munhall, located in the Steel Valley, is the site of an eparchate or diocese of. the Byzantine Catholic Church. The Greek Catholic Union, founded iq. 1892 in Wilkes-Barre, Penna. , the heart of the anthracite mining region, moved its headquarters in 1910 to the Steel Valley. Although one's place of settlement was greatly influenced by the availability of desirable work, the type of work one sought, and the reasons for choosing that work (originally, to amass greater wealth so that one could return to one's home and village and live better with higher status), it was also strongly influenced by the location of prior immigrant kinsmen, village associates, and even more remotely "related" compatriots of the same geographic, political, and dialect district or iupa - who in tum could advise prospective emigrants of the labor market. Mining and factory towns were not arbitrarily populated by people identifying with the abstract term ' 'Slovak.'' Instead, members of the same village or of adjacent villages commonly sought to live with one another in the New World. Indeed, "ethnicity" changed meanings in the process of settlement in the United States: expanding from more localized, inter-village loyalties, and reciprocal obligation, to supra-local ties based on common religion, dialect, and finally to the emergence in America of an encompassing sense of national "Slovakness" that heretofore had never existed (cf. Gould 1970). It was only after a national sense of identity became established (and this, tenuously, because of the intense factionalism among Slovaks) that the appeal of . President Wilson and Secretary of State House during World War I to Slovak nationalism was possible. A document such as the ' ' Pittsburgh Pact" was thus heretofore unthinkable. Any conceptually neat separation of religion (or churches) from fratemalism is heuristically spurious. Indeed, the history of Slovak religion and mutual benefit societies encompasses the spectrum of alliance and schism, and between them, conflict. The history of the relationship between the two types of associations is the history of each. Moreover, both types of organizations are firmly rooted in east-central European social structure. The village organization functioned much like a vastly extended family, in which kin and extra-kin ties of reciprocity were part of the fabric of everyday life . A group-psychology of community solidarity bound the village tightly together. Even the collapse of manorialism in the mid-19th century did not obliterate this essentially pre-Magyar ethno-psychology. One might say that it functioned preadaptively in the American host environment, and facilitated the earliest " insurance" and cultural- �62 SLOVAKIA perpetuative efforts. After all, the extended family was one's life, accident, and sickness "insurance." There was litsrally no conception of the "individual" apart from the family, church, and village group. Fitzpatrick (1966) correctly identifies Euro-American ethnic communities as bridges or "beachheads" to the wider host society (see also Nelli, 1970). Likewise, Anderson notes "the capacity voluntary associations have to facilitate the transition of individuals and societies to participation in the modem world" (1971:216). He further proposes that ' 'the new associations seem founded to meet needs not previously the responsibility of any older organization" (Ibid.). As this paper will emphasize, however, the new associations built on the firm foundations of elements within traditional organizations; the change lay in the repatterning of those elements - a repatteming which, I might add, has been continuous. I wish to stress that there is nothing automatic, inherently ''natural,' ' or inevitable about the Slovak-American adaptation. The need for "survival" does not explain how or why a particular "survival strategy" for "problem solving" is adopted. Stated differently, it is not the stimulus situation of the stress, but the meaning of the stress and the individual or group characteristic response to it that determines the type of adaptation that will be made (La Barre, 1972; Stein and Hill, 1979). One must inquire both into the nature of the new environment and into the cultural tools a group adapts with. "Necessity" by itself does not explain the "invention" (see Light 1972) . The Slovak-American inventions, themselves variations on traditional psychosocial organization, values, and worldview, must be regarded as preadaptations within the cultural repertoire by which the Slovaks recapitulated much of the Old World in the New (see Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) . The traditional ethos determined both how new " necessities" were perceived and the group-organizational responses based on those perceptions. I cannot here pursue in detail the thorny question as to just what " is" a Slovak. Suffice it to say that the approach taken in this paper is essentially " emic": that is, Slovak based on self-identification and / or ancestry. Thus, for instance, there are several thousand Slovak-Americans, Catholic and Lutheran, whose most ~ediate ancestry traces to Croatia rather than northern Hungary. In the mid:17th century aftermath of the Austro-Hungarian expulsion of the Turks, Maria Theresa invited those peoples inhabiting the already overpopulated Hungarian northlands to migrate to the newly opened land. For the most part, these Slovaks remained Slovaks. Identifying the "ethnic" boundary between Slovaks and Rusins or �SLOVAKIA 63 Ruthenians of far eastern Slovakia, southern Galicia, and the western Ukraine is a far stickier matter (see Stein, 1972) . Indeed, many who are Rusin in ancestry, but who lived in what was geopolitically Slovakia, became accultured insidiously through daily contact with the more westernized Slovaks, through the influence of the Latin and Byzantine Rite Roman Catholic Churches, through the centralizing tendencies of Vienna, and last but not least through affiliation and identification with Slovaks following migration to the United States - that is, many became Slovaks in the U.S. I Over at least the past three centuries, the "ethnic boundary" between Slovaks and Rusins has been progressing further eastward. Had the great immigration taken place two centuries ago, virtually all the immigrants would have been of Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox faith and Rusin ethnicity! To the religious conflict must be added, especially since the World War I era, a conflict of nationalisms and proto-nationalisms. Among the permutations of the conflict: (1) Many Ukrainian nationalists insist that eastern ''Slovaks'' and "Rusins" do not exist, but in fact are Ukrainians; (2) Slovakia has undertaken a program of attempting to Slovakize the remaining Rusins; (3) Both the conflict over ethnic identity and the gradual process of Slovakization of Rusins has taken place in the U.S. (a) in such organizations as the Greek Catholic Union and the United Societies of USA, and (b) through the continued process of Latinization whereby many Greek or Byzantine Catholics joined Slovak Latin Rite parishes. A considerable official literature (see Lacko 1963) prepared by the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio and Rome, Italy is devoted to demonstrating that Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, in Europe and America, are bona fide Slovaks and Catholics. Many Slovak peasant immigrants and their children passionately argued the same point (Stein 1972). The author's justification for including such organizations as Byzantine Rite churches, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies as Slovak is that (a) by self-identification many of their officers, priests, and members speak of themselves as Slovaks, and (b) ethnicity is a process, not a static given. THE FOUNDING OF SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS For the most part, the Slovak-American fraternal societies began in the 1880's through the early 1900's as self-help, mutual assistance organizations. The arrangement of regular social activities such as dances , plays, gymnastic groups, and literary clubs, and the organiza- �64 SLOVAKIA tion, construction, and support of Slovak parishes followed later. In all earnestness I emphasize that the link between fraternal and church lay in their division of labor: the fraternal association would first establish insurance in this world; the church would become the guarantor of insurance in the next world. The most immediate needs were mortuary funds, land for the burial of the dead, and death-sickness-and-accident insurance for workers and their families in the U.S. and Slovakia. The new "foreign" dead were often unwelcome in established cemetaries. Slovak burial societies were formed to purchase separate tracts of land, often on the periphery of the town, a considerable distance from the burial sites of the dominant population. Slovak work life was chronically uncertain by the absence of stable unionization in the steel mills until 1936 and thereafter. Wages were low (though admittedly, the immigrant laborers earning a living unheard of in their villages of origin). Periods of steady work fluctuated with periods of layoff. Working conditions were contemptously hazardous. The management of the factories and mines provided no assistance for the injured or for the families of workers killed or maimed on the job. The urban Slovak-American "peasantry" experienced much the same basic insecurity as did they and their progenitors on the manorial latifundia or as landless workers. In one sense, conditions were worse, because in the American capitalistentrepreneurial system there was no personal bond of reciprocity and obligation between manorial lord and serf - although, however, the political system of patronage in the urban wards perpetuated at least an attenuated version of this function. For those immigrants who discovered themselves to be outside the civil and moral community of those recognized as ''Americans,'' the organization of burial-deathaccident-and-sick benefit societies was a means of reconstructing a community. In employment as with religion, Slavic-Americans were for the most part seen as outside the domain of civic and religious responsibilities. This led in tum to a defensive attitude toward American society, even as the belief in the American Dream strongly persisted. Exclusion from without led to a degree of defensive self-exclusion from within. The "enclave mentality," heir to a heightened self-" consciousness of kind," was a product of ethnic-American conflict, not simple cultural transplantation. I am tempted to suggest that much on the organizational level which we might mistake for w~at was traditionally native has a distinctively nativistic quality to it. , For instance, in one multi-Slavic fraternal club, the early by-laws �SLOVAKIA 65 specified that only members of Slavic ethnic groups could qualify as members and be permitted on the premises of the club. This qualification arose as a response to the fact that representatives of the mill management would attend meetings incognito, sit at the bar, listen for comments by dissident millworkers, and report them to the management which would summarily fire them for potential insubordination. A first-generation Catholic Slovak-American who came to the United States in the late 1920's said of the Slovak Club of McKeesport, Pennsylvania (a large mill town): The Slovak Club 's By-Laws were written in 1896. Only Slavs were accepted. You had to: you didn 't know who' s your enemy in those days. Johnny Bulls, or the Irish, might be in there, before the ByLaws were adopted . If you said anything against somebody, they report you. The only way to make sure you could speak your mind and not be afraid was to make the By-Laws . Ethnic " elective affinity" was more out of forced circumstance than choice . Those who were regarded and treated as the same created a survival strategy, becoming far more homogeneous in the process than they might had the constraints been fewer . Let me give two brief examples of the hierarchy of functions in the early fraternals . My first example is Lodge No. 2 of the Greek Catholic Union. Prior to regulation of insurance fraternals by the actuarial rules of the Pennsylvania State Insurance Department in the 1920' s, a member would pay $1.00 monthly dues for the mortuary fund and for death benefits to family , the latter of which is derived by subtracting the mortuary costs from the principal. The $1.00 formal dues would be collected from every member regardless of age or age of joining. In addition to the formally recorded $1.00 , he would pay 3 cents a month for relief benefit , so that, for instance, if he lost an arm in a mill accident he would receive $500 . An additional local assessment was 5 cents monthly for sickness benefit, which provided for food and bought medicine when the member could not work because of poor health. Today, this latter has become a " flower fund " to provide flowers at the funeral of a member or a member 's spouse. Any further needs were met by proportionate assessment of the membership . A second example is that of the Slovak Sick Benefit Society, organized in McKeesport in 1888, and which in 1890 merged with the founding of Lodge No. 31 of the National Slovak Society. This local organization collected monthly dues of $1.00 for males . In addition to the regular dues , if a man died , the men paid $1.00 ; if a woman died, the women paid 50 cents extra - for funeral expenses , given to the sur- �66 SLOVAKIA vivor of the deceased. At that time, the sick benefit was $6.00 a week for 13 weeks . After 13 weeks, up to the 21st week, $3.00 a week was given. After the 21st, nothing. The main economic function was to assist those who became sick or suffered an accident in the mill, since at this time there existed neither a union nor a commitment by management to provide such benefits. The Society also had something of an ambulatory service: two members of the society visited the sick person, or went to the scene of the accident, and took him to the hospital, to his home, or where he could be given proper care. While in their initial phase, ethnic fraternals were a response to the often hostile host environment, voluntary associations were long an inescapable part of the American social landscape. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed in the 1830's, resiliently self-reliant Americans were also habitual joiners. This may help to explain how and why initially exclusive self-preservation societies became internally acculturated clubs and lodges at the local and national levels. That is to say, they became largely American cultural organizations with ethnic ancestry. Criteria for membership became ethnically less restrictive. At the same time, there occurred a gradual yet massive attrition of membership in the totemic Slovak-ethnic associations, and an equally gradual yet dramatic increase in membership by the same Slovak-Americans in lower middle class totemic American clubs such as Eagles, Moose, Elks; such service related groups as Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Catholic War Veterans ; employment related union clubs; and finally local public or private restaurant-bar-entertainment clubs. While there has certainly been, especially in the 1940's and 1960's, considerable compartmentalizing of membership, dual allegiance, something of voluntaristic "double descent, " at the present time American fratemalism has already been the dominant trend. In fact many Slovak-Americans with whom I worked who still maintain their fraternal insurance policies do so for economic reasons; their fraternal affiliation lies elsewhere. Originally, in the ethnic enclave, one's kinship network, resources, and the fraternal were one' s insurance. When the ethnic community network itself was one 's guaranteed insurance, there was no need for a separate entity labeled " insurance, " let alone insurance policies outside that community. Only as many ties within the corporate ethnic community were attenuated or severed cl.id the need arise for American style individual insurance coverage. And only since World War II did the originally multiple functional fraternal societies become primarily insurance companies, that is, businesses. In both cases, American as well as ethnic insurance companies served both instrumental (eco- �SLOVAKIA 67 nomic) and expressive (ethos) functions: security by affiliation in the ethnic sense, and self-reliance in the American sense. THE PROBLEM OF PERPETUATION AND ACCULTURATION IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS During the first and second decades of each of the fraternal organizations, the emphasis gradually shifted from immediate self-help requirements to more long-range, future-oriented plans associated with revitalizing Slovak culture in America. Whereas the initial years were preoccupeid with self-preservation, the subsequent years became concerned with perpetuation. The insurance / protective aspects were incorporated in a wider institutional framework that elaborated on the traditional cultural model. Once Slovak immigrants decided to make America their permanent home, churches were founded and supported, Sokol gymnastic programs were initiated, and so forth. It quickly became evident to the founding generation that something must be done to enlist the younger generation in these activities or institutions lest Slovak culture disappear with the passing of the first generation. The younger generation must be socialized into the new institutions and activities the immigrant parents had founded. Thus each fraternal organization instituted a juvenile branch or age grade to prepare the younger generation for adult membership. There were thus established two age sets within each fraternal, the adult and the juvenile. Subsequently, most fraternals also added a Sokol or gymnastic branch (if they were not already Sokol fraternals), originally intended as a middle age grade, but which became an adult unit on par with the "General" or "Adult" branch. The lower age limit for transfer from juvenile to the adult branch seems to be 16-18 in the Greek Catholic Union, and the upper age limit is 25 in the National Slovak Society. Typically, a parent would buy a life insurance policy for an infant shortly after birth and pay for the policy until the child's majority. At that time the former junior member would become a responsible adult member, transfer his or her policy to the adult branch, and begin paying for it himself or herself. Thus was the problem of continuity initially solved. For the third and fourth generations continuity was not so readily assured. Many of the second and third generations themselves withdrew or terminated their own policies and did not enroll their children. Many immigrant and second generation informants spoke bitterly of how they felt that officers of their fraternals had used their position for �68 SLOVAKIA self-advancement (internal mobility?), pocketed some of the dues, especially during the pre-1920 days prior to state-enforced bookkeeping, and terminated members' policies or foreclosed on home mortgages during the Great Depression days when dues were not forthcoming (the internal transformation from personalized ties to impersonalized business venture). In some families where the children had been dutifully enrolled in infancy, the children took advantage of the fact that the parents paid for the juvenile policies, and upon reaching majority or "going out on their own," they turned in the policy for cash value, and enrolled themselves later in large "American" insurance companies. With large-scale industrial unionization in the mid- and late-1930's and the opening up of "American" insurance corporations to the now'' American'' descendants of the ''foreigners,'' many of the purely economic insurance functions fulfilled by the ethnic fraternals were replaced by more attractive, sounder economic policies elsewhere. As the lodges have been losing young and elderly members, the middle-aged members have become the core of their lodges, and those who will be perpetuating them will, like their counterparts in the Americanized Slovak churches, be those who have transformed their lodges and their athletics according to the model of the American prototype. With the great decrease in membership and hence in lodge population, lodge consolidation (GCU, United Societies, NSS) and the widening of intervals between meetings have taken place. Where a lodge meeting until the late 1930's was an enormous and lively social affair, often coordinated with a meal or a play in Slovak, since the Second World War it has become a cut-and-dry business meeting, where members stream in and out, pay their dues, often bring the dues of a friend or two with him (or with her), the older ones stopping to chat with a friend or two in Slovak - and then leave. The monthly business meeting of Jednota Lodge No. 60 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania usually keeps ten listeners besides the six officers and collectors at their long table. During the monthly meetings of the Sokol, the ULS, and the NSS, a table of officers sits in a room of empty chairs in the Slovak Club. Occasionally members drift in and out. The local lodge of the United Societies no longer meets; members brin~ in their dues or mail them in. Likewise for lodges of the GCU. The ULS lodge in Duquesne in 1970 changed its monthly meeting to bimonthly, because, as one officer said: "There's no use sitting down there at the empty church all afternoon every month waiting for a few people to show up." In the early 1970's, over 75 percent of the 1,300 GCU lodges were inactive. For the important annual meeting at which officials were to be elected at GCU Homestead Lodge No. 2 in 1971, only 15 of the 160 members attended. �SLOVAKIA 69 \ To this should be added that only one of the Slovak fraternal lodges in McKeesport presently has any social or athletic program. Jednota Ladies' Lodge No. 276 has a bowling team, which members from Lodge No. 60 and the nearby borough of Port Vue can join. Lodge No. 60 dropped its bowling team in 1956. Bookkeeping changes have consolidated the Sokol and General Branches of the lodges. Today they function as little more than local insurance agents and collectors. All the national offices of the Slovak fratemals modernized and streamlined their policies to make membership attractive to those of the younger generation for whom Slovakness was not a major attraction, and further, to attract non-Slovaks. To a considerable extent, present-day Slovak fratemals are primarily modem insurance com· panies which would like to stay in business. The fact that all of them are far over the required solvency guarantees nothing about the future, for which they are greatly concerned. As the national president of the GCU remarked to me: The way things are now, it's only a matter of time before the GCU is finished. Sure we have an excellent solvency. But without new members, it's just on borrowed time. You just can't rely on monetary figures alone to tell you how we're doing. Of course we're in good financial shape, but that's because today people buy bigger policies - you can't pay for a funeral for $1000 today. Most of our policies are naturally larger, and the figure they give for assets ... would lead you to believe that we're doing great. That's the way the older ones felt. They always looked at the status quo and never at anything else. (1972) Of course the schism in the 1930's cost the GCU half of its more than 135,000 membership, which crisis did not occur in the other Slovak (and Slovak / Rusin) organizations. Nevertheless the same gradual decline in activity and membership has been the experience and plague of every Slovak fraternal. Slovak-American officials at the national level frequently speak of consolidating the adult, juvenile, and Sokol branches for fiscal reasons and because of poor attendance at meetings. They likewise speak of merging lodges for similar reasons, with the hope that perhaps with greater numbers the fraternal spirit may be rekindled. But they are pessimistic and in offhand, tentative ways consider the possibility of merging not only lodges within a given fraternal, but combining many Slovak-American fratemals under a single economic umbrella - anything that will help the solvency problem and postpone the inevitable disappearance of insurance fratemalism. Everywhere in Slovak-American fratemalism, the number of purchased insurance certificates is far �70 SLOVAKIA fewer than the number of deaths, maturities, disabilities, expirations, surrenders, and lapses of policies. Beyond founding the churches, many of the church-affiliated fraternals remain a major support of the church, both financially and by requiring that their members are practitioners of the faith in good standing (for instance, Jednota). Lodge meetings are held in the church (Jednota, United Societies, Slovak Catholic Sokol, GCU), rather than the secular Slovak Hall (where the Sokol USA, NSS, and ULS McKeesport lodges meet). Except for the Lutheran group (whose Duquesne counterpart does meet in the Slovak Lutheran church), the non-religious affiliated groups meet in secular settings, while the religiousaffiliated groups meet in church halls under the aegis of the priest. Until World War II, most of the Slovak fraternal groups at the local and national levels supported the political activity of the Slovak League of America, a non-fraternal, political-cultural group organized to publicize and lobby for the cause of Slovak independence (first in relation to the Hungarians, and later the Czechs). Its stress on Catholicity, its demands for Slovak separatism (rather than federated autonomy), and its support for the politically active Slovak priests Hlinka and Tiso of the Slovak People 's Party during the Nazi period alienated from it the support of the non-Catholic Sokols and the National Slovak Society. Presently, the Slovak League is primarily affiliated with, and is somewhat the political arm of, the First Catholic Slovak Union. All, however, collaborated in the period from 1907 (the year of the League's founding) throughout the First World War and in the early postwar period, toward the founding of the (First) Republic of Czecho-Slovakia (as the Slovaks prefer to spell it). The Slovak Catholic priesthood has always been at odds with the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, frequently accusing its members of being atheists and communists. The latter, however, have historically supported Slovak national aspirations, though apart from any religious considerations. This is reflected in the membership of the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, where only Slav-ness, not religion, was a qualification for membership. As a consequence, the Slovak Catholic (Latin and Byzantine Rite) religious dissidents, as well as Slovak Protestants , tended to gravitate to the Slovensky Sokol, and the NSS rather than to Jednota or the Katolicky Sokol. Furthermore, the -0verlap in membership equally relfects this distinction. Members would mosi; likely belong to Katolicky Sokol. Slovak Lutherans , of course , would join the Slovensky Sokol and the NSS. The above politico-religious concerns , however, refer only to the �SLOVAKIA 71 \ older and middle age groups, who are the mainstay of the fraternal organizations. For the younger age group, under 36, Slovak national concerns are for the most part a matter of ancestry rather than immediacy. Apart from religious issues, criteria of membership in Slovak fraternals have during the past decades gradually become less exclusivistic. In the early by-laws, Slovak birth or descent was usually specified (together with a particular religious affiliation, where relevant). By the period following World War I, membership was widened to those of Slavic origin or ancestry (with religious specificity, where relevant). In 1937 the NSS extended membership to non-Slovak spouses married to Slovak members and their children. In the 1930's, the GCU extended membership to spouses so long as the spouse was Catholic. In the 1960's, membership in the Catholic organization was opened to Catholics of any nationality, while in the non-religious affiliated Slovak-American fratemals membership was opened to "anyone," implicitly or explicitly referring to whites of Christian faith. A young officer of the GCU said that he would like to see a change in bylaws that would open the organization to all Christians, removing the restriction to Catholics. Accompanying the opening of membership has been a gradual change in the organizations' names, first from the full length Slovak name to a shortened name, normally one word from the full name (Jednota from the First Catholic Slovak Union, Sobranije from the Greek Catholic Union). Then from the 1930's and on, the English title became more important and today predominates. Names became less European-sounding: the Slovak Evangelical Union became in 1960 the United Lutheran Society; the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA became Sokol USA. The young official of the GCU mentioned above suggested that if membership were opened to all Christians, he would like to see the name of the organization officially changed to the initials GCU only, and later "we might call it the Greater Beneficial Union / the name changed from German Beneficial Union / no, that's the GBU ... but you know what I mean.'' The direction then, would be that of an American-sounding name. Similar to this trend has been that from Slovak (or Rusin and Eastern Slovak in the Greek Catholic organizations) to English in the official publications or newspapers of fratemals. The newspapers themselves were founded shortly after the organization of the fratemals and were entirely in Slovak (with the above distinction). At the beginning of the 1930's, under pressure of the American-born membership, pages began to be devoted to stories, articles, and announcements in the �72 SLOVAKIA English language. It should be added, however, that from the days of World War I, all of the papers and English-language sections were on American history, patriotism, the American constitution, government, and citizenship. By the 1950's, 50 percent and more of the space was in the English language. For instance, after the 1964 Milwaukee Convention of Sokol USA, Slovensky Sokol devoted 76 percent of its space to English material. At the 1966 National Convention in Tampa, through an act of the General Assembly of the convention, the name of the official publication was changed from Slovensky Sokol to Sokol Times, and the paper is now entirely English-language, as is that of the United Societies, Prosvita (Enlightenment). Nevertheless, such papers as Jednota, Katolicky Sokol, and the GCU Messenger are half-English, halfSlovak; Narodne Noviny is about 25 percent Slovak. What I emphasize here is the overall direction of change. The annual Kalendar or Yearbook of the Greek Catholic Union provides an excellent and generalizable source by which changes since the first decade of the 20th century can be observed and traced. I examined the annual Kalendar of the GCU spanning the years 1903 through 1972 (with considerable gaps in the 1930's and 1940's due to schism within the society over the issue of clerical celibacy). Although the GCU was founded in 1892, the oldest available Kalendar in storage was that of 1903. The following table gives the title on the cover, a summary of advertisements which reflect contemporary issues (migration, home owning, etc.), the nature of written characters for non-English sections (Latin or Cyrillic), subjects of early essays on Americanization (1903-1932), and the language employed by the exarch / bishop in his introductory message. By the late 1960's, at least half of the Kalendar (totaling in the 1960's 90 pages) was in English. (See Table 6). To summarize the table: Through the 1930's, there were advertisements in the Kalendar for such goods and services as banks, saloons, hotel, liquors, a variety of medicinal cures, boat tickets, home building (financing, mortgages, titles, etc.), shipping from overseas, etc. Essays were written on such subjects as American history (including praiseworthy accounts of American founding heroes and legendary leaders), an explanation of American government and how to participate in it, why and how to obtain citizenship, descriptions of the nature of the population and geography of the United States, accounts of farming in the United States and of technolo~cal innovations from the zeppelin through the airplane. Considerable space was likewise devoted to a description of the Slovak-Rusin homeland, culture, religious �SLOVAKIA 73 \ customs, etc. Although much of the writing through the 1930's was in eastern Slovak-Rusin dialect and written in either or both Cyrillic and Latin characters, English was used in essays on American history and government as early as 1905, when the article was printed in both languages. Americanization, more specifically, bridge-building between the insular ethnic world and the more expanding American world, was one of the major early agendas of the fraternals. Americanization was also one of the major points of stress between traditionalists and acculturationists that led to attrition of membership and schism in churches and fraternals alike. On the one hand, the Polish National Catholic Church and the Slovak National Catholic Church, a variety of independent Rusin-eastern, Slovak-western, and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, and the United Societies of USA (among others) broke with their Americanizing-Irishizing-Latinizing denationalizing parent organizations and became bastions of tradition (e.g., in liturgy, in customs, etc.) - only to acculturate internally. On the other hand, even the most traditionalist societies zealously urged Americanization both by exhortation and by the example of its leadership - including the clergy. SCHISM, DECLINE, AND CULTURE Let me use several nodal points in the history of the Greek Catholic Union to illustrate the convulsions to which conflict between the acculturationists and traditionalists led. The GCU schism of 1902 led to the founding of a new fraternal association, the United Societies of USA (Sobranije). At the 1902 Convention of the Greek Catholic Union, there was strong debate over whether or not the largely Magyarone RusinSlovak clergy leadership would be permitted to retain their official position, since they insisted on remaining citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary. The convention overwhelmingly voted that henceforth all officers of the GCU would have to be American citizens. Moreover, there was a long-standing resentment against domination of Slovak or Rusin parishioners by a Magyar or Magyarone clergy. In Hungary, the laity could do nothing about it. But in America, former peasants could vote out those who were either of the Hungarian aristocracy or had used the church - and ethnic assimilation - as a means of social mobility. The orientation toward a secular leadership made the process complete: the Byzantine Catholic laity of the fraternal would be a strong supporter of the Church but would not be its tool. The United Societies of USA, conversely, retained priests among �.. .. ... .. .. .. . .. .. • • ---- ___________ KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOIJC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES. GEORGE BATYKO) Message by Advertisements Written Exarch I Characters Bishop Year Cyrillic Slovak Rus. Eng. Early Americanization Topics Cover Title - -- - - - - - - Amerikansko-Russko- J ·1903 Banks• , Saloons, Slovensky Kalendar Hotels , Liquors , Medical Cures , • Boat Tickets• Am. History (Rusin) 1904 • Amerikansky-Russko- 1905 Am. Government (Rusin & English) • Slovensky Kalendar Am. fanning, airplane, zeppelin 1909 (Eng.) Amerikansko-Russko- 1914 Banking-Shipping•, Am . Hist. (Rus .), population • Slovensky Kalendar Cures, Liquors of U. S. (Eng.) Banking•• Sokola Sojedinenija Citizenship / naturalization / 1921 • • govt. (Eng.) ,, Am. Hist., govt., loyalty, how Banking** 1924 • to use checking (Eng.) Kai. Soj . Gr. Kaft. 1926 Banking**, Financing, Russkich Bratstv. Home Building, y • • Religious Publications Am . Hist. , govt. (Rus.) , Cit. / 1932 Title & Mortgage Nat. (Eng.) Guarantee co., • • Banks , Boat Tick...,.. ets, Medical Cures K. Gr. Kaft. Sod . none 1953 S. S. A. • 1955 • • TABLE5 > A > < r 0 V, .:,. '-I �" " " " " " 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Gr. Kaft. Sod . S.S. A . " " " " " " " " " " Message by Exarch I B ishop • • . . . • . • ..• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . .• . Cyrillic_ Slovak Eng . . Early Americanization Topics - -- - - - Rus. Written Characters • Rovnianek (Pittsburgh) in particular •• Money orders, drafts, credit, savings , import, interest *** Diamond Jubilee Almanac GCU Calendar GCU of USA*** Gr. Kaft. Sod . v S. S. A. GCU Calendar " " " " " 1956 D. Gr . Kaft. Sod. S.S. A. " First Federal S&L of Homestead none Year -- Cover Title Advertisements KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES . GEORGE BATYKO) TABLE 5 (Continued) ., Vl 'I )> A < )> r 0 V) �76 SLOVAKIA its officials through the present; its birth dates from when a number of delegates walked out of the GCU convention in 1902 and founded its first church-affiliated lodge in McKeesport. At the height of its membership in the mid-1920's, United Societies counted some 27,000 in its adult and juvenile branches. By 1970, the last year for which actuarial figures were made available to me, membership had declined to 5,600; since 1930, membership enrollment by young adults has precipitously declined . (See the following Tables 6 -9 assembled from the actuarial records of the United Societies of USA, public domain.) Within the GCU during the intervening years, a second, even more dramatic schism took place in the 1930's over the issue of priestly celibacy - reflecting the conflict between the traditionalists, who argued in favor of a married priesthood and the acculturationists or ''Latinizers ," who advocated clerical celibacy. While no documented figures were available to me, a number of informants agreed that some 60,000 to 70,000 members, or roughly half the membership, defected. The GCU had been organized in 1892; the Juvenile Branch in 1906; the Gymnastic Branch in 1910. It totals some 1,300 lodges and is licensed as an insurance corporation in 12 states (United Societies, in 6). At the height of membership in 1929, the GCU numbered some 60,000 members in its General or Adult Branch, 20,000 in its Falcon Branch, and 65,000 in its Juvenile Branch. The cataclysm which cost the GCU half its membership occurred in 1929. As early as 1924, the Pope had dispatched Bishop Takach back to the United States with instructions that married priests , common in the Byzantine Rite in Europe, were not to be ordained. However, ordination continued for several years through what were described as "loopholes. " In 1929 came a specific papal decree, Cum Data, forbidding the ordination of married priests in the United States. This finalization led to the immediate defection of thousands of GCU members. If this were not earthquake enough, during the 1920's all ethnic fratemals in Pennsylvania were brought under the increasingly strict regulation of the Insurance Department, which consequence was an immediate precipitous drop in the membership of all Slovak-American insurance-related fratemals. Members could no longer be assessed equally, and amounts collected varied from month to month on the basis of the past month's claims, but were rate\f according to the National Fraternal Congress table of "attained age a~ June, l, 1933." That is, members were required to pay on the basis of age, with premiums increasing with age . The new rates were adopted in June 1932 by the GCU. The National Slovak Society and the men 's and ladies' divisions �0 4 5 12 35 51 68 51 42 10 12 28 49 69 83 82 77 88 75 0 70 1 85+ 0 0 0 1 ., 0 1 1 0 6 1 4 7 18 29 15 35 33 34 69 80 0 1 In the Adult Branches, the Falcon and Main Branches have always been combined for bookkeeping purposes . 2 This figure gives the total membership in United Societies . It should be noted that at age 16, one is eligible to transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch (Main or Falcon) . One may transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch between the 16th and 18th birthday. 3 The report for 1950 was missing, so the 1949 figures were used instead . 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. This means that it is no longer possible to compare membership at ages 16 and 18 in the Juvenile Branch with that in the Adult Branch. 5 An e xplanation for the increase lies in the adoption by the United Societies of the Byzantine Life Savings policy in August, 1968. It is a policy that is sold by agents of the United Societies, an effort to expand the boundaries of fratemalism on a more traditionally commercial basis . It is a 21-year savings program, which one may enter up to age 45 . At the end of the 21 years, the money is returned to the policy owner. Its advantage is that it is insured savings, although the insurance coverage decreases with each year. For the older people , it provides the certainty of a little income . United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports (Penna., Ohio, New Jersey , West Virginia, etc.) Membership: Adult and Juvenile ADULT: MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES! Membership per attained age categories Total : Adult & Total : Year Juvenile2 Adult 55 60 65 16 18 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 46 16 3 8652 135 128 131 236 272 367 279 185 1924 565 275 212 1926 346 517 1928 55 28 1930 19339 10159 320 372 342 114 135 227 254 290 233 191 70 153 186 227 165 122 30 7472 61 127 177 120 1935 13393 36 41 86 85 51 41 111 152 192 135 92 1940 8857 5464 7 59 70 51 73 130 151 145 49 76 106 107 99 1945 7399 5235 18 19493 48 67 69 86 63 57 58 146 133 130 6285 4739 4 18 19554 43 72 44 46 54 82 78 82 56 65 106 107 5472 25 76 89 47 43 5290 68 52 44 15 55 57 97 1960 73 78 42 37 17 27 53 46 41 1965 4812 90 63 50 19705 47 45 5628 101 60 52 38 99 107 129 118 40 27 - TABLES "" )> A < )> Vl r 0 �,,.. - 63 60 101 52 44 5456 91 613 237 231 18 68 90 16 348 418 191 299 153 93 72 6 This figure is for age 17, as it is the last listed, no figure being given for age 18 in the Juvenile Branch. 7 See Note . 4 on previous page . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Membership: Adult and Juvenile JUVENILE BRANCH Membership per attained age categories Total Year Juvenile 0 1 2 10 1928 201 282 549 672 1930 9180 183 426 647 1935 5921 301 456 1940 3393 45 47 48 195 1945 2164 32 81 64 134 1949 1546 28 28 40 62 48 81 51 50 19557 1960 133 150 84 69 1965 33 74 80 88 1970 9 31 30 83 TABLE7 > )> ;ii;;: < r 0 V') 0:, " �1 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted Ond Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. W - Written Rev. - Revived Rec . - Received Iner. - Increased Mat. - Maturity Surr. - Surrender Dec . - Decrease Exp. - Expiry Other - non-specified (However, for 1935, I would suspect that the 81 in this category belong elsewhere, probably in 'Surrender.') United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches ADULT: (se e below for abbreviations) - - MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES Benefit Certificates . . . In force In force Dec . 31 Dec. 31 Year last yr. W this yr. Death Lapse Rev . Rec. Iner. Surr. Dec. Exp. Other -Mat. 1925 14908 2220 15574 133 1524 103 1926 15574 3833 18141 145 1121 1928 10704 11102 114 10313 1930 527 77 10159 . 652 1 1935 7534 279 80 7472 89 332 81 5621 1940 80 15 5464 98 154 1945 5296 139 4 5235 93 91 20 1949 4864 47 4739 113 23 35 1 19551 5356 360 5472 105 19 86 34 5514 1960 217 5290 108 248 41 44 1965 4907 160 4812 103 74 16 36 26 1970 5054 599 193 5628 91 91 30 5 1 TABLES ~ "'° 7' > > < Vl r 0 �1702 81 16 723 2g3 Transfer 1 The figures for the Juvenile Branch list only up to age 16, so it is ambiguous as to whether Juveniles past their 16th birthday are included in tne figure of 9401. 2 transfer to Falcon Branch . 3 transfer to Senior (Main) Branch. 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches JUVENILE BRANCH: Benefit Certificates In force In force Dec . 31 Received Dec . 31 Terminated b1: last yr. by transfer Increased this yr. Year Written Revived Death Lapse 19281 9401 884 49 42 1930 9239 9180 810 968 1935 6384 597 5921 11 7 470 1940 3740 136 10 3393 223 1945 2356 115 2164 12 1949 1636 60 1546 1 120 19554 1960 1965 ,,, . 1970 - TABLE9 > 7' > ~ r (./') ~ �SLOVAKIA 81 of the First Catholic Slov~ Union (Jednota) had been the first to comply in 1930. The state requirement of solvency was reflected in high premiums for the older members who, in the Depression years, could not pay. Each insurance company had to make up the deficit. The 1929 law required that all fraternal societies re-rate their policies within five years. Not that this external policing had not been attempted before. But now, like the papal decree on celibacy, the law was final. Between 1892 and 1909 or 1910, each member of the GCU had been assessed 50 cents, 60 cents, or 75 cents a month, depending on how much was customarily collected at a given lodge. There was no uniformity of policy even within the GCU. In 1909 or 1910, the GCU lodges went under an '' Assessment System,'' such that the amount due from each member was determined by the claims of the past month. Thus the assessment varied from month to month, but was internally regulated by the lodge. Around 1910, the state began to appear in the picture, proposing that members of fraternals pay according to age. Some fraternals put a lien on each member's policy, but this did not sufficiently raise revenues. In 1918 , the National Fraternal Congress Table of Mortality provided a uniform schedule according to which each member was to be rated according to the age at which he or she had joined the organization. But, even where this table was applied, it did not bring lodges or national offices anywhere approaching solvency. In Pennsylvania, the Insurance Department saw that the fraternals were functionally decentralized and operated on a day-to-day economic calculus - which, incidentally, was the traitional Slovak way of pooling resources in the extended family. It applied pressure for greater fraternal centralization and economic foresight. As of 1924, new members were to be rated according to the American Experience Table of Rates. However, the old members could continue to pay the prior National Fraternal Congress rate. This, too, did not greatly move the GCU and other Slovak-American fraternals toward solvency. Finally, the 1929 Pennsylvania law was implemented, and its effect paradoxical: it "worked" with amazing effectiveness according to the canons of American economic planning, but utterly disrupted the Slovak way of doing business. To summarize, then : the most compelling factors in declining membership within the Slovak-American fraternals were (a) the increasing cultural Americanization of their members and the availability of fraternal and insurance options within the cultural mainstream; (b) the increased influence of external (e .g., state) forces in the management of the internal affairs of the associations; (c) the devastating in- �82 SLOVAKIA fluence of the Great Depression over members' abilities to keep up payment of premiums on policies (undoubtedly influenced by " b " ); (d) the fraternal officials ' internal acculturation of the associations into "American" institutions (self-motivated as well as impelled by "b"). There remains an extremely potent factor in fraternal schism and attrition much less obvious to the observer's eye than those already discussed, one which the national president of a Slovak-American fraternal in his early 70' s poignantly articulated: ... we are still declining, there is an explanation for it. There was nothing ever done in this society. There was feeble attempts made to try to get the younger generation to become interested in our / fraternal society / . . .. we now lose, on an average of 1200 members a year .... you take in our generation, our parents were interested in our society and as soon as kids were born they put them in the lodge, the mother or father would always make sure that they would come to the meeting once a month and pay their dues. Even after they got married, the would pay their dues , do you follow me? Now, after they were on their own, had their own families they would say: "Here is your policy. Do you want to keep it. We pay till now. You can make your wife your beneficiary. " Lot of them kept it, and a lot of them turned around and cashed whatever they could get for it. See, where the old people wouldn't do that, and this younger generation isn't like the older generation. They say: " I don't need this or that." Now once again I say, it's not all of them, but the majority. They aren't worried so much like the old people were about their future. All they care is they get a new car, or good times, and when they are in trouble they come to their parents to help them out. Shortly thereafter, he spoke of local lodge meetings: The younger kids, they come, some of them come, some come and just pay their dues. They're in a hurry. They're always in a hurry. You see , I'll tell you. I think the biggest dam fault in all our fraternals. We used to have meetings every month at every lodge. I know I went as a younster, we came to the League, as a young fellow, 18, 19 years old, 20, 21. We would go to the Assemblies. All these old timers come to the meetings. It was always in the Slovak language, and if you\wanted the floor or ask permission to say something, and if you couldn""t. explain yourself well in the Slovak language, say in butchered up language, Slovak and English mixed together, the president of �SLOVAKIA 83 _ _ _ _ says: "Sit down you snot nose you. You can't express yourself in Slovak, you can sit down. You are out of order." Well, naturally these younger people think, they say "Oh, my goodness gracious." You get red in the face, these young people, then they don't know what to do. Then they sit through it and first chance that they got to go home, "They won't get me back here with a bull rope." Instead of being nice to them and courteous, ''OK, we understand you, go ahead and say in English what you want to say. We want you to come." And once you drive them away, oh boy, it's hard to bring them back. That's been the trouble all these fratemals, whether it's the Slovak Catholic, whether it's the National Slovak Society or the. First Catholic Slovak Union. It's the same condition and a lot of those old timers, when they held office, they thought they were supposed to be there till they die. The younger people, they need to bring these people in . . . . Another official, participating in the interview, later interjected: ... That old fellow who would come to the conventions, and make a rousing speech, "We have got to get our young people to take over our offices in our local assemblies, in the national,'' yet he wouldn 't give up his damn job .... (from field notes, June 1978) The chronic, occasionally acute conflict (expressed institutionally in schism) which these officers articulate is a generational conflict be- tween fathers and sons, once contained within the traditional familiar and manorial system, but now run openly rife in the expressively more permissive American cultural setting. We have already seen this conflict in another form: the 1902 schism within the GCU which led to the founding of the United Societies of USA, precipitated by the issue of allegiance to the U.S. versus allegiance to the parental-land and representatives of its authority. This conflict at the macro-institutional level is dynamically identical with the deeply traditional family struggle in Slovak culture: parental holding on versus letting go of authority, power, status, property, and roles. What I have discussed elsewhere in terms of traditional and Slovak-American personality, family dynamics, and culture change (Stein 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1976, 1978a, 1978b, 1979, Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) is dynamically identical and isomorphic with the conflict at the macro-institutional level. Traditionally as well as in the New World, unquestioning respect for and obedience to the will and authority of elders was paramount. In the official cultural ethos, the father's word and will were absolute; �84 SLOVAKIA deference was due to him no matter what. With the breakdown of the manorial order in Slovakia between 1848 and the great migration of 1880-1920 , sons began demanding a greater say in the running of family affairs . If fathers refused to relinquish some of their traditional prerogatives , sons now had options from setting up separate households to emigration . The vastly extended " joint family " diminished into the " stem family " (Goldschmidt and Kunkel 1971) in which frequently only a son or two, and daughter or two would live with or near the parents (cf. Koenig 1937) . The children now were able to place demands upon the parents , and to leave if dissatisfied. This is precisely what happened openly in the U.S., which official ethos was based on revolutionary separation from parents who, as the motto goes , exacted " taxation without representation, " an experience that strikes at the heart of the Slovak experience as well. Of course, this never was a matter of either / or. As I have demonstrated in the above cited works , moves centrifugal toward autonomy have evoked enormous ambivalence , guilt, restitution, and centripetal countervailing moves on the part of parents. Nonetheless , the above officials have identified as a decisive ingredient in the attrition of the young from Slovak-American fratemals the demand by the young for respect by the elders, a reversal of tradition that is at the same time traditionally and quintessentially '' American.'' It is thus not enough to say that the young defectors had been " Americanized ," and that the diehards remained doggedly "traditional. '' The elder officials of the Slovak-American fratemals could not mobilize the constraints they once yielded under the much hated manorial and Magyar yoke to compel those who they contemptuously regarded as " snotty nosed" youth to speak their language: Slovak. It should further be noted that language was wielded by the officials as a tool of power - but an impotent tool. Ironically, the youth, in the 1910's and 1920' s , attempted to express their interest in ethnicity in English, but were dismissed as out of order by parental-clergy-fraternal-elder figures who sought to safe-guard their venerable Slovak ethnicity by passing it on through institutional measures (churches, gynmastics , literary clubs). However, the fact of institutionalization of tradition was disqualified by the attitude of the founders toward those who would succeed them - which very " success " aroused their fear and countervailing animosity toward the Slovak-American youth. The very nature of many officers ' traditionalism led to the ardent Americanization by the young, whose consequence for the fratemals was decline in membership. ' �SLOVAKIA 85 ATHLETIC PROGRAMS IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS: INTERNAL CHANGE AND CONTINUITY Similar directional change can be seen in the history of athletic programs within the Slovak-American fraternals. The baseline was the Slovak Sokol (Falcon) or gymnastic society. The earliest Sokols had been founded in Bohemia in 1862 by Jindrich Fuegner and Miroslav Tyrs , derived from the German Turnvereine . The Sokols were used in Europe both as vehicles for nativism and Pan-Slavic solidarity. In the U.S. , they tended to follow ethnic lines and intra-ethnic schisms. Initially most of the fraternal organizations were divided into full membership branches: general (adult), juvenile (up to ages 16-18) , and Sokol. Between the ages of 16 and 18, one transferred from the juvenile branch to either the general or the Sokol branch. The Sokol branch stressed group gymnastics. Beyond local activities, each branch combined with other lodges, organizations, and conducted district, regional, national, and international slets (mass calisthenic displays) . Separate Sokol / insurance fraternals later developed. During the first decades of the twentieth century, baseball attracted considerable interest in fraternal and church groups , and if not competed for time with the gymnastic activity, it at least paralleled it. By the 1930's, Sokol activity began a slow decline, while baseball was attracting more interest. And in the mid and late 1930' s, the first fraternal bowling leagues were formed, later organized into district, regional, and national competition along the same lines as were the gymnastics. With the preparation for and American entry into World War II Sokol programs were drastically cut when the young Sokols and Sokolettes and instructors took part in the war. Great hopes were placed on a revival following the war, but there was no such revival. Quite the reverse . Those lodges which were discontinued during the war were never revived. ' ' At least fifty percent of the former gymnastically-active lodges became dormant ; numerous Sokol halls were lost; and most of the prewar instructors and directors disappeared from the physical education field . The indifference and apathy on the part of .. . Sokol membership , and officers as well, also were responsible for this decline ." (Andrew Venglarcik, Jr., " President's Column," Sokol Times, Jan . 14, 1972 , p. 3). Despite efforts by the Supreme Lodge of Sokol USA and other control bodies to induce renewal by the appropriation of larger funds for the Sokols , promises of salaries and the payment of travel expenses, there was little positive response on the part �86 SLOVAK IA of the membership . The Sokol USA slet held in 1966 was a veritable miniature compared with those of the 1920's. The influence of World War II was pervasive on both those who participated in it and in the home communities. Two facts are especially noteworthy: (a) that the virtual collapse of Sokol gynmastics was merely one small aspect of this transformation from Slovak to American, and (b) that the fact of the war did not so much cause the change as it rapidly accelerated a process already under way. Baseball, already popular before the war, was equally popular during the war in the informal games by American soldiers at recreation in training or overseas. Although the soldiers returned with baseball, they did not return it to their fraternal lodges, but instead to their industrial teams, American Legion teams, war veterans ' teams, and so forth . At the Sokol lodges, bowling became the sport. Only in the 1960's did local bowling lodge teams begin to decline. From the late 1940's and early 1950's bowling began to compete with golf, which was subsequently organized in districts, regions, and nationally. From the mid-1960 's , golf became the major activity, all of this taking place as the elderly are passing on, the young either not joining or cashing in their policies when they mature , the lodges becoming smaller and more difficult to justify and maintain. What is the meaning of the transformation in athletic activities? What has changed, and what has remained? The only remnant is that of group competition. Slets displayed competitive gymnastic groups, and baseball, bowling, and golf were organized as competitive tournaments at the various levels . But there is a gradual incorporation into the group of increasing individualism, in contrast with the "mechanical solidarity" of group gymnastics . In all of these, what the individual does is for the sake of the group effort. But the individual as a separate entity is increasingly emphasized. The team-orientation of a baseball team is far greater than that of the bowling team, because, as in the group gymnastic display, all of the members ' (or at least the playing members ' ) actions must be coordinated. This is not the case in bowling or golf, where the group is cumulative and sequential, rather than synchronized. In bowling and golf, individual efforts (and accomplishments) are not directly coordinated with tho'se of others, although they are added to them. In these '' individualistic' •· sports, individual actions are apart from the group , not subsumed under group effort as they necessarily are in the slet and in sports like baseball. Psychologically, the meaning of these sports differs greatly from the earlier " team" sports , where the individual could never be " taken out" of the group . �SLOVAKIA 87 \ This point has been well made by Andrew J. Valusek, President of Sokol USA: '' ... we believe in mass training more than emphasis on individual excellence, even though outstanding Sokol athletes are honored and play an important role in the life and achievements of the movement itself (Souvenir Book, 15th Sokol USA Slet, July 1-3, 1966, New York). This transformation in atheltics reflects what is simultaneously a cultural and psychological transformation: from Slovak to American, from group-oriented to individual-oriented, from coordinated interdependence to self-reliant independence. Furthermore, the incorporation of American athletic activities represented a new social status for the group . The lodge members had adopted within an ethnic framework typically mainstream American social activities. Increasingly, ancestral ethnicity was the basis for association, while categories of American culture dominated the content of the activity. MEN'S CLUB AND SECRET SOCIETY My final consideration in the history of the Slovak-American fraternals is its vital ' 'latent'' function as an exclusive men's club. This refers, of course, to male fraternal organizations or a compartmentalized activity of a male fraternal. The men's club provided and safeguarded a haven and refuge from women, family, and responsibility. It occasioned regularized " rituals of rebellion" (Gluckman 1954; Wallace 1966). This is not a matter of the writer's interpretations but derives from informants ' statements as well as the writer's observations. In Slovakia and Ruthenia, the village tavern had fulfilled this release function. In those Slovak-American organizations whose meetings were held under the strict supervision of the priest, the conclusion of a meeting was frequently followed by a visit to the Slovak Club . Many fraternals held their lodge meetings in one of the rooms at the Slovak Club. At the club , heavy drinking, card and craps playing, mournful and boisterous Slovak folk song, and " men' s talk" occupied the hours and filled the air. Abetted by the influences of "boilermakers'' (a shot of whiskey with a beer as chaser), the unspeakable literally emptied into the open. Taboos were cavalierly broken - at least in word. Built on shared experiences and conflicts, the male associations offered one of the few opportunities for male solidarity. Both in Europe and in the first several decades in the U.S., Saturday night was the ritual occasion for the unbottling of the week's pent up burdens. In the U.S. , the male solidarity of Slovak-American fraternal and the Slovak Club came to be predominantly associated with the immi- �88 SLOVAKIA grant generation. With the second and later generations, from the 1940's and on, this function became transferred to union halls, service veterans' clubs, American fraternal orders, and local bars, whether located adjacent to the mill or in one's neighborhood. These became places where men from varied ethnic backgrounds (though as exclusively white as they were exclusively male) could commiserate and boast of extracurricular feats on the war front and on the home front alike, out of reach of female domination and ridicule. In the original Slovak tavern the American Slovak Club, and later supra-ethnic American adaptations, lusty fiction compensated for social realities too miserable to acknowledge, and over which one felt no control. Through group support, one was able, without too great a burden on the conscience, to take a temporary moral holiday. And a man knew that later confession and communion could always undo - again temporarily what he had dared to think or say or do under the influence of potent spirits. SLOVAK-AMERICAN CHURCHES: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TRENDS A detailed history of Slovak-American parishes at the local and national levels, over the past century, exactly duplicates the history of the fraternals . For this reason, and for economy of space, I would like to review the major trends and give a brief ''life history'' of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, which history will embody these trends. Each of the churches in which I conducted fieldwork (Latin Rite, Byzantine Rite, Independent Rite Catholic, and Lutheran) either experienced the convulsion of schism or was a product of schism. Each of these parishes experiences the on-going drama of conflict between traditionalists and acculturationists. And in each of these parishes, the resolution is identical: (a) outward mobility of dissident acculturationists (and, in some cases, traditionalists for whom even the majority of parish traditionalists have compromised too much); (b) internal acculturation and inter-marriage, creating supra-ethnic denominationalized parishes ; (c) the "territorialization" of "nationality '' parishes (this language comes from khe Catholic diocesan context, but is univerally applicable) . The same directional change is evidenced since the 1930's in Slo- �SLOVAKIA " 89 vak-American churches as in fratemals: that is, away from ethnic exclusiveness and insularity. Initially, religion, like fratemalism, was an inseparable functional component of ethnicity. Today, in the context of an individual's increasingly personal community" (Gould 1970: 148), a traditional social structural view is empirically invalidated. "Religion" and "ethnicity" have become increasingly separate domains of one's life. This is true even for those originally nationality parishes which, in the 1960's or early 1970's, still maintained a large membership and which could afford to build a new parish further "up the hill" or out in suburbia. I think, for instance, of two parishes in Duquesne, Pennsylvania: Holy Trinity (Slovak) Roman Catholic Church, which, in the late 1960's, built a dazzlingly modem church in the suburb of West Mifflin in which many of the second and third generation lived, but which became de jure a supra-ethnic territorial parish in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; and Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, originally located in the same neighborhood as Holy Trinity, but which built a modem church building in the mid-1960's a mile or two further up the hill, in a stable white, middle-class, poly-ethnic neighborhood. Cross-cutting denominational lines is the decisive influence of World War Il in accelerating, though not causing, the Americanization process within Slovak-American parishes, and with it, division or further schism. The ubiquity of this process I have discovered from discussions with Latin and Byzantine Rite Catholic, Lutheran, and Independent Catholic Slovak-American clergymen and parishioners. A Slovak Lutheran minister in his late forties, who grew up in Johnstown, Penna., relates his experience there and generalizes from it: In my church in Johnstown, there was no English until 1942 - at least until 1942, when I left for World War II. When I left, no English had been introduced. But after war, the young people coming back demanded that English be adopted as a separate service. The effect of the war was to put people of all different backgrounds together, and the common language there was English. The men thought and spoke and felt in English, so that when they got home after the war, their native towns and churches were like a foreign country. The delicate questions, then, as always, was how to contain or try to contain change within continuity. In McKeesport, Penna., Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church had been founded in 1895 as a "nationality" parish within the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese (Holy Trinity 1970; Slovak Catholic Par- �90 SLOVAKIA ishes and Institutions, 1955). In 1921 the church had a membership of some 1, 700 individuals and 325 families. In that year, the bishop appointed a priest of Alsatian-German ancestry to succeed the Slovak priest who many elderly parishioners allege returned to Slovakia under dubious circumstances (e.g. , with church funds?). Not so much the new priest's ethnicity as his antagonistic, condescendingly anti-Slovak style precipitated a schism in which some 300 families left to found Sts . Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, later renamed Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This priest remained the pastor of the church until his death in 1963, and was succeeded by a second-generation Slovak-American priest who remained pastor until his retirement in the mid-1970's. This period witnessed considerable Americanization of everything from liturgy to architecture to the aesthetics of the sanctuary. The immense wood-spires gave way to marble. The dusty baldachino was taken down in the 1960' s. The sanctuary of the church has fewer and fewer statues and candles. The interior became increasingly lighter and brightly lit. The Slovak mass on Sunday morning (one mass out of the four) , attended mostly by the older people, was phased out by the late 1960's. At the Diamond Jubilee Celebration (75 yrs.) in 1970, no Slovak was used in the special mass. (As I left the service, I overheard one man , perhaps in this 60 's, exclaim to a friend: " Couldn 't he have said something in Slovak?'') In 1975, a young third-generation Slovak-American priest became pastor and initiated weekly Charismatic Renewal Services , held in the church social hall and open to and attended by Catholics from parishes throughout McKeesport. Thus, what began as an exclusively ethnic parish has become internally a multi-ethnic territorial Roman Catholic parish though with explicitly acknowledged ties to an ethnic past. Moreover, it is the site for decidedly contemporary American cultic activity that stresses the direct, personal religious experience. The possible conflict between the priest and Eucharist-centererd formalism of the traditional mass (now in the vernacular English) and the participatory Charismatic Service of heightened self-expression and testimonial has at least for the moment been settled by compartmentalization. At the present time (see Table 10), the membership is large enough (roughly 1,800 members) , and its >decline due to the greater proportion of deaths over baptisms gradual e:eough to assure the parish at least several decades of "life." But, clearly the nature of the religious experience has changed decisively over the past 85 years . The word ' 'Slovak '' was officially dropped from the name of the church in �SLOVAKIA 91 \ the 1960's. • The parish is becoming increasingly working-class Catholic in its expressive function. The so-called Latinization and Irishization of the church has most recently been succeeded by a new type of American religious nativism: here , however, the change is induced far less from without than from within. To date, St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, and St. Mark Lutheran Church have solved the generational gap between traditionalists and acculturationists through separate services. Sts. Cyril and Methodius alternates Sundays with English and Slovak services. At St. Mark, the Slovak service typically takes place early on Sunday, followed by the English service . At the much larger St. Nicholas, the Slavonic Mass is one of three masses offered on Sunday morning, the other two in English (for detailed histories of these parishes , see Stein 1972). If at Holy Trinity, " Latinization" mediated by " Irishization " underlay much internal conflict, at St. Nicholas a less direct though powerful Latinization has taken place, here mediated by the supra-local hierarchy from Byzantine Catholic bishop through Rome. Just as in Latin Rite Slovak-American parishes, the conglomerate of IrishizationLatinization-Americanization was a means of social mobility for the priesthood ; likewise within Byzantine Rite Slovak-American parishes, Latinization-Americanization, bypassing the Latin Rite, Irish-dominated Church , was a means of social mobility for its priesthood. This, however, was not original to the American context. For centuries, both Byzantine and Latin Rite Slovak priests frequently used Magyarization as a means of mobility in Slovakia. Likewise, in Europe as in America, Germanization was a means of social mobility for Slovak Lutheran clergy. In all cases , the process in America was continuous with that in Europe: only the specific content or reference group(s) changed. • Let me furthe r pursue the issue of " What' s in a name? " , the importance of name as personal meaning and identity, from the point of view of baptismal records in this parish . Both in traditional Slovakia, and in parish records through the early 1920' s, baptismal names we re largely Biblical , or reflected more eastern Slavic influence . Thus, most males were named Michael, John, Thomas , Andrew , George, Paul, Joseph, Stephen , Be rnard , Albert, Rudolph, Charles, and Ivan ; and females were named Martha, Helen , Margaret , Mary, Anna , Elizabeth , and Ivana. American names, including the addition of a middle name, began to appear sporadically in the late 1910's , but grew in the 1920's and thereafter . For instance : Ella Sue, Stanley J oseph , Ethel Elizabeth, Emma Marie , Virginia , Robert William , George Edward (all before 1930) , Anna Mae, Rose Marie , Dorothy Mae , Virginia Louise, Patricia J ane , Lucille Diane , Gary Michael, William John , and so forth . �SLOVAKIA 92 TABLE 10 Diocese of Pittsburgh Holy Trinity (Slovak) Catholic Church Allegheny County McKeesport, PA Church reports at five year intervals (1896-1971): Year 1896 1901 1906 1911 1916 1921 1926 1931 1936 1941 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1974+ Souls (approximate)• 600 Families (approximate)• 180 905 210 1060 250 1200 1300 1800 2500 2700 300 300 400 600 600 600 600 600 500 600 600 610 675 667 2900 2886 3170 3180 3500 3500 2725 2540 2140 Baptisms 144 151 175 177 160 140 137 131 86 72 127 86 78 66 41 26 16 Deaths 50 . 67 109 30 48 50 30 45 38 37 24 36 39 40 35 37 50 • Priest' s estimate derived from traditional annual blessing of homes after Epiphany. + Last year data available. Moreover, this was hardly a process imposed exclusively from without or by the pastor. In the absence of schism, and in the aftermath of schism for those who chose to remain loyal to church and pastor, the direction taken by the pastor coincided with the direction sought by a majority of the congregation, through passive assent if not active work toward change. The matter is somewhat different for Sts. Cyril and Methodius, an independent Slovak Catholic church that has literally struggled for survival since its creation in 1921. Beginning with some 300 zealous families as Sts. Peter and Paul, it has now barely 100 members. In the 1920's it ambitiously built a new church, only to lose it to the bank in 1937. Just as, prior to building its own edifi<z, the church held services in Slovak Hall and in churches where it was welcomed, likewise after 1937, it held services at the YWCA and the Baptist Mission. In order to be exempt from any past or future debts incurred under its original �SLOVAKIA 93 \ name , Sts. Peter and Paul changed its name to Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the late 1930's . In its early period, the church had been served by a priest ordained by the Czecho-Slovak Independent Church in Slovakia. Later, when no priest could be found, Sts. Cyril and Methodius became affiliated with the parallel nativistic Polish National Catholic movement which had begun in Scranton, Penna. in 1897 (Fox, n .d.). Services were conducted at the local, inner-city Polish National Catholic Church , served by a Polish-American priest who said mass in Polish, while responsorials and hymns were sung in Slovak by the congregation. During the late 1960's, the Polish church began a building program in suburban McKeesport. At the same time, a Swedish Evangelical Free Church was vacating its church on the "hill" and moving to a more outlying district - where its members tended to be living, and away from the area in which blacks were now living in increasing numbers . The Slovak Independent church voted to purchase the Swedish church outright in 1967. So the church now had a home, but few members. Many had, in the intervening year, returned to Holy Trinity. Others joined Catholic or Protestant churches near their homes . Still others gravitated in increasing numbers to the Polish National Catholic Church: an institution which acted both to safeguard the Slovak church and as an agent of acculturation to the PNCC tradition. Indeed , one of the greatest areas of chronic conflict within Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been those who resist and resent the PNCC influence and those who accept it. From the outset, the Slovak National Catholic Church movement has been numerically small and politically weak in comparison with the PNCC, which now claims several hundreds of thousands of members in some 140 churches in the U.S. alone - and which movement diffused in the 1920's back to the mother country . Thus the direction of change in Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been toward PNCC and American acculturation. Like St. Mark, whose ' 'life history '' I present immediately below in detail rather than fragment , the membership of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is highly skewed toward the end of the life cycle , unbalanced by a substantial middle-aged population to compensate for the outward migration of young adults and the virtually non-existent birth-rate. While these examples are sufficient to illustrate the trend of culture change , I would like to tum to the history of St. Mark Lutheran Church , which should provide a depth missing in the breadth of the " trends " I have covered for the other churches . �94 SLOVAKIA ST. MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH: AN INSTITUTIONAL ''LIFE HISTORY'' St. Mark's was founded in 1913 by 25 members from the Slovak Evangelical Union Assembly 53 (a fraternal organization) organized in 1899 in Duquesne. The church was named the Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne. Between 1913 and 1919, ''lacking funds to either build or buy a place for a church site, the Church council called upon the nearby existing Grace Reformed Church ... for permission to use the church for services" (50th Anniversary Book, St. Mark Ev. Lutheran Church, Oct. 27, 1963) . Toward the end of the decade , Grace Reformed Church's growth compelled it to seek larger quarters elsewhere in Duquesne, making the building available for purchase. Slovak Lutherans from Duquesne and from the nearby communities of McKeesport and Glassport purchased the church building. In 1920, the parish was able to send a call for its first full-time pastor. In 1934, after no prior synodical affiliation, the church joined the Slovak Zion Synod, Lutheran Church of America, in which it has been a member ever since. In the 1930's, the Slovak Lutheran parish in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, experienced a schism between the more Americanized members and the traditionalists. The more Americanized members wanted English introduced into the service, and wanted to establish a Sunday School for their children in which English was the language of instruction. The more adamant Slovaks refused to permit any change. Between one-third and one-half of the congregation (over 150 members) left. They took up membership at the nearby German Lutheran and Engish Lutheran churches. The loss of membership in the 1930's precipitated a compromise initiated in 1940: an English-language Sunday School was founded, and English was adopted in the Vacation Bible School and in the Confirmation Class. The services, however, remained entirely in Slovak. The Second World War acted as a great catalyst of change toward the more rapid Americanization of the parish - not merely of this parish but thoughout Slovak Lutheran parishes. The younger members, many of them returning veterans, insisted on a separate English service. This structural change solved in part the probl~m of the different intergenerational linguistic and cultural orientatibns. Each age set, indeed cultural set, would have its own separate service. The Sunday morning Slovak service at the Duquesne parish is now a much shortened version of the traditional service. In this way, it has been adopted to the Ameri- �SLOVAKIA 95 can time-sense (e.g., hymns of an original 16-20 stanzas now reduced to 4-6). For occasions such •s Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, and Confirmation, joint services are held, with roughly half in English and half in Slovak, equally distributed throughout the service. In the 1960's, further measures were taken to Americanize the church. A majority of the younger members felt that the word "Slovak" in its name , as with the lengthy European-sounding name as a whole, discouraged non-Slovaks from joining. The younger age set wished to become an integrated member of the American Lutheran community rather than remain outside it. As a reflection of this attitude change, the name was changed from Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne to the more conventional St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, or simply St. Mark Lutheran Church. The church was named in honor of a saint because, as the pastor put it, ''most American churches are called Saint this or Saint that.'' Accompanying the change in name were concomitant changes in the by-laws whose effect was intended to parallel and validate the change in name. Whereas previously membership was restricted to Slovak Lutherans and their spouses (through conversion to Lutheranism), now membership was opened to all Lutherans irrespective of nationality background. For all practical purposes the church became ''two churches' ' : Slovak Lutheran and American Lutheran, the former using the Slovak liturgy, and the latter utilizing the Common Service Book of 1917 (United Lutheran Church of America) until the mid-1960's, then the authorized Service Book and Hymnal (Lutheran Church of America, 1968). However, the opening up of the church to new membership, together with the standardization of the liturgy, failed to attract new members or to retain the young. The Slovak population of Duquesne, like that of McKeesport and all other local milltowns on the Monongahela, had largely been moving to outlying districts, first up on ''the hill,'' later further out to "suburbs. " Mobility of membership to nearby " American Lutheran" churches almost inevitably followed. In the same area of Duquesne as St. Mark Church were former Slovak Roman Catholic (Holy Trinity, Duquesne) and Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Catholic (Sts. Peter and Paul) churches . Sts. Peter and Paul had completed a new church far up on the hill in early 1960, and Holy Trinity completed a new church out in the suburb of West Mifflin in 1970. During the period from the 1940' s through the 1960' s, as the Slovaks moved " up and out," the area rapidly became settled by blacks , and the area quickly became unpopular even in the eyes of those Slovaks who remained and attended the Lutheran Church (which could not �96 SLOVAKIA afford to build elsewhere). The church could hardly retain its own members, let alone attract outsiders to what was quickly becoming called a deteriorated and unstable area. The former Slovak Catholic Holy Trinity Church building and rectory were given by the diocesan bishop to a local black church group, and the nearby vacated Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Church became a plaything for vandals. Many Catholic and Lutheran Slovak-Americans who had bought their first homes here or had grown up in this neighborhood said in disgust that this was no longer a place fit for a white man to live. It is significant that, despite all the vast changes that have taken place in the church, the original German-made oak tryptich altar, baptismal, and pulpit (of the 1920's) are retained by the church to the present. From time to time younger parishioners have suggested that the ancient pipe organ be replaced by a modern electric organ, but there has never been a concerted demand for such a replacement. I suspect that underlying this lack of pressure for costly remodeling and rennovation is first, the smallness of the congregation and hence the lack of large amounts of funds for such purposes, and second, the younger generation's relative lack of long-term future commitment to the parish and hence their acquiescence to the traditional preferences of the older generation . At present, an average of ten of those parishioners aged 60 and over attend the Slovak service; while between 40 and 50 of mostly younger parishioners and their families attend the English. Only a few elderly people are accompanied in the Slovak service by their children and grandchildren. However, many grandparents attend the English service with their children. Unexceptionably, the three-generation service is the English. A maximum of 15 attend the Slovak service, while at the English it approximates 60. The parish is rapidly losing members at both ends of the age range , the elder through deaths , and the younger with their families by moving away or joining more American Lutheran churches . Between 1960 and the end of 1970, the church lost 26 members over age 50 (out of a total of 32) of whom 14 were over age 70. Several parents in their 30 's and 40 's have told me of their intention of joining elsewhere after their own parents, stalwart members , pass on .* \ • Rarely have Slovak-ethnic organizations later becom~ stable supra-ethnic co=unity institutions . The direction of change seems one way . Ethnic parishes have declined dramatically in Slovak-American membership . The ethnic fratemals ' efforts at modernizing fis cally simply came too late . Moreover, the fratemals ' renewed efforts at in- �SLOVAKIA 97 , CONCLUSION This paper has examined religion and fraternal association among Slovak-Americans as institutional forms for the communication of cultural meaning. Although I have focused on a single Euro-American population, the perspectives and findings of this study should be applicable to and testable by data from comparable populations. Historical, documentary, ethnographic, and demographic data were adduced both to illustrate cultural patterns of communication and to offer the reader material by which my generalizations might be evaluated. I have emphasized that (a) there is much in Slovak-American adaptation that is built upon, indeed derived from, preadaptive characteristics of traditional culture which cannot be reduced to the demands of the host environment or to adaptive tools available in it; (b) the overall trend and categories of change in fraternals and churches is identical; (c) the study of institutional meaning is never removed, nor can it be abstracted from, the personal meanings of its participants who invest in social structures; (d) what from one point of view appears to be patently instrumental functions can be discerned simultaneously from another point of view as expressive functions (i.e., complementary); (e) the American cultural system was adopted by Slovak-Americans to achieve both traditional ends (often in new "language" or cultural content) and anti-traditional ends, the seeds of which were sown (as latent possibilities) in traditional Slovak family and social conflict; (f) the distinction between traditional and modern, and continuity and change, cannot be concluded on the basis of mere appearance, but must be detennined by the meanings communicated by the cultural actors; hence (g) continuity in form, function, and meaning can often be expressed, not despite, but strurnental change in service of ethnic, that is, expressive, revitalization was a futile attempt to reassemble functions that had already been severed by the membership for expressive reasons . One conspicuous exception is the Benedictine High School in Cleveland , Ohio . Another is the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Homestead, Pennsylvania (with branches in McKeesport and Clairton, also mill towns) , originally founded in 1914 by Slovak workers to assist in providing common funds for Slovak families now able and eager to purchase homes in the "hill" regions of the town up and away from their rented flats in the " lowland" or " bottoms " close to the mill . Perhaps a compelling reason for the success of the S & L association lies in its offer of supra-ethnic' ' social security '' resources from the beginning. That is, being primarily a financial institution, it stood the best chance of flourishing in the American cultural environment in which instrumental (e .g. , economic) functions were compartmentalized from expressive ones. �98 SLOVAKIA through a change in symbolic content; (h) although unmistakable trends of change have been noted, at any given moment the identified distinctive features of change may perform complementary or contradictory institutional functions; (i) the process of Americanization or acculturation cannot be seen as a unitary process directed either from within or from without the ethnic community, but must be analyzed in terms of sources of impetus for Americanization. The study of ethnicity is not the study of "tribes" as though they and their conceptually reified cultures persist statically unchanged. Rather, the study of ethnicity is the study of human relationships, the meanings which people attach to those relationships, the communication of those meanings in idiosyncratic or institutionalized forms, the process by which changed meanings lead to changes in relationships and how in tum ethnicity and thus identity itself comes to be redefined. Certainly the nativistic "New Ethnicity" advocated by many fraternal leaders and Slovak-American intelligentsia (Stein and Hill 1977) is not at all the unself-conscious native ethnicity of the pre-immigrant period. My research among some three- and four-generation SlovakAmerican families and institutions leads to to the inexorable conclusion that Slovak-American ethnicity over the past century has dramatically changed from a relatively homogeneous public expression of community form, function, structure, meaning, and relationship to a far more heterogeneous, individualized, private matter. This privatization of ethnicity had led many scholars to conclude that ethnicity has disappeared. This is nonsense: it has been repattemed, some elements retained, others given up. Although the American ethos has replaced the ethnic ethos as the core of personal and group identity, the spheres of life and the levels of the personality at which this replacement has occurred must be demonstrated and explained. What has unmistakably declined and is disappearing is the full complement of institutions which characteristically define a traditional community (cf. Arensberg and Kimball 1965) . However, as I have suggested in my previously cited works, unconsciously communicated loyalties, conflicts, values , expectation, and worldview in the intimate interior of even ethnically intermarried families results in continuities in surprising guises (e.g., the steel mill experienced as the old manorial latifundia: see Stein and Hill 1979; Hamey 1975) . , On the other hand, ethnic ties are often.maintained in the absence of conspicuously ethnic content - and here "conspicuity" refers all too often to the preoccupations and categories of the observer. Ethnicity takes on an especially "hidden" quality (Hill and May 1973) when the �SLOVAKIA 99 observer expects tradition~ meanings to take traditional representational forms. The more subtle, out-of-awareness (Hall 1977) aspects of ethnicity are the most intractible because they are pre-verbally ta.ken for granted and cannot be verbalized. Thus, for instance, I shall know that without a doubt a Slovak-American woman or man has acculturated more toward the core of the metaphoric personal ''onion'' when children - or the ethnographer! - are forcibly lavished copious quantities of food, when I am invited to visit with a family in their ''living room" or "dining room" instead of the kitchen; or when the implicit roles of maternal dominance and paternal distance in the home have become less pronounced, and the affective atmosphere affectively less brittle. Likewise, the inclusion of members from other ethnic groups within formerly exclusive tradition-maintaining fraternal and religious institutions, and the increasingly widespread phenomenon of intermarriage, are expressions of the simultaneous of group- or "ethnic" - and ego-boundaries. The formerly "other," often despised and alien, is now included within the possibilities of the "self." This fact requires a reassessment of our received wisdom about structural assimilation, namely, that inclusion is an act governed or regulated by the more mainstreamed "Americans" - that is, that it operates as a one-way process. Rather, inclusion is reciprocally a dynamic from within the ethnic group. Finally, this paper further confirms the tenet that ethnicity is a process operating at many levels, and is not a lineal continuum whose starting and terminal points can easily be plotted in terms of preconceived categories of "passing," "acculturation," "mobility," or "assimilation." It is the author's hope that future studies will not only provide greater breadth and depth in the study of Slovak-Americans, but will offer a comparative framework for the study of emigrant Slovaks in other nations (indeed, other regions of the U.S.), the internal transformation of Slovakia in the post-World War I period, and other European emigrant populations in their new contexts. Such studies will determine precisely how limited or widespread is the trend of culture change discussed in this paper. REFERENCES Anderson, Robert T. "Voluntary Associations in History," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 209-222. Arensberg, Conrad M. and Solon T. Kimball. Culture and Community . New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966. �100 SLOVAKIA Balch, Emily Greene. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens . New York : Amo Press, 1969 (orig. 1910) . Barton , Josef J . Peasants and Strangers : Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950. Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press, 1976. Bue, Bonaventure S. " Slovak Nationalism: Its Origins, Conflicts and Objectives." Master's thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1967. Fitzpatrick , Joseph P. " The Importance of ' Community' in the Process of Immigrant Assimilation, " International Migration Review 1(1)(1966) : 6-16. Fox, Paul. The Polish National Catholic Church . Scranton , Penna: School of Christian Living, n.d . Gluckman, Max. Rituals of Rebellion in South-East Africa . Manchester: Manchester University Press , 1964. Goldschmidt, Walter and E. J . Kunkel. " The Structure of the Peasant Family," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 1068-1076. Gould, Harold A. ' 'Some Preliminary Observations Concerning the Anthropology of Industrialization,'' In Peasants in Cities: Readings in the Anthropology of Urbanization . William Mangin, ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970, pp. 137-149. Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture . Garden City, New York : Doubleday 1/ Anchor, 1977. Hamey, Robert F. "Ambiente and Social Class in North American Little Italies," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 2(2)(1976): 208-224. Hill, Robert F. and J . Thomas May. " Exploring Hidden Ethnicity: Problems and Methods ," American Society of Ethnohistory , Central State University, Edmond , Oklahoma, October 1973. Jansak Stefan. "The Land Question in Slovakia (I), " The Slavonic Review 8(1930) : 612626. Kerner, Robert J ., ed . Czechoslovakia . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Kirschbaum , Joseph M. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Europe. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Klein, Philip . A Social Study of Pittsburgh. New York : Columbia University Press, 1938. Koenig, Samuel. " Marriage and the Family among the Galician Ukrainians, " In Studies in the Science of Society . George P. Murdock, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937 , pp. 299-318 . Krajsa, Joseph C., Chairman, Editorial Board. Slovaks in America . Middletown, Penn.: The Slovak League of America, 1978. La Barre, Weston . The Ghost Dance: The Origins of Religion . New York: Dell, 1972. Lacko, Michael. '' A Brief Study of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the ByzantineSlavonic Rite," Slovak Studies 3(1963) : 199-224. Slovak Institute, Rome, Italy . Light, Ivan H. Ethnic Enterprise in America. Berkeley: University of California Press , 1972 . Macartney , C. A. Hungary and Her Successors . New York : Oxford University Press , 1937. Nelli, Humbert S. The Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility . New York : Oxford University Press, 1970. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia and/ts People . New York: Robert Speller and Sons , 1960. Roucek , Joseph S. "Problems of Assimilation: A Study of Czecho-Slovaks in the United States ," Sociology and Social Research XVIl (1932-33) : 62-71. Roucek , Joseph S. " The Passing of American Czechoshivaks ," American Journal of Sociology 39(1933-34) : 611-626 . Roucek , Joseph S. " Czechoslovak Americans ," In Our Racial and National Minorities. �SLOVAKIA 101 Francis J . Brown and Joseph S. Roucek , eds . New York: Prentice-Hall, 1937, pp. 230246 . Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institutions in the United States and Canada. Cleveland, Ohio: The First Catholic Slovak Union, 1966 (Jednota Printery, Middletown, Penna.) . Stein , Howard F . " An Ethno-Historical Study of Slovak-American Identity." Doctoral dissertation , University of Pittsburgh , 1972. Stein, Howard F. " Cultural Specificity in Patterns of Mental Illness and Health: A Slovak-American Case Study, " Family Process 12(March 1973): 69-82. Stein, Howard F. '' Envy and the Evil Eye among Slovak-Americans: An Exploration into the Psychological Ontogeny of Belief and Ritual," Ethos 2(1)(Spring 1974) : 16-46. Stein , Howard F. " Structural Change in Slovak Kinship: An Ethnohistoric Inquiry," Ethnology 14(1)(January 1976): 99-108 . Stein , Howard F. " A Dialectic Model of Illness and Health Attitudes and Behavior among Slovak-Americans ," International Journal of Mental Health 6(2)(Summer 1976) : 117-137. Stein , Howard F. " The Slovak-American 'Swaddling Ethos' : Homeostat for Family Dynamics and Cultural Continuity, " Family Process 17 (March 1978) : 32-46. (a) Stein, Howard F. ''Aging and Death among Slovak-Americans: A Study in the Thematic Unity of the Life Cycle ," The Journal of Psychological Anthropology 1(3)(Summer 1978) : 297-320. (b) Stein, Howard F. "The White Ethnic Movement, Pan-Ism, and the Restoration of Early Symbosis: The Psychohistory of a Group-Fantasy," The Journal of Psychohistory 6(3)(Winter 1979) : 319-360. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F . Hill. The Ethnic Imperative: Ewmining the New White Ethnic Mo vement. University Park , Penna .: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F. Hill. " Adaptive Modalities Among Slovak- and PolishAmericans : Some Issues in Cultural Continuity and Change ," Anthropology 3(1-2) (1979) : 96-107. Stolarik , M. Mark . " Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 18701918." Doctoral dissertation , University of Minnesota , 1974. Wallace , A. F. C. Religion: An Anthropological View . New York: Random House, 1966. Yurchak , Peter Paul . The Slovaks . Whiting, Indiana: Obrana Press, 1946. Zatko , James J . " Slovaks in the U.S.A., 1900-1914," Slovakia 16(39)(1966) : 41-62 (Slovak League of America). �� SLOVAKIA 53 An Ethnohistqry of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions HOW ARD F. STEIN INTRODUCTION: ETHNICITY, INSTITUTIONS AND THE STUDY OF MEANING The study of ethnicity is necessarily a study of systems of meaning and how that meaning is communicated. Ethnicity is far more than a matter of social mobility, group competition for scarce resources, acculturation, and the like. This paper focuses on what might be called the "life histories" of Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations as institutionalized expressors of a century of changing groupidentity and those meanings that represent the underlying group-identity. Special emphasis is placed on identifying precisely what about ethnic identity is communicated by these institutions. The central argument is that Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations perform important psychosocial functions - not merely social structural ones. Indeed, I propose that the former determines and sustains, and explains, the revitalization or atrophy of the latter. Another way of putting it is that the ''expressive'' dimension of ethnicity is inherent in the "instrumental" roles performed by fraternal and religious organizations. The world of the symbolic is never separated from the world of the practical. The term "ethnic fraternal" is used here in the sense of mutual benefit, self-help, voluntary associations (see Anderson 1971) that trace to diverse mid-nineteenth century immigrant populations to the U.S. However, the meaning of ethnic fraternalism should not be ac• A paper presented as part of a panel on ''Ethnicity as Communication in Southeastern Europe: A Comparative Approach,'' at the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. �54 SLOVAKIA cepted as self-evident, since ethnic voluntary associations, like the religious institutions which they founded, have undergone considerable change of function, and indeed have served multiple, often contradictory functions. In both instances it will be necessary to specify the meaning of persistance and change alike. Elsewhere I have addressed issues of Slovak-American cultural continuity and change in identity at the levels of personality structure, family dynamics, child-rearing patterns, kinship structure, projective system, health and illness attitudes, psychopathology, and ethos (Stein _1973, 1974, 1975,_1976, 1978a; _Stein and Hill 197~, _19~_). No attempt~ here made at a comprehensive history of Slovaks in Europe or the United States. The reader is referred to two groups of works on Slovaks and Slovak-Americans. One genre can be regarded as "official histories," and includes works by Yurchak (1946), Kirschbaum (1960), O~do (1960), Zatko (1966), and Krajsa (1978); and the journals Slovak Studies and Slovakia. The second group consists of disparate studies whose common denominator is the absence of adherence to any prevailing ideology. Representatives of this genre include Balch (1910); Macartney (1937); Kerner (1940); Bue (1957); Roucek (1932-33, 1933-34, 1937); Stolarik (1974); Barton (1975); and Stein (1972). The sources in the first group reflect a particular point of view, namely, the alliance of Slovak Roman Catholicism with political nationalism (i.e., the First Catholic Slovak Union, the Slovak League of America). This also reminds us that traditionally among the majority of Slovaks, ethnicity and religion were fused. Slovak Studies is the publication of the Slovak Institute, Rome, and Slovakia has long been the official publication of the Slovak League. One could legitimately see the Slovak Republic as an expansion onto the level of the state of what had long been a fact at the local level: namely, the political importance of the clergy. Many past and present Slovak League leaders, scholars, and political activists on behalf of Slovak national autonomy in Europe are former leaders and intelligentsia of the short-lived Slovak Republic (1939-1945). That their genre of historiography would be ethno-national apologia is to be expected. However, the visibility of the Slovak League on the American scene in official American political circles has more to do with their anti-communism and their courtship by American political leaders than with cultural, political, or demographic fa~s intrinsic to the League. This highlights the oft neglected fact that American sociopolitical factors often heighten ethnicity, even help preserve it - through a not particularly laudable duplicitous manipulation of loyalties and fears. Among Slovak-Americans, as among all peoples, official histories �SLOVAKIA 55 are those sacred myths of the past held and recorded by the putative leadership. Throughout this essay, I shall emphasize whose perspective on the past is being stated as I discuss those institutions that have been deeply concerned v,:ith the cultural sense of time. This leads to a final word of warning: jus\ as ''culture'' is inseparable from the people who constitute it, likewise for social "institutions." An "institution" is only a conventional shorthand. What this paper is about is the history of group consensus and conflict, continuity and change. The very inclusion of this essay in Slovakia attests to changes not only in ''editorial policy" or editorship, but to a more pervasive change in Slovak ethnicity itself in which there is greater openness to self-scrutiny. It is less necessary, shall I say, to toe a "party line." Neither Slovakia, nor Slovak ethnicity, is static. The focus of this paper is on large-scale social institutions as vehicles of continuity and change in meaning systems. Among SlovakAmericans, religious and fraternal organizations have served for nearly a century as articulators of cultural meaning, first reflecting the relatively uniform cultural system brought from Slovakia, later becoming increasingly removed from the very real pluralism of the Slovak-American population for whom they claim to speak. Both ethnographic research in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania (conducted intensively 1970-1972, and intermittently through the present) and documentary study have provided both an understanding of the dynamics within local churches and fraternal society lodges, and a picture of Slovak-American religion and voluntary association on the national scale. Ethnographic study in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania, especially the mill-cities of McKeesport and Duquesne, include participant obsevation at, and interviews with members of, the following religious and fraternal groups: parishes of Slovak Roman Catholic Latin Rite, Slovak and Ruthenian Roman Catholic Byzantine Rite, Slovak Independent Catholic Rite, Slovak Lutheran Rite; the First Catholic Slovak Union, Zivena, the Slovak League, Slovak Catholic Sokol, Sokol USA, National Slovak Society, Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Evangelical Union. I obtained valuable ethnographic and demographic data from interviews and documentary sources at the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, and with officers of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Zion Synod-Lutheran Church of America. A careful study of old and recent fraternal newspapers and annual Kalendars, often stored not in official archives but in cabinets and basements, permitted comparison of ethnohistory recon- �56 SLOVAKIA structed from informants' current memory and self-presentation, with cultural meanings preserved in print.* Finally, actuarial data provided by the national offices of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and United Societies of USA permitted a comparison to be made between a necessarily selected sample in which values, attitudes, expectations, criteria and policies of admission and exclusion, and the like were expressed; and statistics of actual participation in or withdrawal from fraternal associations based on trends in membership as reflected in the purchasing and cashing-in of life insurance policies. Ethnographic research both at the local and supra-level simultaneously complemented, explained, and tested the data obtained from tables of parish and fraternal society membership. The reader is referred to the following Tables 1-4 which identify both on the national level and in the region of ethnographic study the major Slovak-American religious and fraternal institutions. ETHNOGRAPHIC BASE LINE The Slovak-American institutions discussed here stem from the migration of over some half-million Slovak peasants and landless peasants from 1880 until the mid-1920's (Zatko 1966: 45), that is, from the period of the Magyar development of a monetary, technologized, labor intensive economy in the 1870's, to the exclusionary American Emergency Quota Laws of 1921-24 and the Immigration Act of 1924, and the National Origins Act of 1929. Roughly 85 percent of the immigrants were Latin or Byzantine Rite Catholics, and 15 percent were Lutherans and Calvinists. The highest rate of migration was from the most impoverished and overpopulated regions of Slovakia, namely, the foothills of the Tatra and Carpathian Mountains (Jansak 1930). As an overall pattern, the earliest Slovaks came to the anthracite coal mining district of eastern Pennsylvania, while later Slovaks came to the mill towns in the "Steel Valley" of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and westward (Cleveland, Gary, Chicago). The greater Pittsburgh region remains the highest concentration of Slovak-Americans in the U.S. (some 29,000 immigrants; 35,000 foreign stock in 1930 Censu~ Klein 1938: 288; Roucek 1933-34: 614) . It is the location of the national offices of the National • These include Narodne Noviny, Jednota, The Greek Catholic Union Messenger, Prosvita, Katolicky Sokol, Sokol USA Times; annual fraternal yearbooks or Kalenddrs ; and the journals Slovakia (Slovak League) and Slovak Studies (Slovak Institute, Cleveland and Rome). �SLOVAKIA 57 TABLE 1 THE FOUNDING OF SOOVAK-AMERICAN RELIGION IN AMERICA I. Early Slovak Catholic Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Church in the Western Hemisphere, Hazleton, Penna., 1885 St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church* . .......... . (Cornerstone) Early Slovak Roman Catholic Churches in the Allentown, Penna. Diocese (anthracite coal mining area)* ................ . . . Bethlehem, Penna., 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius Saint Michael Archangel ... . .... . . . . .. . ..... Summit Hill, Langsford, Penna. , 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius .... . .. .... ....... . .Reading, Penna., 1896 First Slovak Catholic parish school ............ .. . . .Chicago, ID., 1900 Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak Sisterhood: Motherhouse established .................... ... Danville, Pa., 1901 High School for Girls established ........... . .... Danville, Pa., 1922 First Vincentian Sisters of Charity arrived from Slovakia to serve St. Michael's Parish ........ Braddock, Pa., 1902 Priests' Society of St. Anthony's Burse in the USA (to support students interested in teaching and Slovak girls preparing to be teaching nuns) .... Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1903 Benedictine High School for Boys . .. . . .... . . . ...... Cleveland, 1927 II. Early Slovak Lutheran Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Lutheran Church in the Western Hemisphere: Saints Peter and Paul .............. Freeland, Penna., first services: 1883; Church built: 1886. • Slovak Lutheran Synod (Missouri Synod) ............ 1902 Slovak Zion Synod (left Missouri Synod, joined United Lutheran Church of America founded in 1919) . . ......... . . .. . . . . ..... .. 1920 • Source: Katolicky Sokol, July 21, 1971 (published in Passaic, New Jersey) . Evidently, the founding of the first Slovak church in the western hemisphere is a matter of considerable controversy - and competition. Professor M. Mark Stolarik kindly informed me of the feud between St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and St. Stephen's in Streator, Illinois for the honor of being "the first" (which, incidentally, is a very American preoccupation!) . Professor Stolarik found the St. Stephen records several years ago and deposited them at the Immigrant Archives in Minnesota. Thus St. Stephen's can document its claim to having been founded in 1884. On the other hand, St. Joseph's burned down at the tum of the century, and its records were lost. Thus its claim to having been founded in 1884 cannot be documented . Professor Stolarik suggests that the editor of Katolicky Sokol, John Sciranka, my original source for the 1886 date , tended to favor the Hazleton parish since he was from Pennsylvania (again , ethnicity in a meta-context, this time localism) (personal communication, 9 September 1979) . �Passaic, N.J ., 1906 Cleveland, 1907 Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1911 Slovak Catholic Sokol Slovak League of America Slovak Catholic Federation in America McKeesport, Pa ., 1902 Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1892 Freeland, Pa., 1893 New York, 1896 Greek Catholic Union Slovak Evangelical Union (since 1960: United Lut9eran Society) Sokol USA (orig.: Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA) United Societies of USA (Sobranije) Cleveland, 1892 Cleveland, 1890 Cleveland ? Passaic, N.J . McKeesport Perth Amboy, N.J. Ligonier, Pa. Pittsburgh Cleveland Cleveiand Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious , political, fraternal Insurance, religious , cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, cultural, insurance, political, fraternal Insurance, religious (Greek Catholic), cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, religious (Roman Catholic), cultural, fraternal , insurance Political, cultural, religious Religious, political, cultural MAJOR NATIONALLY-BASED SLOVAK INSTITUTIONS Headquarters Place and Year Functions Pittsburgh, 1890 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal New York, 1891 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 2ivena Beneficial Society (women's equivalent to National Slovak Society, last joint convention with NSS, 1901) First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) Name National Slovak Society TABLE2 > 7' > ~ r I.I) CX) V, �Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church, McKeesport, founded 1922; name originally Saints Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church ; changed name to present in the late 1930's for legal purposes due to loss of church building during the Depression; affiliated throughout its history with the Polish National Catholic Church, and in the 1940's with the Congregational Church. St. Mark Lutheran Church, Duquesne, Pa. (serving Duquesne and McKeesport), founded 1913 ; name originally: Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Congregation of Duquesne; church bought 1920; joined Slovak Zion Synod of the United Lutheran Church of America 1934; Sunday school founded, use of English in teaching confirmation class 1940; earlier schism over non-use of English by acculturated families ; name changed to present in the 1950's, accompanied by change in by-laws to open church to Lutherans of all nationalities . St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church , founded 1901 ; name originally "Greek Catholic," changed to " Byzantine" in the 1960's; schism in 1939. SWVAK CHURCHES SERVING THE McKEESPORT AREA Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church, founded 1892; the name "Slovak" officially dropped in the 1960's; first church building purchased and enlarged 1895 ; schism in 1922. ., TABLE3 '° u, 7' > > ~ r Vl �SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS SERVING THE McKEESPORT PENNSYLVANIA AREA IN '' STEEL VALLEY'' Name Year Founded Membership, other comments Slovenskeho N. P. Spolok (Slovak December 16, 1888 Protestant or Catholic, but Slavic Sick Benefit Soc.) preceded the local lodge of the National Slovak Society, with which it merged in 1890 National Slovak Society, Lodge 31 1890 Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic mostly Slovak Jednota (First Catholic Slovak 1892 (women's lodge, Roman Catholic, Slovak Union) , Lodge 60 276 , formed later) Greek Catholic Union, Lodge 2 1892 Mostly Greek Catholic, but also Roman Catholic, Rusin, and Slovak United Societies of USA (Sobranije) , 1902 Schism within the Greek Catholic Union headquarters and Lodge 1 Sokol USA (Slovensky Sokol), Lodge 1903 (ladies assembly Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic 46 11, formed later) mostly Slovak Slovak Evangelical Union, Assembly 1899 Slovak Lutheran 63 (Duquesne , Pa. , serv~g McKeesport as well) Slovak Club , White Street Hall, 1896, sold to Catholic Fellowship, men's club , social, drinking McKeesport War Veterans 1970 activities First Federal Savings and Loan 1914 Association formed to assist Slovak workers Association of Homestead in obtaining funds to purchase a home ; Federal Charter 1937 ; branch offices in McKeesport (1964), Clairton (1969) ; and Braddock (1969) ; serves Monongahela Valley Communities; (originally names: First Slovak Building and Loan Association) TABLE4 > ;;,;; < > l/1 r 0 ~ �SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies of USA. The town of Munhall, located in the Steel Valley, is the site of an eparchate or diocese of. the Byzantine Catholic Church. The Greek Catholic Union, founded iq. 1892 in Wilkes-Barre, Penna. , the heart of the anthracite mining region, moved its headquarters in 1910 to the Steel Valley. Although one's place of settlement was greatly influenced by the availability of desirable work, the type of work one sought, and the reasons for choosing that work (originally, to amass greater wealth so that one could return to one's home and village and live better with higher status), it was also strongly influenced by the location of prior immigrant kinsmen, village associates, and even more remotely "related" compatriots of the same geographic, political, and dialect district or iupa - who in tum could advise prospective emigrants of the labor market. Mining and factory towns were not arbitrarily populated by people identifying with the abstract term ' 'Slovak.'' Instead, members of the same village or of adjacent villages commonly sought to live with one another in the New World. Indeed, "ethnicity" changed meanings in the process of settlement in the United States: expanding from more localized, inter-village loyalties, and reciprocal obligation, to supra-local ties based on common religion, dialect, and finally to the emergence in America of an encompassing sense of national "Slovakness" that heretofore had never existed (cf. Gould 1970). It was only after a national sense of identity became established (and this, tenuously, because of the intense factionalism among Slovaks) that the appeal of . President Wilson and Secretary of State House during World War I to Slovak nationalism was possible. A document such as the ' ' Pittsburgh Pact" was thus heretofore unthinkable. Any conceptually neat separation of religion (or churches) from fratemalism is heuristically spurious. Indeed, the history of Slovak religion and mutual benefit societies encompasses the spectrum of alliance and schism, and between them, conflict. The history of the relationship between the two types of associations is the history of each. Moreover, both types of organizations are firmly rooted in east-central European social structure. The village organization functioned much like a vastly extended family, in which kin and extra-kin ties of reciprocity were part of the fabric of everyday life . A group-psychology of community solidarity bound the village tightly together. Even the collapse of manorialism in the mid-19th century did not obliterate this essentially pre-Magyar ethno-psychology. One might say that it functioned preadaptively in the American host environment, and facilitated the earliest " insurance" and cultural- �62 SLOVAKIA perpetuative efforts. After all, the extended family was one's life, accident, and sickness "insurance." There was litsrally no conception of the "individual" apart from the family, church, and village group. Fitzpatrick (1966) correctly identifies Euro-American ethnic communities as bridges or "beachheads" to the wider host society (see also Nelli, 1970). Likewise, Anderson notes "the capacity voluntary associations have to facilitate the transition of individuals and societies to participation in the modem world" (1971:216). He further proposes that ' 'the new associations seem founded to meet needs not previously the responsibility of any older organization" (Ibid.). As this paper will emphasize, however, the new associations built on the firm foundations of elements within traditional organizations; the change lay in the repatterning of those elements - a repatteming which, I might add, has been continuous. I wish to stress that there is nothing automatic, inherently ''natural,' ' or inevitable about the Slovak-American adaptation. The need for "survival" does not explain how or why a particular "survival strategy" for "problem solving" is adopted. Stated differently, it is not the stimulus situation of the stress, but the meaning of the stress and the individual or group characteristic response to it that determines the type of adaptation that will be made (La Barre, 1972; Stein and Hill, 1979). One must inquire both into the nature of the new environment and into the cultural tools a group adapts with. "Necessity" by itself does not explain the "invention" (see Light 1972) . The Slovak-American inventions, themselves variations on traditional psychosocial organization, values, and worldview, must be regarded as preadaptations within the cultural repertoire by which the Slovaks recapitulated much of the Old World in the New (see Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) . The traditional ethos determined both how new " necessities" were perceived and the group-organizational responses based on those perceptions. I cannot here pursue in detail the thorny question as to just what " is" a Slovak. Suffice it to say that the approach taken in this paper is essentially " emic": that is, Slovak based on self-identification and / or ancestry. Thus, for instance, there are several thousand Slovak-Americans, Catholic and Lutheran, whose most ~ediate ancestry traces to Croatia rather than northern Hungary. In the mid:17th century aftermath of the Austro-Hungarian expulsion of the Turks, Maria Theresa invited those peoples inhabiting the already overpopulated Hungarian northlands to migrate to the newly opened land. For the most part, these Slovaks remained Slovaks. Identifying the "ethnic" boundary between Slovaks and Rusins or �SLOVAKIA 63 Ruthenians of far eastern Slovakia, southern Galicia, and the western Ukraine is a far stickier matter (see Stein, 1972) . Indeed, many who are Rusin in ancestry, but who lived in what was geopolitically Slovakia, became accultured insidiously through daily contact with the more westernized Slovaks, through the influence of the Latin and Byzantine Rite Roman Catholic Churches, through the centralizing tendencies of Vienna, and last but not least through affiliation and identification with Slovaks following migration to the United States - that is, many became Slovaks in the U.S. I Over at least the past three centuries, the "ethnic boundary" between Slovaks and Rusins has been progressing further eastward. Had the great immigration taken place two centuries ago, virtually all the immigrants would have been of Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox faith and Rusin ethnicity! To the religious conflict must be added, especially since the World War I era, a conflict of nationalisms and proto-nationalisms. Among the permutations of the conflict: (1) Many Ukrainian nationalists insist that eastern ''Slovaks'' and "Rusins" do not exist, but in fact are Ukrainians; (2) Slovakia has undertaken a program of attempting to Slovakize the remaining Rusins; (3) Both the conflict over ethnic identity and the gradual process of Slovakization of Rusins has taken place in the U.S. (a) in such organizations as the Greek Catholic Union and the United Societies of USA, and (b) through the continued process of Latinization whereby many Greek or Byzantine Catholics joined Slovak Latin Rite parishes. A considerable official literature (see Lacko 1963) prepared by the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio and Rome, Italy is devoted to demonstrating that Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, in Europe and America, are bona fide Slovaks and Catholics. Many Slovak peasant immigrants and their children passionately argued the same point (Stein 1972). The author's justification for including such organizations as Byzantine Rite churches, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies as Slovak is that (a) by self-identification many of their officers, priests, and members speak of themselves as Slovaks, and (b) ethnicity is a process, not a static given. THE FOUNDING OF SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS For the most part, the Slovak-American fraternal societies began in the 1880's through the early 1900's as self-help, mutual assistance organizations. The arrangement of regular social activities such as dances , plays, gymnastic groups, and literary clubs, and the organiza- �64 SLOVAKIA tion, construction, and support of Slovak parishes followed later. In all earnestness I emphasize that the link between fraternal and church lay in their division of labor: the fraternal association would first establish insurance in this world; the church would become the guarantor of insurance in the next world. The most immediate needs were mortuary funds, land for the burial of the dead, and death-sickness-and-accident insurance for workers and their families in the U.S. and Slovakia. The new "foreign" dead were often unwelcome in established cemetaries. Slovak burial societies were formed to purchase separate tracts of land, often on the periphery of the town, a considerable distance from the burial sites of the dominant population. Slovak work life was chronically uncertain by the absence of stable unionization in the steel mills until 1936 and thereafter. Wages were low (though admittedly, the immigrant laborers earning a living unheard of in their villages of origin). Periods of steady work fluctuated with periods of layoff. Working conditions were contemptously hazardous. The management of the factories and mines provided no assistance for the injured or for the families of workers killed or maimed on the job. The urban Slovak-American "peasantry" experienced much the same basic insecurity as did they and their progenitors on the manorial latifundia or as landless workers. In one sense, conditions were worse, because in the American capitalistentrepreneurial system there was no personal bond of reciprocity and obligation between manorial lord and serf - although, however, the political system of patronage in the urban wards perpetuated at least an attenuated version of this function. For those immigrants who discovered themselves to be outside the civil and moral community of those recognized as ''Americans,'' the organization of burial-deathaccident-and-sick benefit societies was a means of reconstructing a community. In employment as with religion, Slavic-Americans were for the most part seen as outside the domain of civic and religious responsibilities. This led in tum to a defensive attitude toward American society, even as the belief in the American Dream strongly persisted. Exclusion from without led to a degree of defensive self-exclusion from within. The "enclave mentality," heir to a heightened self-" consciousness of kind," was a product of ethnic-American conflict, not simple cultural transplantation. I am tempted to suggest that much on the organizational level which we might mistake for w~at was traditionally native has a distinctively nativistic quality to it. , For instance, in one multi-Slavic fraternal club, the early by-laws �SLOVAKIA 65 specified that only members of Slavic ethnic groups could qualify as members and be permitted on the premises of the club. This qualification arose as a response to the fact that representatives of the mill management would attend meetings incognito, sit at the bar, listen for comments by dissident millworkers, and report them to the management which would summarily fire them for potential insubordination. A first-generation Catholic Slovak-American who came to the United States in the late 1920's said of the Slovak Club of McKeesport, Pennsylvania (a large mill town): The Slovak Club 's By-Laws were written in 1896. Only Slavs were accepted. You had to: you didn 't know who' s your enemy in those days. Johnny Bulls, or the Irish, might be in there, before the ByLaws were adopted . If you said anything against somebody, they report you. The only way to make sure you could speak your mind and not be afraid was to make the By-Laws . Ethnic " elective affinity" was more out of forced circumstance than choice . Those who were regarded and treated as the same created a survival strategy, becoming far more homogeneous in the process than they might had the constraints been fewer . Let me give two brief examples of the hierarchy of functions in the early fraternals . My first example is Lodge No. 2 of the Greek Catholic Union. Prior to regulation of insurance fraternals by the actuarial rules of the Pennsylvania State Insurance Department in the 1920' s, a member would pay $1.00 monthly dues for the mortuary fund and for death benefits to family , the latter of which is derived by subtracting the mortuary costs from the principal. The $1.00 formal dues would be collected from every member regardless of age or age of joining. In addition to the formally recorded $1.00 , he would pay 3 cents a month for relief benefit , so that, for instance, if he lost an arm in a mill accident he would receive $500 . An additional local assessment was 5 cents monthly for sickness benefit, which provided for food and bought medicine when the member could not work because of poor health. Today, this latter has become a " flower fund " to provide flowers at the funeral of a member or a member 's spouse. Any further needs were met by proportionate assessment of the membership . A second example is that of the Slovak Sick Benefit Society, organized in McKeesport in 1888, and which in 1890 merged with the founding of Lodge No. 31 of the National Slovak Society. This local organization collected monthly dues of $1.00 for males . In addition to the regular dues , if a man died , the men paid $1.00 ; if a woman died, the women paid 50 cents extra - for funeral expenses , given to the sur- �66 SLOVAKIA vivor of the deceased. At that time, the sick benefit was $6.00 a week for 13 weeks . After 13 weeks, up to the 21st week, $3.00 a week was given. After the 21st, nothing. The main economic function was to assist those who became sick or suffered an accident in the mill, since at this time there existed neither a union nor a commitment by management to provide such benefits. The Society also had something of an ambulatory service: two members of the society visited the sick person, or went to the scene of the accident, and took him to the hospital, to his home, or where he could be given proper care. While in their initial phase, ethnic fraternals were a response to the often hostile host environment, voluntary associations were long an inescapable part of the American social landscape. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed in the 1830's, resiliently self-reliant Americans were also habitual joiners. This may help to explain how and why initially exclusive self-preservation societies became internally acculturated clubs and lodges at the local and national levels. That is to say, they became largely American cultural organizations with ethnic ancestry. Criteria for membership became ethnically less restrictive. At the same time, there occurred a gradual yet massive attrition of membership in the totemic Slovak-ethnic associations, and an equally gradual yet dramatic increase in membership by the same Slovak-Americans in lower middle class totemic American clubs such as Eagles, Moose, Elks; such service related groups as Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Catholic War Veterans ; employment related union clubs; and finally local public or private restaurant-bar-entertainment clubs. While there has certainly been, especially in the 1940's and 1960's, considerable compartmentalizing of membership, dual allegiance, something of voluntaristic "double descent, " at the present time American fratemalism has already been the dominant trend. In fact many Slovak-Americans with whom I worked who still maintain their fraternal insurance policies do so for economic reasons; their fraternal affiliation lies elsewhere. Originally, in the ethnic enclave, one's kinship network, resources, and the fraternal were one' s insurance. When the ethnic community network itself was one 's guaranteed insurance, there was no need for a separate entity labeled " insurance, " let alone insurance policies outside that community. Only as many ties within the corporate ethnic community were attenuated or severed cl.id the need arise for American style individual insurance coverage. And only since World War II did the originally multiple functional fraternal societies become primarily insurance companies, that is, businesses. In both cases, American as well as ethnic insurance companies served both instrumental (eco- �SLOVAKIA 67 nomic) and expressive (ethos) functions: security by affiliation in the ethnic sense, and self-reliance in the American sense. THE PROBLEM OF PERPETUATION AND ACCULTURATION IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS During the first and second decades of each of the fraternal organizations, the emphasis gradually shifted from immediate self-help requirements to more long-range, future-oriented plans associated with revitalizing Slovak culture in America. Whereas the initial years were preoccupeid with self-preservation, the subsequent years became concerned with perpetuation. The insurance / protective aspects were incorporated in a wider institutional framework that elaborated on the traditional cultural model. Once Slovak immigrants decided to make America their permanent home, churches were founded and supported, Sokol gymnastic programs were initiated, and so forth. It quickly became evident to the founding generation that something must be done to enlist the younger generation in these activities or institutions lest Slovak culture disappear with the passing of the first generation. The younger generation must be socialized into the new institutions and activities the immigrant parents had founded. Thus each fraternal organization instituted a juvenile branch or age grade to prepare the younger generation for adult membership. There were thus established two age sets within each fraternal, the adult and the juvenile. Subsequently, most fraternals also added a Sokol or gymnastic branch (if they were not already Sokol fraternals), originally intended as a middle age grade, but which became an adult unit on par with the "General" or "Adult" branch. The lower age limit for transfer from juvenile to the adult branch seems to be 16-18 in the Greek Catholic Union, and the upper age limit is 25 in the National Slovak Society. Typically, a parent would buy a life insurance policy for an infant shortly after birth and pay for the policy until the child's majority. At that time the former junior member would become a responsible adult member, transfer his or her policy to the adult branch, and begin paying for it himself or herself. Thus was the problem of continuity initially solved. For the third and fourth generations continuity was not so readily assured. Many of the second and third generations themselves withdrew or terminated their own policies and did not enroll their children. Many immigrant and second generation informants spoke bitterly of how they felt that officers of their fraternals had used their position for �68 SLOVAKIA self-advancement (internal mobility?), pocketed some of the dues, especially during the pre-1920 days prior to state-enforced bookkeeping, and terminated members' policies or foreclosed on home mortgages during the Great Depression days when dues were not forthcoming (the internal transformation from personalized ties to impersonalized business venture). In some families where the children had been dutifully enrolled in infancy, the children took advantage of the fact that the parents paid for the juvenile policies, and upon reaching majority or "going out on their own," they turned in the policy for cash value, and enrolled themselves later in large "American" insurance companies. With large-scale industrial unionization in the mid- and late-1930's and the opening up of "American" insurance corporations to the now'' American'' descendants of the ''foreigners,'' many of the purely economic insurance functions fulfilled by the ethnic fraternals were replaced by more attractive, sounder economic policies elsewhere. As the lodges have been losing young and elderly members, the middle-aged members have become the core of their lodges, and those who will be perpetuating them will, like their counterparts in the Americanized Slovak churches, be those who have transformed their lodges and their athletics according to the model of the American prototype. With the great decrease in membership and hence in lodge population, lodge consolidation (GCU, United Societies, NSS) and the widening of intervals between meetings have taken place. Where a lodge meeting until the late 1930's was an enormous and lively social affair, often coordinated with a meal or a play in Slovak, since the Second World War it has become a cut-and-dry business meeting, where members stream in and out, pay their dues, often bring the dues of a friend or two with him (or with her), the older ones stopping to chat with a friend or two in Slovak - and then leave. The monthly business meeting of Jednota Lodge No. 60 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania usually keeps ten listeners besides the six officers and collectors at their long table. During the monthly meetings of the Sokol, the ULS, and the NSS, a table of officers sits in a room of empty chairs in the Slovak Club. Occasionally members drift in and out. The local lodge of the United Societies no longer meets; members brin~ in their dues or mail them in. Likewise for lodges of the GCU. The ULS lodge in Duquesne in 1970 changed its monthly meeting to bimonthly, because, as one officer said: "There's no use sitting down there at the empty church all afternoon every month waiting for a few people to show up." In the early 1970's, over 75 percent of the 1,300 GCU lodges were inactive. For the important annual meeting at which officials were to be elected at GCU Homestead Lodge No. 2 in 1971, only 15 of the 160 members attended. �SLOVAKIA 69 \ To this should be added that only one of the Slovak fraternal lodges in McKeesport presently has any social or athletic program. Jednota Ladies' Lodge No. 276 has a bowling team, which members from Lodge No. 60 and the nearby borough of Port Vue can join. Lodge No. 60 dropped its bowling team in 1956. Bookkeeping changes have consolidated the Sokol and General Branches of the lodges. Today they function as little more than local insurance agents and collectors. All the national offices of the Slovak fratemals modernized and streamlined their policies to make membership attractive to those of the younger generation for whom Slovakness was not a major attraction, and further, to attract non-Slovaks. To a considerable extent, present-day Slovak fratemals are primarily modem insurance com· panies which would like to stay in business. The fact that all of them are far over the required solvency guarantees nothing about the future, for which they are greatly concerned. As the national president of the GCU remarked to me: The way things are now, it's only a matter of time before the GCU is finished. Sure we have an excellent solvency. But without new members, it's just on borrowed time. You just can't rely on monetary figures alone to tell you how we're doing. Of course we're in good financial shape, but that's because today people buy bigger policies - you can't pay for a funeral for $1000 today. Most of our policies are naturally larger, and the figure they give for assets ... would lead you to believe that we're doing great. That's the way the older ones felt. They always looked at the status quo and never at anything else. (1972) Of course the schism in the 1930's cost the GCU half of its more than 135,000 membership, which crisis did not occur in the other Slovak (and Slovak / Rusin) organizations. Nevertheless the same gradual decline in activity and membership has been the experience and plague of every Slovak fraternal. Slovak-American officials at the national level frequently speak of consolidating the adult, juvenile, and Sokol branches for fiscal reasons and because of poor attendance at meetings. They likewise speak of merging lodges for similar reasons, with the hope that perhaps with greater numbers the fraternal spirit may be rekindled. But they are pessimistic and in offhand, tentative ways consider the possibility of merging not only lodges within a given fraternal, but combining many Slovak-American fratemals under a single economic umbrella - anything that will help the solvency problem and postpone the inevitable disappearance of insurance fratemalism. Everywhere in Slovak-American fratemalism, the number of purchased insurance certificates is far �70 SLOVAKIA fewer than the number of deaths, maturities, disabilities, expirations, surrenders, and lapses of policies. Beyond founding the churches, many of the church-affiliated fraternals remain a major support of the church, both financially and by requiring that their members are practitioners of the faith in good standing (for instance, Jednota). Lodge meetings are held in the church (Jednota, United Societies, Slovak Catholic Sokol, GCU), rather than the secular Slovak Hall (where the Sokol USA, NSS, and ULS McKeesport lodges meet). Except for the Lutheran group (whose Duquesne counterpart does meet in the Slovak Lutheran church), the non-religious affiliated groups meet in secular settings, while the religiousaffiliated groups meet in church halls under the aegis of the priest. Until World War II, most of the Slovak fraternal groups at the local and national levels supported the political activity of the Slovak League of America, a non-fraternal, political-cultural group organized to publicize and lobby for the cause of Slovak independence (first in relation to the Hungarians, and later the Czechs). Its stress on Catholicity, its demands for Slovak separatism (rather than federated autonomy), and its support for the politically active Slovak priests Hlinka and Tiso of the Slovak People 's Party during the Nazi period alienated from it the support of the non-Catholic Sokols and the National Slovak Society. Presently, the Slovak League is primarily affiliated with, and is somewhat the political arm of, the First Catholic Slovak Union. All, however, collaborated in the period from 1907 (the year of the League's founding) throughout the First World War and in the early postwar period, toward the founding of the (First) Republic of Czecho-Slovakia (as the Slovaks prefer to spell it). The Slovak Catholic priesthood has always been at odds with the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, frequently accusing its members of being atheists and communists. The latter, however, have historically supported Slovak national aspirations, though apart from any religious considerations. This is reflected in the membership of the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, where only Slav-ness, not religion, was a qualification for membership. As a consequence, the Slovak Catholic (Latin and Byzantine Rite) religious dissidents, as well as Slovak Protestants , tended to gravitate to the Slovensky Sokol, and the NSS rather than to Jednota or the Katolicky Sokol. Furthermore, the -0verlap in membership equally relfects this distinction. Members would mosi; likely belong to Katolicky Sokol. Slovak Lutherans , of course , would join the Slovensky Sokol and the NSS. The above politico-religious concerns , however, refer only to the �SLOVAKIA 71 \ older and middle age groups, who are the mainstay of the fraternal organizations. For the younger age group, under 36, Slovak national concerns are for the most part a matter of ancestry rather than immediacy. Apart from religious issues, criteria of membership in Slovak fraternals have during the past decades gradually become less exclusivistic. In the early by-laws, Slovak birth or descent was usually specified (together with a particular religious affiliation, where relevant). By the period following World War I, membership was widened to those of Slavic origin or ancestry (with religious specificity, where relevant). In 1937 the NSS extended membership to non-Slovak spouses married to Slovak members and their children. In the 1930's, the GCU extended membership to spouses so long as the spouse was Catholic. In the 1960's, membership in the Catholic organization was opened to Catholics of any nationality, while in the non-religious affiliated Slovak-American fratemals membership was opened to "anyone," implicitly or explicitly referring to whites of Christian faith. A young officer of the GCU said that he would like to see a change in bylaws that would open the organization to all Christians, removing the restriction to Catholics. Accompanying the opening of membership has been a gradual change in the organizations' names, first from the full length Slovak name to a shortened name, normally one word from the full name (Jednota from the First Catholic Slovak Union, Sobranije from the Greek Catholic Union). Then from the 1930's and on, the English title became more important and today predominates. Names became less European-sounding: the Slovak Evangelical Union became in 1960 the United Lutheran Society; the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA became Sokol USA. The young official of the GCU mentioned above suggested that if membership were opened to all Christians, he would like to see the name of the organization officially changed to the initials GCU only, and later "we might call it the Greater Beneficial Union / the name changed from German Beneficial Union / no, that's the GBU ... but you know what I mean.'' The direction then, would be that of an American-sounding name. Similar to this trend has been that from Slovak (or Rusin and Eastern Slovak in the Greek Catholic organizations) to English in the official publications or newspapers of fratemals. The newspapers themselves were founded shortly after the organization of the fratemals and were entirely in Slovak (with the above distinction). At the beginning of the 1930's, under pressure of the American-born membership, pages began to be devoted to stories, articles, and announcements in the �72 SLOVAKIA English language. It should be added, however, that from the days of World War I, all of the papers and English-language sections were on American history, patriotism, the American constitution, government, and citizenship. By the 1950's, 50 percent and more of the space was in the English language. For instance, after the 1964 Milwaukee Convention of Sokol USA, Slovensky Sokol devoted 76 percent of its space to English material. At the 1966 National Convention in Tampa, through an act of the General Assembly of the convention, the name of the official publication was changed from Slovensky Sokol to Sokol Times, and the paper is now entirely English-language, as is that of the United Societies, Prosvita (Enlightenment). Nevertheless, such papers as Jednota, Katolicky Sokol, and the GCU Messenger are half-English, halfSlovak; Narodne Noviny is about 25 percent Slovak. What I emphasize here is the overall direction of change. The annual Kalendar or Yearbook of the Greek Catholic Union provides an excellent and generalizable source by which changes since the first decade of the 20th century can be observed and traced. I examined the annual Kalendar of the GCU spanning the years 1903 through 1972 (with considerable gaps in the 1930's and 1940's due to schism within the society over the issue of clerical celibacy). Although the GCU was founded in 1892, the oldest available Kalendar in storage was that of 1903. The following table gives the title on the cover, a summary of advertisements which reflect contemporary issues (migration, home owning, etc.), the nature of written characters for non-English sections (Latin or Cyrillic), subjects of early essays on Americanization (1903-1932), and the language employed by the exarch / bishop in his introductory message. By the late 1960's, at least half of the Kalendar (totaling in the 1960's 90 pages) was in English. (See Table 6). To summarize the table: Through the 1930's, there were advertisements in the Kalendar for such goods and services as banks, saloons, hotel, liquors, a variety of medicinal cures, boat tickets, home building (financing, mortgages, titles, etc.), shipping from overseas, etc. Essays were written on such subjects as American history (including praiseworthy accounts of American founding heroes and legendary leaders), an explanation of American government and how to participate in it, why and how to obtain citizenship, descriptions of the nature of the population and geography of the United States, accounts of farming in the United States and of technolo~cal innovations from the zeppelin through the airplane. Considerable space was likewise devoted to a description of the Slovak-Rusin homeland, culture, religious �SLOVAKIA 73 \ customs, etc. Although much of the writing through the 1930's was in eastern Slovak-Rusin dialect and written in either or both Cyrillic and Latin characters, English was used in essays on American history and government as early as 1905, when the article was printed in both languages. Americanization, more specifically, bridge-building between the insular ethnic world and the more expanding American world, was one of the major early agendas of the fraternals. Americanization was also one of the major points of stress between traditionalists and acculturationists that led to attrition of membership and schism in churches and fraternals alike. On the one hand, the Polish National Catholic Church and the Slovak National Catholic Church, a variety of independent Rusin-eastern, Slovak-western, and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, and the United Societies of USA (among others) broke with their Americanizing-Irishizing-Latinizing denationalizing parent organizations and became bastions of tradition (e.g., in liturgy, in customs, etc.) - only to acculturate internally. On the other hand, even the most traditionalist societies zealously urged Americanization both by exhortation and by the example of its leadership - including the clergy. SCHISM, DECLINE, AND CULTURE Let me use several nodal points in the history of the Greek Catholic Union to illustrate the convulsions to which conflict between the acculturationists and traditionalists led. The GCU schism of 1902 led to the founding of a new fraternal association, the United Societies of USA (Sobranije). At the 1902 Convention of the Greek Catholic Union, there was strong debate over whether or not the largely Magyarone RusinSlovak clergy leadership would be permitted to retain their official position, since they insisted on remaining citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary. The convention overwhelmingly voted that henceforth all officers of the GCU would have to be American citizens. Moreover, there was a long-standing resentment against domination of Slovak or Rusin parishioners by a Magyar or Magyarone clergy. In Hungary, the laity could do nothing about it. But in America, former peasants could vote out those who were either of the Hungarian aristocracy or had used the church - and ethnic assimilation - as a means of social mobility. The orientation toward a secular leadership made the process complete: the Byzantine Catholic laity of the fraternal would be a strong supporter of the Church but would not be its tool. The United Societies of USA, conversely, retained priests among �.. .. ... .. .. .. . .. .. • • ---- ___________ KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOIJC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES. GEORGE BATYKO) Message by Advertisements Written Exarch I Characters Bishop Year Cyrillic Slovak Rus. Eng. Early Americanization Topics Cover Title - -- - - - - - - Amerikansko-Russko- J ·1903 Banks• , Saloons, Slovensky Kalendar Hotels , Liquors , Medical Cures , • Boat Tickets• Am. History (Rusin) 1904 • Amerikansky-Russko- 1905 Am. Government (Rusin & English) • Slovensky Kalendar Am. fanning, airplane, zeppelin 1909 (Eng.) Amerikansko-Russko- 1914 Banking-Shipping•, Am . Hist. (Rus .), population • Slovensky Kalendar Cures, Liquors of U. S. (Eng.) Banking•• Sokola Sojedinenija Citizenship / naturalization / 1921 • • govt. (Eng.) ,, Am. Hist., govt., loyalty, how Banking** 1924 • to use checking (Eng.) Kai. Soj . Gr. Kaft. 1926 Banking**, Financing, Russkich Bratstv. Home Building, y • • Religious Publications Am . Hist. , govt. (Rus.) , Cit. / 1932 Title & Mortgage Nat. (Eng.) Guarantee co., • • Banks , Boat Tick...,.. ets, Medical Cures K. Gr. Kaft. Sod . none 1953 S. S. A. • 1955 • • TABLE5 > A > < r 0 V, .:,. '-I �" " " " " " 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Gr. Kaft. Sod . S.S. A . " " " " " " " " " " Message by Exarch I B ishop • • . . . • . • ..• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . .• . Cyrillic_ Slovak Eng . . Early Americanization Topics - -- - - - Rus. Written Characters • Rovnianek (Pittsburgh) in particular •• Money orders, drafts, credit, savings , import, interest *** Diamond Jubilee Almanac GCU Calendar GCU of USA*** Gr. Kaft. Sod . v S. S. A. GCU Calendar " " " " " 1956 D. Gr . Kaft. Sod. S.S. A. " First Federal S&L of Homestead none Year -- Cover Title Advertisements KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES . GEORGE BATYKO) TABLE 5 (Continued) ., Vl 'I )> A < )> r 0 V) �76 SLOVAKIA its officials through the present; its birth dates from when a number of delegates walked out of the GCU convention in 1902 and founded its first church-affiliated lodge in McKeesport. At the height of its membership in the mid-1920's, United Societies counted some 27,000 in its adult and juvenile branches. By 1970, the last year for which actuarial figures were made available to me, membership had declined to 5,600; since 1930, membership enrollment by young adults has precipitously declined . (See the following Tables 6 -9 assembled from the actuarial records of the United Societies of USA, public domain.) Within the GCU during the intervening years, a second, even more dramatic schism took place in the 1930's over the issue of priestly celibacy - reflecting the conflict between the traditionalists, who argued in favor of a married priesthood and the acculturationists or ''Latinizers ," who advocated clerical celibacy. While no documented figures were available to me, a number of informants agreed that some 60,000 to 70,000 members, or roughly half the membership, defected. The GCU had been organized in 1892; the Juvenile Branch in 1906; the Gymnastic Branch in 1910. It totals some 1,300 lodges and is licensed as an insurance corporation in 12 states (United Societies, in 6). At the height of membership in 1929, the GCU numbered some 60,000 members in its General or Adult Branch, 20,000 in its Falcon Branch, and 65,000 in its Juvenile Branch. The cataclysm which cost the GCU half its membership occurred in 1929. As early as 1924, the Pope had dispatched Bishop Takach back to the United States with instructions that married priests , common in the Byzantine Rite in Europe, were not to be ordained. However, ordination continued for several years through what were described as "loopholes. " In 1929 came a specific papal decree, Cum Data, forbidding the ordination of married priests in the United States. This finalization led to the immediate defection of thousands of GCU members. If this were not earthquake enough, during the 1920's all ethnic fratemals in Pennsylvania were brought under the increasingly strict regulation of the Insurance Department, which consequence was an immediate precipitous drop in the membership of all Slovak-American insurance-related fratemals. Members could no longer be assessed equally, and amounts collected varied from month to month on the basis of the past month's claims, but were rate\f according to the National Fraternal Congress table of "attained age a~ June, l, 1933." That is, members were required to pay on the basis of age, with premiums increasing with age . The new rates were adopted in June 1932 by the GCU. The National Slovak Society and the men 's and ladies' divisions �0 4 5 12 35 51 68 51 42 10 12 28 49 69 83 82 77 88 75 0 70 1 85+ 0 0 0 1 ., 0 1 1 0 6 1 4 7 18 29 15 35 33 34 69 80 0 1 In the Adult Branches, the Falcon and Main Branches have always been combined for bookkeeping purposes . 2 This figure gives the total membership in United Societies . It should be noted that at age 16, one is eligible to transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch (Main or Falcon) . One may transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch between the 16th and 18th birthday. 3 The report for 1950 was missing, so the 1949 figures were used instead . 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. This means that it is no longer possible to compare membership at ages 16 and 18 in the Juvenile Branch with that in the Adult Branch. 5 An e xplanation for the increase lies in the adoption by the United Societies of the Byzantine Life Savings policy in August, 1968. It is a policy that is sold by agents of the United Societies, an effort to expand the boundaries of fratemalism on a more traditionally commercial basis . It is a 21-year savings program, which one may enter up to age 45 . At the end of the 21 years, the money is returned to the policy owner. Its advantage is that it is insured savings, although the insurance coverage decreases with each year. For the older people , it provides the certainty of a little income . United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports (Penna., Ohio, New Jersey , West Virginia, etc.) Membership: Adult and Juvenile ADULT: MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES! Membership per attained age categories Total : Adult & Total : Year Juvenile2 Adult 55 60 65 16 18 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 46 16 3 8652 135 128 131 236 272 367 279 185 1924 565 275 212 1926 346 517 1928 55 28 1930 19339 10159 320 372 342 114 135 227 254 290 233 191 70 153 186 227 165 122 30 7472 61 127 177 120 1935 13393 36 41 86 85 51 41 111 152 192 135 92 1940 8857 5464 7 59 70 51 73 130 151 145 49 76 106 107 99 1945 7399 5235 18 19493 48 67 69 86 63 57 58 146 133 130 6285 4739 4 18 19554 43 72 44 46 54 82 78 82 56 65 106 107 5472 25 76 89 47 43 5290 68 52 44 15 55 57 97 1960 73 78 42 37 17 27 53 46 41 1965 4812 90 63 50 19705 47 45 5628 101 60 52 38 99 107 129 118 40 27 - TABLES "" )> A < )> Vl r 0 �,,.. - 63 60 101 52 44 5456 91 613 237 231 18 68 90 16 348 418 191 299 153 93 72 6 This figure is for age 17, as it is the last listed, no figure being given for age 18 in the Juvenile Branch. 7 See Note . 4 on previous page . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Membership: Adult and Juvenile JUVENILE BRANCH Membership per attained age categories Total Year Juvenile 0 1 2 10 1928 201 282 549 672 1930 9180 183 426 647 1935 5921 301 456 1940 3393 45 47 48 195 1945 2164 32 81 64 134 1949 1546 28 28 40 62 48 81 51 50 19557 1960 133 150 84 69 1965 33 74 80 88 1970 9 31 30 83 TABLE7 > )> ;ii;;: < r 0 V') 0:, " �1 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted Ond Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. W - Written Rev. - Revived Rec . - Received Iner. - Increased Mat. - Maturity Surr. - Surrender Dec . - Decrease Exp. - Expiry Other - non-specified (However, for 1935, I would suspect that the 81 in this category belong elsewhere, probably in 'Surrender.') United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches ADULT: (se e below for abbreviations) - - MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES Benefit Certificates . . . In force In force Dec . 31 Dec. 31 Year last yr. W this yr. Death Lapse Rev . Rec. Iner. Surr. Dec. Exp. Other -Mat. 1925 14908 2220 15574 133 1524 103 1926 15574 3833 18141 145 1121 1928 10704 11102 114 10313 1930 527 77 10159 . 652 1 1935 7534 279 80 7472 89 332 81 5621 1940 80 15 5464 98 154 1945 5296 139 4 5235 93 91 20 1949 4864 47 4739 113 23 35 1 19551 5356 360 5472 105 19 86 34 5514 1960 217 5290 108 248 41 44 1965 4907 160 4812 103 74 16 36 26 1970 5054 599 193 5628 91 91 30 5 1 TABLES ~ "'° 7' > > < Vl r 0 �1702 81 16 723 2g3 Transfer 1 The figures for the Juvenile Branch list only up to age 16, so it is ambiguous as to whether Juveniles past their 16th birthday are included in tne figure of 9401. 2 transfer to Falcon Branch . 3 transfer to Senior (Main) Branch. 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches JUVENILE BRANCH: Benefit Certificates In force In force Dec . 31 Received Dec . 31 Terminated b1: last yr. by transfer Increased this yr. Year Written Revived Death Lapse 19281 9401 884 49 42 1930 9239 9180 810 968 1935 6384 597 5921 11 7 470 1940 3740 136 10 3393 223 1945 2356 115 2164 12 1949 1636 60 1546 1 120 19554 1960 1965 ,,, . 1970 - TABLE9 > 7' > ~ r (./') ~ �SLOVAKIA 81 of the First Catholic Slov~ Union (Jednota) had been the first to comply in 1930. The state requirement of solvency was reflected in high premiums for the older members who, in the Depression years, could not pay. Each insurance company had to make up the deficit. The 1929 law required that all fraternal societies re-rate their policies within five years. Not that this external policing had not been attempted before. But now, like the papal decree on celibacy, the law was final. Between 1892 and 1909 or 1910, each member of the GCU had been assessed 50 cents, 60 cents, or 75 cents a month, depending on how much was customarily collected at a given lodge. There was no uniformity of policy even within the GCU. In 1909 or 1910, the GCU lodges went under an '' Assessment System,'' such that the amount due from each member was determined by the claims of the past month. Thus the assessment varied from month to month, but was internally regulated by the lodge. Around 1910, the state began to appear in the picture, proposing that members of fraternals pay according to age. Some fraternals put a lien on each member's policy, but this did not sufficiently raise revenues. In 1918 , the National Fraternal Congress Table of Mortality provided a uniform schedule according to which each member was to be rated according to the age at which he or she had joined the organization. But, even where this table was applied, it did not bring lodges or national offices anywhere approaching solvency. In Pennsylvania, the Insurance Department saw that the fraternals were functionally decentralized and operated on a day-to-day economic calculus - which, incidentally, was the traitional Slovak way of pooling resources in the extended family. It applied pressure for greater fraternal centralization and economic foresight. As of 1924, new members were to be rated according to the American Experience Table of Rates. However, the old members could continue to pay the prior National Fraternal Congress rate. This, too, did not greatly move the GCU and other Slovak-American fraternals toward solvency. Finally, the 1929 Pennsylvania law was implemented, and its effect paradoxical: it "worked" with amazing effectiveness according to the canons of American economic planning, but utterly disrupted the Slovak way of doing business. To summarize, then : the most compelling factors in declining membership within the Slovak-American fraternals were (a) the increasing cultural Americanization of their members and the availability of fraternal and insurance options within the cultural mainstream; (b) the increased influence of external (e .g., state) forces in the management of the internal affairs of the associations; (c) the devastating in- �82 SLOVAKIA fluence of the Great Depression over members' abilities to keep up payment of premiums on policies (undoubtedly influenced by " b " ); (d) the fraternal officials ' internal acculturation of the associations into "American" institutions (self-motivated as well as impelled by "b"). There remains an extremely potent factor in fraternal schism and attrition much less obvious to the observer's eye than those already discussed, one which the national president of a Slovak-American fraternal in his early 70' s poignantly articulated: ... we are still declining, there is an explanation for it. There was nothing ever done in this society. There was feeble attempts made to try to get the younger generation to become interested in our / fraternal society / . . .. we now lose, on an average of 1200 members a year .... you take in our generation, our parents were interested in our society and as soon as kids were born they put them in the lodge, the mother or father would always make sure that they would come to the meeting once a month and pay their dues. Even after they got married, the would pay their dues , do you follow me? Now, after they were on their own, had their own families they would say: "Here is your policy. Do you want to keep it. We pay till now. You can make your wife your beneficiary. " Lot of them kept it, and a lot of them turned around and cashed whatever they could get for it. See, where the old people wouldn't do that, and this younger generation isn't like the older generation. They say: " I don't need this or that." Now once again I say, it's not all of them, but the majority. They aren't worried so much like the old people were about their future. All they care is they get a new car, or good times, and when they are in trouble they come to their parents to help them out. Shortly thereafter, he spoke of local lodge meetings: The younger kids, they come, some of them come, some come and just pay their dues. They're in a hurry. They're always in a hurry. You see , I'll tell you. I think the biggest dam fault in all our fraternals. We used to have meetings every month at every lodge. I know I went as a younster, we came to the League, as a young fellow, 18, 19 years old, 20, 21. We would go to the Assemblies. All these old timers come to the meetings. It was always in the Slovak language, and if you\wanted the floor or ask permission to say something, and if you couldn""t. explain yourself well in the Slovak language, say in butchered up language, Slovak and English mixed together, the president of �SLOVAKIA 83 _ _ _ _ says: "Sit down you snot nose you. You can't express yourself in Slovak, you can sit down. You are out of order." Well, naturally these younger people think, they say "Oh, my goodness gracious." You get red in the face, these young people, then they don't know what to do. Then they sit through it and first chance that they got to go home, "They won't get me back here with a bull rope." Instead of being nice to them and courteous, ''OK, we understand you, go ahead and say in English what you want to say. We want you to come." And once you drive them away, oh boy, it's hard to bring them back. That's been the trouble all these fratemals, whether it's the Slovak Catholic, whether it's the National Slovak Society or the. First Catholic Slovak Union. It's the same condition and a lot of those old timers, when they held office, they thought they were supposed to be there till they die. The younger people, they need to bring these people in . . . . Another official, participating in the interview, later interjected: ... That old fellow who would come to the conventions, and make a rousing speech, "We have got to get our young people to take over our offices in our local assemblies, in the national,'' yet he wouldn 't give up his damn job .... (from field notes, June 1978) The chronic, occasionally acute conflict (expressed institutionally in schism) which these officers articulate is a generational conflict be- tween fathers and sons, once contained within the traditional familiar and manorial system, but now run openly rife in the expressively more permissive American cultural setting. We have already seen this conflict in another form: the 1902 schism within the GCU which led to the founding of the United Societies of USA, precipitated by the issue of allegiance to the U.S. versus allegiance to the parental-land and representatives of its authority. This conflict at the macro-institutional level is dynamically identical with the deeply traditional family struggle in Slovak culture: parental holding on versus letting go of authority, power, status, property, and roles. What I have discussed elsewhere in terms of traditional and Slovak-American personality, family dynamics, and culture change (Stein 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1976, 1978a, 1978b, 1979, Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) is dynamically identical and isomorphic with the conflict at the macro-institutional level. Traditionally as well as in the New World, unquestioning respect for and obedience to the will and authority of elders was paramount. In the official cultural ethos, the father's word and will were absolute; �84 SLOVAKIA deference was due to him no matter what. With the breakdown of the manorial order in Slovakia between 1848 and the great migration of 1880-1920 , sons began demanding a greater say in the running of family affairs . If fathers refused to relinquish some of their traditional prerogatives , sons now had options from setting up separate households to emigration . The vastly extended " joint family " diminished into the " stem family " (Goldschmidt and Kunkel 1971) in which frequently only a son or two, and daughter or two would live with or near the parents (cf. Koenig 1937) . The children now were able to place demands upon the parents , and to leave if dissatisfied. This is precisely what happened openly in the U.S., which official ethos was based on revolutionary separation from parents who, as the motto goes , exacted " taxation without representation, " an experience that strikes at the heart of the Slovak experience as well. Of course, this never was a matter of either / or. As I have demonstrated in the above cited works , moves centrifugal toward autonomy have evoked enormous ambivalence , guilt, restitution, and centripetal countervailing moves on the part of parents. Nonetheless , the above officials have identified as a decisive ingredient in the attrition of the young from Slovak-American fratemals the demand by the young for respect by the elders, a reversal of tradition that is at the same time traditionally and quintessentially '' American.'' It is thus not enough to say that the young defectors had been " Americanized ," and that the diehards remained doggedly "traditional. '' The elder officials of the Slovak-American fratemals could not mobilize the constraints they once yielded under the much hated manorial and Magyar yoke to compel those who they contemptuously regarded as " snotty nosed" youth to speak their language: Slovak. It should further be noted that language was wielded by the officials as a tool of power - but an impotent tool. Ironically, the youth, in the 1910's and 1920' s , attempted to express their interest in ethnicity in English, but were dismissed as out of order by parental-clergy-fraternal-elder figures who sought to safe-guard their venerable Slovak ethnicity by passing it on through institutional measures (churches, gynmastics , literary clubs). However, the fact of institutionalization of tradition was disqualified by the attitude of the founders toward those who would succeed them - which very " success " aroused their fear and countervailing animosity toward the Slovak-American youth. The very nature of many officers ' traditionalism led to the ardent Americanization by the young, whose consequence for the fratemals was decline in membership. ' �SLOVAKIA 85 ATHLETIC PROGRAMS IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS: INTERNAL CHANGE AND CONTINUITY Similar directional change can be seen in the history of athletic programs within the Slovak-American fraternals. The baseline was the Slovak Sokol (Falcon) or gymnastic society. The earliest Sokols had been founded in Bohemia in 1862 by Jindrich Fuegner and Miroslav Tyrs , derived from the German Turnvereine . The Sokols were used in Europe both as vehicles for nativism and Pan-Slavic solidarity. In the U.S. , they tended to follow ethnic lines and intra-ethnic schisms. Initially most of the fraternal organizations were divided into full membership branches: general (adult), juvenile (up to ages 16-18) , and Sokol. Between the ages of 16 and 18, one transferred from the juvenile branch to either the general or the Sokol branch. The Sokol branch stressed group gymnastics. Beyond local activities, each branch combined with other lodges, organizations, and conducted district, regional, national, and international slets (mass calisthenic displays) . Separate Sokol / insurance fraternals later developed. During the first decades of the twentieth century, baseball attracted considerable interest in fraternal and church groups , and if not competed for time with the gymnastic activity, it at least paralleled it. By the 1930's, Sokol activity began a slow decline, while baseball was attracting more interest. And in the mid and late 1930' s, the first fraternal bowling leagues were formed, later organized into district, regional, and national competition along the same lines as were the gymnastics. With the preparation for and American entry into World War II Sokol programs were drastically cut when the young Sokols and Sokolettes and instructors took part in the war. Great hopes were placed on a revival following the war, but there was no such revival. Quite the reverse . Those lodges which were discontinued during the war were never revived. ' ' At least fifty percent of the former gymnastically-active lodges became dormant ; numerous Sokol halls were lost; and most of the prewar instructors and directors disappeared from the physical education field . The indifference and apathy on the part of .. . Sokol membership , and officers as well, also were responsible for this decline ." (Andrew Venglarcik, Jr., " President's Column," Sokol Times, Jan . 14, 1972 , p. 3). Despite efforts by the Supreme Lodge of Sokol USA and other control bodies to induce renewal by the appropriation of larger funds for the Sokols , promises of salaries and the payment of travel expenses, there was little positive response on the part �86 SLOVAK IA of the membership . The Sokol USA slet held in 1966 was a veritable miniature compared with those of the 1920's. The influence of World War II was pervasive on both those who participated in it and in the home communities. Two facts are especially noteworthy: (a) that the virtual collapse of Sokol gynmastics was merely one small aspect of this transformation from Slovak to American, and (b) that the fact of the war did not so much cause the change as it rapidly accelerated a process already under way. Baseball, already popular before the war, was equally popular during the war in the informal games by American soldiers at recreation in training or overseas. Although the soldiers returned with baseball, they did not return it to their fraternal lodges, but instead to their industrial teams, American Legion teams, war veterans ' teams, and so forth . At the Sokol lodges, bowling became the sport. Only in the 1960's did local bowling lodge teams begin to decline. From the late 1940's and early 1950's bowling began to compete with golf, which was subsequently organized in districts, regions, and nationally. From the mid-1960 's , golf became the major activity, all of this taking place as the elderly are passing on, the young either not joining or cashing in their policies when they mature , the lodges becoming smaller and more difficult to justify and maintain. What is the meaning of the transformation in athletic activities? What has changed, and what has remained? The only remnant is that of group competition. Slets displayed competitive gymnastic groups, and baseball, bowling, and golf were organized as competitive tournaments at the various levels . But there is a gradual incorporation into the group of increasing individualism, in contrast with the "mechanical solidarity" of group gymnastics . In all of these, what the individual does is for the sake of the group effort. But the individual as a separate entity is increasingly emphasized. The team-orientation of a baseball team is far greater than that of the bowling team, because, as in the group gymnastic display, all of the members ' (or at least the playing members ' ) actions must be coordinated. This is not the case in bowling or golf, where the group is cumulative and sequential, rather than synchronized. In bowling and golf, individual efforts (and accomplishments) are not directly coordinated with tho'se of others, although they are added to them. In these '' individualistic' •· sports, individual actions are apart from the group , not subsumed under group effort as they necessarily are in the slet and in sports like baseball. Psychologically, the meaning of these sports differs greatly from the earlier " team" sports , where the individual could never be " taken out" of the group . �SLOVAKIA 87 \ This point has been well made by Andrew J. Valusek, President of Sokol USA: '' ... we believe in mass training more than emphasis on individual excellence, even though outstanding Sokol athletes are honored and play an important role in the life and achievements of the movement itself (Souvenir Book, 15th Sokol USA Slet, July 1-3, 1966, New York). This transformation in atheltics reflects what is simultaneously a cultural and psychological transformation: from Slovak to American, from group-oriented to individual-oriented, from coordinated interdependence to self-reliant independence. Furthermore, the incorporation of American athletic activities represented a new social status for the group . The lodge members had adopted within an ethnic framework typically mainstream American social activities. Increasingly, ancestral ethnicity was the basis for association, while categories of American culture dominated the content of the activity. MEN'S CLUB AND SECRET SOCIETY My final consideration in the history of the Slovak-American fraternals is its vital ' 'latent'' function as an exclusive men's club. This refers, of course, to male fraternal organizations or a compartmentalized activity of a male fraternal. The men's club provided and safeguarded a haven and refuge from women, family, and responsibility. It occasioned regularized " rituals of rebellion" (Gluckman 1954; Wallace 1966). This is not a matter of the writer's interpretations but derives from informants ' statements as well as the writer's observations. In Slovakia and Ruthenia, the village tavern had fulfilled this release function. In those Slovak-American organizations whose meetings were held under the strict supervision of the priest, the conclusion of a meeting was frequently followed by a visit to the Slovak Club . Many fraternals held their lodge meetings in one of the rooms at the Slovak Club. At the club , heavy drinking, card and craps playing, mournful and boisterous Slovak folk song, and " men' s talk" occupied the hours and filled the air. Abetted by the influences of "boilermakers'' (a shot of whiskey with a beer as chaser), the unspeakable literally emptied into the open. Taboos were cavalierly broken - at least in word. Built on shared experiences and conflicts, the male associations offered one of the few opportunities for male solidarity. Both in Europe and in the first several decades in the U.S., Saturday night was the ritual occasion for the unbottling of the week's pent up burdens. In the U.S. , the male solidarity of Slovak-American fraternal and the Slovak Club came to be predominantly associated with the immi- �88 SLOVAKIA grant generation. With the second and later generations, from the 1940's and on, this function became transferred to union halls, service veterans' clubs, American fraternal orders, and local bars, whether located adjacent to the mill or in one's neighborhood. These became places where men from varied ethnic backgrounds (though as exclusively white as they were exclusively male) could commiserate and boast of extracurricular feats on the war front and on the home front alike, out of reach of female domination and ridicule. In the original Slovak tavern the American Slovak Club, and later supra-ethnic American adaptations, lusty fiction compensated for social realities too miserable to acknowledge, and over which one felt no control. Through group support, one was able, without too great a burden on the conscience, to take a temporary moral holiday. And a man knew that later confession and communion could always undo - again temporarily what he had dared to think or say or do under the influence of potent spirits. SLOVAK-AMERICAN CHURCHES: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TRENDS A detailed history of Slovak-American parishes at the local and national levels, over the past century, exactly duplicates the history of the fraternals . For this reason, and for economy of space, I would like to review the major trends and give a brief ''life history'' of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, which history will embody these trends. Each of the churches in which I conducted fieldwork (Latin Rite, Byzantine Rite, Independent Rite Catholic, and Lutheran) either experienced the convulsion of schism or was a product of schism. Each of these parishes experiences the on-going drama of conflict between traditionalists and acculturationists. And in each of these parishes, the resolution is identical: (a) outward mobility of dissident acculturationists (and, in some cases, traditionalists for whom even the majority of parish traditionalists have compromised too much); (b) internal acculturation and inter-marriage, creating supra-ethnic denominationalized parishes ; (c) the "territorialization" of "nationality '' parishes (this language comes from khe Catholic diocesan context, but is univerally applicable) . The same directional change is evidenced since the 1930's in Slo- �SLOVAKIA " 89 vak-American churches as in fratemals: that is, away from ethnic exclusiveness and insularity. Initially, religion, like fratemalism, was an inseparable functional component of ethnicity. Today, in the context of an individual's increasingly personal community" (Gould 1970: 148), a traditional social structural view is empirically invalidated. "Religion" and "ethnicity" have become increasingly separate domains of one's life. This is true even for those originally nationality parishes which, in the 1960's or early 1970's, still maintained a large membership and which could afford to build a new parish further "up the hill" or out in suburbia. I think, for instance, of two parishes in Duquesne, Pennsylvania: Holy Trinity (Slovak) Roman Catholic Church, which, in the late 1960's, built a dazzlingly modem church in the suburb of West Mifflin in which many of the second and third generation lived, but which became de jure a supra-ethnic territorial parish in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; and Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, originally located in the same neighborhood as Holy Trinity, but which built a modem church building in the mid-1960's a mile or two further up the hill, in a stable white, middle-class, poly-ethnic neighborhood. Cross-cutting denominational lines is the decisive influence of World War Il in accelerating, though not causing, the Americanization process within Slovak-American parishes, and with it, division or further schism. The ubiquity of this process I have discovered from discussions with Latin and Byzantine Rite Catholic, Lutheran, and Independent Catholic Slovak-American clergymen and parishioners. A Slovak Lutheran minister in his late forties, who grew up in Johnstown, Penna., relates his experience there and generalizes from it: In my church in Johnstown, there was no English until 1942 - at least until 1942, when I left for World War II. When I left, no English had been introduced. But after war, the young people coming back demanded that English be adopted as a separate service. The effect of the war was to put people of all different backgrounds together, and the common language there was English. The men thought and spoke and felt in English, so that when they got home after the war, their native towns and churches were like a foreign country. The delicate questions, then, as always, was how to contain or try to contain change within continuity. In McKeesport, Penna., Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church had been founded in 1895 as a "nationality" parish within the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese (Holy Trinity 1970; Slovak Catholic Par- �90 SLOVAKIA ishes and Institutions, 1955). In 1921 the church had a membership of some 1, 700 individuals and 325 families. In that year, the bishop appointed a priest of Alsatian-German ancestry to succeed the Slovak priest who many elderly parishioners allege returned to Slovakia under dubious circumstances (e.g. , with church funds?). Not so much the new priest's ethnicity as his antagonistic, condescendingly anti-Slovak style precipitated a schism in which some 300 families left to found Sts . Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, later renamed Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This priest remained the pastor of the church until his death in 1963, and was succeeded by a second-generation Slovak-American priest who remained pastor until his retirement in the mid-1970's. This period witnessed considerable Americanization of everything from liturgy to architecture to the aesthetics of the sanctuary. The immense wood-spires gave way to marble. The dusty baldachino was taken down in the 1960' s. The sanctuary of the church has fewer and fewer statues and candles. The interior became increasingly lighter and brightly lit. The Slovak mass on Sunday morning (one mass out of the four) , attended mostly by the older people, was phased out by the late 1960's. At the Diamond Jubilee Celebration (75 yrs.) in 1970, no Slovak was used in the special mass. (As I left the service, I overheard one man , perhaps in this 60 's, exclaim to a friend: " Couldn 't he have said something in Slovak?'') In 1975, a young third-generation Slovak-American priest became pastor and initiated weekly Charismatic Renewal Services , held in the church social hall and open to and attended by Catholics from parishes throughout McKeesport. Thus, what began as an exclusively ethnic parish has become internally a multi-ethnic territorial Roman Catholic parish though with explicitly acknowledged ties to an ethnic past. Moreover, it is the site for decidedly contemporary American cultic activity that stresses the direct, personal religious experience. The possible conflict between the priest and Eucharist-centererd formalism of the traditional mass (now in the vernacular English) and the participatory Charismatic Service of heightened self-expression and testimonial has at least for the moment been settled by compartmentalization. At the present time (see Table 10), the membership is large enough (roughly 1,800 members) , and its >decline due to the greater proportion of deaths over baptisms gradual e:eough to assure the parish at least several decades of "life." But, clearly the nature of the religious experience has changed decisively over the past 85 years . The word ' 'Slovak '' was officially dropped from the name of the church in �SLOVAKIA 91 \ the 1960's. • The parish is becoming increasingly working-class Catholic in its expressive function. The so-called Latinization and Irishization of the church has most recently been succeeded by a new type of American religious nativism: here , however, the change is induced far less from without than from within. To date, St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, and St. Mark Lutheran Church have solved the generational gap between traditionalists and acculturationists through separate services. Sts. Cyril and Methodius alternates Sundays with English and Slovak services. At St. Mark, the Slovak service typically takes place early on Sunday, followed by the English service . At the much larger St. Nicholas, the Slavonic Mass is one of three masses offered on Sunday morning, the other two in English (for detailed histories of these parishes , see Stein 1972). If at Holy Trinity, " Latinization" mediated by " Irishization " underlay much internal conflict, at St. Nicholas a less direct though powerful Latinization has taken place, here mediated by the supra-local hierarchy from Byzantine Catholic bishop through Rome. Just as in Latin Rite Slovak-American parishes, the conglomerate of IrishizationLatinization-Americanization was a means of social mobility for the priesthood ; likewise within Byzantine Rite Slovak-American parishes, Latinization-Americanization, bypassing the Latin Rite, Irish-dominated Church , was a means of social mobility for its priesthood. This, however, was not original to the American context. For centuries, both Byzantine and Latin Rite Slovak priests frequently used Magyarization as a means of mobility in Slovakia. Likewise, in Europe as in America, Germanization was a means of social mobility for Slovak Lutheran clergy. In all cases , the process in America was continuous with that in Europe: only the specific content or reference group(s) changed. • Let me furthe r pursue the issue of " What' s in a name? " , the importance of name as personal meaning and identity, from the point of view of baptismal records in this parish . Both in traditional Slovakia, and in parish records through the early 1920' s, baptismal names we re largely Biblical , or reflected more eastern Slavic influence . Thus, most males were named Michael, John, Thomas , Andrew , George, Paul, Joseph, Stephen , Be rnard , Albert, Rudolph, Charles, and Ivan ; and females were named Martha, Helen , Margaret , Mary, Anna , Elizabeth , and Ivana. American names, including the addition of a middle name, began to appear sporadically in the late 1910's , but grew in the 1920's and thereafter . For instance : Ella Sue, Stanley J oseph , Ethel Elizabeth, Emma Marie , Virginia , Robert William , George Edward (all before 1930) , Anna Mae, Rose Marie , Dorothy Mae , Virginia Louise, Patricia J ane , Lucille Diane , Gary Michael, William John , and so forth . �SLOVAKIA 92 TABLE 10 Diocese of Pittsburgh Holy Trinity (Slovak) Catholic Church Allegheny County McKeesport, PA Church reports at five year intervals (1896-1971): Year 1896 1901 1906 1911 1916 1921 1926 1931 1936 1941 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1974+ Souls (approximate)• 600 Families (approximate)• 180 905 210 1060 250 1200 1300 1800 2500 2700 300 300 400 600 600 600 600 600 500 600 600 610 675 667 2900 2886 3170 3180 3500 3500 2725 2540 2140 Baptisms 144 151 175 177 160 140 137 131 86 72 127 86 78 66 41 26 16 Deaths 50 . 67 109 30 48 50 30 45 38 37 24 36 39 40 35 37 50 • Priest' s estimate derived from traditional annual blessing of homes after Epiphany. + Last year data available. Moreover, this was hardly a process imposed exclusively from without or by the pastor. In the absence of schism, and in the aftermath of schism for those who chose to remain loyal to church and pastor, the direction taken by the pastor coincided with the direction sought by a majority of the congregation, through passive assent if not active work toward change. The matter is somewhat different for Sts. Cyril and Methodius, an independent Slovak Catholic church that has literally struggled for survival since its creation in 1921. Beginning with some 300 zealous families as Sts. Peter and Paul, it has now barely 100 members. In the 1920's it ambitiously built a new church, only to lose it to the bank in 1937. Just as, prior to building its own edifi<z, the church held services in Slovak Hall and in churches where it was welcomed, likewise after 1937, it held services at the YWCA and the Baptist Mission. In order to be exempt from any past or future debts incurred under its original �SLOVAKIA 93 \ name , Sts. Peter and Paul changed its name to Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the late 1930's . In its early period, the church had been served by a priest ordained by the Czecho-Slovak Independent Church in Slovakia. Later, when no priest could be found, Sts. Cyril and Methodius became affiliated with the parallel nativistic Polish National Catholic movement which had begun in Scranton, Penna. in 1897 (Fox, n .d.). Services were conducted at the local, inner-city Polish National Catholic Church , served by a Polish-American priest who said mass in Polish, while responsorials and hymns were sung in Slovak by the congregation. During the late 1960's, the Polish church began a building program in suburban McKeesport. At the same time, a Swedish Evangelical Free Church was vacating its church on the "hill" and moving to a more outlying district - where its members tended to be living, and away from the area in which blacks were now living in increasing numbers . The Slovak Independent church voted to purchase the Swedish church outright in 1967. So the church now had a home, but few members. Many had, in the intervening year, returned to Holy Trinity. Others joined Catholic or Protestant churches near their homes . Still others gravitated in increasing numbers to the Polish National Catholic Church: an institution which acted both to safeguard the Slovak church and as an agent of acculturation to the PNCC tradition. Indeed , one of the greatest areas of chronic conflict within Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been those who resist and resent the PNCC influence and those who accept it. From the outset, the Slovak National Catholic Church movement has been numerically small and politically weak in comparison with the PNCC, which now claims several hundreds of thousands of members in some 140 churches in the U.S. alone - and which movement diffused in the 1920's back to the mother country . Thus the direction of change in Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been toward PNCC and American acculturation. Like St. Mark, whose ' 'life history '' I present immediately below in detail rather than fragment , the membership of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is highly skewed toward the end of the life cycle , unbalanced by a substantial middle-aged population to compensate for the outward migration of young adults and the virtually non-existent birth-rate. While these examples are sufficient to illustrate the trend of culture change , I would like to tum to the history of St. Mark Lutheran Church , which should provide a depth missing in the breadth of the " trends " I have covered for the other churches . �94 SLOVAKIA ST. MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH: AN INSTITUTIONAL ''LIFE HISTORY'' St. Mark's was founded in 1913 by 25 members from the Slovak Evangelical Union Assembly 53 (a fraternal organization) organized in 1899 in Duquesne. The church was named the Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne. Between 1913 and 1919, ''lacking funds to either build or buy a place for a church site, the Church council called upon the nearby existing Grace Reformed Church ... for permission to use the church for services" (50th Anniversary Book, St. Mark Ev. Lutheran Church, Oct. 27, 1963) . Toward the end of the decade , Grace Reformed Church's growth compelled it to seek larger quarters elsewhere in Duquesne, making the building available for purchase. Slovak Lutherans from Duquesne and from the nearby communities of McKeesport and Glassport purchased the church building. In 1920, the parish was able to send a call for its first full-time pastor. In 1934, after no prior synodical affiliation, the church joined the Slovak Zion Synod, Lutheran Church of America, in which it has been a member ever since. In the 1930's, the Slovak Lutheran parish in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, experienced a schism between the more Americanized members and the traditionalists. The more Americanized members wanted English introduced into the service, and wanted to establish a Sunday School for their children in which English was the language of instruction. The more adamant Slovaks refused to permit any change. Between one-third and one-half of the congregation (over 150 members) left. They took up membership at the nearby German Lutheran and Engish Lutheran churches. The loss of membership in the 1930's precipitated a compromise initiated in 1940: an English-language Sunday School was founded, and English was adopted in the Vacation Bible School and in the Confirmation Class. The services, however, remained entirely in Slovak. The Second World War acted as a great catalyst of change toward the more rapid Americanization of the parish - not merely of this parish but thoughout Slovak Lutheran parishes. The younger members, many of them returning veterans, insisted on a separate English service. This structural change solved in part the probl~m of the different intergenerational linguistic and cultural orientatibns. Each age set, indeed cultural set, would have its own separate service. The Sunday morning Slovak service at the Duquesne parish is now a much shortened version of the traditional service. In this way, it has been adopted to the Ameri- �SLOVAKIA 95 can time-sense (e.g., hymns of an original 16-20 stanzas now reduced to 4-6). For occasions such •s Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, and Confirmation, joint services are held, with roughly half in English and half in Slovak, equally distributed throughout the service. In the 1960's, further measures were taken to Americanize the church. A majority of the younger members felt that the word "Slovak" in its name , as with the lengthy European-sounding name as a whole, discouraged non-Slovaks from joining. The younger age set wished to become an integrated member of the American Lutheran community rather than remain outside it. As a reflection of this attitude change, the name was changed from Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne to the more conventional St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, or simply St. Mark Lutheran Church. The church was named in honor of a saint because, as the pastor put it, ''most American churches are called Saint this or Saint that.'' Accompanying the change in name were concomitant changes in the by-laws whose effect was intended to parallel and validate the change in name. Whereas previously membership was restricted to Slovak Lutherans and their spouses (through conversion to Lutheranism), now membership was opened to all Lutherans irrespective of nationality background. For all practical purposes the church became ''two churches' ' : Slovak Lutheran and American Lutheran, the former using the Slovak liturgy, and the latter utilizing the Common Service Book of 1917 (United Lutheran Church of America) until the mid-1960's, then the authorized Service Book and Hymnal (Lutheran Church of America, 1968). However, the opening up of the church to new membership, together with the standardization of the liturgy, failed to attract new members or to retain the young. The Slovak population of Duquesne, like that of McKeesport and all other local milltowns on the Monongahela, had largely been moving to outlying districts, first up on ''the hill,'' later further out to "suburbs. " Mobility of membership to nearby " American Lutheran" churches almost inevitably followed. In the same area of Duquesne as St. Mark Church were former Slovak Roman Catholic (Holy Trinity, Duquesne) and Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Catholic (Sts. Peter and Paul) churches . Sts. Peter and Paul had completed a new church far up on the hill in early 1960, and Holy Trinity completed a new church out in the suburb of West Mifflin in 1970. During the period from the 1940' s through the 1960' s, as the Slovaks moved " up and out," the area rapidly became settled by blacks , and the area quickly became unpopular even in the eyes of those Slovaks who remained and attended the Lutheran Church (which could not �96 SLOVAKIA afford to build elsewhere). The church could hardly retain its own members, let alone attract outsiders to what was quickly becoming called a deteriorated and unstable area. The former Slovak Catholic Holy Trinity Church building and rectory were given by the diocesan bishop to a local black church group, and the nearby vacated Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Church became a plaything for vandals. Many Catholic and Lutheran Slovak-Americans who had bought their first homes here or had grown up in this neighborhood said in disgust that this was no longer a place fit for a white man to live. It is significant that, despite all the vast changes that have taken place in the church, the original German-made oak tryptich altar, baptismal, and pulpit (of the 1920's) are retained by the church to the present. From time to time younger parishioners have suggested that the ancient pipe organ be replaced by a modern electric organ, but there has never been a concerted demand for such a replacement. I suspect that underlying this lack of pressure for costly remodeling and rennovation is first, the smallness of the congregation and hence the lack of large amounts of funds for such purposes, and second, the younger generation's relative lack of long-term future commitment to the parish and hence their acquiescence to the traditional preferences of the older generation . At present, an average of ten of those parishioners aged 60 and over attend the Slovak service; while between 40 and 50 of mostly younger parishioners and their families attend the English. Only a few elderly people are accompanied in the Slovak service by their children and grandchildren. However, many grandparents attend the English service with their children. Unexceptionably, the three-generation service is the English. A maximum of 15 attend the Slovak service, while at the English it approximates 60. The parish is rapidly losing members at both ends of the age range , the elder through deaths , and the younger with their families by moving away or joining more American Lutheran churches . Between 1960 and the end of 1970, the church lost 26 members over age 50 (out of a total of 32) of whom 14 were over age 70. Several parents in their 30 's and 40 's have told me of their intention of joining elsewhere after their own parents, stalwart members , pass on .* \ • Rarely have Slovak-ethnic organizations later becom~ stable supra-ethnic co=unity institutions . The direction of change seems one way . Ethnic parishes have declined dramatically in Slovak-American membership . The ethnic fratemals ' efforts at modernizing fis cally simply came too late . Moreover, the fratemals ' renewed efforts at in- �SLOVAKIA 97 , CONCLUSION This paper has examined religion and fraternal association among Slovak-Americans as institutional forms for the communication of cultural meaning. Although I have focused on a single Euro-American population, the perspectives and findings of this study should be applicable to and testable by data from comparable populations. Historical, documentary, ethnographic, and demographic data were adduced both to illustrate cultural patterns of communication and to offer the reader material by which my generalizations might be evaluated. I have emphasized that (a) there is much in Slovak-American adaptation that is built upon, indeed derived from, preadaptive characteristics of traditional culture which cannot be reduced to the demands of the host environment or to adaptive tools available in it; (b) the overall trend and categories of change in fraternals and churches is identical; (c) the study of institutional meaning is never removed, nor can it be abstracted from, the personal meanings of its participants who invest in social structures; (d) what from one point of view appears to be patently instrumental functions can be discerned simultaneously from another point of view as expressive functions (i.e., complementary); (e) the American cultural system was adopted by Slovak-Americans to achieve both traditional ends (often in new "language" or cultural content) and anti-traditional ends, the seeds of which were sown (as latent possibilities) in traditional Slovak family and social conflict; (f) the distinction between traditional and modern, and continuity and change, cannot be concluded on the basis of mere appearance, but must be detennined by the meanings communicated by the cultural actors; hence (g) continuity in form, function, and meaning can often be expressed, not despite, but strurnental change in service of ethnic, that is, expressive, revitalization was a futile attempt to reassemble functions that had already been severed by the membership for expressive reasons . One conspicuous exception is the Benedictine High School in Cleveland , Ohio . Another is the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Homestead, Pennsylvania (with branches in McKeesport and Clairton, also mill towns) , originally founded in 1914 by Slovak workers to assist in providing common funds for Slovak families now able and eager to purchase homes in the "hill" regions of the town up and away from their rented flats in the " lowland" or " bottoms " close to the mill . Perhaps a compelling reason for the success of the S & L association lies in its offer of supra-ethnic' ' social security '' resources from the beginning. That is, being primarily a financial institution, it stood the best chance of flourishing in the American cultural environment in which instrumental (e .g. , economic) functions were compartmentalized from expressive ones. �98 SLOVAKIA through a change in symbolic content; (h) although unmistakable trends of change have been noted, at any given moment the identified distinctive features of change may perform complementary or contradictory institutional functions; (i) the process of Americanization or acculturation cannot be seen as a unitary process directed either from within or from without the ethnic community, but must be analyzed in terms of sources of impetus for Americanization. The study of ethnicity is not the study of "tribes" as though they and their conceptually reified cultures persist statically unchanged. Rather, the study of ethnicity is the study of human relationships, the meanings which people attach to those relationships, the communication of those meanings in idiosyncratic or institutionalized forms, the process by which changed meanings lead to changes in relationships and how in tum ethnicity and thus identity itself comes to be redefined. Certainly the nativistic "New Ethnicity" advocated by many fraternal leaders and Slovak-American intelligentsia (Stein and Hill 1977) is not at all the unself-conscious native ethnicity of the pre-immigrant period. My research among some three- and four-generation SlovakAmerican families and institutions leads to to the inexorable conclusion that Slovak-American ethnicity over the past century has dramatically changed from a relatively homogeneous public expression of community form, function, structure, meaning, and relationship to a far more heterogeneous, individualized, private matter. This privatization of ethnicity had led many scholars to conclude that ethnicity has disappeared. This is nonsense: it has been repattemed, some elements retained, others given up. Although the American ethos has replaced the ethnic ethos as the core of personal and group identity, the spheres of life and the levels of the personality at which this replacement has occurred must be demonstrated and explained. What has unmistakably declined and is disappearing is the full complement of institutions which characteristically define a traditional community (cf. Arensberg and Kimball 1965) . However, as I have suggested in my previously cited works, unconsciously communicated loyalties, conflicts, values , expectation, and worldview in the intimate interior of even ethnically intermarried families results in continuities in surprising guises (e.g., the steel mill experienced as the old manorial latifundia: see Stein and Hill 1979; Hamey 1975) . , On the other hand, ethnic ties are often.maintained in the absence of conspicuously ethnic content - and here "conspicuity" refers all too often to the preoccupations and categories of the observer. Ethnicity takes on an especially "hidden" quality (Hill and May 1973) when the �SLOVAKIA 99 observer expects tradition~ meanings to take traditional representational forms. The more subtle, out-of-awareness (Hall 1977) aspects of ethnicity are the most intractible because they are pre-verbally ta.ken for granted and cannot be verbalized. Thus, for instance, I shall know that without a doubt a Slovak-American woman or man has acculturated more toward the core of the metaphoric personal ''onion'' when children - or the ethnographer! - are forcibly lavished copious quantities of food, when I am invited to visit with a family in their ''living room" or "dining room" instead of the kitchen; or when the implicit roles of maternal dominance and paternal distance in the home have become less pronounced, and the affective atmosphere affectively less brittle. Likewise, the inclusion of members from other ethnic groups within formerly exclusive tradition-maintaining fraternal and religious institutions, and the increasingly widespread phenomenon of intermarriage, are expressions of the simultaneous of group- or "ethnic" - and ego-boundaries. The formerly "other," often despised and alien, is now included within the possibilities of the "self." This fact requires a reassessment of our received wisdom about structural assimilation, namely, that inclusion is an act governed or regulated by the more mainstreamed "Americans" - that is, that it operates as a one-way process. Rather, inclusion is reciprocally a dynamic from within the ethnic group. Finally, this paper further confirms the tenet that ethnicity is a process operating at many levels, and is not a lineal continuum whose starting and terminal points can easily be plotted in terms of preconceived categories of "passing," "acculturation," "mobility," or "assimilation." It is the author's hope that future studies will not only provide greater breadth and depth in the study of Slovak-Americans, but will offer a comparative framework for the study of emigrant Slovaks in other nations (indeed, other regions of the U.S.), the internal transformation of Slovakia in the post-World War I period, and other European emigrant populations in their new contexts. Such studies will determine precisely how limited or widespread is the trend of culture change discussed in this paper. REFERENCES Anderson, Robert T. "Voluntary Associations in History," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 209-222. Arensberg, Conrad M. and Solon T. Kimball. Culture and Community . New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966. �100 SLOVAKIA Balch, Emily Greene. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens . New York : Amo Press, 1969 (orig. 1910) . Barton , Josef J . Peasants and Strangers : Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950. Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press, 1976. Bue, Bonaventure S. " Slovak Nationalism: Its Origins, Conflicts and Objectives." Master's thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1967. Fitzpatrick , Joseph P. " The Importance of ' Community' in the Process of Immigrant Assimilation, " International Migration Review 1(1)(1966) : 6-16. Fox, Paul. The Polish National Catholic Church . Scranton , Penna: School of Christian Living, n.d . Gluckman, Max. Rituals of Rebellion in South-East Africa . Manchester: Manchester University Press , 1964. Goldschmidt, Walter and E. J . Kunkel. " The Structure of the Peasant Family," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 1068-1076. Gould, Harold A. ' 'Some Preliminary Observations Concerning the Anthropology of Industrialization,'' In Peasants in Cities: Readings in the Anthropology of Urbanization . William Mangin, ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970, pp. 137-149. Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture . Garden City, New York : Doubleday 1/ Anchor, 1977. Hamey, Robert F. "Ambiente and Social Class in North American Little Italies," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 2(2)(1976): 208-224. Hill, Robert F. and J . Thomas May. " Exploring Hidden Ethnicity: Problems and Methods ," American Society of Ethnohistory , Central State University, Edmond , Oklahoma, October 1973. Jansak Stefan. "The Land Question in Slovakia (I), " The Slavonic Review 8(1930) : 612626. Kerner, Robert J ., ed . Czechoslovakia . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Kirschbaum , Joseph M. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Europe. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Klein, Philip . A Social Study of Pittsburgh. New York : Columbia University Press, 1938. Koenig, Samuel. " Marriage and the Family among the Galician Ukrainians, " In Studies in the Science of Society . George P. Murdock, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937 , pp. 299-318 . Krajsa, Joseph C., Chairman, Editorial Board. Slovaks in America . Middletown, Penn.: The Slovak League of America, 1978. La Barre, Weston . The Ghost Dance: The Origins of Religion . New York: Dell, 1972. Lacko, Michael. '' A Brief Study of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the ByzantineSlavonic Rite," Slovak Studies 3(1963) : 199-224. Slovak Institute, Rome, Italy . Light, Ivan H. Ethnic Enterprise in America. Berkeley: University of California Press , 1972 . Macartney , C. A. Hungary and Her Successors . New York : Oxford University Press , 1937. Nelli, Humbert S. The Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility . New York : Oxford University Press, 1970. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia and/ts People . New York: Robert Speller and Sons , 1960. Roucek , Joseph S. "Problems of Assimilation: A Study of Czecho-Slovaks in the United States ," Sociology and Social Research XVIl (1932-33) : 62-71. Roucek , Joseph S. " The Passing of American Czechoshivaks ," American Journal of Sociology 39(1933-34) : 611-626 . Roucek , Joseph S. " Czechoslovak Americans ," In Our Racial and National Minorities. �SLOVAKIA 101 Francis J . Brown and Joseph S. Roucek , eds . New York: Prentice-Hall, 1937, pp. 230246 . Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institutions in the United States and Canada. Cleveland, Ohio: The First Catholic Slovak Union, 1966 (Jednota Printery, Middletown, Penna.) . Stein , Howard F . " An Ethno-Historical Study of Slovak-American Identity." Doctoral dissertation , University of Pittsburgh , 1972. Stein, Howard F. " Cultural Specificity in Patterns of Mental Illness and Health: A Slovak-American Case Study, " Family Process 12(March 1973): 69-82. Stein, Howard F. '' Envy and the Evil Eye among Slovak-Americans: An Exploration into the Psychological Ontogeny of Belief and Ritual," Ethos 2(1)(Spring 1974) : 16-46. Stein , Howard F. " Structural Change in Slovak Kinship: An Ethnohistoric Inquiry," Ethnology 14(1)(January 1976): 99-108 . Stein , Howard F. " A Dialectic Model of Illness and Health Attitudes and Behavior among Slovak-Americans ," International Journal of Mental Health 6(2)(Summer 1976) : 117-137. Stein , Howard F. " The Slovak-American 'Swaddling Ethos' : Homeostat for Family Dynamics and Cultural Continuity, " Family Process 17 (March 1978) : 32-46. (a) Stein, Howard F. ''Aging and Death among Slovak-Americans: A Study in the Thematic Unity of the Life Cycle ," The Journal of Psychological Anthropology 1(3)(Summer 1978) : 297-320. (b) Stein, Howard F. "The White Ethnic Movement, Pan-Ism, and the Restoration of Early Symbosis: The Psychohistory of a Group-Fantasy," The Journal of Psychohistory 6(3)(Winter 1979) : 319-360. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F . Hill. The Ethnic Imperative: Ewmining the New White Ethnic Mo vement. University Park , Penna .: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F. Hill. " Adaptive Modalities Among Slovak- and PolishAmericans : Some Issues in Cultural Continuity and Change ," Anthropology 3(1-2) (1979) : 96-107. Stolarik , M. Mark . " Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 18701918." Doctoral dissertation , University of Minnesota , 1974. Wallace , A. F. C. Religion: An Anthropological View . New York: Random House, 1966. Yurchak , Peter Paul . The Slovaks . Whiting, Indiana: Obrana Press, 1946. Zatko , James J . " Slovaks in the U.S.A., 1900-1914," Slovakia 16(39)(1966) : 41-62 (Slovak League 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 53 An Ethnohistqry of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions HOW ARD F. STEIN INTRODUCTION: ETHNICITY, INSTITUTIONS AND THE STUDY OF MEANING The study of ethnicity is necessarily a study of systems of meaning and how that meaning is communicated. Ethnicity is far more than a matter of social mobility, group competition for scarce resources, acculturation, and the like. This paper focuses on what might be called the "life histories" of Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations as institutionalized expressors of a century of changing groupidentity and those meanings that represent the underlying group-identity. Special emphasis is placed on identifying precisely what about ethnic identity is communicated by these institutions. The central argument is that Slovak-American fraternal and religious associations perform important psychosocial functions - not merely social structural ones. Indeed, I propose that the former determines and sustains, and explains, the revitalization or atrophy of the latter. Another way of putting it is that the ''expressive'' dimension of ethnicity is inherent in the "instrumental" roles performed by fraternal and religious organizations. The world of the symbolic is never separated from the world of the practical. The term "ethnic fraternal" is used here in the sense of mutual benefit, self-help, voluntary associations (see Anderson 1971) that trace to diverse mid-nineteenth century immigrant populations to the U.S. However, the meaning of ethnic fraternalism should not be ac• A paper presented as part of a panel on ''Ethnicity as Communication in Southeastern Europe: A Comparative Approach,'' at the national convention of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, New Haven, October, 1979. 54 SLOVAKIA cepted as self-evident, since ethnic voluntary associations, like the religious institutions which they founded, have undergone considerable change of function, and indeed have served multiple, often contradictory functions. In both instances it will be necessary to specify the meaning of persistance and change alike. Elsewhere I have addressed issues of Slovak-American cultural continuity and change in identity at the levels of personality structure, family dynamics, child-rearing patterns, kinship structure, projective system, health and illness attitudes, psychopathology, and ethos (Stein _1973, 1974, 1975,_1976, 1978a; _Stein and Hill 197~, _19~_). No attempt~ here made at a comprehensive history of Slovaks in Europe or the United States. The reader is referred to two groups of works on Slovaks and Slovak-Americans. One genre can be regarded as "official histories," and includes works by Yurchak (1946), Kirschbaum (1960), O~do (1960), Zatko (1966), and Krajsa (1978); and the journals Slovak Studies and Slovakia. The second group consists of disparate studies whose common denominator is the absence of adherence to any prevailing ideology. Representatives of this genre include Balch (1910); Macartney (1937); Kerner (1940); Bue (1957); Roucek (1932-33, 1933-34, 1937); Stolarik (1974); Barton (1975); and Stein (1972). The sources in the first group reflect a particular point of view, namely, the alliance of Slovak Roman Catholicism with political nationalism (i.e., the First Catholic Slovak Union, the Slovak League of America). This also reminds us that traditionally among the majority of Slovaks, ethnicity and religion were fused. Slovak Studies is the publication of the Slovak Institute, Rome, and Slovakia has long been the official publication of the Slovak League. One could legitimately see the Slovak Republic as an expansion onto the level of the state of what had long been a fact at the local level: namely, the political importance of the clergy. Many past and present Slovak League leaders, scholars, and political activists on behalf of Slovak national autonomy in Europe are former leaders and intelligentsia of the short-lived Slovak Republic (1939-1945). That their genre of historiography would be ethno-national apologia is to be expected. However, the visibility of the Slovak League on the American scene in official American political circles has more to do with their anti-communism and their courtship by American political leaders than with cultural, political, or demographic fa~s intrinsic to the League. This highlights the oft neglected fact that American sociopolitical factors often heighten ethnicity, even help preserve it - through a not particularly laudable duplicitous manipulation of loyalties and fears. Among Slovak-Americans, as among all peoples, official histories SLOVAKIA 55 are those sacred myths of the past held and recorded by the putative leadership. Throughout this essay, I shall emphasize whose perspective on the past is being stated as I discuss those institutions that have been deeply concerned v,:ith the cultural sense of time. This leads to a final word of warning: jus\ as ''culture'' is inseparable from the people who constitute it, likewise for social "institutions." An "institution" is only a conventional shorthand. What this paper is about is the history of group consensus and conflict, continuity and change. The very inclusion of this essay in Slovakia attests to changes not only in ''editorial policy" or editorship, but to a more pervasive change in Slovak ethnicity itself in which there is greater openness to self-scrutiny. It is less necessary, shall I say, to toe a "party line." Neither Slovakia, nor Slovak ethnicity, is static. The focus of this paper is on large-scale social institutions as vehicles of continuity and change in meaning systems. Among SlovakAmericans, religious and fraternal organizations have served for nearly a century as articulators of cultural meaning, first reflecting the relatively uniform cultural system brought from Slovakia, later becoming increasingly removed from the very real pluralism of the Slovak-American population for whom they claim to speak. Both ethnographic research in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania (conducted intensively 1970-1972, and intermittently through the present) and documentary study have provided both an understanding of the dynamics within local churches and fraternal society lodges, and a picture of Slovak-American religion and voluntary association on the national scale. Ethnographic study in the Steel Valley of western Pennsylvania, especially the mill-cities of McKeesport and Duquesne, include participant obsevation at, and interviews with members of, the following religious and fraternal groups: parishes of Slovak Roman Catholic Latin Rite, Slovak and Ruthenian Roman Catholic Byzantine Rite, Slovak Independent Catholic Rite, Slovak Lutheran Rite; the First Catholic Slovak Union, Zivena, the Slovak League, Slovak Catholic Sokol, Sokol USA, National Slovak Society, Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Evangelical Union. I obtained valuable ethnographic and demographic data from interviews and documentary sources at the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese, and with officers of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, United Societies of USA, and the Slovak Zion Synod-Lutheran Church of America. A careful study of old and recent fraternal newspapers and annual Kalendars, often stored not in official archives but in cabinets and basements, permitted comparison of ethnohistory recon- 56 SLOVAKIA structed from informants' current memory and self-presentation, with cultural meanings preserved in print.* Finally, actuarial data provided by the national offices of the National Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and United Societies of USA permitted a comparison to be made between a necessarily selected sample in which values, attitudes, expectations, criteria and policies of admission and exclusion, and the like were expressed; and statistics of actual participation in or withdrawal from fraternal associations based on trends in membership as reflected in the purchasing and cashing-in of life insurance policies. Ethnographic research both at the local and supra-level simultaneously complemented, explained, and tested the data obtained from tables of parish and fraternal society membership. The reader is referred to the following Tables 1-4 which identify both on the national level and in the region of ethnographic study the major Slovak-American religious and fraternal institutions. ETHNOGRAPHIC BASE LINE The Slovak-American institutions discussed here stem from the migration of over some half-million Slovak peasants and landless peasants from 1880 until the mid-1920's (Zatko 1966: 45), that is, from the period of the Magyar development of a monetary, technologized, labor intensive economy in the 1870's, to the exclusionary American Emergency Quota Laws of 1921-24 and the Immigration Act of 1924, and the National Origins Act of 1929. Roughly 85 percent of the immigrants were Latin or Byzantine Rite Catholics, and 15 percent were Lutherans and Calvinists. The highest rate of migration was from the most impoverished and overpopulated regions of Slovakia, namely, the foothills of the Tatra and Carpathian Mountains (Jansak 1930). As an overall pattern, the earliest Slovaks came to the anthracite coal mining district of eastern Pennsylvania, while later Slovaks came to the mill towns in the "Steel Valley" of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and westward (Cleveland, Gary, Chicago). The greater Pittsburgh region remains the highest concentration of Slovak-Americans in the U.S. (some 29,000 immigrants; 35,000 foreign stock in 1930 Censu~ Klein 1938: 288; Roucek 1933-34: 614) . It is the location of the national offices of the National • These include Narodne Noviny, Jednota, The Greek Catholic Union Messenger, Prosvita, Katolicky Sokol, Sokol USA Times; annual fraternal yearbooks or Kalenddrs ; and the journals Slovakia (Slovak League) and Slovak Studies (Slovak Institute, Cleveland and Rome). SLOVAKIA 57 TABLE 1 THE FOUNDING OF SOOVAK-AMERICAN RELIGION IN AMERICA I. Early Slovak Catholic Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Church in the Western Hemisphere, Hazleton, Penna., 1885 St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church* . .......... . (Cornerstone) Early Slovak Roman Catholic Churches in the Allentown, Penna. Diocese (anthracite coal mining area)* ................ . . . Bethlehem, Penna., 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius Saint Michael Archangel ... . .... . . . . .. . ..... Summit Hill, Langsford, Penna. , 1891 Saints Cyril and Methodius .... . .. .... ....... . .Reading, Penna., 1896 First Slovak Catholic parish school ............ .. . . .Chicago, ID., 1900 Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak Sisterhood: Motherhouse established .................... ... Danville, Pa., 1901 High School for Girls established ........... . .... Danville, Pa., 1922 First Vincentian Sisters of Charity arrived from Slovakia to serve St. Michael's Parish ........ Braddock, Pa., 1902 Priests' Society of St. Anthony's Burse in the USA (to support students interested in teaching and Slovak girls preparing to be teaching nuns) .... Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1903 Benedictine High School for Boys . .. . . .... . . . ...... Cleveland, 1927 II. Early Slovak Lutheran Institutional History in America Name Place and Year Founded First Slovak Lutheran Church in the Western Hemisphere: Saints Peter and Paul .............. Freeland, Penna., first services: 1883; Church built: 1886. • Slovak Lutheran Synod (Missouri Synod) ............ 1902 Slovak Zion Synod (left Missouri Synod, joined United Lutheran Church of America founded in 1919) . . ......... . . .. . . . . ..... .. 1920 • Source: Katolicky Sokol, July 21, 1971 (published in Passaic, New Jersey) . Evidently, the founding of the first Slovak church in the western hemisphere is a matter of considerable controversy - and competition. Professor M. Mark Stolarik kindly informed me of the feud between St. Joseph's parish in Hazleton, Pennsylvania and St. Stephen's in Streator, Illinois for the honor of being "the first" (which, incidentally, is a very American preoccupation!) . Professor Stolarik found the St. Stephen records several years ago and deposited them at the Immigrant Archives in Minnesota. Thus St. Stephen's can document its claim to having been founded in 1884. On the other hand, St. Joseph's burned down at the tum of the century, and its records were lost. Thus its claim to having been founded in 1884 cannot be documented . Professor Stolarik suggests that the editor of Katolicky Sokol, John Sciranka, my original source for the 1886 date , tended to favor the Hazleton parish since he was from Pennsylvania (again , ethnicity in a meta-context, this time localism) (personal communication, 9 September 1979) . Passaic, N.J ., 1906 Cleveland, 1907 Wilkes-Barre, Pa., 1911 Slovak Catholic Sokol Slovak League of America Slovak Catholic Federation in America McKeesport, Pa ., 1902 Wilkes-Barre, Pa ., 1892 Freeland, Pa., 1893 New York, 1896 Greek Catholic Union Slovak Evangelical Union (since 1960: United Lut9eran Society) Sokol USA (orig.: Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA) United Societies of USA (Sobranije) Cleveland, 1892 Cleveland, 1890 Cleveland ? Passaic, N.J . McKeesport Perth Amboy, N.J. Ligonier, Pa. Pittsburgh Cleveland Cleveiand Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious (Roman Catholic), political, cultural, fraternal Insurance, religious , political, fraternal Insurance, religious , cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, cultural, insurance, political, fraternal Insurance, religious (Greek Catholic), cultural, political, fraternal Gymnastic, religious (Roman Catholic), cultural, fraternal , insurance Political, cultural, religious Religious, political, cultural MAJOR NATIONALLY-BASED SLOVAK INSTITUTIONS Headquarters Place and Year Functions Pittsburgh, 1890 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal New York, 1891 Pittsburgh Insurance, cultural, political, fraternal First Catholic Slovak Ladies Union 2ivena Beneficial Society (women's equivalent to National Slovak Society, last joint convention with NSS, 1901) First Catholic Slovak Union (Jednota) Name National Slovak Society TABLE2 > 7' > ~ r I.I) CX) V, Saints Cyril and Methodius Slovak National Catholic Church, McKeesport, founded 1922; name originally Saints Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church ; changed name to present in the late 1930's for legal purposes due to loss of church building during the Depression; affiliated throughout its history with the Polish National Catholic Church, and in the 1940's with the Congregational Church. St. Mark Lutheran Church, Duquesne, Pa. (serving Duquesne and McKeesport), founded 1913 ; name originally: Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Congregation of Duquesne; church bought 1920; joined Slovak Zion Synod of the United Lutheran Church of America 1934; Sunday school founded, use of English in teaching confirmation class 1940; earlier schism over non-use of English by acculturated families ; name changed to present in the 1950's, accompanied by change in by-laws to open church to Lutherans of all nationalities . St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church , founded 1901 ; name originally "Greek Catholic," changed to " Byzantine" in the 1960's; schism in 1939. SWVAK CHURCHES SERVING THE McKEESPORT AREA Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church, founded 1892; the name "Slovak" officially dropped in the 1960's; first church building purchased and enlarged 1895 ; schism in 1922. ., TABLE3 '° u, 7' > > ~ r Vl SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS SERVING THE McKEESPORT PENNSYLVANIA AREA IN '' STEEL VALLEY'' Name Year Founded Membership, other comments Slovenskeho N. P. Spolok (Slovak December 16, 1888 Protestant or Catholic, but Slavic Sick Benefit Soc.) preceded the local lodge of the National Slovak Society, with which it merged in 1890 National Slovak Society, Lodge 31 1890 Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic mostly Slovak Jednota (First Catholic Slovak 1892 (women's lodge, Roman Catholic, Slovak Union) , Lodge 60 276 , formed later) Greek Catholic Union, Lodge 2 1892 Mostly Greek Catholic, but also Roman Catholic, Rusin, and Slovak United Societies of USA (Sobranije) , 1902 Schism within the Greek Catholic Union headquarters and Lodge 1 Sokol USA (Slovensky Sokol), Lodge 1903 (ladies assembly Protestant or Catholic , but Slavic 46 11, formed later) mostly Slovak Slovak Evangelical Union, Assembly 1899 Slovak Lutheran 63 (Duquesne , Pa. , serv~g McKeesport as well) Slovak Club , White Street Hall, 1896, sold to Catholic Fellowship, men's club , social, drinking McKeesport War Veterans 1970 activities First Federal Savings and Loan 1914 Association formed to assist Slovak workers Association of Homestead in obtaining funds to purchase a home ; Federal Charter 1937 ; branch offices in McKeesport (1964), Clairton (1969) ; and Braddock (1969) ; serves Monongahela Valley Communities; (originally names: First Slovak Building and Loan Association) TABLE4 > ;;,;; < > l/1 r 0 ~ SLOVAKIA 61 Slovak Society, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies of USA. The town of Munhall, located in the Steel Valley, is the site of an eparchate or diocese of. the Byzantine Catholic Church. The Greek Catholic Union, founded iq. 1892 in Wilkes-Barre, Penna. , the heart of the anthracite mining region, moved its headquarters in 1910 to the Steel Valley. Although one's place of settlement was greatly influenced by the availability of desirable work, the type of work one sought, and the reasons for choosing that work (originally, to amass greater wealth so that one could return to one's home and village and live better with higher status), it was also strongly influenced by the location of prior immigrant kinsmen, village associates, and even more remotely "related" compatriots of the same geographic, political, and dialect district or iupa - who in tum could advise prospective emigrants of the labor market. Mining and factory towns were not arbitrarily populated by people identifying with the abstract term ' 'Slovak.'' Instead, members of the same village or of adjacent villages commonly sought to live with one another in the New World. Indeed, "ethnicity" changed meanings in the process of settlement in the United States: expanding from more localized, inter-village loyalties, and reciprocal obligation, to supra-local ties based on common religion, dialect, and finally to the emergence in America of an encompassing sense of national "Slovakness" that heretofore had never existed (cf. Gould 1970). It was only after a national sense of identity became established (and this, tenuously, because of the intense factionalism among Slovaks) that the appeal of . President Wilson and Secretary of State House during World War I to Slovak nationalism was possible. A document such as the ' ' Pittsburgh Pact" was thus heretofore unthinkable. Any conceptually neat separation of religion (or churches) from fratemalism is heuristically spurious. Indeed, the history of Slovak religion and mutual benefit societies encompasses the spectrum of alliance and schism, and between them, conflict. The history of the relationship between the two types of associations is the history of each. Moreover, both types of organizations are firmly rooted in east-central European social structure. The village organization functioned much like a vastly extended family, in which kin and extra-kin ties of reciprocity were part of the fabric of everyday life . A group-psychology of community solidarity bound the village tightly together. Even the collapse of manorialism in the mid-19th century did not obliterate this essentially pre-Magyar ethno-psychology. One might say that it functioned preadaptively in the American host environment, and facilitated the earliest " insurance" and cultural- 62 SLOVAKIA perpetuative efforts. After all, the extended family was one's life, accident, and sickness "insurance." There was litsrally no conception of the "individual" apart from the family, church, and village group. Fitzpatrick (1966) correctly identifies Euro-American ethnic communities as bridges or "beachheads" to the wider host society (see also Nelli, 1970). Likewise, Anderson notes "the capacity voluntary associations have to facilitate the transition of individuals and societies to participation in the modem world" (1971:216). He further proposes that ' 'the new associations seem founded to meet needs not previously the responsibility of any older organization" (Ibid.). As this paper will emphasize, however, the new associations built on the firm foundations of elements within traditional organizations; the change lay in the repatterning of those elements - a repatteming which, I might add, has been continuous. I wish to stress that there is nothing automatic, inherently ''natural,' ' or inevitable about the Slovak-American adaptation. The need for "survival" does not explain how or why a particular "survival strategy" for "problem solving" is adopted. Stated differently, it is not the stimulus situation of the stress, but the meaning of the stress and the individual or group characteristic response to it that determines the type of adaptation that will be made (La Barre, 1972; Stein and Hill, 1979). One must inquire both into the nature of the new environment and into the cultural tools a group adapts with. "Necessity" by itself does not explain the "invention" (see Light 1972) . The Slovak-American inventions, themselves variations on traditional psychosocial organization, values, and worldview, must be regarded as preadaptations within the cultural repertoire by which the Slovaks recapitulated much of the Old World in the New (see Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) . The traditional ethos determined both how new " necessities" were perceived and the group-organizational responses based on those perceptions. I cannot here pursue in detail the thorny question as to just what " is" a Slovak. Suffice it to say that the approach taken in this paper is essentially " emic": that is, Slovak based on self-identification and / or ancestry. Thus, for instance, there are several thousand Slovak-Americans, Catholic and Lutheran, whose most ~ediate ancestry traces to Croatia rather than northern Hungary. In the mid:17th century aftermath of the Austro-Hungarian expulsion of the Turks, Maria Theresa invited those peoples inhabiting the already overpopulated Hungarian northlands to migrate to the newly opened land. For the most part, these Slovaks remained Slovaks. Identifying the "ethnic" boundary between Slovaks and Rusins or SLOVAKIA 63 Ruthenians of far eastern Slovakia, southern Galicia, and the western Ukraine is a far stickier matter (see Stein, 1972) . Indeed, many who are Rusin in ancestry, but who lived in what was geopolitically Slovakia, became accultured insidiously through daily contact with the more westernized Slovaks, through the influence of the Latin and Byzantine Rite Roman Catholic Churches, through the centralizing tendencies of Vienna, and last but not least through affiliation and identification with Slovaks following migration to the United States - that is, many became Slovaks in the U.S. I Over at least the past three centuries, the "ethnic boundary" between Slovaks and Rusins has been progressing further eastward. Had the great immigration taken place two centuries ago, virtually all the immigrants would have been of Byzantine Catholic or Orthodox faith and Rusin ethnicity! To the religious conflict must be added, especially since the World War I era, a conflict of nationalisms and proto-nationalisms. Among the permutations of the conflict: (1) Many Ukrainian nationalists insist that eastern ''Slovaks'' and "Rusins" do not exist, but in fact are Ukrainians; (2) Slovakia has undertaken a program of attempting to Slovakize the remaining Rusins; (3) Both the conflict over ethnic identity and the gradual process of Slovakization of Rusins has taken place in the U.S. (a) in such organizations as the Greek Catholic Union and the United Societies of USA, and (b) through the continued process of Latinization whereby many Greek or Byzantine Catholics joined Slovak Latin Rite parishes. A considerable official literature (see Lacko 1963) prepared by the Slovak Institute of Cleveland, Ohio and Rome, Italy is devoted to demonstrating that Slovaks of the Byzantine Rite, in Europe and America, are bona fide Slovaks and Catholics. Many Slovak peasant immigrants and their children passionately argued the same point (Stein 1972). The author's justification for including such organizations as Byzantine Rite churches, the Greek Catholic Union, and the United Societies as Slovak is that (a) by self-identification many of their officers, priests, and members speak of themselves as Slovaks, and (b) ethnicity is a process, not a static given. THE FOUNDING OF SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS For the most part, the Slovak-American fraternal societies began in the 1880's through the early 1900's as self-help, mutual assistance organizations. The arrangement of regular social activities such as dances , plays, gymnastic groups, and literary clubs, and the organiza- 64 SLOVAKIA tion, construction, and support of Slovak parishes followed later. In all earnestness I emphasize that the link between fraternal and church lay in their division of labor: the fraternal association would first establish insurance in this world; the church would become the guarantor of insurance in the next world. The most immediate needs were mortuary funds, land for the burial of the dead, and death-sickness-and-accident insurance for workers and their families in the U.S. and Slovakia. The new "foreign" dead were often unwelcome in established cemetaries. Slovak burial societies were formed to purchase separate tracts of land, often on the periphery of the town, a considerable distance from the burial sites of the dominant population. Slovak work life was chronically uncertain by the absence of stable unionization in the steel mills until 1936 and thereafter. Wages were low (though admittedly, the immigrant laborers earning a living unheard of in their villages of origin). Periods of steady work fluctuated with periods of layoff. Working conditions were contemptously hazardous. The management of the factories and mines provided no assistance for the injured or for the families of workers killed or maimed on the job. The urban Slovak-American "peasantry" experienced much the same basic insecurity as did they and their progenitors on the manorial latifundia or as landless workers. In one sense, conditions were worse, because in the American capitalistentrepreneurial system there was no personal bond of reciprocity and obligation between manorial lord and serf - although, however, the political system of patronage in the urban wards perpetuated at least an attenuated version of this function. For those immigrants who discovered themselves to be outside the civil and moral community of those recognized as ''Americans,'' the organization of burial-deathaccident-and-sick benefit societies was a means of reconstructing a community. In employment as with religion, Slavic-Americans were for the most part seen as outside the domain of civic and religious responsibilities. This led in tum to a defensive attitude toward American society, even as the belief in the American Dream strongly persisted. Exclusion from without led to a degree of defensive self-exclusion from within. The "enclave mentality," heir to a heightened self-" consciousness of kind," was a product of ethnic-American conflict, not simple cultural transplantation. I am tempted to suggest that much on the organizational level which we might mistake for w~at was traditionally native has a distinctively nativistic quality to it. , For instance, in one multi-Slavic fraternal club, the early by-laws SLOVAKIA 65 specified that only members of Slavic ethnic groups could qualify as members and be permitted on the premises of the club. This qualification arose as a response to the fact that representatives of the mill management would attend meetings incognito, sit at the bar, listen for comments by dissident millworkers, and report them to the management which would summarily fire them for potential insubordination. A first-generation Catholic Slovak-American who came to the United States in the late 1920's said of the Slovak Club of McKeesport, Pennsylvania (a large mill town): The Slovak Club 's By-Laws were written in 1896. Only Slavs were accepted. You had to: you didn 't know who' s your enemy in those days. Johnny Bulls, or the Irish, might be in there, before the ByLaws were adopted . If you said anything against somebody, they report you. The only way to make sure you could speak your mind and not be afraid was to make the By-Laws . Ethnic " elective affinity" was more out of forced circumstance than choice . Those who were regarded and treated as the same created a survival strategy, becoming far more homogeneous in the process than they might had the constraints been fewer . Let me give two brief examples of the hierarchy of functions in the early fraternals . My first example is Lodge No. 2 of the Greek Catholic Union. Prior to regulation of insurance fraternals by the actuarial rules of the Pennsylvania State Insurance Department in the 1920' s, a member would pay $1.00 monthly dues for the mortuary fund and for death benefits to family , the latter of which is derived by subtracting the mortuary costs from the principal. The $1.00 formal dues would be collected from every member regardless of age or age of joining. In addition to the formally recorded $1.00 , he would pay 3 cents a month for relief benefit , so that, for instance, if he lost an arm in a mill accident he would receive $500 . An additional local assessment was 5 cents monthly for sickness benefit, which provided for food and bought medicine when the member could not work because of poor health. Today, this latter has become a " flower fund " to provide flowers at the funeral of a member or a member 's spouse. Any further needs were met by proportionate assessment of the membership . A second example is that of the Slovak Sick Benefit Society, organized in McKeesport in 1888, and which in 1890 merged with the founding of Lodge No. 31 of the National Slovak Society. This local organization collected monthly dues of $1.00 for males . In addition to the regular dues , if a man died , the men paid $1.00 ; if a woman died, the women paid 50 cents extra - for funeral expenses , given to the sur- 66 SLOVAKIA vivor of the deceased. At that time, the sick benefit was $6.00 a week for 13 weeks . After 13 weeks, up to the 21st week, $3.00 a week was given. After the 21st, nothing. The main economic function was to assist those who became sick or suffered an accident in the mill, since at this time there existed neither a union nor a commitment by management to provide such benefits. The Society also had something of an ambulatory service: two members of the society visited the sick person, or went to the scene of the accident, and took him to the hospital, to his home, or where he could be given proper care. While in their initial phase, ethnic fraternals were a response to the often hostile host environment, voluntary associations were long an inescapable part of the American social landscape. As Alexis de Tocqueville observed in the 1830's, resiliently self-reliant Americans were also habitual joiners. This may help to explain how and why initially exclusive self-preservation societies became internally acculturated clubs and lodges at the local and national levels. That is to say, they became largely American cultural organizations with ethnic ancestry. Criteria for membership became ethnically less restrictive. At the same time, there occurred a gradual yet massive attrition of membership in the totemic Slovak-ethnic associations, and an equally gradual yet dramatic increase in membership by the same Slovak-Americans in lower middle class totemic American clubs such as Eagles, Moose, Elks; such service related groups as Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, Catholic War Veterans ; employment related union clubs; and finally local public or private restaurant-bar-entertainment clubs. While there has certainly been, especially in the 1940's and 1960's, considerable compartmentalizing of membership, dual allegiance, something of voluntaristic "double descent, " at the present time American fratemalism has already been the dominant trend. In fact many Slovak-Americans with whom I worked who still maintain their fraternal insurance policies do so for economic reasons; their fraternal affiliation lies elsewhere. Originally, in the ethnic enclave, one's kinship network, resources, and the fraternal were one' s insurance. When the ethnic community network itself was one 's guaranteed insurance, there was no need for a separate entity labeled " insurance, " let alone insurance policies outside that community. Only as many ties within the corporate ethnic community were attenuated or severed cl.id the need arise for American style individual insurance coverage. And only since World War II did the originally multiple functional fraternal societies become primarily insurance companies, that is, businesses. In both cases, American as well as ethnic insurance companies served both instrumental (eco- SLOVAKIA 67 nomic) and expressive (ethos) functions: security by affiliation in the ethnic sense, and self-reliance in the American sense. THE PROBLEM OF PERPETUATION AND ACCULTURATION IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS During the first and second decades of each of the fraternal organizations, the emphasis gradually shifted from immediate self-help requirements to more long-range, future-oriented plans associated with revitalizing Slovak culture in America. Whereas the initial years were preoccupeid with self-preservation, the subsequent years became concerned with perpetuation. The insurance / protective aspects were incorporated in a wider institutional framework that elaborated on the traditional cultural model. Once Slovak immigrants decided to make America their permanent home, churches were founded and supported, Sokol gymnastic programs were initiated, and so forth. It quickly became evident to the founding generation that something must be done to enlist the younger generation in these activities or institutions lest Slovak culture disappear with the passing of the first generation. The younger generation must be socialized into the new institutions and activities the immigrant parents had founded. Thus each fraternal organization instituted a juvenile branch or age grade to prepare the younger generation for adult membership. There were thus established two age sets within each fraternal, the adult and the juvenile. Subsequently, most fraternals also added a Sokol or gymnastic branch (if they were not already Sokol fraternals), originally intended as a middle age grade, but which became an adult unit on par with the "General" or "Adult" branch. The lower age limit for transfer from juvenile to the adult branch seems to be 16-18 in the Greek Catholic Union, and the upper age limit is 25 in the National Slovak Society. Typically, a parent would buy a life insurance policy for an infant shortly after birth and pay for the policy until the child's majority. At that time the former junior member would become a responsible adult member, transfer his or her policy to the adult branch, and begin paying for it himself or herself. Thus was the problem of continuity initially solved. For the third and fourth generations continuity was not so readily assured. Many of the second and third generations themselves withdrew or terminated their own policies and did not enroll their children. Many immigrant and second generation informants spoke bitterly of how they felt that officers of their fraternals had used their position for 68 SLOVAKIA self-advancement (internal mobility?), pocketed some of the dues, especially during the pre-1920 days prior to state-enforced bookkeeping, and terminated members' policies or foreclosed on home mortgages during the Great Depression days when dues were not forthcoming (the internal transformation from personalized ties to impersonalized business venture). In some families where the children had been dutifully enrolled in infancy, the children took advantage of the fact that the parents paid for the juvenile policies, and upon reaching majority or "going out on their own," they turned in the policy for cash value, and enrolled themselves later in large "American" insurance companies. With large-scale industrial unionization in the mid- and late-1930's and the opening up of "American" insurance corporations to the now'' American'' descendants of the ''foreigners,'' many of the purely economic insurance functions fulfilled by the ethnic fraternals were replaced by more attractive, sounder economic policies elsewhere. As the lodges have been losing young and elderly members, the middle-aged members have become the core of their lodges, and those who will be perpetuating them will, like their counterparts in the Americanized Slovak churches, be those who have transformed their lodges and their athletics according to the model of the American prototype. With the great decrease in membership and hence in lodge population, lodge consolidation (GCU, United Societies, NSS) and the widening of intervals between meetings have taken place. Where a lodge meeting until the late 1930's was an enormous and lively social affair, often coordinated with a meal or a play in Slovak, since the Second World War it has become a cut-and-dry business meeting, where members stream in and out, pay their dues, often bring the dues of a friend or two with him (or with her), the older ones stopping to chat with a friend or two in Slovak - and then leave. The monthly business meeting of Jednota Lodge No. 60 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania usually keeps ten listeners besides the six officers and collectors at their long table. During the monthly meetings of the Sokol, the ULS, and the NSS, a table of officers sits in a room of empty chairs in the Slovak Club. Occasionally members drift in and out. The local lodge of the United Societies no longer meets; members brin~ in their dues or mail them in. Likewise for lodges of the GCU. The ULS lodge in Duquesne in 1970 changed its monthly meeting to bimonthly, because, as one officer said: "There's no use sitting down there at the empty church all afternoon every month waiting for a few people to show up." In the early 1970's, over 75 percent of the 1,300 GCU lodges were inactive. For the important annual meeting at which officials were to be elected at GCU Homestead Lodge No. 2 in 1971, only 15 of the 160 members attended. SLOVAKIA 69 \ To this should be added that only one of the Slovak fraternal lodges in McKeesport presently has any social or athletic program. Jednota Ladies' Lodge No. 276 has a bowling team, which members from Lodge No. 60 and the nearby borough of Port Vue can join. Lodge No. 60 dropped its bowling team in 1956. Bookkeeping changes have consolidated the Sokol and General Branches of the lodges. Today they function as little more than local insurance agents and collectors. All the national offices of the Slovak fratemals modernized and streamlined their policies to make membership attractive to those of the younger generation for whom Slovakness was not a major attraction, and further, to attract non-Slovaks. To a considerable extent, present-day Slovak fratemals are primarily modem insurance com· panies which would like to stay in business. The fact that all of them are far over the required solvency guarantees nothing about the future, for which they are greatly concerned. As the national president of the GCU remarked to me: The way things are now, it's only a matter of time before the GCU is finished. Sure we have an excellent solvency. But without new members, it's just on borrowed time. You just can't rely on monetary figures alone to tell you how we're doing. Of course we're in good financial shape, but that's because today people buy bigger policies - you can't pay for a funeral for $1000 today. Most of our policies are naturally larger, and the figure they give for assets ... would lead you to believe that we're doing great. That's the way the older ones felt. They always looked at the status quo and never at anything else. (1972) Of course the schism in the 1930's cost the GCU half of its more than 135,000 membership, which crisis did not occur in the other Slovak (and Slovak / Rusin) organizations. Nevertheless the same gradual decline in activity and membership has been the experience and plague of every Slovak fraternal. Slovak-American officials at the national level frequently speak of consolidating the adult, juvenile, and Sokol branches for fiscal reasons and because of poor attendance at meetings. They likewise speak of merging lodges for similar reasons, with the hope that perhaps with greater numbers the fraternal spirit may be rekindled. But they are pessimistic and in offhand, tentative ways consider the possibility of merging not only lodges within a given fraternal, but combining many Slovak-American fratemals under a single economic umbrella - anything that will help the solvency problem and postpone the inevitable disappearance of insurance fratemalism. Everywhere in Slovak-American fratemalism, the number of purchased insurance certificates is far 70 SLOVAKIA fewer than the number of deaths, maturities, disabilities, expirations, surrenders, and lapses of policies. Beyond founding the churches, many of the church-affiliated fraternals remain a major support of the church, both financially and by requiring that their members are practitioners of the faith in good standing (for instance, Jednota). Lodge meetings are held in the church (Jednota, United Societies, Slovak Catholic Sokol, GCU), rather than the secular Slovak Hall (where the Sokol USA, NSS, and ULS McKeesport lodges meet). Except for the Lutheran group (whose Duquesne counterpart does meet in the Slovak Lutheran church), the non-religious affiliated groups meet in secular settings, while the religiousaffiliated groups meet in church halls under the aegis of the priest. Until World War II, most of the Slovak fraternal groups at the local and national levels supported the political activity of the Slovak League of America, a non-fraternal, political-cultural group organized to publicize and lobby for the cause of Slovak independence (first in relation to the Hungarians, and later the Czechs). Its stress on Catholicity, its demands for Slovak separatism (rather than federated autonomy), and its support for the politically active Slovak priests Hlinka and Tiso of the Slovak People 's Party during the Nazi period alienated from it the support of the non-Catholic Sokols and the National Slovak Society. Presently, the Slovak League is primarily affiliated with, and is somewhat the political arm of, the First Catholic Slovak Union. All, however, collaborated in the period from 1907 (the year of the League's founding) throughout the First World War and in the early postwar period, toward the founding of the (First) Republic of Czecho-Slovakia (as the Slovaks prefer to spell it). The Slovak Catholic priesthood has always been at odds with the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, frequently accusing its members of being atheists and communists. The latter, however, have historically supported Slovak national aspirations, though apart from any religious considerations. This is reflected in the membership of the non-Catholic Sokols and the NSS, where only Slav-ness, not religion, was a qualification for membership. As a consequence, the Slovak Catholic (Latin and Byzantine Rite) religious dissidents, as well as Slovak Protestants , tended to gravitate to the Slovensky Sokol, and the NSS rather than to Jednota or the Katolicky Sokol. Furthermore, the -0verlap in membership equally relfects this distinction. Members would mosi; likely belong to Katolicky Sokol. Slovak Lutherans , of course , would join the Slovensky Sokol and the NSS. The above politico-religious concerns , however, refer only to the SLOVAKIA 71 \ older and middle age groups, who are the mainstay of the fraternal organizations. For the younger age group, under 36, Slovak national concerns are for the most part a matter of ancestry rather than immediacy. Apart from religious issues, criteria of membership in Slovak fraternals have during the past decades gradually become less exclusivistic. In the early by-laws, Slovak birth or descent was usually specified (together with a particular religious affiliation, where relevant). By the period following World War I, membership was widened to those of Slavic origin or ancestry (with religious specificity, where relevant). In 1937 the NSS extended membership to non-Slovak spouses married to Slovak members and their children. In the 1930's, the GCU extended membership to spouses so long as the spouse was Catholic. In the 1960's, membership in the Catholic organization was opened to Catholics of any nationality, while in the non-religious affiliated Slovak-American fratemals membership was opened to "anyone," implicitly or explicitly referring to whites of Christian faith. A young officer of the GCU said that he would like to see a change in bylaws that would open the organization to all Christians, removing the restriction to Catholics. Accompanying the opening of membership has been a gradual change in the organizations' names, first from the full length Slovak name to a shortened name, normally one word from the full name (Jednota from the First Catholic Slovak Union, Sobranije from the Greek Catholic Union). Then from the 1930's and on, the English title became more important and today predominates. Names became less European-sounding: the Slovak Evangelical Union became in 1960 the United Lutheran Society; the Slovak Gymnastic Union Sokol of the USA became Sokol USA. The young official of the GCU mentioned above suggested that if membership were opened to all Christians, he would like to see the name of the organization officially changed to the initials GCU only, and later "we might call it the Greater Beneficial Union / the name changed from German Beneficial Union / no, that's the GBU ... but you know what I mean.'' The direction then, would be that of an American-sounding name. Similar to this trend has been that from Slovak (or Rusin and Eastern Slovak in the Greek Catholic organizations) to English in the official publications or newspapers of fratemals. The newspapers themselves were founded shortly after the organization of the fratemals and were entirely in Slovak (with the above distinction). At the beginning of the 1930's, under pressure of the American-born membership, pages began to be devoted to stories, articles, and announcements in the 72 SLOVAKIA English language. It should be added, however, that from the days of World War I, all of the papers and English-language sections were on American history, patriotism, the American constitution, government, and citizenship. By the 1950's, 50 percent and more of the space was in the English language. For instance, after the 1964 Milwaukee Convention of Sokol USA, Slovensky Sokol devoted 76 percent of its space to English material. At the 1966 National Convention in Tampa, through an act of the General Assembly of the convention, the name of the official publication was changed from Slovensky Sokol to Sokol Times, and the paper is now entirely English-language, as is that of the United Societies, Prosvita (Enlightenment). Nevertheless, such papers as Jednota, Katolicky Sokol, and the GCU Messenger are half-English, halfSlovak; Narodne Noviny is about 25 percent Slovak. What I emphasize here is the overall direction of change. The annual Kalendar or Yearbook of the Greek Catholic Union provides an excellent and generalizable source by which changes since the first decade of the 20th century can be observed and traced. I examined the annual Kalendar of the GCU spanning the years 1903 through 1972 (with considerable gaps in the 1930's and 1940's due to schism within the society over the issue of clerical celibacy). Although the GCU was founded in 1892, the oldest available Kalendar in storage was that of 1903. The following table gives the title on the cover, a summary of advertisements which reflect contemporary issues (migration, home owning, etc.), the nature of written characters for non-English sections (Latin or Cyrillic), subjects of early essays on Americanization (1903-1932), and the language employed by the exarch / bishop in his introductory message. By the late 1960's, at least half of the Kalendar (totaling in the 1960's 90 pages) was in English. (See Table 6). To summarize the table: Through the 1930's, there were advertisements in the Kalendar for such goods and services as banks, saloons, hotel, liquors, a variety of medicinal cures, boat tickets, home building (financing, mortgages, titles, etc.), shipping from overseas, etc. Essays were written on such subjects as American history (including praiseworthy accounts of American founding heroes and legendary leaders), an explanation of American government and how to participate in it, why and how to obtain citizenship, descriptions of the nature of the population and geography of the United States, accounts of farming in the United States and of technolo~cal innovations from the zeppelin through the airplane. Considerable space was likewise devoted to a description of the Slovak-Rusin homeland, culture, religious SLOVAKIA 73 \ customs, etc. Although much of the writing through the 1930's was in eastern Slovak-Rusin dialect and written in either or both Cyrillic and Latin characters, English was used in essays on American history and government as early as 1905, when the article was printed in both languages. Americanization, more specifically, bridge-building between the insular ethnic world and the more expanding American world, was one of the major early agendas of the fraternals. Americanization was also one of the major points of stress between traditionalists and acculturationists that led to attrition of membership and schism in churches and fraternals alike. On the one hand, the Polish National Catholic Church and the Slovak National Catholic Church, a variety of independent Rusin-eastern, Slovak-western, and Ukrainian Orthodox churches, and the United Societies of USA (among others) broke with their Americanizing-Irishizing-Latinizing denationalizing parent organizations and became bastions of tradition (e.g., in liturgy, in customs, etc.) - only to acculturate internally. On the other hand, even the most traditionalist societies zealously urged Americanization both by exhortation and by the example of its leadership - including the clergy. SCHISM, DECLINE, AND CULTURE Let me use several nodal points in the history of the Greek Catholic Union to illustrate the convulsions to which conflict between the acculturationists and traditionalists led. The GCU schism of 1902 led to the founding of a new fraternal association, the United Societies of USA (Sobranije). At the 1902 Convention of the Greek Catholic Union, there was strong debate over whether or not the largely Magyarone RusinSlovak clergy leadership would be permitted to retain their official position, since they insisted on remaining citizens of the Kingdom of Hungary. The convention overwhelmingly voted that henceforth all officers of the GCU would have to be American citizens. Moreover, there was a long-standing resentment against domination of Slovak or Rusin parishioners by a Magyar or Magyarone clergy. In Hungary, the laity could do nothing about it. But in America, former peasants could vote out those who were either of the Hungarian aristocracy or had used the church - and ethnic assimilation - as a means of social mobility. The orientation toward a secular leadership made the process complete: the Byzantine Catholic laity of the fraternal would be a strong supporter of the Church but would not be its tool. The United Societies of USA, conversely, retained priests among .. .. ... .. .. .. . .. .. • • ---- ___________ KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOIJC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES. GEORGE BATYKO) Message by Advertisements Written Exarch I Characters Bishop Year Cyrillic Slovak Rus. Eng. Early Americanization Topics Cover Title - -- - - - - - - Amerikansko-Russko- J ·1903 Banks• , Saloons, Slovensky Kalendar Hotels , Liquors , Medical Cures , • Boat Tickets• Am. History (Rusin) 1904 • Amerikansky-Russko- 1905 Am. Government (Rusin & English) • Slovensky Kalendar Am. fanning, airplane, zeppelin 1909 (Eng.) Amerikansko-Russko- 1914 Banking-Shipping•, Am . Hist. (Rus .), population • Slovensky Kalendar Cures, Liquors of U. S. (Eng.) Banking•• Sokola Sojedinenija Citizenship / naturalization / 1921 • • govt. (Eng.) ,, Am. Hist., govt., loyalty, how Banking** 1924 • to use checking (Eng.) Kai. Soj . Gr. Kaft. 1926 Banking**, Financing, Russkich Bratstv. Home Building, y • • Religious Publications Am . Hist. , govt. (Rus.) , Cit. / 1932 Title & Mortgage Nat. (Eng.) Guarantee co., • • Banks , Boat Tick...,.. ets, Medical Cures K. Gr. Kaft. Sod . none 1953 S. S. A. • 1955 • • TABLE5 > A > < r 0 V, .:,. '-I " " " " " " 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 Gr. Kaft. Sod . S.S. A . " " " " " " " " " " Message by Exarch I B ishop • • . . . • . • ..• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . .• . Cyrillic_ Slovak Eng . . Early Americanization Topics - -- - - - Rus. Written Characters • Rovnianek (Pittsburgh) in particular •• Money orders, drafts, credit, savings , import, interest *** Diamond Jubilee Almanac GCU Calendar GCU of USA*** Gr. Kaft. Sod . v S. S. A. GCU Calendar " " " " " 1956 D. Gr . Kaft. Sod. S.S. A. " First Federal S&L of Homestead none Year -- Cover Title Advertisements KALENDARS (YEARBOOKS) OF THE GREEK CATHOLIC UNION (COURTESY OF PRES . GEORGE BATYKO) TABLE 5 (Continued) ., Vl 'I )> A < )> r 0 V) 76 SLOVAKIA its officials through the present; its birth dates from when a number of delegates walked out of the GCU convention in 1902 and founded its first church-affiliated lodge in McKeesport. At the height of its membership in the mid-1920's, United Societies counted some 27,000 in its adult and juvenile branches. By 1970, the last year for which actuarial figures were made available to me, membership had declined to 5,600; since 1930, membership enrollment by young adults has precipitously declined . (See the following Tables 6 -9 assembled from the actuarial records of the United Societies of USA, public domain.) Within the GCU during the intervening years, a second, even more dramatic schism took place in the 1930's over the issue of priestly celibacy - reflecting the conflict between the traditionalists, who argued in favor of a married priesthood and the acculturationists or ''Latinizers ," who advocated clerical celibacy. While no documented figures were available to me, a number of informants agreed that some 60,000 to 70,000 members, or roughly half the membership, defected. The GCU had been organized in 1892; the Juvenile Branch in 1906; the Gymnastic Branch in 1910. It totals some 1,300 lodges and is licensed as an insurance corporation in 12 states (United Societies, in 6). At the height of membership in 1929, the GCU numbered some 60,000 members in its General or Adult Branch, 20,000 in its Falcon Branch, and 65,000 in its Juvenile Branch. The cataclysm which cost the GCU half its membership occurred in 1929. As early as 1924, the Pope had dispatched Bishop Takach back to the United States with instructions that married priests , common in the Byzantine Rite in Europe, were not to be ordained. However, ordination continued for several years through what were described as "loopholes. " In 1929 came a specific papal decree, Cum Data, forbidding the ordination of married priests in the United States. This finalization led to the immediate defection of thousands of GCU members. If this were not earthquake enough, during the 1920's all ethnic fratemals in Pennsylvania were brought under the increasingly strict regulation of the Insurance Department, which consequence was an immediate precipitous drop in the membership of all Slovak-American insurance-related fratemals. Members could no longer be assessed equally, and amounts collected varied from month to month on the basis of the past month's claims, but were rate\f according to the National Fraternal Congress table of "attained age a~ June, l, 1933." That is, members were required to pay on the basis of age, with premiums increasing with age . The new rates were adopted in June 1932 by the GCU. The National Slovak Society and the men 's and ladies' divisions 0 4 5 12 35 51 68 51 42 10 12 28 49 69 83 82 77 88 75 0 70 1 85+ 0 0 0 1 ., 0 1 1 0 6 1 4 7 18 29 15 35 33 34 69 80 0 1 In the Adult Branches, the Falcon and Main Branches have always been combined for bookkeeping purposes . 2 This figure gives the total membership in United Societies . It should be noted that at age 16, one is eligible to transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch (Main or Falcon) . One may transfer from the Juvenile Branch to the Adult Branch between the 16th and 18th birthday. 3 The report for 1950 was missing, so the 1949 figures were used instead . 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. This means that it is no longer possible to compare membership at ages 16 and 18 in the Juvenile Branch with that in the Adult Branch. 5 An e xplanation for the increase lies in the adoption by the United Societies of the Byzantine Life Savings policy in August, 1968. It is a policy that is sold by agents of the United Societies, an effort to expand the boundaries of fratemalism on a more traditionally commercial basis . It is a 21-year savings program, which one may enter up to age 45 . At the end of the 21 years, the money is returned to the policy owner. Its advantage is that it is insured savings, although the insurance coverage decreases with each year. For the older people , it provides the certainty of a little income . United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports (Penna., Ohio, New Jersey , West Virginia, etc.) Membership: Adult and Juvenile ADULT: MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES! Membership per attained age categories Total : Adult & Total : Year Juvenile2 Adult 55 60 65 16 18 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 46 16 3 8652 135 128 131 236 272 367 279 185 1924 565 275 212 1926 346 517 1928 55 28 1930 19339 10159 320 372 342 114 135 227 254 290 233 191 70 153 186 227 165 122 30 7472 61 127 177 120 1935 13393 36 41 86 85 51 41 111 152 192 135 92 1940 8857 5464 7 59 70 51 73 130 151 145 49 76 106 107 99 1945 7399 5235 18 19493 48 67 69 86 63 57 58 146 133 130 6285 4739 4 18 19554 43 72 44 46 54 82 78 82 56 65 106 107 5472 25 76 89 47 43 5290 68 52 44 15 55 57 97 1960 73 78 42 37 17 27 53 46 41 1965 4812 90 63 50 19705 47 45 5628 101 60 52 38 99 107 129 118 40 27 - TABLES "" )> A < )> Vl r 0 ,,.. - 63 60 101 52 44 5456 91 613 237 231 18 68 90 16 348 418 191 299 153 93 72 6 This figure is for age 17, as it is the last listed, no figure being given for age 18 in the Juvenile Branch. 7 See Note . 4 on previous page . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Membership: Adult and Juvenile JUVENILE BRANCH Membership per attained age categories Total Year Juvenile 0 1 2 10 1928 201 282 549 672 1930 9180 183 426 647 1935 5921 301 456 1940 3393 45 47 48 195 1945 2164 32 81 64 134 1949 1546 28 28 40 62 48 81 51 50 19557 1960 133 150 84 69 1965 33 74 80 88 1970 9 31 30 83 TABLE7 > )> ;ii;;: < r 0 V') 0:, " 1 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted Ond Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches. W - Written Rev. - Revived Rec . - Received Iner. - Increased Mat. - Maturity Surr. - Surrender Dec . - Decrease Exp. - Expiry Other - non-specified (However, for 1935, I would suspect that the 81 in this category belong elsewhere, probably in 'Surrender.') United Societies of the USA : Annual State Insurance Dept. Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches ADULT: (se e below for abbreviations) - - MAIN AND FALCON BRANCHES Benefit Certificates . . . In force In force Dec . 31 Dec. 31 Year last yr. W this yr. Death Lapse Rev . Rec. Iner. Surr. Dec. Exp. Other -Mat. 1925 14908 2220 15574 133 1524 103 1926 15574 3833 18141 145 1121 1928 10704 11102 114 10313 1930 527 77 10159 . 652 1 1935 7534 279 80 7472 89 332 81 5621 1940 80 15 5464 98 154 1945 5296 139 4 5235 93 91 20 1949 4864 47 4739 113 23 35 1 19551 5356 360 5472 105 19 86 34 5514 1960 217 5290 108 248 41 44 1965 4907 160 4812 103 74 16 36 26 1970 5054 599 193 5628 91 91 30 5 1 TABLES ~ "'° 7' > > < Vl r 0 1702 81 16 723 2g3 Transfer 1 The figures for the Juvenile Branch list only up to age 16, so it is ambiguous as to whether Juveniles past their 16th birthday are included in tne figure of 9401. 2 transfer to Falcon Branch . 3 transfer to Senior (Main) Branch. 4 Beginning with 1955, the United Societies adopted One Fund Bookkeeping, using a single ledger system and combining figures for Juvenile and Adult Branches . United Societies of the USA: Annual State Insurance Dept . Reports Exhibit of Certificates: Adult and Juvenile Branches JUVENILE BRANCH: Benefit Certificates In force In force Dec . 31 Received Dec . 31 Terminated b1: last yr. by transfer Increased this yr. Year Written Revived Death Lapse 19281 9401 884 49 42 1930 9239 9180 810 968 1935 6384 597 5921 11 7 470 1940 3740 136 10 3393 223 1945 2356 115 2164 12 1949 1636 60 1546 1 120 19554 1960 1965 ,,, . 1970 - TABLE9 > 7' > ~ r (./') ~ SLOVAKIA 81 of the First Catholic Slov~ Union (Jednota) had been the first to comply in 1930. The state requirement of solvency was reflected in high premiums for the older members who, in the Depression years, could not pay. Each insurance company had to make up the deficit. The 1929 law required that all fraternal societies re-rate their policies within five years. Not that this external policing had not been attempted before. But now, like the papal decree on celibacy, the law was final. Between 1892 and 1909 or 1910, each member of the GCU had been assessed 50 cents, 60 cents, or 75 cents a month, depending on how much was customarily collected at a given lodge. There was no uniformity of policy even within the GCU. In 1909 or 1910, the GCU lodges went under an '' Assessment System,'' such that the amount due from each member was determined by the claims of the past month. Thus the assessment varied from month to month, but was internally regulated by the lodge. Around 1910, the state began to appear in the picture, proposing that members of fraternals pay according to age. Some fraternals put a lien on each member's policy, but this did not sufficiently raise revenues. In 1918 , the National Fraternal Congress Table of Mortality provided a uniform schedule according to which each member was to be rated according to the age at which he or she had joined the organization. But, even where this table was applied, it did not bring lodges or national offices anywhere approaching solvency. In Pennsylvania, the Insurance Department saw that the fraternals were functionally decentralized and operated on a day-to-day economic calculus - which, incidentally, was the traitional Slovak way of pooling resources in the extended family. It applied pressure for greater fraternal centralization and economic foresight. As of 1924, new members were to be rated according to the American Experience Table of Rates. However, the old members could continue to pay the prior National Fraternal Congress rate. This, too, did not greatly move the GCU and other Slovak-American fraternals toward solvency. Finally, the 1929 Pennsylvania law was implemented, and its effect paradoxical: it "worked" with amazing effectiveness according to the canons of American economic planning, but utterly disrupted the Slovak way of doing business. To summarize, then : the most compelling factors in declining membership within the Slovak-American fraternals were (a) the increasing cultural Americanization of their members and the availability of fraternal and insurance options within the cultural mainstream; (b) the increased influence of external (e .g., state) forces in the management of the internal affairs of the associations; (c) the devastating in- 82 SLOVAKIA fluence of the Great Depression over members' abilities to keep up payment of premiums on policies (undoubtedly influenced by " b " ); (d) the fraternal officials ' internal acculturation of the associations into "American" institutions (self-motivated as well as impelled by "b"). There remains an extremely potent factor in fraternal schism and attrition much less obvious to the observer's eye than those already discussed, one which the national president of a Slovak-American fraternal in his early 70' s poignantly articulated: ... we are still declining, there is an explanation for it. There was nothing ever done in this society. There was feeble attempts made to try to get the younger generation to become interested in our / fraternal society / . . .. we now lose, on an average of 1200 members a year .... you take in our generation, our parents were interested in our society and as soon as kids were born they put them in the lodge, the mother or father would always make sure that they would come to the meeting once a month and pay their dues. Even after they got married, the would pay their dues , do you follow me? Now, after they were on their own, had their own families they would say: "Here is your policy. Do you want to keep it. We pay till now. You can make your wife your beneficiary. " Lot of them kept it, and a lot of them turned around and cashed whatever they could get for it. See, where the old people wouldn't do that, and this younger generation isn't like the older generation. They say: " I don't need this or that." Now once again I say, it's not all of them, but the majority. They aren't worried so much like the old people were about their future. All they care is they get a new car, or good times, and when they are in trouble they come to their parents to help them out. Shortly thereafter, he spoke of local lodge meetings: The younger kids, they come, some of them come, some come and just pay their dues. They're in a hurry. They're always in a hurry. You see , I'll tell you. I think the biggest dam fault in all our fraternals. We used to have meetings every month at every lodge. I know I went as a younster, we came to the League, as a young fellow, 18, 19 years old, 20, 21. We would go to the Assemblies. All these old timers come to the meetings. It was always in the Slovak language, and if you\wanted the floor or ask permission to say something, and if you couldn""t. explain yourself well in the Slovak language, say in butchered up language, Slovak and English mixed together, the president of SLOVAKIA 83 _ _ _ _ says: "Sit down you snot nose you. You can't express yourself in Slovak, you can sit down. You are out of order." Well, naturally these younger people think, they say "Oh, my goodness gracious." You get red in the face, these young people, then they don't know what to do. Then they sit through it and first chance that they got to go home, "They won't get me back here with a bull rope." Instead of being nice to them and courteous, ''OK, we understand you, go ahead and say in English what you want to say. We want you to come." And once you drive them away, oh boy, it's hard to bring them back. That's been the trouble all these fratemals, whether it's the Slovak Catholic, whether it's the National Slovak Society or the. First Catholic Slovak Union. It's the same condition and a lot of those old timers, when they held office, they thought they were supposed to be there till they die. The younger people, they need to bring these people in . . . . Another official, participating in the interview, later interjected: ... That old fellow who would come to the conventions, and make a rousing speech, "We have got to get our young people to take over our offices in our local assemblies, in the national,'' yet he wouldn 't give up his damn job .... (from field notes, June 1978) The chronic, occasionally acute conflict (expressed institutionally in schism) which these officers articulate is a generational conflict be- tween fathers and sons, once contained within the traditional familiar and manorial system, but now run openly rife in the expressively more permissive American cultural setting. We have already seen this conflict in another form: the 1902 schism within the GCU which led to the founding of the United Societies of USA, precipitated by the issue of allegiance to the U.S. versus allegiance to the parental-land and representatives of its authority. This conflict at the macro-institutional level is dynamically identical with the deeply traditional family struggle in Slovak culture: parental holding on versus letting go of authority, power, status, property, and roles. What I have discussed elsewhere in terms of traditional and Slovak-American personality, family dynamics, and culture change (Stein 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1976, 1978a, 1978b, 1979, Stein and Hill 1977, 1979) is dynamically identical and isomorphic with the conflict at the macro-institutional level. Traditionally as well as in the New World, unquestioning respect for and obedience to the will and authority of elders was paramount. In the official cultural ethos, the father's word and will were absolute; 84 SLOVAKIA deference was due to him no matter what. With the breakdown of the manorial order in Slovakia between 1848 and the great migration of 1880-1920 , sons began demanding a greater say in the running of family affairs . If fathers refused to relinquish some of their traditional prerogatives , sons now had options from setting up separate households to emigration . The vastly extended " joint family " diminished into the " stem family " (Goldschmidt and Kunkel 1971) in which frequently only a son or two, and daughter or two would live with or near the parents (cf. Koenig 1937) . The children now were able to place demands upon the parents , and to leave if dissatisfied. This is precisely what happened openly in the U.S., which official ethos was based on revolutionary separation from parents who, as the motto goes , exacted " taxation without representation, " an experience that strikes at the heart of the Slovak experience as well. Of course, this never was a matter of either / or. As I have demonstrated in the above cited works , moves centrifugal toward autonomy have evoked enormous ambivalence , guilt, restitution, and centripetal countervailing moves on the part of parents. Nonetheless , the above officials have identified as a decisive ingredient in the attrition of the young from Slovak-American fratemals the demand by the young for respect by the elders, a reversal of tradition that is at the same time traditionally and quintessentially '' American.'' It is thus not enough to say that the young defectors had been " Americanized ," and that the diehards remained doggedly "traditional. '' The elder officials of the Slovak-American fratemals could not mobilize the constraints they once yielded under the much hated manorial and Magyar yoke to compel those who they contemptuously regarded as " snotty nosed" youth to speak their language: Slovak. It should further be noted that language was wielded by the officials as a tool of power - but an impotent tool. Ironically, the youth, in the 1910's and 1920' s , attempted to express their interest in ethnicity in English, but were dismissed as out of order by parental-clergy-fraternal-elder figures who sought to safe-guard their venerable Slovak ethnicity by passing it on through institutional measures (churches, gynmastics , literary clubs). However, the fact of institutionalization of tradition was disqualified by the attitude of the founders toward those who would succeed them - which very " success " aroused their fear and countervailing animosity toward the Slovak-American youth. The very nature of many officers ' traditionalism led to the ardent Americanization by the young, whose consequence for the fratemals was decline in membership. ' SLOVAKIA 85 ATHLETIC PROGRAMS IN SLOVAK-AMERICAN FRATERNAL ASSOCIATIONS: INTERNAL CHANGE AND CONTINUITY Similar directional change can be seen in the history of athletic programs within the Slovak-American fraternals. The baseline was the Slovak Sokol (Falcon) or gymnastic society. The earliest Sokols had been founded in Bohemia in 1862 by Jindrich Fuegner and Miroslav Tyrs , derived from the German Turnvereine . The Sokols were used in Europe both as vehicles for nativism and Pan-Slavic solidarity. In the U.S. , they tended to follow ethnic lines and intra-ethnic schisms. Initially most of the fraternal organizations were divided into full membership branches: general (adult), juvenile (up to ages 16-18) , and Sokol. Between the ages of 16 and 18, one transferred from the juvenile branch to either the general or the Sokol branch. The Sokol branch stressed group gymnastics. Beyond local activities, each branch combined with other lodges, organizations, and conducted district, regional, national, and international slets (mass calisthenic displays) . Separate Sokol / insurance fraternals later developed. During the first decades of the twentieth century, baseball attracted considerable interest in fraternal and church groups , and if not competed for time with the gymnastic activity, it at least paralleled it. By the 1930's, Sokol activity began a slow decline, while baseball was attracting more interest. And in the mid and late 1930' s, the first fraternal bowling leagues were formed, later organized into district, regional, and national competition along the same lines as were the gymnastics. With the preparation for and American entry into World War II Sokol programs were drastically cut when the young Sokols and Sokolettes and instructors took part in the war. Great hopes were placed on a revival following the war, but there was no such revival. Quite the reverse . Those lodges which were discontinued during the war were never revived. ' ' At least fifty percent of the former gymnastically-active lodges became dormant ; numerous Sokol halls were lost; and most of the prewar instructors and directors disappeared from the physical education field . The indifference and apathy on the part of .. . Sokol membership , and officers as well, also were responsible for this decline ." (Andrew Venglarcik, Jr., " President's Column," Sokol Times, Jan . 14, 1972 , p. 3). Despite efforts by the Supreme Lodge of Sokol USA and other control bodies to induce renewal by the appropriation of larger funds for the Sokols , promises of salaries and the payment of travel expenses, there was little positive response on the part 86 SLOVAK IA of the membership . The Sokol USA slet held in 1966 was a veritable miniature compared with those of the 1920's. The influence of World War II was pervasive on both those who participated in it and in the home communities. Two facts are especially noteworthy: (a) that the virtual collapse of Sokol gynmastics was merely one small aspect of this transformation from Slovak to American, and (b) that the fact of the war did not so much cause the change as it rapidly accelerated a process already under way. Baseball, already popular before the war, was equally popular during the war in the informal games by American soldiers at recreation in training or overseas. Although the soldiers returned with baseball, they did not return it to their fraternal lodges, but instead to their industrial teams, American Legion teams, war veterans ' teams, and so forth . At the Sokol lodges, bowling became the sport. Only in the 1960's did local bowling lodge teams begin to decline. From the late 1940's and early 1950's bowling began to compete with golf, which was subsequently organized in districts, regions, and nationally. From the mid-1960 's , golf became the major activity, all of this taking place as the elderly are passing on, the young either not joining or cashing in their policies when they mature , the lodges becoming smaller and more difficult to justify and maintain. What is the meaning of the transformation in athletic activities? What has changed, and what has remained? The only remnant is that of group competition. Slets displayed competitive gymnastic groups, and baseball, bowling, and golf were organized as competitive tournaments at the various levels . But there is a gradual incorporation into the group of increasing individualism, in contrast with the "mechanical solidarity" of group gymnastics . In all of these, what the individual does is for the sake of the group effort. But the individual as a separate entity is increasingly emphasized. The team-orientation of a baseball team is far greater than that of the bowling team, because, as in the group gymnastic display, all of the members ' (or at least the playing members ' ) actions must be coordinated. This is not the case in bowling or golf, where the group is cumulative and sequential, rather than synchronized. In bowling and golf, individual efforts (and accomplishments) are not directly coordinated with tho'se of others, although they are added to them. In these '' individualistic' •· sports, individual actions are apart from the group , not subsumed under group effort as they necessarily are in the slet and in sports like baseball. Psychologically, the meaning of these sports differs greatly from the earlier " team" sports , where the individual could never be " taken out" of the group . SLOVAKIA 87 \ This point has been well made by Andrew J. Valusek, President of Sokol USA: '' ... we believe in mass training more than emphasis on individual excellence, even though outstanding Sokol athletes are honored and play an important role in the life and achievements of the movement itself (Souvenir Book, 15th Sokol USA Slet, July 1-3, 1966, New York). This transformation in atheltics reflects what is simultaneously a cultural and psychological transformation: from Slovak to American, from group-oriented to individual-oriented, from coordinated interdependence to self-reliant independence. Furthermore, the incorporation of American athletic activities represented a new social status for the group . The lodge members had adopted within an ethnic framework typically mainstream American social activities. Increasingly, ancestral ethnicity was the basis for association, while categories of American culture dominated the content of the activity. MEN'S CLUB AND SECRET SOCIETY My final consideration in the history of the Slovak-American fraternals is its vital ' 'latent'' function as an exclusive men's club. This refers, of course, to male fraternal organizations or a compartmentalized activity of a male fraternal. The men's club provided and safeguarded a haven and refuge from women, family, and responsibility. It occasioned regularized " rituals of rebellion" (Gluckman 1954; Wallace 1966). This is not a matter of the writer's interpretations but derives from informants ' statements as well as the writer's observations. In Slovakia and Ruthenia, the village tavern had fulfilled this release function. In those Slovak-American organizations whose meetings were held under the strict supervision of the priest, the conclusion of a meeting was frequently followed by a visit to the Slovak Club . Many fraternals held their lodge meetings in one of the rooms at the Slovak Club. At the club , heavy drinking, card and craps playing, mournful and boisterous Slovak folk song, and " men' s talk" occupied the hours and filled the air. Abetted by the influences of "boilermakers'' (a shot of whiskey with a beer as chaser), the unspeakable literally emptied into the open. Taboos were cavalierly broken - at least in word. Built on shared experiences and conflicts, the male associations offered one of the few opportunities for male solidarity. Both in Europe and in the first several decades in the U.S., Saturday night was the ritual occasion for the unbottling of the week's pent up burdens. In the U.S. , the male solidarity of Slovak-American fraternal and the Slovak Club came to be predominantly associated with the immi- 88 SLOVAKIA grant generation. With the second and later generations, from the 1940's and on, this function became transferred to union halls, service veterans' clubs, American fraternal orders, and local bars, whether located adjacent to the mill or in one's neighborhood. These became places where men from varied ethnic backgrounds (though as exclusively white as they were exclusively male) could commiserate and boast of extracurricular feats on the war front and on the home front alike, out of reach of female domination and ridicule. In the original Slovak tavern the American Slovak Club, and later supra-ethnic American adaptations, lusty fiction compensated for social realities too miserable to acknowledge, and over which one felt no control. Through group support, one was able, without too great a burden on the conscience, to take a temporary moral holiday. And a man knew that later confession and communion could always undo - again temporarily what he had dared to think or say or do under the influence of potent spirits. SLOVAK-AMERICAN CHURCHES: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF TRENDS A detailed history of Slovak-American parishes at the local and national levels, over the past century, exactly duplicates the history of the fraternals . For this reason, and for economy of space, I would like to review the major trends and give a brief ''life history'' of St. Mark Lutheran Church in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, which history will embody these trends. Each of the churches in which I conducted fieldwork (Latin Rite, Byzantine Rite, Independent Rite Catholic, and Lutheran) either experienced the convulsion of schism or was a product of schism. Each of these parishes experiences the on-going drama of conflict between traditionalists and acculturationists. And in each of these parishes, the resolution is identical: (a) outward mobility of dissident acculturationists (and, in some cases, traditionalists for whom even the majority of parish traditionalists have compromised too much); (b) internal acculturation and inter-marriage, creating supra-ethnic denominationalized parishes ; (c) the "territorialization" of "nationality '' parishes (this language comes from khe Catholic diocesan context, but is univerally applicable) . The same directional change is evidenced since the 1930's in Slo- SLOVAKIA " 89 vak-American churches as in fratemals: that is, away from ethnic exclusiveness and insularity. Initially, religion, like fratemalism, was an inseparable functional component of ethnicity. Today, in the context of an individual's increasingly personal community" (Gould 1970: 148), a traditional social structural view is empirically invalidated. "Religion" and "ethnicity" have become increasingly separate domains of one's life. This is true even for those originally nationality parishes which, in the 1960's or early 1970's, still maintained a large membership and which could afford to build a new parish further "up the hill" or out in suburbia. I think, for instance, of two parishes in Duquesne, Pennsylvania: Holy Trinity (Slovak) Roman Catholic Church, which, in the late 1960's, built a dazzlingly modem church in the suburb of West Mifflin in which many of the second and third generation lived, but which became de jure a supra-ethnic territorial parish in the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; and Sts. Peter and Paul Byzantine Catholic Church, originally located in the same neighborhood as Holy Trinity, but which built a modem church building in the mid-1960's a mile or two further up the hill, in a stable white, middle-class, poly-ethnic neighborhood. Cross-cutting denominational lines is the decisive influence of World War Il in accelerating, though not causing, the Americanization process within Slovak-American parishes, and with it, division or further schism. The ubiquity of this process I have discovered from discussions with Latin and Byzantine Rite Catholic, Lutheran, and Independent Catholic Slovak-American clergymen and parishioners. A Slovak Lutheran minister in his late forties, who grew up in Johnstown, Penna., relates his experience there and generalizes from it: In my church in Johnstown, there was no English until 1942 - at least until 1942, when I left for World War II. When I left, no English had been introduced. But after war, the young people coming back demanded that English be adopted as a separate service. The effect of the war was to put people of all different backgrounds together, and the common language there was English. The men thought and spoke and felt in English, so that when they got home after the war, their native towns and churches were like a foreign country. The delicate questions, then, as always, was how to contain or try to contain change within continuity. In McKeesport, Penna., Holy Trinity Slovak Roman Catholic Church had been founded in 1895 as a "nationality" parish within the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese (Holy Trinity 1970; Slovak Catholic Par- 90 SLOVAKIA ishes and Institutions, 1955). In 1921 the church had a membership of some 1, 700 individuals and 325 families. In that year, the bishop appointed a priest of Alsatian-German ancestry to succeed the Slovak priest who many elderly parishioners allege returned to Slovakia under dubious circumstances (e.g. , with church funds?). Not so much the new priest's ethnicity as his antagonistic, condescendingly anti-Slovak style precipitated a schism in which some 300 families left to found Sts . Peter and Paul Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, later renamed Sts. Cyril and Methodius. This priest remained the pastor of the church until his death in 1963, and was succeeded by a second-generation Slovak-American priest who remained pastor until his retirement in the mid-1970's. This period witnessed considerable Americanization of everything from liturgy to architecture to the aesthetics of the sanctuary. The immense wood-spires gave way to marble. The dusty baldachino was taken down in the 1960' s. The sanctuary of the church has fewer and fewer statues and candles. The interior became increasingly lighter and brightly lit. The Slovak mass on Sunday morning (one mass out of the four) , attended mostly by the older people, was phased out by the late 1960's. At the Diamond Jubilee Celebration (75 yrs.) in 1970, no Slovak was used in the special mass. (As I left the service, I overheard one man , perhaps in this 60 's, exclaim to a friend: " Couldn 't he have said something in Slovak?'') In 1975, a young third-generation Slovak-American priest became pastor and initiated weekly Charismatic Renewal Services , held in the church social hall and open to and attended by Catholics from parishes throughout McKeesport. Thus, what began as an exclusively ethnic parish has become internally a multi-ethnic territorial Roman Catholic parish though with explicitly acknowledged ties to an ethnic past. Moreover, it is the site for decidedly contemporary American cultic activity that stresses the direct, personal religious experience. The possible conflict between the priest and Eucharist-centererd formalism of the traditional mass (now in the vernacular English) and the participatory Charismatic Service of heightened self-expression and testimonial has at least for the moment been settled by compartmentalization. At the present time (see Table 10), the membership is large enough (roughly 1,800 members) , and its >decline due to the greater proportion of deaths over baptisms gradual e:eough to assure the parish at least several decades of "life." But, clearly the nature of the religious experience has changed decisively over the past 85 years . The word ' 'Slovak '' was officially dropped from the name of the church in SLOVAKIA 91 \ the 1960's. • The parish is becoming increasingly working-class Catholic in its expressive function. The so-called Latinization and Irishization of the church has most recently been succeeded by a new type of American religious nativism: here , however, the change is induced far less from without than from within. To date, St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, Sts. Cyril and Methodius Slovak Independent National Catholic Church, and St. Mark Lutheran Church have solved the generational gap between traditionalists and acculturationists through separate services. Sts. Cyril and Methodius alternates Sundays with English and Slovak services. At St. Mark, the Slovak service typically takes place early on Sunday, followed by the English service . At the much larger St. Nicholas, the Slavonic Mass is one of three masses offered on Sunday morning, the other two in English (for detailed histories of these parishes , see Stein 1972). If at Holy Trinity, " Latinization" mediated by " Irishization " underlay much internal conflict, at St. Nicholas a less direct though powerful Latinization has taken place, here mediated by the supra-local hierarchy from Byzantine Catholic bishop through Rome. Just as in Latin Rite Slovak-American parishes, the conglomerate of IrishizationLatinization-Americanization was a means of social mobility for the priesthood ; likewise within Byzantine Rite Slovak-American parishes, Latinization-Americanization, bypassing the Latin Rite, Irish-dominated Church , was a means of social mobility for its priesthood. This, however, was not original to the American context. For centuries, both Byzantine and Latin Rite Slovak priests frequently used Magyarization as a means of mobility in Slovakia. Likewise, in Europe as in America, Germanization was a means of social mobility for Slovak Lutheran clergy. In all cases , the process in America was continuous with that in Europe: only the specific content or reference group(s) changed. • Let me furthe r pursue the issue of " What' s in a name? " , the importance of name as personal meaning and identity, from the point of view of baptismal records in this parish . Both in traditional Slovakia, and in parish records through the early 1920' s, baptismal names we re largely Biblical , or reflected more eastern Slavic influence . Thus, most males were named Michael, John, Thomas , Andrew , George, Paul, Joseph, Stephen , Be rnard , Albert, Rudolph, Charles, and Ivan ; and females were named Martha, Helen , Margaret , Mary, Anna , Elizabeth , and Ivana. American names, including the addition of a middle name, began to appear sporadically in the late 1910's , but grew in the 1920's and thereafter . For instance : Ella Sue, Stanley J oseph , Ethel Elizabeth, Emma Marie , Virginia , Robert William , George Edward (all before 1930) , Anna Mae, Rose Marie , Dorothy Mae , Virginia Louise, Patricia J ane , Lucille Diane , Gary Michael, William John , and so forth . SLOVAKIA 92 TABLE 10 Diocese of Pittsburgh Holy Trinity (Slovak) Catholic Church Allegheny County McKeesport, PA Church reports at five year intervals (1896-1971): Year 1896 1901 1906 1911 1916 1921 1926 1931 1936 1941 1946 1951 1956 1961 1966 1971 1974+ Souls (approximate)• 600 Families (approximate)• 180 905 210 1060 250 1200 1300 1800 2500 2700 300 300 400 600 600 600 600 600 500 600 600 610 675 667 2900 2886 3170 3180 3500 3500 2725 2540 2140 Baptisms 144 151 175 177 160 140 137 131 86 72 127 86 78 66 41 26 16 Deaths 50 . 67 109 30 48 50 30 45 38 37 24 36 39 40 35 37 50 • Priest' s estimate derived from traditional annual blessing of homes after Epiphany. + Last year data available. Moreover, this was hardly a process imposed exclusively from without or by the pastor. In the absence of schism, and in the aftermath of schism for those who chose to remain loyal to church and pastor, the direction taken by the pastor coincided with the direction sought by a majority of the congregation, through passive assent if not active work toward change. The matter is somewhat different for Sts. Cyril and Methodius, an independent Slovak Catholic church that has literally struggled for survival since its creation in 1921. Beginning with some 300 zealous families as Sts. Peter and Paul, it has now barely 100 members. In the 1920's it ambitiously built a new church, only to lose it to the bank in 1937. Just as, prior to building its own edifi<z, the church held services in Slovak Hall and in churches where it was welcomed, likewise after 1937, it held services at the YWCA and the Baptist Mission. In order to be exempt from any past or future debts incurred under its original SLOVAKIA 93 \ name , Sts. Peter and Paul changed its name to Sts. Cyril and Methodius in the late 1930's . In its early period, the church had been served by a priest ordained by the Czecho-Slovak Independent Church in Slovakia. Later, when no priest could be found, Sts. Cyril and Methodius became affiliated with the parallel nativistic Polish National Catholic movement which had begun in Scranton, Penna. in 1897 (Fox, n .d.). Services were conducted at the local, inner-city Polish National Catholic Church , served by a Polish-American priest who said mass in Polish, while responsorials and hymns were sung in Slovak by the congregation. During the late 1960's, the Polish church began a building program in suburban McKeesport. At the same time, a Swedish Evangelical Free Church was vacating its church on the "hill" and moving to a more outlying district - where its members tended to be living, and away from the area in which blacks were now living in increasing numbers . The Slovak Independent church voted to purchase the Swedish church outright in 1967. So the church now had a home, but few members. Many had, in the intervening year, returned to Holy Trinity. Others joined Catholic or Protestant churches near their homes . Still others gravitated in increasing numbers to the Polish National Catholic Church: an institution which acted both to safeguard the Slovak church and as an agent of acculturation to the PNCC tradition. Indeed , one of the greatest areas of chronic conflict within Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been those who resist and resent the PNCC influence and those who accept it. From the outset, the Slovak National Catholic Church movement has been numerically small and politically weak in comparison with the PNCC, which now claims several hundreds of thousands of members in some 140 churches in the U.S. alone - and which movement diffused in the 1920's back to the mother country . Thus the direction of change in Sts. Cyril and Methodius has been toward PNCC and American acculturation. Like St. Mark, whose ' 'life history '' I present immediately below in detail rather than fragment , the membership of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is highly skewed toward the end of the life cycle , unbalanced by a substantial middle-aged population to compensate for the outward migration of young adults and the virtually non-existent birth-rate. While these examples are sufficient to illustrate the trend of culture change , I would like to tum to the history of St. Mark Lutheran Church , which should provide a depth missing in the breadth of the " trends " I have covered for the other churches . 94 SLOVAKIA ST. MARK LUTHERAN CHURCH: AN INSTITUTIONAL ''LIFE HISTORY'' St. Mark's was founded in 1913 by 25 members from the Slovak Evangelical Union Assembly 53 (a fraternal organization) organized in 1899 in Duquesne. The church was named the Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne. Between 1913 and 1919, ''lacking funds to either build or buy a place for a church site, the Church council called upon the nearby existing Grace Reformed Church ... for permission to use the church for services" (50th Anniversary Book, St. Mark Ev. Lutheran Church, Oct. 27, 1963) . Toward the end of the decade , Grace Reformed Church's growth compelled it to seek larger quarters elsewhere in Duquesne, making the building available for purchase. Slovak Lutherans from Duquesne and from the nearby communities of McKeesport and Glassport purchased the church building. In 1920, the parish was able to send a call for its first full-time pastor. In 1934, after no prior synodical affiliation, the church joined the Slovak Zion Synod, Lutheran Church of America, in which it has been a member ever since. In the 1930's, the Slovak Lutheran parish in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, experienced a schism between the more Americanized members and the traditionalists. The more Americanized members wanted English introduced into the service, and wanted to establish a Sunday School for their children in which English was the language of instruction. The more adamant Slovaks refused to permit any change. Between one-third and one-half of the congregation (over 150 members) left. They took up membership at the nearby German Lutheran and Engish Lutheran churches. The loss of membership in the 1930's precipitated a compromise initiated in 1940: an English-language Sunday School was founded, and English was adopted in the Vacation Bible School and in the Confirmation Class. The services, however, remained entirely in Slovak. The Second World War acted as a great catalyst of change toward the more rapid Americanization of the parish - not merely of this parish but thoughout Slovak Lutheran parishes. The younger members, many of them returning veterans, insisted on a separate English service. This structural change solved in part the probl~m of the different intergenerational linguistic and cultural orientatibns. Each age set, indeed cultural set, would have its own separate service. The Sunday morning Slovak service at the Duquesne parish is now a much shortened version of the traditional service. In this way, it has been adopted to the Ameri- SLOVAKIA 95 can time-sense (e.g., hymns of an original 16-20 stanzas now reduced to 4-6). For occasions such •s Christmas Eve, Easter Sunday, and Confirmation, joint services are held, with roughly half in English and half in Slovak, equally distributed throughout the service. In the 1960's, further measures were taken to Americanize the church. A majority of the younger members felt that the word "Slovak" in its name , as with the lengthy European-sounding name as a whole, discouraged non-Slovaks from joining. The younger age set wished to become an integrated member of the American Lutheran community rather than remain outside it. As a reflection of this attitude change, the name was changed from Slovak Evangelical Augsburg Lutheran Congregation of Duquesne to the more conventional St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church, or simply St. Mark Lutheran Church. The church was named in honor of a saint because, as the pastor put it, ''most American churches are called Saint this or Saint that.'' Accompanying the change in name were concomitant changes in the by-laws whose effect was intended to parallel and validate the change in name. Whereas previously membership was restricted to Slovak Lutherans and their spouses (through conversion to Lutheranism), now membership was opened to all Lutherans irrespective of nationality background. For all practical purposes the church became ''two churches' ' : Slovak Lutheran and American Lutheran, the former using the Slovak liturgy, and the latter utilizing the Common Service Book of 1917 (United Lutheran Church of America) until the mid-1960's, then the authorized Service Book and Hymnal (Lutheran Church of America, 1968). However, the opening up of the church to new membership, together with the standardization of the liturgy, failed to attract new members or to retain the young. The Slovak population of Duquesne, like that of McKeesport and all other local milltowns on the Monongahela, had largely been moving to outlying districts, first up on ''the hill,'' later further out to "suburbs. " Mobility of membership to nearby " American Lutheran" churches almost inevitably followed. In the same area of Duquesne as St. Mark Church were former Slovak Roman Catholic (Holy Trinity, Duquesne) and Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Catholic (Sts. Peter and Paul) churches . Sts. Peter and Paul had completed a new church far up on the hill in early 1960, and Holy Trinity completed a new church out in the suburb of West Mifflin in 1970. During the period from the 1940' s through the 1960' s, as the Slovaks moved " up and out," the area rapidly became settled by blacks , and the area quickly became unpopular even in the eyes of those Slovaks who remained and attended the Lutheran Church (which could not 96 SLOVAKIA afford to build elsewhere). The church could hardly retain its own members, let alone attract outsiders to what was quickly becoming called a deteriorated and unstable area. The former Slovak Catholic Holy Trinity Church building and rectory were given by the diocesan bishop to a local black church group, and the nearby vacated Slovak / Rusin Byzantine Church became a plaything for vandals. Many Catholic and Lutheran Slovak-Americans who had bought their first homes here or had grown up in this neighborhood said in disgust that this was no longer a place fit for a white man to live. It is significant that, despite all the vast changes that have taken place in the church, the original German-made oak tryptich altar, baptismal, and pulpit (of the 1920's) are retained by the church to the present. From time to time younger parishioners have suggested that the ancient pipe organ be replaced by a modern electric organ, but there has never been a concerted demand for such a replacement. I suspect that underlying this lack of pressure for costly remodeling and rennovation is first, the smallness of the congregation and hence the lack of large amounts of funds for such purposes, and second, the younger generation's relative lack of long-term future commitment to the parish and hence their acquiescence to the traditional preferences of the older generation . At present, an average of ten of those parishioners aged 60 and over attend the Slovak service; while between 40 and 50 of mostly younger parishioners and their families attend the English. Only a few elderly people are accompanied in the Slovak service by their children and grandchildren. However, many grandparents attend the English service with their children. Unexceptionably, the three-generation service is the English. A maximum of 15 attend the Slovak service, while at the English it approximates 60. The parish is rapidly losing members at both ends of the age range , the elder through deaths , and the younger with their families by moving away or joining more American Lutheran churches . Between 1960 and the end of 1970, the church lost 26 members over age 50 (out of a total of 32) of whom 14 were over age 70. Several parents in their 30 's and 40 's have told me of their intention of joining elsewhere after their own parents, stalwart members , pass on .* \ • Rarely have Slovak-ethnic organizations later becom~ stable supra-ethnic co=unity institutions . The direction of change seems one way . Ethnic parishes have declined dramatically in Slovak-American membership . The ethnic fratemals ' efforts at modernizing fis cally simply came too late . Moreover, the fratemals ' renewed efforts at in- SLOVAKIA 97 , CONCLUSION This paper has examined religion and fraternal association among Slovak-Americans as institutional forms for the communication of cultural meaning. Although I have focused on a single Euro-American population, the perspectives and findings of this study should be applicable to and testable by data from comparable populations. Historical, documentary, ethnographic, and demographic data were adduced both to illustrate cultural patterns of communication and to offer the reader material by which my generalizations might be evaluated. I have emphasized that (a) there is much in Slovak-American adaptation that is built upon, indeed derived from, preadaptive characteristics of traditional culture which cannot be reduced to the demands of the host environment or to adaptive tools available in it; (b) the overall trend and categories of change in fraternals and churches is identical; (c) the study of institutional meaning is never removed, nor can it be abstracted from, the personal meanings of its participants who invest in social structures; (d) what from one point of view appears to be patently instrumental functions can be discerned simultaneously from another point of view as expressive functions (i.e., complementary); (e) the American cultural system was adopted by Slovak-Americans to achieve both traditional ends (often in new "language" or cultural content) and anti-traditional ends, the seeds of which were sown (as latent possibilities) in traditional Slovak family and social conflict; (f) the distinction between traditional and modern, and continuity and change, cannot be concluded on the basis of mere appearance, but must be detennined by the meanings communicated by the cultural actors; hence (g) continuity in form, function, and meaning can often be expressed, not despite, but strurnental change in service of ethnic, that is, expressive, revitalization was a futile attempt to reassemble functions that had already been severed by the membership for expressive reasons . One conspicuous exception is the Benedictine High School in Cleveland , Ohio . Another is the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Homestead, Pennsylvania (with branches in McKeesport and Clairton, also mill towns) , originally founded in 1914 by Slovak workers to assist in providing common funds for Slovak families now able and eager to purchase homes in the "hill" regions of the town up and away from their rented flats in the " lowland" or " bottoms " close to the mill . Perhaps a compelling reason for the success of the S & L association lies in its offer of supra-ethnic' ' social security '' resources from the beginning. That is, being primarily a financial institution, it stood the best chance of flourishing in the American cultural environment in which instrumental (e .g. , economic) functions were compartmentalized from expressive ones. 98 SLOVAKIA through a change in symbolic content; (h) although unmistakable trends of change have been noted, at any given moment the identified distinctive features of change may perform complementary or contradictory institutional functions; (i) the process of Americanization or acculturation cannot be seen as a unitary process directed either from within or from without the ethnic community, but must be analyzed in terms of sources of impetus for Americanization. The study of ethnicity is not the study of "tribes" as though they and their conceptually reified cultures persist statically unchanged. Rather, the study of ethnicity is the study of human relationships, the meanings which people attach to those relationships, the communication of those meanings in idiosyncratic or institutionalized forms, the process by which changed meanings lead to changes in relationships and how in tum ethnicity and thus identity itself comes to be redefined. Certainly the nativistic "New Ethnicity" advocated by many fraternal leaders and Slovak-American intelligentsia (Stein and Hill 1977) is not at all the unself-conscious native ethnicity of the pre-immigrant period. My research among some three- and four-generation SlovakAmerican families and institutions leads to to the inexorable conclusion that Slovak-American ethnicity over the past century has dramatically changed from a relatively homogeneous public expression of community form, function, structure, meaning, and relationship to a far more heterogeneous, individualized, private matter. This privatization of ethnicity had led many scholars to conclude that ethnicity has disappeared. This is nonsense: it has been repattemed, some elements retained, others given up. Although the American ethos has replaced the ethnic ethos as the core of personal and group identity, the spheres of life and the levels of the personality at which this replacement has occurred must be demonstrated and explained. What has unmistakably declined and is disappearing is the full complement of institutions which characteristically define a traditional community (cf. Arensberg and Kimball 1965) . However, as I have suggested in my previously cited works, unconsciously communicated loyalties, conflicts, values , expectation, and worldview in the intimate interior of even ethnically intermarried families results in continuities in surprising guises (e.g., the steel mill experienced as the old manorial latifundia: see Stein and Hill 1979; Hamey 1975) . , On the other hand, ethnic ties are often.maintained in the absence of conspicuously ethnic content - and here "conspicuity" refers all too often to the preoccupations and categories of the observer. Ethnicity takes on an especially "hidden" quality (Hill and May 1973) when the SLOVAKIA 99 observer expects tradition~ meanings to take traditional representational forms. The more subtle, out-of-awareness (Hall 1977) aspects of ethnicity are the most intractible because they are pre-verbally ta.ken for granted and cannot be verbalized. Thus, for instance, I shall know that without a doubt a Slovak-American woman or man has acculturated more toward the core of the metaphoric personal ''onion'' when children - or the ethnographer! - are forcibly lavished copious quantities of food, when I am invited to visit with a family in their ''living room" or "dining room" instead of the kitchen; or when the implicit roles of maternal dominance and paternal distance in the home have become less pronounced, and the affective atmosphere affectively less brittle. Likewise, the inclusion of members from other ethnic groups within formerly exclusive tradition-maintaining fraternal and religious institutions, and the increasingly widespread phenomenon of intermarriage, are expressions of the simultaneous of group- or "ethnic" - and ego-boundaries. The formerly "other," often despised and alien, is now included within the possibilities of the "self." This fact requires a reassessment of our received wisdom about structural assimilation, namely, that inclusion is an act governed or regulated by the more mainstreamed "Americans" - that is, that it operates as a one-way process. Rather, inclusion is reciprocally a dynamic from within the ethnic group. Finally, this paper further confirms the tenet that ethnicity is a process operating at many levels, and is not a lineal continuum whose starting and terminal points can easily be plotted in terms of preconceived categories of "passing," "acculturation," "mobility," or "assimilation." It is the author's hope that future studies will not only provide greater breadth and depth in the study of Slovak-Americans, but will offer a comparative framework for the study of emigrant Slovaks in other nations (indeed, other regions of the U.S.), the internal transformation of Slovakia in the post-World War I period, and other European emigrant populations in their new contexts. Such studies will determine precisely how limited or widespread is the trend of culture change discussed in this paper. REFERENCES Anderson, Robert T. "Voluntary Associations in History," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 209-222. Arensberg, Conrad M. and Solon T. Kimball. Culture and Community . New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1966. 100 SLOVAKIA Balch, Emily Greene. Our Slavic Fellow Citizens . New York : Amo Press, 1969 (orig. 1910) . Barton , Josef J . Peasants and Strangers : Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950. Cambridge, Mass : Harvard University Press, 1976. Bue, Bonaventure S. " Slovak Nationalism: Its Origins, Conflicts and Objectives." Master's thesis, University of Pittsburgh, 1967. Fitzpatrick , Joseph P. " The Importance of ' Community' in the Process of Immigrant Assimilation, " International Migration Review 1(1)(1966) : 6-16. Fox, Paul. The Polish National Catholic Church . Scranton , Penna: School of Christian Living, n.d . Gluckman, Max. Rituals of Rebellion in South-East Africa . Manchester: Manchester University Press , 1964. Goldschmidt, Walter and E. J . Kunkel. " The Structure of the Peasant Family," American Anthropologist 73(1971): 1068-1076. Gould, Harold A. ' 'Some Preliminary Observations Concerning the Anthropology of Industrialization,'' In Peasants in Cities: Readings in the Anthropology of Urbanization . William Mangin, ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970, pp. 137-149. Hall, Edward. Beyond Culture . Garden City, New York : Doubleday 1/ Anchor, 1977. Hamey, Robert F. "Ambiente and Social Class in North American Little Italies," Canadian Review of Studies in Nationalism 2(2)(1976): 208-224. Hill, Robert F. and J . Thomas May. " Exploring Hidden Ethnicity: Problems and Methods ," American Society of Ethnohistory , Central State University, Edmond , Oklahoma, October 1973. Jansak Stefan. "The Land Question in Slovakia (I), " The Slavonic Review 8(1930) : 612626. Kerner, Robert J ., ed . Czechoslovakia . Berkeley: University of California Press, 1940. Kirschbaum , Joseph M. Slovakia: Nation at the Crossroads of Europe. New York: Robert Speller and Sons, 1960. Klein, Philip . A Social Study of Pittsburgh. New York : Columbia University Press, 1938. Koenig, Samuel. " Marriage and the Family among the Galician Ukrainians, " In Studies in the Science of Society . George P. Murdock, ed. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937 , pp. 299-318 . Krajsa, Joseph C., Chairman, Editorial Board. Slovaks in America . Middletown, Penn.: The Slovak League of America, 1978. La Barre, Weston . The Ghost Dance: The Origins of Religion . New York: Dell, 1972. Lacko, Michael. '' A Brief Study of the History of the Slovak Catholics of the ByzantineSlavonic Rite," Slovak Studies 3(1963) : 199-224. Slovak Institute, Rome, Italy . Light, Ivan H. Ethnic Enterprise in America. Berkeley: University of California Press , 1972 . Macartney , C. A. Hungary and Her Successors . New York : Oxford University Press , 1937. Nelli, Humbert S. The Italians in Chicago, 1880-1930: A Study in Ethnic Mobility . New York : Oxford University Press, 1970. Oddo, Gilbert L. Slovakia and/ts People . New York: Robert Speller and Sons , 1960. Roucek , Joseph S. "Problems of Assimilation: A Study of Czecho-Slovaks in the United States ," Sociology and Social Research XVIl (1932-33) : 62-71. Roucek , Joseph S. " The Passing of American Czechoshivaks ," American Journal of Sociology 39(1933-34) : 611-626 . Roucek , Joseph S. " Czechoslovak Americans ," In Our Racial and National Minorities. SLOVAKIA 101 Francis J . Brown and Joseph S. Roucek , eds . New York: Prentice-Hall, 1937, pp. 230246 . Slovak Catholic Parishes and Institutions in the United States and Canada. Cleveland, Ohio: The First Catholic Slovak Union, 1966 (Jednota Printery, Middletown, Penna.) . Stein , Howard F . " An Ethno-Historical Study of Slovak-American Identity." Doctoral dissertation , University of Pittsburgh , 1972. Stein, Howard F. " Cultural Specificity in Patterns of Mental Illness and Health: A Slovak-American Case Study, " Family Process 12(March 1973): 69-82. Stein, Howard F. '' Envy and the Evil Eye among Slovak-Americans: An Exploration into the Psychological Ontogeny of Belief and Ritual," Ethos 2(1)(Spring 1974) : 16-46. Stein , Howard F. " Structural Change in Slovak Kinship: An Ethnohistoric Inquiry," Ethnology 14(1)(January 1976): 99-108 . Stein , Howard F. " A Dialectic Model of Illness and Health Attitudes and Behavior among Slovak-Americans ," International Journal of Mental Health 6(2)(Summer 1976) : 117-137. Stein , Howard F. " The Slovak-American 'Swaddling Ethos' : Homeostat for Family Dynamics and Cultural Continuity, " Family Process 17 (March 1978) : 32-46. (a) Stein, Howard F. ''Aging and Death among Slovak-Americans: A Study in the Thematic Unity of the Life Cycle ," The Journal of Psychological Anthropology 1(3)(Summer 1978) : 297-320. (b) Stein, Howard F. "The White Ethnic Movement, Pan-Ism, and the Restoration of Early Symbosis: The Psychohistory of a Group-Fantasy," The Journal of Psychohistory 6(3)(Winter 1979) : 319-360. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F . Hill. The Ethnic Imperative: Ewmining the New White Ethnic Mo vement. University Park , Penna .: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1977. Stein, Howard F. and Robert F. Hill. " Adaptive Modalities Among Slovak- and PolishAmericans : Some Issues in Cultural Continuity and Change ," Anthropology 3(1-2) (1979) : 96-107. Stolarik , M. Mark . " Immigration and Urbanization: The Slovak Experience, 18701918." Doctoral dissertation , University of Minnesota , 1974. Wallace , A. F. C. Religion: An Anthropological View . New York: Random House, 1966. Yurchak , Peter Paul . The Slovaks . Whiting, Indiana: Obrana Press, 1946. Zatko , James J . " Slovaks in the U.S.A., 1900-1914," Slovakia 16(39)(1966) : 41-62 (Slovak League 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 An Ethnohistory of Slovak-American Religious and Fraternal Associations: A Study in Cultural Meaning, Group Identity, and Social Institutions Description An account of the resource Howard F. Stein Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 53-101 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Stein, Howard F. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/31714ad1d6b23fd43bd6f8538cf2d938.pdf b187a10d4dac6e68a438fb9bf008f94f PDF Text Text \ LITERATURE ��SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. �106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, �SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off �108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." �SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe �110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . �SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." �112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. �SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she �114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" �SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. �116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . �SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. �118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . �SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' �120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. �SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around �SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't �124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' �SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .'' � \ LITERATURE ��SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. �106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, �SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off �108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." �SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe �110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . �SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." �112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. �SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she �114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" �SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. �116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . �SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. �118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . �SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' �120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. �SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. �122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around �SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't �124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' �SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .'' � 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 \ LITERATURE SLOVAKIA 105 Excerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 VASIL S. KOBAN CHAPTER 1 - ONE MORE SPRAG Thursday, May 24, 1906 It was just after two o'clock when Michal Kohan , mule skinner at Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh, Pennsylvania, started down the incline pulling the three coal cars out of the mine behind two mules. " You got three sprags on the three cars, Kelly? " he asked in Rusin . He put up three fingers so Kelly could not fail to understand. Kelly, an Irishman just turned sixteen and starting on his new job in the mines, rubbed his alcohol-bleared head. ''Sure , sure , begorrah, I got enough sprags, '' he said in a half stupor. He put up two fingers and shook them at Michal . The mules would never hold the downhill run of the three coal cars unless there were enough tapered wooden sprags between the wheels to drag on the cars like brakes and hold them back. " You need three!" Michal yelled in Rusin. "Three, you lummox! Or else she 'll never hold ." The Irishman waved cheerfully, " G'wan!" (Two fingers) Michal fumed: (Three fingers!) Kelly laughed: (Two fingers!) Michal withheld his curse because the cars were already starting down , and he had to whip the mules to keep them ahead. As the cars gathered speed Michal struggled to keep the mules ahead of the surging coal projectiles. "Prekliaty blbec/" Michal yelled. "She won't hold, you idiot! " The cars gathered momentum and pushed up against the struggling mules , Michal slashing away at them with the whip to push them ahead . "Son of a bitch! " he yelled. " You 'll kill them! " '' Harrarrarrahh ! ' ' he yelled at the mules , urging them on to do the impossible. The Irish kid just laughed. 106 SLOVAKIA As Michal got half-way down the grade he saw it would be impossible to hold the cars back with only two sprags. He did the only thing left for him to do. He leaped for his life. The coal cars smashed into the mules and ground them into instant hamburger of broken flesh and spitting blood. The mules screamed and clawed for what seemed like hours, but which only lasted a few seconds. They were soon mangled mounds of bloody mash. Michal lay beside the track, his leg caught under the coal cars as they passed by. "God damn bastard!" he yelled in outraged disbelief at what had happened. Then he blacked out. Michal woke up in a lily-white hospital room in Johnstown, three miles downriver from Conemaugh and site of the famous Johnstown flood of 1889. Michal looked around dazedly, his heart mounting in his throat. He was only 21, and had been in America since he was 15 in 1900. This was his first experience in a hospital. A pert little nurse in a peaked cap came in to take his pulse and speak to him reassuringly in his native Rusin. "Nurse, I --" "Now, now, just be calm. You survived the accident," she said cheerfully, '' and that 's most of the battle right there I ' ' " How - how long have I been here?" "Just a day or two," she shrugged. "You were kept under sedation. " Michal plucked at the white sheet with his fingers , his little mustache twitching nervously. "How long will I be here? I have to get back to work. I have to pay my rent.'' The nurse smiled. "That will take a little while ," she said. " But don 't worry about the time or the expense. The Cambria Coal Mine is taking care of everything. ' ' Michal frowned. " But -- " " Ohl" she exclaimed, glad to change the subject , "you have visitors.'' She stepped aside and the little round face of Marienka Kinda appeared, followed by her husband Ivan, grumpy and straight-backed. " How are you , Michal? " she asked .with concern in Slovak, her only language. \ , '' All right , I think. But why did you come here just for me? I will be out in a few hours at the most. " Marienka smiled through her tears, and Ivan grumped, "Sure, SLOVAKIA 107 son, just a short time. But you have to do what the doctors tell you. My God, what is that sickly swe~ smell_around here?" The nurse left nervously to seek the doctor. Ivan stuck his nose up, sniffed, and marched around the room like the old Hussar he was - a veteran of the Austrian Emperor's army. Michal had met Marienka, along with Marienka's sister, Jacka, on the ship taking them to America six years before. Marienka had left Ivan in the United States to see her sick father in Slovakia and had returned with her younger sister. Michal fell in love with Jacka at first sight. So he boarded with the Kindas to be near his love while he worked as a mule skinner in the coal mine. "Where's Jacka?" "Uh -- she had to make sandwiches for the men," Marienka said hastily. "And besides, you'll be out of here so fast it would not give Jacka time to come over!" The door opened and a doctor in a white jacket hurried in, '' sluchatko'' hanging from his side pocket to indicate the badge of this profession. He wrinkled his nose and tugged at his little beard, then pulled back the bedclothes to examine Michal's leg. "Hmmm," he said, "this doesn't look good at all." It was in English, so Ivan could understand only dimly. The nurse hurried over to interpret. They did not have Slovak or Rusin doctors to talk to the immigrants in their own language. "Nurse," said the doctor, sighing, "you'll have to tell this young man his leg has to go.'' He palpated the pulpy black right leg, drew a line with his finger above the knee. "Right here," the doctor said. "Now you tell him," and he hurried away. The nurse gulped. Then she took a deep breath and told Michal the doctor's decision in halting Rusin. ''Cut off my leg? No, never! Oh, God, no!'' Michal tried to struggle out of bed to run away, to get away from here where they would take away his leg and his chance to make a living and to marry Jacka. Marienka and Ivan moved quickly to hold him down. "Please, Michal," said Marienka in great concern. "If it must be done to save your life, then it will be for the best. You'll see that everything will turn out all right.'' But Michal's face froze in a faraway look. The look of death. Where he came from, most of the people who had their legs cut off 108 SLOVAKIA - died. And the rest were beggars and the laughingstock of the uneasy townspeople. One-legged people were better off dead. And Michal wanted to die. There was nothing left for him, even in America. Nothing. CHAPTER2 - ONE LEG, PEGLEG Friday, May 25 , 1906 Michal came out of a daze like dragging himself doggedly out of the depths of a deep coal mine, with a white light shining at the top. He groped his way up and up, his brain hitching itself from one ladder rung to the other, until he finally broke out into the light and found himself in the brightly lit hospital room, whiter still than it had been the first time. And there was the tugging, nagging, pulling pain in his right leg, straight down to his toes. He tried to feel them, but his mind swirled as he sat up. He gasped and fell back on the pillows, sweating. A little boy ran in the room, tugging at his mother's hand. "Where's daddy?" he said in English. She pulled him back into the hall. "Otec is down further," she said in Slovak. But the boy broke away and staggerred onto Michal's bed, right over his right leg. Michal howled in pain . The mother hastily pulled the child away with abject Slovak humiliation, and said in English: " Don 't you know this man had his leg taken off?'' The child stared , and ran to her in tears . Michal could only make out half the conversation , but he was more concerned with the pain in his leg. The little nurse hurried in and clucked about Michal like a mother hen. "You will be fine in a little while, just you see." ''But my leg - it hurts so much, '' Michal said . The nurse looked at the blank space where his leg had been , and she looked at Michal's intense face. "You have to know," she said deliberately, ''that the doctor had to stop the anesthetics and that you feel the pain of your leg being taken off. You have a stump right above your right knee , and it is the nerve there that hurts you and makes you think you still have the leg." Michal was horrified. " Then my leg is. gone!" For the first time the word "operation" really struck home to ltm, an<l he knew that now he was only half a man. ''I can't live with one leg,'' he· sobbed. ''I can't work, I can't get married, I can 't make a living, I can't do anything." SLOVAKIA 109 \ He hid his face in his hands and sobbed like a broken-hearted little boy . The nurse left him alone for a while. She let him cry it out . It would be better for him . Then she gently put her arm around his shoulder and cradled his head against her breast. " You will be fine , my priatel'," she said softly. " Just give yourself a little time. You will get a new leg and you will walk almost as well as you ever did. And you will live and marry and have children and enjoy life . You'll see. " Just then the door flew open and a giant of a man strode in, all 6 feet 4 inches of him; he looked around briefly, saw Michal Kohan , and strode over. He stuck out a hammy paw. " McCloskey's the name ," he roared . "Mike McCloskey . I'm your superintendent at Mine No. 1, in case you forgot .'' The flustered nurse translated the gist of what he said. Michal smiled at McCloskey and for an instant a flicker of happiness came over him, but then he remembered the situation and became glum again. McCloskey pulled up a chair. ' 'Don't let this get you down, Bonnie Michal. We 've got a place for you at the mine for the rest of your life. We 'll find you a job you can do well - and you 're set, believe me ." The nurse translated breathlessly. · '' And I see the company has got you a private room and nurse , and you 're getting the best of everything. The company doesn 't usually do this, my lad, you can bet; those bastards wouldn't pay for their mothers ' funeral if they could get away with it. But I went to bat for you - you fully deserve it - and I'll see you come off as well as possible from all this. But I hate to talk to you through an interpreter. You 're the kind of determined man I like to chaw with man-to-man. ' ' And maybe you can get chances for promotion. Now, if you could talk my language - really talk my language , English - we could boost you some more, eh lad? '' He winked , got up as abruptly as he sat down, and barrelled out of the room with a roar and a laugh and a mighty wave of his hand . The nurse beamed. " You see , Michal , things aren 't as bad as you thought, " she said. " You 'll have a job , and you can get better jobs as you learn more English and learn how to get along in America - the real land of opportunity . '' Michal looked up at her. ''You really believe America is the land of opportunity, no matter what happens to you?" " Of course , or I wouldn 't be here . I'd still be slopping hogs in Galicia. " The days wore on. Michal clung to the new idea of a job and maybe 110 SLOVAKIA - maybe a chance to make something of himself. Maybe it wasn't too late, and if he learned English . . . Michal's thoughts went back to his origins , and how far he had travelled since. He was born in Habowa, a little village in the Galician area of Austria, one of four children - two boys and two girls. At 12 he was put out as a servant on a farm, to work from sunup to sundown. He remembered how he cried, not wanting to leave home, but it was a way of life for the poor peasants of the 1880s. Then at 15, in 1900, he had a chance to put his meager resources together and migrate to America. He boarded in Marienka Kinda's house - Marienka, who was nine years older - and stuck close to his love, Jacka. In 1905 he and other Galicians put up some money and proudly helped build the Russian Orthodox Church, St. John the Baptist, in Conemaugh. He was beginning to feel a real part of the community. Now he had lost his leg, and McCloskey said he could learn English and work again. He clung to the idea as his leg stump sometimes almost pulled him from the bed with throbbing and pain. And he had Marienka, who came to visit him religiously, and held his hand shyly. " Come, Marienka," said Michal jokingly. "You 're a married woman, you know.'' "Veru , and you had better remember, too ," she said, smiling, and patted his arm. "But I must take care of my star boarder. And remember," she added, her eyes twinkling, "Jacka is still there making the sandwiches for the men." "Oh, she asked about me? " Michal asked eagerly. Marienka looked away . ' 'She talks about you, and the other men. You know how busy she is. " " And so are you, Marienka. But you find time to see me ." Michal was now convinced he would really have to impress Jacka with his new knowledge of English to get her to notice him. The next morning, after his breakfast and bath, Michal grimly decided to start on the long road back. He took the crutches from behind his bed, eased himself up , and sat on the bed with his left leg dangling close to the floor . Then he slipped on the crutches and turned around, facing the bed, and eased himself upright, standing wobbily on his left leg and his two crutches. The blood drained from his head and. he swayed dizzily. He felt himself falling when a strong arm caught his elbow and pushed him back, sprawling across the bed . SLOVAKIA 111 \ A young black-haired girl with an oval face stood there glaring at him and stomping her foot in anger. " Don't you ever do that again without someone to help you! ' ' she cried. Michal looked at her and realized that she had spoken Rusin. "You are Rusin? " he asked. " Oh!" she said, her hand flying to her mouth . " I forget myself and speak Rusin when I get angry. I really want to speak American English, I mean - as much as I can . I'm an English teacher, you know. " Michal's ears perked up and he pulled himself up painfully on the bed , his eyes staying on her oval face all the while . " You - you speak English well? " ' ' Perfectly, '' she said, with a proud toss of her head. She answered his unspoken question, "I came here from Eastern Galicia with my family in 1890, when I was four . So I spoke Rusin and Slovak at home and learned English almost from the cradle. Now I teach it to the children here and to any adult who wants to learn English and become a part of this great America - with all its challenges and its benefits and its great heart." She lowered her eyes shyly. " I speak too much when I speak about being part of America.'' " No , no, go on, go on ," said Michal, bobbing his head in agreement as a plan to learn English formed in his mind. Here was McCloskey' s idea come true! " Would - would you teach me English? " '' Of course ,'' she said. ' 'Oh - my name is Tressa Hruska. ' ' '' And mine is Michal Ko ban.'' '' I will give you a short lesson right now, Michal, and when you can leave the hospital you can come and learn in my little school in Conemaugh while you get better so you can go back to work . Michal agreed enthusiastically with this little animated doll of a girl. A heaven-sent opportunity to get ahead and make a new life for himself! ' ' All right.'' Tressa was suddenly all business. ' 'I give you one lesson here - and I teach English a special way so you can learn fast.'' She switched to English. " Do you know what this is? " she asked, patting the bed . Michal stared. " I don 't know what you said. Please translate it for me into Rusin. " Tressa crossed her arms and glared at Michal. "No, Michal , I translate nothing. You have to learn from - like they say here scratch." 112 SLOVAKIA Michal looked bewildered again, so she returned to Rusin. ''Okay, okay - I will explain once in Rusin, and then you will learn by doing." " Huh?" Tressa said with some patience: "Michal, when you learned Rusin did you translate from anything?" ' ' No - I did not know any language. ''Correct. So now you do the same thing. You learn English just as you learned Rusin, and you will learn it just as well - with perhaps a small accent." Michal nodded slowly. "I see. It makes sense. But it would be so much easier to '' - no, it wouldn't,' ' she finished firmly. ' 'Now, watch.'' And she slipped into English. Tressa patted the bed and said slowly : "Michal, this is a B-E-D." And she motioned for him to repeat. " Dis - Bett," said Michal in English. " This is a bed." " This is - bed. " '' Good! Great!' ' She clapped her hands in enthusiasm. ''Now, this is a bed post." " Na-o-w, dis is - " " - This is - " ''This is a bed host . ' ' "Bed post." '' Bed post. ' ' Tressa squealed in delight and clapped her hands . Michal was making a very good student. She looked around, then bent to the floor and patted her hand on the floor. " This is the floor - f-1-o-o-r, " she said distinctly and spelled it out. Michal saw her lovely round rear end, with her dress hitched up as she bent in concentration towards the floor, and he said distinctly in Rusin : ''This is a pretty panty . '' " No - this is .. . ! " Tressa suddenly realized what had happened and straightened up in confusion , her face flaming a dark, brilliant red. Michal laughed heartily for the first time since the accident. Then Tressa broke down and smiled, giggled , and soon both were laughing hysterically. People from the ward across the hall shuffled over in their bathrobes to see what was going on in th'is crazy room. SLOVAKIA 113 CHAPTER 3 - JACKA DECIDES Monday, September 10 Summer arrived and turned into fall before Michal could go home. He returned that day to Marienka Kinda's boarding house, carefully placing one crutch ahead of the other as the doctors had told him, keeping weight off his pegleg. A farmer had given him a buggy lift almost to the door, so he was that much ahead. He squared his shoulders and tried to walk with great decision, heartened by the fact that he would soon see Jacka for the first time in months. As he started in the door it was suddenly opened wide, and Jacka swept out on Adam Drotar's arm. Caught by surprise as she brushed past him, Michal dropped one crutch to grasp the porch post as he staggered to one side. "Sorry, Michal," Jacka said. "I didn't see you." "H-Hello, Jacka," Michal said shyly. Jacka stared through him. "You're going back to work in those things?" she said. ''Oh yes. And soon. But I'll get rid of these crutches with a little more practice - you'll see." "I'm sure," she said mechanically. Then Jacka turned away and smiled at Adam as he swept her down the steps and into the street. Michal stared after them for a long time, a lump forming in his throat and tears in his eyes, wondering if he would ever be worthy of Jacka truly becoming his friend and, and - wife. Just wait till he got his English diploma, he thought. Then Jacka would know he was truly someone important and she would come to him. He stood there staring at the rapidly disappearing figures who were laughing at some private joke. The laughter finally died down, and Michal still kept staring after them. ''Michal.'' Michal turned around. Marienka stood at the door, all round and rosy-cheeked. She was a truly handsome girl, with a twinkle in her eye that was lost on Michal. "Come in and take a rest," she said. " You shouldn 't stand up so long at the beginning." Michal nodded and reluctantly allowed himself to be taken inside , where he sank into the living-room chair usually occupied by Marienka' s husband , Ivan, who was now away at work. Michal propped his chin in the palm of his hand. "Marienka, will Jacka ever - like me? " Marienka cleared her throat but before she 114 SLOVAKIA could answer, Michal had answered himself. "Yes she will, when I learn English well and will be an important man in the mines. Then she will like me - won't she?" Marienka patted his arm. "Of course," she said. "What's there not to like about you?'' The next days were hectic. Michal went down by hitched buggy ride to Tressa's little schoolhouse in Conemaugh, a mile away from Marienka's boarding house. When he reached the door he straightened up , took both crutches in his left hand, and opened the door and walked in as straight as possible on his pegleg, trying not to wince at the pain. "Here's Pegleg Mike! " yelled two of the children. Tressa looked around from the blackboard, and she spoke sharply to the two children: "That's not a polite way to talk. Now apologize to Mr. Kohan." The children looked contrite. "We' re sorry, Mr. Ko ban." Michal waved a hand. "It's nothing. And it's true, isn't it? I do have a pegleg. But this won't stop me from succeeding in America. When you grow up things will happen to you too, but they should never stop you from succeeding in this fine country.'' The children looked even more contrite. Tressa's face broke into a broad smile. "Well said, Michal!" she exclaimed. "Come in and make yourself at home at one of the desks in the back. Use two of them if you want.' ' There were 22 children of various ages in the room, all following schooling of their own, each in different classes following different subjects under Tressa's supervision. They learned not only from the books and the teacher, but also from each other, as they watched others in the throes of learning Eng_lish, history, arithmetic, and a brush-up on customs of the Old World. There were children from every possible group in Central, Western, and Eastern Europe - Slovaks, Irish, Rusins, Poles, Germans all learning to be Americans and take advantage of the glorious American opportunity to better themselves . Now they stared at Michal and snickered. ''Children! ' ' Now they simply stared, but with their hands over their mouths. "Michal Kohan is a little older than most of you" - laughter ' 'but give him credit, because he too wants to be part of the American dream, and he has as much right to do it as any of you have ." Anger rose in Tressa's throat. "And don't you forge6'_ it!" SLOVAKIA 115 '' Sit down, Michal,'' Tressa indicated, '' and I will be with you in a moment. Michal eased himself into a little chair and put his crutches out of sight on the floor. Tressa had spoken Rusin to him, but her words to the children were in English, so he had understood little but the snickers. No matter. Only his job and Jacka mattered. He had to learn English for them. " Michal got an hour's special instruction that day and stayed the rest of the time listening to the children recite their lessons and learning the cadence and rhythm of English. He was surprised to catch the meaning of a word or two and to feel the English idiom as they babbled on. It was a weary day. Michal felt his leg throbbing as it wore on, and he finally made his excuses and left. Outside, weary beyond words at dragging himself along, he decided to try something new. He put both crutches under his left shoulder and took the pressure off his right leg by bearing down on his left side. It seemed crazy - it was just what the doctors had told him not to do - but it worked! The doctors told him he would have to use both crutches for a long while, but Michal was forever trying things out for himself. Why not take advantage of the newness of America and try out new things? He found that now he could work his way down the street much better, and with a minimum of pain. "Hey, Michal! Wait a minute!" Michal did not recognize the Slovak voice, so he turned around. A fattish man with white hair hobbled up to him on a pegleg just like his, but on the left leg. "You don't know me, Michal, but I heard about you in town. I've been retired for a while and - here, let's go in this "karchma" and talk. I want to ask you something." Puzzled, Michal followed. The tavern was a mishmash of Old World nationalities even more pronounced than in the schoolhouse, but with a definite bent toward the Slovak. Stale beer smells and the choking pile and cigarette smoke filled the polluted air as they made their way to their chairs. Michal wondered what the man wanted, but he felt he would have to order a drink. He fingered the change in his pocket and tried to count them with his fingers. "Slivovica," ordered the white-haired man. Michal nodded the same. At least he knew he could drink plum brandy, the Slovak national drink. 116 SLOVAKIA The waiter waved his towel, disappeared and reappeared as if by magic with the two drinks. You never got served so fast when you ordered food, thought Michal . " So, Michal, " the man said, putting a hand on his arm. "My name ' s Bodnak, and I come from a region of Galicia not too far from where I hear you come from . Habowa, isn't it?' ' Michal nodded, but said nothing. " Well, what I want to say was - I notice you limp too, and because of a pegleg on your right side. Right? ' ' "Yes. " ''Well, I had my left leg amputated above the knee , another stupid mine accident , and I wear a pegleg too. " Michal looked down and noticed his pegleg for the first time. He had been so preoccupied with his own problem he had failed to recognize the other man's . And he thought he was the only pegleg in the world. Bodnak leaned over. " Maybe we can help each other, friend ." He took a slurp of slivovica. " I need new shoes, and I'm sure you 'll be needing shoes too pretty soon. What do you wear? '' "Size eight, " said Michal. Bodnak slapped him delightedly on the back . " Good! Good! I thought so! So do I," he enthused. " Don 't you realize we can buy one pair of shoes for both of us and save a lot of money each time?' ' The light dawned on Michal. Of course! "A very good idea," he said . ' 'Then we have only to worry about some way to keep our peglegs from slipping so much. Bodnak winked broadly . " Easily fixed , my friend . I've had this problem for years, and I've worked out the angles. I just take the rubber from an old bicycle tire on the tip , and that old tire will last for up to a year!' ' Michal returned home all fired up and at last ready to face life again. He had learned more English, his shoe problem had been solved, and he could walk with only one crutch! And all this had happened in one day . Soon he could use only a cane for support - then nothing! Exhilaration surged through him as life pumped back into his tired body and mind. The next weeks were a growing revelation to Michal as he learned more and more English, until he found he could talk English to the English group of miners and be actual~y understood. Tressa 's patience was remarkable. \ " You feel the table ," she said. ''I feel the table ,' ' said Michal, feeling the table . SLOVAKIA 117 \ "Very good!" She clapped her hands in glee. "Now how do you feel about your English?'' Michal looked bewildered. ' 'Feel table - feel English? How can I feel English?" "No," said Tressa. "Feel is also an emotion, something inside us.'' "How can that be?" asked Michal. "How can the same word 'feel' mean touch the table and touch English?" Tressa laughed. ''That's one of the problems about studying a new language . Things don 't always make sense. There are many words like that in Rusin, too, but you've never thought about it, and you take them for granted. English is the same!" Six weeks later Michal was walking with only a cane, and using it very little, and his leg was almost healed. He could speak English so well that Tressa had met him that morning with the announcement that this was his last day in class because he had earned his "Diploma" in English. · She whisked out a Diploma from behind her back, all inscribed with '' MICHAL KO BAN'' on it and attesting to the fact that Michal could speak English! "Of course you can always come back for questions and help whenever you need it," said Tressa in English, "but now you can speak English well enough to get along. And this Diploma is your going-away present . '' Michal shook hands delightedly with her, then hurried away to tell the great news to Jacka. He shot through the door , almost falling as he balanced on one leg, and danced the surprised Marienka around in a Slovak knee-slapper. " I have my Diploma! " he shouted. " Now I can speak English. I will run up and tell Jacka and she will be proud of me.'' '' . .. but Michal, '' said Marienka. Michal did not hear her. He hurried up the steps , pulling himself up hand over hand on the railing, and hurried to Jacka's room and knocked on the door. ' 'Jacka , Jacka! I have something wonderful to tell you! ' ' No answer. " Jacka! Look at my English Diploma! " He pushed the door open, diploma in hand, with Marienka right behind him, and stared dumbfounded at the empty room, stripped of all clothes . Even the curtains had been taken down. 118 SLOVAKIA Michal turned to Marienka like a hurt little boy whose mother isn 't home to hear of his success in school. " What . . . what? " " Michal," said Marienka softly , her hand on his arm . " Jacka is gone. " " Gone? " " Jacka ran away today with Adam Drotar to get married and go with him to the iron ore mines in Minnesota. '' CHAPTER 4 - BONEY COME , BONEY STAY Monday, Junell, 1906 Michal turned without a word and shuffled out towards his own room at the rear. He closed the door behind the anxious, hovering Marienka, and sat down heavily on the bed. He stared out the window at the gathering gray sky, the black roofs and the black streets and the black lawns and the black feelings he had about the coal-black town of Conemaugh. Life was a bucket of coal ash. The girl of his dreams had gone had left him for another man. Or was she ever his except in his own imagination? He was worthless and useless. Why had he come to America? Why had he bothered to do anything with his life? What dreams were there in America that he could fulfill? It was all a farce . A sham. A deception! He was 21, in a strange country, with nothing to look forward to but a bleak future of shattered dreams. He lay back on the bed , covered his eyes, and his jumbled thoughts turned to new crazy, jumbled dreams. He slept fitfully until the gray dawn struggled to show itself about the ugly piles of slag everywhere in town. Michal woke up with a start to the tune of a bird singing squeakily outside his window . The coal dust had gotten to its little lungs , and the best it could do was a poor imitation of a chirp . But the bird tried! And Michal would try too. His natural positive attitude reasserted itself. He looked again on the bright side of t~ ngs. He had his health, a chance for a job in the mines , and the ability to speak the language of the land of opportunity - English! · Heartened , he got up , washed and dressed , and went down to breakfast with the boarders - all miners getting ready for work . SLOVAKIA 119 Marienka had to work overtime making the sandwiches and preparing the table, because Jacka had left her job as completely as she had left Michal. ''I'll help you, Marienka,'' he said. And he pitched in, feeding the hungry men at the table and hurrying to fill their dinner pails with sandwiches and the precious water they would need in the mine. Ivan, Marienka's husband, was the first to leave for his job in the mine. His life was divided between working at the mine and working overtime drinking at the ''karchma'' in town. He loved to tell the stories of his days as a horse soldier in the Emperor's army and regale the men with well-told tales through the evening - while ignoring work at home. After the last man had left, Marienka was alone with Michal and her three sons: young Michal, 13; Mikulas, 11; and Janik, nine. The three boys adored Michal and wanted to stay and play with him. But they had to go to school. "And don't forget to learn English well," Michal called after them. "It will be the foundation of all your success in life." "I'm glad you sound better," said Marienka. "I was really worried last night. " Michal looked at her. "It is strange to have someone worry about me." Marienka blushed. ''Oh - you know what I mean.'' Michal sighed. "Yes, I know. I only wish Jacka had worried just a little. She is my first love, and I will never forget her - but that part of my life is over. Now I start out all over, really start out, with a new language and a new chance in the land of opportunity. America doesn't give you only one chance to get ahead. It gives you many. And if you miss the first one - why, then, you can take the next, and the next." Michal laughed. "Maybe then you can start out by being my sandwich-maker," said Marienka. "And I will give you a discount on your rent, too," she said, winking. After all, he wasn't getting much disability pay from the company, even with McCloskey's help. Michal sobered up. ''Thank you, Marienka, but no thank you.'' He put a hand on her shoulder in a friendly fashion . '' I must get away from here,'' he said. '' From this house. I will get another room where I can forget these events more quickly , but of course I will never forget your kindness. Already I sense a kind of distant dislike of some men, because of my pegleg, and I have to work that out in my own mind and fight it and get the better of myself in my own way.'' 120 SLOVAKIA Marienka nodded. ''If that is to be, then let it be .'' Michal got a room in a boarding house a few blocks from Marienka and Ivan, and within a half mile of Mine No. 1 in Conemaugh. The next morning he checked his carbide lamp, with the kernels of carbon at the bottom, all about half the size of a peanut. He put some water in the top and watched the water drip onto the kernels, forming a gas. Then he lit the gas and checked the flame coming out about three inches through a fine hole in the center of the reflector. There was no glass in the front - a constant danger of fire. But this was one of the dangers of a coal miner's life. He got paid well for this dangerous work six days a week, and who else among working men could command so much money? Many men got killed and maimed for life, but they still kept working in the mines, because it was the best way they could provide for their families - at least while they could work. Michal felt the old pride in his work returning as he adjusted the lamp and watched it flare brightly. Then he switched it down, put it on his head, and dressed in his miner's clothes so he could feel more and more like the miner he was going to continue to be! After all, McCloskey had promised him a job for life - and he had to start by looking the part, even with his pegleg. He cocked his lamp at a jaunty angle, squared his shoulders, and stepped out the door. "Ahh, there's my little bairn Michal," yelled McCloskey when he looked up to see the slight man with a mustache walk steadily up to him. "It's a fine man you look like," he said, grabbing Michal by both his shoulders. "And I feel fine," said Michal in good English. McCloskey's eyes opened wide. "You talk great! You talk real English!'' Michal bobbed his head happily. "That I do. I do that," he said. '' How could you learn in so short a time?'' ''I had a good teacher,'' said Michal. ''Tressa Hruska.'' "And I have a good job for you," McCloskey winked, "just like I promised. How would you like to be a mule skinner?" Michal's jaw dropped. That he could never do. McCloskey laughed. "No, no, not the k\nd you think . That's the old-fashioned method. Now we have just started to use modern mule skinners. But we don't call them mule skinners anymore, even though they haul the men and the coal into and out of the mine just like before. SLOVAKIA 121 ' ' Now we call them Hoist Engineers . '' Michal look bewildered. "What 's a Hoist Engineer? " McCloskey gestured to him. "Come on , Michal. I'll show you. It's the perfect job for you. It 'll put you right in the middle of the men, many of them Rusins and Slovaks , and you can talk to them and interpret to the supers , and act as a go-between while you do your job. It'll be a very important step up in the mine. ' ' The two men walked into the dry drift mine, and up - slowly. Michal tried not to look tired and he tried not to puff, but it wasn't easy. " Take it easy, lad, " said McCloskey. " We'll soon be there . You see , the man who had this job was just here for a short time, and he didn't know the ropes too well - and couldn 't speak English - so you'll be the perfect man. " They arrived at a clearing in the mine, with a huge machine hung with ropes and levers standing there like an iron monster. ' ' With this you can control the coal cars going down the slope to the outside , and you also bring the men up in the morning and let them down at night. You have to be here very early so you can do that, and when they get to your hoist they disperse to the various coal rooms along the pathways. "So this is called the Hoist , and you will be the Hoist Engineer." ''It is like being a mule skinner, but without the mules! '' "Right!" McCloskey laughed. And Michal worked the levers to and fro, testing the machinery for cars going up and down until he soon had them working almost to perfection . "See, it's easy! I knew you were the man . Now you 've got yourself a good job, just like I promised you," said McCloskey . He winked. "Don 't tell them, but you'll soon get a raise." Michal's eyes widened. He could put away more money, and maybe make some of his new dreams come true. America was truly going to be the land of opportunity! CHAPTER 5 - CA VE IN! Tuesday, December 7, 1909 ''Cave-in!' ' The cry roared and pounded through Conemaugh like the cold wind of death. Everyone knew what it meant - it meant only one thing - and the women and children surged out of their homes and hurried to the billowing clouds that pointed to the position of the mine. 122 SLOVAKIA Marienka was in the Catholic church for the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. She heard the terrible cry and her throat tightened. "Oh Jesus, Mary, Joseph," she cried, crossing herself quickly, "please don 't make it serious. Please!" Then she hurried to the house and gathered her children together, as the women did in these times of stress. Michal, Janik, and Mikulas, with Jozef toddling at her heels. She swept up the baby Jurko and held him at her breast as she hurried the children down to the mine site. The large crowd already there saw Marienka at a distance and parted for her like the Red Sea for Moses - except that this was not an escape for Marienka. It was a descent into hell. Her heart pounding, she made her way through, feeling more and more dread as she approached her goal. A hand took her arm, and she looked up into Michal Koban's sympathetic eyes. "Thank God you're safe," cried Marienka. "I'm glad nothing happened to you! " ' ' Marienka, '' said Michal quietly, ''nothing happened to the other men either. Most of them. They had all moved on to new passages this morning - all except Ivan." Marienka felt faint. The boys cried at her side, and she shushed them. Ivan had been told to stay on at the old passage to pound out the props before moving on. So Michal nodded. " Ivan knocked out a prop and the roof fell in on him. I'm so sorry. But there may still be a chance. " There was a commotion at the entrance of the dust-choked mine, and two men came out carrying a stretcher. Marienka ran up to them, leaving the children with Michal. "Don't look, Mrs . Kinda," one of the men said. "He was - pretty badly mangled by the cave-in. He 's dead." Michal came up and put an arm on her sobbing shoulder, and gathered the five children around him as Marienka wept uncontrollably. He took Jurko from his mother' s failing arm. " Janik, hold on to Jozef," he said. "Yes , otec ," said Janik without thinking. Otec was the Slovak name for father. Slovak wakes seemed to have been developed by the Devil himself, with the express purpose of causing the wife and family of the deceased as much trouble and mental anguish as possible . Of course, it really wasn 't done that way ,on purpose. It was simply ''tradition,'• and tradition has to be served\ Ivan was laid out in the small living room ; with flowers all around SLOVAKIA 123 \ the casket, and exposed for viewing to all the friends and relatives and any curious stranger in town. They would come up to the casket, genuflect, and kneel on the prie-dieu and pray while gazing at the mortal remains of the exposed. And at the photo behind the casket of Ivan Kinda in full Hussar regalia. Then they would get up and turn to their friends and whisper, ''He looks so natural, almost as if he were sleeping." This was too painful for Marienka to see. She had ushered her children in to see their "otec" at the begining, and then told them to stay away. The large kitchen then became the center of activities for three days and nights. People straggled in at all hours, paid their respects to the deceased, then quickly returned to the kitchen for a meal and to hear various ribald and obscene stories told by several expert storytellers. Marienka spent her time at the hot stove, damp hair hanging down in strands over her forehead, and made eggs and little Slovak pancakes, and cutting "kolace" and ladling out the butter, and setting the table, and clearing the table, and washing the dishes, and setting up the table, and ... It was an endless round of senseless meal-serving, night and day, for three days. "Marienka, you've got to take a rest," Michal said, after hours of feeding starving miners. He had helped a lot. And so had the three older boys - Michal, Mikulas, and Janik. Marienka shook her head. "I can't," she said. "I have to feed them as come in and view Ivan. It is the tradition." ''Damn the tradition!'' Michal exploded. ''You go to bed right now and get some sleep. I'll handle this for a while." Marienka allowed herself to be led away, protesting feebly, stumbling, bleary-eyed. But she knew she was exhausted, so she did not protest too much. "So Michal, you already take over, eh?" roared a miner as he saw Michal put on the apron. Michal had a hot answer ready, but he just turned beet-red and doggedly said nothing. ' 'Lemme have three eggs, sunny-side up, lots of Slovak bread and butter, and - make it six pancakes. I've got to remember poor Ivan Kinda the best way I can, by eating." Michal seethed. "You'll remember him with a bump on your noggin from my skillet if you don't shut up." "Oh, ho ," the miner said amiably. "We do have a temper, don't 124 SLOVAKIA we? Maybe you 'll feel better when I tell you this joke about the miner and the Irish whore. Seems she spread out her goodies - ' ' he winked - "on the table, when ... " " Oh, shut up!" growled Michal, his mustache bristling. "Don't you realize a man is lying dead in the next room, and his family is going through a trying time. They 'll be destitute after this. Haven't you stopped to think of that? " The miner sobered up, and several others joined in. "We know all that, Michal," they said, with some care in their voices. " We know, but we laugh so we will not cry. Who knows - tomorrow it may happen to us." Michal bit his lip. They were right. He had no right to lecture them. They meant well. They were just rough men living a rough life, and the wake was a traditional part of their lives, where the people could come together and joke and laugh so they could forget what had happened . But they remembered still. Marienka somehow got through the next three days, and Michal escorted her and the children to the funeral in the little Catholic church Marienka and Ivan had helped to build in 1901. That afternoon was also a trial. The women of Conemaugh, which was 90 percent Slavic, came parading into the house to see Marienka and leave their condolences and their little Slovak "kolace" - jelly rolls with nuts and apples - that they had cooked for the occasion . '' God bless you, Marienka.'' · " May God be with you, Marienka." '' Everything will be all right , Marienka. God will provide.' ' Marienka nodded mechanically to all, as if in a daze. Finally the ordeal was over and the house was empty. Too empty. Even Jurko wasn't crying. And Jozef played quietly in the comer. The other three boys were in school. Michal stopped by after work . '' How are things going? '' he asked. " All right, " said Marienka, forcing a smile . " The insurance company paid for all the funeral expenses , plus $50 left. But no benefits , of course. '' " Of course . Nice of them. Now they pay nothing. You get no widow ' s benefits and you 're entirely on your own ." ''I have five children to help me ,'' Marienka grinned . Michal did not grin. " What I meant to .say is, what with the children and - and everything - you will neec:N o get something to - to tide you over a bit.'' · ' '' Michal - '' SLOVAKIA 125 " - No, please. He heh;! up a hand. "What I meant is the children will need food and things while you get yourself together , and I thought - " His hand went into his pocket , and he took out a small bundle wrapped in a handkerchief. " Well, here 's a little something to help you. '' " Michal! " Marienka cried as she took the bundle dumbly. This was the first useful gesture anyone had made to her since Ivan 's death. Tears welled in her eyes, finally trickled down her cheeks. She took out her hankie and blew mightily. The three boys poured through the door and happily embraced Michal . " Put that away - quickly," said Michal . And he got up. At the door he paused. ''Things aren't easy for a widow woman without a man to support her, " he said. "I mean , people will look down on you , just as they have looked down on me for my pegleg . What I want to say is , I understand what will happen. And I know you can pull through it . I know . ' ' He took her hand. " I'll see you again, Marienka, God willing. " Mikulas piped up, in his boyish soprano . "Why don 't you and matka marry, and you can stay here with us always? '' Marienka choked. The boys all laughed and clapped . They danced around the bewildered couple with their flaming cheeks . ' ' Boys , stop it! ' ' commanded Marienka in her voice that they knew had to be obeyed . They stopped and stood with their hands behind their backs, trying to look regretful. " Now go outside this minute ," commanded Marienka, " and don 't you dare say a word about this to anybody, hear? '' The boys filed out, and Michal started to follow. '' Not you, Michal! I'm sorry for their actions . It was really uncalled for ." Michal shrugged, a string in his heart still tugging for his old love, Jacka . " People will talk about single people ," he said . " People always talk. It is the way of the world .''  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 Exerpt from Michal: Biography of a Galician Coal Miner, 1906-1933 Description An account of the resource Vasil S. Koban Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 105-125 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Koban, Vasil S. (Vasil Stefan), 1918-2007 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF+dates https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/6e569d0c39e1821f0ee1671443347001.pdf d16efb37ce3186a20087b170159ad16b PDF Text Text 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. �SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For �128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- �SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father �130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- �SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen. �� 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. �SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For �128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- �SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father �130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- �SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen. �� 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 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 126 SLOVAKIA Babushka SONYA JASON She was in church again this morning. As before, the image in long, dark blue skirt and blouse, navy kerchief covering her head that only accentuated the high Slavic cheekbones and pale blue eyes; so strongly did she resemble my long dead mother that it jarred me deeply. Throughout Divine Liturgy, my spirit prayed but my heart battled tears and homesickness , not only for my mother, but for the wealth of the past. As a child I had always seen at least one old lady at every weekday church service . There still is. Babushka or " little grandmother" we called them and still do. As there can be no Orthodox Liturgy unless a community of worshippers of at least two or three is present, including the celebrant priest , often her efforts to be there on winter or stormy mornings made the difference whether a particular saint would be honored in God's house on his or her feast day in that liturgical year. Today was my name-saint 's day and I set aside pressing duties to drive twenty-five miles to worship and petition not only for my needs but for those of my loved ones and all the world. Standing near the babushka to light a candle , I heard her lips murmur in prayer and noted that her mind was far, far away. She was oblivious to my presence and became immersed at once in the Liturgy and remained so throughout. Whoever she was , she cared only about what she was doing, and this morning, it was the business of prayer and worship. I could feel a spiritual energy emanate from her very presence. Like her, my mother had had a sense of identity so strong that you felt it at once. My very first knowledge of this came the year before I started school. A new little girl whose family had just moved into our coal mining patch the week before timidly wandered over. Warily we sized each other up. " Where did you come from? " Her query did not connote Freudian curiosity about sexual origins or even another town. Rather, it was ordinary for us children to learn the country of parents ' origin. From this , invisible guidelines were established, and if both sets of parents were \ll'om the same country in Europe, frequently friendships of depth were formed at once. SLOVAKIA 127 " I'm Czech, " I replied. "I'm Polish." But my mother, scrubbing shirt collars on a corrugated washboard set in a galvanized tub in the middle of the kitchen floor , straightened up with a frown . She brushed a tawny tendril off her glistening brow and pushed it back into the knot on top of her head. " Come here ... " she beckoned me with a finger dribbling bubbles of strong laundry soap. " You are Slovak," she corrected. I shrugged. " What 's the difference? " My question was partly puzzlement and partly that indifference of children to the vagaries of their parents. " Difference?" she echoed. Drying arms on her apron after plunging the shirts under suds to soak, she waved my new friend and me inside . We watched her cut thick slices of freshly baked bread from a loaf cooling on the shelf above the kitchen table and butter them . Eagerly we accepted and sat beside her to eat and listen. " You and Mary are sisters . But are you exactly alike? " The bread was warm and delicious and helped me ponder. I was dark and chubby. Mary fair and thin. The comparison made me giggle , but through a mouthful of bread I managed a '' huh uh. '' " Well, it's the same thing. Czechs and Slovaks are brothers and sisters but not the same." She then entertained us with the legend of King Sviitopluk as it has been told to untold generations of Czech and Slovak children . It seems that long ago good King Sviitopluk had two sons , Mojmir II and Sviitopluk II. They were fractious and greedy for each other's share of the kingdom as well as their own. On his deathbed, the old king summoned them and, holding their hands together in brotherly bond , admonished them: '' As long as you remember you are brothers and remain united, all will be well with you. If you forget and fight each other, you will suffer and your people with you. " Their vows of unity evaporated with their tears and hardly was the king in his grave before they began to squabble and conspire for each other's territories. In time, the dire warning came true; Bohemia and Slovakia, united and thriving as the Great Moravian Empire , were overrun and conquered as soon as they were divided. And so they remain to this day, separate in geography and philosophy and fates , although brothers and sisters in spirit. This example of the tragic consequences of sibling rivalry left an indelible impression upon me , but not the story of the Old Country. For 128 SLOVAKIA I was an American . .. and the Old Country meant little to me for many years. Not until that time in mid-life when we come full circle to what and who we are was I able to know and appreciate my mother for the individual she was and relish her memory to the fullest . ' 'I am Slovak-American . . . but you are American-Slovak .. . '' she would point out when we tried to urge supposedly superior ways upon her. Thus she paid tribute to Caesar without judgment. It was fine for us , but for her, she accepted only those changes she cared to adopt and we were not to forget it. And so we grew. Through good times , not so many, and bad times , more numerous, she never lost that sense of identity . Contained in it was a firm faith in Life and God, exemplified for her in her robust Eastern Orthodox faith . Although we lived too far from a church for regular attendance, babies were driven long distances for baptisms and on their name day would be carried to the nearest church for special remembrance. Also, on most holidays , special liturgical prayers were chanted in Slavonic by my father from his frayed prayer book with mother singing the responses. "For our President , for all civil authorities, for every city and country, let us pray to the Lord . . . '' a booming baritone would rise and fall. And back in light, high soprano would come the sung response, " Lord have mercy. " Eagerly I awaited my name day. Leaving brothers and sisters in care of a friend , my mother and I walked the four miles of country road lined with trees flamboyant in fall colors of late September. It was doubly special because we were both named for St. Sophia. At tiny St. John 's, the ikons, candles gleaming in the interior of mellow woods , and perfumed incense accompanying the prayers of intense , bearded Father Michael were awesome. But it was the babushki, those women standing at the front of the church, staunch, solid, and intent upon every word that wended its way upwards over the altar in a trail of incense vapor, that I recall most vividly. Whoever they were they mattered so much that there was no need to ask about them. They just were . When a particular one coaxed me to join her in singing the response , I refused. On the way home , my mother chided me . " But I don 't understand that language \ .. " I protested. " I talk English ." ' Was there a tinge of arrogance or presentiment of falsity that might harm her child that made my mother walk a silent mile with wor- SLOVAKIA 129 ried face before she spoke? I don't know. But right before we crossed the bridge that led up the hill to the mining patch, she abruptly stopped. "See?" she pointed to the bridge. "That is you." "Me?" "Yes, I am Slovak who came here . . . yet . . . " and she struggled so hard for just the right words, ''I am not 100 percent American. Never." She pointed to her heart. "In here, you not 100 percent. Your children, maybe, but not you, not yet ... " She shook her head vehemently. ' ' But some day you will pray in church in English . . . like you talk." But as the legend of Svatopluk, the words faded almost as soon as spoken, the profound simile of first generation Americans as bridges connecting two cultures seeming wasted on a child. At the beginning of World War II my family moved to the city of Pittsburgh, but my mother remained Slovak-American and who she was all the days of her life. Her native land was a small area in the heartland of Europe, and every army of history had rolled over it again and again. Yet in villages and huts and farms, families such as ours managed to preserve a spark of identity of a people separate from all other peoples. Through centuries of political and economic repression and the contempts of a world that advanced more rapidly, yes even that of sibling Czechs whose German influence helped industrial advances, rural Slovaks as my mother never lost faith in themselves as persons or as a people. Above all, there was a deep faith in God and gratitude for the gift of life itself with all its tragedies. When my three brothers immediately enlisted in the Army she only sighed an agony-filled "vojna . . . vojna . .. "war ... war ... for her native land had suffered its destruction countless times and would again. And now even her adopted land was afflicted. When that dreaded telegram came saying that one of her sons, Nick, was killed in France, her anguish could only weep, ''vojna ... vojna .. . '' and her sorrow was finally assuaged in her church and by her God whom she still trusted as preserver of Life. And then one day we assembled from various parts of the country to weep through a last Liturgy for her. The large spirit had departed the tiny, tired body that had borne twelve children and raised ten by laboring through numberless 18-hour days required to feed, clothe, and nourish physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The depth of our loss was indescribable. She was our strength. Our comfort. Our life. And now she was gone. Even our powerful father 130 SLOVAKIA never quite recovered, and none of us was surprised when he followed her three years later, the light of his life having left this earth. It was years before I returned to the church of my mother. I had a search to make first. In other philosophies . Into the intellect. The emotions . Even at other altars. But that bowl of emptiness that was my inner being remained unfulfilled. I had consciously forgotten St. Sophia' s Day, but my heart must have remembered. Because it was the end of September when I found my way to a tiny Orthodox church in my Los Angeles suburb so much like the St . John's of my childhood, four decades and thousands of miles apart. Intense, bearded Father Sergei welcomed me and sat silently through my tale of bewilderment and woe. I had much of what the world valued, earned with so much effort. Then why hadn't God rewarded me with happiness? Why was I so sad? He smiled gently and touched my hand. '' But you have tried to cut off your roots . Did you think you could truly live like that? '' I drew back in protest. God was universal. God was immense. God was everywhere . Of course . Of course . Of course. He nodded assent to it all. But even before he said it, the ancient teaching of the Bible not to despise the church of one 's mother rose to my memory. So? What could it mean to me in the 1970s? The feeling part. Not the legal, formal , structured part. But that part of my mother's church that was a God of love , of mercy and nonjudgment, of trust in the largesse of life on earth and hereafter, a life so rich in mysteries that no arrogant egotism could hope to fathom it in a lifetime. Oh, how it had sustained her as she lived it and how expansive her life of spirit had been! The many who came to her funeral witnessed to that. Over and over they wept with us , remembering, " She was so kind ," or " When I was sick she came to see me every day and once brought a jar of peaches ,'' this in a depression year that must have emptied her larder of hoarded desserts , and " She always had a word of encouragement for me . . .. '' Together we mourned our loss. Joy despite a hard life and in her God. And I had lost it if indeed I had ever had it, I now bewailed. " But not at all. Why look , her prayers received a miraculous answer. God sent the Holy Spirit to bring you full circle . . . why, you have come home. And do you know sometl\ing? She was right . . . you will pray the Liturgy in English . . . . ' ' \ For he was the same priest who had changed tradition by celebrat- SLOVAKIA 131 ing Liturgy in English aftet translating words and music from Old Slavonic, beginning just a short time before in this very church. Tears submerged the abutment to the bridge of connection for a time. With them, accumulated dust of the nonsense of years was washed away until once more that inner child emerged to again stand free and adventurous in heart . "Wisdom, " the priest had intoned this morning as he always does preceding the gospel reading. Sophia. The name meant wisdom. And my mother had had it. A peasant surety that was as deep as the intellect , only kinder and warmer. So many others had come to drink of that fountain and never had one gone away again still thirsty. Was my mother unique? Certainly in the individual sense. One of a kind I was sure until the publication of my novel, Concomitant Soldier. In it I had drawn from her qualities to create a key character. Then came the reviews and letters . ' ' Anna is my Italian nonna (grandmother) all over again . " Anna is just like my Swedish moder (mother) .. . " '' Anna is just like my wonderful Tia Roas . . . ' ' And even, "Anna is exactly like my English nanny I loved so much " She was, it seems, not only multi-ethnic, but her number was legion. And she left an imprint upon spirits that truly unites, first, sec~ ond, and third-generation Americans of very persuasion, and fortunate indeed are those families who experienced her grace. For too long, my life had been one of activity but, not united to my feelings and spirit, made every achievement empty. Somehow the babushki I knew, just as my mother, had never been so fragmented, perhaps more common in our day of increasing opportunities in the outer world of action. And today as I become a link in that long chain of babushki, past, present, and those to come , when I light candles and follow ancient prayers of liturgical custom, my spirit will join with those countless others as we add a special petition for the sacred tradition of wholeness to be handed down intact to our daughters and sisters everywhere. Although I don 't possess that intuitive sense of destiny and sure strength of spirit, still there is hope as the Church they served teaches, and maybe if I listen as intently to the still voice from the temple within, something of the mystery of who and why I am in this particular time and place and how to carry my own light into my world today will be revealed. Until then , it is enough merely to try to become my mother's daughter. Amen and amen.  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 Babushka Description An account of the resource Sonya Jason Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81 pp. 126-131 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jason, Sonya, 1924- Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81 LCNAF https://slovakia.wordsofpassage.net/files/original/12e36433df515cc7aec6093d7ae5416b.pdf dd12c427b51c39393594e7cd883dad8b PDF Text Text REVIEWS ��SLOVAKIA 135 ' Peter Brock The Slovak National Awakening Peterirock. THE SLOVAK NATIONAL AWAKENING: AN ESSAY IN THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF EAST CENTRAL EUROPE. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1976. x, 104 pp . This three-chapter monograph with extensive notes, bibliography, and index presents the intellectual growth ' ' of an idea, the Slovak idea of nationality" (p.x). Written primarily to fill a gap on "which scarcely any reliable literature exists in English" (ibid.), Professor Brock's study does precisely that - non-English subsidiary sources are evaluated, unsubstantiated claims of biased scholarship are pointed out, and perennial misunderstandings of specific historical issues are put in proper perspective. With the exception of a few flaws that will be listed below, the book is well-organized and written in a style that favorably ties the author's learning with his common sense. The main thrust of the work, as the author has emphasized at the very outset of the text, was to be found in the interrelationship of the concept of Slovak "cultural-linguistic nationhood" to the concepts of natio hungarica, on the one hand, and the " Czechoslovak idea, " on the other. Slovak national identity, the first component of the uneasy alliance , grew up in its linguistic aspect more or less directly from indigenous traditions, while its scholarly-cultural tenets were repeatedly reexamined under Magyar and Czech influences. Thus one could say that the literature of the Cyrilo-Methodian era had a negligible impact on the Slovak vernacular. Biblittina - almost sacred in Slovak Lutheran religious usage , especially after the Battle of White Mountain (1620) did influence the Slovak vernacular development, but far less than even the most recent , relatively restrained, scholarship has suggested. The so-called Jesuit Slovak, essentially " an amalgam , of several dialects , heavily influenced by Czech, and . . . used by / educated I Protestants as well as Catholics" (p . 6), made no impact on the common speech of the masses whatsoever. In turn the dialect spoken in southwestern Slovakia attained a limited acceptance as a ' ' Slovak literary language " due to the efforts of the Catholic priests Anton Bernolak, Juraj Fandly, and Jan Holly. However, only the dialect of central Slovakia propagated by the Protestant scholar and philosopher, :Cudovit �136 SLOVAKIA Stur, gained the full support of the Slovaks and eventually became the basis for a Slovak literary language. Slovak scholarly-cultural pursuits - as hinted above - were to a great extent products of the cultural and political tensions within central Europe . Natio hungarica , despite its lofty official attributes, was in reality a misnomer, denoting an alliance between the historical determination of the nation-state and Magyar political aspirations. Essentially a shield for aristocratic privileges in the pre-Josephinist era, it became a vehicle for repressive measures against non-Magyar ethnic groups in later decades. The Slovak approach to the concept of natio hungarica underwent a full range of changes from the mytho-historical point of view of Juraj Papanek and Juraj Sklenar in its earlier version to a pragmatic-negative standpoint of the Sturites in its latest variant. The Great Moravian Empire, according to Papanek and Sklenar, was a Slovak national state. The Slovaks , Sklenar claimed, formed after its downfall a voluntary and equal partnership, a natio hungarica, "with the newly arrived Magyars" (p . 8) . In contrast, Kollar 's " pro-Czechoslovak" group ceased to honor the idea of political-cultural union with the Magyars around 1830, while the Sturites refused ever to recognize it in any form. The idea of the socalled Czechoslovak national unity has lingered in one or another shape in some minds up to the present time. However, during the eleven-century long Magyar occupation of the Slovak territory the ties between the Czechs and Slovaks ' 'remained confined to comparatively small sections of the intelligentsia . . . the Slovak peasants and the artisans . . . possessed scarcely any national or even ethnic consciousness that went beyond an elemental love of their mother tongue, usually the only language they could speak'' (p. 20). A stronger interest in the " Czechoslovak idea" came about between 1820 and 1840 when Jan Kollar used it as a bridge between the motley assortment of various Slavic idioms and his axiomatic philosophy of Slavdom. Slavdom, in Kollar ' s visionary system, was but a single nation containing four literary languages - Russian, Polish, lliyrian, and Czechoslovak - that were " worthy" to have a distinct status . All other " smaller" Slavic languages were, by this logic, " unworthy" of a separate existence and were to be channelled into the nearest Slavic idiom. The Slovak language was supposed to be absorbed into Czech. Brock' s study is a well-balanced and honest treatment of one of the most difficult subjects of scholarship. It undmi btedly adds a new dimension to a better understanding of related -ethno-political issues treated , for example , by Robert W. Seton-Watson in his Racial Problems in Hungary (reprinted by Howard Fertig, New York, 1972) , by �SLOVAKIA 137 \ Gilbert L. Oddo in his Slovakia and Its People (published by R. Speller, New York, 1960), and by Joseph F. Zacek in his essay, "Nationalism in Czechoslovakia" (published in Sugar and Lederer, eds., Nationalism in Eastern Europe, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1969; see especially pp. 166-167 and 186-195). On the other hand, Brock's condensed treatment of the entire issue does not give full credii to his familiarity with the problem. Had the book been more broadly conceived (let us say by a treatment of the ''growth'' of Slovak cultural-linguistic nationalism after 1918), it would have considerably contributed to the study of parallels and differences between Magyar and Czech standpoints toward Slovak cultural endeavors from a new angle. My minor but specific objections are directed against the following defects in the work: (1) the use of non-English constructions in the text when English equivalents were available and their non-English counterparts could easily be incorporated in extensive notes; (2) too many errors in non-English references included in the "Notes;" and (3) the "Notes" and "Bibliography" were set in uneven-line endings while the text itself was presented in regular "book-line" endings. Although intended primarily for Slavic scholars, this book merits the attention of English-speaking students of Slovak culture everywhere. It is proof that a foreign-born scholar can present a fair and truthful account of a topic related to the Slovaks and Slovakia in spite of frequent misrepresentations of the issues by biased scholars. Brock's work will stand out as a model for future efforts on similar subjects. Andrej Cintura Riverside, CaUfomia �138 SLOVAKIA Josef Kalvoda Czechoslovakia's Role in Soviet Strategy Josef Kalvoda. CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S ROLE IN SOVIET STRATEGY. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978. ix, 381 pp. This is a good book with the wrong title. What Professor Kalvoda offers is a history of Czechoslovakia's attitude to and relations with the Soviet Union since World War I. Hence a more appropriate title would have been "Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union," a title general enough to cover the range and wealth of information meticulously assembled and presented. In fact, the author has done Western scholarship a service by examining this topic in depth; until now this subject has been dealt with piecemeal either in studies on the foreign policy of the First Czechoslovak Republic, or in the more recent studies on the liberalization process of Communist Czechoslovakia. The greater part of the study is devoted to an analysis of the attitudes and actions toward the Soviet Union of two of the three founders of the Czechoslovak state, namely T.G. Masaryk and Edvard Benes. Interspersed are chapters on the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the sovietization of the country. Needless to say, after 1948, the focus changes somewhat insofar as Czechoslovakia has become a satellite of the Soviet Union, and the relationship between the countries is on a completely different level. Still, given the fact that the leadership of Czechoslovakia sought to establish a new framework of relations with the Soviet Union in the liberalization process of 1968, especially on the ideological level, there is a thematic continuity that justifies the fifty-odd year analysis offered here. It is a pity that the author did not fully exploit this aspect of the topic and that his weakest chapters are the last three where he does suggest how Czechoslovakia has played a role in Soviet strategy since 1948 . This latter theme, interesting at it may be, does not tie in well with the preceding chapters and thus breaks up the unity of theme that had been evident, though not explicitly stated, up to that point. One of the interesting points that the author makes and that is generally absent in histories of Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union is the fact that during the Russian revolution th"ere existed a possibility of using the Czecho-Slovak Legion to smash the Bolsheviks. During the debate on this point, Karel Kramar, one of the Czech leaders, sug- �SLOVAKIA 139 \ gested that a free Czechoslovakia could exist only if there existed a democratic Russia. He urged that the Legion be used against the Bolsheviks to achieve this end. Masaryk disagreed; in fact, he urged early on the recognition of the Bolshevik regime and forbade the use of the Legion against the Red Army. While one cannot answer an historical if, one has to recognize that Kramar had been more perspications than Masaryk. In the interwar period, the attitudes to and relations with the Soviet Union were determined by Edvard Benes, the man to whom Kalvoda quite correctly also ascribes the responsibility for Czechoslovakia eventually becoming a Soviet satellite. The author shows in great detail how Benes gave in to the Soviet leadership and its satraps in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the war. The coup in February 1948 was merely an epilogue to a situation that had been dealt with in December 1943 when Benes, against British advice, signed a Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance, and Post-War Cooperation with the Soviet Union. The consequences need not be elaborated upon. The author left few stones unturned in his research. But what is more striking is his detachment from the subject matter, somehing that most Czech emigre scholars have rarely succeeded in achieving. Thus if one might find fault with the little attention he pays the Slovaks, at least he does not do so out of either indifference or deliberate slight. In fact, the topic does not call for an in-depth examination of Slovakia or the Slovaks; where they do play a role, the author presents the situation as directly as he does the rest of the subject. One has to remember that the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia, however deplorable, was always in the hands of the Czech elite, be it Benes in the First Republic or the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. Kalvoda is not insensitive to the Slovaks, and in his preface he states that he '' never subscribed to the theory of one 'Czechoslovak' nation ... / nor had / taken the existance of the Slovak nation for granted" (p . vii). This is borne out in the study, particularly when he deals with the Slovak Republic and Benes' s attitude toward the Slovak nation during the Second World War. One might suggest, however, that the author could have examined the issue of the federalization of Czechoslovakia and its link to Soviet theory and practice on the nationality problem . Federalization was the only reform that survived the normalization policy after the invasion of August 1968. Czech-Slovak relations have played an important part in Communist Czechoslovakia , and the Soviet Union has not been kept entirely out of them. This should have been analyzed. It is a pity, as was stated above, that the author chose an inappro- �140 SLOVAKIA priate title and thereby missed some opportunities of examining other topics germane to the thrust of his study. Nevertheless, it is a wellwritten and well-documented analysis. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada �SLOVAKIA 141 \ Doro·thea El Mallakh The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 Dorothea H. El Mallakh. THE SLOVAK AUTONOMY MOVEMENT, 1935-1939: A STUDY IN UNRELENTING NATIONALISM. "East European Monographs, No. LV." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1979. xvi, 260 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. In recent years we have seen the submission of several dissertations dealing with Slovak topics. Others are under preparation. This development is more than welcomed. The study of Slovakia has finally reached maturity and respectability in the Western scholarly community. It is no longer an appendix to the history of the Czechs - as much as we admired the serious and honest treatments by R.W. Seton-Watson and S. Harrison Thomson. Nor is it propagandistic pamphleteering by an assortment of enthusiasts and political refugees - even if we recognize their contributions to the popularization of Slovak annals. Now we are dealing with the fruits of archival research, some of which has been done in the best tradition of Occidental scholarship. In spite of its progress, however, Slovak historiography remains a part of the intellectual ghetto, the quarantine in which East European studies are kept in the United States. Snobbery and arrogance of "Big Nations Research" and of "Continental (i.e., West European) Topics" are a mirror of political realities. The small nations of Eastern Europe, captive in the clutches of major powers for most of their modem life, elicit little interest in the hearts and minds of a cohort of intellectual imperialists. Hence, the obscurity of Slovakia resembles the relative invisibility of other neighboring peoples. These factors are amplified by the shortsightedness and irresponsibility of some students of Slovak history. Partisan zeal and engaged scholarship color much of their writing and publication. In addition, some trained professionals and graduates of good schools continue to undermine the work of others. They preserve the aura of disrepute which cast much blame on historical writing about Slovakia for so long. To the old ills is now added a new one: the rush to publication. In spite of the severe conditions of the academic market, there is slight justification for publication of an unrevised dissertation. A good thesis does not necessarily make a book of quality. And some dissertations are less than good . Dr. El Mallakh studied under some of the best teachers of East �142 SLOVAKIA European history and submitted a competent dissertation. Her book left much to be desired, however. In her major thesis she advances the idea that unfulfilled, if just, national grievances by the Slovaks undermined the stability of the Czechoslovak Republic and assisted the Nazis in setting up the Slovak state. She argues that past historians, while discussing Czechoslovak and Slovak developments, usually "premissed on an anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist vantage point" (p. 11). This is not correct; arguments similar to El Mallakh's which recognized the pains of Slovak nationalism were advanced before she started to write her thesis. The title and topic of The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 are confusing, as the volume strives to encapsule the entire development of Slovak nationalism from the 19th century to the present. By renaming Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSPP) with the title of Slovak Autonomy Movement, El Mallakh made the "tudaks" (an expression not existing in the book) into the only bearers of Slovak nationalism. Consequently, she dwarfed the demands and complaints of the Slovak people into the simplistic political program of the single albeit strongest - party. Autonomy was the HSPP 's answer to two of the major problems the Slovak people faced in Czechoslovakia: the lack of recognition of their national individuality and Prague' s centralistic rule over the entire state. The doctrine of a single Czechoslovak nation, which El Mallakh barely mentioned and left unanalyzed, caused significant harm since it offended the mental and emotional consciousness of the Slovak people. El Mallakh apparently was not aware of the 19th-century Czech and Slovak roots of this doctrine. Jan Kollar, the great prophet of Czechoslovakism, appears nowhere in the book. Centralism constituted a serious problem also for day-to-day life during the First Republic. The author discussed this aspect, frequently with skill and erudition. Unfortunately , she failed to evaluate the reasons and long term effects of either Czechoslovakism or centralism on the state. Had she done so, she might perhaps have discovered that autonomy was not necessarily the most effective remedy for Slovakia's sores, but rather a shrewd political platform . As the author stated repeatedly , Slovakia overflowed with the mixed blessing of countless political parties. Some of them represented particular national-ethnic groups; others claizp.ed a territorial or professional character and aspired to speak for a variety of nationalities. Hlinka's People's Party and Razus's National Party were exclusively Slovak. Agrarians, Social Democrats, and Communists catered to a multi-national constituency. Of all the major parties represented in Slovakia and electing more than five members of parliament at any time, �SLOVAKIA 143 probably only the Social\ Democrats stood on an uncompromised Czechoslovak and centralistic platform. The eminently pragmatic Agrarians, although centralistically minded, were willing to compromise - as Milan Hodza later demonstrated. Many a Slovak Agrarian was as nationalistically inspired as any member of the HSPP. The Communists took a stand no less radical than the ":Cudaks." At times, the Communists would outdo Hlinka' s partisans in extremist antiPrague rhetoric. Singling out of one party at the expense of the others slants reality. If El Mallakh felt that the HSPP deserved preferential treatment, she fell short of explaining the obvious popular support it commanded. In her recurring habit, she relied too much on one of the two relevant books of Juraj Kramer without elaborating the issue in depth. There still exists a need for a basic social and sociological study of the HSPP, its territorial basis, and its economic and psychological background. Similarly, the exceptional role of the clergy in Slovakia's history was often noticed but without taking a closer look into the phenomenon. (El Mallakh does not seem to know that Martin Razus was a Protestant pastor, besides having been a poet and writer.) She should also have explained the fluctuating vote of support for the HSPP. The author provided many new details and insights in her description of the HSPP political development but was not courageous enough to venture outside her closely set perimeter. The study obscured so many issues that one wonders whether it was due to a deficiency in information or by purpose. While dealing with the 1933 Nitra festivities, for instance, the writer omitted the ":Cudak" cooperation with the Czech Fascists. The Nitra manifesto of these festivities, part of which is reprinted in the book (p. 60), was a common proclamation of the Czech and Slovak non-governmental right. She is also silent about the participation of French, Italian, and other Fascists in the 1936 conference of the HSPP. The close relations of the Sidor faction with Polish authorities was dealt with in a spotty fashion. The anti-Semitic outrages, the so-called Golemiada of fall 1937, were innocently introduced as "student agitation" (p. 84). There are many more examples of this kind. One of the reasons for the narrow treatment of a fascinating topic was the limited sources of her research. El Mallakh is very proud of the original documents she was provided with by the Prague archives. Her excitement is exaggerated. Several recent dissertations were prepared from Czechoslovak and Slovak, central and regional, archives. In fact, even this reviewer (horrible dictu/) was given access to Slovak archives in 1968 and supplied with mircofilmed documents . The use of archival �144 SLOVAKIA material does not liberate one from the inspection of other primary and secondary sources. Of the primary sources available in the United States, she is missing the Czechoslovak parliamentary procedures, journals like Slovak and Katolicke noviny, several weeklies, quarterlies, and other periodicals. Above all, a reliance on one sort of documentation, much of which originated in police and government offices, must limit its reliability. Regretably, El Mallakh was unwilling to undertake even a partial correction of her dissertation, or to increase her familiarity with Slovak matters through secondary sources . In spite of the late publication of the volume (in 1979, while the dissertation was submitted in 1972) , the bibliography lists nothing printed after 1971. The seventies have seen many new works appear on this subject in the West and in the East. The same series of monographs, which included El Mallakh 's book, carried earlier at least two other relevant publications. If the author was reluctant to update the manuscript, why did she not use the studies of others while preparing the original dissertation? Where are works by Derer, Hoensch, Lipscher, Sidor, Mamatey & Luza, to give but a few? I also have some doubts about the author's comprehension of Czech and Slovak language documents. The text recalls unknown localities such as "Spisske Kapitul" (p. 21; it should be Spisska Kapitula) or " Dolny Vestenic" (p. 84; it should be Dolne Vestenice). An eagle in Slovak is ' 'orol' ' while El Mallakh repeatedly used the Czech term ' ' orel. '' The name of a leading HSPP journal was given as Slovenskej Pravdy (p . 76 ; it should be Slovenska pravda). Spelling mistakes of names and locations were also noticed elsewhere . The book has twenty-two useful appendices . While mostly reprints from otherwise obtainable sources (many are from Macartney), they nonetheless provide a handy collection. Some of the appendices are of marginal importance for the volume , such as the list of Slovak state cabinet members and details on the federalization of Czechoslovakia. El Mallakh dealt with an important topic using heretofore unseen documents. Coming from a neutral and uncommited ethnic background, she has made a significant effort to present a balanced study. Unfortunately, she was not steeped enough in Slovakia's history and affairs, in social life , and in political culture , and therefore numerous issues and details eluded her. Her decisiqn to write a strictly political description based on narrowly defined sou\-ces resulted in a simplistic treatment of a complex topic . Yeshayahu Jelinek Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel �SLOVAKIA 145 Anthpny X. Sutherland Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia Anthony X. Sutherland. DR. JOZEF TISO AND MODERN SLOVAKIA. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. xii, 141 pp. Using Slovak, Czech, German, and English language sources, Dr. Sutherland presents a balanced and scholarly account of the life, career, accomplishments, and failures of the only president of the Slovak Republic. The author does not have anti-Czech, anti-Protestant, or antiCatholic biases, is neither a Slovak nationalist nor a "Czechoslovak," and approaches the subject matter with the detachment of an impartial observer and a non-involved historian. Needless to say, one cannot do justice to "Slovak Political Tradition " in fifteen pages of printed material; yet Sutherland gives the most essential data on the Great Moravian Empire, its collapse, and the centuries-long life of the Slovaks under Magyar rule. In the nineteenth century two traditions emerged among the educated Slovaks: one represented by Jan Kollar and P . J. Safarik, and the other by Cudovit Stur. The former favored closer cooperation with the Czechs; the latter emphasized a distinct Slovak national identity. However, all the Slovak leaders realized that the struggle for survival of the small nation had to be led on all fronts, including the cultural, economic, and political. In Andrej Hlinka the Slovaks had an articulate political leader who fought for justice for his nation both before and after World War I. The brevity of the first chapter may be responsible for some errors, such as on pp. 18 and 19. In 1916 in Paris the Czech National Council was formed by the two Deputies in the Vienna parliament, T.G. Masaryk and Josef Duerich, with Dr. Edvard Benes as its secretary. Milan R. Stefanik was a co-opted member of the council. On the insistence of American Slovaks the name of the organization was changed to Czecho-Slovak National Council. The Kiev Memorandum was not signed by ''Russian Slovaks and Czecho-Slovak Legionnaires '' but by the representatives of the Alliance of the Czecho-Slovak Associations in Russia, Gustav Kosik for the Slovak League of America, and Stefanik and Duerich for the Paris-based council. These minor inaccuracies, however, do not subtract from the overall value of the book. The author makes it clear that Hlinka was loyal to the Republic established in 1918 and that he objected merely to its anti-Catholic poli- �146 SLOVAKIA cies , the denial of the promised autonomy for the Slovaks, and the behavior of some Czechs in Slovakia. Likewise Dr. Jozef Tiso, with reservations similar to Hlinka's, supported the First Republic until its collapse in October of 1938. In September of 1938 President Benes refused to fight for the territorial integrity of the state , and in March of 1939 the rump Second Republic could not be defended. It would seem that if Benes could give up strategic parts of the state without the consent of parliament and in violation of the Constitution, then no one from his camp should blame Tiso for yielding to pressures in March of 1939 and choosing Slovak independence instead of letting Slovakia be occupied either by Hungary or Germany. Sutherland pictures Tiso as a moderate Slovak patriot whose ideology was a mixture of organic nationalism and Christian socialism. It comes through, however, that despite his ideological-tinged rhetorics in practical politics, Tiso was a pragmatist who made concessions, compromises, and mistakes. It was he who convinced Hlinka in 1935 that the Slovak People's Party should help to elect Benes as president of the state. As it happened, in conversations with Stalin in December of 1943 - long before the Slovak uprising in Banska Bystrica - Benes included Tiso among the Slovaks whom he selected for execution after the war. Ideologist or pragmatist, Tiso, as his nation, was caught in a whirl of events which he could not control. Indeed, a small nation cannot always be the master of its own destiny, as the nations of East Central Europe have learned the hard way. Sutherland's book has accomplished its purpose. It is well-written, concise, brief, well-documented, and easy to read. It has enriched the historiography on Slovakia in English and has made a positive contribution to both scholarship and to our understanding of the short-lived Slovak Republic and its only president. Both students of Central European affairs and interested general readers will benefit greatly by reading it. Josef Kalvoda Saint Joseph College ~est Hartford, Connecticut \ �SLOVAKIA 147 \ Yeshayahu Jelinek The Parish Republic Yeshayahu Jelinek. THE PARISH REPUBUC: HUNKA 'S SLOVAK PEOPLE'S PARTY 1939-1945. "East European Monographs, No. XIV ." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1976. viii, 206 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. Professor Yeshayahu Jelinek's The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party is a revision of a dissertation on the politics and philosophy of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1939 to 1945, submitted at Indiana University. It is one of the first scholarly studies in English of the period in Slovak history from 1939 to 1945 written by someone not directly involved in the history of the Slovak state. In this book Jelinek examines in detail the internal history of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, its factions, ideology, and history. By dealing with each of the party' s groups - the clericals, "N astupists," Sidorites, and Hlinka guards, he provides us with an excellent picture of the political background of the Slovak state. Also treated in detail is Populist ideology as it affected all aspects of Slovak life: religion, nationalism , government, and economics. However, if one expects to find a comprehensive history of the Slovak state or detailed biographical information on any of its leading figures, one will be somewhat disappointed . Jelinek 's book is essentially a study of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, so the selection of the title, The Parish Republic , is a bit misleading. Although there is much information on the internal politics of the Populists , there is little on such topics as the Slovak Resistance Movement and the Slovak National Uprising (whose importance Jelinek greatly overemphasizes) and a disappointing, unsystematic account of the Jewish question. In addition to making occasional exaggerations , Jelinek commits a grave error in frequently maintaining that the Slovak state received little popular support . Such generalizations regarding acceptance or rejection of the Slovak state by the people are difficult to document and almost impossible to prove . In his account on " I.:udak" ideology Jelinek frequently uses the term " clerical fascism, " but nowhere does he offer a suitable definition of clerical fascism , or at least what he understands by it. At the end of the book one is left with a confusing picture as to exactly what type of �148 SLOVAKIA state Jelinek thought the Slovak Republic was - whether it was truly fascist or simply an authoritarian state with fascist trappings. The work would have been improved if Jelinek had compared Hlinka's Slovak People's Party with other rightist parties of the period: Rexists, Action Francaise, the Iron Guard, and others. The book is superbly documented, though one may argue that Jelinek relied too heavily on Czechoslovak Communist historians, whose interpretations are predictable, and on German documents. In summary, the book is a good, though somewhat confusing, account of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, its history, and ideology. Despite Jelinek's occasional exaggerations and general negative attitude toward the Populists, the book should be read, though with caution, by anyone searching for a better understanding of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party during one of the most controversial periods of Slovak history. Anthony X. Sutherland Stoney Point, New York �SLOVAKIA 149 Andrea Rebichini Chiesa, societ,p e stato in Cecoslovachia Andrea Rebichini. CHIESA, SOCIETA E STATO IN CECOSLOVACHIA, II: 1968-1978. Padova: DESEO-Liviana, 1979. 86 pp. In his two-volume book on the Church, society, and state in Czechoslovakia, Andrea Rebichini describes the religious situation of that country during the period of the last three decades. The first volume , published in 1977, covers the period from 1948 to 1968, and the present volume treats the period from 1968 to 1978. During this relatively short span of years, Czechoslovakia went through many turbulent events which left deep scars on its people. In 1948 there was a ruthless take-over by the Communists ; then, in the late sixties, the liberalization of the Communist rule symbolized by Alexander Dubcek; in August 1968 the brutal occupation of the country by Soviet troops, followed by the so-called "normalization," i.e., by the return to the old Stalinist methods of suppression and tyranny. The vicissitudes of Czechoslovakia have attracted the attention of many scholars, writers of political history, and various reporters . Rebichini is mostly interested in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia during these three decades. He is familiar with the vast literature on postwar Czechoslovakia and has succeeded in putting the Church-State problems of that country into the larger framework of the whole political spectrum of Eastern Europe, dominated by the Soviet Union. In the volume under review, Rebichini uses mostly documentary material coming from Czechoslovakia and translated into Italian by CESEO (Centro Studi Europa Orientale), published monthly in Bologna. Since these documents speak for themselves, Kebichini does not give long analyses or commentaries on them. Clarity, objectivity, and succinctness are the main values of Rebichini' s book. At the beginning of the second volume the author gives the most characteristic aspects of the Dubcek liberalization of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Catholic Church, as well as other denominations, grasped at this opportunity and quickly developed a feverish activity to free themselves from the shackles of the previous twenty years. For the Catholics, until then cutoff from the Church at large , it meant an attempt to catch up with the reform movement of the Vatican Council and the new theological trends in the post-conciliar �150 SLOVAKIA Church. Bishops, priests, religious, and lay people took up this task in Czechoslovakia. Not even the Soviet occupation could immediately stop this endeavor. According to Rebichini, the turning point in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia was the restoration of the organization of priests collaborating with the neo-Stalinist regime of Gustav Husak. During the Dubcek era the former pro-government organization of the Peace Movement of the Catholic Clergy totally collapsed. Toward the end of 1971 it was resurrected under the name of the Federation of the Catholic Clergy - ''Pacem in Terris.' ' Under the guidance and with the support of the new regime, this organization quickly resumed the role of the previous Peace Movement and gradually took control of the Church organization in Czechoslovakia. It seems that because of the growing influence of this organization, most of the Holy See's recent efforts to alleviate the difficult situation of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia are being frustrated. In 1975 the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Agreement, thereby .affirming its commitment to human rights, including the freedom of religion. But nothing changed in the course of repression and persecution of those citizens who tried to follow this prerogative of freedom in the religious field. Still, there was a group of brave intellectuals, most of them in the Czech lands, who publicly demanded from the government that it adhere to its commitments to the free exercise of human rights, including the right of free religious expression. The promoters of human rights in Czechoslovakia are working under the name "Charter 77." The Communist regime in Czechoslovakia immediately began a frantic campaign against the signers of "Charter 77" by organizing public protests and collecting signatures against them. Interestingly , almost incredibly, the Church hierarchy, now infiltrated by members of the "Pacem in Terris" and probably under very crude pressure from the government, joined the protest campaign against the signers of "Charter 77. " This, according to Rebichini, is an ominous sign of how terribly the Church of Czechoslovakia is presently enslaved by the Communist regime. Rebichini concludes his treatise on the religious situation in Czechoslovakia with the election of John Paul II as Pope - the first Slavic Pope, the first Pope from behind the ''Iron Curtain.'' He ex: presses the hope that this act of Divine Providence may deeply affect the Church in the satellite countries of Eastern Europe. TeQ_dorik J. Zubek, O.F.M. . Easton, Pennsylvania �SLOVAKIA 151 Vsevlad J. Gajdos Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike Vsevlad J. Gajdos. FRANTISKANI V SLOVENSKEJ UTERAT0RE and Teodorik J. Zubek, SLOVENSKl FRANTISKANI V AMERIKE. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1979. 252 pp. This study provides the specialist interested in Slovak culture, civilization, and religious history with a lot of information on Franciscans of Slovak extraction. It covers the period from the seventeenth century to the present. In the first section, Vsevlad J. Gajdos included a brief survey of Franciscan history and activities in Slovakia. He also commented concisely on Slovak ethnic consciousness among Franciscans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . Then he described the major struggle of these Franciscans to insure their ethnic distinctiveness and the survival of their religious order. Virtually all the facts presented by Gajdos on this matter appear together for the first time and in a publication outside of Czechoslovakia. These points of information had previously been scattered among various journals published over a long period of time and primarily authored by Gajdos . After the delineation of Franciscan history, activities, and ethnic struggle follow the biographies and bibliographies of one hundred twenty-five Franciscans. In a number of instances, Gajdos has corrected various biographical errors on some of these Franciscans . A number of significant contributions by some of them have also been saved from oblivion or obscurity. For instance, the four large volumes of sermons by Bajan as well as a number of his musical compositions are preserved here . The role of Teodul Zelenic in the Bemolak polemic, Anti-Fandly, is also well-presented. Even the probable identity of the pseudonymous researcher , S. M. Zilinsky, is substantively argued. Among the various Slovak Franciscans covered are authors of literary works, writers of devotional books , sermons, and retreat exhortations; authors of philosophical and theological treatises, textbooks, and polemical writings; and composers of numerous musical compositions . �152 SLOVAKIA · Abrahamffy, Pascha, Bajan, Gavlovic, Simko, Smrtnik, Gazda, Roskovsky, Marmankovic, and Presl readily stand out, but also and especially Celestin Lepacek and Gajdos himself. For, like Gajdo§, Lepacek has also written biographies and works on a number of Slovak Franciscans; his research on Gavlovic's writings would alone guarantee his place in the history of Slovak scholarship. With Lepacek's and his own research, Gajdos has been able to enhance substantially the quality of the biographies and bibliographies. Gajdo§ has concluded his section of this study with concise descriptions of Franciscan publications in Slovakia and some further bibliographical material from Rizner and his own years of research. The American section of the study was authored by Teodorik Zubek and has the same format as that portion written by Gajdos. There is first a survey of Slovak Franciscan history and activities in America, followed by the biographies and bibliographies of twelve prominent Slovak Franciscans who either emigrated to or were born in the United States. Especially noteworthy among this material is the bibliography of the poet Rudolf Dilong; the reference for the unfortunately brief article by Bartolomej Koltner on the Slovak dictionary of 1648; and the reference for Zubek's dissertation done in Slovakia, "Zasahy Jozefa II do zivota slovenskych franti§kanov." The latter appeared as a long article under the title, ''Zasahy osvietenstva do §tudia uhorskych frantiskanov" in Sbornik spolku Zahorskych akademikov so sidlom v Malackach, 1932-1942, II, Trnava; a copy of this work can be found in the library of the University of California, Los Angeles. A number of typographical errors could readily be corrected in a reprinting of this book. The bibliography of Gavlovic is not complete; but, in his research, Lepacek has given as complete a list as is presently possible. In the Gavlovic bibliography there are also a number of minor errors with regard to the number of pages in certain works. In the numerous bibliographical references, there may also be some points in error that will come to light as scholars are able to study personally the various materials listed in the book. On the whole, though, this study is a fairly comprehensive presentation of Slovak Franciscan writings and musical compositions. Gajdos and Zubek have provided the Slovak specialist with another primary reference work tha,,t complements those of Rizner, Misianik, and Ormis. Perhaps, somedat, an E11tglish version of this study will be published for the sake of a larg'er scholarly audience. GeraldJ. Sabo, S.J. John Carroll University Cleve/,and, Ohio �SLOVAKIA 153 \ Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps. Slovenske vystahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, Ill SLOVENS/a VYS'l'AHOVALECTVO. DOKUMENTY I: DO ROKU 1918. Compiled by Franti§ek Bielik and Elo Rako§. Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1969. 404 pp. ; DOKUMENTY II; 1919-1939. Bielik and Rako§. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975. 349 pp.; DOKUMENTY ill: KORESPONDENCIA Z ROKOV 1893-1939. Bielik. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1976. 314 pp. Students of Slovak immigration history will welcome the publication of Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo . These three volumes , devoted to the migration of Slovaks from their homeland, reproduce 380 documents deposited in various depositories in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria. This collection gives scholars living outside of these countries access to materials otherwise not readily available to them. One of the compilers' aim is to depict the underlying social, political, and economic factors that spurred Slovak emigration in the years from roughly 1879 to 1939 (Vol. I, pp. 5, 6; Vol II, p . 5). The selection of documents also places Slovak emigration within the broader context of the history of Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus, the compilers include documents that demonstrate the impact of Slovak emigration on these homeland countries. In addition, the collection contains documents concerning Slovak immigrant life. Some of these items are official reports; others were generated by Slovak immigrants living in various countries, primarily the United States. Although the documents touch upon a myriad of subjects, the unifying theme of the three volumes is clear: emigration is an important aspect of the history of the Slovak people. Volume I focuses on Slovak emigration from 1879 to 1918 and deals primarily with the causes and consequences of that movement. This volume contains newspaper descriptions of contemporary conditions in Hungary that stimulated emigration. It includes a large number of official and local reports which analyze the causes of emigration, especially from particular regions in northern Hungary. The reports describe attempts by Hungarian officials to stop Slovak emigration. They also reveal a concern over the growing nationalism among Slovak immigrants in the United States. Because of the preponderance of official reports, �154 SLOVAKIA nearly all of the documents in this volume are in Hungarian; only twenty of the 144 items are in Slovak. The second volume covers Slovak emigration from 1919 to 1939. Slightly over two-thirds of its 114 documents are in Slovak, and the remaining are in Czech. Because the compilers try to present materials that describe the underlying causes of Slovak emigration , Volume Il provides information for scholars interested in studying Czechoslovakia between the two World Wars. For example, there are materials outlining the labor, industrial, and economic problems that plagued Czechoslovakia during the postwar years. Unemployment and unfavorable economic conditions encouraged emigration; but, since entry into the United States was restricted, Slovaks turned to other countries . Occasionally the Czechoslovak government tried to stop this exodus . However , the documents provide evidence that the government also saw emigration, and the temporary migration of laborers to nearby European countries , as a means to alleviate some of the country's economic and unemployment problems. In addition, official reports describe the conditions of Slovak immigrants in various countries including: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France , Germany, Mexico , Uruguay, the United States, and others . Volume ill reproduces 122 documents for the period 1893 to 1939. This collection is actually a supplement to the first two volumes and includes more materials written by Slovak immigrants. In fact, almost all of the documents were penned by Slovaks living in the United States. These items addres.s a wide variety of topics ranging from descriptions of Slovak nationalist activities in America to mere notes requesting that European Slovaks write articles for fraternal publications. The documents describe the various activities of American Slovak organizations during World War I and reveal their continued interest in Czechoslovakia after the war. Bielik and Rakos have complied a valuable collection of documents . These documents are useful both to students of Slovak immigration and to scholars interested in the social, economic, and political history of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus , the volumes have a use that extends beyond the study of Slovak immigration . The compilers have designed these volures for scholars. A complete bibliographic citation accompanies each docUtnent. Bielik and Rakos also provide editorial assistance by expfaining unfamiliar references mentioned in the documents . The compilers adopted a chronological format , but some researchers might prefer that they had chosen to categorize the documents topically. A topical approach would have �SLOVAKIA \ 155 lessened the need to plod through the volumes for specific types of documents. However, the compilers do include brief descriptions of every entry in each Table of Contents that facilitate the task of finding desired types of documents. There is no cumulative index, but the indexes included in each volume are useful for locating people, places, and organizations cited in the documents. However, one wishes the compilers had consistently listed persons' first names in the indices and had made more of an effort to provide subject entries. The compilers introduce each document with a brief Slovak and English precis. These precis are helpful but, as is usually the case with annotated descriptions, they do not reveal the variety of information contained within the documents. In general, the Slovak precis are more complete than the English versions. In addition, the English translations are generally dismal. Besides containing numerous grammatical and spelling errors, the English versions often are imprecise and misleading. Similar types of errors can be found in the footnotes. For example, readers will look in vain for a work cited as authored by "Louis Grune Bald" (Vol. I, p. 25). The proper citation should be "Emily Greene Balch." Balch is again slighted in the bibliography at the end of Volume ill where she is listed as "E. Green Bolek" (p. 278). Moreover, Bielik should have described the bibliography as listing '' selected '' works because it is incomplete. It is also dated. With the exception of a few articles printed in fraternal publications, the list does not include works on Slovak immigration published in the United States; nor is it complete for those published in Europe. The deficiencies evident in the bibliography may well be indicative of other shortcomings of these volumes. The compilers explain that while there are numerous documents in Europe archives pertaining to Slovak emigration, they have chosen the " most typical" (Vol. I, p. 6). Yet, although Volume ill includes 122 documents written primarily by Slovak immigrants, there is not a single letter or publication by Father Stefan Furdek. In fact, although the compilers make references to the First Catholic Slovak Union and note it as founded by Furdek, they fail to mention that he was a priest (Vol. I, p. 152). And, with but few exceptions, there is little reference to Slovak clergymen or their writings. Moreover, lengthy surveys of Slovak immigration which introduce Volumes I and ill discuss Slovak immigrant organizations, but there is no analysis of immigrant churches. Thus, this reviewer wonders if the items reproduced are perhaps the ''most typical'' of a select group of documents that ignore subjects such as religion that may be controversial or unpopular in present-day Czechoslovakia . Finally , one may wish to qualify Bielik 's claims regarding docu- �156 SLOVAKIA ments in Volume ill. According to Bielik, the correspondence in this volume describes the "daily struggle for social justice" and "work" of Slovaks living in foreign lands (p. 6). However, most of the letters reproduced were written by prominent Slovak immigrants usually active in the various national organizations. As a result, the correspondence typically describes the life of Slovak immigrants as seen through the eyes of these more prominent men, not as it was experienced by ordinary laborers toiling in American mines and factories and living in tenements or company housing. Moreover, the correspondence offers little insight into the life of Slovak immigrant women. Despite their shortcomings, the three volumes which comprise Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo offer a valuable collection of documents. No student of immigration history can be unhappy when documents maintained in European archives are published and made available for research. But researchers can be unhappy with the possibility that the criteria for selecting documents reflect the biases of the compilers and their government instead of a concern for balanced historical scholarship. June Granatir Alexander Cincinnati, Ohio �SLOVAKIA 157 \Jasil S. Kohan The Sorrows of Marienka Vasil S. Kohan THE SORROWS OF MARIENKA . Middletown, Pennsylvania: EMPAC!, 1979. 201 pp. Too often the Slovak immigrant woman has been depicted as either the long-suffering heroine - bearing children and losing them, making do with the barest of material comforts, and contending with a husband who spends ample time at the krtma (saloon) - or else she is the punitive, angry eminence in the home, doing her duty, saying her rosaries but making everyone suffer for her sacrifices. In Vasil Koban's The Sorrows of Marienka we see another kind of Slovak woman, one that modern women can identify with as well as stare matky (grandmothers) can admire. Indeed, any woman that can march into a Slovak krtma in search of her errant husband, set the place on fire, and never utter a word of apology could earn a place in any feminist Hall of Fame. We follow Marienka from a wedding in Slovakia she did not seek through the death of her husband, who is killed while pulling out the pillars of coal in a depleted mine, one of the most dangerous jobs. Along the way, we find her to be alternately strong and tender, pure and lusty, humorous and sad, tom by doubts and quite sure of herself. In other words, a whole person - no idealized portrait is painted by Kohan, in his first, and let's hope, not last novel. What pleased and excited me about this book was its raw power, its insights into our people , its clear-eyed view of what lives the Slovak immigrants lived on both sides of the Atlantic. A wife backs up her husband 's lie that a wolf bit him when it was only a testy sow; a mother-in-law despises the woman who takes her precious son from her; a wife jumps into a coal car to show her husband how quickly it can be unloaded; Slovaks swindle an unsuspecting and ill Slovak out of a week's pay, posing as mine representatives; still another Slovak absconds with the seven thousand dollars that was to start a new church; a young son, put in the cloakroom as a punishment, eats all the lunches - these are some poignant moments in the Kohan book. Real people, real circumstances where the spirit triumphs in the crucible of daily living. �158 SLOVAKIA A taste of Koban's lovely, native style: "It didn't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle. The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down. In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads on the shoulders of their wool jackets, little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth. ''By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds. The curious light made everything look hollow, the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. "Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street, swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. " She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead, and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she 'd bound in her braids yesterday. " It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else had changed, they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark, curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet , stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church , and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things." As second, third, and fourth-generation Slovaks pursue the American dream , buying their four-bedroom houses , gaining their college degrees , wearing shirts and ties , and learning which fork to use , I would caution them to pause for a moment and look back. Look back, if they can, to see if they know anything about what their forebears experienced . For I think that the dacron polyester world that we so eagerly court, the fleeting values and the soft life, this ravenous hunger we have to be middle-class Americans is sadly misplaced. We have pushed aside the Marienkas of our families , we have not taken the time both to listen to them and to record what they have to say . When a dozen Vasil Kobans rise up - nqt professional writers, but people with a love , respect , and yet a disciplined and discriminating eye turned toward their parents and grandparents - and all of us can fe ast on the books they produce , then I, for one , will be less critical �SLOVAKIA 159 of the headlong quest for Eissimilation, acceptance, and sameness that haunts ethnic groups, ours certainly included. We Slovaks do not have a body of literature about the immigrant experience. We need it more than we need a legion of accountants and computer programmers; we need it if we are to regain our very souls. Paul Wilkes New York City, New York �160 SLOVAKIA Megles, Stolarik & Tybor Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor. SLOVAK AMERICANS AND THEIR, COMMUNITIES OF CLEVELAND. Edited by Karl Bonutti. With an Introduction by Michael Novak. "Ethnic Heritage Studies Monograph Series." Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University, 1978. 217 pp. The Cleveland, Ohio area is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers of Slovaks in America. As is unfortunately the case with other major Slovak-American communities, the Cleveland Slovaks have not received much scholarly attention. The only monograph solely devoted to them is Jan Pankuch's Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovcikov, which was published in 1930 and is now outdated. And although Josef Barton's Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950, published in 1975, does analyze the social history of Cleveland's Slovaks in comparison with other ethnic groups, the book does not provide an overall and up-to-date review of the Cleveland Slovak communities. Given the fact that the volume under review was produced under the auspices of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program of Cleveland State University and with partial support from the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Education, Health, and Welfare, one might have expected a fresh, comprehensive, in-depth study of Cleveland's Slovaks. Regrettably, this is not the case. Neither the book's title, nor editor Karl Bonutti's preface, nor Michael Novak's introduction, nor even the "summary" provides the reader with a clear idea of the purpose of the book. What we are offered here is a melange of ''essays'' of varying quality covering a wide range of topics relating to Slovaks in Europe, the United States, and Cleveland. The work is divided into four main parts consisting of twenty-six chapters - "Old World Origins"; "New World Beginnings"; "Organizations and Contributions of Slovak-Americans"; and "The Slovak Community of Cleveland'' - and ten appendices (none of which is referred to in the text). Curiously, the authors of the component parts are not identified. This might not have been possible, for one gets the impression from the inexplicable changes of s~le within individual sec- �SLOVAKIA 161 tions that the work of one author was at times pieced together with that of another. Although a certain amount of unevenness is to be expected in a multi-authored publication, careful editing can often alleviate this problem. Evidence of such editorial control is slight. Constant repetition and overlapping, internal contradictions, the excessive number and short length of chapters , and generally poor organization mar the text. Especially disturbing is the mishandling of Slovak words . Diacritical marks are sometimes omitted; christian names are rendered indiscriminately in either Slovak or English; and clumsy phonetic approximations in English are provided for many but not all Slovak terms . Whoever wrote the section on the history of the Slovaks in the Old World does not seem to be very well acquainted with Slovak or European history. "Austria-Hungary" is more than once referred to as having existed before 1867; the Thirty Years' War is placed in the eighteenth century; and ' 'expressions of / Slovak / national consciousness" are claimed to have been present "quite early in the 17th century" (p. 24). The significance of Protestantism and of the Czech language for the Slovaks is almost totally ignored; Kollar,Safarik, and Stur are not identified as Lutherans, nor is it revealed that they wrote in Czech. Old-fashioned filiopietism rears its head in the section on Slovak immigrants - four pages are devoted to the mysterious '' Slovak Revolutionary War hero," Major Polerecky, who was born in France and whose connections with Slovaks and Slovak consciousness were extremely tenuous, if they existed at all. The section on Cleveland's Slovaks, although perhaps the best contribution, is also disappointing. Too much material relating to Slovak-Americans in general is included, as well as mundane personal reminiscences of one author; and there is scanty treatment of the Cleveland Slovak communities beyond World War II. One wonders why this book was published. In attempting to cover so many topics it in fact does not do justice to even one. Although the book contains a wealth of factual information, most of it can be found better presented in existing works. And the lack of footnotes and a bibliography considerably reduces its value. We have reached the stage where there are competent scholars capable of interpreting the Slovak-American experience and opportunities to make the results of their research available to the American public. In light of this fact, there should be no excuse for such an inferior publication as Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. ThomasD. Marzik (Mrazik) Saint Joseph 's University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ��SLOVAKIA 163 \ Contributors SONYA JASON is a writer who lives and works in California . She is a second-generation Slovak-American from Pennsylvania. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Indiana University, completed his graduate work at the University of Michigan. He is an expert on interwar Slovakia and has written numerous articles on this subject. STANISLA V J. KIRSCH BA UM is Associate Professor of Political Science at Glendon College, York University. A graduate of the Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, and the Sorbonne, he has published widely in the history and politics of Czechoslovakia in modern times (1939-1980). VASIL S. KOBAN is a writer living and working in Florida . He hails from a Slovak-Rusyn family that settled in Pennsylvania. PAUL R. MAGOCSI, a graduate of Princeton University, holds the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the world's leading authority on the Rusyns and has written the most authoritative books and articles on this ethnic group. HOW ARD F. STEIN, Associate Professor of Medical-Psychiatric Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, received his Ph .D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972 . He has written a large number of books and articles on Slovaks and other ethnic groups in the United States. ��SLOVAKIA 165 Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the managing editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate , typed doublespaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced, numbered, and placed at the end of the paper. Text and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers . Proper orthography and diacritical marks must be supplied for all foreign words. Manuscripts will not be returned unless specifically requested and postage is provided. Books for review are to be sent to the managing editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the managing editor. They should send a curriculum vitae with their request. When writing their reviews they should try to answer the following questions: What was the author's purpose in writing this book? What was the theme? What methods did the author use? What did he (she) conclude? This can then be followed by criticism and observations. Normally the reviews should not exceed three double-spaced, typewritten pages. All bibliographic information (author, full title, publisher, place of publication, price, and number of pages) should be provided by the reviewer. ��Printed By JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. ���EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK, ESQ. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland, Ohio JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS, ESQ. Vice Presidents DANIEL F. TANZONE ANNE Z. SAROSY Executive Committee: Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J. Krajsa, Louise M. Yash, Cecelia Sarocky, Joseph R. Kristofik, George J. Kostelnik Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M. Vizza, President Regional Vice-Presidents: George Lupjan - New York, New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania Joseph Ondis - Ohio David Zelenak - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois, Indiana Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin, Western States John Hvasta - Washington, D.C., Southern States Stanislav Duris Auditors: Anna Blahusiak Joseph Valencik SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 102,000 THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 100,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. - Membership 50,000 THE NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa . - Membership 21,000 THE LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 16,500 THE PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 10,000 SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa, F.I.C., President SLOVAK AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) , \ JEDNOTA (circulation 40,000) NARODNE NOVINY (circulatio~ 15,000) FRATERNALLY YOURS, ZENS KA JEDNOTA (circulation 35,000) SLOVAK v AMERIKE (circulation 1,800) KATOLICKY SOKOL (circulation 20,000) BRATSTVO (circulation7,000) PR IA TEL DIETOK (circulation 6,000) ZORNICKA (circulation 5,000) SLOVAKIA $6.00 per annum Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. � REVIEWS ��SLOVAKIA 135 ' Peter Brock The Slovak National Awakening Peterirock. THE SLOVAK NATIONAL AWAKENING: AN ESSAY IN THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF EAST CENTRAL EUROPE. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1976. x, 104 pp . This three-chapter monograph with extensive notes, bibliography, and index presents the intellectual growth ' ' of an idea, the Slovak idea of nationality" (p.x). Written primarily to fill a gap on "which scarcely any reliable literature exists in English" (ibid.), Professor Brock's study does precisely that - non-English subsidiary sources are evaluated, unsubstantiated claims of biased scholarship are pointed out, and perennial misunderstandings of specific historical issues are put in proper perspective. With the exception of a few flaws that will be listed below, the book is well-organized and written in a style that favorably ties the author's learning with his common sense. The main thrust of the work, as the author has emphasized at the very outset of the text, was to be found in the interrelationship of the concept of Slovak "cultural-linguistic nationhood" to the concepts of natio hungarica, on the one hand, and the " Czechoslovak idea, " on the other. Slovak national identity, the first component of the uneasy alliance , grew up in its linguistic aspect more or less directly from indigenous traditions, while its scholarly-cultural tenets were repeatedly reexamined under Magyar and Czech influences. Thus one could say that the literature of the Cyrilo-Methodian era had a negligible impact on the Slovak vernacular. Biblittina - almost sacred in Slovak Lutheran religious usage , especially after the Battle of White Mountain (1620) did influence the Slovak vernacular development, but far less than even the most recent , relatively restrained, scholarship has suggested. The so-called Jesuit Slovak, essentially " an amalgam , of several dialects , heavily influenced by Czech, and . . . used by / educated I Protestants as well as Catholics" (p . 6), made no impact on the common speech of the masses whatsoever. In turn the dialect spoken in southwestern Slovakia attained a limited acceptance as a ' ' Slovak literary language " due to the efforts of the Catholic priests Anton Bernolak, Juraj Fandly, and Jan Holly. However, only the dialect of central Slovakia propagated by the Protestant scholar and philosopher, :Cudovit �136 SLOVAKIA Stur, gained the full support of the Slovaks and eventually became the basis for a Slovak literary language. Slovak scholarly-cultural pursuits - as hinted above - were to a great extent products of the cultural and political tensions within central Europe . Natio hungarica , despite its lofty official attributes, was in reality a misnomer, denoting an alliance between the historical determination of the nation-state and Magyar political aspirations. Essentially a shield for aristocratic privileges in the pre-Josephinist era, it became a vehicle for repressive measures against non-Magyar ethnic groups in later decades. The Slovak approach to the concept of natio hungarica underwent a full range of changes from the mytho-historical point of view of Juraj Papanek and Juraj Sklenar in its earlier version to a pragmatic-negative standpoint of the Sturites in its latest variant. The Great Moravian Empire, according to Papanek and Sklenar, was a Slovak national state. The Slovaks , Sklenar claimed, formed after its downfall a voluntary and equal partnership, a natio hungarica, "with the newly arrived Magyars" (p . 8) . In contrast, Kollar 's " pro-Czechoslovak" group ceased to honor the idea of political-cultural union with the Magyars around 1830, while the Sturites refused ever to recognize it in any form. The idea of the socalled Czechoslovak national unity has lingered in one or another shape in some minds up to the present time. However, during the eleven-century long Magyar occupation of the Slovak territory the ties between the Czechs and Slovaks ' 'remained confined to comparatively small sections of the intelligentsia . . . the Slovak peasants and the artisans . . . possessed scarcely any national or even ethnic consciousness that went beyond an elemental love of their mother tongue, usually the only language they could speak'' (p. 20). A stronger interest in the " Czechoslovak idea" came about between 1820 and 1840 when Jan Kollar used it as a bridge between the motley assortment of various Slavic idioms and his axiomatic philosophy of Slavdom. Slavdom, in Kollar ' s visionary system, was but a single nation containing four literary languages - Russian, Polish, lliyrian, and Czechoslovak - that were " worthy" to have a distinct status . All other " smaller" Slavic languages were, by this logic, " unworthy" of a separate existence and were to be channelled into the nearest Slavic idiom. The Slovak language was supposed to be absorbed into Czech. Brock' s study is a well-balanced and honest treatment of one of the most difficult subjects of scholarship. It undmi btedly adds a new dimension to a better understanding of related -ethno-political issues treated , for example , by Robert W. Seton-Watson in his Racial Problems in Hungary (reprinted by Howard Fertig, New York, 1972) , by �SLOVAKIA 137 \ Gilbert L. Oddo in his Slovakia and Its People (published by R. Speller, New York, 1960), and by Joseph F. Zacek in his essay, "Nationalism in Czechoslovakia" (published in Sugar and Lederer, eds., Nationalism in Eastern Europe, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1969; see especially pp. 166-167 and 186-195). On the other hand, Brock's condensed treatment of the entire issue does not give full credii to his familiarity with the problem. Had the book been more broadly conceived (let us say by a treatment of the ''growth'' of Slovak cultural-linguistic nationalism after 1918), it would have considerably contributed to the study of parallels and differences between Magyar and Czech standpoints toward Slovak cultural endeavors from a new angle. My minor but specific objections are directed against the following defects in the work: (1) the use of non-English constructions in the text when English equivalents were available and their non-English counterparts could easily be incorporated in extensive notes; (2) too many errors in non-English references included in the "Notes;" and (3) the "Notes" and "Bibliography" were set in uneven-line endings while the text itself was presented in regular "book-line" endings. Although intended primarily for Slavic scholars, this book merits the attention of English-speaking students of Slovak culture everywhere. It is proof that a foreign-born scholar can present a fair and truthful account of a topic related to the Slovaks and Slovakia in spite of frequent misrepresentations of the issues by biased scholars. Brock's work will stand out as a model for future efforts on similar subjects. Andrej Cintura Riverside, CaUfomia �138 SLOVAKIA Josef Kalvoda Czechoslovakia's Role in Soviet Strategy Josef Kalvoda. CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S ROLE IN SOVIET STRATEGY. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978. ix, 381 pp. This is a good book with the wrong title. What Professor Kalvoda offers is a history of Czechoslovakia's attitude to and relations with the Soviet Union since World War I. Hence a more appropriate title would have been "Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union," a title general enough to cover the range and wealth of information meticulously assembled and presented. In fact, the author has done Western scholarship a service by examining this topic in depth; until now this subject has been dealt with piecemeal either in studies on the foreign policy of the First Czechoslovak Republic, or in the more recent studies on the liberalization process of Communist Czechoslovakia. The greater part of the study is devoted to an analysis of the attitudes and actions toward the Soviet Union of two of the three founders of the Czechoslovak state, namely T.G. Masaryk and Edvard Benes. Interspersed are chapters on the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the sovietization of the country. Needless to say, after 1948, the focus changes somewhat insofar as Czechoslovakia has become a satellite of the Soviet Union, and the relationship between the countries is on a completely different level. Still, given the fact that the leadership of Czechoslovakia sought to establish a new framework of relations with the Soviet Union in the liberalization process of 1968, especially on the ideological level, there is a thematic continuity that justifies the fifty-odd year analysis offered here. It is a pity that the author did not fully exploit this aspect of the topic and that his weakest chapters are the last three where he does suggest how Czechoslovakia has played a role in Soviet strategy since 1948 . This latter theme, interesting at it may be, does not tie in well with the preceding chapters and thus breaks up the unity of theme that had been evident, though not explicitly stated, up to that point. One of the interesting points that the author makes and that is generally absent in histories of Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union is the fact that during the Russian revolution th"ere existed a possibility of using the Czecho-Slovak Legion to smash the Bolsheviks. During the debate on this point, Karel Kramar, one of the Czech leaders, sug- �SLOVAKIA 139 \ gested that a free Czechoslovakia could exist only if there existed a democratic Russia. He urged that the Legion be used against the Bolsheviks to achieve this end. Masaryk disagreed; in fact, he urged early on the recognition of the Bolshevik regime and forbade the use of the Legion against the Red Army. While one cannot answer an historical if, one has to recognize that Kramar had been more perspications than Masaryk. In the interwar period, the attitudes to and relations with the Soviet Union were determined by Edvard Benes, the man to whom Kalvoda quite correctly also ascribes the responsibility for Czechoslovakia eventually becoming a Soviet satellite. The author shows in great detail how Benes gave in to the Soviet leadership and its satraps in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the war. The coup in February 1948 was merely an epilogue to a situation that had been dealt with in December 1943 when Benes, against British advice, signed a Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance, and Post-War Cooperation with the Soviet Union. The consequences need not be elaborated upon. The author left few stones unturned in his research. But what is more striking is his detachment from the subject matter, somehing that most Czech emigre scholars have rarely succeeded in achieving. Thus if one might find fault with the little attention he pays the Slovaks, at least he does not do so out of either indifference or deliberate slight. In fact, the topic does not call for an in-depth examination of Slovakia or the Slovaks; where they do play a role, the author presents the situation as directly as he does the rest of the subject. One has to remember that the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia, however deplorable, was always in the hands of the Czech elite, be it Benes in the First Republic or the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. Kalvoda is not insensitive to the Slovaks, and in his preface he states that he '' never subscribed to the theory of one 'Czechoslovak' nation ... / nor had / taken the existance of the Slovak nation for granted" (p . vii). This is borne out in the study, particularly when he deals with the Slovak Republic and Benes' s attitude toward the Slovak nation during the Second World War. One might suggest, however, that the author could have examined the issue of the federalization of Czechoslovakia and its link to Soviet theory and practice on the nationality problem . Federalization was the only reform that survived the normalization policy after the invasion of August 1968. Czech-Slovak relations have played an important part in Communist Czechoslovakia , and the Soviet Union has not been kept entirely out of them. This should have been analyzed. It is a pity, as was stated above, that the author chose an inappro- �140 SLOVAKIA priate title and thereby missed some opportunities of examining other topics germane to the thrust of his study. Nevertheless, it is a wellwritten and well-documented analysis. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada �SLOVAKIA 141 \ Doro·thea El Mallakh The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 Dorothea H. El Mallakh. THE SLOVAK AUTONOMY MOVEMENT, 1935-1939: A STUDY IN UNRELENTING NATIONALISM. "East European Monographs, No. LV." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1979. xvi, 260 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. In recent years we have seen the submission of several dissertations dealing with Slovak topics. Others are under preparation. This development is more than welcomed. The study of Slovakia has finally reached maturity and respectability in the Western scholarly community. It is no longer an appendix to the history of the Czechs - as much as we admired the serious and honest treatments by R.W. Seton-Watson and S. Harrison Thomson. Nor is it propagandistic pamphleteering by an assortment of enthusiasts and political refugees - even if we recognize their contributions to the popularization of Slovak annals. Now we are dealing with the fruits of archival research, some of which has been done in the best tradition of Occidental scholarship. In spite of its progress, however, Slovak historiography remains a part of the intellectual ghetto, the quarantine in which East European studies are kept in the United States. Snobbery and arrogance of "Big Nations Research" and of "Continental (i.e., West European) Topics" are a mirror of political realities. The small nations of Eastern Europe, captive in the clutches of major powers for most of their modem life, elicit little interest in the hearts and minds of a cohort of intellectual imperialists. Hence, the obscurity of Slovakia resembles the relative invisibility of other neighboring peoples. These factors are amplified by the shortsightedness and irresponsibility of some students of Slovak history. Partisan zeal and engaged scholarship color much of their writing and publication. In addition, some trained professionals and graduates of good schools continue to undermine the work of others. They preserve the aura of disrepute which cast much blame on historical writing about Slovakia for so long. To the old ills is now added a new one: the rush to publication. In spite of the severe conditions of the academic market, there is slight justification for publication of an unrevised dissertation. A good thesis does not necessarily make a book of quality. And some dissertations are less than good . Dr. El Mallakh studied under some of the best teachers of East �142 SLOVAKIA European history and submitted a competent dissertation. Her book left much to be desired, however. In her major thesis she advances the idea that unfulfilled, if just, national grievances by the Slovaks undermined the stability of the Czechoslovak Republic and assisted the Nazis in setting up the Slovak state. She argues that past historians, while discussing Czechoslovak and Slovak developments, usually "premissed on an anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist vantage point" (p. 11). This is not correct; arguments similar to El Mallakh's which recognized the pains of Slovak nationalism were advanced before she started to write her thesis. The title and topic of The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 are confusing, as the volume strives to encapsule the entire development of Slovak nationalism from the 19th century to the present. By renaming Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSPP) with the title of Slovak Autonomy Movement, El Mallakh made the "tudaks" (an expression not existing in the book) into the only bearers of Slovak nationalism. Consequently, she dwarfed the demands and complaints of the Slovak people into the simplistic political program of the single albeit strongest - party. Autonomy was the HSPP 's answer to two of the major problems the Slovak people faced in Czechoslovakia: the lack of recognition of their national individuality and Prague' s centralistic rule over the entire state. The doctrine of a single Czechoslovak nation, which El Mallakh barely mentioned and left unanalyzed, caused significant harm since it offended the mental and emotional consciousness of the Slovak people. El Mallakh apparently was not aware of the 19th-century Czech and Slovak roots of this doctrine. Jan Kollar, the great prophet of Czechoslovakism, appears nowhere in the book. Centralism constituted a serious problem also for day-to-day life during the First Republic. The author discussed this aspect, frequently with skill and erudition. Unfortunately , she failed to evaluate the reasons and long term effects of either Czechoslovakism or centralism on the state. Had she done so, she might perhaps have discovered that autonomy was not necessarily the most effective remedy for Slovakia's sores, but rather a shrewd political platform . As the author stated repeatedly , Slovakia overflowed with the mixed blessing of countless political parties. Some of them represented particular national-ethnic groups; others claizp.ed a territorial or professional character and aspired to speak for a variety of nationalities. Hlinka's People's Party and Razus's National Party were exclusively Slovak. Agrarians, Social Democrats, and Communists catered to a multi-national constituency. Of all the major parties represented in Slovakia and electing more than five members of parliament at any time, �SLOVAKIA 143 probably only the Social\ Democrats stood on an uncompromised Czechoslovak and centralistic platform. The eminently pragmatic Agrarians, although centralistically minded, were willing to compromise - as Milan Hodza later demonstrated. Many a Slovak Agrarian was as nationalistically inspired as any member of the HSPP. The Communists took a stand no less radical than the ":Cudaks." At times, the Communists would outdo Hlinka' s partisans in extremist antiPrague rhetoric. Singling out of one party at the expense of the others slants reality. If El Mallakh felt that the HSPP deserved preferential treatment, she fell short of explaining the obvious popular support it commanded. In her recurring habit, she relied too much on one of the two relevant books of Juraj Kramer without elaborating the issue in depth. There still exists a need for a basic social and sociological study of the HSPP, its territorial basis, and its economic and psychological background. Similarly, the exceptional role of the clergy in Slovakia's history was often noticed but without taking a closer look into the phenomenon. (El Mallakh does not seem to know that Martin Razus was a Protestant pastor, besides having been a poet and writer.) She should also have explained the fluctuating vote of support for the HSPP. The author provided many new details and insights in her description of the HSPP political development but was not courageous enough to venture outside her closely set perimeter. The study obscured so many issues that one wonders whether it was due to a deficiency in information or by purpose. While dealing with the 1933 Nitra festivities, for instance, the writer omitted the ":Cudak" cooperation with the Czech Fascists. The Nitra manifesto of these festivities, part of which is reprinted in the book (p. 60), was a common proclamation of the Czech and Slovak non-governmental right. She is also silent about the participation of French, Italian, and other Fascists in the 1936 conference of the HSPP. The close relations of the Sidor faction with Polish authorities was dealt with in a spotty fashion. The anti-Semitic outrages, the so-called Golemiada of fall 1937, were innocently introduced as "student agitation" (p. 84). There are many more examples of this kind. One of the reasons for the narrow treatment of a fascinating topic was the limited sources of her research. El Mallakh is very proud of the original documents she was provided with by the Prague archives. Her excitement is exaggerated. Several recent dissertations were prepared from Czechoslovak and Slovak, central and regional, archives. In fact, even this reviewer (horrible dictu/) was given access to Slovak archives in 1968 and supplied with mircofilmed documents . The use of archival �144 SLOVAKIA material does not liberate one from the inspection of other primary and secondary sources. Of the primary sources available in the United States, she is missing the Czechoslovak parliamentary procedures, journals like Slovak and Katolicke noviny, several weeklies, quarterlies, and other periodicals. Above all, a reliance on one sort of documentation, much of which originated in police and government offices, must limit its reliability. Regretably, El Mallakh was unwilling to undertake even a partial correction of her dissertation, or to increase her familiarity with Slovak matters through secondary sources . In spite of the late publication of the volume (in 1979, while the dissertation was submitted in 1972) , the bibliography lists nothing printed after 1971. The seventies have seen many new works appear on this subject in the West and in the East. The same series of monographs, which included El Mallakh 's book, carried earlier at least two other relevant publications. If the author was reluctant to update the manuscript, why did she not use the studies of others while preparing the original dissertation? Where are works by Derer, Hoensch, Lipscher, Sidor, Mamatey & Luza, to give but a few? I also have some doubts about the author's comprehension of Czech and Slovak language documents. The text recalls unknown localities such as "Spisske Kapitul" (p. 21; it should be Spisska Kapitula) or " Dolny Vestenic" (p. 84; it should be Dolne Vestenice). An eagle in Slovak is ' 'orol' ' while El Mallakh repeatedly used the Czech term ' ' orel. '' The name of a leading HSPP journal was given as Slovenskej Pravdy (p . 76 ; it should be Slovenska pravda). Spelling mistakes of names and locations were also noticed elsewhere . The book has twenty-two useful appendices . While mostly reprints from otherwise obtainable sources (many are from Macartney), they nonetheless provide a handy collection. Some of the appendices are of marginal importance for the volume , such as the list of Slovak state cabinet members and details on the federalization of Czechoslovakia. El Mallakh dealt with an important topic using heretofore unseen documents. Coming from a neutral and uncommited ethnic background, she has made a significant effort to present a balanced study. Unfortunately, she was not steeped enough in Slovakia's history and affairs, in social life , and in political culture , and therefore numerous issues and details eluded her. Her decisiqn to write a strictly political description based on narrowly defined sou\-ces resulted in a simplistic treatment of a complex topic . Yeshayahu Jelinek Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel �SLOVAKIA 145 Anthpny X. Sutherland Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia Anthony X. Sutherland. DR. JOZEF TISO AND MODERN SLOVAKIA. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. xii, 141 pp. Using Slovak, Czech, German, and English language sources, Dr. Sutherland presents a balanced and scholarly account of the life, career, accomplishments, and failures of the only president of the Slovak Republic. The author does not have anti-Czech, anti-Protestant, or antiCatholic biases, is neither a Slovak nationalist nor a "Czechoslovak," and approaches the subject matter with the detachment of an impartial observer and a non-involved historian. Needless to say, one cannot do justice to "Slovak Political Tradition " in fifteen pages of printed material; yet Sutherland gives the most essential data on the Great Moravian Empire, its collapse, and the centuries-long life of the Slovaks under Magyar rule. In the nineteenth century two traditions emerged among the educated Slovaks: one represented by Jan Kollar and P . J. Safarik, and the other by Cudovit Stur. The former favored closer cooperation with the Czechs; the latter emphasized a distinct Slovak national identity. However, all the Slovak leaders realized that the struggle for survival of the small nation had to be led on all fronts, including the cultural, economic, and political. In Andrej Hlinka the Slovaks had an articulate political leader who fought for justice for his nation both before and after World War I. The brevity of the first chapter may be responsible for some errors, such as on pp. 18 and 19. In 1916 in Paris the Czech National Council was formed by the two Deputies in the Vienna parliament, T.G. Masaryk and Josef Duerich, with Dr. Edvard Benes as its secretary. Milan R. Stefanik was a co-opted member of the council. On the insistence of American Slovaks the name of the organization was changed to Czecho-Slovak National Council. The Kiev Memorandum was not signed by ''Russian Slovaks and Czecho-Slovak Legionnaires '' but by the representatives of the Alliance of the Czecho-Slovak Associations in Russia, Gustav Kosik for the Slovak League of America, and Stefanik and Duerich for the Paris-based council. These minor inaccuracies, however, do not subtract from the overall value of the book. The author makes it clear that Hlinka was loyal to the Republic established in 1918 and that he objected merely to its anti-Catholic poli- �146 SLOVAKIA cies , the denial of the promised autonomy for the Slovaks, and the behavior of some Czechs in Slovakia. Likewise Dr. Jozef Tiso, with reservations similar to Hlinka's, supported the First Republic until its collapse in October of 1938. In September of 1938 President Benes refused to fight for the territorial integrity of the state , and in March of 1939 the rump Second Republic could not be defended. It would seem that if Benes could give up strategic parts of the state without the consent of parliament and in violation of the Constitution, then no one from his camp should blame Tiso for yielding to pressures in March of 1939 and choosing Slovak independence instead of letting Slovakia be occupied either by Hungary or Germany. Sutherland pictures Tiso as a moderate Slovak patriot whose ideology was a mixture of organic nationalism and Christian socialism. It comes through, however, that despite his ideological-tinged rhetorics in practical politics, Tiso was a pragmatist who made concessions, compromises, and mistakes. It was he who convinced Hlinka in 1935 that the Slovak People's Party should help to elect Benes as president of the state. As it happened, in conversations with Stalin in December of 1943 - long before the Slovak uprising in Banska Bystrica - Benes included Tiso among the Slovaks whom he selected for execution after the war. Ideologist or pragmatist, Tiso, as his nation, was caught in a whirl of events which he could not control. Indeed, a small nation cannot always be the master of its own destiny, as the nations of East Central Europe have learned the hard way. Sutherland's book has accomplished its purpose. It is well-written, concise, brief, well-documented, and easy to read. It has enriched the historiography on Slovakia in English and has made a positive contribution to both scholarship and to our understanding of the short-lived Slovak Republic and its only president. Both students of Central European affairs and interested general readers will benefit greatly by reading it. Josef Kalvoda Saint Joseph College ~est Hartford, Connecticut \ �SLOVAKIA 147 \ Yeshayahu Jelinek The Parish Republic Yeshayahu Jelinek. THE PARISH REPUBUC: HUNKA 'S SLOVAK PEOPLE'S PARTY 1939-1945. "East European Monographs, No. XIV ." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1976. viii, 206 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. Professor Yeshayahu Jelinek's The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party is a revision of a dissertation on the politics and philosophy of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1939 to 1945, submitted at Indiana University. It is one of the first scholarly studies in English of the period in Slovak history from 1939 to 1945 written by someone not directly involved in the history of the Slovak state. In this book Jelinek examines in detail the internal history of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, its factions, ideology, and history. By dealing with each of the party' s groups - the clericals, "N astupists," Sidorites, and Hlinka guards, he provides us with an excellent picture of the political background of the Slovak state. Also treated in detail is Populist ideology as it affected all aspects of Slovak life: religion, nationalism , government, and economics. However, if one expects to find a comprehensive history of the Slovak state or detailed biographical information on any of its leading figures, one will be somewhat disappointed . Jelinek 's book is essentially a study of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, so the selection of the title, The Parish Republic , is a bit misleading. Although there is much information on the internal politics of the Populists , there is little on such topics as the Slovak Resistance Movement and the Slovak National Uprising (whose importance Jelinek greatly overemphasizes) and a disappointing, unsystematic account of the Jewish question. In addition to making occasional exaggerations , Jelinek commits a grave error in frequently maintaining that the Slovak state received little popular support . Such generalizations regarding acceptance or rejection of the Slovak state by the people are difficult to document and almost impossible to prove . In his account on " I.:udak" ideology Jelinek frequently uses the term " clerical fascism, " but nowhere does he offer a suitable definition of clerical fascism , or at least what he understands by it. At the end of the book one is left with a confusing picture as to exactly what type of �148 SLOVAKIA state Jelinek thought the Slovak Republic was - whether it was truly fascist or simply an authoritarian state with fascist trappings. The work would have been improved if Jelinek had compared Hlinka's Slovak People's Party with other rightist parties of the period: Rexists, Action Francaise, the Iron Guard, and others. The book is superbly documented, though one may argue that Jelinek relied too heavily on Czechoslovak Communist historians, whose interpretations are predictable, and on German documents. In summary, the book is a good, though somewhat confusing, account of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, its history, and ideology. Despite Jelinek's occasional exaggerations and general negative attitude toward the Populists, the book should be read, though with caution, by anyone searching for a better understanding of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party during one of the most controversial periods of Slovak history. Anthony X. Sutherland Stoney Point, New York �SLOVAKIA 149 Andrea Rebichini Chiesa, societ,p e stato in Cecoslovachia Andrea Rebichini. CHIESA, SOCIETA E STATO IN CECOSLOVACHIA, II: 1968-1978. Padova: DESEO-Liviana, 1979. 86 pp. In his two-volume book on the Church, society, and state in Czechoslovakia, Andrea Rebichini describes the religious situation of that country during the period of the last three decades. The first volume , published in 1977, covers the period from 1948 to 1968, and the present volume treats the period from 1968 to 1978. During this relatively short span of years, Czechoslovakia went through many turbulent events which left deep scars on its people. In 1948 there was a ruthless take-over by the Communists ; then, in the late sixties, the liberalization of the Communist rule symbolized by Alexander Dubcek; in August 1968 the brutal occupation of the country by Soviet troops, followed by the so-called "normalization," i.e., by the return to the old Stalinist methods of suppression and tyranny. The vicissitudes of Czechoslovakia have attracted the attention of many scholars, writers of political history, and various reporters . Rebichini is mostly interested in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia during these three decades. He is familiar with the vast literature on postwar Czechoslovakia and has succeeded in putting the Church-State problems of that country into the larger framework of the whole political spectrum of Eastern Europe, dominated by the Soviet Union. In the volume under review, Rebichini uses mostly documentary material coming from Czechoslovakia and translated into Italian by CESEO (Centro Studi Europa Orientale), published monthly in Bologna. Since these documents speak for themselves, Kebichini does not give long analyses or commentaries on them. Clarity, objectivity, and succinctness are the main values of Rebichini' s book. At the beginning of the second volume the author gives the most characteristic aspects of the Dubcek liberalization of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Catholic Church, as well as other denominations, grasped at this opportunity and quickly developed a feverish activity to free themselves from the shackles of the previous twenty years. For the Catholics, until then cutoff from the Church at large , it meant an attempt to catch up with the reform movement of the Vatican Council and the new theological trends in the post-conciliar �150 SLOVAKIA Church. Bishops, priests, religious, and lay people took up this task in Czechoslovakia. Not even the Soviet occupation could immediately stop this endeavor. According to Rebichini, the turning point in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia was the restoration of the organization of priests collaborating with the neo-Stalinist regime of Gustav Husak. During the Dubcek era the former pro-government organization of the Peace Movement of the Catholic Clergy totally collapsed. Toward the end of 1971 it was resurrected under the name of the Federation of the Catholic Clergy - ''Pacem in Terris.' ' Under the guidance and with the support of the new regime, this organization quickly resumed the role of the previous Peace Movement and gradually took control of the Church organization in Czechoslovakia. It seems that because of the growing influence of this organization, most of the Holy See's recent efforts to alleviate the difficult situation of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia are being frustrated. In 1975 the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Agreement, thereby .affirming its commitment to human rights, including the freedom of religion. But nothing changed in the course of repression and persecution of those citizens who tried to follow this prerogative of freedom in the religious field. Still, there was a group of brave intellectuals, most of them in the Czech lands, who publicly demanded from the government that it adhere to its commitments to the free exercise of human rights, including the right of free religious expression. The promoters of human rights in Czechoslovakia are working under the name "Charter 77." The Communist regime in Czechoslovakia immediately began a frantic campaign against the signers of "Charter 77" by organizing public protests and collecting signatures against them. Interestingly , almost incredibly, the Church hierarchy, now infiltrated by members of the "Pacem in Terris" and probably under very crude pressure from the government, joined the protest campaign against the signers of "Charter 77. " This, according to Rebichini, is an ominous sign of how terribly the Church of Czechoslovakia is presently enslaved by the Communist regime. Rebichini concludes his treatise on the religious situation in Czechoslovakia with the election of John Paul II as Pope - the first Slavic Pope, the first Pope from behind the ''Iron Curtain.'' He ex: presses the hope that this act of Divine Providence may deeply affect the Church in the satellite countries of Eastern Europe. TeQ_dorik J. Zubek, O.F.M. . Easton, Pennsylvania �SLOVAKIA 151 Vsevlad J. Gajdos Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike Vsevlad J. Gajdos. FRANTISKANI V SLOVENSKEJ UTERAT0RE and Teodorik J. Zubek, SLOVENSKl FRANTISKANI V AMERIKE. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1979. 252 pp. This study provides the specialist interested in Slovak culture, civilization, and religious history with a lot of information on Franciscans of Slovak extraction. It covers the period from the seventeenth century to the present. In the first section, Vsevlad J. Gajdos included a brief survey of Franciscan history and activities in Slovakia. He also commented concisely on Slovak ethnic consciousness among Franciscans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . Then he described the major struggle of these Franciscans to insure their ethnic distinctiveness and the survival of their religious order. Virtually all the facts presented by Gajdos on this matter appear together for the first time and in a publication outside of Czechoslovakia. These points of information had previously been scattered among various journals published over a long period of time and primarily authored by Gajdos . After the delineation of Franciscan history, activities, and ethnic struggle follow the biographies and bibliographies of one hundred twenty-five Franciscans. In a number of instances, Gajdos has corrected various biographical errors on some of these Franciscans . A number of significant contributions by some of them have also been saved from oblivion or obscurity. For instance, the four large volumes of sermons by Bajan as well as a number of his musical compositions are preserved here . The role of Teodul Zelenic in the Bemolak polemic, Anti-Fandly, is also well-presented. Even the probable identity of the pseudonymous researcher , S. M. Zilinsky, is substantively argued. Among the various Slovak Franciscans covered are authors of literary works, writers of devotional books , sermons, and retreat exhortations; authors of philosophical and theological treatises, textbooks, and polemical writings; and composers of numerous musical compositions . �152 SLOVAKIA · Abrahamffy, Pascha, Bajan, Gavlovic, Simko, Smrtnik, Gazda, Roskovsky, Marmankovic, and Presl readily stand out, but also and especially Celestin Lepacek and Gajdos himself. For, like Gajdo§, Lepacek has also written biographies and works on a number of Slovak Franciscans; his research on Gavlovic's writings would alone guarantee his place in the history of Slovak scholarship. With Lepacek's and his own research, Gajdos has been able to enhance substantially the quality of the biographies and bibliographies. Gajdo§ has concluded his section of this study with concise descriptions of Franciscan publications in Slovakia and some further bibliographical material from Rizner and his own years of research. The American section of the study was authored by Teodorik Zubek and has the same format as that portion written by Gajdos. There is first a survey of Slovak Franciscan history and activities in America, followed by the biographies and bibliographies of twelve prominent Slovak Franciscans who either emigrated to or were born in the United States. Especially noteworthy among this material is the bibliography of the poet Rudolf Dilong; the reference for the unfortunately brief article by Bartolomej Koltner on the Slovak dictionary of 1648; and the reference for Zubek's dissertation done in Slovakia, "Zasahy Jozefa II do zivota slovenskych franti§kanov." The latter appeared as a long article under the title, ''Zasahy osvietenstva do §tudia uhorskych frantiskanov" in Sbornik spolku Zahorskych akademikov so sidlom v Malackach, 1932-1942, II, Trnava; a copy of this work can be found in the library of the University of California, Los Angeles. A number of typographical errors could readily be corrected in a reprinting of this book. The bibliography of Gavlovic is not complete; but, in his research, Lepacek has given as complete a list as is presently possible. In the Gavlovic bibliography there are also a number of minor errors with regard to the number of pages in certain works. In the numerous bibliographical references, there may also be some points in error that will come to light as scholars are able to study personally the various materials listed in the book. On the whole, though, this study is a fairly comprehensive presentation of Slovak Franciscan writings and musical compositions. Gajdos and Zubek have provided the Slovak specialist with another primary reference work tha,,t complements those of Rizner, Misianik, and Ormis. Perhaps, somedat, an E11tglish version of this study will be published for the sake of a larg'er scholarly audience. GeraldJ. Sabo, S.J. John Carroll University Cleve/,and, Ohio �SLOVAKIA 153 \ Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps. Slovenske vystahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, Ill SLOVENS/a VYS'l'AHOVALECTVO. DOKUMENTY I: DO ROKU 1918. Compiled by Franti§ek Bielik and Elo Rako§. Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1969. 404 pp. ; DOKUMENTY II; 1919-1939. Bielik and Rako§. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975. 349 pp.; DOKUMENTY ill: KORESPONDENCIA Z ROKOV 1893-1939. Bielik. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1976. 314 pp. Students of Slovak immigration history will welcome the publication of Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo . These three volumes , devoted to the migration of Slovaks from their homeland, reproduce 380 documents deposited in various depositories in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria. This collection gives scholars living outside of these countries access to materials otherwise not readily available to them. One of the compilers' aim is to depict the underlying social, political, and economic factors that spurred Slovak emigration in the years from roughly 1879 to 1939 (Vol. I, pp. 5, 6; Vol II, p . 5). The selection of documents also places Slovak emigration within the broader context of the history of Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus, the compilers include documents that demonstrate the impact of Slovak emigration on these homeland countries. In addition, the collection contains documents concerning Slovak immigrant life. Some of these items are official reports; others were generated by Slovak immigrants living in various countries, primarily the United States. Although the documents touch upon a myriad of subjects, the unifying theme of the three volumes is clear: emigration is an important aspect of the history of the Slovak people. Volume I focuses on Slovak emigration from 1879 to 1918 and deals primarily with the causes and consequences of that movement. This volume contains newspaper descriptions of contemporary conditions in Hungary that stimulated emigration. It includes a large number of official and local reports which analyze the causes of emigration, especially from particular regions in northern Hungary. The reports describe attempts by Hungarian officials to stop Slovak emigration. They also reveal a concern over the growing nationalism among Slovak immigrants in the United States. Because of the preponderance of official reports, �154 SLOVAKIA nearly all of the documents in this volume are in Hungarian; only twenty of the 144 items are in Slovak. The second volume covers Slovak emigration from 1919 to 1939. Slightly over two-thirds of its 114 documents are in Slovak, and the remaining are in Czech. Because the compilers try to present materials that describe the underlying causes of Slovak emigration , Volume Il provides information for scholars interested in studying Czechoslovakia between the two World Wars. For example, there are materials outlining the labor, industrial, and economic problems that plagued Czechoslovakia during the postwar years. Unemployment and unfavorable economic conditions encouraged emigration; but, since entry into the United States was restricted, Slovaks turned to other countries . Occasionally the Czechoslovak government tried to stop this exodus . However , the documents provide evidence that the government also saw emigration, and the temporary migration of laborers to nearby European countries , as a means to alleviate some of the country's economic and unemployment problems. In addition, official reports describe the conditions of Slovak immigrants in various countries including: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France , Germany, Mexico , Uruguay, the United States, and others . Volume ill reproduces 122 documents for the period 1893 to 1939. This collection is actually a supplement to the first two volumes and includes more materials written by Slovak immigrants. In fact, almost all of the documents were penned by Slovaks living in the United States. These items addres.s a wide variety of topics ranging from descriptions of Slovak nationalist activities in America to mere notes requesting that European Slovaks write articles for fraternal publications. The documents describe the various activities of American Slovak organizations during World War I and reveal their continued interest in Czechoslovakia after the war. Bielik and Rakos have complied a valuable collection of documents . These documents are useful both to students of Slovak immigration and to scholars interested in the social, economic, and political history of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus , the volumes have a use that extends beyond the study of Slovak immigration . The compilers have designed these volures for scholars. A complete bibliographic citation accompanies each docUtnent. Bielik and Rakos also provide editorial assistance by expfaining unfamiliar references mentioned in the documents . The compilers adopted a chronological format , but some researchers might prefer that they had chosen to categorize the documents topically. A topical approach would have �SLOVAKIA \ 155 lessened the need to plod through the volumes for specific types of documents. However, the compilers do include brief descriptions of every entry in each Table of Contents that facilitate the task of finding desired types of documents. There is no cumulative index, but the indexes included in each volume are useful for locating people, places, and organizations cited in the documents. However, one wishes the compilers had consistently listed persons' first names in the indices and had made more of an effort to provide subject entries. The compilers introduce each document with a brief Slovak and English precis. These precis are helpful but, as is usually the case with annotated descriptions, they do not reveal the variety of information contained within the documents. In general, the Slovak precis are more complete than the English versions. In addition, the English translations are generally dismal. Besides containing numerous grammatical and spelling errors, the English versions often are imprecise and misleading. Similar types of errors can be found in the footnotes. For example, readers will look in vain for a work cited as authored by "Louis Grune Bald" (Vol. I, p. 25). The proper citation should be "Emily Greene Balch." Balch is again slighted in the bibliography at the end of Volume ill where she is listed as "E. Green Bolek" (p. 278). Moreover, Bielik should have described the bibliography as listing '' selected '' works because it is incomplete. It is also dated. With the exception of a few articles printed in fraternal publications, the list does not include works on Slovak immigration published in the United States; nor is it complete for those published in Europe. The deficiencies evident in the bibliography may well be indicative of other shortcomings of these volumes. The compilers explain that while there are numerous documents in Europe archives pertaining to Slovak emigration, they have chosen the " most typical" (Vol. I, p. 6). Yet, although Volume ill includes 122 documents written primarily by Slovak immigrants, there is not a single letter or publication by Father Stefan Furdek. In fact, although the compilers make references to the First Catholic Slovak Union and note it as founded by Furdek, they fail to mention that he was a priest (Vol. I, p. 152). And, with but few exceptions, there is little reference to Slovak clergymen or their writings. Moreover, lengthy surveys of Slovak immigration which introduce Volumes I and ill discuss Slovak immigrant organizations, but there is no analysis of immigrant churches. Thus, this reviewer wonders if the items reproduced are perhaps the ''most typical'' of a select group of documents that ignore subjects such as religion that may be controversial or unpopular in present-day Czechoslovakia . Finally , one may wish to qualify Bielik 's claims regarding docu- �156 SLOVAKIA ments in Volume ill. According to Bielik, the correspondence in this volume describes the "daily struggle for social justice" and "work" of Slovaks living in foreign lands (p. 6). However, most of the letters reproduced were written by prominent Slovak immigrants usually active in the various national organizations. As a result, the correspondence typically describes the life of Slovak immigrants as seen through the eyes of these more prominent men, not as it was experienced by ordinary laborers toiling in American mines and factories and living in tenements or company housing. Moreover, the correspondence offers little insight into the life of Slovak immigrant women. Despite their shortcomings, the three volumes which comprise Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo offer a valuable collection of documents. No student of immigration history can be unhappy when documents maintained in European archives are published and made available for research. But researchers can be unhappy with the possibility that the criteria for selecting documents reflect the biases of the compilers and their government instead of a concern for balanced historical scholarship. June Granatir Alexander Cincinnati, Ohio �SLOVAKIA 157 \Jasil S. Kohan The Sorrows of Marienka Vasil S. Kohan THE SORROWS OF MARIENKA . Middletown, Pennsylvania: EMPAC!, 1979. 201 pp. Too often the Slovak immigrant woman has been depicted as either the long-suffering heroine - bearing children and losing them, making do with the barest of material comforts, and contending with a husband who spends ample time at the krtma (saloon) - or else she is the punitive, angry eminence in the home, doing her duty, saying her rosaries but making everyone suffer for her sacrifices. In Vasil Koban's The Sorrows of Marienka we see another kind of Slovak woman, one that modern women can identify with as well as stare matky (grandmothers) can admire. Indeed, any woman that can march into a Slovak krtma in search of her errant husband, set the place on fire, and never utter a word of apology could earn a place in any feminist Hall of Fame. We follow Marienka from a wedding in Slovakia she did not seek through the death of her husband, who is killed while pulling out the pillars of coal in a depleted mine, one of the most dangerous jobs. Along the way, we find her to be alternately strong and tender, pure and lusty, humorous and sad, tom by doubts and quite sure of herself. In other words, a whole person - no idealized portrait is painted by Kohan, in his first, and let's hope, not last novel. What pleased and excited me about this book was its raw power, its insights into our people , its clear-eyed view of what lives the Slovak immigrants lived on both sides of the Atlantic. A wife backs up her husband 's lie that a wolf bit him when it was only a testy sow; a mother-in-law despises the woman who takes her precious son from her; a wife jumps into a coal car to show her husband how quickly it can be unloaded; Slovaks swindle an unsuspecting and ill Slovak out of a week's pay, posing as mine representatives; still another Slovak absconds with the seven thousand dollars that was to start a new church; a young son, put in the cloakroom as a punishment, eats all the lunches - these are some poignant moments in the Kohan book. Real people, real circumstances where the spirit triumphs in the crucible of daily living. �158 SLOVAKIA A taste of Koban's lovely, native style: "It didn't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle. The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down. In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads on the shoulders of their wool jackets, little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth. ''By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds. The curious light made everything look hollow, the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. "Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street, swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. " She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead, and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she 'd bound in her braids yesterday. " It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else had changed, they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark, curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet , stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church , and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things." As second, third, and fourth-generation Slovaks pursue the American dream , buying their four-bedroom houses , gaining their college degrees , wearing shirts and ties , and learning which fork to use , I would caution them to pause for a moment and look back. Look back, if they can, to see if they know anything about what their forebears experienced . For I think that the dacron polyester world that we so eagerly court, the fleeting values and the soft life, this ravenous hunger we have to be middle-class Americans is sadly misplaced. We have pushed aside the Marienkas of our families , we have not taken the time both to listen to them and to record what they have to say . When a dozen Vasil Kobans rise up - nqt professional writers, but people with a love , respect , and yet a disciplined and discriminating eye turned toward their parents and grandparents - and all of us can fe ast on the books they produce , then I, for one , will be less critical �SLOVAKIA 159 of the headlong quest for Eissimilation, acceptance, and sameness that haunts ethnic groups, ours certainly included. We Slovaks do not have a body of literature about the immigrant experience. We need it more than we need a legion of accountants and computer programmers; we need it if we are to regain our very souls. Paul Wilkes New York City, New York �160 SLOVAKIA Megles, Stolarik & Tybor Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor. SLOVAK AMERICANS AND THEIR, COMMUNITIES OF CLEVELAND. Edited by Karl Bonutti. With an Introduction by Michael Novak. "Ethnic Heritage Studies Monograph Series." Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University, 1978. 217 pp. The Cleveland, Ohio area is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers of Slovaks in America. As is unfortunately the case with other major Slovak-American communities, the Cleveland Slovaks have not received much scholarly attention. The only monograph solely devoted to them is Jan Pankuch's Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovcikov, which was published in 1930 and is now outdated. And although Josef Barton's Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950, published in 1975, does analyze the social history of Cleveland's Slovaks in comparison with other ethnic groups, the book does not provide an overall and up-to-date review of the Cleveland Slovak communities. Given the fact that the volume under review was produced under the auspices of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program of Cleveland State University and with partial support from the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Education, Health, and Welfare, one might have expected a fresh, comprehensive, in-depth study of Cleveland's Slovaks. Regrettably, this is not the case. Neither the book's title, nor editor Karl Bonutti's preface, nor Michael Novak's introduction, nor even the "summary" provides the reader with a clear idea of the purpose of the book. What we are offered here is a melange of ''essays'' of varying quality covering a wide range of topics relating to Slovaks in Europe, the United States, and Cleveland. The work is divided into four main parts consisting of twenty-six chapters - "Old World Origins"; "New World Beginnings"; "Organizations and Contributions of Slovak-Americans"; and "The Slovak Community of Cleveland'' - and ten appendices (none of which is referred to in the text). Curiously, the authors of the component parts are not identified. This might not have been possible, for one gets the impression from the inexplicable changes of s~le within individual sec- �SLOVAKIA 161 tions that the work of one author was at times pieced together with that of another. Although a certain amount of unevenness is to be expected in a multi-authored publication, careful editing can often alleviate this problem. Evidence of such editorial control is slight. Constant repetition and overlapping, internal contradictions, the excessive number and short length of chapters , and generally poor organization mar the text. Especially disturbing is the mishandling of Slovak words . Diacritical marks are sometimes omitted; christian names are rendered indiscriminately in either Slovak or English; and clumsy phonetic approximations in English are provided for many but not all Slovak terms . Whoever wrote the section on the history of the Slovaks in the Old World does not seem to be very well acquainted with Slovak or European history. "Austria-Hungary" is more than once referred to as having existed before 1867; the Thirty Years' War is placed in the eighteenth century; and ' 'expressions of / Slovak / national consciousness" are claimed to have been present "quite early in the 17th century" (p. 24). The significance of Protestantism and of the Czech language for the Slovaks is almost totally ignored; Kollar,Safarik, and Stur are not identified as Lutherans, nor is it revealed that they wrote in Czech. Old-fashioned filiopietism rears its head in the section on Slovak immigrants - four pages are devoted to the mysterious '' Slovak Revolutionary War hero," Major Polerecky, who was born in France and whose connections with Slovaks and Slovak consciousness were extremely tenuous, if they existed at all. The section on Cleveland's Slovaks, although perhaps the best contribution, is also disappointing. Too much material relating to Slovak-Americans in general is included, as well as mundane personal reminiscences of one author; and there is scanty treatment of the Cleveland Slovak communities beyond World War II. One wonders why this book was published. In attempting to cover so many topics it in fact does not do justice to even one. Although the book contains a wealth of factual information, most of it can be found better presented in existing works. And the lack of footnotes and a bibliography considerably reduces its value. We have reached the stage where there are competent scholars capable of interpreting the Slovak-American experience and opportunities to make the results of their research available to the American public. In light of this fact, there should be no excuse for such an inferior publication as Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. ThomasD. Marzik (Mrazik) Saint Joseph 's University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ��SLOVAKIA 163 \ Contributors SONYA JASON is a writer who lives and works in California . She is a second-generation Slovak-American from Pennsylvania. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Indiana University, completed his graduate work at the University of Michigan. He is an expert on interwar Slovakia and has written numerous articles on this subject. STANISLA V J. KIRSCH BA UM is Associate Professor of Political Science at Glendon College, York University. A graduate of the Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, and the Sorbonne, he has published widely in the history and politics of Czechoslovakia in modern times (1939-1980). VASIL S. KOBAN is a writer living and working in Florida . He hails from a Slovak-Rusyn family that settled in Pennsylvania. PAUL R. MAGOCSI, a graduate of Princeton University, holds the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the world's leading authority on the Rusyns and has written the most authoritative books and articles on this ethnic group. HOW ARD F. STEIN, Associate Professor of Medical-Psychiatric Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, received his Ph .D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972 . He has written a large number of books and articles on Slovaks and other ethnic groups in the United States. ��SLOVAKIA 165 Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the managing editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate , typed doublespaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced, numbered, and placed at the end of the paper. Text and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers . Proper orthography and diacritical marks must be supplied for all foreign words. Manuscripts will not be returned unless specifically requested and postage is provided. Books for review are to be sent to the managing editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the managing editor. They should send a curriculum vitae with their request. When writing their reviews they should try to answer the following questions: What was the author's purpose in writing this book? What was the theme? What methods did the author use? What did he (she) conclude? This can then be followed by criticism and observations. Normally the reviews should not exceed three double-spaced, typewritten pages. All bibliographic information (author, full title, publisher, place of publication, price, and number of pages) should be provided by the reviewer. ��Printed By JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. ���EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK, ESQ. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland, Ohio JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS, ESQ. Vice Presidents DANIEL F. TANZONE ANNE Z. SAROSY Executive Committee: Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J. Krajsa, Louise M. Yash, Cecelia Sarocky, Joseph R. Kristofik, George J. Kostelnik Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M. Vizza, President Regional Vice-Presidents: George Lupjan - New York, New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania Joseph Ondis - Ohio David Zelenak - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois, Indiana Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin, Western States John Hvasta - Washington, D.C., Southern States Stanislav Duris Auditors: Anna Blahusiak Joseph Valencik SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 102,000 THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 100,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. - Membership 50,000 THE NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa . - Membership 21,000 THE LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 16,500 THE PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 10,000 SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa, F.I.C., President SLOVAK AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) , \ JEDNOTA (circulation 40,000) NARODNE NOVINY (circulatio~ 15,000) FRATERNALLY YOURS, ZENS KA JEDNOTA (circulation 35,000) SLOVAK v AMERIKE (circulation 1,800) KATOLICKY SOKOL (circulation 20,000) BRATSTVO (circulation7,000) PR IA TEL DIETOK (circulation 6,000) ZORNICKA (circulation 5,000) SLOVAKIA $6.00 per annum Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource 1980-81, Vol. 29 Description An account of the resource Vol. 29 (No. 53-54), 1980-81. 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 1980-81 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 REVIEWS SLOVAKIA 135 ' Peter Brock The Slovak National Awakening Peterirock. THE SLOVAK NATIONAL AWAKENING: AN ESSAY IN THE INTELLECTUAL HISTORY OF EAST CENTRAL EUROPE. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1976. x, 104 pp . This three-chapter monograph with extensive notes, bibliography, and index presents the intellectual growth ' ' of an idea, the Slovak idea of nationality" (p.x). Written primarily to fill a gap on "which scarcely any reliable literature exists in English" (ibid.), Professor Brock's study does precisely that - non-English subsidiary sources are evaluated, unsubstantiated claims of biased scholarship are pointed out, and perennial misunderstandings of specific historical issues are put in proper perspective. With the exception of a few flaws that will be listed below, the book is well-organized and written in a style that favorably ties the author's learning with his common sense. The main thrust of the work, as the author has emphasized at the very outset of the text, was to be found in the interrelationship of the concept of Slovak "cultural-linguistic nationhood" to the concepts of natio hungarica, on the one hand, and the " Czechoslovak idea, " on the other. Slovak national identity, the first component of the uneasy alliance , grew up in its linguistic aspect more or less directly from indigenous traditions, while its scholarly-cultural tenets were repeatedly reexamined under Magyar and Czech influences. Thus one could say that the literature of the Cyrilo-Methodian era had a negligible impact on the Slovak vernacular. Biblittina - almost sacred in Slovak Lutheran religious usage , especially after the Battle of White Mountain (1620) did influence the Slovak vernacular development, but far less than even the most recent , relatively restrained, scholarship has suggested. The so-called Jesuit Slovak, essentially " an amalgam , of several dialects , heavily influenced by Czech, and . . . used by / educated I Protestants as well as Catholics" (p . 6), made no impact on the common speech of the masses whatsoever. In turn the dialect spoken in southwestern Slovakia attained a limited acceptance as a ' ' Slovak literary language " due to the efforts of the Catholic priests Anton Bernolak, Juraj Fandly, and Jan Holly. However, only the dialect of central Slovakia propagated by the Protestant scholar and philosopher, :Cudovit 136 SLOVAKIA Stur, gained the full support of the Slovaks and eventually became the basis for a Slovak literary language. Slovak scholarly-cultural pursuits - as hinted above - were to a great extent products of the cultural and political tensions within central Europe . Natio hungarica , despite its lofty official attributes, was in reality a misnomer, denoting an alliance between the historical determination of the nation-state and Magyar political aspirations. Essentially a shield for aristocratic privileges in the pre-Josephinist era, it became a vehicle for repressive measures against non-Magyar ethnic groups in later decades. The Slovak approach to the concept of natio hungarica underwent a full range of changes from the mytho-historical point of view of Juraj Papanek and Juraj Sklenar in its earlier version to a pragmatic-negative standpoint of the Sturites in its latest variant. The Great Moravian Empire, according to Papanek and Sklenar, was a Slovak national state. The Slovaks , Sklenar claimed, formed after its downfall a voluntary and equal partnership, a natio hungarica, "with the newly arrived Magyars" (p . 8) . In contrast, Kollar 's " pro-Czechoslovak" group ceased to honor the idea of political-cultural union with the Magyars around 1830, while the Sturites refused ever to recognize it in any form. The idea of the socalled Czechoslovak national unity has lingered in one or another shape in some minds up to the present time. However, during the eleven-century long Magyar occupation of the Slovak territory the ties between the Czechs and Slovaks ' 'remained confined to comparatively small sections of the intelligentsia . . . the Slovak peasants and the artisans . . . possessed scarcely any national or even ethnic consciousness that went beyond an elemental love of their mother tongue, usually the only language they could speak'' (p. 20). A stronger interest in the " Czechoslovak idea" came about between 1820 and 1840 when Jan Kollar used it as a bridge between the motley assortment of various Slavic idioms and his axiomatic philosophy of Slavdom. Slavdom, in Kollar ' s visionary system, was but a single nation containing four literary languages - Russian, Polish, lliyrian, and Czechoslovak - that were " worthy" to have a distinct status . All other " smaller" Slavic languages were, by this logic, " unworthy" of a separate existence and were to be channelled into the nearest Slavic idiom. The Slovak language was supposed to be absorbed into Czech. Brock' s study is a well-balanced and honest treatment of one of the most difficult subjects of scholarship. It undmi btedly adds a new dimension to a better understanding of related -ethno-political issues treated , for example , by Robert W. Seton-Watson in his Racial Problems in Hungary (reprinted by Howard Fertig, New York, 1972) , by SLOVAKIA 137 \ Gilbert L. Oddo in his Slovakia and Its People (published by R. Speller, New York, 1960), and by Joseph F. Zacek in his essay, "Nationalism in Czechoslovakia" (published in Sugar and Lederer, eds., Nationalism in Eastern Europe, University of Washington Press, Seattle, 1969; see especially pp. 166-167 and 186-195). On the other hand, Brock's condensed treatment of the entire issue does not give full credii to his familiarity with the problem. Had the book been more broadly conceived (let us say by a treatment of the ''growth'' of Slovak cultural-linguistic nationalism after 1918), it would have considerably contributed to the study of parallels and differences between Magyar and Czech standpoints toward Slovak cultural endeavors from a new angle. My minor but specific objections are directed against the following defects in the work: (1) the use of non-English constructions in the text when English equivalents were available and their non-English counterparts could easily be incorporated in extensive notes; (2) too many errors in non-English references included in the "Notes;" and (3) the "Notes" and "Bibliography" were set in uneven-line endings while the text itself was presented in regular "book-line" endings. Although intended primarily for Slavic scholars, this book merits the attention of English-speaking students of Slovak culture everywhere. It is proof that a foreign-born scholar can present a fair and truthful account of a topic related to the Slovaks and Slovakia in spite of frequent misrepresentations of the issues by biased scholars. Brock's work will stand out as a model for future efforts on similar subjects. Andrej Cintura Riverside, CaUfomia 138 SLOVAKIA Josef Kalvoda Czechoslovakia's Role in Soviet Strategy Josef Kalvoda. CZECHOSLOVAKIA'S ROLE IN SOVIET STRATEGY. Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1978. ix, 381 pp. This is a good book with the wrong title. What Professor Kalvoda offers is a history of Czechoslovakia's attitude to and relations with the Soviet Union since World War I. Hence a more appropriate title would have been "Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union," a title general enough to cover the range and wealth of information meticulously assembled and presented. In fact, the author has done Western scholarship a service by examining this topic in depth; until now this subject has been dealt with piecemeal either in studies on the foreign policy of the First Czechoslovak Republic, or in the more recent studies on the liberalization process of Communist Czechoslovakia. The greater part of the study is devoted to an analysis of the attitudes and actions toward the Soviet Union of two of the three founders of the Czechoslovak state, namely T.G. Masaryk and Edvard Benes. Interspersed are chapters on the Slovak Soviet Republic, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, and the sovietization of the country. Needless to say, after 1948, the focus changes somewhat insofar as Czechoslovakia has become a satellite of the Soviet Union, and the relationship between the countries is on a completely different level. Still, given the fact that the leadership of Czechoslovakia sought to establish a new framework of relations with the Soviet Union in the liberalization process of 1968, especially on the ideological level, there is a thematic continuity that justifies the fifty-odd year analysis offered here. It is a pity that the author did not fully exploit this aspect of the topic and that his weakest chapters are the last three where he does suggest how Czechoslovakia has played a role in Soviet strategy since 1948 . This latter theme, interesting at it may be, does not tie in well with the preceding chapters and thus breaks up the unity of theme that had been evident, though not explicitly stated, up to that point. One of the interesting points that the author makes and that is generally absent in histories of Czechoslovakia or the Soviet Union is the fact that during the Russian revolution th"ere existed a possibility of using the Czecho-Slovak Legion to smash the Bolsheviks. During the debate on this point, Karel Kramar, one of the Czech leaders, sug- SLOVAKIA 139 \ gested that a free Czechoslovakia could exist only if there existed a democratic Russia. He urged that the Legion be used against the Bolsheviks to achieve this end. Masaryk disagreed; in fact, he urged early on the recognition of the Bolshevik regime and forbade the use of the Legion against the Red Army. While one cannot answer an historical if, one has to recognize that Kramar had been more perspications than Masaryk. In the interwar period, the attitudes to and relations with the Soviet Union were determined by Edvard Benes, the man to whom Kalvoda quite correctly also ascribes the responsibility for Czechoslovakia eventually becoming a Soviet satellite. The author shows in great detail how Benes gave in to the Soviet leadership and its satraps in the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during the war. The coup in February 1948 was merely an epilogue to a situation that had been dealt with in December 1943 when Benes, against British advice, signed a Treaty of Friendship, Mutual Assistance, and Post-War Cooperation with the Soviet Union. The consequences need not be elaborated upon. The author left few stones unturned in his research. But what is more striking is his detachment from the subject matter, somehing that most Czech emigre scholars have rarely succeeded in achieving. Thus if one might find fault with the little attention he pays the Slovaks, at least he does not do so out of either indifference or deliberate slight. In fact, the topic does not call for an in-depth examination of Slovakia or the Slovaks; where they do play a role, the author presents the situation as directly as he does the rest of the subject. One has to remember that the foreign policy of Czechoslovakia, however deplorable, was always in the hands of the Czech elite, be it Benes in the First Republic or the Czech leadership of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia after the Second World War. Kalvoda is not insensitive to the Slovaks, and in his preface he states that he '' never subscribed to the theory of one 'Czechoslovak' nation ... / nor had / taken the existance of the Slovak nation for granted" (p . vii). This is borne out in the study, particularly when he deals with the Slovak Republic and Benes' s attitude toward the Slovak nation during the Second World War. One might suggest, however, that the author could have examined the issue of the federalization of Czechoslovakia and its link to Soviet theory and practice on the nationality problem . Federalization was the only reform that survived the normalization policy after the invasion of August 1968. Czech-Slovak relations have played an important part in Communist Czechoslovakia , and the Soviet Union has not been kept entirely out of them. This should have been analyzed. It is a pity, as was stated above, that the author chose an inappro- 140 SLOVAKIA priate title and thereby missed some opportunities of examining other topics germane to the thrust of his study. Nevertheless, it is a wellwritten and well-documented analysis. Stanislav J. Kirschbaum Glendon College, York University Toronto, Canada SLOVAKIA 141 \ Doro·thea El Mallakh The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 Dorothea H. El Mallakh. THE SLOVAK AUTONOMY MOVEMENT, 1935-1939: A STUDY IN UNRELENTING NATIONALISM. "East European Monographs, No. LV." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1979. xvi, 260 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. In recent years we have seen the submission of several dissertations dealing with Slovak topics. Others are under preparation. This development is more than welcomed. The study of Slovakia has finally reached maturity and respectability in the Western scholarly community. It is no longer an appendix to the history of the Czechs - as much as we admired the serious and honest treatments by R.W. Seton-Watson and S. Harrison Thomson. Nor is it propagandistic pamphleteering by an assortment of enthusiasts and political refugees - even if we recognize their contributions to the popularization of Slovak annals. Now we are dealing with the fruits of archival research, some of which has been done in the best tradition of Occidental scholarship. In spite of its progress, however, Slovak historiography remains a part of the intellectual ghetto, the quarantine in which East European studies are kept in the United States. Snobbery and arrogance of "Big Nations Research" and of "Continental (i.e., West European) Topics" are a mirror of political realities. The small nations of Eastern Europe, captive in the clutches of major powers for most of their modem life, elicit little interest in the hearts and minds of a cohort of intellectual imperialists. Hence, the obscurity of Slovakia resembles the relative invisibility of other neighboring peoples. These factors are amplified by the shortsightedness and irresponsibility of some students of Slovak history. Partisan zeal and engaged scholarship color much of their writing and publication. In addition, some trained professionals and graduates of good schools continue to undermine the work of others. They preserve the aura of disrepute which cast much blame on historical writing about Slovakia for so long. To the old ills is now added a new one: the rush to publication. In spite of the severe conditions of the academic market, there is slight justification for publication of an unrevised dissertation. A good thesis does not necessarily make a book of quality. And some dissertations are less than good . Dr. El Mallakh studied under some of the best teachers of East 142 SLOVAKIA European history and submitted a competent dissertation. Her book left much to be desired, however. In her major thesis she advances the idea that unfulfilled, if just, national grievances by the Slovaks undermined the stability of the Czechoslovak Republic and assisted the Nazis in setting up the Slovak state. She argues that past historians, while discussing Czechoslovak and Slovak developments, usually "premissed on an anti-Nazi and anti-Fascist vantage point" (p. 11). This is not correct; arguments similar to El Mallakh's which recognized the pains of Slovak nationalism were advanced before she started to write her thesis. The title and topic of The Slovak Autonomy Movement, 1935-1939 are confusing, as the volume strives to encapsule the entire development of Slovak nationalism from the 19th century to the present. By renaming Hlinka's Slovak People's Party (HSPP) with the title of Slovak Autonomy Movement, El Mallakh made the "tudaks" (an expression not existing in the book) into the only bearers of Slovak nationalism. Consequently, she dwarfed the demands and complaints of the Slovak people into the simplistic political program of the single albeit strongest - party. Autonomy was the HSPP 's answer to two of the major problems the Slovak people faced in Czechoslovakia: the lack of recognition of their national individuality and Prague' s centralistic rule over the entire state. The doctrine of a single Czechoslovak nation, which El Mallakh barely mentioned and left unanalyzed, caused significant harm since it offended the mental and emotional consciousness of the Slovak people. El Mallakh apparently was not aware of the 19th-century Czech and Slovak roots of this doctrine. Jan Kollar, the great prophet of Czechoslovakism, appears nowhere in the book. Centralism constituted a serious problem also for day-to-day life during the First Republic. The author discussed this aspect, frequently with skill and erudition. Unfortunately , she failed to evaluate the reasons and long term effects of either Czechoslovakism or centralism on the state. Had she done so, she might perhaps have discovered that autonomy was not necessarily the most effective remedy for Slovakia's sores, but rather a shrewd political platform . As the author stated repeatedly , Slovakia overflowed with the mixed blessing of countless political parties. Some of them represented particular national-ethnic groups; others claizp.ed a territorial or professional character and aspired to speak for a variety of nationalities. Hlinka's People's Party and Razus's National Party were exclusively Slovak. Agrarians, Social Democrats, and Communists catered to a multi-national constituency. Of all the major parties represented in Slovakia and electing more than five members of parliament at any time, SLOVAKIA 143 probably only the Social\ Democrats stood on an uncompromised Czechoslovak and centralistic platform. The eminently pragmatic Agrarians, although centralistically minded, were willing to compromise - as Milan Hodza later demonstrated. Many a Slovak Agrarian was as nationalistically inspired as any member of the HSPP. The Communists took a stand no less radical than the ":Cudaks." At times, the Communists would outdo Hlinka' s partisans in extremist antiPrague rhetoric. Singling out of one party at the expense of the others slants reality. If El Mallakh felt that the HSPP deserved preferential treatment, she fell short of explaining the obvious popular support it commanded. In her recurring habit, she relied too much on one of the two relevant books of Juraj Kramer without elaborating the issue in depth. There still exists a need for a basic social and sociological study of the HSPP, its territorial basis, and its economic and psychological background. Similarly, the exceptional role of the clergy in Slovakia's history was often noticed but without taking a closer look into the phenomenon. (El Mallakh does not seem to know that Martin Razus was a Protestant pastor, besides having been a poet and writer.) She should also have explained the fluctuating vote of support for the HSPP. The author provided many new details and insights in her description of the HSPP political development but was not courageous enough to venture outside her closely set perimeter. The study obscured so many issues that one wonders whether it was due to a deficiency in information or by purpose. While dealing with the 1933 Nitra festivities, for instance, the writer omitted the ":Cudak" cooperation with the Czech Fascists. The Nitra manifesto of these festivities, part of which is reprinted in the book (p. 60), was a common proclamation of the Czech and Slovak non-governmental right. She is also silent about the participation of French, Italian, and other Fascists in the 1936 conference of the HSPP. The close relations of the Sidor faction with Polish authorities was dealt with in a spotty fashion. The anti-Semitic outrages, the so-called Golemiada of fall 1937, were innocently introduced as "student agitation" (p. 84). There are many more examples of this kind. One of the reasons for the narrow treatment of a fascinating topic was the limited sources of her research. El Mallakh is very proud of the original documents she was provided with by the Prague archives. Her excitement is exaggerated. Several recent dissertations were prepared from Czechoslovak and Slovak, central and regional, archives. In fact, even this reviewer (horrible dictu/) was given access to Slovak archives in 1968 and supplied with mircofilmed documents . The use of archival 144 SLOVAKIA material does not liberate one from the inspection of other primary and secondary sources. Of the primary sources available in the United States, she is missing the Czechoslovak parliamentary procedures, journals like Slovak and Katolicke noviny, several weeklies, quarterlies, and other periodicals. Above all, a reliance on one sort of documentation, much of which originated in police and government offices, must limit its reliability. Regretably, El Mallakh was unwilling to undertake even a partial correction of her dissertation, or to increase her familiarity with Slovak matters through secondary sources . In spite of the late publication of the volume (in 1979, while the dissertation was submitted in 1972) , the bibliography lists nothing printed after 1971. The seventies have seen many new works appear on this subject in the West and in the East. The same series of monographs, which included El Mallakh 's book, carried earlier at least two other relevant publications. If the author was reluctant to update the manuscript, why did she not use the studies of others while preparing the original dissertation? Where are works by Derer, Hoensch, Lipscher, Sidor, Mamatey & Luza, to give but a few? I also have some doubts about the author's comprehension of Czech and Slovak language documents. The text recalls unknown localities such as "Spisske Kapitul" (p. 21; it should be Spisska Kapitula) or " Dolny Vestenic" (p. 84; it should be Dolne Vestenice). An eagle in Slovak is ' 'orol' ' while El Mallakh repeatedly used the Czech term ' ' orel. '' The name of a leading HSPP journal was given as Slovenskej Pravdy (p . 76 ; it should be Slovenska pravda). Spelling mistakes of names and locations were also noticed elsewhere . The book has twenty-two useful appendices . While mostly reprints from otherwise obtainable sources (many are from Macartney), they nonetheless provide a handy collection. Some of the appendices are of marginal importance for the volume , such as the list of Slovak state cabinet members and details on the federalization of Czechoslovakia. El Mallakh dealt with an important topic using heretofore unseen documents. Coming from a neutral and uncommited ethnic background, she has made a significant effort to present a balanced study. Unfortunately, she was not steeped enough in Slovakia's history and affairs, in social life , and in political culture , and therefore numerous issues and details eluded her. Her decisiqn to write a strictly political description based on narrowly defined sou\-ces resulted in a simplistic treatment of a complex topic . Yeshayahu Jelinek Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Beersheba, Israel SLOVAKIA 145 Anthpny X. Sutherland Dr. Jozef Tiso and Modern Slovakia Anthony X. Sutherland. DR. JOZEF TISO AND MODERN SLOVAKIA. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1978. xii, 141 pp. Using Slovak, Czech, German, and English language sources, Dr. Sutherland presents a balanced and scholarly account of the life, career, accomplishments, and failures of the only president of the Slovak Republic. The author does not have anti-Czech, anti-Protestant, or antiCatholic biases, is neither a Slovak nationalist nor a "Czechoslovak," and approaches the subject matter with the detachment of an impartial observer and a non-involved historian. Needless to say, one cannot do justice to "Slovak Political Tradition " in fifteen pages of printed material; yet Sutherland gives the most essential data on the Great Moravian Empire, its collapse, and the centuries-long life of the Slovaks under Magyar rule. In the nineteenth century two traditions emerged among the educated Slovaks: one represented by Jan Kollar and P . J. Safarik, and the other by Cudovit Stur. The former favored closer cooperation with the Czechs; the latter emphasized a distinct Slovak national identity. However, all the Slovak leaders realized that the struggle for survival of the small nation had to be led on all fronts, including the cultural, economic, and political. In Andrej Hlinka the Slovaks had an articulate political leader who fought for justice for his nation both before and after World War I. The brevity of the first chapter may be responsible for some errors, such as on pp. 18 and 19. In 1916 in Paris the Czech National Council was formed by the two Deputies in the Vienna parliament, T.G. Masaryk and Josef Duerich, with Dr. Edvard Benes as its secretary. Milan R. Stefanik was a co-opted member of the council. On the insistence of American Slovaks the name of the organization was changed to Czecho-Slovak National Council. The Kiev Memorandum was not signed by ''Russian Slovaks and Czecho-Slovak Legionnaires '' but by the representatives of the Alliance of the Czecho-Slovak Associations in Russia, Gustav Kosik for the Slovak League of America, and Stefanik and Duerich for the Paris-based council. These minor inaccuracies, however, do not subtract from the overall value of the book. The author makes it clear that Hlinka was loyal to the Republic established in 1918 and that he objected merely to its anti-Catholic poli- 146 SLOVAKIA cies , the denial of the promised autonomy for the Slovaks, and the behavior of some Czechs in Slovakia. Likewise Dr. Jozef Tiso, with reservations similar to Hlinka's, supported the First Republic until its collapse in October of 1938. In September of 1938 President Benes refused to fight for the territorial integrity of the state , and in March of 1939 the rump Second Republic could not be defended. It would seem that if Benes could give up strategic parts of the state without the consent of parliament and in violation of the Constitution, then no one from his camp should blame Tiso for yielding to pressures in March of 1939 and choosing Slovak independence instead of letting Slovakia be occupied either by Hungary or Germany. Sutherland pictures Tiso as a moderate Slovak patriot whose ideology was a mixture of organic nationalism and Christian socialism. It comes through, however, that despite his ideological-tinged rhetorics in practical politics, Tiso was a pragmatist who made concessions, compromises, and mistakes. It was he who convinced Hlinka in 1935 that the Slovak People's Party should help to elect Benes as president of the state. As it happened, in conversations with Stalin in December of 1943 - long before the Slovak uprising in Banska Bystrica - Benes included Tiso among the Slovaks whom he selected for execution after the war. Ideologist or pragmatist, Tiso, as his nation, was caught in a whirl of events which he could not control. Indeed, a small nation cannot always be the master of its own destiny, as the nations of East Central Europe have learned the hard way. Sutherland's book has accomplished its purpose. It is well-written, concise, brief, well-documented, and easy to read. It has enriched the historiography on Slovakia in English and has made a positive contribution to both scholarship and to our understanding of the short-lived Slovak Republic and its only president. Both students of Central European affairs and interested general readers will benefit greatly by reading it. Josef Kalvoda Saint Joseph College ~est Hartford, Connecticut \ SLOVAKIA 147 \ Yeshayahu Jelinek The Parish Republic Yeshayahu Jelinek. THE PARISH REPUBUC: HUNKA 'S SLOVAK PEOPLE'S PARTY 1939-1945. "East European Monographs, No. XIV ." Boulder, Colorado: East European Quarterly, 1976. viii, 206 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press. Professor Yeshayahu Jelinek's The Parish Republic: Hlinka's Slovak People's Party is a revision of a dissertation on the politics and philosophy of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, 1939 to 1945, submitted at Indiana University. It is one of the first scholarly studies in English of the period in Slovak history from 1939 to 1945 written by someone not directly involved in the history of the Slovak state. In this book Jelinek examines in detail the internal history of Hlinka's Slovak People's Party, its factions, ideology, and history. By dealing with each of the party' s groups - the clericals, "N astupists," Sidorites, and Hlinka guards, he provides us with an excellent picture of the political background of the Slovak state. Also treated in detail is Populist ideology as it affected all aspects of Slovak life: religion, nationalism , government, and economics. However, if one expects to find a comprehensive history of the Slovak state or detailed biographical information on any of its leading figures, one will be somewhat disappointed . Jelinek 's book is essentially a study of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, so the selection of the title, The Parish Republic , is a bit misleading. Although there is much information on the internal politics of the Populists , there is little on such topics as the Slovak Resistance Movement and the Slovak National Uprising (whose importance Jelinek greatly overemphasizes) and a disappointing, unsystematic account of the Jewish question. In addition to making occasional exaggerations , Jelinek commits a grave error in frequently maintaining that the Slovak state received little popular support . Such generalizations regarding acceptance or rejection of the Slovak state by the people are difficult to document and almost impossible to prove . In his account on " I.:udak" ideology Jelinek frequently uses the term " clerical fascism, " but nowhere does he offer a suitable definition of clerical fascism , or at least what he understands by it. At the end of the book one is left with a confusing picture as to exactly what type of 148 SLOVAKIA state Jelinek thought the Slovak Republic was - whether it was truly fascist or simply an authoritarian state with fascist trappings. The work would have been improved if Jelinek had compared Hlinka's Slovak People's Party with other rightist parties of the period: Rexists, Action Francaise, the Iron Guard, and others. The book is superbly documented, though one may argue that Jelinek relied too heavily on Czechoslovak Communist historians, whose interpretations are predictable, and on German documents. In summary, the book is a good, though somewhat confusing, account of Hlinka's Slovak People 's Party, its history, and ideology. Despite Jelinek's occasional exaggerations and general negative attitude toward the Populists, the book should be read, though with caution, by anyone searching for a better understanding of Hlinka 's Slovak People 's Party during one of the most controversial periods of Slovak history. Anthony X. Sutherland Stoney Point, New York SLOVAKIA 149 Andrea Rebichini Chiesa, societ,p e stato in Cecoslovachia Andrea Rebichini. CHIESA, SOCIETA E STATO IN CECOSLOVACHIA, II: 1968-1978. Padova: DESEO-Liviana, 1979. 86 pp. In his two-volume book on the Church, society, and state in Czechoslovakia, Andrea Rebichini describes the religious situation of that country during the period of the last three decades. The first volume , published in 1977, covers the period from 1948 to 1968, and the present volume treats the period from 1968 to 1978. During this relatively short span of years, Czechoslovakia went through many turbulent events which left deep scars on its people. In 1948 there was a ruthless take-over by the Communists ; then, in the late sixties, the liberalization of the Communist rule symbolized by Alexander Dubcek; in August 1968 the brutal occupation of the country by Soviet troops, followed by the so-called "normalization," i.e., by the return to the old Stalinist methods of suppression and tyranny. The vicissitudes of Czechoslovakia have attracted the attention of many scholars, writers of political history, and various reporters . Rebichini is mostly interested in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia during these three decades. He is familiar with the vast literature on postwar Czechoslovakia and has succeeded in putting the Church-State problems of that country into the larger framework of the whole political spectrum of Eastern Europe, dominated by the Soviet Union. In the volume under review, Rebichini uses mostly documentary material coming from Czechoslovakia and translated into Italian by CESEO (Centro Studi Europa Orientale), published monthly in Bologna. Since these documents speak for themselves, Kebichini does not give long analyses or commentaries on them. Clarity, objectivity, and succinctness are the main values of Rebichini' s book. At the beginning of the second volume the author gives the most characteristic aspects of the Dubcek liberalization of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Catholic Church, as well as other denominations, grasped at this opportunity and quickly developed a feverish activity to free themselves from the shackles of the previous twenty years. For the Catholics, until then cutoff from the Church at large , it meant an attempt to catch up with the reform movement of the Vatican Council and the new theological trends in the post-conciliar 150 SLOVAKIA Church. Bishops, priests, religious, and lay people took up this task in Czechoslovakia. Not even the Soviet occupation could immediately stop this endeavor. According to Rebichini, the turning point in the religious situation in Czechoslovakia was the restoration of the organization of priests collaborating with the neo-Stalinist regime of Gustav Husak. During the Dubcek era the former pro-government organization of the Peace Movement of the Catholic Clergy totally collapsed. Toward the end of 1971 it was resurrected under the name of the Federation of the Catholic Clergy - ''Pacem in Terris.' ' Under the guidance and with the support of the new regime, this organization quickly resumed the role of the previous Peace Movement and gradually took control of the Church organization in Czechoslovakia. It seems that because of the growing influence of this organization, most of the Holy See's recent efforts to alleviate the difficult situation of the Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia are being frustrated. In 1975 the Czechoslovak government signed the Helsinki Agreement, thereby .affirming its commitment to human rights, including the freedom of religion. But nothing changed in the course of repression and persecution of those citizens who tried to follow this prerogative of freedom in the religious field. Still, there was a group of brave intellectuals, most of them in the Czech lands, who publicly demanded from the government that it adhere to its commitments to the free exercise of human rights, including the right of free religious expression. The promoters of human rights in Czechoslovakia are working under the name "Charter 77." The Communist regime in Czechoslovakia immediately began a frantic campaign against the signers of "Charter 77" by organizing public protests and collecting signatures against them. Interestingly , almost incredibly, the Church hierarchy, now infiltrated by members of the "Pacem in Terris" and probably under very crude pressure from the government, joined the protest campaign against the signers of "Charter 77. " This, according to Rebichini, is an ominous sign of how terribly the Church of Czechoslovakia is presently enslaved by the Communist regime. Rebichini concludes his treatise on the religious situation in Czechoslovakia with the election of John Paul II as Pope - the first Slavic Pope, the first Pope from behind the ''Iron Curtain.'' He ex: presses the hope that this act of Divine Providence may deeply affect the Church in the satellite countries of Eastern Europe. TeQ_dorik J. Zubek, O.F.M. . Easton, Pennsylvania SLOVAKIA 151 Vsevlad J. Gajdos Frantiskani v slovenskej literature and Teodorik J. Zubek Slovenski frantiskani v Amerike Vsevlad J. Gajdos. FRANTISKANI V SLOVENSKEJ UTERAT0RE and Teodorik J. Zubek, SLOVENSKl FRANTISKANI V AMERIKE. Cleveland, Ohio: First Catholic Slovak Union, 1979. 252 pp. This study provides the specialist interested in Slovak culture, civilization, and religious history with a lot of information on Franciscans of Slovak extraction. It covers the period from the seventeenth century to the present. In the first section, Vsevlad J. Gajdos included a brief survey of Franciscan history and activities in Slovakia. He also commented concisely on Slovak ethnic consciousness among Franciscans in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries . Then he described the major struggle of these Franciscans to insure their ethnic distinctiveness and the survival of their religious order. Virtually all the facts presented by Gajdos on this matter appear together for the first time and in a publication outside of Czechoslovakia. These points of information had previously been scattered among various journals published over a long period of time and primarily authored by Gajdos . After the delineation of Franciscan history, activities, and ethnic struggle follow the biographies and bibliographies of one hundred twenty-five Franciscans. In a number of instances, Gajdos has corrected various biographical errors on some of these Franciscans . A number of significant contributions by some of them have also been saved from oblivion or obscurity. For instance, the four large volumes of sermons by Bajan as well as a number of his musical compositions are preserved here . The role of Teodul Zelenic in the Bemolak polemic, Anti-Fandly, is also well-presented. Even the probable identity of the pseudonymous researcher , S. M. Zilinsky, is substantively argued. Among the various Slovak Franciscans covered are authors of literary works, writers of devotional books , sermons, and retreat exhortations; authors of philosophical and theological treatises, textbooks, and polemical writings; and composers of numerous musical compositions . 152 SLOVAKIA · Abrahamffy, Pascha, Bajan, Gavlovic, Simko, Smrtnik, Gazda, Roskovsky, Marmankovic, and Presl readily stand out, but also and especially Celestin Lepacek and Gajdos himself. For, like Gajdo§, Lepacek has also written biographies and works on a number of Slovak Franciscans; his research on Gavlovic's writings would alone guarantee his place in the history of Slovak scholarship. With Lepacek's and his own research, Gajdos has been able to enhance substantially the quality of the biographies and bibliographies. Gajdo§ has concluded his section of this study with concise descriptions of Franciscan publications in Slovakia and some further bibliographical material from Rizner and his own years of research. The American section of the study was authored by Teodorik Zubek and has the same format as that portion written by Gajdos. There is first a survey of Slovak Franciscan history and activities in America, followed by the biographies and bibliographies of twelve prominent Slovak Franciscans who either emigrated to or were born in the United States. Especially noteworthy among this material is the bibliography of the poet Rudolf Dilong; the reference for the unfortunately brief article by Bartolomej Koltner on the Slovak dictionary of 1648; and the reference for Zubek's dissertation done in Slovakia, "Zasahy Jozefa II do zivota slovenskych franti§kanov." The latter appeared as a long article under the title, ''Zasahy osvietenstva do §tudia uhorskych frantiskanov" in Sbornik spolku Zahorskych akademikov so sidlom v Malackach, 1932-1942, II, Trnava; a copy of this work can be found in the library of the University of California, Los Angeles. A number of typographical errors could readily be corrected in a reprinting of this book. The bibliography of Gavlovic is not complete; but, in his research, Lepacek has given as complete a list as is presently possible. In the Gavlovic bibliography there are also a number of minor errors with regard to the number of pages in certain works. In the numerous bibliographical references, there may also be some points in error that will come to light as scholars are able to study personally the various materials listed in the book. On the whole, though, this study is a fairly comprehensive presentation of Slovak Franciscan writings and musical compositions. Gajdos and Zubek have provided the Slovak specialist with another primary reference work tha,,t complements those of Rizner, Misianik, and Ormis. Perhaps, somedat, an E11tglish version of this study will be published for the sake of a larg'er scholarly audience. GeraldJ. Sabo, S.J. John Carroll University Cleve/,and, Ohio SLOVAKIA 153 \ Frantisek Bielik & Elo Rakos, comps. Slovenske vystahovalectvo. Dokumenty: I, II, Ill SLOVENS/a VYS'l'AHOVALECTVO. DOKUMENTY I: DO ROKU 1918. Compiled by Franti§ek Bielik and Elo Rako§. Bratislava: Vydavatefstvo Slovenskej adademie vied, 1969. 404 pp. ; DOKUMENTY II; 1919-1939. Bielik and Rako§. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1975. 349 pp.; DOKUMENTY ill: KORESPONDENCIA Z ROKOV 1893-1939. Bielik. Martin: Matica slovenska, 1976. 314 pp. Students of Slovak immigration history will welcome the publication of Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo . These three volumes , devoted to the migration of Slovaks from their homeland, reproduce 380 documents deposited in various depositories in Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Austria. This collection gives scholars living outside of these countries access to materials otherwise not readily available to them. One of the compilers' aim is to depict the underlying social, political, and economic factors that spurred Slovak emigration in the years from roughly 1879 to 1939 (Vol. I, pp. 5, 6; Vol II, p . 5). The selection of documents also places Slovak emigration within the broader context of the history of Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus, the compilers include documents that demonstrate the impact of Slovak emigration on these homeland countries. In addition, the collection contains documents concerning Slovak immigrant life. Some of these items are official reports; others were generated by Slovak immigrants living in various countries, primarily the United States. Although the documents touch upon a myriad of subjects, the unifying theme of the three volumes is clear: emigration is an important aspect of the history of the Slovak people. Volume I focuses on Slovak emigration from 1879 to 1918 and deals primarily with the causes and consequences of that movement. This volume contains newspaper descriptions of contemporary conditions in Hungary that stimulated emigration. It includes a large number of official and local reports which analyze the causes of emigration, especially from particular regions in northern Hungary. The reports describe attempts by Hungarian officials to stop Slovak emigration. They also reveal a concern over the growing nationalism among Slovak immigrants in the United States. Because of the preponderance of official reports, 154 SLOVAKIA nearly all of the documents in this volume are in Hungarian; only twenty of the 144 items are in Slovak. The second volume covers Slovak emigration from 1919 to 1939. Slightly over two-thirds of its 114 documents are in Slovak, and the remaining are in Czech. Because the compilers try to present materials that describe the underlying causes of Slovak emigration , Volume Il provides information for scholars interested in studying Czechoslovakia between the two World Wars. For example, there are materials outlining the labor, industrial, and economic problems that plagued Czechoslovakia during the postwar years. Unemployment and unfavorable economic conditions encouraged emigration; but, since entry into the United States was restricted, Slovaks turned to other countries . Occasionally the Czechoslovak government tried to stop this exodus . However , the documents provide evidence that the government also saw emigration, and the temporary migration of laborers to nearby European countries , as a means to alleviate some of the country's economic and unemployment problems. In addition, official reports describe the conditions of Slovak immigrants in various countries including: Argentina, Australia, Canada, France , Germany, Mexico , Uruguay, the United States, and others . Volume ill reproduces 122 documents for the period 1893 to 1939. This collection is actually a supplement to the first two volumes and includes more materials written by Slovak immigrants. In fact, almost all of the documents were penned by Slovaks living in the United States. These items addres.s a wide variety of topics ranging from descriptions of Slovak nationalist activities in America to mere notes requesting that European Slovaks write articles for fraternal publications. The documents describe the various activities of American Slovak organizations during World War I and reveal their continued interest in Czechoslovakia after the war. Bielik and Rakos have complied a valuable collection of documents . These documents are useful both to students of Slovak immigration and to scholars interested in the social, economic, and political history of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Thus , the volumes have a use that extends beyond the study of Slovak immigration . The compilers have designed these volures for scholars. A complete bibliographic citation accompanies each docUtnent. Bielik and Rakos also provide editorial assistance by expfaining unfamiliar references mentioned in the documents . The compilers adopted a chronological format , but some researchers might prefer that they had chosen to categorize the documents topically. A topical approach would have SLOVAKIA \ 155 lessened the need to plod through the volumes for specific types of documents. However, the compilers do include brief descriptions of every entry in each Table of Contents that facilitate the task of finding desired types of documents. There is no cumulative index, but the indexes included in each volume are useful for locating people, places, and organizations cited in the documents. However, one wishes the compilers had consistently listed persons' first names in the indices and had made more of an effort to provide subject entries. The compilers introduce each document with a brief Slovak and English precis. These precis are helpful but, as is usually the case with annotated descriptions, they do not reveal the variety of information contained within the documents. In general, the Slovak precis are more complete than the English versions. In addition, the English translations are generally dismal. Besides containing numerous grammatical and spelling errors, the English versions often are imprecise and misleading. Similar types of errors can be found in the footnotes. For example, readers will look in vain for a work cited as authored by "Louis Grune Bald" (Vol. I, p. 25). The proper citation should be "Emily Greene Balch." Balch is again slighted in the bibliography at the end of Volume ill where she is listed as "E. Green Bolek" (p. 278). Moreover, Bielik should have described the bibliography as listing '' selected '' works because it is incomplete. It is also dated. With the exception of a few articles printed in fraternal publications, the list does not include works on Slovak immigration published in the United States; nor is it complete for those published in Europe. The deficiencies evident in the bibliography may well be indicative of other shortcomings of these volumes. The compilers explain that while there are numerous documents in Europe archives pertaining to Slovak emigration, they have chosen the " most typical" (Vol. I, p. 6). Yet, although Volume ill includes 122 documents written primarily by Slovak immigrants, there is not a single letter or publication by Father Stefan Furdek. In fact, although the compilers make references to the First Catholic Slovak Union and note it as founded by Furdek, they fail to mention that he was a priest (Vol. I, p. 152). And, with but few exceptions, there is little reference to Slovak clergymen or their writings. Moreover, lengthy surveys of Slovak immigration which introduce Volumes I and ill discuss Slovak immigrant organizations, but there is no analysis of immigrant churches. Thus, this reviewer wonders if the items reproduced are perhaps the ''most typical'' of a select group of documents that ignore subjects such as religion that may be controversial or unpopular in present-day Czechoslovakia . Finally , one may wish to qualify Bielik 's claims regarding docu- 156 SLOVAKIA ments in Volume ill. According to Bielik, the correspondence in this volume describes the "daily struggle for social justice" and "work" of Slovaks living in foreign lands (p. 6). However, most of the letters reproduced were written by prominent Slovak immigrants usually active in the various national organizations. As a result, the correspondence typically describes the life of Slovak immigrants as seen through the eyes of these more prominent men, not as it was experienced by ordinary laborers toiling in American mines and factories and living in tenements or company housing. Moreover, the correspondence offers little insight into the life of Slovak immigrant women. Despite their shortcomings, the three volumes which comprise Slovenske vyst'ahovalectvo offer a valuable collection of documents. No student of immigration history can be unhappy when documents maintained in European archives are published and made available for research. But researchers can be unhappy with the possibility that the criteria for selecting documents reflect the biases of the compilers and their government instead of a concern for balanced historical scholarship. June Granatir Alexander Cincinnati, Ohio SLOVAKIA 157 \Jasil S. Kohan The Sorrows of Marienka Vasil S. Kohan THE SORROWS OF MARIENKA . Middletown, Pennsylvania: EMPAC!, 1979. 201 pp. Too often the Slovak immigrant woman has been depicted as either the long-suffering heroine - bearing children and losing them, making do with the barest of material comforts, and contending with a husband who spends ample time at the krtma (saloon) - or else she is the punitive, angry eminence in the home, doing her duty, saying her rosaries but making everyone suffer for her sacrifices. In Vasil Koban's The Sorrows of Marienka we see another kind of Slovak woman, one that modern women can identify with as well as stare matky (grandmothers) can admire. Indeed, any woman that can march into a Slovak krtma in search of her errant husband, set the place on fire, and never utter a word of apology could earn a place in any feminist Hall of Fame. We follow Marienka from a wedding in Slovakia she did not seek through the death of her husband, who is killed while pulling out the pillars of coal in a depleted mine, one of the most dangerous jobs. Along the way, we find her to be alternately strong and tender, pure and lusty, humorous and sad, tom by doubts and quite sure of herself. In other words, a whole person - no idealized portrait is painted by Kohan, in his first, and let's hope, not last novel. What pleased and excited me about this book was its raw power, its insights into our people , its clear-eyed view of what lives the Slovak immigrants lived on both sides of the Atlantic. A wife backs up her husband 's lie that a wolf bit him when it was only a testy sow; a mother-in-law despises the woman who takes her precious son from her; a wife jumps into a coal car to show her husband how quickly it can be unloaded; Slovaks swindle an unsuspecting and ill Slovak out of a week's pay, posing as mine representatives; still another Slovak absconds with the seven thousand dollars that was to start a new church; a young son, put in the cloakroom as a punishment, eats all the lunches - these are some poignant moments in the Kohan book. Real people, real circumstances where the spirit triumphs in the crucible of daily living. 158 SLOVAKIA A taste of Koban's lovely, native style: "It didn't snow that night. Instead, it turned warmer. The clouds that had threatened snow produced a thin drizzle. The men hunched their shoulders as they left and bent their heads down. In the dull light Marienka watched them walk down the street, the rain making beads on the shoulders of their wool jackets, little drops without brilliance that began forming dark streaks down the cloth. ''By the time the boys left for school the rain had dwindled to a fine mist that melted downward from the close-hanging, yellowish clouds. The curious light made everything look hollow, the same way it did sometimes at dusk when the sun shone from behind the mountains. "Marienka watched the boys saunter down the street, swinging their lunches. She wondered if she ought to chance it, going to church with the babies. It was the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Temple . She had planned to go to church and light a candle. " She put her hand to her hair, pushing it back from her forehead, and her fingers brushed against the ribbon she 'd bound in her braids yesterday. " It brought to mind Ivan 's eyes as he had watched her last night. No matter what else had changed, they were the same as they had been twelve years ago in Kamienka - dark, curious, and full of lustre. All at once the memory of that day was close around her. She could almost smell the hot wax from the candles and the sweet , stifling odor of incense. She remembered the hot darkness of the church , and the smell of the priest's robes - a little musty, smelling of old things." As second, third, and fourth-generation Slovaks pursue the American dream , buying their four-bedroom houses , gaining their college degrees , wearing shirts and ties , and learning which fork to use , I would caution them to pause for a moment and look back. Look back, if they can, to see if they know anything about what their forebears experienced . For I think that the dacron polyester world that we so eagerly court, the fleeting values and the soft life, this ravenous hunger we have to be middle-class Americans is sadly misplaced. We have pushed aside the Marienkas of our families , we have not taken the time both to listen to them and to record what they have to say . When a dozen Vasil Kobans rise up - nqt professional writers, but people with a love , respect , and yet a disciplined and discriminating eye turned toward their parents and grandparents - and all of us can fe ast on the books they produce , then I, for one , will be less critical SLOVAKIA 159 of the headlong quest for Eissimilation, acceptance, and sameness that haunts ethnic groups, ours certainly included. We Slovaks do not have a body of literature about the immigrant experience. We need it more than we need a legion of accountants and computer programmers; we need it if we are to regain our very souls. Paul Wilkes New York City, New York 160 SLOVAKIA Megles, Stolarik & Tybor Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland Susi Megles, Mark Stolarik, and Martina Tybor. SLOVAK AMERICANS AND THEIR, COMMUNITIES OF CLEVELAND. Edited by Karl Bonutti. With an Introduction by Michael Novak. "Ethnic Heritage Studies Monograph Series." Cleveland, Ohio: Cleveland State University, 1978. 217 pp. The Cleveland, Ohio area is one of the oldest, largest, and most important centers of Slovaks in America. As is unfortunately the case with other major Slovak-American communities, the Cleveland Slovaks have not received much scholarly attention. The only monograph solely devoted to them is Jan Pankuch's Dejiny Clevelandskych a Lakewoodskych Slovcikov, which was published in 1930 and is now outdated. And although Josef Barton's Peasants and Strangers: Italians, Rumanians and Slovaks in an American City, 1890-1950, published in 1975, does analyze the social history of Cleveland's Slovaks in comparison with other ethnic groups, the book does not provide an overall and up-to-date review of the Cleveland Slovak communities. Given the fact that the volume under review was produced under the auspices of the Ethnic Heritage Studies Program of Cleveland State University and with partial support from the U.S. Office of Education, Department of Education, Health, and Welfare, one might have expected a fresh, comprehensive, in-depth study of Cleveland's Slovaks. Regrettably, this is not the case. Neither the book's title, nor editor Karl Bonutti's preface, nor Michael Novak's introduction, nor even the "summary" provides the reader with a clear idea of the purpose of the book. What we are offered here is a melange of ''essays'' of varying quality covering a wide range of topics relating to Slovaks in Europe, the United States, and Cleveland. The work is divided into four main parts consisting of twenty-six chapters - "Old World Origins"; "New World Beginnings"; "Organizations and Contributions of Slovak-Americans"; and "The Slovak Community of Cleveland'' - and ten appendices (none of which is referred to in the text). Curiously, the authors of the component parts are not identified. This might not have been possible, for one gets the impression from the inexplicable changes of s~le within individual sec- SLOVAKIA 161 tions that the work of one author was at times pieced together with that of another. Although a certain amount of unevenness is to be expected in a multi-authored publication, careful editing can often alleviate this problem. Evidence of such editorial control is slight. Constant repetition and overlapping, internal contradictions, the excessive number and short length of chapters , and generally poor organization mar the text. Especially disturbing is the mishandling of Slovak words . Diacritical marks are sometimes omitted; christian names are rendered indiscriminately in either Slovak or English; and clumsy phonetic approximations in English are provided for many but not all Slovak terms . Whoever wrote the section on the history of the Slovaks in the Old World does not seem to be very well acquainted with Slovak or European history. "Austria-Hungary" is more than once referred to as having existed before 1867; the Thirty Years' War is placed in the eighteenth century; and ' 'expressions of / Slovak / national consciousness" are claimed to have been present "quite early in the 17th century" (p. 24). The significance of Protestantism and of the Czech language for the Slovaks is almost totally ignored; Kollar,Safarik, and Stur are not identified as Lutherans, nor is it revealed that they wrote in Czech. Old-fashioned filiopietism rears its head in the section on Slovak immigrants - four pages are devoted to the mysterious '' Slovak Revolutionary War hero," Major Polerecky, who was born in France and whose connections with Slovaks and Slovak consciousness were extremely tenuous, if they existed at all. The section on Cleveland's Slovaks, although perhaps the best contribution, is also disappointing. Too much material relating to Slovak-Americans in general is included, as well as mundane personal reminiscences of one author; and there is scanty treatment of the Cleveland Slovak communities beyond World War II. One wonders why this book was published. In attempting to cover so many topics it in fact does not do justice to even one. Although the book contains a wealth of factual information, most of it can be found better presented in existing works. And the lack of footnotes and a bibliography considerably reduces its value. We have reached the stage where there are competent scholars capable of interpreting the Slovak-American experience and opportunities to make the results of their research available to the American public. In light of this fact, there should be no excuse for such an inferior publication as Slovak Americans and Their Communities of Cleveland. ThomasD. Marzik (Mrazik) Saint Joseph 's University Philadelphia, Pennsylvania SLOVAKIA 163 \ Contributors SONYA JASON is a writer who lives and works in California . She is a second-generation Slovak-American from Pennsylvania. OWEN V. JOHNSON, Assistant Professor of Journalism at Indiana University, completed his graduate work at the University of Michigan. He is an expert on interwar Slovakia and has written numerous articles on this subject. STANISLA V J. KIRSCH BA UM is Associate Professor of Political Science at Glendon College, York University. A graduate of the Universities of Ottawa, Toronto, and the Sorbonne, he has published widely in the history and politics of Czechoslovakia in modern times (1939-1980). VASIL S. KOBAN is a writer living and working in Florida . He hails from a Slovak-Rusyn family that settled in Pennsylvania. PAUL R. MAGOCSI, a graduate of Princeton University, holds the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Toronto. He is the world's leading authority on the Rusyns and has written the most authoritative books and articles on this ethnic group. HOW ARD F. STEIN, Associate Professor of Medical-Psychiatric Anthropology at the University of Oklahoma, received his Ph .D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1972 . He has written a large number of books and articles on Slovaks and other ethnic groups in the United States. SLOVAKIA 165 Guidelines for Manuscripts Manuscripts of articles for possible publication should be sent to the managing editor. Articles should normally not exceed twenty-five pages in length, and should be submitted in triplicate , typed doublespaced, with generous margins for copyediting. Footnotes should also be typed double-spaced, numbered, and placed at the end of the paper. Text and format should adhere to the style outlined in Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers . Proper orthography and diacritical marks must be supplied for all foreign words. Manuscripts will not be returned unless specifically requested and postage is provided. Books for review are to be sent to the managing editor. Unsolicited book reviews are not encouraged. Individuals who wish to review books should request them from the managing editor. They should send a curriculum vitae with their request. When writing their reviews they should try to answer the following questions: What was the author's purpose in writing this book? What was the theme? What methods did the author use? What did he (she) conclude? This can then be followed by criticism and observations. Normally the reviews should not exceed three double-spaced, typewritten pages. All bibliographic information (author, full title, publisher, place of publication, price, and number of pages) should be provided by the reviewer. Printed By JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A. EDWARD J. BEHUNCIK, ESQ. President JOHN A. HOLY Secretary-Treasurer THE SLOVAK LEAGUE Of AMERICA Organized in 1907 at Cleveland, Ohio JOSEPH J. TALAFOUS, ESQ. Vice Presidents DANIEL F. TANZONE ANNE Z. SAROSY Executive Committee: Edward J. Behuncik, John A. Holy, Andrew F. Hudak, Jr., George N. Kantor Michael J. Krajsa, Louise M. Yash, Cecelia Sarocky, Joseph R. Kristofik, George J. Kostelnik Joseph Stefka, Stephen J. Kavulich Slovak League of America Ladies' Auxiliary Anna M. Vizza, President Regional Vice-Presidents: George Lupjan - New York, New Jersey, New England States John Herman - Eastern Pennsylvania John Gastan - Western Pennsylvania Joseph Ondis - Ohio David Zelenak - Michigan Ivan Kralik - Illinois, Indiana Bernadine Wandke - Wisconsin, Western States John Hvasta - Washington, D.C., Southern States Stanislav Duris Auditors: Anna Blahusiak Joseph Valencik SLOVAK FRATERNAL ORGANIZATIONS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK UNION OF THE U.S. AND CANADA Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 102,000 THE FIRST CATHOLIC SLOVAK LADIES ASSOCIATION Cleveland, Ohio - Membership 100,000 THE SLOVAK CATHOLIC SOKOL Passaic, N.J. - Membership 50,000 THE NATIONAL SLOVAK SOCIETY OF THE U.S.A. Pittsburgh, Pa . - Membership 21,000 THE LADIES PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 16,500 THE PENNSYLVANIA SLOVAK CATHOLIC UNION Wilkes-Barre, Pa. - Membership 10,000 SLOVAK NEWSPAPERMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA Joseph C. Krajsa, F.I.C., President SLOVAK AMERICAN NEWSPAPERS (Affiliated with the Slovak League of America) , \ JEDNOTA (circulation 40,000) NARODNE NOVINY (circulatio~ 15,000) FRATERNALLY YOURS, ZENS KA JEDNOTA (circulation 35,000) SLOVAK v AMERIKE (circulation 1,800) KATOLICKY SOKOL (circulation 20,000) BRATSTVO (circulation7,000) PR IA TEL DIETOK (circulation 6,000) ZORNICKA (circulation 5,000) SLOVAKIA $6.00 per annum Printed by JEDNOTA PRINTERY Middletown, Pennsylvania 17057 U.S.A.  Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Back Matter, Slovakia, Vol. 29 (No. 53-54) Description An account of the resource includes Reviews; Contributors; Guidelines for Manuscripts Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1980-81